CD Review: Anthrax – For All Kings

CD Review: Anthrax – For All Kings
MRI/Megaforce Records
All Access Rating: A

Anthrax - For All Kings 2016

Oaken strings and deathly drums usher in For All Kings, the latest album from thrash-metal trailblazers Anthrax. Reverential in tone and almost orchestral, the brief intro "Impaled" is suggestive of a ceremonial procession – something along the lines of a royal funeral or the lead-up to a very public and bloody execution.

Hardly a solemn occasion, For All Kings is not at all a pretender to the mighty throne that was Anthrax's storming blitzkrieg of a comeback album in 2011's Worship Music. Instead it raises the bar and then some, with immaculate and visceral production intensifying and articulating perfectly the combination of increasingly dynamic, well-crafted songwriting, raging energy and taut, tactical precision that has Anthrax flying high at the moment.

Leaked early, the stirring anthem "Breathing Lightning," probably the most radio-friendly song Anthrax has ever recorded, is a bracing and glorious pop-metal spectacle with an unforgettable, yearning chorus powerfully expressed by Joey Belladonna, whose singing on this record is remarkably melodic, charismatic and forceful. And while thrash-metal's old guard might wring their hands over its obvious commercial appeal, just as they did with Metallica's Black Album, this is not a betrayal of their uncompromising principles or their raucous past. It's still Anthrax at the wheel, driving as aggressively as ever, although now they're speeding away in a sleeker, shinier vehicle and the insurance is paid up – i.e., this is Anthrax showing its maturity, even if their anger still tends to spill over from time to time in socio-political commentary that hits especially hard.

In typical fashion, however, Scott Ian and company thrash to their hearts' content in compelling fashion on "You Gotta Believe," stopping only to survey its smoldering ruins of dark melody before violently beating the song into a coma, as drummer Charlie Benante unleashes a mind-boggling array of beats throughout. Even faster and more frenzied, "Zero Tolerance" is a furious blaze, ranting against racism with old-school venom – some of the rough edges sanded off with modern sonic sensibilities.

And if that's not enough, the vicious bluster of a heart-pounding "Evil Twin" and the seismic pounding of "Monster At The End" – a massive earthquake of a track, where the rumblings of bassist Frank Bello causes the ground underneath mighty guitar riffs to crack wide open – serve notice that Anthrax still packs a devastating punch. More ominous and heavy, "Blood Eagle Wings" broods like a hulking monster hiding from villagers wielding torches and pitchforks and plotting his vengeance, while tough, bruising grinds "Defend Avenge" and "All Of Them Thieves" pummel, even as the latter picks up sweeping momentum.

That Anthrax remains this vital and continues churning out material this bold and exciting is truly awe-inspiring, resulting in eye-opening chart performances that are well-deserved. One day, maybe time will soften them. This is not that day.
– Peter Lindblad

Another @#$&! 2015 Top 10 rock albums list: Part 2

The best five metal and hard-rock records of the year
By Peter Lindblad

Sevendust brought forth 'Kill The Flaw'
in 2015

While death and the mortality of rock legends have dominated headlines in recent weeks, stories of musical resurrection and redemption made 2015 a year of renewal and inspiring artistry, with a number of fantastic records seeing the light of day. Such tales were sorely needed.

Most notably, Sol Invictus marked the glorious return of Faith No More, proving that even after lying dormant for 11 years, the intensely creative spark within them still burned as bright as ever.

And then there was Baroness, still reeling from a horrible tour bus accident that caused the departure of half the band and forced John Baizely to go through excruciating rehabilitation. In spite of their troubles, Baroness marched on, releasing in December one of the year's most life-affirming records with Purple. For consistency and continued brilliance, there's Clutch, whose album Psychic Warfare provided more evidence of their greatness, and Motor Sister's Ride showed that all Mother Superior's Jim Wilson needed was a little help from friends like Anthrax's Scott Ian, his wife Pearl and Joey Vera, of Fates Warning and Armored Saint, to churn out great '70s-inspired rock 'n' roll.

Ross the Boss and Death Dealer screamed, "Death to false metal" with their rugged, all-encompassing brand of power metal on Hallowed Ground. Lucifer conjured up beautifully evil sonic witchcraft. Fear Factory crafted another epic sci-fi concept record with Genexus. Rivers Of Nihil conceived a nightmarish dystopian scenario in Monarchy, and TesseracT somehow performed some kind of weird alchemy to convert complex prog-metal into something melodic and tuneful on Polaris. In the end, however, none of those records made the final cut, failing to beat out others like Sevendust's dense and darkly soulful Kill The Flaw. Here's a look at our top five albums in metal and hard rock for this past year:

Baroness - Purple

5. Baroness – Purple: Arriving late to the party, Purple was an emotional volcano, erupting and overflowing with anguish, confusion, joy and a determination to not let the harsh reality of their circumstances derail the mighty Baroness. A binge-and-purge record that celebrates and appreciates life and all its confounding highs and lows, Purple made a statement, a declaration of independence from what happened in the past with arms spread wide to embrace the future. Its rough-textured riffs seemingly chiseled out of granite, Purple is not smooth or stylish, but it is powerful, exciting, heavy and raw, with full-bodied choruses of voices bloodied and beaten, but unbowed. It slams into ears like a giant runaway freight train. The feel-good story of the year.

Sevendust - Kill The Flaw

4. Sevendust – Kill The Flaw: Luxurious melodies pulled along by strong, thick currents of heavy guitar riffs combine to make Kill The Flaw nearly flawless, as do the rich, full-bodied vocals of Lajon Witherspoon and Morgan Rose's accomplished drumming. Never once have they lost that sense of who they are, and yet Kill The Flaw finds Sevendust still growing and maturing as artists, expanding their signature sound without compromising their integrity. Commercially speaking, the '90s were nirvana for Sevendust, but in the here and now, they're as polished and potent as they've ever been.

Clutch - Psychic Warfare

3. Clutch – Psychic Warfare: Earth Rocker was a tight, efficient machine running on organic grooves, grabbing hooks and killer riffs. On Psychic Warfare, all those elements can still be found, along with Neil Fallon's oddball humor and infectious storytelling, his forceful, rousing delivery begging for a rapt audience of miscreants. What also emerges is a tougher, more tumultuous sound that doesn't mind digging around in the muddy blues of ZZ Top. There is plenty of dirt on Clutch's boots and flannel shirts here, but when the time comes to regale us with noir-like tales from the trailer court, mystery and menace lurks in the shadows.

Motor Sister - Ride

2. Motor Sister – Ride: Explosive proto-punk mingles with rugged, rough-and-tumble '70s American hard rock and shaggy, blues-infused soul on Ride, the earthy, tuneful album that shined a light on '90s underdogs Mother Superior and its talented leader Jim Wilson. The genuine article in a period of pop insincerity, artificiality and insipidness, Ride is hungry for riffs and has real blood running through its arteries of compelling, gripping melody. It has swagger, energy and sex appeal – everything good, meat-and-potatoes rock 'n' roll music should have, although Motor Sister manages to elevate it to something more inspired and pure. It is altogether human, and it knows what it likes, and you want to hang out with it for hours on end in a dimly lit tavern before taking it someplace more exciting and dangerous, because it's not a stick in the mud and it wants a little adventure before the night ends. This Ride should never end.

1. Faith No More – Sol Invictus: Sol Invictus really is the album of the year, unlike the 1997 Faith No More LP that sarcastically proclaimed itself to be just that and failed to deliver on such promises. Furiously propulsive, deeply soulful, and incredibly diverse and playful, Sol Invictus isn't Angel Dust and it isn't The Real Thing, but it's something in between – a uniquely eclectic entry in the Faith No More catalog that remains interesting and intoxicating right up until its last breath. The sonic architecture of Sol Invictus is designed to amaze, and it leaves lasting memories of melodic grandeur, schizophrenic vocal treatments, swirling keyboards, rhythms constantly pushing and pulling back, and guitar riff conflagrations. Translated from Latin, the title of the album supposedly means "Unconquered Sun." That's as apt a description of this record as any ever written.

Anthrax on the verge

Changing singers on the fly in hopes of 'Spreading The Disease'
By Peter Lindblad

Anthrax's "Spreading The Disease"

Neil Turbin's days with thrash-metal titans Anthrax were tumultuous to say the least.

Tensions between the band and its lead singer in the early- to mid-'80s were always simmering and threatening to boil over. In late summer 1984, the divorce was finalized, leading to a search for a new vocalist.

For a brief time, Anthrax hitched its wagon to former Skid Row singer Matt Fallon. Carl Canedy knew the shotgun marriage wasn't going to work.

"After a week of working with him, he just wasn’t cutting it," said Canedy, drummer for '80s metal hellions The Rods and an executive producer on Anthrax's Armed and Dangerous EP, as well as their classic Spreading The Disease album. "He wasn’t the right fit for the band. And I told the band to get to this next level, this isn’t the guy who’s going to take you there."

Most recently, Canedy was involved in overseeing an archival release of material from his overlooked, pre-Rods band Kelakos called "Uncorked: Rare Tracks From a Vintage '70s Band." An East Coast '70s act whose classic-rock sound had more in common with Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Santana and the Allman Brothers than the Judas Priests and Black Sabbaths of the world, Kelakos wouldn't survive long, their music perhaps too diverse for a major label to stomach.

In the mid-'80s, Canedy was part of a team trying to shepherd Anthrax into major-label stardom. He believed it was only a matter of time before they broke it big.

"Having worked with a lot of bands, and having gone through the process of wanting to be signed to a major label and what it takes and how focused you have to be, I saw that in spades with them," said Canedy. "Those guys were laser focused and super talented. I remember telling (drummer) Charlie (Benante), 'You’re going to be a Modern Drummer guy. People are going to fall in love with your playing."

Anthrax had a lot going for them, especially with manager Jon Zazula, aka Jonny Z, in their corner. The founder of Megaforce Records, Zazula was consulted about the issue with the lead vocalist. Quickly and decisively, a decision was made.

"I told the band, and they said, 'Get Johnny on the phone,' and I called Johnny Z, their manager and record label [guy], and I told Johnny what was up, and he said, 'Put the band on the phone,'" recalls Canedy. "And they went into the conference room, and five minutes later, they put me back on the phone with Johnny, and he said, 'He’s over.' He said, 'I’m putting him on the bus.' And that was it, and they made that decision. They were doing their third record, and there was no singer. It was incredible … it was as brave a move as I’ve ever seen, but they knew. They understood what I was saying, and they did it."

Through friends, Canedy was able to help Anthrax find Joey Belladonna, and the rest was history. "And he came in and it was just a great fit," said Canedy. "I mean, we knew right away he was the guy."

Anthrax - Armed and Dangerous

Still, the Anthrax camp didn't want to throw Belladonna into the deep end right away, according to Canedy. "Well, Armed and Dangerous was really an EP, and it was done rather quickly and for product for them," remembers Canedy. "And so it was kind of a transition record with Joey in the band. It was them trying to gel. It kind of got them a sense of who they were with Joey, so they could make the album, Spreading the Disease."

To Canedy, the die was cast. Anthrax was well on its way to becoming part of thrash's so-called Big Four, and Spreading The Disease put them over the top. Canedy could feel it was Anthrax's time to go to the next level.

"Absolutely. Yeah, we were seeing things happen," said Canedy. "Major labels were paying attention. Jonny had, by that time, Metallica, who was doing very well. Anthrax had already done very well. And then, it was just clear that this was the album that was going to get them to a major label. And we knew that. We were focused on that. We were focused on making sure we were going to get them to that major label."

Mission accomplished, as Spreading The Disease was released on Oct. 30, 1985, through Megaforce Worldwide/Island Records, and the unhinged single "Madhouse" was unleashed. Belladonna wasn't the only newcomer, as Anthrax also brought bassist Frank Bello onboard to replace Dan Lilker. Anthrax's classic lineup was born, and soon they'd break free of the thrash-metal underground.

Anthrax Metal Gods Ian, Benante and Bello Have More to Offer at the Auction Block

Benante, Bello and Ian - The Anthrax Triangle

The inseparable triangle of Anthrax -  Ian, Benante and Bello - have once more raked through their closets to put some historic Anthrax gear and collectibles in the hands of their fans.

There is no denying that Anthrax is and probably always will be one of the top collectible metal bands around. From guitars, drum heads, stage worn attire to promo items, passes, picks and sticks, fans and collectors snatch up Anthrax memorabilia – regardless of price or age, it simply doesn't matter.

Partnering with Backstage Auctions, Scott Ian has selected no less than seven historic tour and album recording used guitars that will make you go all 'Air Ian'. From one-of-a-kind 'Zombie' and 'Dharma' guitars to unique prototypes such as the infamous Murder Weapon and Urban Camo.

Ian's Concert Used Custom Designed 'Zombie' Guitar

And if winning one of his guitars wasn't enough...the winning buyer (+1) will be invited to meet Scott Ian "anywhere, anytime" on tour. You will get the opportunity to meet Scott, take pictures with him, have him sign your memorabilia and be treated like a true VIP!

Benante's Stomp 442 Drum Kit

Charlie Benante is parting with something that he has never done before - his supply of coffee! Of course we're kidding - but his complete 'Stomp 442' Kit is no joke. Used for the entire album recording, as well as the subsequent two-year world tour, this kit is of 'Rock Hall' worthy proportions. 

And if the kit is too much for you (or your neighbors), no fear, as there is a great selection of used drum heads, sticks, stage worn shirts, tour itineraries and an impressive collection of vintage laminated passes. Charlie's original artwork for the Dimebag Darrell tribute deserves special mention - and a special place in a special collection of a special fan.

Frank Bello completes the offering a cool memorabilia with tour used shirts and shoes, a signature bass guitar and a highly collectible, classic Anthrax line-up signed lithograph.

Bello Signed Signature Bass Guitar

The Rock Gods & Metal Monsters Auction will be live from June 20th – 28th with a special VIP Preview that starts June 13th. If you are not registered for your All Access Auction Pass, rock on over and sign up today – it takes just a minute and there is no fee to sign up.

Link: All Access Registration

Follow Backstage Auctions on Twitter and Facebook for auction highlights before, during and after the event. 

Backstage Auctions’ Rock Gods and Metal Monsters 2015

By: Pat Prince, Editor of Goldmine Magazine

On June 20, Houston-based auction house Backstage Auctions will begin its annual Rock Gods and Metal Monsters Auction. Consisting of memorabilia from iconic rock ‘n’ roll artists and the heaviest bands on the planet, the Rock Gods and Metal Monsters Auction is as interesting and rock solid as any annual music auction there is.

Gene Simmons body armor from the KISS Psycho Circus tour.

Goldmine asked Backstage Auctions owner Jacques van Gool a few questions about the upcoming Rock Gods and Metal Monsters Auction, which runs June 20-28 (special VIP preview June 13-19) and will feature over 1,000 hard rock and heavy metal auction lots. 

GOLDMINE: Why and when did you decide to make the Rock Gods and Metal Monsters Auction an annual event?

JACQUES VAN GOOL: Well, let’s see, this is our fourth one in four years, so 2011 was the first time. The reason why is multiple; it’s a lot of fun, we’re very comfortable handling “all things” Hard-Rock and Heavy-Metal and most importantly, there is a growing number of collectors who wants Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer over Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead and the Beach Boys.

GM: In your opinion, what artist is a perfect example of a ‘Rock God,’ and then a ‘Metal Monster’?

VAN GOOL: Ha, that’s a interesting question. When I think of a Rock God, I’m visualizing a music icon with universal reach and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame level accomplishments. Actually, that might not be such a good answer because the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is hardly the yardstick for what’s relevant, but figure of speech…think KISS, Ted Nugent, Steven Tyler, Angus Young, Eddie Van Halen, Rob Halford, Lemmy etc.

Metal Monsters are the guys and girls who are the gorilla glue that keep this metal community together. They all are and have been carrying the metal torches and flags for decades and they are the ones who have written and performed the metal anthems that so many of us grew up with; Scott Ian, Dave Mustaine, Gary Holt, Alex Skolnick, Lita Ford, Mike Portnoy and so on. Not surprisingly, we have many Metal Monster consigners!

GM: How is heavy metal becoming the new genre to collect?

VAN GOOL: For starters, I think it’s an age thing. Right now the most active demographic that collects are people, mostly male, between the ages of 35 and 55, who grew up on music from the 1980s and 1990s. Setting aside a few big pop stars, those were the years of heavy metal, hair metal,

Paul Bostaph (Slayer) gloves, sticks and drum head.

thrash metal, industrial metal, grunge rock, as well as the early days of nu-metal. The other reason is that ‘anything’ rock and metal has always created a more fanatical crowd due to the whole counterculture element. The metal genre has created – and continues to create – a high level of loyalty. Once a metalhead, always a metalhead. Combine that with the graphic element of metal – something that is exceptionally strong and important, and you will find a community that expresses their love for ‘their kind of music’ through t-shirts, patches, buttons, fashion, posters, vinyl, etc. Even if you don’t care for metal, you simply can’t deny the cool factor. Do you want to hang a poster of a weepy dude with an acoustic guitar on your wall or would you like to see Manowar getting ready for battle? Next…!!!

GM: Are other ‘80s genres coming to the forefront of collectibility?

VAN GOOL: Not as strong but I certainly see potential for (British) New Wave and Synth-Pop (New Order, The Smiths, The Residents, Kraftwerk) and Post-Punk. Clearly 1980s Pop – or at least the A-list – has already been collectible for quite some time now, such as U2, Madonna and Prince. It would be nice to see those genres grow in collectibility, albeit that I don’t believe that it will happen in the same way and format as selling 1960s and 1970s collectibles.

Lita Ford (second from left) wearing her famous black cat suit from the early Runaways days (see on display below, left).

GM: Talk about some of the highlights of this year’s Rock Gods and Metal Monsters Auction, and why.

VAN GOOL: This is such a hard question, simply because I think that most of everything that we

Lita Ford's black cat suit.

have in the auction is special, no matter how large or small. There is Lita Ford’s famous black cat suit from the early Runaways days, or a fully-signed bass drumhead from the first ever American show of Venom in New York. Mike Portnoy and Charlie Benante both are offering a complete drum kit – which is a first for both of them, but then we also have a multitude of impressive guitars from various rock stars. You can bid on Marilyn Manson’s tour-used army hat, Tommy Lee’s drum sticks, Stephen Pearcy’s microphone grip or Gene Simmons body armor from the Psycho Circus tour. And speaking of KISS, we have the ‘oldest known to exist’ fully-signed promo photo which is a museum piece all by itself. There are hundreds of backstage passes, guitar picks, autographed items, record awards, tour shirts and jackets…the catalog is not for the faint of heart.

GM: There seems to be a growing amount of ‘gear’ at music memorabilia auctions nowadays. Do you find that collectors are usually musicians themselves when collecting musical gear?

VAN GOOL: No, not really. I mean, sure, a good number will buy amps, cabinets, road cases, microphone stands etc. to actually use and enjoy, but I know that there is an equally large number of people who simply buy gear for display purposes. I have seen people turn road cases into coffee tables, storage bins and even cabinets and book cases. These days an amp or cabinet makes for an equally attractive piece of decorative furniture than for example a birdcage or a fake bamboo plant. And it’s a better conversation piece too!

Lita Ford case, featured in the auction.

GM: You just had a distinct metal auction with Rex Brown of Pantera. Will there be more Pantera memorabilia available from this auction?

VAN GOOL: Yes, there will be a few more pieces. There are about 10 lots from Rex in this auction and another equal number of items coming from other consigners, such as some passes, picks, itineraries, record awards, etc.

GM:  Are the artists usually easy to work with? Do they ever go through separation anxiety after the commitment to auction off personal possessions?

VAN GOOL: I don’t know if ‘easy’ is the right word but I personally have been able to build very good relationship with all our metal consigners. Two things you have to know; metal artists are known to have to do a lot on their own and most had to build their band (and brand) from the ground

Rare Scott Ian (Anthrax) guitars, set to be auctioned. 

up. In other words, for the most part they are self-sufficient and generally knowledgeable about the business side of things. The other element is that metal artists generally have a very strong bond with their fans. They are very comfortable with exposure and don’t hide behind a bodyguard who will whisk them to a blacked-out limo. So, if you can speak their language, understand their drive and history and most importantly, be honest, you’ll end up doing just fine.

GM: What is next for Backstage Auctions after the Rock Gods and Metal Monsters Auction is over?

VAN GOOL: Vacation, R&R, trips to the reflexologist, kicking in a dent in the 100 or so saved shows on my DVR and maybe even a nap or two. After that we are getting ready for a ‘one-of-a-kind’ auction on behalf of a former British photo agency with tens of thousands of negatives from the 1960s and 1970s U.K. Rock & Pop scene, as well as a Classic Rock & Pop auction later in the year. Meanwhile, we’re also looking at a few ‘stand-alone’ auctions for some A-list clients…METAL clients that is!

The Rock Gods & Metal Monsters Auction is set to go live on June 20th. A special VIP preview will start on June 13th. To get your All Access VIP Auction pass visit the registration section here: VIP Access

#RGMM2015

Decades of Music Memorabilia Takes Center Stage in the 2015 Rock Gods and Metal Monsters Auction

This year’s Rock Gods & Metal Monsters Auction is going to be one of “the” auction events of the year and if you haven’t signed up for your All Access Auction Pass you will definitely want to do so after reading about the artists and type of items featured in the auction.

We have an impressive group of notable hard rock and heavy metal artists who have cleaned out their storage lockers and personally selected each item that will be featured in the auction. 

 

The headliners include; Alex Skolnick (Testament), Paul Bostaph (Slayer), Dave Mustaine and David Ellefson (Megadeth), Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), Stephen Pearcy (Ratt), Scott Ian, Charlie Benante and Frank Bello (Antrax), Rex Brown (Pantera) and Lita Ford (Runaways).

Additionally, the auction will showcase memorabilia featuring AC/DC, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, The Cult, Cheap Trick, Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses, Judas Priest, Kiss, Linkin Park, Marilyn Manson, Metallica, Motley Crue, Motorhead / Hawkwind, Ozzy, Poison, Slipknot, Van Halen Rob Zombie and loads more!

Whether you collect guitars, amps, pedals, gear, drums, record awards, stage worn attire, picks & sticks, signed memorabilia or vintage crew and tour t-shirts & jackets, tickets & passes, itineraries, photos, posters, promotional items – there is something for everyone’s taste and budget.

Of course we have a few special highlights including; an amazing collection of artist owned and used guitars, drum kits and gear, impressive array of rare and unique artist signed items, an absolute stunning collection of original RIAA Record Awards and a vast selection of tour memorabilia including itineraries, passes and apparel.

The auction will be live from June 20^th – 28^th with a special VIP Preview that starts June 13^th. If you are not registered for your All Access Auction Pass, rock on over and sign up today – it takes just a minute and there is no fee to sign up. Link: All Access Registration

Follow Backstage Auctions on Twitter and Facebook for auction highlights before, during and after the event. 

#RGMM2015

BACKSTAGE AUCTIONS - A boutique online auction house specializing in authentic rock memorabilia and exclusively represents legendary musicians, entertainment professionals and entities. Every auction event is unique, reflecting the artist's legacy and chronicles their legendary career.

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Talking Motor Sister with Scott Ian, Pearl Aday

Husband-and-wife duo reveal how project evolved
By Pat Prince and Peter Lindblad

Motor Sister is Jim Wilson, Pearl Aday,
Scott Ian, Joey Vera and John Tempesta

Motor Sister's first-ever LP Ride was released a few weeks ago, but the buzz hasn't subsided.

The first week of its release, the record, containing fiery reworkings of songs by '90s retro-rock underdogs Mother Superior, Ride clocked in at #9 on the Billboard New Artist (Heatseekers) chart. It also debuted at #12 on the Billboard Hard Music Albums listing and #40 on the Billboard Rock Albums chart.

The story of Motor Sister began a long time ago, when Anthrax's Scott Ian started a love affair with Mother Superior's rip-roaring mix of '70s classic rock, blues, soul and blazing proto-punk.

For his 50th birthday party, Ian had a wish, and his wife, Pearl Aday, made it come true. Desiring nothing more than to be part of a band that would play his favorite Mother Superior songs, Ian got to live out his fantasy, thanks to his wife, as he got to play those songs alongside Jim Wilson.

It was Wilson who served as front man and the main songwriter for Mother Superior. The trio broke up in the early 2000s. More recently, Wilson has partnered with Aday in the making of her solo material. Given the chance to revisit his old Mother Superior catalog, however, Wilson jumped at it.

Playing in front of a small audience of friends and family, Wilson, Ian, Aday and the rhythm section of Armored Saint and Fates Warning bassist Joey Vera and drummer John Tempesta (White Zombie, The Cult, Testament) thundered through a set handpicked by Ian. Word of the raucous, powerful performance reached Metal Blade Records, and plans to make Ride, recorded in only two days, were set in motion.

This doesn't appear to be some one-off side project for any of them. Ian and Aday talked to Backstage Auctions recently about their involvement in Motor Sister and their adoration for Mother Superior, a band that may be finally getting its due.

Pearl, I wanted to talk about Jim Wilson for a bit. You first worked with him on your solo music and his solo music, right?

Pearl Aday: Not on his solo work, no. That was all Jim, but in terms of my stuff, Jim and I wrote all that together.

A tour may be in the works for
Motor Sister, when band members
can find the opportunity to do so.

How did you and Jim meet? How did that collaboration start?

PA: We met through Scott, because Scott knew him already by the time I met Scott. And so Scott introduced me to Mother Superior music and then introduced me to the guys. And I think I became a really big fan of the music first and then had met Jim and the other guys a couple times and then Scott surprised me by inviting the whole band to my birthday party one year. And this was a long time ago, and it was just awesome, and I got really excited, and throughout the night I mentioned to Jim I said, “What would you guys think about working with a female vocalist at some point?” I got the balls from somewhere to ask him that, and he said, “Sure.” And then it just kind of started falling into place. We started getting together and writing together.

And then you’ve covered Mother Superior songs on your solo material. “Whore,” on the Swing House Sessions, it’s a real nice country-blues rendition of the song.

PA: Uh, huh. Swing House Sessions was like an acoustic version of a rock album Little Immaculate White Fox, so “Whore” is on the rock album as well.

Oh, I haven’t heard that.

PA: Yeah, that’s a full rock album. It’s got heavy rock songs on it. And then the Swing House Sessions is the acoustic version of that album. But yeah, we did it, we did a cool little country version on the acoustic album. That was fun.

It just shows how Mother Superior songs can work with hard blues, hard rock and acoustically as well.

PA: Yeah, totally versatile. Jim’s music is completely versatile, because he’s drawing from all different genres.

And Scott, performing during your birthday celebration with Jim must have sparked that this was some special thought in your head. No?

Scott Ian: Yeah, it definitely did. Just even going into it, it was something special that I wanted to do. Not just even for me, but for all of us, just to get to be a part of that and kind of play that music again. Nobody had heard those songs in a live element for years, so it was just a case of having fun but with people who really love Mother Superior. Just to get together in the jam room at our house and just have fun doing it; that was really the impetus behind the whole thing. We weren’t going into it with any plans past that. Everything that came after that is just, you know, “Merry Christmas.” But the initial thing was, “Let’s just play these songs and have some fun.”

And Pearl, were you a part of that, too?

PA:  Yeah, I threw the party for him. I got the band together, and I sang that night, as well, because I’m in the band.

Well, your voice blends together with Jim’s nicely. You can hear it on “Fork in the Road” on the album. It’s a natural pairing.

PA: Thanks, yeah, we do sound really great together and we work really well together. It is very natural and organic for us.

And you guys recorded the Motor Sister album in two days, right?

PA: Yep.

Motor Sister's debut album 'Ride' 2015

SI: Yes.

Pretty much straightforward live, just like the birthday gig.

SI: Yeah, well, that was just one of our few things we said to the label was basically just, “If we’re going to do this, we have to do it the same way we did it.” That’s the way it should be, and I talked to Jay Ruston about it. I said, “Can we do this? Can we just set up live in the studio and bust it out the same way we did at our house?” And he said, “Yeah, absolutely. You guys all know the songs. You don’t need to do anything else.”  It was that easy.

And Jay is the engineer, the producer?

SI: Yeah.

Oh, okay. He’s worked with you before on with Anthrax and stuff, right?

SI: He’s worked with Anthrax, he’s worked with Pearl, he’s worked with Jim, he’s worked with Mother Superior. Yeah, he’s been involved with all our stuff.

And the spontaneous live feel, he captured something magical on the Motor Sister album. A lot more bands should do that, just go right through the songs, instead of all the overdubs and stuffs.

PA: You’re saying more bands should try and do that.

Yes, exactly.

PA: Some bands can’t do that. I don’t … You know what I’m trying to say, Scott.  Just for us, it came really easy, because it came from this night where we threw this party, and we were just doing it to have fun. And we were just doing it to have drinks and make this music come alive again and hear the music live again and celebrate Scott’s 50^th birthday. And it kind of fell into place, the fact that it was so great and it was so exciting, and it was so good that this record company, Metal Blade, was like, “Dude, we’ve got to make an album of this. It’s too good for everybody to not to hear it.” So that’s why we were able to. It just happened so fast that it just kind of … it was natural. Not kind of … it was natural in how it happened, because it’s that good. And so were able to go into the studio and make an album in two days.

I was reading some stuff of Jim doing interviews and he said he overdubbed on Mother Superior’s albums to get a dual-guitar feel. And with Scott, here you have that dual-guitar feel on Motor Sister naturally. And I think he was very pleased with that, that it was a live feel.

SI: Yeah. I mean, yeah, it is, because we’re both playing. It is two guitars playing at the same time; so he’s not overdubbing. So, of course, it would be a live feel. 

But it was something special, the overdub This sounded a lot more more authentic and exciting and energetic.

SI: Yeah, absolutely. Two guitars just gives it that much more energy. Certainly having my playing on the songs is just going to change the energy of it as well. It’s a different band playing these songs, so it’s definitely going to feel different.

Did you find you had to use a different guitar technique or anything playing this rather than an Anthrax song?

SI: Nope, I just play how I play.

As somebody who doesn’t play guitar, I know it’s a silly question to ask. Some people have mentioned that this album is metalizing Mother Superior. I don’t see that at all. I see it as putting a new coat of paint on a race car. It’s just making it shine better and faster.

PA: That’s a cool way of putting it. I like that.

SI: Yeah, it’s not … we didn’t "metalize" it. I don’t hear that. Metalizing it would have meant me having, let’s say, my own tone that I would use to record an Anthrax record, which I certainly don’t. Yeah, I played with much more of a rock tone than I ever would on an Anthrax record. So I wouldn’t say it’s metalizing it at all.

Did you use different guitars?

SI: I used one of my Jackson signature models for about half the record, and then I used my Gretsch Duo Jet for about half the record.

Maybe that’s the question I should have asked. It’s not technique. It’s that you used different guitars or amps or anything to get that hard rock sound.

SI: No, it was just a matter of dialing the game back. My amp can get any tone I would ever need, just by changing the gain structure on the head. My Randall, all I have to do is pull the gain back and I can be as clean sounding as Malcolm Young or as distorted and heavy sounding as my normal Anthrax recordings.

This is nothing new for you, recording music outside of Anthrax. Out of all the outside material you’ve recorded, is this one of your favorite projects?

SI: Yeah, for sure. It’s not like I ever recorded anything with anybody that I don’t like (laughs). What would be the point of … “I’m going to record on something I hate.” That’s not something I’m out there trying to spend my time doing. Yeah, I’ve enjoyed, whether it’s S.O.D. or the Damn Things or the stuff I’ve done with Brian Posehn and now Motor Sister … I just love music, and when I get to be involved in projects outside of what I do with Anthrax, it’s most of the time with friends. I go back with every one of those things that I mentioned basically happened because of friendship, from S.O.D. on through. Anything I’ve done outside of Anthrax are hanging out with guys friends who also play music and are into music and we inevitably start writing songs together or play together, or jamming together. So, anything I’ve done outside of Anthrax is just because what I naturally do anyway. So it just adds more … it’s like having a whole bunch of different foods to eat instead of one food all the time.

I guess I asked because sometimes you hear musicians say when they do an outside project, they think it’ll be great, and once it’s done, they feel like, “I never want to do that again.” But with this one, it feels special. It feels like it comes from a special place because you were a fan.

SI: Yeah, it’s certainly different from anything I’ve ever done. You know, all the stuff I mentioned, all the stuff I did obviously I was involved in the songwriting. Whereas this is essentially me having this idea to just have a party and play a bunch of songs that I love that were written by Jim Wilson with my friends. And then we made a record of it. Essentially, I’m playing a bunch of cover songs, but a bunch of cover songs from a band that I love and now actually we made a band out of it and I’m actually in the band with Pearl and Jim and Johnny and Joey, because Jim was like, “Yeah, let’s do it.” When we got the offer to make the record, the phone call actually came to us, to Pearl and I. And I said, “Yeah, I want to do it, sure. But you need to ask Jim. It’s not our decision to make. This is Jim’s music.” And he was totally into it, and he was totally into making it a band and playing shows. It’s really his thing. That’s what does make this special, that in a lot of ways, it’s just me getting to play a bunch of songs that I love. Like, what if I just said, “Hey, one day I’m getting a band together to play AC/DC songs and somehow get Angus Young to play along and go out and play AC/DC songs with Angus.” That’s the same thing to me, getting to do this with Jim. That’s how cool it is.

And then Jim’s voice has a very Paul Rodgers’ feel to it. It has a hard blues soul to it. And did you find playing with him that any traditional hard-rock influence seeped into this album when you were playing it?

SI: Well, I’m not sure what you mean, because the songs were already written.

Well, I know they were already played, but did you find that influences from the past – like hard rock bands you were into, whether, and I’ll just throw some out there, Foghat or any of those ‘70s bands – did you feel some of that seeping in, as well as Mother Superior?

SI: Well, yeah, Mother Superior obviously is influenced by a lot of ’70s music, whether it’s Humble Pie and Free, or whatever. You name it. Me, KISS and Aerosmith … name a great ‘70s band and Mother Superior … Thin Lizzy. Jim always says it best: In the ‘90s when people were listening to grunge and rap metal Mother Superior were playing songs that sounded like Humble Pie. That’s probably why people weren’t paying attention.

You take a song like “This Song Reminds Me of You ” … I almost feel like if that song was played on a classic-rock radio station, listeners would be drawn to it, don’t you think? It has almost like a Bad Company feel.

SI: Absolutely. Given the opportunity, I think people would … I defy someone to listen to … if you’re into rock ‘n’ roll, rock, metal in any way, shape or form, I defy you to not get into this record. It’s almost impossible. I can’t tell you how many people we’ve spoken to who’ve never heard Mother Superior before until now, because of the Motor Sister record, and have gone out and bought a bunch of the Mother Superior catalogs. So, it’s what we’ve been saying for ages, that this is a great band and Jim is a great songwriter, and if this opens the doors to more people getting into the music he’s been making his whole life, that’s awesome.

That was my next question. I think this is definitely going to turn people on. I mean I’d never heard of Mother Superior either before this, and I’m going to go out and buy some albums. And I just I find it weird that I’d never heard of them (laughs). It was very strange that the band could be overlooked by so many people. It’s almost unjust.

SI: Yeah.

PA: That’s why we did this (laughs). That’s why we did this. Like I say on the featurette, it’s just too good for people to not hear. And people are going to love it just as much as we do. They just don’t know it yet. They’ve got to hear it, and then they’ll go, “Aaargh,” just like you did and say, “I can’t believe I haven’t heard of it before, you know?” I mean that’s why Scott wanted to, in essence, resurrect this music again for his 50^th birthday. That’s a milestone, you know? And that’s the thing he wanted to do: “I’ve got to hear this music live again, because this band I love them so much and they’re defunct, but let’s give it life. Let’s bring it to life again. So that’s why we did it, because it’s so awesome (laughs). And it shows in the way it’s being received now. We’re just so lucky that things fell into place the way they have, because we get to keep playing it live, you know what I mean? We don’t have to make it a special occasion. It’s sort of like, “Wow! We were right. Everybody is loving this. Everybody’s going to love it. And just more and more people get to hear it, and we get to play it for them. It’s so cool.

Yeah, and there is an appetite for retro-sounding stuff now. You can look at …

PA: The real old stuff – something genuine, something authentic, something with some talent. It’s something that people are hungry for, I think.

Look at a band like Rival Sons. They’re very traditional, and bands like that … you almost think if Mother Superior came out now would they be more popular?

SI: Yeah, that’s an interesting question. Or if they would have existed in 1972 or ’73, would they have set the world on fire. I mean, you could think about that all day long. Let’s see. We are putting out a record now with all these songs on it, and certainly there’s been no lack of promotion or awareness of what we’re doing. The word is out there. So it’s a case of, people getting an opportunity to hear it, they can click online or stream for free before they decide whether or not they actually want to purchase one … you know, they don’t even have to worry about buying a record that they may not like. They can listen to it first, and then see how rad it is and then decide, “Hey, I need to own this.” So I would think it’s a pretty good time to put this record out. Granted, people don’t buy records anymore, but still, from just the point of view of people wanting to hear a record like this, I definitely think it’s a good time for it.

Yeah, Jim had a great quote about this album. He said, “We were a little ahead of our time or a little behind our time.”

SI: Right.

PA: And now they’re getting a second chance.

Yeah, exactly … which song on the album are you guys most pleased with?

PA: All of them (laughs).

SI: Yeah, I mean I picked my 12 favorite Mother Superior songs initially to do this party, so those were my 12 favorites. So I don’t pick one out of those 12. Those are the 12 that were my favorites, and then even more. It wasn’t too long after we made the record, one day Pearl was playing Mother Superior in the house and the song “Rollin’ Boy Blues” came on. And we were both like, “What? Why didn’t we do this song?” So you just … it would probably be easy to pick another 12 songs (laughs) and do Vol. 2, but I would think moving forward, we’re going to try and write our own music out of this lineup. And maybe do “Rollin’ Boy Blues,” too (laughs).      

I was going to say, this can’t just be this one album. You’ve added something to that old Mother Superior sound. Why not an album of originals?

SI: Oh, absolutely. We’ve all been talking about it and it’s definitely something we want to do. I think this lineup, getting together in a room and banging out some songs can only be awesome.

And you’ve got a superior rhythm section in Joey Vera and John Tempesta. That sounds great on the record by the way. Those two together also sound great.

SI: Oh yeah, they rule. Just the idea of us writing songs together, kind of getting in that room for the first time, we have some awesome riffs that we’re jamming on, I’m looking forward to that.

How did you get them to commit? It’s almost like a supergroup? They have a lot of things going on.

SI: I didn’t have to do anything. Joey has already been a Mother Superior fan forever. Joey’s actually produced Mother Superior stuff in the past. Joey’s been playing with Pearl and Jim together in Pearl’s stuff together forever. And then Johnny, all I had to do was send him Mother Superior songs. He heard the music, and he’s like, “How, when and where?” So it was literally that easy.

Do you think if you did do something else, they’d commit to that as well?

SI: Oh yeah, they’re already in.

Even a tour?

SI: Well, a tour is something we’d all commit to. It’s just a matter of finding the window to commit to it. Yes, of course. But as far as a tour goes, we’re kind of waiting on some schedules to firm up with all of us, with our day jobs, so to speak. And as soon as we know what’s going on in those worlds, then we’ll be able to pick a window or two of time where we might be able to go out and do more shows. I mean, we really want to get over to the U.K. I think a week or two-week run in the U.K. with this would be amazing and certainly get out and play through the Midwest through Milwaukee and Chicago and Detroit and all those areas, I think it would be awesome.

So, what’s next? I know you have a lot going on now, Scott. You’re wrapping up Anthrax, you’re wrapping up the new album?

SI: Not wrapping up. We’re right in the middle of it.

Oh, you are. Okay. So you’re doing that, and what’s next for both of you? Pearl you’re working on solo stuff?

PA: Yeah, Jim and I have actually been working on an album for a while now, and we’re almost finished. We’ve got I think nine songs and we just decided to add two more, which we’ll be recording soon, so that’s really exciting and something to look forward to. It’s not hard rock. You know, our last album Little Immaculate White Fox was hard rock and the Swing House Sessions, and this is rock and roll, but it’s sort of more like The Eagles. We’ve been calling it “California country,” but it’s rock and roll, how that term is used. I know people don’t really know that term anymore, but we do (laughs) and we made a rock album, but it’s just not particularly hard.

Well, you have a very Janis Joplin soul to your voice, so I think that would sound really good in that Eagles sort of … add that country blues and make it heavy – that would be really cool.

PA: Thank you.

To read our review of Motor Sister's Ride, go to http://backstageauctions.blogspot.com/2015/03/cd-review-motor-sister-ride.html. Visit the Motor Sister page at the Metal Blade Records site to learn more about Motor Sister here. To get the inside scoop on the making of Motor Sister's Ride album, check out the video below:

Take a 'Ride' with Motor Sister

Jim Wilson talks new super group
By Peter Lindblad

Motor Sister is Jim Wilson, Scott Ian,
Pearl Aday, Joey Vera and
John Tempesta

Motor Sister is up and running, putting its own spin on the songs of versatile '90s groove-mongering rockers Mother Superior, a particular favorite of Anthrax's Scott Ian.

Jim Wilson is as amazed as anybody at how this project has taken shape in such a short time.

"To me, it’s a blessing," said Wilson, the frontman and main songwriter for Mother Superior, an L.A trio that smartly mixed '70s classic rock raunch and swagger with blues, early punk and metal. "A year ago, I didn’t know that I’d be doing this. I already started recording my second solo album, which I’m still working on, but I was just planning on doing more Daniel (Lanois) stuff and taking everything as it comes, but now I have this kick-ass band … crazy."

It was Ian's 50th birthday wish that started the ball rolling, as the Anthrax guitarist wanted nothing more than to get together with Wilson and some like-minded musicians, including his wife, Pearl Aday, and put on a small concert at his house playing a set list of Mother Superior songs. They were joined by bassist Joey Vera (Fates Warning, Armored Saint) and drummer John Tempesta (The Cult, White Zombie, Testament).

Aday has worked with Wilson for years on her own solo work, and she placed the call to Wilson to make her husband's dream a reality. The buzz from that performance spread, with Metal Blade Records A&R man Mike Faley seeing the project's limitless potential and arranging for a new record from the burgeoning super group. Working with producer Jay Ruston, the patchwork outfit cut an album in a matter of days, taking the schematics of old Mother Superior songs and redrawing them with a renewed sense of vigor and energy.

Motor Sister in the studio

Hitting the streets this week, Ride comes on like a powerful, addicting drug, with fiery anthems like "A Hole" and "Fork in the Road" mingling with the Southern-rock sunshine of "This Song Reminds Me of You" and the dark mystery of "Devil Wind" in a powerful concoction.

Since leaving Mother Superior, the band having once backed former Black Flag singer Henry Rollins, Wilson has worked with Lanois – the U2 producer – and Emmylou Harris, as well as Pearl, and he took time out recently to discuss the making of Ride and Motor Sister's creation in this exclusive interview. Wilson will give his views on a few of the songs on Ride in an upcoming post. And we'll have more from Ian and Pearl in a later interview.

The new album is great. Where are you at with promotion of it?

Jim Wilson: Thanks so much. Well, we’re very excited about it. I mean, that’s the reason I’m waking up late today is because there’s been lots of celebrations. There’s just a lot of excitement in the air, and it’s been really cool. We shot two videos last week, and we just got the first rough print of it yesterday of the first video, and it looks so cool. We’re changing a couple of things. It’ll be out in like a week or so, though, right when the album is ready.

Any hints on what the videos involve? Are they performance videos?

JW: Yeah, they’re performance videos … dark. They filmed us recording every song when we were actually recording the album, so the idea that they had some videos coming from that and that’s where that “Fork in the Road” video came from, and we liked it, but it was just kind of … we were so concentrated on recording in the video that we’re just kind of standing around, you know what I mean? We wanted a video that shows more of what we’re actually like when we actually play, so we’re thinking about those old Van Halen promo videos and KISS when they would do those three promo videos and they’d be on a stage and it looks like they’re in concert, but it’s just a well-lit performance stage, like a rehearsal stage, is where we did it at, but it looks really cool. It’s dark, and it’s kind of a scary effect. It’ll be cool. We’re a scary band, so … (laughs)

Motor Sister - Ride 2015

Tell me about jamming with Scott for the first time. In what ways did it remind you of the Mother Superior days and in what ways was it different?

JW: Yeah, well … I’ve met with Scott through the years on different projects, so we’ve played guitars together a lot. Even when his wife, Pearl, who’s in the band also, when she did some touring on her own through the years, I played guitars and Scott played guitars, and once in a while we would play actually play a Mother Superior song with Pearl singing. So we used to play “This Song Reminds Me of You” with her and we’d play “Four,” that was on her album as well. So it didn’t seem completely out of the ordinary, because we’re all friends and we hang out and play KISS songs in the living room anyway, but the very first time we played together, the day before Scott’s party, just in rehearsal, it definitely reminded me of the beginning days of Mother Superior, where everybody just kind of unleashed this animal in the music. And it hadn’t been that way for a long time with Mother Superior.

I mean, we hadn’t played together since 2008, but even in the last few years of the band … we grew up, so the music kind of grew up, too. I’m not saying the music wasn’t good. It was just a little less chaotic and John Tempesta, the drummer, was the only person in the new band that I had never played with before. So, I knew that he was into it, and I knew that he loved the music, and I knew that he wanted to play it, but I didn’t know what it was going to sound like. He definitely brought the wild spirit back to the music, and it felt so good. It had been a long time since I’d looked at the other band members and kind of smiled when we finished, you know what I mean? And obviously one of the main differences is Mother Superior and this band is a five-piece with two guitars. I always wanted to be in a two-guitar band. We just never found the second guitar player in Mother Superior. One of the reasons that we remained a trio was because we had tried a few other guitar players in the beginning, and it just didn’t worked out and we always ended up with three guys just jamming together, so it just kind of stuck that way, but it’s so nice to have all those extra meaty guitar parts taken care of by Scott. It’s kind of like … I just got the reissues of the first three Thin Lizzy albums on vinyl, and they were a trio. The first three albums they were a trio, and then, when they got the two-guitar lineup with Scott Gorham after that and Brian Robertson, it’s kind of like that. The trio is a great thing, but it’s a little more open and everybody can kind of experiment a little more, and with a full piece, with two guitars, bass and drums, it just seems to … even though we might be louder, because there’s an extra guitar, it still seems more together because everybody’s trying to balance. When you’re in a trio, you can kind of overplay and everybody can play over the top of each other, but when you’ve got four, it’s a better balance I think.

Talking about Pearl and Scott, when did you first meet them and when did you become aware of their Mother Superior fandom?

JW: The first time I remember meeting Scott was I was staying at the Palladium for an old radio station, KNAC, in L.A. that’s not there anymore, but they had an anniversary or a birthday party kind of thing for the radio station, and Anthrax played and Skid Row and Rollins Band, which I was playing in at the time. And there might have been another band or so, and there were tons of people there, like Paul Stanley was there, Wayne Kramer was there. It was a real party situation, and I know we had just put out the Get Some, Go Again Rollins Band album, the first one that we did with Henry, and I know Scott was talking to me and raving about the album, and how much he loved it. And then I would see him coming to shows over the next few years – local shows, I remember seeing him and Pearl come to Denver when we were on tour once, and we would say, “Hey, the guy from Anthrax was at the show again last night,” that kind of thing. And then eventually, somehow, we were invited to a birthday party that Scott had for Pearl years and years ago, when we still had our original drummer, Jason Mackenroth, who’s not in the band. And we met Pearl that night.

We were introduced to Pearl for the first time and talked about writing some songs together. And that was the very first night I really talked to Scott and talked about … I always talk about KISS, because that was something we all had in common and that we could all talk about. Anthrax has always been kind of KISS related and covered KISS songs, and I knew they toured with KISS before, so it’s kind of like, “Tell us about Paul Stanley?” You know, that kind of thing. And from then on we just started hanging out and going to bars and going to dinners, and me and Pearl have written – I don’t know – probably 25 songs together for her projects over the years. And she has a new album that’s almost ready now, too, that pulls the whole thing together. So, we’re definitely no strangers. We go to rock concerts together, like we all went to see Elton John and the Rolling Stones. And we’re just friends, so the band thing just seemed like … that’s another way that it reminds me of the early days of Mother Superior, because it’s just friends hanging out that wanted to play music together, before all the frustrations and stuff that comes along with being in a band for over 10 years. So it feels good to call your bandmates your friends. (See a featurette on Motor Sister below)

Looking back on Mother Superior, before all this started with Motor Sister, what did you see as the band’s legacy and were you satisfied with the work you did and how the band’s career progressed? Or is there a sense that there’s unfinished business there, and that this fulfills that?

JW: Yeah, unfinished business sounds good, and this is definitely something already more people are responding to the music than it seemed like … we always had hardcore fans that kept it going, and I’ve always been proud of the music. We put a lot of work into the music. I would spend … I wrote all the lyrics, and all the guitar … basically, I was the main songwriter for the band, who put everything together, and as a singer, I always wanted to have complete control of the lyric part of it, because if it was coming out of my mouth, I wanted to at least be able to relate to it. So I’m proud of the songs in that way. When we had to go back and recreate these songs, it was nice to know that they held up and that I could remember all the words, and that at least they all rhymed and I could remember them (laughed). And I don’t know … as for what happened with the band, I think that we gave it everything that we had and it just kind of ran its course. After eight to 10 albums, whichever way you look at it – there’s actually 10 albums of original material, one was kind of a demo CD and the final one was somewhat of a compilation, but it had new material on it as well – but I think, at that point, we all wanted to do something different, and to me, it didn’t seem like doing something different should mean changing the band, or the sound of the band or the image of the band just because of 10 years of starting to repeat, which I’m glad it didn’t get to that point.

But I think as much as we wanted to produce the music more and try some different things, it was kind of like you don’t … people like the idea and sound of Mother Superior, so we don’t want to change that or all of a sudden add keyboards or put a string section on it. It’d be like if Motorhead said we’re going to have a string section from now on. So it just seemed like the time was right to get some fresh air away from it, and like I said, I mean, truth be told there was a lot of frustration from the band members who couldn’t understand why we never got a break or, “What should we do to try to …?” I mean, when there were quote-unquote band meetings, we could all talk about what was wrong, but I think that it was more about the industry and the way things were going, and I thought the band had went through a lot and got to do a lot and had some great opportunities, and it’s just that was the time. You can’t kind of fake it anymore. I mean, bands fake it all the time, but it just felt the time was right to take a little breather. I really had no idea I would play these songs again. I mean, I never say never, but I didn’t know it would be this soon and with a different group of people.

You guys played the party for Scott. How did it go and did you think at the time that this project had a life beyond that day?

JW: Definitely, we … again, I didn’t know John Tempesta that well, and Joey Vera … Joey had done some stuff for Mother Superior in the past as well. He had mixed and mastered some of our records before, so Joey was always kind of involved and around. I mean, I knew everybody were great players, but like I said, when we first played together, it was kind of like, “Wow!” This sounds really great. And then after the party, we definitely said, “Let’s do something. Let’s keep playing together, because it sounds so good.” But, it was because of a friend’s call to Metal Blade Records that got them aware of what happened, and then when they stepped in and said, “Will you make a record the same way that you did the party, with the same songs from the party?” From the day of the party, we knew we were going to be playing together more, but I didn’t know it was going to be that quick and that a record would be ready that quick.  

When did the idea of making a record with Motor Sister take shape? What was it about the project that excited you the most?

JW: Well, Jay Ruston, who produced the record, is another person from the past who used to come to see Mother Superior all the time, and I remember after a show at the Roxy, he said, “There’s only one way to record this band, and that’s to record it live off the floor, with everybody playing together,” and we kind of said, “Let’s make that happen one day.” And funnily enough, Jay had been working with Anthrax, and he was around, and he’s also been doing a solo project that we’re working on, and it just almost seemed like it was meant to be. Like, here’s that time I’m going to get to work with Jay Ruston, so it’s going to be the best sounding record I’ve ever done. And Scott chose all the songs himself for his birthday party, so they were his choices, but I thought he had a great mixed bag of songs. It wasn’t just all the super heavy stuff, and then we kept the arrangements loose so we could … I told the guys play whatever you want. Don’t try to feel like you have to play what the other guys played, and everybody stuck to the blueprint of the original songs, but added their own flavor to it. John Tempesta played some double-bass drum stuff that none of the other drummers ever did, and Scott changed up some of the arrangements, like “Head Hanging Low” has a part on it that he really liked that only happened once, so we made that happen twice.

We changed some intros … things like that. So I knew it was shaping up to be the best recordings that we had, but it wasn’t until after we had actually recorded it – and when you’re recording, especially in the situation that we did where we’re all playing live together and looking at each other in a circle, you don’t know how it really sounds until you go back in the other room and listen to it. And even that … until Jay started sending rough mixes of the stuff did it really hit me like, “Wow, this sounds really great.” And I don’t know if I ever really felt any pressure from the old recordings or anything, but I definitely felt when I started getting those rough mixes that this is like way more powerful than the original band. And again, nothing against the original players, it’s just this is kind of like a different level and this band is all adults that have been playing music for a long time. Mother Superior’s energy was definitely a bit of punk rock youth, and nobody was listening to us or giving us a chance, so we could be the loudest, most raucous band, you know what I mean? So that was kind of the idea, and we kind of got better as players just from gigging all the time. And now I just feel that we’re all at a level where we’ve all been on the road for the last decade or so, doing different projects and playing music. 

You talked about not knowing what it would sound like, and you only knew it was working until after you heard it, but you made the record in only two days. Did you feel as it was happening that you were only going to need two days to make this or …”

JW: Yeah, I did, and I have to thank Jay Ruston for that, because he kept everything straight because we knew we had two days, so to have that person kind of … a taskmaster telling us we had to get this done and then keeping track of, “Oh, we need to do a solo on this one,” or the beginning of “Devil Wind” had acoustic guitar and stuff – he was always on top of it. And we had a film crew there filming us recording, who were grabbing each member into the other room to do interviews and our friends were there … you know, it very chaotic and we had a lot of work to do. So then, me and Pearl sang live with the band at the recording, but Jay said we could go to his studio and do extra singing if there was anything that wasn’t 100 percent for it. So we went to Jay’s home studio a week later, just me and Pearl, and I was going to try and sing like half the songs in one day and just see if I could top things or whatever. And it was such a good vocal day we ended up re-singing all 12 songs in one day, so the album was actually recorded in three days, two days for all the music and then one extra day for the vocals. But again, it was pretty magical. That’s the place we’re at nowadays, that my body let my voice scream out 12 songs and I didn’t lose it. I just feel like we’re that much more mature as players and singers.

It seems like this band came together really quickly, that it was just kind of a natural fit with you guys. It seems like a natural chemistry developed.

JW: It is. It is. It’s so funny. I’ve told this story, too, but it’s such a funny story. We played our first show in New York two weeks ago, and I’ve been in so many situations playing in bands and it’s very strange to be in the company of your band and there’s no weird feeling. It just feels like we’re ready to go, it’s just us five. I’ve said it to the guys before too, like when we’re all five together, it feels like somebody’s missing, because it’s just too easy. What I was going to say was, we played the show in New York and we played an encore song, and we were completely done, and I turned around to put my guitar down and shut my amp off, and I heard talking and I looked and John Tempesta had gotten up from the drums and he went to the front of the stage and he introduced the band. He said, “Thank you everyone for coming. Scott, Pearl, Joey, Jim and … “And he came up to me backstage and said, “I hope you didn’t mind that. I don’t know what came over me.” I said, “No, it felt great!” It was heartfelt, you know what I mean? It wasn’t him trying to do anything. It was just like he felt the need to say, “Thank you,” because it was such a warm reception. I can’t wait till we play the Whisky A Go Go in two weeks. Two weeks from today, we’re playing our next show, and I’m going on tour with Daniel Lanois tomorrow for a week with him. His album came out last year, and we toured the States already, and now we’re going to do some shows … we’ve got a few more shows in the States, but then once we gear up … So I’m going out for a week with him, and then I come back and we play the Whisky as Motor Sister and we have a few other Motor Sister things before the end of March, and I’m going out again with Daniel for April and the beginning of May, and Scott is going out with Anthrax at that time, and then we all get back together in June and do some shows for the summer. So we all have crazy schedules and we’re all in different bands, but we’re all eager to play together as much as we can and keep it fun and easy. 

I don’t know if people will be talking about it as much as the band as a whole, but the vocals you do with Pearl really add something to the record. You two have worked together for a long time. Why does it work so well between the two of you?

JW: I don’t know. I don’t know. It’s been that way for a while. We realized years ago that we could sing really well together, and her older material from her first album was more heavy rock, so I didn’t have as much place to be on it with her, but on the new stuff we’ve been recording, it’s definitely more harmony music. It’s definitely a little more … it’s more mellow, but it’s still rock. It’s more like country and Rolling Stones or Eagles or Gram Parsons kind of stuff, and it’s just some weird thing. There’s just certain people that your voice works with. I’m kind of that way with Daniel Lanois, too. We’ve been singing together now for a long time and people think we’re brothers. Like people will say to me, “Are you Daniel’s brother?” because we learned how to blend our voices, and it’s the same with Pearl.

She just has the exact range that goes right above mine, and it really helps with Motor Sister, too, because we had some background vocals in Mother Superior, but it was more like dudes trying to sing high and do that, but she’s the real deal. She’s a great, powerful singer, and I’m glad that not only does she get to do the harmony kind of stuff on her record, but I’m glad that people will get to hear her kicking some ass, too, with this stuff. And you know, for me it’s a … like in New York, we did our show in Brooklyn and then the next morning we had to do some acoustic songs for a web site there, so we got to bed at 2 in the morning after the gig and then we had to get up and be at the place at 10:30 in the morning, so my voice was still waking up. Thankfully, Pearl can help me get through some of those mornings, too. So it all goes together, and she’s great. And she doesn’t want to sing more. I tried to get her to sing more, and she said, “I just wanted to be in the background in Motor Sister. You’re the singer in the band.” And we’ll do some new songs for our second album next time and get her to have some sections that she can sing on some songs. I’m looking forward to that.