Page 52 - ION Indie Magazine November December 2019 Issue

The current version of the band has focused on recording material that you
previously started rather than developing new studio recordings. Do you foresee new material
coming from the band, and if so, in what form?

A lot of the music we wrote in 1978, but we added lots of new sections. For example, “Sky Pilot” I wrote in
1978, but did not like it. It was ok, but not finished. Ryche switched it around and wrote the music for the
verse and it became “SkyWriter”, which I love. I see lots of music coming from this band. We have only
scratched the surface.

What do you think are the strengths of this particular lineup?

We get along great and everybody has input that is listened to and we always try to see if it works in a song
or elsewhere. The solo in “SkyWriter” became known as Kendall’s piece and a change in “Drifting”
became Randy’s piece. That’s what makes the band strong - because we get along great, musically and
personally, and we respect each other.

How do you think die-hard fans will react to Ryche standing in Roye's shoes?

I think they will love Ryche. He plays multiple guitar styles and his acoustic rhythms sound like Roye and
he fills the part Roye played very well. “Devils Door” was an old 1974 song we played back in the day, but
never finished it. We wrote lyrics for it and got it ready to record. While we were getting ready, I realized
that Roye’s introduction guitar sounded great. I suggested starting off the song with it, which was
enthusiastically received by all. It became a great piece of music and the beginning vocal even sounds
like Roye.

How would you like to describe working on “The Other Side”? In what way did you guys feed on
each other’s creativity?

From the very start we fed off each other in every way. Piece by piece, we put it together and it grew
better than we all thought it could be. The album will be out in January and a single “SkyWriter” backed
by “Devils Door” will be out for ProgStock.