Page 36 - ROCKNATION ISSUE 27

Held Hostage
PAGE 36 ROCKNATION ISSUE 27

Photo by RCN Photography

Hello Held Hostage and welcome to Rocknation. Congrats to your latest release titled “EPIC”. EPIC currently is in the selections round for
Grammy nomination. Please tell us about that.
Thank you Rocknation for having Held Hostage in your magazine. It is such an exciting time for this band. In August 2020 I received and email asking for
verification, copyrights and links to Held Hostage Epic Album and specific songs . It was from the Grammys. They said Our new record was up in 13
different submission categories. Epic was up for Rock album of the year. Lighting was in two categories, Best Metal song of the year and Best rock record
of the year, I’m all over you best rock performance of the year, Tonight’s the Nite (dedicated to Bon Scott) was up for best Rock performance of the year
and best Rock record of the year, Turn the Light On best metal performance of the year and We’ll Rock for you Best Rock Performance of the year.

You recruited Tim Ripper Owens (Judas Priest) to sing all 12 tracks. How was the recording process working with such a monster vocalist?
What was it like hearing him sing your songs for the first time in the studio?
It was a great honor to have such an iconic vocalist sing our whole record. My manager John Pettigrass AEM (Artist Event Management) introduced me to
Ripper. I spoke to Ripper on the phone and he said send me some samples and I will be in touch. He listened to Lightning and called back and said yeah
this is something I can get my teeth into. This was his first Hard Rock record he had sang and said it was so different he loved it. When we first heard his
tracks we were all just speechless. He had did such an incredible job. He was amazing to work with. I produced the whole record myself. As a producer
everything I asked him to do he did. Not only did he do it the way I asked but he did three and four part harmonies. This record Epic came through with
the true sound of Held Hostage.

In 2019 Held Hostage had direct support for Metal Allegiance during The Namm Show in House of Blues in Anaheim, Ca. What was the
reaction from the crowd for that?
Rocking the Namm Show was a once in lifetime experience and being direct support for such a super group like Metal Allegiance, was a dream come true.
From the moment we took the stage the crowd went wild. It such a great feeling from first song to last song they truly loved the band. I remember starting
the first song and seeing a few of the guys from metal allegiance watching us and by the time we finished they were all standing side stage cheering us
on. People like Dave Ellefson, Dora, Mike Portnoy, to name a few . The best part was leaving the stage and having them all high five us and their manager
grabs my hand and says I would pay to see you guys . You Rocked.

You have had some big name heavy hitters work with you, please name some of them.
Yes it has been such a great experience being able to work with what I can only describe as rock royalty. Tim Ripper Owens (Judas Priest) Joe Lyn Turner
(Rainbow,Deep Purple) Ross The Boss (Manowar, Ross The Boss Band, Dictators, Death Dealer) MIke Lepond (Syphony X, Death Dealer, Ross the
Boss) Freddie Villano (Quiet Riot, Dee Sniders Widow Maker) Carl Canedy (The Rods, Canedy) Scott Columbus RIP (Manowar) Marc Lopes (Ross the
Boss, Let Us Prey) Giorgio Mongelli (Ethan Brosh). I can say working with this rock icons elevated the band and helped shape the future of Held Hostage.

What plans do you have for the rest of 2020 & 2021?
We released Epic Jan 17 2020 and we had a big tour planned but the pandemic hit and cancelled everyone’s tours. We were able to play a huge outdoor
sold out concert this past August 8 2020. We did a honor your healthcare workers and first responders concert. Many magazines called the show historic.
It feature Special guests Tim Ripper Owens singing, Ross the Boss playing guitar, Marc Lopes singing and we played the whole Held Hostage record
Epic and a few fun covers. To see former members from such Iconic groups Judas Priest, Manowar Let Us Prey and Held Hostage share the same stage
together. Was Historic. At the end of the show Ross the Boss and myself (Tom Collier) went at it fighting it out dueling guitars matching each others riffs.
When we finished the crowd roared to their feet and gave standing ovation. We are currently in the studio doing many new projects including.1. A new
acoustic version of my hit song show me the way back home with Joe Lyn Turner singing and Mike LePond (Symphony X) on bass. 2. A never released
before EP featuring fifty perscent of Manowars biggest lineup. Scott Columbus (Manowar) Drums, Ross the Boss Guitar, Marc Lopes Vocals, Myself (Tom
Collier) on Guitar and Scott Gregg on guitar. Before his death Scott Columbus went in the studio with Held Hostage and recorded
this EP. 3. A new Held Hostage Record we are working on pre-production now and starting to record
it in November 2020, 4. 2021 We will be out on tour rocking the nation and then hopefully heading to
Europe.

Thank you for taking time for this interview and any last words to the fans?
Thank you Rocknation for this great interview. I would like to say Held Hostage has many exciting
projects going on including a great new full time lineup Tom Collier Lead Guitar/Vocals, Scott Gregg
Rhythm Guitar/Backup Vocals, Dave Carroll Bass Guitar,/Backup Vocals, Jeff Murray Drums and we will
be introducing the world to our new full time incredible singer Jon Gorman. #HHROCKS #EPIC

http://www.heldhostageband.com/

https://www.facebook.com/HeldHostageBand/