Page 11 - ISSUE 24

TOMMY PARIS BRITNY FOX PAGE 11
ROCKNATION ISSUE 24

Hello Tommy and welcome to Rocknation. Everybody’s asking are there any Britny Fox shows
scheduled this year?
I don’t believe so. I’m forming my new solo band and we’re planning on launching the new
group this year.

Everybody knows you’re one helluva singer and guitar player but you’re also playing
keyboards in Count 77’s band. Is there anything you can’t do?
I can’t cook for shit. That’s my wife’s forte!

How did you line up that gig?
In 1989, I was negotiating with Mike Varney to sign my band “JILLSON” to his Shrapnel
Records label. I ended up joining Britny Fox in 1990 and never signed with him but we remained
friends over the years. In 1992 I was recording “Bite Down Hard” in LA with Britny Fox which
was produced by John Purdell and Duane Baron who were completing production on Ozzy’s Photo by Tammy Vega
“No More Tears.” Fun time! The engineer on our sessions was Sean Odwyer who has since
engineered for Pink Floyd, Roger Waters and a ton of other great artists. Fast forward to 2014. Mike Varney and Sean Odwyer are producing/
engineering Count’s 77 debut CD at Desert Moon Productions in Las Vegas. They were close to completing all of the tracking but wanted
some Hammond B-3 Organ parts added before they began to mix. Mike and Sean referred me to the band. I went down to Desert Moon
and arranged the parts with Stoney Curtis (Count’s 77 main guitarist) and we got the bits recorded. I went on my way and they started mixing.
About a month later, Danny and the band asked me to join them as a full time member to play the Hammond parts as well as sing the main
background vocal parts at the shows. 3 years later, we’re still performing shows all over the US and Canada. Great bunch of guys and a fun
band to be in!

Now lets dive into your new solo CD. Tracks like “LONG LONG WAY2GO” and “READY TO BLEED,” I could hear those on the next Britny Fox
CD. Did you purposely go for writing in that same style as Britny Fox?
I had no designs or preceonceived notions about what style this new music was going to be when I was writing it. All I knew for sure was
that I wanted the end result to be an album of songs that excited ME first, which is a tall order because I’m really hard on myself and end up
scrapping a lot of the tunes I write. I just set out to write a brand new album of songs that were right to the point; heavy, exciting and fun to
play and listen to. I’d write a few songs and then get in a room with some of my fellow Las Vegas musicians whom I respect and enjoy being
around. We’d crank everything up to unGodly volumes and give the songs a go. If something didn’t excite me, I’d scrap it and move on to the
next song. It was quite an undertaking to accomplish the recording of this CD and make myself happy with it but I must say that when all the
smoke finally cleared, I was pleased with the results. It’s available at shop.tommyparis.com

The track “YOU LOSE” I see a different style on that one, what were your infuences on that one?
I had this riff rolling around in my head for a while. I really liked it. Jamming on it at un-Godly volumes with the other musicians was great
fun! I had just written lyrics about advice my dad had given me long ago and it just started to fit the song when the singing was placed
inbetween the main riff.

Are you lining up any concert dates for your solo band?
Yes, we’re in the process of forming the new band right now with the sole purpose of playing live shows asap.

Have you picked your band members yet?
Yes, I’m excited to say that Johnny Dee from Doro and Britny Fox is playing drums in the new live band!
We’re speaking to some great lead guitar and bass players from known bands as well as some brand new
undiscovered talent as well. We’ll make an official announcement once the lineup is solidified.

What other plans do you have for 2017?
My plans for 2017 are getting my new band formed and out there on the concert circuit asap. I will
continue to play Count’s 77 shows as well. That’s it on my
agenda for the rest of this year.

Thank you for taking time for this interview any last words to
the fans?
I want to thank everyone for buying the CD and downloading
MP3s from shop.tommyparis.com ! Thanks to all the radio
stations for airing it and to the fan’s solid support and great
reception of this new album! People have been giving the
CD really exciting reviews and I’m so grateful for everyone’s
energy; you guys are the best!! I hope to see you on tour
this year, sooner rather than later! ~Cheers!

Photo by Joe Schaeffer Photo by Myglobalmind