Page 22 - ISSUE 24

PAGE 22 ROCKNATION ISSUE 24
ANGELS

IN VEIN

Hello Chris and welcome to Rocknation.
You just dropped a new track a cover of
Don’t You (Forget About Me). How did
you pick that cover to record?
Thanks Tom, Love the magazine! It’s
actually the strangest thing, sort of a
great minds think a like scenario. I’d
been thinking about covering something
by a different artist for quite a while but
it’s a really tricky balance. You have to stay true to the original artists vision for the song while being able to bring something new
to the table. Otherwise there’s just no point. Just like everybody else, I’ve been hearing that song on the radio for years and it
would resonate with me. Still, while I was listening I’d think. What if they did this or changed that? That’s when it hit me. This was
a perfect song to cover! I called up Taz and told him what I was thinking and he just laughed. At first, I figured he thought I was
crazy but it turned out the reason he was laughing is because he had just worked up a rough version of that exact song. To tell
you the truth I was pretty stunned! I mean seriously, what are the chances? He sent me what he had been working on the same
day and we went from there. I know that I’m biased but I think we nailed it! It’s one of my favorite things we’ve ever done.

Your band shot a couple videos at Danny Koker’s - Desert Moon Productions Danny is famously known for the Counting Cars TV
show. How did you line up that?
Actually, using Danny’s place was originally Stacey Blades idea. Danny has a rehearsal studio here in Vegas that’s kind of a catch
all. It serves as a rehearsal room, recording studio and a large green room for shooting video. It’s actually part of the same
facility where Danny has his car museum and shoots a lot of the show. Since I was paying for it Stacey put me in touch with
Stoney Curtis. Stoney not only runs the facility but he’s also a brilliant guitarist. that plays in Count’s 77 which is Danny’s band
and is featured regularly on the show. Stoney and I hit it off right away and became friends. In fact, we became friends with all of
the guys in the band being as we have a lot in common. All being from Michigan and the surrounding parts. They’re all a great
very down to earth bunch of guys. As a band we were there a number of times but the videos you’ve seen we’re all shot
simultaneously in a single day. Afterwords I took home the raw footage and handled all the post production myself. I spent so
many hours in front of the computer I nearly went blind LOL!

Here is a fun fact Danny is from Michigan like you and TAZ, also his bass
player Barry Barnes is from Michigan and he was in my 1st cover band
out of High School 35 years ago. It is amazing how many musicians are
from Michigan do you get a chance to go back very often?
That’s so funny man! As a matter of fact Barry and I were talking about
this. He told me that he actually took you out for your 21st birthday and
got you hammered! Talk about a small world! I think one of the reasons
there are so many great musicians coming out of Michigan (and I’m sure
you’ll agree) is that with all the winter there’s nothing to do but sit in your
room and get good at your instrument. We dream about going to
California to make it big but I highly doubt the guys in California dream
about going to Michigan to shovel snow... As far as getting back to MI.
goes, All my family still lives there so I make a point of going whenever
I have a chance. The problem with that is, that I spend so much time on
the road that it doesn’t happen near as often as I would like.
COUNT’s 77 with Chris and Taz after video shoot.