It’s wonderful to meet you, Keith, even by mail!!!
We miss you because STEELHOUSE LANE was a great band and we enjoy always the 2 albums. Well, many thanks for your answers and my congratulations to the band!!!
Alessandro DEL VECCHIO Chris LYNE Keith SLACK Zacky TSOUKAS Frank BINKE
1. Can you give us a short view of your musical career, we only know you grace to STEELHOUSE LANE and MSG?
Keith: Thank you Franck for all of your support and interest in me and the band! I started at the ripe age of 4 playing drums. I later won a drum contest sponsored by Pearl drums, Tico Torres of Bon Jovi & Hit Parader magazine at age 18 by doing a drum solo. I moved to Los Angeles from Texas at 20 and continued to play drums with several prominent musicians and bands until 1995. At that time friend Dave Marshall (Vince Neil) asked to give singing a try and do some shows with him. That was a great experience because I got to work with the best musicians around L.A. including Greg Bissonette, James Kottack…etc…
During that time I started writing and singing more original material, which was my focus all along. One of my best friends DeWayne Barron was living with James Christian (House of Lords) when Mike Slamer asked James if he would be interested in singing some of his back catalog that the labels were begging for at the time. James wasn’t available to do the project and referred me to Mike and the rest is history. How’s that for a short view? lol
2. How did you decide to create MOTHER ROAD and the surprise with Chris LYNE, the german guitarist from SOUL DOCTOR?
Keith: I didn’t decide. Chris was looking for a singer to start a new band after Soul Dr. ended. His close friend in the music business, and now our manager Birgitt Schwanke, told Chris about me and mentioned Steelhouse Lane. Chris did not know me from Steelhouse Lane, but later realized that I must be the same guy who sang with Mudpie, a band of mine which was bootlegged all across Europe without me even knowing it for years.
It’s funny because that was my first effort at singing and writing, and it was basically a rough demo recording.
Birgitt called and connected Chris and I and the vibe was great. We both had wanted to write and record the music that really inspired us and that we had deep down in our bones.
3. Can you tell us your process of composing because I suppose Chris was not in America all the time? Who is the producer?
Keith: In the beginning Chris would send me musical ideas and we would go over the parts and arrangements over the phone or email. I would come up with lyrics and melodies and cut vocals in my studio in Austin and exchange them back and forth via the internet until we got them right.
That was still pre-production really, because when we got together in Berlin we blazed through the songs rather quickly and had a lot more vibe. The things we added and songs we wrote together in the same room really have a more special sound to them. We really have a GREAT chemistry. Like no other writing team I’ve been involved in in the past.
4. As we all know MOTHER ROAD is another name for historic Route 66 highway, your musical attract for the 70’s musical era is increase by this choice isn’t it?
Keith: Yes. I LOVE the 70’s! The best rock music written to date in my opinion happened from 1967-1981. The mid to late 70’s were full of incredible and prolific songwriters. That’s what I strive to be more than anything, is a songwriter. I am not trying to be the greatest singer of all time, nor am I that foolishly narcissistic to think that I could be. I have listened to some of the “so called GREATEST singers of ALL time” and thought to myself…. Man! If they just focused on the song writing and stopped over singing every damn thing it would be awesome. When there’s no real soulful connection with the listener because you’re trying too hard to convince them you’re the greatest, then you’ve wasted your time.
5. Why have you change your musical aspects with MOTHER ROAD, because we know you with STEELHOUSE LANE and MSG, bands which brings melodic rock flavors and it’s completely different with Drive? Was it a long awaiting project for you to change directions with 70’s musical blues influences?
Keith: In Steelhouse Lane, I started off as a musician/singer for hire. I was basically paid to sing Mike’s songs the way he wanted me to sing them. Don’t get me wrong, Mike was great at letting me interject my own style and feeling into the music, but for the most part I sang the songs close to the original versions unless he wanted them different. With Slave of the New World I was able to interject even more of my own thing and write some too. However, back then I was still pretty green, young and finding my own voice.
MSG was a great learning experience for me as far as live shows go. I really loved singing some of the UFO songs as well as the Lief Sunden MSG song the most because they were more vocal oriented songs. Playing with Barry Sparks and Shane Gaalaas was the highlight of the whole experience. That and meeting my now long-time friend and guitar badass Vinnie Moore. Which I might add has taken UFO to the next level! Vin Man RULES!
6. How did you meet Alessandro DEL VECCHIO and how did you convince him to join you in MOTHER ROAD? It’s a real surprise for us!
Keith: Yeah, I can’t take credit for that, as much as I would like to…lol. Ale is a great keyboard player, singer, producer that does it all and does it well. Ale had worked with Chris in the past and Chris asked him if he would be interested in playing with us. Somehow we got lucky and he said Yes ;)) I am very happy to be in a band with Ale! You don’t meet too many players that are not only as good as he is, but also hear the way vintage B3 and Leslie is supposed to sound. He’s got it down!
7. I don’t want to forget the 2 other members drummer Zacky Tsoukas and bassist Frank Binke, give us please their attraction for the band.
Keith: Chris again had worked with both Zacky and Frank in previous projects. I am the lucky one in this whole band because everything just kind of came to me and I didn’t have to go looking for guys that would do it. Zacky is a drumming monster! He has great hands and a really good feel to his playing. Frank is a monster too! He’s played all around the world with the best bands on the planet. I’m honored to play with them both.
8. Can you describe us your way of singing, it’s obviously different from what we know from you, is it for more difficult than singing melodic rock?
Keith: With Mother Road this is the way I sing and the person I’ve become. It’s been years since Steelhouse Lane and MSG and all of that stuff. I am right where I am supposed to be right now. I don’t practice different ways of singing to sound a certain way or copy any certain singer. What you see is what you get. I don’t have a pretentious bone in my body. I don’t give a shit about what any music critics or bullshit people have to say about what I do. I’m the same guy whether I’m at the bar having a conversation with a stranger or on the stage belting it out. What you see is what you get. A true native Texan!
I have sung other styles of music and maybe those sound a little different. But if you’re using your ears and you know my voice, you will always know it’s me. Regardless of influences and styles, I will always be ME. That’s the one thing I can’t change…LOL
That’s why I don’t mind being compared to other singers that I grew up with. Of course those inflections are going to be there blended in with my style. You can hear all of the blues greats like Blind Lemmon Jefferson in Plant’s style and so on…. I myself and we as a band are NOT trying to re-invent the wheel. Only trying to keep it on the ROAD. ;)
Chris LYNE
9. What do you think about your music impact in USA and Germany and in the world? Do you think it’s a great revival for this kind of music?
Keith: I think that Europe and Japan will always be more loyal to our kind of music. Like I said earlier, it’s what we grew up with and it’s ingrained into our souls. I think that there is definitely an audience for it in the States; it just takes an act of Congress to get them to wake up and notice. The problem with the U.S. is that a lot of people don’t want to have to think for them. They would rather just be told what is good and what is not. I never understood this whole SHEEPLE (Sheep people) concept. I think that it came about when vinyl went out and CD’s came in. Unless you’re opening up for ZZtop or the Eagles, it’s hard to be a bluesy classic rock band starting out. Not impossible though. At least our generation still pays for music and doesn’t just download it for free. Well, not all of them anyway..lol
10. Tell us your projects for 2014, have you planned to promote Drive in USA and in Europe by a tour? And do you already think to the next album?
Keith: Chris and I are about to get started on the next CD. I don’t have all of the answers as far as touring goes yet, but would hope that we have a chance to play as much as possible and gain as many fans as possible.
Would love to see all of you out on the road soon!
I think we will have to call the first tour “ONE FOR THE ROAD!” and then in abbreviation we will have to add: “And let someone else Sober Drive please!” …lol
Cheers!
Keith
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