MICHAEL MONROE: New Solo Album In Mixing Mode

Michael Monroe, iconic rock and roll frontman and founding member of hugely influential Finnish outfit HANOI ROCKS, recently entered a Los Angeles studio with legendary producer Jack Douglas (AEROSMITH, JOHN LENNON, CLUTCH, SLASH'S SNAKEPIT, NEW YORK DOLLS) to begin recording Monroe's new solo album, due on February 21, 2011 via Universal Music subsidiary Spinefarm Records. The CD will feature a guest appearance by MOTÖRHEAD's Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister and three-time Grammy-winning country/folk singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams.

Commented Monroe: "The recording sessions in L.A. went very well. We worked pretty hard and fast with no days off except for one when Jack had to fly to New York for the John Lennon movie premiere.

"All the recording is finished and Jack is starting to mix as we speak. So I guess you could say that the album is about half done.

"After about three weeks in L.A., I must say it is nice to be back home for a while. Just being able to WALK to get to places is a pleasure rather than sitting in a car every day...

"The jet lag is usually worse when flying back this way and this time it was extremely harsh. For almost two weeks after my return I kept waking up at around 2 a.m. - 4 a.m. and wasn't able to sleep for the rest of the night.

"My broken ribs have healed quite well and I was able to start doing most of my daily exercises again two weeks ago. [Monroe broke two ribs while making a guest appearance during Slash's performance at the Summer Sonic festival in Osaka, Japan in early August. — Ed.] Not being able to exercise for two months kinda threw me off balance, both physically and mentally.

"I was very worried about my vocal performances in L.A. because singing is quite physical after all — and this is one of the most important records of my life. However, the vocals on the record turned out fine in the end. My live performance is another thing, though. I had just about recovered from my jet lag when it was time to leave for Sweden to play in Malmö and Gothenburg.

"I have to admit that those two gigs in Sweden were surprisingly hard for me physically — but, of course, I did my best not to let it show.

"I can't recall going this long without exercising since my early 20s. It also affected my voice in a bad way. Since I didn't feel I had enough support from my diaphragm, I sang too much 'from the throat' and therefore blew out my voice. Not being able to hear myself in the monitors at the gig in Gothenburg didn't help either. Otherwise, the gigs were good and the audiences were very nice. So my voice was already shot before the two Tavastia shows we did on October 16th. I still managed to pull through pretty good somehow. Most people didn't notice anything being wrong with my voice. My dad was at the early show, which was really nice and meant a lot to me.

"Something pretty serious also happened during the first show at Tavastia: Ginger [THE WILDHEARTS mainman and guitarist for Monroe's solo band] broke his foot on stage and now he has to wear a cast on it for about six weeks. It seems that as soon as I had pretty much recovered from my broken ribs this happened.

"Pretty nuts, huh?

"Other than that, the shows were a blast and the crowd was great.

"Thank you, everyone!

"Next we'll play in my hometown of Turku, then we're off to Jyväskylä, Oulu and Tampere. And in November...with MOTÖRHEAD in the U.K.! See you down the road!"

Michael Monroe's brand new live album, "Another Night In The Sun/Live In Helsinki", is set for release on November 1 via Spinefarm. Mixed in Los Angeles by Niko Bolas (whose credits include NEIL YOUNG, FRANK SINATRA, KEITH RICHARDS, KISS, SPINAL TAP and more) and mastered by Grammy winner Richard Dodd (the man behind TOM PETTY and DIXIE CHICKS), the CD — recorded on July 6 at the Tavastia Club in Helsinki, Finland — features key tracks from Monroe's solo career spiced up with selected HANOI classics, some well-chosen covers, plus two brand new, previously unreleased songs — "You're Next" and "Motorheaded For A Fall".