MICHAEL MONROE Glam-Slams Toronto!

HANOI ROCKS legend MICHAEL MONROE brought his solo band to The Mod Club in Toronto in support of the big blonde’s killer new album, Sensory Overdrive.

“It’s more of a band record,” explained Michael, pre-show and post-sound check, with regard to the slamming new record. “There’s a great band in it, and it’s got no covers, just cool new songs, and we all share the same vision in the band. Really, I think it’s one of the best ones I’ve done, if not the best one.”

No argument here, particular highlights for this writer being ‘All You Need’, ‘Bombs Away’ first single ‘78’ and the “autobiographical” ‘Trick Of The Wrist’, a personal favourite of Michael’s on the album, as is ‘Got Blood’ for its “machine gun vocal.”

“I like melodic stuff,” adds Michael, addressing the mix of churning hard, punky rock with rootsy material reminiscent of the NEW YORK DOLLS (after all, there are two present-day Dolls in Michael’s band – Sami Yaffa and Steve Conte). “We had some good writers in here, working with GINGER (ex-WILDHEARTS; no longer a touring member) and Steve and Sami. I like melody. It’s high energy rock ‘n’ roll, for sure, but I like to have melody too. I like all kinds of stuff… ‘50s rock ‘n’ roll, ‘60s rock ‘n’ roll, from Little Richard to… but the punk thing was a good kick in the ass. Really, that attitude… that’s what the ‘78’ song is about: the spirit of punk.”
 

What did you like so much about punk?

“The energy and the attitude. It was a kick in the ass and it really shook up all the old, complacent, boring, rich rock stars living in their castles and doing their self-indulgent things. A lot of bands just started up, not thinking they were good enough at playing, but they got into it and got into the playing for the right reasons. The lyrics were saying something more as well.”

What makes Sensory Overdrive feel like a particularly important Michael Monroe solo album is the presence of big shot producer Jack Douglas, of AEROSMITH fame, who has given the band a robust, explosive sound

“He was into the stuff,” begins Mike. “He liked the demos we sent him and he wanted to do it. He didn’t try to change anything for the sake of changing it. The stuff was pretty well put together. He had great arrangement ideas, and he lived with the band in the same house we were recording in, and he got to know us and that’s a great attitude for a producer. So yeah, he was very good to work with. He let things be that didn’t have to be changed and like I say, he had some really good suggestions for arrangements. But yeah, Jack got the idea of what we were doing – we spoke the same language.”

Back to the rock-solid writing of the thing, specifically the record’s timeless riffs… “We had Ginger involved very much from the last record, as well as Steve and Sami, but we haven’t really started writing with this new lineup, together. I mean, Dragan replacing Ginger happened this June, end of June, so we’ve just been playing gigs so far. We have some ideas and stuff but we haven’t got into writing the next album. Ginger decided that he wanted to spend more time with his kids. He’s got a four-year-old kid at home, and he wanted to do his solo career more, but that doesn’t mean he’s not going to write with us. We agreed that we are still going to write together in the future. But we’re just playing live shows now. Like I say, we’re not writing right at this moment.”
 

Hopefully an increased number of perhaps lapsed Hanoi Rocks and Michael fans will get out there and hear this record, in studio version and performed live – the label behind the man certainly agrees that Sensory Overdrive is worth the drive…

“Yeah, we’re signed to Universal Finland, plus the UK office as well,” notes Michael, in closing. “The guy in Finland, the head of the label, was really determined. He said to our manager that if anybody else offers you anything, anything they offer, I’ll offer you more. Don’t even think about it. We want you. Which is of course a great thing to hear.”