BRUNO ROCK
Questions asked by Jon Wilde, added to Rock Realms 24th August 2009.
Bruno Rock is an Italian heavy rock band led by Bruno Kraler. They have a new album out soon, War Maniacs, that's been generating a good deal of interest. We thought it only right to catch up with them and get the full story.
Founding member Bruno answers questions on behalf of the band.
Hi, thanks for taking a moment to answer these questions. Hope you are well?
Bruno: Hi, all my thanks to you Jon. Yes everything is quite good here right now :-)
What originally inspired you to get into music?
Bruno: ....Oh...I think it was AC/DC with TOUCH TOO MUCH.., this is the reason I decided to record a "cover version" of that song for my new album.
Have you always been a rocker or do you dabble with other genres?
Bruno: I'm open for every kind of music...but all my love goes to rock & roll.., heavy metal, AOR and Melodic Rock!
How did Bruno Rock come about?
Bruno: Well, I was lead singer and guitar player in a german based band called DARK SKY...after some years of touring with them I decided to turn back to my hometown in Italy and I started my solo project.
The band released its first album in 1994 and then had a gap until 2002. What happened in that time?
Bruno: Ohhh... it was such a long gap? :-) ... basically I was involved in some other projects outside of the music field and I didn't got time to write new songs for my project.
You're first release was and Italian language album. Why the change to singing in English? Was it purely a commercial reason to help sell records in other markets?
Bruno: The italian language album was still an experiment to see if there is a market for something like this in italy.
Did it work, or is English language rock bigger there too?
Bruno: Sadly, I discovered that there is no market for melodic hard'n'heavy with Italian vocals in Italy....., there is a big market for POP oriented projects like Eros Ramazzotti or NEK..but that's really not the stuff I like to do....so I turned back to write songs with English vocals.
You've released a couple more albums since then. How did you come to work with musicians like Rachel Bolan (Skid Row) and Alex De Rosso (Dokken), and producer Michael Wagener (Accept)?
Bruno: I contacted Michael a couple of years ago for recording and production, he liked my stuff...and so we went to realize the "Interaction" album together. I did some parts here in Europe and Mike did the other parts in Nashville....so in fact he was responsible to call in the musicians to lay down the bass guitar tracks, some backing vocals and of course ..the final mix. Rachel Bolan and John Billings are deep friends of Michael..so he decided to use both on that records. Alex De Rosso is a friend of mine...so it was really easy to get him for the lead solo parts.
Latest album War Maniacs is out soon. How does it compare to older work?
Bruno: ...I think it's a more mature record, really band oriented..and with some very cool songs. I have to deeply thank all the musicians that helped me to realize this CD...because they are really kick ass guys.
How did the recording go? Was it a quick painless process or hard work?
Bruno: ..It was really painful and a long long work..but finally i'm happy with the result...!
Any favourite moments or tracks on the album?
Bruno: My personal faves are BREAKTHROUGH and LIAR...and I can't wait to play them "live on stage".
Can you tell us about the line-up of Bruno Rock nowadays? Did you use session musicians or do you actually have a full band?
Bruno: Well, Brunorock is a sort of big music family...so I have musicians that usually play on my records (Bobby Altvater / Dominik Huelshorst / John Billings) and others that go on stage with me. ...another big name in this family is Alessandro Del Vecchio...he is the main man behind the extraordinary keyboard arrangements on WAR MANIACS..and of course one of my greatest friends.
Who produced the album?
Bruno: I did it by myself from scratch to end.
Do you plan to do any touring on the back of this release?
Bruno: ..There are no plans for a tour right now. It's really difficult to get the possibility to play LIVE...and I do not have the money for a "pay to play" supporting job.
Any plans on coming over to the UK?
Bruno: My keyboardist is in the UK from time to time because he plays with EDEN'S CURSE and other famous acts....so.. maybe, we can do something together in the future.
Do you go to watch much live music yourself?
Bruno: YES..I love LIVE MUSIC.....next gig on the plan..is MR.BIG in Munich.
Who would you list as your big influences/favourite bands these days?
Bruno: Mike Slamer is my all time favourite...I love all his projects..and I think he is one of the greatest guitar players ever.
What are your top 5 albums of all time?
Bruno:
SLAMER - NOWHERE LAND
DEF LEPPARD - PYROMANIA
HARDLINE - DOUBLE ECLIPSE
AC/DC - HIGHWAY TO HELL
EUROPE - OUT OF THIS WORLD
What does the future hold for both you and the band?
Bruno: Record - play - record - play - record :-)
What are you up to once you've finished answering these questions?
Bruno: Oh....I still have to go work, I'm the director of a movie theater...so it's really funny for me.
Anything else you would like to mention?
Bruno: I want to thank you for giving me the chance to do this interview....and of course I want to thank all the people out there for the big support during the last years.
Thanks for your time :)
War Maniacs is released in the middle of September. Check back on Rock Realms for a review nearer the time.
http://www.myspace.com/brunorock
