ROSS THE BOSS
Questions asked by Jon Wilde, added to Rock Realms 11th November 2010.
Ross The Boss is the current musical outflow for ex-Manowar guitarist Ross "The Boss" Friedman. With a new album "Hailstorm" out, it seemed a good time to find out more.
Singer/co-guitarist Patrick Fuchs answers questions...
Hi Patrick, thanks for taking a moment to answer these questions. Hope you are well?
Patrick: Hi Jon. We are all fine, thanks!! The work is done, the album is out – it could be worse! Ha! Ha!
Congratulations on the new album Patrick. Does it feel good having another stonkingly loud album out?
Patrick: Absolutely! It’s always a great feeling when an album is done. I mean, all the work you have put in, all the effort, the creativity, the hours in the studio making one take after the other just to get the right sound, then the mix and mastering too. It really feels great having the results of 9 months work in your hands! 9 months – feels like childbirth right?!
Can you remember what made you pick up a guitar in the first place? I presume you’re playing on “Hailstorm” alongside Ross? And, of course, tell us about the singing...
Patrick: Yes, I also play the guitar alongside Ross and I’d have to say that Steve Stevens would be responsible!! It was definitely his playing that made me want to be a guitar player in addition to the vocals. Sorry Ross, but Steve really started everything for me. I enjoyed playing right from day one and although it didn't sound too great in the beginning, I’ve persisted with it and can really see an improvement in recent years!
As for being a vocalist and improving my technique, you never stop, but my approach was totally different: I had always been singing. So it was quite natural to give it a try in a more direct way as the frontman. And I think, I’ve definitely made my way. And still do I. You never stop progressing!
Did you have much in the way of formal training or did you head more down the self-taught route?
Patrick: The guitar playing, I pretty much learned by myself – and from other players of course too. I’ve learnt a huge amount from Ross as well, particularly! When the Ross The Boss band got together and Ross figured out that I'm a guitarist as well, we started doing occasional twin lead work and we use two guitars when writing songs all the time now – so I can definitely say that I have learned and improved a lot by doing that!!
On the vocal side, I started taking vocal lessons a couple of months before my first gig with Ross. It's helpful working professionally on your vocals when gigs get more professional (and demanding!) and studio work gets more important. It's not an instrument where you can put new strings on after all. When your voice is gone, it's gone!
How long had you and Ross been playing when you started joining and creating bands?
Patrick: Now, that's a question I'd like to ask Ross as well! He seems to have been around forever… Ha! Ha! But I know a little of the history, so I’ll do my best with those questions!! When Ivory Night had the band Men Of War – the covers band that was the precursor to the Ross The Boss band – I researched Ross’ career quite a lot and he’s been part of many different bands but I would say it was the Dictators, Shakin Street and, of course, Manowar, that are his definitive bands.
Personally, I’d been playing for about 4 years before I got into my first band. You learn more when you're in a band. Not only how to play but also how to arrange, how to make a band sound like a real band, and not just a bunch of single players.
Ross must have still been very young when he got involved with The Dictators. They must have felt like they were going to conquer the world?
Patrick: Well, yes! Ross tells the story that he was still only 18 years old when he joined the Dictators – and their first album "The Dictators Go Girl Crazy" is hanging in the Rock 'N Roll ‘Hall Of Fame”. They were and still are one hell of a band, actually! I have always found it funny actually that Ross has his Manowar fans and his Dictators fans, and quite frequently, neither of the two sets of people are aware of the other band Ross is famous for!
I wonder how the musical landscape of today compares to back then? How Ross thinks he’d have fared growing up as an aspiring musician in the 21st century, say?
Patrick: Oh, now, as a band, I hear this question many times and personally, it’s really hard to say as all I know comes from stories about ‘the good old days’, when there was a lot more money in the music business and musicians got a lot more respect for their talent. Ross always says that he would hate to be just starting out today. Back in the day when artists were well-paid, they could focus on their music completely. But, today the market is quite rough and you’ve got to think about the future so much more: There are tons of bands – way more than back in the day. And, the world economy is going down, so people can't spend that much money on a luxury like music….. It’s a harder life! Ross is privileged to have had a wonderful career and I think that sustains him as does the ability we all have as a band to keep things fresh….. And, let's not even start talking about illegal downloads here...!!
Looking back, do you think Ross or you would change the way you did things, or are you happy with your ‘lot’ and a firm believer that everything good and bad happens for a reason?
Patrick: It’s hard to speak for him, but I’d say no, he wouldn’t change anything!! And yes, he is a firm believer that everything good and bad happens for a reason. I know Ross is totally happy with his career; I know that! In interviews, every day, he always says how happy he is! He has made so many different records; with The Dictators, Shakin' Street, Manowar, Manitoba's Wild Kingdom, The Spinatras…. But, he has always progressed as a player!
As for me, personally, answering that question; I could not be happier either! I met this great guy from NYC; we make albums together – two currently; “New Metal Leader” and now this one “Hailstorm”; we play shows…..! And my other great band, Ivory Night are about to release their album "The Healing" on November the 15th through Aaargh Records (the label run by Mekong Delta boss Ralf Hubert), so there's a lot of Rock ‘N Roll going on in my life at the moment!
Ross has clearly had a huge and varied career so far, but I guess, to many people he will always be the guitarist in Manowar. Do you think his role with ‘The Power Metal Gods’ has helped or hindered his career over the years?
Patrick: As I said above, it s funny to me (and to Ross too, by the way!) that Ross is either only recognised as "the guitarist from Manowar" or "the guitarist from The Dictators". But it is the way it is. The band Ross The Boss was not planned. We did this one-off show celebrating Ross’ playing career and playing his old Manowar songs for the first time in 18 years, which was in itself just a reaction to his appearance with Manowar on the Earthshaker Festival in 2005 and the rest is history. It just spiralled from there. If you put it like this, it surely helped…. But, really we are just doing this here and now, for the reason that the band is strong and we have a really great chemistry. It's all for the music and the good times, and if we want to celebrate the music a great musician has written, from time to time, then I don’t see anything wrong with that!
There was a big aura surrounding Manowar – still is!! The outfits, the sheer volume of the live concerts... I wonder, was being in the band as surreal an experience as it looked from the outside?
Patrick: Ha! Ha! Yes, Ross has some great stories about that era…! I love the story particularly about the amplifiers on stage! Ross had 10 cabinets – making a total of 5 full-stacks – and, yet, still he couldn't hear himself onstage. The bass was even louder! So it WAS a certain surreal experience for sure!
The “Ross The Boss” band’s music treads a similar path stylistically to Manowar. Is that simply coincidence because of where all your tastes lie, or is it about completing unfinished business – i.e. creating the songs he never had chance to with the band?
Patrick: Ha! Ha! That’s possibly going a little far… the band Ross The Boss was born out of an accident, a hand of fate that brought four great musicians together to play some of Ross’ old songs on a music festival that had, by chance, been offered! That's why we are closer to Manowar than to, say The Dictators, for example…..! But to use the words “Completing Unfinished Business” sounds fitting only when you think about getting this man back on stages around the world, as that is exactly where he belongs. We certainly don’t rehash or use any old ideas, we only write new songs!
When did you start work on the new “Hailstorm” release then, and how quickly did the album come together?
Patrick: September 2009. Unlike the first album, where we wrote all the songs in just one session and added some songs from an album Ross had done with The Brain Surgeons (a band featuring Albert Bouchard of Blue Oyster Cult fame), we had a couple of sessions to write this time.
The first one was in September 2009 in NYC, the second one February 2010 in the same place, and we had some time in between to work on the songs at home and to give me time to come up with lyrics and melodies. The recording itself was quick actually; 3 days for the drums, 3 days for the bass, Ross did his guitars in his own studio in NYC, I did the vocals in a couple of separate days a few days later; and it was all quite relaxed!
How do you think “Hailstorm” compares to last album “New Metal Leader”, both in terms of style and quality? Is this evolution or revolution?
Patrick: Well, revolution contains evolution doesn’t it, so I’d say a lot of both! The major difference is that "Hailstorm" is a real ‘band’ album. The songs were not written by Ross with me adding a few vocal lines; everything was written together. Carsten (Ketterling, bass) did some, Ross did some, Matze (Mayer on drums) contributed some stuff, and also wrote vocal lines, so it was a group effort!
Can I honestly judge the quality without ending up being the musician claiming that his most recent output is the best thing ever? Well, that’s always said, isn’t it, but, honestly, I feel that "Hailstorm" is a more consistent piece of music, whilst the first album is now, to me at least, more a collection of really good songs. But there's great stuff on both. It's the way we progress! Now it's album number two; we will have more coming up, and I hope we keep the progression and growth going right the way through!
How does the writing and recording process work for you and the rest of the band? How would a typical song be created?
Patrick: Well, someone (doesn’t matter who, incidentally!!) comes up with an idea. This might be a riff, a chord structure or a full-blown instrumental demo; usually the unfinished ideas lead to bigger ideas and more creativity than a real demo anyway…..! And, in that way, I see us as something of a garage band: We fool around with bits and pieces and go crazy, and great songs emerge…. Usually, we are found jamming a bit on some ideas, with me singing nonsense lyrics and often indicating chord changes or part changes whilst singing….. We record all the jams….. and end up having great songs! Sounds crazy, but it works!
Where do you look for your lyrical and musical writing inspirations?
Patrick: Well, music just flows, really. If it's either Ross, Carsten, Matze or I – we just go with the flow. Grab the guitar and start playing without thinking. If it feels right it is often right.
Lyrically, I often take the feel of a song when looking for its title. When the title is there I then start writing all the lyrics. Sometimes too a song title comes from the one bringing up the riffs and chords…. There’s no master plan there….! As I’m German, I then have my lyrics checked for mistakes (so they don’t end up on the albums), and if that goes to plan, hey presto!!
Do you do anything special or unusual in the studio to get your sound?
Patrick: No, just crank the shit up; Ha! Ha!! Ross is a very natural guitarist. No effects, no pedals, no nothing. His tone and his sound comes right from his hands. The hands of death!
What’s your favourite track on the album, and is it the sound of the song or the memories behind it that make you love it?
Patrick: My favourites keep changing all the time!! In fact, I will probably only know my real favourites after many, many more concerts yet. It is always the feeling and the memories that you keep with a song…… And the test of time; and the test of the live situation. If a song like "Blood Of Knives" or "God Of Dying", off the first album, always work in any concert then they are favourites…. The new songs have to be played live, but I know that "Dead Man's Curve" works really well – it has already worked before its release which is always a good sign – so, we’ll see!!
Do you enjoy the whole studio/creative experience, or do you prefer getting up on the live stage?
Patrick: The creative process is great but studio time is basically just about being disciplined to have hard work and plenty of concentration paired with a positive spirit! Playing live is what our type of music is made for, so we all stick with getting up on a stage when asked that question. Meeting people, playing different places and missing home – it's a great thing!
What is a Ross The Boss show like? What should fans expect if they are thinking about catching you live?
Patrick: We are a rock band; we are loud, we are real, we are right into your face. And, of course, we now have great songs from two albums, plus classic stuff from the past. So we can give you what you expect: Great music and a great time. Energy without end!
Are you going to be doing this – creating and playing music – until you’re a hundred years old, or do you think you’ll be retired to a paradise island way before then?
Patrick: I hope that there is no limit. In fact, there is no limit, no. As long as it feels great and, as long as there's people wanting us to play, we will keep doing this. I mean; there is no real musician who wants to quit playing and writing! All musicians want to go on forever…! There are certain limits, of course. The Scorpions are about to finish their long career, as they want to end the band before they are too old to create the energy it takes, and go out on top…. If we reach such a point, we might call it a day? But I don't see that right now!
Although the paradise island sounds fun... We would probably end up being the house-band there, so what the heck?! Ha! Ha!
Any question you love being asked that I’ve missed? If so, what’s the answer?
Patrick: Haaaa, that's a tricky question! Here's my question then: How do YOU like the new album, Jon? And the answer is?
What are you up to once you’ve finished answering these questions?
Patrick: I’m unpacking my own "Hailstorm" album (CD and vinyl)… I just received them from the record company. They’ll have pride of place on my board. Then lunch!
Anything else you would like to mention?
Patrick: Thank you very much for the interview and for your support Jon. I am a huge fan of the UK, I love the country and we all really enjoyed our stay at this year's Bloodstock Festival, so I hope we’ll be back there as soon as possible. Until then, enjoy our new album! All the best, have a great time!!
Thanks again to Patrick for his time. You can check out the Rock Realms review of the new Ross The Boss album "Hailstorm" by clicking here.
Label: AFM Records
Artist's website(s): Ross The Boss | MySpace | Facebook
