Interview with Mike Reno (found on the Net!!)
Now, long before I was to witness this sight I was warned that all of this nocturnal doodling that was, allegedly, coming from my bedroom would cause severe eye strain or perhaps even blindness so my purpose in accompanying Lisa back to her room was purely medicinal. I thought that if I had a release for all of these recently acquired hormones I could surely stave off the dark, at least for a while and in turn was sure that I would be filling a prescription for some equally as loathsome medical condition of Lisa's. Upon reflection it was not exactly complete altruism but my heart was in the right place, that being, next to hers.
After some time of fumbling due to my complete lack of experience with how these things are supposed to work we managed to get up a good head of steam and I started to venture where, I had hoped, few men had ventured before. STOP! That, I had heard before and knew that it usually signaled the imminent departure of my co-mingler. Lisa had a different idea. "Let's put on a record." "Sure." I thought and silently followed her to the stereo. "LED ZEPPELIN, STYX, KANSAS? No, No and No. How 'bout this one?" "LOVERBOY? Sure." So, as the record spun we resumed our positions on the bed and finished the inoculation with much energy and promises of unyielding love.
As we dressed we made small talk but I never could manage to catch Lisa's glances straight on. It was almost as if she was distracted by something. Just then I noticed that after placing the LOVERBOY record on the turntable she had propped the cover up so that it could be easily seen from the bed. And then it hit me; little Lisa had used me! I was nothing more than a surrogate for Mike Reno in her mind and worse, in her bed! The cover photograph of LOVERBOY's "GET LUCKY" album will forever be etched in my mind. It is not there because I am inclined to a man's ass in tight red leather but because that is the day that I realized that rock and roll did in fact hold magical powers to woo the maidens and could cure far more maladies than it would cause. And damn it all if I can't get "Lucky Ones" out of my brain every time I endeavor to save what is left of my vision. I am just glad that Lisa wasn't a CULTURE CLUB fan!
Mike Reno called from his home in Vancouver and told me of how he plans to inspire the next generation of picture gazing Lisa's.
DAVID LEE I am assuming that since "6" came out so long ago that this tour that you are on is an opportunity to wet the fans appetite for the live record that is due out?
MIKE RENO Yeah. We are still trying to nail it down. We are talking with Legend, a SONY company, and they are still trying to decide what version of the live shows that they want. We just recorded this summer, six really hot shows, so we got a lot of good live stuff. Since we started talking with SONY they decided to kick around the idea of mixing what we have recorded live and King Biscuit Flower Hour and different kinds of recordings like that. We haven't nailed down a release date or anything like that but we are all excited about having a live album. We are really looking forward to that, in whichever form it may be.
DL It seems like this is something that you have had a yearning to do for some time?
MR Well, you know, how we operate is that the fans tend to negotiate with us as we tour around the country and they say what they want and we just go on and take in everything that everybody says. We noticed that everybody was asking us why we hadn't done a live album yet and so we just brought out a truck and started recording. You know, to do it all kind of naturally and nice and easy and the live album is something that LOVERBOY should definitely be involved with because all of the recording success that we have had has always been strengthened by our live performances. I think that the band is better live than in the studio and you can't say that about a lot of bands. I have been to a lot of concerts and occasionally you are pleasantly surprised but generally, it has always been a bit lacking. It sounds a bit egotistical, saying that LOVERBOY sounds better live than other bands, but we know it is a fact. We know it, we feel it and we really heard it on the tapes so, we are definitely excited. We should have done it and we have done it so we are keeping true to our sense of what we know about the music industry.
DL As far as song selection, is that something that you have poled the fans about as well?
MR Well, there are about twelve songs that have to go on it because they were all top ten hits and everything. Consider that the twelve songs that are on it are the ones that everybody knows. We are finding out that if it is going to be a single CD release it has to be cut to about seventy-eight or seventy-four minutes and then there is a different standard there. We are actually having trouble cutting it down because we wanted to put more songs on it than time will allow us because we have a lot of stuff that are crowd participation pieces that we would like to put on it because that is what live is all about and that tends to suck up a lot of the time. If you have a song that is normally five minutes long, we have about two or three of those that are now seven or eight minutes long because we do crowd participation stuff. If anything, we are trying to shorten it just so that it would fit on a single CD. I would consider putting it on a double because the record company has been talking about putting in things from specials and releases from limited CD's and record's for radio shows, if we mix that up with present day recording and put in all of the things that we want to, I think, we could easily fill a two CD release but this is all still up in the air. I was hoping that it would all be finished and out by now but as is this business and Murphy's Law, you know.
DL Have you gotten a lot of feedback from the fans as concerns older material versus newer material?
MR I can be honest with you, they want to hear "Turn Me Loose," "Take Me to the Top," "Working for the Weekend," "When it's Over" and they have this list of things that they want to hear and patiently listen to the new stuff. We have also had a lot of success with soundtracks and people connect with that. I mean, when a soundtrack sells 14 million plus, they definitely want to hear that song so, it is a good polarization. I think, that it is a good example of what LOVERBOY is now and what LOVERBOY has represented in the past. The major hits are going to be mixed up with some of the things that we are presently doing. We are continuing to write with hopes of putting out a record in 1999 so there is a lot of action going on here at the LOVERBOY house.
DL Is the band the same as it was on "6?"
MR It is an all original lineup. When we were recording "6" Doug Johnson, our keyboard player, recorded on it with us but when we went out we used Richard Sera. Doug couldn't go out, he had just recently gotten married but he has since come back to the band so it is 100% all original which is kind of nice. It kinda shows the authenticity. The group, no matter what people think, when you get the five guys in LOVERBOY on stage or in the studio, it really does gel. It is a bit of magic.
DL I know what you mean and it shows in the live performance. I remember the last time that I got out to see you all play how amazed I was that your drummer could have a conversation with someone for almost the entire length of a song but never miss a beat or a tempo change. It was very exciting to watch.
MR Yeah, I hear you. It is pretty crazy really. I am quite impressed, I mean, I am the singer and Paul and I co-founded the group and he and I write the songs with help form the other guys occasionally but I don't actually play an instrument it the group but I do appreciate the talent in the musicians aspect. It is a pleasure playing with these guys and I would be the first to say that it really, truly is a pleasure to play with these guys. What we have been doing these last few years on tour is to let everybody take a piece of the night and it is very impressive, for me, to sit back and listen to these guys. I am very honored. I am not just saying this, this is just some thing that is so great and I am just ecstatic about playing with them.
DL You have built up a fan base over 18 years. . .
MR Absolutely! We have got some serious fans! We play a lot of shows now that are outdoor shows, like State Fairs and County Fairs and various City venues and people bring their kids and their cousins and their nieces and nephews and they are all just rockin' and pumping with the beat and they are really diggin' it! It is really neat to see the different age groups get together and enjoy the group.
DL It's funny that you should say that because I had one of the old albums out and was playing it and my son was looking at the red leather pants and so I dug out an old pair of my leather pants, which I haven't been able to fit into since the eighties, and my son asks me why I don't wear them and I had to tell him that I was just too damned fat! You ask too many questions little kid!(laughs)
MR (Laughing) It happens to the best of 'em man!
DL What about yours? Have they been retired forever?
MR You know, the red leather pants were just a little phase and it turned into a much bigger thing than it ever was and I will tell you why. They look great in a video and they look great on an album cover but practically, when I perform a concert I get completely soaked and at $380. a pop, and that was back in the eighties, it would be an expensive little fashion statement. I would have to wear a different pair every night and have to throw the show pants away! What I do wear is stuff that is a little bit more practical for the stage because there is a lot of high energy going on so you are going to have some perspiration. Being in leather pants is so impractical and uncomfortable and expensive that I have basically retired the leather pants to the hard rock café, Vancouver version, and they are proudly sitting in a case with a bandanna, which I still do wear occasionally. I definitely try and stay away from the leather pants so, that is the story on that one.
DL Do you occasionally go in and eat a hamburger underneath your pants?(laughs)
MR OhGod! I went to a party there for the opening and I was quite proud though it was kind of funny sitting there an seeing my leather pants sitting there. It was a trip.
DL Throughout he years I have begun to notice that Canadian acts that are popular in the States have a certain comradeship between them that American bands do not, do you sense that at all?
MR Canada kind of holds on pretty closely to their artists and occasionally they just ignore them. I have never really been able to quite understand it. When LOVERBOY was doing all of this popular, Top 10, Number 1 business, we were kind of breaking ground for a lot of the new acts and the group was like an industry. We helped the gross national product out and received many awards but this was back before the awards shows were really big and popular. It is kind of funny because, I think, that we have definitely opened some doors for some other Canadian artists and people have appreciated what LOVERBOY has done but there is also this little thing where they have forgotten about us a little bit so we feel a little bit miffed in that we are not invited to the JUNO's anymore. We have got twenty JUNO's on our wall and these are equivalent to the GRAMMY's. We have been out for the last five years playing and we have not really been recognized and we do 140 shows a year. It is like we have been a little bit forgotten and it is a bit uncomfortable for us. We are not invited to the awards ceremonies anymore even though we are putting out new product; our "LOVERBOY CLASSICS" just went gold about a month ago. In the States we are still doing great business. A lot of times Canada forgets about its artists and it is a bit of a sad statement on the culture of this country. We consider the States our real rock and roll home.
DL Have you noticed the effect that you have had on younger bands in Canada or even in the States?
MR MARYLIN MANSON was wearing a LOVERBOY T-shirt in his interview with Rolling Stone last October.(laughs) He comes to town and he phones our office and says "I would appreciate it if all the LOVERBOYs would come down to my concert" and I mean, I know that MARYLIN MANSON isn't a Canadian band but we have obviously had influenced him which is kind of neat. I can see how it would be because we are five real guys rocking our really hard and I think that he appreciated that and maybe uses some of that attitude in his shows because he is super huge himself. You see it all over the place. Canada is pouring out some excellent worldwide talent right now. There is just stuff flying out all over the map from Canada. We are really quite proud. We have got some serious ladies action with Shania being a Canadian and Celine Dion being a Canadian, the list goes on. Right here in our own town, Sarah McCloghlin lives here and Bryan Adams is basically a Vancouver dude. We have got great groups like the TRAGICALLY HIP and BARENAKED LADIES it is really quite huge and quite current too.
DL When you come to town to play, your show will be presented by a classic rock station, is that some thing that you are comfortable with, being referred to as, classic rock?
MR I think that radio is in a weird spaced right now. They don't know what to play on what station. I think that they are doing one of those things where they have to search and see what their station is all about and who is listening to them. I would hate to be in the radio station business, I am glad that I am a musician. We are definitely considered to be a classic rock group because some of the people who used to work for radio stations now manage them and they say "Hey, this is what I want to do now that I am manager." It is nice to have a home and I am just glad that there are a few stations that play classic rock but I also like to keep current and that is why we keep recording and I think that if we are lucky enough o get a hit, either on a soundtrack or on the record that we are doing, or any thing that we are doing, I would love to come back and be on the classic stations and on the current stations, that is kind of the goal.
DL Any messages for those ladies of the 80's or I guess they would be ladies of the 90's and beyond now?(laughs)
MR (Laughing) Well listen, I just want to let everybody know that we are coming and that we are always in the studio making new records and we are striving to be current but are glad that we are classic. We are looking forward to seeing everybody at the concerts and we are really happy to be alive and well and touring the world.