Michael Schenker is regarded as one of the greatest guitarists of his generation. His work with the Scorpions, UFO, and MSG set the standard for guitarists everywhere. Mick Burgess caught up with Michael Schenker to chat about his new album …
MER:
A couple of months ago you released your latest album, Temple Of Rock. It’s been hailed as your best album in years. Are you pleased with how it turned out?
MS:
Yes, it’s been quite an experience. There was something going on when the album was released — I think the record company decided just to promote it on the internet at first. It seems to be something of a late bloomer because now that the press is involved it’s taken a total different turn now. It’s been getting some great reviews and it’s a great record so I’m very pleased with it.
MER:
There are so many special guest appearances on the album. Did you always intend to have a lot of your friends on the album?
MS:
I didn’t plan it that way. One thing led to the next and when I made my demos at Michael Voss’s studio, I didn’t even know who was going to be singing on it. I asked Michael to help me with the guide vocals and he sang really well, so we decided to do the album together. Then Herman Rarebell and Pete Way heard the demo and wanted to be in the rhythm section. I thought maybe I should get some people from the past involved, so we made a list of musicians and most of them were available, and my brother was available … so was Paul Raymond, Doogie White, and Robin McAuley. So, before you knew it, we had a very interesting album.
MER:
What about the song writing? In a group situation, you have a particular singer to write for and in mind. Does it make it more difficult for you to write when there are different singers involved in the project, or does it make it easier because you can bring in different singers to suit a particular song?
MS:
Most of my songs were already written. I had bits and pieces of ideas that I put together and then I made the demos with Michael Voss doing the guide vocals. I decided he was singing so well that I kept his vocals on the songs. As the songs developed, I added new bits to them, so step-by-step things shaped up.
MER:
Robin McAuley sings on “Lover’s Sinfony” and Doogie White on “Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead.” Did you have these singers in mind when you first had the ideas for the songs?
MS:
The songs for Robin originally had different vocals, and when I decided to involve Robin I thought “Lover’s Sinfony” would be a good one for him to do. Robin recorded new vocals for the song and it worked out really well.
MER:
How was it working with Robin again after all these years?
MS:
We have worked together over the years since our departure in the early ’90s. He sang on my Tales Of Rock’n’Roll album, so we have worked on and off in little pieces over the years.
MER:
You go even further back as Simon Phillips and Don Airey, who played on your 1st MSG album, also make guest appearances. Does it feel like it’s been 32 years since you worked together on your 1st MSG album?
MS:
Ha!! That’s a long time ago — it’s our 32nd anniversary!! It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long, though.
MER:
On your first album, you had originally worked with Billy Sheehan and Denny Carmassi. Why did they not finish the album when it was finally released? Why did you bring in Simon on drums and Mo Foster on bass?
MS:
That was the first line-up, but we didn’t actually get to record together. We rehearsed for a month, then something happened and Simon and Mo came along. A while back, they released some of our rehearsal material on one of the MSG reissues. I hadn’t really heard it before, but that was a great line-up.
MER:
Back to the present … how on earth did you manage to get Captain Kirk to perform the Intro on your record?
MS:
William Shatner had called me up to be on his record and we needed someone with a big voice to do the opening for my record, so I asked him and he ended up on my record.
MER:
Rudolph, your brother, shows up on “Hangin’ On” and “With You”. Do you play differently when you play with Rudolph? Do you feel you can relax more in the studio, or does he push you to do the best you can?
MS:
Not really, I always do my best no matter who is in the studio, but it’s always a lot of fun to play with Rudolph.
MER:
It’s also great to see your old UFO mates Pete Way and Paul Raymond appear on the album. It must have brought back some good memories for you and maybe some not so good ones too?
MS:
It was such fun to have them on my album. They were such an important part of my music career and we have such great chemistry together. It’s just been great to have them on the album.
MER:
Have you listened to the material they’ve done with Vinnie Moore, or do you tend to concentrate only on your music and the future these days?
MS:
I don’t really look at what is going on around me. I try to focus more on being creative rather than consuming. If you focus on consuming rather than being creative, it tends to wear you out, so I just really concentrate on what I’m doing rather than what others are doing, and that’s how I keep things fresh.
MER:
You have mentioned many times in the past that you’ve been greatly influenced by Leslie West of Mountain. Was that the first name you thought of when pulling together a list of the people you wanted to play on the album?
MS:
I wouldn’t say I was influenced by him. I’m more of a fan of Leslie West. My priority is to be as original as I can, to express from within, and to create a picture from what I see. Leslie West, Jimmy Page, and Jimi Hendrix are amongst my favourites from the early days. I’ve done a lot of work with Leslie West. He played on the album I did with Davy Pattison, so Leslie and I have been working together as far back as the early ’90s.
MER:
Talking of Leslie West, you were due to tour the States with him and also Uli Jon Roth, but those shows were postponed. Do you hope to resurrect that tour sometime this year?
MS:
We had to postpone the tour due to his surgery, and I’m not really sure what he’s up to right now, but he did say that he’s been working on training, so I think he’s busy getting in shape and hopefully we can tour together again soon.
MER:
You’ve worked with many singers over the years from Phil Mogg, Klaus Meine, Gary Barden, and Robin McAuley. What was it about Doogie White that made you choose him to be your singer on this tour?
MS:
Doogie and I have done a couple of things in the past together and he’s a very nice guy and a great singer. He was very keen on working with me and I was very keen on working with him. I asked him to do a song on the album, which worked out really well, so I wanted him to play with me on the tour.
MER:
You have so much material to choose from over your career. With two Scorpions in your band, will you be playing a few of their songs?
MS:
We’ll do Strangers In The Night stuff, the Budokan album, some Scorpions songs, and some of the new stuff too. I’ll be covering a lot of my career on the tour.
MER:
Do you tend to have a fixed set list, or do you change from night to night depending on how the show is going?
MS:
I’m putting together three different line-ups for the world tour. I’m starting off in America with Robin McAuley, and then at the end of March I’ll be in Japan with Michael Voss. In Europe I’ll be with Doogie and the set list will be different with each line-up.
MER:
Do you think it will make things difficult for you having three different line-ups playing in three territories?
MS:
I didn’t really plan to have it like this, it just turned out that way. All three line-ups are very well rehearsed. It didn’t all happen in one go, it happened step-by-step. All three line-ups are 95% done and the rest we’ll do just before we start touring.
MER:
The Scorpions recently announced that they were calling it a day. You’ve played with them on their last couple of UK tours. Do you plan to play with them again before they finally retire?
MS:
I’m sure that when they are ready they’ll give me a call. I love playing with them.
MER:
Will you get the chance to make a full album with your brother?
MS:
Absolutely. We’ll do something as the Schenker Brothers.
MER:
What about your sister, Barbara? She was in a band called Viva years ago. Will you record with her one day?
MS:
I’m not sure. I don’t really know what she’s up to at the moment. She doesn’t speak to anyone right now!!
MER:
What are you plans for 2012?
MS:
I’m sure I’ll have my hands full playing with the three different line-ups, travelling the continents, and playing some shows with the Scorpions. Who knows what else might come up but it’s going to be a busy year!
Michael Schenker’s new album Temple Of Rock is out now.
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