It's hard to believe that Great White's been rocking us for 30 years now. But rock us they have! With the 30th Anniversary release of: Great White 30 Years Live From the Sunset Strip, they take us on a melodic, bluesy trip down memory lane. With the past few years of band controversy (which we won't get into), this release is a breath of fresh air as it celebrates the music that, we the fans LOVE!  The track list evokes so much emotion that you feel the healing aspect of the first song "Desert Moon" immediately, as the cheers of the crowd blend with the vocals of new singer Terry Ilous (XYZ also), busting in with an almost zen like quality. Continuing down the track list, you hear ALL the fan favorites including "Lady Red Light," "Mista Bone," "Rock Me," and of course, band anthem "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" as the encore. With Mark's soulful strum of the chords, it instantly takes us back to sitting on our grandma's living room floor, wishing we were 80's video vixen Bobbi Brown on the mic singing back up, while we tried and tried to get our hair as pretty as the boys in the band!

 

This album is a great piece of nostalgia that is sure to please all Great White fans and ROCKERS in general. Having seen Great White at least 15 times, these boys hold a very special place in our hearts. From seeing them for the first time at the majestic cliffs of Red Rocks when we were 10 years old, to our mom being brought their laundry to do when we were 16, only to be told by the promoter that he couldn't get us tickets.  We were forced to learn important groupie rule #1: There's more than one way to get into a show!  So, we went down to the venue and headed immediately to the tour bus, where their opening act heard our story. They instantly walked us through the backstage doors, where we immediately asked, "Who has all the funny boxers?" With a laugh and fingers pointing, everyone says, "That'd be Kendall!" Who turned a lovely blush and thanked us for getting their laundry done so fast, giving us a ton of picks and drum sticks... you know, MAJOR GROUPIE TREASURES!

 

Running into them again was extra special to us, as these encounters were on one of the major package tours of 1999 with L.A. Guns, RATT and POISON.  Always catching them on tour, we've seen them in every type of venue imaginable and they are indeed a part of The Rocker Twin's history! Getting a chance to interview the SUPER talented and SUPER sweet Michael Lardie, we thought what do we ask a guy whom we've respected and admired for years? Then we thought, we'll ask him all the things we wanted to know and had never asked before. Hope you enjoy the interview as much as we did!

 

The Rocker Twins interview with Michael Lardie of Great White:

 

ML: How are you doing today?

 

RT: I'm fantastic. How are you doing?

 

ML: Oh I can't complain.

 

RT: Oh good, I'm Mandy and I'll be the one you'll be talking to through the majority of this interview. I also have my sister Brandy here, since we are The Rocker Twins.

 

Brandy: Hi, Michael!

 

ML: (Laughs) Mandy and Brandy...

 

RT: That's right! (laughs) So, I guess we'll just jump right into it. Does it feel like 30 years to you?

 

ML: It feels like about 10, maybe.

 

RT: You know you guys still look like you did in 1985, except for the hairdo's maybe. (laughs) You're all still adorable.

 

ML: Well, thank you. Yeah, good skin care and no drinking or any drug usage past my teenage years. So, that probably has a lot to do with it.

 

RT: Yeah, that's good. Good role models, haha!  How important is it to do a live release for 30 years from the Sunset Strip?

 

ML: I think it was important in a sense that it's a milestone, I think it would be for any band that has that kind of lineage and that kind of history to be able to mark it in some way. And it was really fun to go back to those old boards at the Key Club/ Gazarris and do a show again. You know, it was pretty much where it all started. The band played at The Troubadour, The Whisky, The Roxy, all up and down the strip over the years trying to get signed and get established.  It was just kinda like going back to where it all began.

 

RT: How do you pick 11 tracks to encompass a 30 year career? And why "these" specific tracks?

 

ML: Well, you know it's always difficult. The show itself had about 16 or 17 songs. I think what you do is, you look for performance, attitude, and hopefully look for some level of continuity between the tracks that will be somewhat of representation to where you've been and where you've gotten to. Like you stated, with 30 years of material and 12 studio albums it's really difficult to feel the set. And it's a problem I'm happy to have every day. It just says people still, to whatever degree, think you're relevant and want you to keep making albums. So, it's a good problem to have.

 

RT: It's a great problem! So, what we really want to specifically ask is, when are you guys gonna put "Silent Night" into the rotation? Cause that was our favorite song ever!

 

ML: Well, you know we've been talking about adding some songs from PSYCHO CITY and CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE and I think they're both really strong records compositionally.  That was one of those songs (Silent Night) that was kind of magical for me because it was our first time writing with Jack Blades (Night Ranger) and I had worked with him so much in the studio over the years, so to just go in and sit down with guitars, and have that come out of it was a great experience.

 

RT: I actually had a conversation outside of a Pizza Hut here in town with Jack Blades about that song (Silent Night) and I always wondered what the inspiration was behind it. He told me I had to ask the Great White guys. So, if I didn't ask I would have hated myself for it.

 

ML: You know, I think any of us that have been in that place where there's always that little bit of regret, thinking about the past and wondering what if that would have worked out? How could my life have been different? I think that's a human question that people have. Even if they're in relationships in their lives that are moving forward and happy, I think it's just human nature to go through that check list in your mind. I think every one of us has got that.

 

RT: Oh, definitely!  We just thought that it was the best song ever.  That whole album, we just completely loved and I can't believe it didn't get the recognition it deserved.

 

ML: Well, thank you. You know, it's hopefully that fact, that we are able to keep doing records is the important thing. And making stuff people want to hear. It's interesting, we were discussing the other day how the business has changed so very much. Bands of our genre, classic rock/ hair rock genre, it's almost like you do records to get gigs, whereas in the old days you did a record and you went out to perform to sell the record.  Things have flipped and we understand that the business has changed and we're adapting to that. But yet, we still want to put out records and get new material out there.

 

RT: So do you still get the thrill of the road?

 

ML: It's still fun, you know? And I can assure you when it's no longer fun, it'll be time to sit in the studio and make records for other people.

 

RT: I wanted to ask you about your producing. I know you've worked with so many acts like Jake E. Lee, Jizzy Pearl, and of course Shaw Blades. What new artist, or artists in general are on your bucket list to work with?

 

ML: Well, you know there's a lot of cool stuff. I would love the opportunity to work with LZZY and the HALESTORM kids.

 

RT: Oh my god, we just wrote an article about her. She's amazing!

 

ML: I actually got to meet them at The Machine Shop in Flint last summer. I had never seen them live and my better half is a great fan of HALESTORM and hipped me to the records before I went and saw them live, and it was a great joy to meet all of them. I don't know that I anticipated that they would be that excited about meeting me, so that was (laughs) quite a charge!  They looked at me in those terms and I'm looking at them in those terms because of their talent. So, that is definitely one I would love to work with. There's also a new band that's bubbling under and trying to pop out, they're our kind of ilk of a band, called TADDY PORTER. I would love a chance to do some writing with them one of these days.

 

RT: Well, you got the credits for it. I'm sure LZZY HALE would be up for it, I mean she really loves all of you guys from that era. We love her just as much as you guys probably do (laughs), we're little groupies for LZZY HALE, too. So are you guys in VEGAS now?

 

ML: We are actually based in Las Vegas now and the rest of the boys are out in LA.

 

RT:  Vegas is becoming the new Rock N Roll town it seems. You have the SLAUGHTER guys that have always been there, VINCE NEIL, now you got SIN CITY SINNERS and all the VAMP'D guys. Do you think it is becoming the "community" that Hollywood once was?

 

ML:  It's building. You got obviously, SIN CITY SINNERS, you got VINCE, you got the SLAUGHTER guys, and I just found out in my neighborhood, though I haven't been to his house yet, OZ FOX lives here from STRYPER.  JIZZY PEARL is here, too and a great blues guitarist who plays some rock stuff named STONEY CURTIS. And we're working with all the VAMP'D guys, Danny Coker and all those guys are opening up a new studio, so I'm looking forward to be working at that facility and to do some recording and stuff. We're building the community to be a place where young people have to consider it to be something of a validity.

 

RT: I'm starting to think all of us rockers think Vegas is the place to be, you even have new rockers FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH out there. I love that you're making it your own and I'm glad that you're a part of it.

 

ML: Well, they have welcomed me back very kindly and openly, so I'm looking forward to it. Like I said, I'm gonna be working over at Danny's new place and that's gonna be really cool. I'm hoping what we put out of there can attract some other bands coming in and working in this facility. I think it's gonna kinda be the hub for a lot of the community here.

 

RT: I also wanted to hit on the success you guys are having with ELATION, I think it's charted at #8 right now?

 

ML: Yeah the ballad, "Hard to Say Goodbye."

 

RT:  I really loved it. So, are you guys planning on a new studio release at this time or are you just trying to stick with the anniversary release and summer tours?

 

ML:  We're gonna tour throughout the summer, but of course we constantly do riffs for a living, it's what you do everyday. Whether you come home with something great, you at least attempt to be thinking, forging ahead, creating, coming up with songs, because that's what you do, that's who you are. You're a musician. You're supposed to write songs. We always have a lot of ideas, it's just a matter of getting together and pairing those riffs and those ideas into something that makes sense in terms of the songs. It's hard to say when the next studio record is going to be put out. The business model might even change there, we might be releasing smaller versions of things more frequently.

 

RT: That's great! So are guys excited for The Monster's of Rock Cruise? Have you guys ever done the cruise before?

 

ML: This will be our first. We are virgins to The Monster's of Rock Cruise. (laughs)

 

RT: Oh my god. (laughs)

 

ML: (Laughs) Yeah, it's great. Terry (Ilous) actually did it last year with XYZ, so he gave us a little bit of input and has prepared us to some degree of what it'll be all about. But I can't imagine really knowing what it's all about until you're there and in the middle of it. I think that we're lucky enough to do it this year. It seems like there's such a great line up and the excitement for it is all over FACEBOOK. It seems to be out there more intensely then I remember it being last year. So, it's become its own monster.

 

RT:  Do you remember when I sung on stage with you guys one time here in Junction? (Laughs)

 

ML: Oh yes, I think it was, "Once Bitten, Twice Shy," perhaps?

 

RT: That's it exactly! The tour manager with the english accent yelled at me because I was only supposed to sing the chorus and not the whole song. (laughs)

 

ML: Well, someone like that just needs to take a chill pill.

 

RT: You're actually the one that told him that! We were backstage and you told me, "Do whatever the hell you want, honey." So I thought, well I'm gonna. Cause seriously, how can I NOT sing all of it?

 

ML: Right, I mean it's a fun song. Why would you not? (laughs)

 

RT: Exactly! You guys are so fun! I have so many great memories of you. Like I said, we've seen so many Great White shows over the years, I've seen all the package tours, and I've seen you with Night Ranger the whole time you were with them.  Of course, we love Night Ranger, too!  I mean, you're really kind of a big part of our lives.

 

ML: Well, that is a great compliment! Thank you, girls.

 

RT: Awww, thank you.  So, I'm gonna turn the tables for a minute and ask you a groupie question.  Out of all the famous people that you've ever met, who completely starstruck you? Who were you like, I can't believe I just met them and how did it happen?

 

ML: Well, that would have to be RINGO STARR.  A dear friend of mine is the host of that show on A&E, Private Session.  Lynn Hoffman, we've worked on some ROCK N ROLL FANTASY CAMPS when she worked with VH1 and with all the announcing and festivities and such, we became close over the years. We just happened to be in New York on our way to a European tour in 2008 and we had a day off in New Jersey across the tunnel there. So, Lynn calls me up and says, "Hey, I think you should come down to the taping today." And I say, "That sounds awesome, I have the day off, sure!"

 

Still having no idea who is gonna be the guest, I took a taxi, went through the tunnel and got downtown to the A&E building, came in and we're sitting in the green room all having coffee and cracking up, when all of a sudden, I look to my right and see Dave Stewart (EURYTHMICS) walk by and then right behind him was RINGO STARR!  So, I'm trying not to completely flip out, just sitting there the whole time. I don't know if you know anything about RINGO's proclivities, but he doesn't really care to have his picture taken too often these days. It's one of those things he was inundated with when he was a young man and it's really difficult to get that happening now.

 

But, there was a professional photographer that worked with Lynn all the time on the Private Session stuff, so as they were walking out of the studio, I just happened to be sitting in this chair and I stood up right as he walked by and Lynn says, "Ringo, do you mind taking a picture with my dear friend Michael?" And he says, (Michael does a Ringo voice) "Oh sure." So, he turns around and I got a picture with him and I whispered in his ear, "You know, I just want to thank you, you're the reason why I became a musician in the first place." He turns around to me, smiles, and looks at me and he goes, (Michael does a Ringo voice) "Don't blame me." (Laughs)

 

RT: (Laughing) That's AWESOME!

 

ML:  You know, that was definitely the starstruck moment of my life. (Still laughing)

 

RT: I love that story! Thank you for sharing. I just want to thank you so much. You don't know how big a deal this is for us!  We just love you guys so much, sincerely. Anything you guys do, we of course, will promote and help out in anyway we can. We love talking with you, great stories.

 

ML: Thank you so much, girls. It's always a pleasure to know that real music aficionados understand what it is that I do. So, thank you.

 

RT: Yeah, we totally love it!  And we'll see you on the road for sure!

 

ML: I Look forward to it!