I first snuck into a Hanoi Rocks show way back in the early eighties, it was the second show I had ever seen and Hanoi was the first band I’d ever discovered all by myself, with the help of the then music press – especially the long departed Sounds magazine. Hanoi Rocks was the embodiment of everything Rock and Roll should be and can be – wild, exotic, sleazy, dirty Rock and Roll that nodded a head towards Punk and Hard Rock but was equally capable of creating any kind of other noise it wanted to. I know we will never see the like of those days again when music was still so fresh and exciting, when you had to go out and hunt it down rather than have it delivered to your device anonymously and without fanfare. God I remember queueing up to buy albums, counting down the days till they would be available in all their 12″ glory. I remember what it felt like to wait in a line to buy tickets to see bands. I remember listening to the radio and realizing there was nothing there for me! The saddest thing is realizing that kids these days will never have that sense of anticipation or excitement, that when they hear music it will be just another downloadable instant experience. Hey when I went to gigs even if we had smart phones I like to think that we would be too interested in the music than to raise that built in camera….
But I digress. Michael Monroe the voice of Hanoi Rocks and a solo artist now since the eighties, is a survivor; he’s still here with us making music that sounds like it should. It’s still exciting, still elemental and still wild and on latest album ‘Blackout States’ he’s found that perfect balance where the past collides head on with the present and makes a beautiful noise…
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW PART 1
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW PART 2
