STRYPER is coming back to Australia in March for a series of dates that also take in New Zealand. If you’ve loved them since the 80’s or discovered them in recent years through their wonderful last few releases and crave a taste of Metal with a message, then these shows are unmissable. We caught up with Michael Sweet to look back over the last 40 years and look ahead to what comes next and boy is there a lot to sink your teeth into! Check out the dates at Silverback Touring! Are you ready to Rock Australia? We are!
Michael: Hello!
Mark: Good morning Michael!
Michael: How are you Mark?
Mark: Good thank you, how are you Sir?
Michael: I’m doing well I’m moving in to the evening hours here and you are moving in to the morning hours.
Mark: Well sort of! Over here we’re in the West it’s 6a.m. so nice and early, and what better way to start the day!
Michael: Wow, sheesh!
Mark: Thank you so much for talking to the Rockpit this morning. It’s great to talk to you again.
Michael: of course, I love the site.
Mark: It’s fantastic to have you back Downunder are you looking forward to the long trip?
Michael: Yeah I’ll be honest with you I’m never looking forward to travelling or flying that far. It doesn’t matter where it is! But I’m looking forward to getting there and my feet being on the ground and spending a little time in Australia and of course New Zealand and we’re super excited man we really are.
Mark: You are sounding great as well! I mean for someone who personally who has been listening to the band for a very long time, I actually think your last 3 records are up there with the very best.
Michael: Well man thank you for saying that and I’m so happy to hear that – that’s amazing. We work hard on our records and we strive for perfection. I don’t know that we always accomplish that but we certainly try and give it our best and it’s always nice to hear the payoff from somebody saying that they’re up there with the old albums. I am just thrilled to hear that Mark I really am.
Mark: Yeah its interesting isn’t it, We’re sort of on the cusp of a big anniversary of ‘The Yellow and Black Attack’ which is 39 years old this year! When I saw that I thought “Wow I can’t believe I have been listening to Stryper for almost 40 years now!”
Michael: Yeah next year we’ll be officially celebrating the 40-year Anniversary Mark, and it is pretty mind blowing! Before you know it before we can snap our fingers and blink and we’re gonna be celebrating the 50-year anniversary and that’s just a bit scary to be honest! (laughs)
Mark: Yeah it is isn’t it! (laughs) It was interesting back in those early days – the thing that always got me in the pre-internet years was how big you were in Japan. I remember reading those old Burrn Magazine reviews when that first EP that came out. It must have struck you as being pretty odd to be embraced so completely by a country like Japan with no real Christian Heritage, they loved the band so much – how do you look back on that now?
Michael: You know we were so young. I mean we went over there in 1985 – when that album ‘Yellow and Black’ came out in 1984 I had just turned 21 so you know I was 22 years old going to Japan and what’s really interesting about that is we had never officially toured anywhere in the world before other than Japan and we were going there for the first time and we were thinking “Gosh how is this going to work out?” So we went there and there were so many fans and it was such an incredible experience and we wound up releasing the video (of the tour) hat went platinum. So much came from that historically and it really is humbling to say the least for whatever reason. I mean you wouldn’t imagine the Japanese people who were primarily Buddhist accepting a Christian band so it was really interesting and really humbling.
Mark: It would have been a wonderful blessing I guess that that happened when it did. You obviously went on to bigger and better things in the rest of the world but to me it all stems from that. It’s also 10 years since ‘Second Coming’ – I loved those re-records of the first 3 albums and probably one of my favourite records was ‘No More Hell to Pay’ – that’s sort of like the hidden gem of the catalogue for me.
Michael: Yeah, I mean the thing about ‘Second Coming’ and ‘The Covering’ even was about getting back to our roots and that time period. We were thinking about that and starting to listen to those albums again like ‘Soldiers’, ‘To Hell with the Devil’ and ‘In God We Trust’ and as I was listening I was thinking to myself “you know what? The fans really want to hear this stuff and this style – this is Stryper – this is what we should be doing coming off the heels of ‘Reborn’ which was a curve ball, and rightfully so. It was really a solo album, everybody knows that. So when Stryper recorded it, it was very different – a little more modern and 90’s. And then you got ‘Murder By Pride’ which was a little softer and not as edgy. So when we came out with ‘Second Coming’ that was like “OK – Wow! What are they going to do next?” and then all of a sudden you have ‘No More Hell to Pay.’ I think people were listening to that album saying “Wow – they’re back you know they’ve found themselves again” and I think we truly did with that album.
Mark: Absolutely, that was the one for me! The new line up is sounding pretty damn good as well! Perry Richardson seems to have fitted in really nicely?
Michael: There is no question, Perry fits right in and you know he loves being in the band we love having him in the band and it’s so great to have him. He is such a great talent – such a great bass player, great singer and a great guy! We are very blessed to have Perry he really is a true gem and a great find and were so happy to have him in our band.
Mark: Yeah it’s great to hear him and I loved his previous band as well – Firehouse!
Michael: Absolutely.
Mark: You’ve always been a very prolific writer and I’ve followed your solo career over the years as well, and loved the recent collaborations you’ve had with George Lynch which is quite interesting for me – two great guitarists getting together and producing some great music. What have you got on at the moment? It always strikes me that you are someone who i never at a loose end as far as writing music is concerned! What are you concentrating on right now?
Michael: Well I have the Sweet and Lynch album that is coming out in May. Sweet and Lynch III – it’s called ‘Heart and Sacrifice’ and it’s a really great album. Mark I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised because you know we ventured off a little bit on the second album, though I really like that album, but I can understand why some fans might not liked it as much as the first because it is a little different. This album is getting back to the sound of the first album and there are some songs on this album that I think are going to surprise people.
Mark: That sounds intriguing!
Michael: Mark, I honestly think people are going to think “Wow! I didn’t see that coming!” in a good way! George is ripping it up and its really got a great feel to it. Aside from that I just turned in another album that I co-wrote & co-produced and which I’m singing on. It’s a throwback to the early 80’s – Journey, Foreigner, Toto that kind of stuff it’s not a Metal album at all but it’s a great album!
Mark: Wow! I can’t wait to hear that one, that’s a solo album is it?
Michael: Well not really, I am working with its myself and a guy by the name of Alessandro Del Vecchio who is from Frontiers and he wrote the music and I wrote the melodies and the lyrics and then we have another guy who is co-writing the lyrics with me his name is Giancarlo Florida – I hope I pronounced his name right! He’s going to kill me if I didn’t because he is a dear friend of mine! But I tell you Mark it’s a really great album and I’m super excited for people to hear that one as well because it’s just different for me. I think people expect Metal and me screaming in every song, and this is different I am singing and there’s less screaming! And in a different range and a little bit of a different style too. And then we’ve got the Stryper acoustic album coming out this year and I’m starting on a new Iconic album this year as well.
Mark: I knew there would be a lot! But I didn’t realise there would be that much to look forward to! That’s fantastic news or fans!
Mark: One of the things that I always love to ask song writers, especially for someone like you who is so prolific. How do songs come to you?
Michael: Well I’ll tell you Mark I don’t really think about them until it’s time to write them, so in other words I’m out living my life and doing my thing and going to the movies and the supermarket and all that regular stuff. And then when it’s on the books and I look at the calendar and reads “Write album tomorrow” I pull out my equipment and I start writing for tomorrow, and then it’s a song a day, and after 11 days there’s 11 songs. And that’s just how it works for me. With every album. And I’m very grateful for that. So far I haven’t turned in any duds, at least I don’t think so!
Mark: That’s incredible! I mean I know talking to people a song will come to them when they are in the shower or when they are out getting their groceries and stuff like that but that’s incredible that the songs just come as you need them!
Michael: They do. That’s exactly how it happens – they come as I need them and once I put my mind to it that’s when the river starts flowing. You know the well starts just overflowing and that’s just the way my mind works. I hyperfocus on it at that point in time and then it all comes together. And so far I haven’t had any dry spells in the past like 15 years. I’m very grateful for that. I hope that day never comes, but you know I feel like I am getting better, or at least I’m trying to get better at what I do. I’ve been doing it for a long time you know. I was in the studio playing on my Dad’s country sessions when I was 10 years old and 11 years old and that’s a few years ago now!
Mark: Is that where it all started for you? I always imagined it was and I must admit I have read the book which you signed for me on the Monsters of Rock Cruise a few years back, but is that where it started as far as you are concerned? That moment when you knew that music was going to be your life?
Michael: Definitely. I mean I grew up in a musical family and I was born into music at a very early age. I was humming song melodies and trying to write lyrics when I was a young kid and my parents were off performing at clubs and we would have a babysitter watching us and when we would have family reunions we would have a jam session every time! It was a very musical family and it’s almost like I even didn’t have a choice – even if I had wanted one I didn’t! (laughs) But you know music is in my DNA and part of all that I am. I think it is just always going to be that way and I am very blessed in the sense that I feel that I have never had a job in my life – you know it’s always felt like a privilege to play music and, you know, just pure sheer fun doing what I do. You know when I write I love it, when I play I love it. I get stressed out some times and I don’t like travelling and all that stuff, but I mean doing music for a lifetime is such a honor and I’m very blessed to be able to say that.
Mark: I think everyone is there for a purpose and that certainly seems to be your purpose to make great music.
Mark: One of the things that always puzzled me was when Stryper came out – a band with such a positive message, it was always strange that more bands like Stryper didn’t follow with that same sort of positivity about them. A band that wasn’t talking about girls and guitars and going out for beers but had something more to say lyrically, And all these years later it still intrigues me that more didn’t follow even with less overtly Christian themes. I always wondered why there weren’t more bands who were oy there spreading the word, especially today in a world that is, shall we say, having some interesting moments to say the least. Why do you think that is?
Michael: Well I think an easy explanation, whether people agree or not, is that the world as you know is all about following the leader and peer pressure. You know if Metallica is on top then a thousand other bands want to be Metallica and not Stryper. We are one of those bands that breaks the mold – we don’t do what others do – we don’t follow any leaders. We lead our own way, we tread our own path, obviously with God as our focus, but you know I think because of that maybe it scares people? There is a little fear involved that makes it hard for fans sometimes. I know musicians that are in other bands that are, and pick any band you know, in ‘mainstream Metal bands’ and they’re fans of Stryper secretly! You’ll rarely hear them talk about it in the press, its almost like we are a guilty pleasure you know! (laughs) I understand – we’re a hidden pleasure, one they don’t want to admit to liking, and I understand that but at the same time it’s frustrating. But I do get it because we are singing about God, and that’s not cool not in this world you know! You gotta sing about the devil, you gotta sing about girls and booze and Satan – that’s what cool but when you really break it down that’s what’s not cool! (laughs) Singing about that is so cliche and boring and trite and it’s like “OK I get it, enough already.” But we’re singing about something that is eternal and that will never die and that will live on forever.
Mark: It’s interesting because you can look at it on so many different levels. The level I guess I choose is to look at it this way:- that good music is good music irrespective of any message or any cliched or bad lyrics and if that’s what matters to some people so be it. To me Stryper has always been one of those bands that always delivers but just has that extra element I guess and that works for me.
Michael: Thank you.
Mark: Do you have any plans for the fortieth anniversary? Are you going to be doing anything special?
Michael: Well I mean we do we have a lot of plans for next year and we are going to be trying to do something really special for our Fortieth – the official fortieth in 2024, but nothing in stone as yet, nothing on the calendar. But we’ve talked a lot about what we want to do and it’s going to be really great. But just to throw one other thing in with what you were just talking about I think what happens with Stryper and I’ve met those people many times over, is there are a lot of kids who got beat up in school back in the 80’s for wearing a Stryper shirt to school. You know things like that sounds silly but it’s a reality and I think that’s what happens when you know when you’re a Stryper fan you’re pretty brave. You’re a brave soul because you are going to take a little heat for being a Stryper fan from somebody.
Mark: Yeah, that’s a very good point and I hope that shows how far we’ve come. No one is going to be beat up or ridicule you for coming to any of the shows in Australia or New Zealand though, it’s going to be a fantastic time. Let’s hope we put on a warm reception for you. Before we go I have to ask a few questions for teh radio show: ‘f you could of been a ‘fly on the wall’ for the creation of any great album from any point in the history of rock n roll what would you have loved to have seen being made – just to see how the magic happens?
Michael: Oh gosh, I would definitely have to say Van Halen I.
Mark: Yeah, an absolute classic!
Michael: I mean just being a part of that and getting to see behind the scenes for such a ground breaking album – you know a music world changing album! I would have loved to have been there. I can’t even imagine that!
Mark: Yeah would have been fantastic and we know relatively very little about it. There’s plenty of huge albums that we know quite a bit about but there has never been that much written about the recording of Van Halen I.
Michael: No. I tell you what we came close though because we recorded our album ‘Soldiers Under Command’ in 1985 at a studio called Amigo and Van Halen recorded there so some of the tracks were recorded there from Van Halen II. They had plaques all over the walls for Van Halen and I know that Ted Templeman had worked out of Amigo a lot, so that was kind of cool to be in the same studio that Van Halen had been in.
Mark: That is so cool, Rock and Roll has had its ups and downs over the years and I guess what we understand by Rock and Roll sort of started in the fifties – what do you think the next 50 years hold? Are we still going to be out there and rocking into out 90’s!
Michael: Oh gosh yes absolutely, you can’t kill Rock and Roll you know that old saying! It’s so true you can’t! it’s just always gonna live on for sure. I do hope that more bands show accountability and stop pushing the envelope so far, I mean some of the lyrics and some of the stuff I see that bands are singing about its like really, really – come on you know it’s heartbreaking. I just hope there is more of a positive influence lyrically in the music world as time goes on.
Mark: Yeah its interesting – over the years I’ve seen things becoming more and more extreme and people just going in that one direction and I’m just waiting for the bounce back when people get back to the basics – great songs played well and get back to interesting lyrics and getting back to songs that don’t rely on too much production or whatever it may be. But we will wait and see, we might be around for a little while longer ! (laughs)
Michael: I hope so!
Mark: Thank you so much for your time today Michael its always great to catch up. It’s always great to see you play live so I can’t wait until you get down here to Australia. Have a safe trip my friend and we’ll see you when you get here!
Michael: Thank you brother, thanks for your time and getting up early for me and God bless you and we will see you soon!
Mark: Thanks Michael take care.
