In 2014, I interviewed Michael Schenker for the first time and he brought me up to speed about everything from his time with UFO and the Scorpions to MSG and his most recent project, Temple of Rock. He was excited about bringing his singer Doogie White to the American stage, and when I saw the two fronting the five-piece Temple of Rock band at the House of Blues in Hollywood, the chemistry was evident. Bridge The Gap, the second Temple of Rock album, was the first full collaboration featuring Schenker, White, ex-Scorpions drummer Herman Rarebell and bassist Francis Buchholz, along with longtime cohort Wayne Findlay on guitar and keyboards. Now they’re back for seconds with Spirit On A Mission.
In speaking with Schenker about Spirit On A Mission, there was a cool air of excitement right in step with a slice of studied strategy and determination — all very much conveyed in the very title of the album. Schenker is definitely on a “mission” to boldly go where no other has gone before by infusing a slab of heaviness that defies the body mass index of hard rock. As he would explain it to me, the inspiration of ideas for the guitarist is drawn from an invariable cornucopia of resources, none of which have even the remotest relationship to anyone else’s musical vision or popular trends. That is how he keeps it fresh and unpredictable.
While he acknowledges his past with pride, it’s obvious Schenker is really more about being in the moment, storing ideas for the future, kicking it up one level at a time. Touring with the Spirit On A Mission lineup is the culmination of Schenker’s vision of Temple of Rock, which intertwines the new music with classic UFO and Scorpion songs in a full celebration of some of the best European hard rock ever recorded. For Schenker, who has battled his share of demons and miscalculations over the years, it serves as validation for his individual pursuit of scaling further musical peaks when so many of his peers have surrendered to the greatest hits circuit. That in mind, I tried to keep it as real as possible in the following exchange.
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We spoke last year about Bridge The Gap, and now you have followed it up with Spirit On A Mission — the second release to feature you, Doogie White, Wayne Findlay, Herman Rarebell and Francis Buchholz. So tell me a little about how this one came together.
Well, I already knew pretty much after we finished Bridge The Gap that I already had the concept for Spirit On A Mission. I already knew what I wanted to do to bring it to the next level. The idea was to keep very energetic, fast, melodic, and entertaining and maybe, add more seven string. On this album, I asked Wayne to come up with a few riffs from the seven string, and then I added my parts to it. And Doogie added his vocals to it. We realized there was an additional chemistry happening that was really good between Wayne, myself and Doogie, other than what just Doogie and myself do. The outcome is that we have five songs with more bass on a modern type of feel with the seven string, and then five really energetic, five melodic songs and a couple of songs in the style that I used to write when I was with UFO, a couple of mid-tempos. And so, therefore, it has all emotions accumulated from the beginning to now. You know, from the beginning of my career up to now. We brought together all the emotions, most that we have experienced, that I have experienced in the past and now, together on one album, to make it like a book. So it doesn’t get boring, so that you can listen to it and truly right all the way to the end as if you read a good book.
I read that some of your gear had been stolen when you were recording this record.
Yeah, after a few weeks into the recording, some of my stuff got stolen and then some music. It was very upsetting and annoying, but we kind of got over it and just decided to work twice as hard, and it came out twice as good.
I’m sorry to hear that happened, but it sounds like it emboldened you in some ways.
That way we had a pre-production period (laughs).
When we spoke last year, you had told me you were developing this idea as a follow up to Bridge The Gap. One of the things we did talk about — of course, you just mentioned this earlier — was Wayne Findlay’s seven-string. Did his role really expand in a way that you envisioned? Can you explain a little bit what that seven-string brings to the mix?
It’s a heavy string so it brings a heavy sound. It’s an additional swing. It’s not the seven-string on the high level; it’s on the low scale. It adds more of the modern and deeper sound to it, and then combines with what I do, and then combines with Doogie’s vocal. We have tapped into an additional new chemistry that is valuable for future collaboration. And then, of course, there’s the chemistry between Doogie and myself, which has a different effect. And so by adding two people together, you have an outcome, a chemical reaction. It was surprising because we didn’t know the sound would be heavier. But you didn’t know it would sound like if we all contribute to that idea. So we’re very happy with the outcome. It’s very kind of entertaining as we experimented. But I’ve been watching Wayne for many years now, and he’s done very well on the seven-string. I also wanted Wayne to be in charge of a particular instrument that nobody else plays in the band, so therefore he is proper part of the band that has a function. He has a particular room that he takes care of, and that’s the seven-string. It’s a very great addition to a sound and the variation and additional spectrum of feeling or experiencing our music.
You also have that killer double bass drum from Herman Rarebell driving a lot of these songs. It seems like that rapid-fire rhythm gives you plenty of space to just stretch out and go off. Is that pretty much how it works?
Well, it’s like, you know, I love that train that goes and goes and goes and never stops. Chugga, chugga, chugga. And I look at it more like it’s a platform for me to paint on. It’s not so much the double bass drum, but is what you put on top of it, and that makes a different. And so, I haven’t really done anything like that before. I did it on Bridge The Gap on a few tracks, and I like the effect of it because it’s a very solid double bass drum that keeps going like a train, with a lot of energy. … And then we can do really good things on top of it. It’s more like support, rather than exceptional outstanding poking out as something incredible. It’s more like what you do with it, what you put on top, which makes the difference.
“Live And Let Live” is just really a strong opener. One of my favorite sections of that song is that first lead — very unpredictable. You kind of go into this smooth bluesy pattern and then you come right out of it and back into the song. Talk a little bit about how those kind of ideas come to the fore.
“Live And Let Live” is actually one of my favorites. It’s going to be our second single, after “Vigilante Man.” I love the energy on the track. I love the vocal lines. It’s unbelievable how Wayne and Doogie actually did on the whole album. I’m very pleased with it. And I write the way I usually write. I try to get inspired by something that I came up with, and that inspires me to write the next part and one thing leads to the next. It’s something I can’t necessarily describe. It just feels like, “Oh look, maybe I put here a slide guitar in and then play a solo. Take it onto a journey…” It’s like deciding how to draw a picture in the moment, you don’t even know what you did, but as it gets to there, you get inspired until it’s completed.
You mentioned “Vigilante Man,” another great one, and I’ve seen that video. So are you going to do a video behind “Live And Let Live” as well?
I’m not really sure what we are doing with that right now, but we’re definitely going to go on radio soon and let it walk. We are actually having a conference call about it in a couple of days to decide how it’s going to go. However, even if there’s not going to be video with it, it’s going to be released as a second single. “Live And Let Live,” with video or without, it’s going to be the next single.
Getting a little deeper into the record, you’ve got a song like “Saviour Machine,” which to me is one of the more complex, layered numbers — a little more epic, I guess. Would you agree on that?
Absolutely. Epic. I can see that song getting played live at some point. Maybe not on this tour — we want to take it slowly. We want to develop Temple of Rock so anybody can come with us, so we don’t want to go too far. When we come to the States, it’s going to be our first time with Herman and Francis. So we’re going to be doing a set that will be appropriate for this time around. We tried to pull together before, but it was too soon. We are ready now and really excited to be out for the first time.
Francis and Herman will be coming to the States with you then?
Yes, the album lineup, for the first time. It’s very exciting because we tried for one and half years, so now it’s possible. So anyway, coming back to that song, “Saviour Machine,” it’s definitely epic and at some point in the future, it will be in the set. I think it will be taking quite a — what do you call it? — like a spotlight in the set at some point. When we have it ready to perform it the way I see it live. I think it will be standing out.
Do you plan on including three or four of the new songs in your set?
In this set that we’re doing coming to America, we are doing a very balanced set between old and new.
You also have Michael Voss as your co-producer and engineer on this record. He sang on the first Temple of Rock album, but now he’s your producer and engineer. You must have a really unique working relationship with him, I would imagine.
(Laughs) Yeah, it’s a bit funny. You can not really try anything like this. Because the way it came all together, I was just doing something with Herman and with Pete (Way). Putting together tracks. At the same time, I was doing a demo. I thought it was time to make a new record, but I had no clue what I was doing. I had material. I just went to the demo studio and asked Michael Voss to help me out with the vocals. And when he was singing, I went, “Hey, he can sing. Why don’t you sing the album?” That’s how it started. And then, you know, he helped me with the demo and they wanted to be the rhythm section, and there I had that part done. And then it came down to live performance; I had Robin McAuley in America, Michael Voss — at the time, he told me he wasn’t available other than for Japan. And then it was Doogie’s turn. While Doogie was waiting for the European tour, Pete Way wasn’t doing too well. So I said, “Why don’t we ask Francis.” And that’s how it all came together, like step-by-step you can’t really plan anything.
Everybody knew that was the lineup we should stick with. So I think Michael Voss accepted it. I think he was happy Doogie had an unexpected turn because he didn’t know that he would end up in Temple of Rock for the first album, it was just out of nowhere because I decided, “Hey, you can sing, why don’t you sing.” And so, I think that was the introduction to Michael and myself, and that was a start of a collaboration. From then on, we had a very good working relationship almost telepathic. Like he knows when I say something what it is and transfers it. He is a great musician. He plays almost every instrument and very good, and he has a great ear. He comes up with great ideas himself, so it’s working very well so far.
On the whole, Spirit On A Mission sounds a little more cohesive. Doogie is singing his butt off. Just the whole band sounds a little tighter and more cohesive with a more definitive sound throughout. Do you think that would be a fair assessment?
Yeah, I mean it’s definitely the next level up. It’s the way I hoped it would go. Doogie, he made an incredible effort. I’m really pleased with how it came to pass. It’s exactly like that. Hopefully I already have an idea for the next album and that will also add additional sparks to it instead of making it stagnant — a little bit of fresh ideas I have that I want to inject that will make a lot of difference.
You’re already thinking about the next record then?
Well, I’m not thinking about the next record but… I mean, I know when we do the next record, the blueprint of the next record, we never can be too sure what happens next. But I have a blueprint, an idea, how I want to approach it; how I want to go about with it. So it’s a good starting point. And that in itself, the outcome of that, will be a little bit of difference again. There will be unexpected surprises there, because of doing something, adding something additional to it.
When we spoke last year, I did talk to you quite a bit about your time with UFO, which was the band I first saw you with, so I’m not really going to revisit that whole era. I do, however, have a few UFO-related questions I’d like to ask, if I may. First of all, Pete Way was part of the first incarnation of Temple of Rock. Have you been in touch with him? How is he doing? Do you know anything about him?
I have heard Pete has started a solo project a while ago and he was sick and he got better. Then he got Mike Clink and he is redoing what he put down and he is kind of rerecording with Mike Clink in some studio somewhere in England. And that’s what I know. So he’s doing something and he seems to be better. But I have not, you know, spoken to him, because I don’t really know where he is. Sometimes he’s in touch with the guy where we rehearse. Sometimes the owner of the studio, I’ll say, Have you heard from Pete lately?” and he said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah…he’s doing OK.” So I get my information from him, so I don’t know exactly. But it seems to be nothing bad. I think something good is coming up on his side.
Are you aware that UFO have a new album out? Do you follow them at all?
I have been informed that UFO, the Scorpions and some other bands, from our PR guy, are releasing more or less at the same time. But I’ve been staying away from music since I was 18 and I want to preserve myself and not damage my energy and freshness. I stay away from music; I don’t consume it because I need my energy for creating. So it’s very important to me to not — and also because my No. 1 priority is pure expression, so I can’t really afford to focus on other people’s music, unfortunately. But I’m not making music for UFO. I’m expressing myself to the world and I’m sure UFO is not making music for me. It’s for their fans. I’m sure they’re making great music. I’m sure they’ve been around long enough and there will be something there for people to enjoy it.
That’s interesting. I guess it would kind of become a distraction to your work then, to listen to outside music.
That’s how I kept it all fresh and energetic all these years because of that. It’s preservation. It’s kind of protecting yourself on a particular level. When I was 18, I think I knew I needed to stay away from music and stay away from copying. As a result of that, I developed my own style. As a result of that, after all these years, by treating music like candy, like chocolate — eat a little bit if you want to enjoy it. If you eat too much chocolate, you don’t really like it anymore. So it’s a bit like that.
I was going to ask you if you had any opinion about UFO’s guitarist Vinnie Moore, but I’ll pass on that. But one other guitar player I did want to ask you about is your son. I saw a video from a show you did in England in December, and your son came out and jammed with you on “Too Hot To Handle.”
(Laughs) Tyson, he came out with something really good already I think like 10 years ago. He was writing really good riffs, and then he joined somebody else and was making the worst kind of music he was playing I couldn’t really understand. But now he’s back to the roots, and he’s really excited about making his work, record his work and put it out there. He was really excited about being on stage and he did really good. You know, he was rocking, and so that’s where his passion is. He really wants to develop his band and everything. He’s really enjoying that.
I mean, in this video, he was up there with a Flying V and he just looked like a chip off the old block. You had a big influence on him. He was playing some pretty badass leads, to be honest with you. I go, “Wow.” So we might see some more of that in the future?
Of course, anything is possible.
