HANOI ROCKS Frontman: I Wish AXL ROSE Had The Old GUNS N' ROSES Band Today

Eduardo Alonso of FREE! magazine recently conducted an interview with HANOI ROCKS frontman Michael Monroe. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

On the band's upcoming CD:

"For this record we have worked as a band from the start. On the previous album we started recording just Andy [McCoy], our drummer Lacu and me. It took a long time and there were lots of overdubs, so it was difficult to mix. Now we have the basics: drums, guitars, bass, vocals and some overdubs, but not much: just a few solos, some sax and percussion. And everybody has contributed to the song writing, even Lacu!"

On how the new HANOI ROCKS compares to the band's previous efforts:

"We haven't changed! Only the ones with enough identity survive. Trends come and go. We don't try to follow anything and we do not compromise ourselves for money or anything. It's essential to survive, even to sleep and look at yourself in the mirror. Some of those bands in the '80s took the easy way out. They made a lot of money then, but now they are worn out and miserable. They are stuck in the eighties and they look like parodies of themselves. That's what happens when you sell your soul!"

On how it's difficult to trust anyone in the music business:

"More than 90% of the people in this business are crooks. In the first three years of the reunion we had a lot of people that were supposed to be managing the band but they were actually damaging the band. Big money was wasted. It was totally out of control. It's not enough to have the greatest band in the world; one also needs a great team behind it. Now we are lucky and we have it."

On whether he knows when GUNS N' ROSES' "Chinese Democracy" will be released:

"No. Perhaps by the time there's democracy in China. Axl [Rose] has always been nice to me and I wish him good luck, but I wish he had the old band today. Those guys had a great chemistry. It's what happens when big money gets in the way. It's what destroys bands. People start talking to each other through lawyers. I don't envy Axl's situation. Doing the same record for ten years is not normal anymore."

Read the entire interview at www.freemagazine.fi.