INTERVIEW: Robin McAuley – Black Swan (Michael Schenker Fest/Band, Raiding the Rock Vault)

Think of all the ‘super groups’ over all the years who have under-delivered when they’ve committed their talents to recording. You can probably count on the fingers of one hand those that have nailed it? Well you can add ‘Black Swan’ to that elite list. Their debit ‘Shake the World’ is the best thing I’ve heard this decade so far and the line-up of Vocalist Robin McAuley (McAuley Schenker Group), guitarist Reb Beach (Winger, Whitesnake), bassist Jeff Pilson (Foreigner, The End Machine, Dokken), and drummer Matt Starr (Ace Frehley, Mr. Big) have joined forces to create a monster! Like I said in my review  the only real question is why the album seems to feature what looks like a white Mute Swan on its cover rather than the titular Black Swan? (of course I do get to ask that later on)…

 

Robin: Hello Mark!

Mark: How Robin how are you?

Robin: I’m great. I saw the Australian tag coming in and I thought wow!

Mark: (laughs)

Robin: Have you come from the land Downunder!? (laughs)

Mark: I certainly have, right on the other side of the world. It’s interesting we’re based in Perth, Western Australia and the State bird of our state is the Black Swan.

Robin: Oh my God, when I was doing my research I did see that the Black Swan hails from Australia, that is fantastic.

Mark: It’s great to be able to get to chat after first seeing you so many years ago on a date you played on the Iron Maiden ‘World Peace Tour’

Robin: Wow! Grand Prix!

Mark: A few years ago now!

Robin: Quite a few years ago! My God! And I have to ask you how is everything in Australia with those dreadful fires?

Mark: I think that the weather seems to have changed for the better now and that means that a lot is under control finally, but it’s been bad Robin.

Robin: Thank God.

Mark: It has been an awful time, the worst I’ve known it in the twenty odd years I’ve been Downunder, but we’ve been relatively lucky in the West so far. We have the same sort of climate here as California and you know what it’s like there.

Robin: Well you know it never rains in California (laughs)

Mark: So they say, but I think sometimes it pours doesn’t it?

Robin: It sure does (laughs)

Mark: Well thank you so much for talking to us today.

Robin: My pleasure.

Mark: I must admit when I was sent the album I wasn’t quite sure what to expect because I think aside from those great records with Michael (Schenker) I think that last I’d heard from you was when you released your solo record in 1999?

Robin: Oh lord! That was pre-Survivor days and also with the guitar player from Survivor Frankie Sullivan, but it was never written with the intention of it being a solo album –it was just a bunch of songs that we wrote, and there was a Japanese label, the only label that wanted to pick it up at the time, and it was only ever released in Japan. I was asked to join Survivor around that time but I refused and only joined years later. I’m not really one for solo albums as you probably noticed! (laughs)

Mark: (laughs) The last time I saw you on stage was at ‘Raiding The Rock Vault’ a few years ago in Vegas when Paul (Shortino) kindly invited me down.

Robin: That’s where I am right now

Mark: That’s cool.

Robin: Today is our Friday so to speak, the end of our week of five shows so after tonight I get to head out to California!

Mark: That sounds great. It’s a great show and one I can recommend to anyone who visits Vegas. And you must have been there as long as anyone?

Robin: Right from the beginning almost 1500 shows, all the way!

Mark: You’re a very busy man! With ‘Rock Vault’ and shows with Michael (Schenker) – it’s hard to imagine with your schedule and those of Reb and Jeff that Black Swan will find the time to tour?

Robin: That’s the million dollar question! But in an ideal situation we are planning to figure out these crazy schedules that we have and try and make it work. I know that Jeff will start tapering off around September with Foreigner, and Reb of course has a crazy busy year with Whitesnake and then Winger and Matt likewise with Mr. Big etc. I start out in March with Schenker in Japan and then we head off to the UK and then the rest of Europe so it seems like an impossible task, but I think the band is too good not to give it a shot in the right forum. I suppose one of the things I always say to people is when we release the full album ‘Shake the World’ I suppose a lot will depend on how people receive it. People might think it’s OK and blah, blah, blah, but hopefully people will think it’s more than that and decide that it’s too good not to see live. We’ve got good offers already coming in from European promoters and US promoters that are just jumping at the bit to try and dig into those schedules to see where they can try and fit us in.

Mark: It is crazy when you think about how much you all have on, like you said earlier I know that you all have other commitments, I wasn’t sure what Matt had coming up though?

Robin: Well Matt has Mr Big and Ace Frehley.

Mark: And the band sounds so fresh, you’re all great musicians and Reb is in the form of his life at the moment. He’s here with Whitesnake shortly and what he wrote on their last album and here is outstanding!

Robin: He’s a great guy and you’re right but I think to add to that what he plays on the Black Swan album, he’s on fire, it’s just nasty, it’s fired up, it’s just amazing. It’s the real Reb Beech (laughs)

Mark: He is, when I first heard that title track you can feel it, and also in ‘Big Disaster’ – that riff is a monster!

Robin: Oh my God and his solo in ‘Big Disaster’ is just crazy! It’s amazing.

Mark: And the interest is there too, so many people have read the review!

Robin: Thank you.

 

 

Mark: I could honestly talk about every song on there, but let’s just single out a few. Before we do though where did it all start – what was the first song written for ‘Black Swan’?

Robin: Actually the very, very first song was ‘Big Disaster’. You know after we decided that we’d give this a shot and see what we could get out of – Reb was in Pittsburgh and Jeff, Matt and I live in the L.A. area – and they sent me the riff for ‘Big Disaster’ and I started working on the melody and the lyrics and I came to the studio and Reb and Jeff were there, and Jeff said “OK let’s see what you got?” so I started singing the melody and the lyric and I get to the chorus and I’m singing “Big Disaster” and Reb stops and he starts laughing and says “Shit, this is a brand new project and you calling the very first song ‘Big Disaster!!” (laughs)

Mark: (laughs)

Robin: And that really kind of set the tone for the whole thing, we didn’t care or plan we just wrote songs and then whatever happened happened, we’d see what we had, how many were in ‘the pot’ at the end of the day and then go from there. I think ’Shake The World’ was the very last song that we actually wrote and they sent me that riff because they wanted something kind of ‘up and in your face’. When I got the music I was thinking “Shit, what am I gonna do? I’m gonna mess this up” and I was half afraid to even approach it, but they just let me run with it and I came back to Jeff and started singing back the tune, and as soon as I got to ’Shake the world’ he just said “This is the album title, this should be the first one out of the door” and as soon as the label heard it they said “We expected something good but not this good.” And after that everyone got behind it and things really took shape and we had a really great time dog it. It’s very powerful, almost organic sounding and very fresh and that’s what we wanted – we didn’t want ‘more of the same’ we wanted it ‘in your face’ and just to let it go!

Mark: Before we get to my absolute favourite along with those two openers I have to mention ‘Long Road to Nowhere’

Robin: Excellent

Mark: There’s just something about that song and how the verses work against the chorus, with the whole “unless we change” vibe.

Robin: Oh man! That’s almost a kind of a sleeper that one, it’s very heavy, and I said to Jeff I would love to get some cellos over the intro on that one. And he said ‘You know what as it happens I have one hanging on my wall.”

Mark: (laughs)

Robin: So he came up with the intro that very bare, naked cello and I came up with that lyric. It’s pretty powerful stuff. ‘Long Road to Nowhere’ Jeff sent me a chorus with a lyric on it and said “I have a very dear friend that has a terrible problem with drugs” and he gave me the story and said see what you can come up with, so I came back to him with the whole verses to ‘Long Road to Nowhere’ and it fitted perfectly with the whole theme of what he had in mind for the song. It just seemed to just blend and match perfectly. By contrast another riff I got I listened to it and I could hear this wolf over the top of the intro with the guitars. So I came back to Jeff and I had a lyric and the whole thing written and I said, “Oh, I just love what Reb plays over the intro. That howling wolf” and he said ”What howling wolf? I don’t hear any howling wolf!” I’m a big vampire fan I love vampire movies and all that sort of stuff and so I wrote this whole lyric about vampires just because I thought I heard this wolf when Reb was playing! (laughs)

Mark: (laughs) ‘Immortal Souls’ a great song and a great story!

Robin: So no Whitesnake there either (laughs)

 

 

Mark: And just when you think you’ve already heard a great album that wonderful Queen-like closer ‘Divided-United’ hits. Wow!

Robin: It’s amazing. I came over to the studio one day and said to Jeff “I just saw Bohemian Rhapsody’ last night – you have to see it” and he said “Well if we get recording done early today I’ll head in and see it tonight with my family.” So about midnight of the same night I got an mp3 – my phone was just hopping off the shelf and sure enough it’s Pilson! And he said “Oh my god, I just saw the movie and I came right home and sat at my piano, I had this idea and I had to get it down. What do you think?” And I listened to it and I thought “Man! Pilson” I came over to the studio the next morning, I put my vocal on, gave it my take! And then he needed ‘Part B’ so the first part when you think the fun is all over he had Reb back in to come up with a riff and it just became a huge song, a Jeff Pilsen masterpiece.

Mark: They don’t write songs like that anymore! It’s one of those songs that sounds like it was crafted in another time.

Robin: I know and the production on it is just great.

Mark: I do just have one complaint about the album though if I may?

Robin: I’m on it? (laughs)

Mark: (laughs) No it’s certainly not that! You played a belter! I’ve seen you play with Michael a few times over the years and I’ve heard all of your recorded material and I think this is some of your very best work!

Robin: It’s my favourite album ever I have to tell you. I think it’s the best sound anyone has ever given me as a vocalist and it’s my favourite record so far, but tell me! Tell me your complaint?

Mark: Why does the album cover feature a mute swan rather than a black swan?

Robin: (laughs) I actually don’t know the answer to that, honest to god I don’t because on the disc itself, the disc is a black swan, the shadow outline of a black swan.  But I’m not sure why Stan the artist went that way he told me it was “morphing” I was the light, with the shadows and the fire around it, you got me (laughs) I can’t really answer! (laughs)

Mark: (laughs)

Robin: I do love the cover though I think it’s great and I think in all honesty to get to the full story it’s the name of the band Black Swan not necessarily the swan itself. Yes it is an integral part of the name, but the next cover may not even have a swan at all. I love in the logo the way that he put the swan head in the font and that will carry through to everything that we do (laughs).

Mark: I think you got away with that. Us West Australians do love our native birds though! (laughs)

Robin: (laughs)

Mark: I think you’ve answered my next question though – it’s great to hear there will be more because with a project like this it would be a huge shame if a single record was all we got, especially with you all four firing on all cylinders!

Robin: Yes it would and thank you for that it would be a shame. I think we are just starting, we’re just getting fired up here!

Mark: Take it all the way back now Robin if you will, where did it all start for you? When did you know music would be such a huge part of your life?

Robin: Oh God. You know, I wanted to play drums. I started my life growing up in Ireland where I used to play with local bands. I sucked playing drums but I continued because I just wanted to be a drummer (laughs) and I used to love doing back-up vocals but I wasn’t a singer, I never wanted to be a singer that was not on the cards: I just wanted to be a great drummer. I found myself in London in 1973 and I was there for a short while and I got drunk and I remember I had my first taste of alcohol in London believe it or not, I was like 19 or 20 years of age. And my brother in law got me up on stage singing with a local band and I didn’t know what I was doing (laughs) I sang some back-up vocals and we did a couple of tunes, I hacked up a couple of songs and about a month later they asked me if I’d be interested in joining. And so I was in the pub/club band for about two and a half years singing Top 40 material.  Again, I didn’t want to be a singer, it wasn’t on the cards for me and then a bass player and a guitar player walk into the pub one day…

Mark: That sounds like the set up line for a good joke (laughs)

Robin: (laughs) well they came in and they wanted me to sing real material, real songs, original songs and that band became Grand Prix

Mark: Wow

Robin: Originally it was called Paris with Bernie Shaw singing, now the Uriah Heep singer but they changed the name to Grand Prix for the first album and Bernie was no longer in the band so I got invited down to the studio because I knew them and they asked me to join and I was there for that album ‘There For None To See’ and ‘Samurai.’  And we got that Maiden tour you saw me on, then the Sammy Hagar tour and that’s how it all started really.

Mark: I can imagine that the recording proves must have changed quite a bit between those albums and Black Swan?

Robin: Oh god! I think I was talking to Phil Lanzon (Grand Prix and Uriah Heep keyboardist) on a flight to France for a Schenker show and Uriah Heep was on the same bill and I said if there’s one thing I could do I’d love to re-record all of the Grand Prix songs that I did because I think they would be so much better now.  Knowing what I know now and how I sing now – we could make a much better record! (laughs)

Mark: I’m always reminded of Grand Prix because on my wall I have a set of signatures of Iron Maiden and the only paper I had that night was a Grand Prix postcard that they were handing out at the venue. So when we caught up with Maiden that was all I had for them to sign!

Robin: Wow! (laughs) How funny! And Bruce didn’t do too much for that band did he! (laughs)

Mark: (laughs)

Robin: That was his first tour.

Mark: Exactly and one of the very first Rock shows I saw. I did go out and buy your album after that too!

Robin: (laughs)

Mark: Our time is almost up, and if I may let me close with our traditional ‘easy one’ for first timers?

Robin: Sure.

Mark: It’s an easy one. What is the meaning of life?

Robin: That’s easy for me – my family. My family is everything to me. They are my foundation, the loves of my life. I have the best wife in the world, I’ve been married 27 years this year. I have twin boys who will be 21 on Valentine’s Day and easily my boys are my best achievement ever. And that’s the foundation for me, nothing else matters. Everything just kick-starts from that point, everything else I’m blessed with but they are my pride and joy.

Mark: That’s a great answer Robin, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to The Rockpit today. And thank you for the album, ‘Black Swan’ I know will be in a lot of people’s ‘Best of’ lists for the year.

Robin: You are very welcome Mark, I love you guys, thank you so much. Bye, bye.