RYAN ROXIE Interview

Genre: Hard Rock/Rock

Country: U.S.A.

Questions by: Nick Parastatidis

Answers by: RYAN ROXIE

Site: Homepage

1. Hello Ryan and happy New Year. Recently we have said goodbye to 2018. I want to know which your best and which your worst moments were of that year as an artist and why.

Ryan: I was able to release my first solo album 'Imagine Your Reality' in 2018, so that will always be something special for me to remember the year by. Between all the promo and touring with Alice and the new record, I tried to stay as busy as possible...so perhaps the 'toughest' part of the year was being away from the family, but that is always the challenge...plus it's the job we choose (and are lucky!) to do.

2. A new year starts. Do you have any plans for the New Year? Maybe a new release or is it too soon to talk about it?

Ryan: I will continue to release lyric videos of the “Imagine Your Reality” Record. It's my goal to release a video for EACH song on the album, so that might take us through 2019...but of course we have some new music and projects up our sleeves and in the plans for the coming year!

3. With you being the guitarist of one of the musicians that introduced me to heavy metal sound and I mean ALICE COOPER, I would like to know what kind of person he is. Also, I remember back in the day conservative religious people accusing him of Satanism (actually in high school our music teacher made sure to stress out during a lesson how satanic he is haha). So I want to know if he wanted to provoke this kind of people by using this image or does he feel pissed off with these accusations?

Ryan: I think that in the 'early' days of Alice Cooper, there was a concentrated effort to 'shock the system' and stir up as much controversy as possible... 'Alice' became the villain of the rock world, but then over the years as Alice continued his legacy, I think it became just as important to be the most entertaining and energetic touring bands out there...and I think that's what he has with this line-up.

4. Since you have a long and well respected career in the hard rock/rock sound and you have cooperated with many known musicians of the genre, I would like you to tell me who the most influential for you were and why?

Ryan: Hands down...Brian May. As not just one of the best guitarists out there, but also one of the coolest rock stars in history.

5. You are a self taught guitarist. Do you think that this helped you to create your own style and experiment more instead of being a guitarist from a music school?

Ryan: I wouldn't say totally 'self-taught'....I definitely had some teachers in the early days because I really think it's important to learn some basic knowledge when starting the guitar...but when I decided to make this more then just a hobby, then I took it way more upon myself to push myself to become better. I would say that 'if' you can find the right teacher that inspires YOU to push yourself, then you have the perfect scenario!

6. You have recently released your new solo album entitled “Imagine Your Reality”. How do you feel about it? Is there anything that you would try to do differently if you had the chance?

Ryan: As far as the way the final product turned out would I change a thing? Not with this record, I'm really please with it sonically, visually and conceptually.....of course I'd always love to have just a bit more $$ to promote it more and get it into the hands of more people...but I'm happy that people are finding out about it on their own...

7. In February the 2nd you will be playing a live show here in Greece along with CRYSTAL TEARS. So, I would like to know how you met the guys and started your friendship. Do you like their sound and in general heavy metal music?

Ryan: I was approached by Chris awhile back to record some 'guest' guitars on their album and we kept going back and forth as to how to work it out between the Alice touring schedule...after multiple emails, he said 'why don't you just come down here to Greece and record the guitars WITH us ', and how can you refuse a trip down to such a beautiful place as Thessaloniki...ha! We hit it off, the tracking went great, and after it was over we headed over to the nearest bar and had an acoustic rock show (and a bunch of drinks!)...we've been friends ever since....and yes; I do like their style of heavier music, even though my own stuff is a bit more trashy rock n' roll.

8. Since we‘ve mentioned the live show above. What can we expect from RYAN ROXIE on stage? Are there any plans to record the show for a future release?

Ryan: Not a bad idea at all....but I don't think we'll have all that recording gear set up for the gig this time...but what can you expect? You can expect me to be giving you 100% of my energy into the songs and performance because I respect how great the Greek audiences are!

9. Which are your impressions from the Greek audience from your previous appearance here?

Ryan: Lighting Emergency Flares off in the middle of the arena, crowd-surfing from song #1, and screaming their guts out the entire show...I think that says it all!

10. Thanks for your time answering my questions. Wish you the best of luck. Please close the interview in any way you like…

Ryan: Always great to feel like a part of the Greek Rock Scene...please tell your readers to visit the new website at ryanroxie.com and let me know how they feel about the live show and the new album....cheers '77-Nation!