ALLIANCE Return With New Album 'Fire And Grace' May 24 via Escape

Alliance - Fire And Grace

Release date: 24th May, 2019 

 

Band is:

Robert Berry: All vocals, Bass and keyboards  (solo artist, 3, and GTR)

Gary Pihl: All Guitars (Boston and Sammy Hagar)

David Lauser: Drums (Sammy Hagar And The Waboritas)

 

Produced by: ALLIANCE

All Arrangements by: ALLIANCE

Recorded at: Soundtek Studios, Campbell, CA. 

GP Studio Boston

Engineered and Mixed By: Robert Berry

Mastered By: Alan Douches

Cover Artwork and design by: Richard Jones at web-spaghetti, UK 

 

Track listening:

1-DON’T STOP THE WHEEL TURNING 3:39  / 2- GOOD LIFE  4:03 / 3- UNCERTAIN 6:34 / 4- I'LL HAVE SOME OF THAT 4:43 / 5- FIRE AND GRACE 3:26 / 6- RAISE YOUR GLASS 3:24 / 7- TIME  4:38 / 8- REAL THING 4:33 / 9- REASON TO WALK AWAY 4:26 / 10- FAST FORWARD TO LAST NIGHT 3:13 / 11- CHANGE OF HEART 4:21 / 12- THE SAME 4:02 / 13*-YOU ARE THE HEROS 3:27 *bonus track with first pressing only.

 

 

 

It seems people often have differing recollections of important events. Everyone has their perspective or a different point of view. Sometimes it’s hard, even for trained eyes and ears to trace the roots of relationships or find the source of a fire. If you were a serious musical archaeologist or perhaps simply a curious person with a shovel, and you were in San Francisco’s fog shrouded North Beach area, specifically on Columbus Ave. in the late-80s you would have been digging through the ash and sifting through the rubble of Bill Graham’s venue known as Wolfgang’s after the big fire. If you were lucky you might have found crucial evidence, tattered threads or charred clues hinting to the origin of Alliance. It was at Wolfgang’s that long time Sammy Hagar drummer David Lauser and a bandmate, both recently set adrift from the positions they had graced for years until Hagar jumped to join Van Halen, came to see the Robert Berry Band perform. It seems Lauser, along with guitarist Gary Pihl and Gamma / Night Ranger keyboardist Alan ‘Fitz’ Fitzgerald were searching for an allusive missing piece for a new project they were plotting. There was a spark for sure. But would it become a flame or a smouldering match?

 

***“It seems like just yesterday that Gary called me about forming a group for the purpose of having a band outside of our main musical commitments. After several failed attempts with male and female vocalists and bassists, the illustrious A&R man, John Kalodner suggested we contact Robert Berry. Subsequently, Gary, Fitz and I jammed with Robert at Sammy Hagar's home studio. There was a definite spark. An immediate connection. Was that really 30 years ago? Spanning three decades and an ever changing musical landscape, Alliance has been truly a labor of love for all of us.” - David "Bro" Lauser

 

***“I grew up thinking that being in a band would be the coolest thing ever. A musical oasis where everybody contributes creative parts to make a new and unique sound. Bands like Cream or Led Zeppelin had terrific guitar players but the other musicians were just as important in creating a style that was easily recognised and different from anyone else. Even different than the bands those players had been in before. The term, "supergroup" was coined to describe how several well-known players could bring their previous experiences to the melting pot of something new. A match, for sure. I'm very fortunate to be a part of what I think of as a supergroup. Fitz, David and Robert all have long histories with successful groups and Alliance has been our opportunity to take the best of what we have as individuals and create a new and unique identity.

One of my proudest moments with the band was arriving at our first gig and instead of addressing us by our individual names or past affiliations, the promoter just said, "Alliance?" ... our answer; "Yes, We Are!" - Gary Pihl

 

***As I look back on this musical journey called Alliance I can’t help but think that my band mates were, and still are, the best musical partnership I could have ever dream of. But, it almost didn’t happen. Timing is always an important ingredient for success. In 1986 Sammy Hagar left his band to join Van Halen. David Lauser, Alan Fitzgerald and Gary Pihl from Hagar’s band, were determined to continue their musical endeavours together. In their search they had come to see my band at Wolfgang’s in San Francisco. It was complicated by the fact that Steve Howe had just invited me to join him in GTR and I had planned to move to England. Gary had been invited to join Boston and David was still performing solo shows with Hagar. Jump ahead to 1989 and Gary, David and FItz still hadn’t come up with the right combination. I had just returned to the U.S. and the timing was perfect to start this new, yet unnamed band. Now, 30 years later, after all the writing and recording, the many miles traveled, and an honest, supportive friendship, we’ve done what I believe is the definitive Alliance album. Creative, non-compromising, and putting our heart and soul into every song. Alliance has all the ingredients of what a band should be. The fire still burns.

Kirk Hammett talks touring, his horror movie poster collection, burritos and more

Metallica is currently on their “WorldWired” tour in support of their latest album, Hardwired…To Self-Destruct. Baby Huey and Chasta got the chance to sit down in an exclusive interview with guitarist Kirk Hammett before Metallica’s performance at the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival on Saturday, August 12.

 

Chasta: Today is a big day for you. Your poster collection, you’ve got a big deal going on in Salem, Massachusetts:

Kirk Hammett: The show actually opens today, (August 12) in Salem, Massachusetts at the Peabody Essex Museum and it’s the first museum show of its kind, based on horror movie posters. It’s 150 of the best pieces from my collection and today is the opening day and I’m very, very excited. I’m going to be there next week for three days doing a Q&A, showing up with my guitar and playing some music. Only two nights ago I finished the musical accompaniment piece to it called “The Maiden and the Monster.” I gave it to them yesterday and they’re like, ‘Fantastic, it’ll work just fine.’ I’m like (sigh of relief).

C: You hit your deadline.

KH: I only worked on it everyday since April. I had some help with my wife. She actually helped me with parts of it. But yea, I’m really excited about it, I’m going to be there next week doing my thing with my movie posters. I’m really, really excited about it, very, very happy about it. They put a book out; so it’s the second book now that’s based on my collection. I’m pretty happy about that too.

Baby Huey: It’s very well documented your amazing collection of horror movies, all that stuff…What is your most prized possession out of all that stuff?

C: If your house was going to burn down, what would you grab?

KH: I don’t know, it kind of changes every single time. I don’t know if I would grab a movie poster, I don’t know if I’d grab a movie prop, I don’t know if I’d grab one of my guitars. I’d obviously grab family mementos and artifacts, all that sort of stuff, so we wont even get into that. If I had 5 seconds to decide, I’d probably grab that Mummy 3 sheet, which is what my guitar is based on. I love that image; I’m just transfixed with that image. I just love the size of it, it feels like it can just engulf me. I feel like I can just walk into that poster and just get lost forever.

C: So your love of horror films started when you were very young. I was scarred for life by clowns in IT at the same age…Do you like clowns?

KH: You know I kind of have a weird kind of clown thing too. You know its not as bad as other people. I know some people who just can’t even think about clowns who just turn around and start running the other way. You know…I see the creepiness that clowns may have but I just have so many positive memories of going to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus when I was a kid and seeing all those clowns and laughing at them so much. I have a positive reinforcement about clowns.

BH: What is your all time favorite horror movie?

KH: I love the classics from the 30’s. I love the original Frankenstein, the original Dracula, the original Mummy. I love those so much, but then I love horror movies from all periods. I love a lot of relatively new horror films. I have so many favorites it’s hard for me to pinpoint one special one that I like.

BH: What are your thoughts on…Universal is recently trying to bring back the Dark Universe, they just had The Mummy this summer, they’re trying to do more of that. Are you excited for these potential reboots?

KH: I still have yet to see The Mummy, so I don’t really have an informed opinion on that yet. Anytime they pay attention to any of those characters, I think it’s great. I think it’s wonderful. Keep it going, keep the storylines going, because eventually the people who are interested will trace it back to those original films from the 30’s.

C: You told a story about high school being bullied by some dudes that were in a truck with some spider webs on the side, do you remember telling that story?

KH: They were just local neighborhood hoodlums who kind of like cruised around looking for trouble. They picked on anyone who were easy targets who looked different from them. We called them “gravy boys.” What they were…they were people with very low IQs. They had nothing better to do with their time except for bulling other people. They used to terrify us all the time, you know, ‘What the heck?” Then we go down the other side of town and then there were the Mexican gangs we had to constantly worry about as well. It was crazy. We would know the walk if one of those cholos was packing. They’d walk a certain and we’d just try not to like go anywhere near those guys. They’d just walk a certain way.

C: The ‘burbs get gnarly.

KH: This was like 30 years ago.

BH: Just touch on the tour real quick. How everything’s been going, it’s been badass I’m assuming with Avenged Sevenfold, Volbeat, all those bands:

KH: It’s been more than badass, it’s been in-f—king-credible…constantly being blown away everywhere we go. It’s been a while since we’ve been in America doing a tour like this. We were a little bit apprehensive, ‘Are people going to show up with the same enthusiasm that they did last time.’ But they certainly have in droves and then more so. People are showing the love more than ever for Metallica and it’s great. Just as importantly we seem to be reaching a lot of new fans who have never seen us before and to us that’s fantastic.

C: Can you try to put into words what its like to walk out on that stage to that energy that hits you? I know you do yoga before you go out on stage; is that why, because you’re trying to get in a place mentally?

KH: Yoga puts me in the moment, helps me focus and keep my feet on the ground. But walking out onto that stage in front of all those people and feeling all their love and appreciation, because you do feel it in all their excitement and adrenaline. Have you ever just walked into a room that’s filled with friends and family and they’ve been expecting you and they’re like, ‘Alright they’re finally here, hey.’… It’s the same feeling that you get when you see someone and they’re genuinely happy to see you or glad to see you or seeing you finally after a long time. It’s not that much different it’s just amplified a lot more. And then we hit those first few chords and then we’re already into having a good time with everyone.

BH: Matt [Heafy] guitarist from Trivium: What’s his favorite thing to eat, absolute favorite dish on earth, one that tops anything he’s ever had? It can be over the top or something very simple:

KH: I grew up on 20^th and South Van Ness (San Francisco). There was a store a block away that sold burritos for two quarters. This is like in 1968 or ‘69. Ever since I could remember, I’ve always loved Mexican food. I’ve been eating burritos for most of my life. I was thinking about just the concept of the burrito; it’s a perfect meal. It’s everything; It’s so portable. It’s so gratifying. The “food log” rules. We call it the “food log.”

C: What do you love about music?

KH: It makes me feel good. I know that when I play my guitar and I’m feeling good when I’m playing it and I look up and someone happens to be watching me, I can see that they’re feeling good too. So there you go. It all comes down to that. I started playing guitar because you know, ‘I have emotional problems.’ (laughs) It was one of the only things that I found that could calm me down when I was a kid. I was able to use it to ground myself and be more in the moment. And it was also because I have OCD, it kind of fit perfectly into that too. Just like obsessed with it, playing it all the time…It hasn’t changed. For me music basically just… it saved my life. If I didn’t have music, I would’ve just went a route…who knows. I was on a pretty bad path when I discovered music and music kept me from going farther down that path as a youth.

C: If you weren’t a rock god what do you think you’d be doing these days?

KH: I don’t know maybe cooking some food with Matt Heafy [Trivium guitarist] at some restaurant in South Beach going, ‘Hey man, you play guitar too? Let’s get together some time.’ ‘Hey, mind that beurre blanc sauce, ok, don’t let that burn.’

C: I was going to thank you…Whenever I bought that album (Hardwired…To Self-Destruct) and put it on my running playlist…you guys improved my running time by a minute and a half.

KH: How long does it take you to do a mile?

C: I’m like nine and a half, 10 minutes.

KH: That’s better than me, I’m like 10 and a half. Usually it takes me between 31 and 32 minutes to run three miles. But I’m not really trying, I’m just cruise all the way. I put on a podcast, I just space out and just zone on my breathing. But I guess if I really wanted to run faster I probably could.

C: You should listen to Hardwired…To Self-Destruct; it will get you there.

KH: No, no. You don’t understand I listen to it enough, with making it…I only had to make it.

 Interview 1077thebone