SOUTHERN ROCK ΣΥΝΕΝΤΕΥΞΕΙΣ
Ο Johnny Van Zant μιλάει στο SouthernRock.gr
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- Savvas Sinodinos - 08 Ιούνιος 2012
Ο Johnny Van Zant η φωνή των θρυλικών Lynyrd Skynyrd μιλάει στην Ελενα Διαμαντή για το SouthernRock.gr ενώ το αμερικάνικο γκρούπ είναι σε περιοδεία και εμείς το περιμένουμε στην Ελλάδα στις 18/6/2012.Τους βρήκαμε σε μια στάση τους στην Γερμανία 7/6/2012.
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June 7th, 2012
Interviewing Johnny Van Zandt
By Elena Diamanti(for Southernrock.gr)
E: So, this is Mister Johnny Van Zandt, right?
J: Yes ma'm!
E: Wow! Cheers from sunny Greece!
J: Ah! Thank you!
E: I'm Elena Diamanti, and I'm calling on behalf of southernrock.gr. I'm thrilled to be talking to you! It's a dream come true; literally!
J: Oh! That's sweetie!! That's sweetie!!
E: I know we don't have too much time, so I'll get right to the subject!
J: Ok!
E: So can I ask you for early Lynyrd Skynyrd first: I mean, we all know that 1977 was a tragic year, and I'd like to know, how hard was it for the band to reunite and move on?
J: Ah, it was very hard, you know? There was a period there, where the band didn't play, and everybody was feeling the survivors from the plane crash! And whenever the guys, the surviving members, which were Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, Leon Wilkeson, Billy Powell, when they asked me to be a part of it, I didn't know for sure if I wanted to be a part of it, 'cause, I mean, there was already a legacy of Lynyrd Skynyrd there! So we went into rehearsal under the understanding "well if it just didn't work, it didn't work", and, you know, I actually wanted my brother Donnie from 38 Special to split the vocals with me, and be a part of it, but at the time 38 was doing very well in America and touring heavily in, and he just couldn't be a part of it as much as I wanted him to. And, we got together, and we started playing the songs, and it was great healing for everybody! You know? We started healing from the plane crash, and from the bad memories, over something good, something good over something bad happening to Lynyrd Skynyrd. And then we did a show in Nashville, Tennessee, and the fans just went crazy, and we went out for 6 weeks, and we did a whole tour in the States, it was very successful... Then when we finished that up, we kind of separated again and then we decided, well we'll try to right some songs, and see, you know, what happens, and we're talking to you today, 25 years later!! (laughs)
E: We're all grateful you got the power to do this!
J: (laughs) Well, thank you!
E: Can I ask you, how hard was it to fill in Ronnie Van Zandt 's shoes, I mean, vocals-wise?
J: Well I didn't have to do that, 'cause Ronnie never wore shoes! I didn't have to fill any shoes, so he made it easy on me! (laughs) But, you know, I never tried to fill his shoes. I never tried to be Ronnie, you know? Ronnie was Ronnie, and he was great, and you know it's kinda like people have said "will you try to write a new Sweet home Alabama?" or whatever, I said now it's already been written, you know? How do you rewrite that? You just try to write songs that you feel good about and the best songs possible that you could have! And we've done this again! You know, the reason why we're here 25 years later is the fans! The fans kept us here! And have given us the strength to go through many difficult times during these 25 years. It hasn't been totally easy, that's for sure!
E: So do you think the band has kept its initial character or due to several member changes it has reached some other level?
J: Well, you know, I think anything... I kinda compare it like we had Ford motor company in America and now we're here too, in Europe. And, you know, when the Ford guys made their first car, people went "Wow!! Look at that! That's great!". You know, then, years later, they're still making cars, going on and on and on. That's kind of the way we look at it. We can't stay in the past; we have to go in the future, and evolve, and do what we think is right for the band.
E: True. It's great to hear that! Let me ask you one question, I'm sure if you had a nickel every time someone asked you that... but still: There are some people who believe that Lynyrd Skynyrd show racist tendencies in their music
J: No! That's crazy!
E: I know! I need your personal answer on that...
J: Yeah, they need to get a new opinion, you know? Just because we're from the South of America, the whole Civil war thing, and you know, we got long hair, we used the Confederate flag... people misunderstand that. You know the Confederate flag that we've used in the past, which we use very little now, but it's just saying "Hey, that's where we're from!", it's not a racist thing. As a matter of fact, some of our favorite singers are black singers; so how could you be racist when you love Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Keb' Mo', -oh God!- Muddy Waters -God!- all the great black artists we all love!
E: If you ask me it's distinct in your music!
J: Yeah! So it's just a crazy thought to have seen that, 'cause we're not that way at all!
E: Ok! Something about a new member: Johnny Colt; he's from the Black Crowes, and if you'd like to tell us how's your co-operation, and may be why Robert Kearns left?
J: Well Robert left; he just wanted to do other things; we love Robert, he was with us a couple of years, and so, he called and said "hey, I'm thinking about doing this" and we said "Look, you know what? You gotta follow your dreams! Life's too short!". And so he went and did this, what he's doing now, and for us Johnny Colt's come in, and it just worked out great for us, and he's got a great attitude, great look for us, and it's been good, you know? So we'll see how the future goes!
E: Great! You've been doing some staff not very...musical, meaning the "Barbeque & Beer" in La Vegas! What about that?
J: (laughs) Well, we're from the South, so we love barbeque! And of course we like to have a cold beer too, or a warm beer, depends on what part of the country you're in or the world to answer that. But it's a pretty cool place! If you ever go to Vegas, you gotta look it up; it's in the Excalibur and it's called "Lynyrd Skynyrd's Barbeque & Beer"; it has memorabilia from the band in there, and loud music, just a very cool place to visit!
E: Great! We already know that your brand new album "Last of a Dying Breed" is due out in August. Could you tell us some things about it? Few words?
J: Yeah! Sure! We used Bob Marlette, the producer that we used on our last album "God & Guns", and we recorded it in Nashville in February and March of this year. We wrote with some pretty cool people this time; we actually wrote with a band called "Ceder", we wrote a song with Sean, we wrote with John 5 again and Bob Marlette, and we also wrote with Marlon (Young) from Kid Rock's band! So very interesting writers with us this time on this record! And just had a blast doin' it! Doing the "God and Guns" album, we actually lost Billy Powell and Ean Evans. They passed away; and luckily we had Bob Marlette there, and lowered ourselves when we gathered around, and finished this record for those guys. And this time we said "well you know what? Let's laugh a lot and play music and enjoy music!" And everybody's health was good, so it was a good time!"
E: Usually it comes out when you're having fun. It comes out in the music!
J: Yeah!
E: So, we're looking forward to enjoying you in Athens on June 18! Have you visited Greece before?
J: Never have! I'm so into it you know? As a kid growing up on the West side of Jacksonville, Florida, I wanted to go visit places, see places in my life, and this is a cool thing! This is on my bucket list should I say ... (laughs)
E: It's great to know that it's a once in a lifetime for us, and once in a lifetime for you as well!
J: Yeah! We're very very excited about it! When we got the news that there's the opportunity to come there, we were like "Oh yeah! That's great!" (laughs)
E: You should see how we reacted when we found out you were coming! (laughs)
J: Well, we're looking forward to it honey!
E: Great Johnny I won't tire you anymore! I'll leave you to take a nap or something; I know you're on tour...
J: Yeah! But we appreciate it! Thank you! Good interview! Thank you! Bye bye
