Just prior to the start of the summer tour season, lead vocalist/drummer, Kelly Keagy talked with Alun Williams about the new album, and Night Ranger's plans for the future.
Kelly Keagy:
It took us a while to get it going just because we had to start and stop so much with touring, personnel changes, stuff like that, but I am really, really happy with it. Songs are good, a lot of good rockin' stuff on this record. We are really lucky that we got a pretty decent label [VH1 Classic] -- people that are into the music they listen to it.
[With] Hole In The Sun, we wanted to have some modern influences but we also wanted to capture the stuff we grew up with which was '60s and '70s -- Cream, Hendrix, that kinda stuff. A lot of people don't realize that those bands were all melodic music. [W]e grew up with that stuff, as well as the r&b stuff. Plus, we haven't made an album in 10 years [and] we had a lot of influences in between there.
About.com Classic Rock:
It looks like a busy summer for you guys. I mean, non-stop touring.
Kelly Keagy:
We're going to be jumping around a lot. We're trying to rebuild the whole thing because we really didn't get a chance to do much last year [and] the year before [that] we were off. All of us have been busy doing side projects [but] when we come back together to make music ... Night Ranger is definitely full time. [W]e really try to be consistently good every time. Sometimes the situation really doesn't lend itself to that. Sometimes you're just throwing the gear up and going, no sound check and all that.
About.com Classic Rock:
Was there a specific reason why the US release got pushed back a year?
Kelly Keagy:
Last year we wanted to give VH1 all the room they needed to work this thing and focus on it and they asked us if we could do that. Plus, we were kinda late in getting contractual things going with them and they are a brand new label, so we wanted to have all of our ducks in a row.
About.com Classic Rock:
How are Christian [Cullen] and Joel [Hoekstra] fitting in with Night Ranger?
Kelly Keagy:
Really great. The band is better than it's been since the original lineup. Having younger energy in there is really putting this thing on a different level to me. I have been playing with those guys for about six or seven years with World Stage in Chicago. When it came to replacing [guitarist] Jeff [Watson] and Fitz [Alan Fitzgerald, keyboard] that's a pretty tall order. I knew Christian and Joel were up to the task because they could play all of those [Night Ranger] songs ... I would sit in [and] we would do "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" and "Sister Christian" and they would totally pull off the songs.
About.com Classic Rock:
There is also a double live Japanese album in the works?
Kelly Keagy:
We went over there for a quick six shows and they released the album maybe three days before we got there at the end of April. It sounds really good. It was recorded really well and the audience was really enthusiastic. We got some of the new songs on there ... live versions of four or five songs on the new album. It sure seems that Night Ranger has a lot of live albums out, you know what I mean? I think it's like our fourth one or something.
About.com Classic Rock:
Do you have a favorite new song in the live set or do you just love playing the new stuff generally?
Kelly Keagy:
Well, it's tough to come out and play new music when nobody has heard the record. You're not getting massive radio play like you used to. So it's tough because we want to play new material and we are excited about it, but at the same time you get that stare like, "What's this song?" from the audience, which tends to make you shy away from doing it. I know that the Influences album got some good radio play ... maybe we will get some of that [with the new album] too. I can only think that it would be possible.
About.com Classic Rock:
What about Kelly Keagy? In the last five years or so you've done The Mob, two solo albums, World Stage and Scrap Metal, which seems to have really taken off.
Kelly Keagy:
Well, I had to put a lot of stuff on hold with all the energy going into Night Ranger and supporting the new album. Scrap Metal actually just did a gig out on the east coast, but [those] gigs will be few far between because, like Night Ranger, the Nelsons [Gunnar and Matthew] and [Mark] Slaughter are all heading out on the road this summer with their own gigs. This is really like prime time for us so we're not going to be able to do any gigs with that project over the summer. Maybe afterwards, possibly.
About.com Classic Rock:
Well, I guess it gives you a change from doing your traditional stuff you get to play something different?
Kelly Keagy:
Oh yeah ... there are some real moments with that project, I mean song after song after song ... Slaughter stuff, Nelson stuff, and Night Ranger hits, and then we bring in all of our guests like Joe Lynn Turner [Rainbow, Deep Purple, Yngwie Malmsteen] and Jimi Jamison [Survivor] and on a few of those shows where all those guys are on stage ... it was so rockin'! Man, it was just great!
About.com Classic Rock:
So, any other side projects for you after the summer touring stops or are you just going to take a break for a bit?
Kelly Keagy:
No, you know, I never take a break. I try to keep going all the time and now I live in Nashville so I'm always writing something there. I'm going to start working on another [solo] record but Night Ranger's also got to do another record. It originally came through the Japanese market to actually do this album and when we were over there this last time they said they definitely wanted us to do another record. I think probably the priority is gonna be to jump right back in there and write some more songs and start working on a new record for next year.
Interview by Alun Williams, May 15, 2008
