MM - I heard that last year when you were out on tour the band left you behind at a petrol station?
Marc - Yes it was another one of those things.  It was all my fault.  She was faster than me!  MM - Pardon?!? Marc - Our bus driver Andrea!  I was sitting up front like I do most nights when everything goes hush and I have my quiet time.  All I hear is the snoring from the others on the bus.  Our bus driver Andrea was a really nice German bus driver.  She stopped the bus and said she was just going out for a coffee. 

In my mind I thought she was going to sit down and sip her coffee, then go to the toilet.  So I got off the bus and went to the toilet for a quick pee.  When I came out the bus was already pulling away and I starting running behind waving my arms about and whistling for it to stop, but it just went off down the highway.  I got this cold rush and thought ... "Holy Shit!" ... Thank God I had my jacket on with my mobile in it with all my numbers on, only I didn't have her number and everyone on the bus was asleep.  So after trying to call everybody, the only person I could call that was awake at that time was our manager Peter Maganto in America!  So I called Peter in America and I said ... "Pete, this is the situation" ... he said don't worry I am on the ball, just you sit and rest and I will sort it all out. 

Luckily there were people at the petrol station who knew about the band and so they made me feel as comfortable as possible.  But there was not one single chair to sit down on until the Restaurant opened at 7 o' clock in the morning!  So I was stuck there standing around drinking coffee and chatting, signing autographs and making phone calls.  It was really funny. 

Also I had no passport and that was the worst thing, because if I'd had a passport I could have tried every truck going in that direction.  I would have just got on and sat next to the guy then he could have took me across the border.  But, I had no passport so I was in deep shit!

Anyway Peter in America eventually got in touch with Stefan and when he got the message he looked in my bunk and there was no me.  I wasn't anywhere to be found on the bus and they had just arrived at the venue!  It was amazing.  He quickly asked everyone else and they said ok, so Storace is missing!  They phoned Peter back and Peter told them where I was, but this was about 3 or 4 hours drive away.  So they sent a Mercedes up and it took me back down in time for sound check.  We did the gig and then I went to bed because I had had no sleep that night.  I was afraid to fall asleep because then I could not carry on being in control of the situation.  MM - You do realise the excitement is supposed to be while you're on stage and not before you get there?  Marc - Yes, but we seem to have it all days!  The only time we are away from it is when we get some sleep.

MM – Talking of shocks, was it a shock when Fernando Von Arb decided to call it a day and leave the band?
Marc - In a way it was like a secret wish come true because he was only blocking our way really.  The only sad thing about it, and this was only for me, was when I looked to the past, Fernando was the only other member of the band who was constant in Krokus throughout all the time that I was in Krokus.  But I had slowly been building up a resentment because he did not want to tour, he was just not interested.  The reasons he had made sense, but it does not make sense to me for a band that wants to make it back to where they were before, if not bigger, not to tour.  The spirit has to be there and his spirit was no longer there.  I am sure if we had mentioned going to the USA he'd have got a cold rush. 

He had cancer and he overcame that and I helped him a little bit because I said let's get Krokus back together, so we got the reunion tour together.  We had been at loggerheads before, but as soon as I found out he had cancer, I thought there was nothing worse than that to face.  So I buried my hatchet immediately and decided now he needed all positive energy. 

The bottom line was we were comrades, sometimes friends, sometimes deep friends, sometimes not really getting on.  Then in the end I was happy to see the end of everybody in the band and the whole organisation.  In 1988 I left because there was too much intrigue, it was like a cancer festering away.  Plus we'd had 8 years on the road touring constantly and no long holidays, a month if that and then we would start song writing again.  It was really like being in the mill. 

In 8 years we had 7 studio albums and 1 live album and that's a hell of a lot.  Then the quality starts to suffer because somehow the songs start to deteriorate and become shallow and repetitive.  When he said ... "I am leaving the band, do what you like, get a good guitar player and tour where you like" ... I thought ok that's what I'm going to do.  So I drove home and I called Mandy up, because Mandy and I had remained friends over all the years since he was thrown out of the band in 1982 by Von Arb and Von Rohr.  

I had been against that decision too but I had been outvoted.  There had been too many self destructive decisions made in the past, and when you change a band member for me it is like removing a finger and sewing on someone else's.  It takes time.  It could be rejected again.  It's not an easy thing.  Despite all the bullshit I am actually a deep person and very emotional and if someone is my friend then they are my friend.  Ok, I understand sometimes you have to separate music from friendship and look at it from a business point of view. 

Right now I think Krokus has the best formation of musicians.  Both the harmony between the musicians and the musicianship is of a high level.  I am very happy with the way it is and after everything we have been through, we're still playing solid and very tight.  We're looking forward to some festivals and some bigger dates back in Switzerland, where we can play the whole set and loving every meet and greet after each gig.   We like to see our fans. Now it is very rushed and we have to cut down to just 45 minutes.  We don't meet and greet fans as much as we'd like to, but it's still good because we are meeting a lot of new ones.  MM - While keeping your old ones happy at the same time.  Marc - Yes, I took a stroll by the bar and they all came forward and they were really happy.  Ok, so a couple of them said ... "why didn't you play this?" ... but we only had 45 minutes so we can't play everything.  Considering the band have been away for something like 18 years or more it has been really nice being back in London and coming here.  It was also our first time to play in Ireland and it was good to go back to Glasgow and be welcomed so well after so long. 

Now if you are away for 3 years you are usually forgotten, but I guess we must have left a lasting impression in the 80's because the proof is here now a hundred years later. You see it like it really is because then you don't know if it's really all just hype from the press and you perhaps don't know what really is the truth.  Mandy and I came over a little while ago for a weekend to do interviews and met some people and talked to them.  They were all very positive.  It's a very humble thing and makes you feel very positive because it is for real and it's not just hype when that happens. 

MM - I think a lot of the UK rock fans have a very genuine warm regard for the band and hold you up on par with the likes of Saxon and Motorhead, bands they have taken to their hearts.  Even after all these years you still seem to have all the energy and passion that you had before, for the music you create. 
Marc - Well it is important to stay focused on what you're doing.  It's important to keep the consistency going for each and every gig when you go out on stage.  The set is very premeditated.  We tried out a few different songs and moved things around so that the energy would remain there throughout the whole of the set.  We must have changed our repertoire about 5 times before we found the one we were happy with, because we wanted to keep it compact and more dynamic.  I think that we have achieved this and as I said before, if when we come off stage people say they wished we had played for longer then we must have done something right!  Maybe when we come back to headline we can include some more of those songs they wanted us to play.

MM - The band have been going since the early 70's in one form or another and have seen many other bands come and go.  What do you put the bands longevity down to ?
Marc - Well Krokus was and still is the biggest rock export from Switzerland and I guess there is still a lot of pride in that.  Not only that but the main thing for us has always been the music.  The songs we like to do have always been very good songs that hold up and have a long life.  They do not age and decay.  I dare say we use basic instruments, we don't even have keyboards.  There were a couple of albums where we experimented but it didn't really work.  I think we have the kind of sound that never grows old because it is not a fashion sound that follows the trends.  There's blues in there, boogie and rock.  There are good melodies and commercial sounding guitar solo's as opposed to progressive rock.  So it is easy to hold in your memory, it's good party music.

MM - What was it like working with Pink Cream 69's Dennis Ward on the new album?  Was he a hard task master to work for, or was he on the same wavelength as you all ?
Marc – It was like having a sixth member of the band, it was really good.  He is a musician himself, he plays bass and is a really nice guy, easy going and he is very good on Pro-Tools.  Yet he knows the old school stuff as well!  Actually we started our work in an old school studio just outside of Stuttgart, there was this huge room where you could have put an orchestra in.  That's where we had Stefan playing the drums and behind the glass we were all in this very big control room with a huge analogue desk and the little Pro-Tools in the corner. 

We started out using tape because I had asked for it.  We used an old 32 track to get the vocals down.  I also wanted to hold the mic in my hand, so I checked if this was a problem with Dennis and he said it was alright.  He even added this little volt thing, you'd think he'd got it out of a museum!  It had these two little nobs on it and he rigged it up and passed it through to give a natural warm sound which I like to have, especially when I hit high notes so that it does not hurt the ears. 

Then we worked through it all systematically and then have a listen.  He'd give his ideas only when it was needed.  He didn't push anything on to us that didn't have to be.  Some of the songs were too long and we had to do it in a way that would make people want to go back and play the album again and again. We're all very happy with how it came out and I think we achieved more than we set out to achieve.

MM - Was that the first time you'd worked with Dennis? Marc - Yes.  MM - Would you work with him again?  Marc - Yes I would, no problem.  He doesn't live that far away from where I am and so after we'd decided to go for the rhythm tracks first, then Mandy and I left the studio and left the rest to get the rhythm sections done.  Dennis got all of the rhythm sections done first, the bass and then the rhythm guitar, then Mandy got the tapes so we could work at home.  He did all his fills and solo's at home, there were about hundreds of them to do.  I worked on my vocals and polished the lyrics and also thought about the backing vocals. 

Dennis took a weeks break after the first go and then he drove down and we recorded all my vocals and backing vocals in about 6 days, which is very good.  Then he took Mandy's stuff and sat down with him and checked which solo out of the 6 he should put on.  That part is really nerve wracking as it is so time consuming and you really have to use your memory well. 

In the 80's we had this reputation where some bands didn't want to have us on tour with them because they were afraid to get the hammer.  We always delivered quite a punch without too many frills.  We don't go in for too many backing vocals and stuff, but that's only because that's the style it is, it's not because we don't like it.  We listen to other bands and take pleasure out of their productions.  Variety is what makes it all nice.

MM - What are some of your favourite highlights off the new album, what songs do you enjoy the most?
Marc - 'Angel of My Dreams'.  'Hellraiser' because it is a crazy party song.  'Hangman' because it has this melancholic feel to the vocals and has a good story to it.  It also sounds really massive live, it's like an arena song.  I also like 'Spirit Of The Night' because it's really fast.  We're not a speed metal band but I think that song could easily fit into that title.  I personally like the song 'Take My Love' because it's something very different.  You won't find another Krokus song anywhere that sounds like that, the way it's arranged, the vocals and so on.  'Midnite Fantasy', I like that one too because I can really blues it up and it's not too high. 

MM - All the songs on the album are very strong, there's not one weak one among them. 
Marc - Yes, when we started we had a really wide choice.  We'd already started writing in 2003 around the time when we released the double live album out 'Fire & Gasoline'.  Then we went into the writing period, still with Fernando in the band.  Then eventually the band changed and everything was totally different.  New musicians with a stronger spirit because everyone was giving all they had.  Stefan joined us last. By then basically all the music had come from Dom and Tony.  Mandy and I did all the vocal melodies and lyrics and then together we all arranged them.  Stefan came into the band about that time and gave his interpretation on the arrangements. 

We had all these songs and first we threw out all the songs the musicians in the band thought were extra.  But then we still had such a wide choice to choose from, maybe something like 38 songs.  We still have those songs and ideas, they were not lost and when we go into pre-production again for the next album and I start writing more new songs, we will give these songs a second listen.  We'll write the new ones first and then we will have another listening party and we'll have a big meal and listen to them all and make a big event out of it.  Then everyone will write out his personal list and we do it democratically and choose the ones we have all chosen in common.  Then we will look at the other ones and that's when it becomes funny and we ask each other ... "Why did you choose that?" ... Everyone listens to what everyone else has to say, then the producer, the manager, the record company, they all get to pitch in with their ideas.  So hopefully then we will really only go for the right decisions. 

This time we even had an extra track which was released only on the Japanese CD.  That was something we didn't know whether to include it on the album or not.  In the end it went on as a bonus track, that was 'Walking In The Spirit'.  MM - Maybe you could add that to your live set so all your fans can hear it?  Marc - Who knows, maybe we could put in on the next album?  We've had very good feedback from that song, it's very catchy and it stays with you.    

MM - How difficult has it been for you to change or adjust to the new era of the music industry, the internet, downloading and all that stuff ?
Marc  – Obviously there is a difference.  The industry is suffering from that and there is less income for musicians unless you are selling multi-platinum.  Obviously we will all be happy when solutions are found and from what I gather these are slowly on the way.  I keep hearing things here and there about IPod and paying to download songs and so on.  On one hand it's good to be on the black market because it means you're popular, but that popularity isn't going to pay your bills! That's how it is basically. 

MM - In the past bands could perhaps release an album and rely on that to bring in the money.  However times are changing and when people can download the music illegally for free, maybe it's more important for bands to tour and get the income mainly from the touring and the merchandise than from the actual original product of the album?  Whereas it was the album that brought in the money and the tour was just a secondary thing, maybe this is now turning the other way around? 
Marc - That's hard to say.  Maybe if we were headlining and selling out huge arenas every night then I guess there would be no problem with merchandising and selling cd's on the spot.  But it's on the way up that's the most crucial part for a bands survival and to make the whole thing feasible.  On the other hand I believe the rock fans, our fans, are not the downloading type.  It's not our music that is maybe suffering from this.  I guess kids can download one song if they want from a rap or pop band, I guess they're the ones that play with these toys.  I think about when I talk to a lot of rock fans who still like to hear vinyl, so do I because it still sounds great.  Unfortunately we're not doing vinyl, but that's a thing that has to do more with budgets and politics.  Let's see what they come up with.  I think it's very important to find a solution against this because it is very costly to tour.
 

MM - You can understand why you were an obvious choice for them to approach you.  Marc - Yes I do and it took me a while at first to get over it, because every act and everyone wants to be know as his own individual and be respected for his own craft.  But then I learnt to see the positive side of it.  It was only in the very beginning that I thought .. "Fuck off, I am me!".  The way I look at it now is we grew up around the same time in different parts of the world and with the same influences.  Just by a stroke of coincidence we had the same vocal technique, although mine expands a little wider.  I couldn't imagine them doing a song like 'Screaming In The Night' or 'Midnite Fantasy'.  I'm more flexible going in this direction I think.  Still it's a compliment and I get it every day in a positive way.  It's not meant as a put down, it's more of an ego boost.  

MM - Finally is there anything you would like to say to all your fans out there?
Marc – Well it's taken a long time to return to the UK and hopefully we will be back again soon.  In the mean time I hope that people are going to listen to the new 'Hellraiser' album and catch up on the back catalogue, because I know a lot of you are still young and if your dad hasn't got the collection you might want to start with the best of double live album 'Fire & Gasoline'. 

If you have any questions that you want to ask us, if you want to know where we are in the world or what we're doing, just go on to www.krokusonline.com and there you can ask us anything you like.  Especially if you contact our fan club president and now US manager Peter Maganto.  He used to manage me 30 years ago.  Peter will be only too happy to answer any questions and he will relay them on to us so you will actually get the answers through Peter from us. 

We're really looking forward to returning because this little visit has really given us a boost.  We know we are still wanted here which is nice.  We never take anything for granted in life.  MM - Another way is perhaps people could come to the gigs and ask you them in person?  Marc - Yes, mainly when we are headliners.  We love to do meet and greets after a show when we have changed into something less sweaty.  We usually go to the merchandise stand and get behind with pens ready to shoot.  You can bring your old records, anything you'd like signed, we'll even sign your erm ... MM - Arms? Marc - Yes, arms of course! Biceps and stuff like that.  We do get these requests, but please not the toes, it takes too long!   

MM - What can I say, Marc you are not only a fantastic singer and front man, but it's also an absolute pleasure to talk to.  I look forward to seeing you back on these shores with your next tour. 

The bands new album 'Hellraiser' actually made it into our top 20 releases of 2006 and has remained a strong favourite in the office since it landed on our desks.  If you haven't had the chance to check it out yet then I'd certainly recommend you do so, it's an absolute corker.