Former TNT vocalist Tony Harnell talks about the killer new Starbreaker release and a long in-progress solo album and leaving the band he fronted for more than 20 years.
How's it going Tony? Well, it's great to talk to you. It's been a while.
It's been a while, mate. Firefest was the last time I caught up with you. I think we said a brief hello there.
That's right. Things were very crazy but I think you're right, that was the last time I caught up with you anyway.
Nice. And, I think our last interview was for the Starbreaker album; I don't think we did one for the TNT album.
No, no we didn't actually. Yeah.
But, here we are Starbreaker time again. And, we're off the record, give me your thoughts.
Let's go on the record. I think its FANTASTIC! Well, thank you.
Yeah. Absolutely. Look, I think it's a really nice progression from the 1st album, without being too seriously off path, but it's more focused, it's better produced and I think the songs—it's more of a band sort of a record. Yeah, I would agree.
It sounds more like a band than a project. I would agree with you 100%.
I think you have done exceptionally well on this record. Thank you! I feel like all of that stuff –you know, the way that it can be done wrong—all of that stuff can get in the way of the song…….
Yeah. …and isn't enhancing the song. I think what we did, is that we actually made it part of the whole package, making it part of the song itself so that it just helps create the mood. It's definitely a dark album, there's no doubt about it. That's just something we just kind of talked about and we started out to do.
There's nothing wrong with that at all. The way I have always tried to do this is, especially, for better or for worse, but pretty much since the Firefly album, my goal—and you know that was kind of a hit and miss album, in my opinion, some people think it was a complete miss, but, surprisingly, that album seems to grow on people year by year, that didn't like it as much in the beginning. My goal has been to take, just to expand the music, you know? TNT was, and people can disagree with this, I think, was one of the most influential “melodic rock” bands. We were one of the early bands. I think that we were the first band to combine a few different things and make a very pop sound, but about as heavy as it could be and still be quite pop. I think that when you've been doing that kind of music, for many years, it's only natural to try to push the envelope a little bit. I know that rubs people the wrong way sometimes. And, I don't think that this album—in fact, from My Religion, or actually from my work, I can say, from the first Westworld album forward, I don't think any of those albums, although they have all pushed in various ways beyond the 80s, they've all managed to maintain the roots of what they are, yet push a little bit forward and try to just expand it without turning people off. That's my opinion.
Oh, I absolutely agree. My Religion, In particular, was a really, really clever record, and you know how much I love that record, but it's a really clever record as far as bridging the old and new. I think the first Westworld was probably the blueprint for that. In some ways, maybe. I mean, even Skin was as well. I think with Cyber Dreams we went back to a little bit more of a traditional sound. I think Love's Dying Wish is what that progression would be in 2008.
Yeah, and I really appreciate that you are singing lower on some of the parts of this; I think it really suits your voice.
Thank you. I think it makes the high parts more exciting.
Yes and when you get to a song like Changes Me, it just does my head in every time - I LOVE it. Thanks so much.
It's just got that impact because of the mood built up around it. Yeah. Well, I'm very pleased that you like it. Really. It's very difficult to do these albums long distance, on a very limited budget - you do the best that you can. I did go to Sweden this time and I did sit with Magnus for a week. It wasn't a long time but it was long enough to write 2 or 3 songs in person. That was very good to do because that really set the blueprint for the album.
Then you could get started. Yeah, and then we were on the same page and we were able to stay in communication long distance and keep it going. But we did work very hard on this-we worked harder than we did on the last one. And, obviously, being that we produced it, it took a lot more work than someone else producing it.
Yeah. How did you achieve the production quality on this record? Well, we just took great care of recording everything. That was the key-knowing that everything was going to be in different places, we just knew that we had to do the best we could with each instrument. So, Magnus recorded his guitars, as he always does, at home. I recorded the vocals, as I have been now for about 5 albums, with Bruno, who's become one of my best buddies in the world. He's a great guy and he has actually been upgrading his studio more and more to get a better and better vocal sound there so I think THAT shows. I actually feel that the vocal quality, in terms of the production and the sound of it, is up there with some of the best stuff that I have done.
It's crisp; just super crisp. Yeah. I think that was big part of it. And finding Johnny Lightfoot was great. He's become another great friend of mine. He lives in Utah but he really wanted to be a part of it. I have heard him play many times and I trusted him 100%. He had his own studio as well at home and he produces other bands as well. So, I KNEW that would do a fantastic job and it would go quickly and it would be totally painless. And, Magnus was absolutely THRILLED when he got the bass tracks back.
Yeah. Then, of course, Johnny Mack did his thing and I think he did another fantastic job. I worked with him very closely on this record. You can probably tell that he still goes nuts because it's in his nature. It's a hard time to restrain him but I did restrain him, a bit- just enough-just enough to keep the songs intact and I let him go off pretty much wherever there was an opening for it.
Yeah. It just sounds like a really complete record. To me, this is as good as a band is going to sound over such a distance. Yeah, sure. I guess if you are really, really dig down and analyze it, as with any album, you could probably find some flaws, and things that can be done better, but I'm of the school that I've never been 100% satisfied with any record I've done. I could say the same thing about this one; I think it's a really cool album. I can say that. I think it's a really great step forward for the project. I'm very proud of it. But, art isn't supposed to be perfect anyway. It's supposed to be a little rough around the edges. But I think Tommy Hanson was really a key element to the final sound of this thing. And, we, I drove him crazy as I always do. We went back and forth, probably for a good 8-10 days maybe before we really, really nailed the first song. And that song is longer than he is used to but I think he would tell anybody who asked him that the final result was worth the extra work.
Yeah. Yeah. YES. It's a super sounding record-absolutely. Thank you.
Do you have-you said it was a darker record-do you have any personal inspiration behind that or, why you went in that direction? I just felt like… it just seemed like a cool thing to do. I've done so many… most of my music has been upbeat-- happy and happy and... The interesting thing about this album is we purposefully set out to make it dark on a musical level so there is a lot of minor key stuff, there's a lot of...the guitars are tuned down more than normal. There's that element. So, the melodies and the music are naturally sounding darker because of the music itself. Lyrically, yeah, it's got some dark moments but I still think ultimately it comes out, at least I feel it comes out, inspirational at the end, which is kind of always what I am shooting for. And, You know, mostly, I'm just trying to inspire myself to do better and to live a better life and most of my songs are just about working that stuff out in one way, shape or form, either for myself or for people around me.
Yeah. Well, I think it's got a positive sort of edge to it because you come out at the end of it thinking, Wow, that was a great record. That's good!! That's all I want! (laughs)
(laughs) That's all anybody could ask for.
Do you see any way of trying to play live? Get some live dates? You know, that would be GREAT. Obviously with 2 guys in New York, one is Sweden and one in Utah…it does pose a bit of a problem. We're sort of in a wait and see situation with it. If the album comes out, and people respond really well to it, it's always something that's potentially there. Magnus has now got his hand's full with Primal Fear but I think I could manage to—if something took off with this, he would probably want to do something with it because this is just as much his baby as it is mine.
Absolutely. I think you've got a really good potential in the U.S. as well. Yeah, hopefully they'll get it out here soon. I was working on that as well but I think they have a good distributor lined up now and I think there is a proper release date set up at some point. I'll probably get myself signed, you know, for the American fans who want to get it soon and get it at a good price and don't have to pay the nearly $30 price tag for an import.
Yeah, that's a problem we've got here as well. But, at least the mail order and the internet opens it up pretty much for anyone, doesn't it? Yeah, definitely. I do understand that people have a hard time because the albums do get expensive but I do always just really plead with people to just try to download responsibly. I know they are going to do it but if they can try to be responsible and try to understand that –you know, check the music out, make sure you dig it, and then, if you do, buy it; because, if you don't, the very artist that you love could stop making music.
Yeah, it's a very serious, serious problem, isn't it? You bet. I'm sure you know more that you are working with this label than you did before even.
Absolutely. We're super paranoid but it's gonna happen. You just have to accept that it's going to happen and try to make the best record possible… That's right.
….and hope that, like you said, responsible downloading. I like the idea of that. If you like it, buy it. Yeah, I mean, ultimately people are responsible for their own actions and everybody has a different level of ethics, I guess you could say. And, if people can sleep at night, you know, doing various things, then that's the way it is. That's the way of the world. Hopefully, more people, the majority of people are a little bit more responsible and understand the repercussions of not paying for music at all and how that will definitely affect…. and there's no reason why music, over other art forms, shouldn't be compensated fairly. I mean, we work very hard.
Absolutely! And it's not that we're asking for more than somebody else gets for their job but this is a job for us—this is what we do. I don't have “day” job; I hustle and bustle and make my living as an artist full time so every record sale does actually mean something to an artist on my level.
Yes. And that's why I take the time, and that's why I make sure that the album is as good as I think it can be, under the parameters that I am given. I hope that people appreciate that. They don't have to love everything that I do but at least I hope that they appreciate that I do my best to make it the best. They know as well as I do that there are a lot of artists out there, not just new ones, but ones that have been around for as long as I have and longer, that have been known to just throw stuff out. You've reviewed some of those records; I don't need to mention any names.
Nope. (laughs) Yeah. I just think they are doing a disservice to themselves and they're disrespecting the fans. You know what? In that case, they almost deserve to be downloaded on.
Yup. Yes. (laughs) (laughs) It is what it is. You've got to work. You've got to have a product that people want to buy.
Yeah! Exactly! Inspire them to….. Inspire them to open their wallets.
Exactly. So, it's been a couple of years now since you've left TNT. Those guys have moved on. Are you happy with the decision to move on still? I didn't have a choice. I truly didn't have a choice. It was really… I'm not going to get into the whole “airing the dirty laundry”, but, I mean, I just absolutely had no choice. It was really a matter - a decision about my health. It was a decision based on physical and mental health and preserving that, and preserving my marriage-that was part of it. And the other part of it was I just kind of felt like I was done. There was the traveling. The traveling was very tough and the fact that the band had pretty much resolved itself to being a Norwegian band, basically playing only there: you can only imagine. I mean, between 2002 and 2005, there were periods when I was flying back and forth two times a month.
Wow! Really? Yeah, and if you figure in…..that's not a big deal but if you are not including the jet lag.
Yes! And when you think about the jet lag and the fact that I was flying maybe 2 days before the 1st show, I was for 3….or basically the whole reunion, time….all those records, all those shows, I was basically jet lagged the whole time. (laughs)
(laughs) yeah. I was! I was exhausted and jet lagged the whole time so I felt like I wasn't able, physically, to give, the best performances that I could possibly give as a singer, night after night. I was just too tired and it was just taking it's toll on me. But beyond all that, I felt that I had done everything I could do, in the context of that band. Taking the income into consideration, it was OK but it wasn't ….you have to weigh everything out in life. The income level was not worth the wear and tear on my body and so on and so forth. It would have been great to involved in a band that you had been with for 20 something years and you could go on and actually earn a real living from. Obviously, that's something that a lot of bands are able to do and able to do well. And if we were able to maintain that and establish that to a point where the tours could have confined to a specific period of time and the fees we were getting were much higher, then it would have been a completely different thing for me to consider because then it wouldn't have been a year long thing; it would have been a thing that I did maybe for 2 or 3 months out of the year and the rest of the year, I could have been home doing other projects. But it was taking all of my time and I wasn't able to really focus enough on other things.
Yeah, that's fair enough. The guys—they weren't interested in looking into an American summer circuit tour? You know, I brought it up many times. It would have been something that would have been very feasible, especially in the last few years. I imagine that they'll get around to that at some point. I don't know how well it will do without me at this point-- maybe people won't care. They certainly don't care about the bigger bands doing it so they probably won't care about the smaller bands like TNT doing it.
Yeah. So, there wasn't a lot interest in pursuing it back when I was there. I did push for it but it didn't happen.
I don't want to get into anything heavy but still have to…. Well, you ask what you want to ask and I'll decide if I want to answer it! (laughs)
Yeah! (laughs) Well, no, I was just going to ask if you had heard the last TNT record yet? I mean, it was so heavily debated everywhere, for the change of direction. You know, for me, the only way I can explain it to people….I have not heard it. I haven't heard a riff and I can tell you that is the honest to God's truth. The only way I can explain why is, for me, you have to imagine…it's kind of like…um….walking in on your ex wife with another man or something. Even though, you are not married to her anymore, you really don't want to see it. And I think that's the best way I can describe it; I just feel that that was such a big part of my life: so many big ups and big downs. It was marriage. What we created together, not them, but what WE created TOGETHER as a UNIT was what made the thing sound like it did. There are some people who would debate that but I do think that the majority of people listening to my music outside of the band can definitely see the elements that I brought to the table. But I think that….I kind of hate to see it, you know, messed with. So I have mixed feelings about them going forward.
Yeah. Absolutely. In saying that, I think that Tony Mills is a great guy. We've spoken several times. He's very respectful of what I did in the band-the music I left behind. He is really, really happy to have the gig. He's thrilled to be there. And, going forward, I don't think they could have gotten a better guy, in terms of personality and certainly vocal ability. Personality wise, I think they did very, very well.
Yeah, I've got a lot of time for Tony, myself, I think he's---I agree with your sentiment exactly—a very, very genuine guy. He's a no bull shit, straight forward, good ole English bloke.
Yup. (laughs) I think it's good for him that he's sort of got a second lease in a way by joining the band, I think he feels kind of charged up. He's got this new territory in Norway that he's kind of flourishing in. And it's much easier for him. I mean, he's got an hour and a half or so flight from the middle of England up to Norway, and there's really no jet lag so you could literally do that every week if you had to and it wouldn't be a big deal. It's like a commuter flight from New York to Chicago or something.
Yeah, exactly. Much easier. I hear whispers that Starbreaker isn't the only thing that you are putting down on tape. Yes, I've put a few of my solo songs up on my MySpace page just to uh….you know… I'm very…..it's a funny thing for me. As a solo artist, I feel such a responsibility for the whole thing and I really just want….the most important thing for me is that I want to make sure that I'm being 100% honest with myself. I could have put out a record by now; I've got enough material recorded. I just want the 1st one to be something that I don't even care if everybody likes it or not-I WANT to be proud of it.
Yes. I want to feel really, really good about it and I want to feel that it's exactly what I want to do, and that it really expresses some kind of deep direction in me. I mean, it doesn't have to reinvent the wheel, it just has to really be 100% me. I've been so influenced and compromised so much with being in a band all the time, that, with having all the power to say yes or no---it's a beautiful thing but it's also a tough thing because I don't have anybody else saying, “no, you've GOT to have that song on the record”, when I say, no I don't want it on the record. So, we're coming along though and I definitely am very focused on a basic direction now.
And what is that direction? I don't really want to describe it in terms of “it sounds like this” or “it sounds like that” because I don't know how it's going to end up in the end. But, I think the best way to say it is that it is going to be a very organic sounding record is what I want, something that doesn't sound over produced, or slick, like what I've been doing most of my career. I want it to be really stripped down with great songs-really just showcasing the songs and have a variation of directions that all flow somehow together. I want it to be a very diverse album that has kind of a little string that pulls it all together, which is probably my voice, I guess.
That sounds interesting. Yeah.
You are just recording that for yourself and you'll shop it later? Yeah, I don't want to do a deal for it because I don't want to be in a situation where I have to make a certain kind of album and that's really the thing. When it's finished and I feel that it's done, I'm sure somebody will like it. And if nobody likes, it, I can put it out myself and it's totally fine with me too. So, it just gives me the power.
Yeah. I like that. It will probably do just as well anyway. It's just different. I've talked to Serafino about doing a solo record and there's a few other labels and we'll see. But, he's a great guy. He likes what he likes though.
Absolutely. Absolutely. He likes what he likes and I don't want to be in a situation where it's MY name only and someone's telling me what to record. So, I'd like to come out with the first one, establish something, and then from there, I'm sure it's going to change and curve and evolve. I definitely want to try to get it out either at the end of this year or the beginning of next year at the latest.
Yeah. That's going to start, hopefully, a yearly release schedule of solo albums.
Great! Great! After all these years! I know! Because we've even been talking about it for a while.
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I think there was even a few times in your projected year ahead that you mentioned the Tony Harnell solo album.
Good stuff. I'm glad it's getting there. Yeah. Thank you.
Morning Wood is still a fan favorite. Yeah. I think that what pleases me so much is that, about people liking that record, is the fact that it is so different from what I did with TNT and that was really the main reason that I did that album back then. I would have preferred, definitely, that it had more original songs and that it was a more, sort of, completed idea. I feel that with those group of guys even I could have done a really great job on coming full circle and sort of completing the idea that we were creating there. But, I'm really proud of it; I think it great to show people the kinds of songs that you grew up on and I think it's cool to show people that I wasn't just a metal head—you know—that I had other interests.
I think it was a really nice left turn. It was like two thirds covers and a few originals. I just thought that gave it a little bit more integrity, as well. Yeah and that is a very honest album. Most of the vocal takes on that are one take, live, with the band, and then I did, of course, harmonies and overdubs and things like that. But most of what you hear there is very real and very live. Most of the basic tracks, in fact, ALL of the basic tracks on that record are live. So, I think we recorded that whole album in about—mixed and everything, in something like 10 days?
Wow. Yeah.
You can put out a record every three months if could do that. Oh God. I know.
(laughs) You know, it's not a bad idea!! (laughs)
(laughs) I've always wanted to do a follow up to that but it was a unique time and a unique place and I probably wouldn't be able to get the same 4 guys. Well, you probably know the bass player is in Queen now….Danny…
Danny Miranda. That's right.
Yeah. And Al is doing great with Trans Siberian Orchestra and he's got his little jazz project. Chuck Bonafante, the drummer is now a lawyer; he's an entertainment lawyer now.
Oh. Ok. Everybody's moved on.
Yeah. Maybe one day. (laughs) That's right. (laughs) You never know.
So, anything else, Tony? That sounds like a pretty full schedule but is there anything else that we haven't covered? The solo record is my main focus and I'm working on a book project with a friend of mine named Jamie Bendera, who is becoming a pretty well known vocal coach here in the U.S. and we are working on a book. It's not the standard sort of technical book for singers by any means. It going to be a very unique book—directed at singers but something that I think other people could read and get something out of.
Right. Ok. So, that's pretty much all I can really say about it but we're working on that. We've got a lot of stuff written and it's getting to the point now where we are just refining it. We 're going to probably start looking for book deals at some point soon. We'll see what happens with that. We want to spin that off into possibly doing seminars and things like that. I've already done a few in different parts of Europe and a couple in the states. But, together, we could be quite a powerhouse, doing some really cool, inspirational, sort of weekend seminars for singers mostly.
Wow. Sounds great. Yeah. And I'm still doing my “day job”, which is TV commercials and things like that.
Yeah. And you find that pretty…a good gig to do? It's a great gig and it's easy. It's actually, most of the time, fun. It's pretty painless and the reuturns are, can be, quite amazing, for the amount of work that you put in.
Wow. Do you get residuals for every time that it's played or do you just get a flat fee up front? No. You get residuals. And, I'm in a union called the Screen Actor's Guild so, basically, it's kind of a way of having a day job without having a day job. It provides. It's like being…it's a union so when you earn enough money, you get health insurance and your get pension and all that stuff. So, it's a great side thing to have-to keep going as a full time artist so I'm grateful for it.
Fantastic. You are doing one other vocal job that I'm aware of and that's the backing vocals on the new Eden's Curse. Oh yeah. That was a fun thing to do. That was cool. I don't know the guys well but they asked me to do it and they were really, really fun and easy to work with. Paul Logue is a great guy.
Yes, absolutely. For what it is, this record is very straight forward—80s—melodic rock—there's nothing surprising about it. It's very well done-straight ahead—high pitched singers –harmonies—all that stuff. It will be interesting to hear the final product.
Well Tony….I've got to get going and I think we've got to a really good point, if you're happy. Me, too. I feel great about it. I'm pleased and I can't wait to hear your review.
