Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Former Hanoi Rocks frontman Michael Monroe discussed his intentions to tour the United States in support of his most recent studio album, “Outerstellar,” which was released on February 20 via Silver Lining Music, in a recent interview with The Logan Show, as per Blabbermouth.
We definitely wanna come to the States to play. We came over a year ago or in the spring. When we played there, it was fantastic. It was a great reaction. And rock and roll has such a strong foothold. It was just such a strong part of the culture already in the States. In America it’s always been taken seriously, unlike growing up in Finland, [where] it was kind of, like, the parents would tell the kids, like, ‘Come on. Just put ’em down in the basement. Make some noise, and then they’ll grow out of it soon and they’ll get real professions.’ But especially in America, it’s already been established so much as part of the culture. And Little Richard, Chuck Berry, they started it. They actually were the key people, and Buddy Holly and all that, that’s such a strong thing. And you could tell when you play a gig in America, you guys love the guitar rock, especially with two guitars. So, we definitely wanna play in the States more.
Before the last tour we did, I hadn’t played there for 13 years, so it was great to come back and see how people were really… I was surprised how much they were into it and how much fun it was being there Some people say, ‘Well, no, we’re not gonna go and play in America ’cause of [U.S. president Donald] Trump.’ Fuck that. Politics and rock don’t mix. Who cares? That’s more of a reason to go and play there. It’s not our audience’s fault if the president is what it is. I mean, if you’re not gonna not go to America because of that, then you’re kind of giving up and playing in to doing exactly what they want — joining the enemy. There’s a great audience there. I love American people. [They] are fantastic. I love playing there, and I wanna come there as much as possible.
We don’t have a concrete tour booked yet at this point, but we’re working on it — definitely. Me and [guitarist] Rich Jones got work permits for two more years now, so we gotta put ’em to good use… We’re working on another [tour], getting something happening in the States, coming back to tour there, one way or another, before too long, with this album, for sure. We’re doing the best we can, and as soon as possible we’re coming to play there — the promised land of rock and roll.
When asked if the length of time between Monroe’s last two trips to the United States was due to expense, Michael responded as follows.
It was not by choice… Well, COVID period, that didn’t help either. Financially, I mean, we played there… We did a couple of months touring, but playing clubs in America, I just came to the conclusion that at the level that we were doing it, you’re just pissing away money. And it’s not worth it. You’re just losing money unless you get some kind of grant or somebody sponsoring something, because it is such a big country that you have to really — if you wanna break it, make it there… Well, it’s a big area. Nowadays, actually, what I noticed when we played there last time, it’s different. It’s not the same anymore as it used to be. It used to feel like, yeah, you had to play for two years opening up somebody big in stadiums and stuff, and then you get noticed. But things are different. Maybe that’s one good thing about the Internet. So, you reach more people maybe through that too. But it was not by choice. It’s just the way it turned out.
And also my band lives all around the world. Steve Conte lives in New York City, the guitar player. Rich Jones lives in Toronto. [Bassist] Sami Yaffa, he lives sometimes in Helsinki, sometimes in Mallorca in Spain. [Drummer] Karl Rockfist lives in Spain, but far away from Sami. And they’re all all over the world. So getting this band together, all the members in one place, is always a bit of a challenge. So that’s been part of it too. And just the cost of going to the States and touring, it’s not very cost effective. If I had a lot of extra money, that would’ve been different, but it’s a challenge ’cause of expenses and all, how to make it work. However, I haven’t had a decent manager in my solo career since I started my solo career, except till a couple of years ago, Gav McCaughey, my current manager, Gav, he is the best thing that happened to me for a long time.
For the first time ever, I can say I have a great manager in my solo career. I’m not talking about Hanoi, but solo career. And I have faith that things are gonna — they’re already being turned around, and gradually they are getting better and better all the time in terms of touring and stuff. So things are starting to — hopefully everything is gonna keep going the right way, which it is now. The wheels are turning the right way now. So, hopefully that means that we get to play everywhere we wanna play and expand our [fanbase] to a point where we are able to play in every country in the world without losing everything, without losing money.
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