Blowin’ Wind with LoNero’s Bill Lonero: “Just because people have the ability to record a song doesn’t mean that they should.”

10509555_10152206986591179_7077679389331459008_nI first heard LoNero in 2011 just after the release of their awesome album J.F.L. After one listen I was a huge fan. LoNero’s sound was such a great one and it was not your typical instrumental band. With songs full of melody, great changes, and a lot of personality, LoNero was totally creating a whole new mold in a time where the shredding and note racing of the instrumental world can get to be just a bit much. As corny as it sounds, LoNero really was, and still is a breath of fresh air.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 3 years since our last interview so I couldn’t wait to talk to leader/songwriter Bill Lonero. LoNero is hard at work on a brand new album called The Defiant Machine and they are about to embark on a lengthy US tour with guitar legend Tony Macalpine. In this interview Bill and I talked about what he’s been up to, why AC/DC’s Back In Black is so fucking awesome and he even offered up some clarity on the ill faded and cancelled Paul DiAnno tour that was supposed to happen this year. Enjoy y’all!

Bill Lonero! Are you awake?

Waking up? Isn’t it like 2:00 over there [laughs]. Actually, I’ve been up since 9am and watching Sanford and Son so I’m good [laughs].

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Man, thanks so much for taking the time out to do this interview. It’s been too long! Actually, since 2011’s release of JFL!

Thank you for doing this brother. Wow, it has been a while [laughs].

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Last time we spoke LoNero had just put out one of my favorite albums of 2011, JFL. What was a personal highlight of yours after releasing that album?

Honestly, probably going on tour with Pat Travers. We did two weeks with those guys and it was a lot of fun. It was so painless. There was nothing that went wrong that that tour. We did 13 shows in 14 days so it was like a show every night. Everyone showed up on time, the gear was always on time, and the crowds were fantastic. It was really just a lot of fun.

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Did you get much time to hang out with Travers and if so what did you take away from getting some time with him?

We hung out with him backstage a good bit and his band was just awesome. Pat is very chill and he sometimes would just show up at the show right before it was time to go on. He’s not a big headed guy. He’s definitely humble and that was really cool. I didn’t really get anything from him musically because we’re such different styles of playing. I don’t know honestly if our audience would be into his stuff but his audience was definitely into us and that was cool.

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Since we last talked LoNero has had a lineup change and has a new album on the way. Fill me in.

Brandon left and he was sad to leave and we were sad to see him go. He’d been in the band for almost four years and he’s a great player. He just wanted to go and do his own thing and I totally respect that. James, the new guy, is a totally different player. He’s Slash influenced and he loves that kind of style. He’s got more chops than Slash [laughs]. He’s also really contributed already to the new album. He’s got two songs that he was the nucleus to starting. To me, that’s important because if you’re going to be in the band, you’ve got to contribute and not just show up and play what you’re told to play. (Since this interview, LoNero added 3rd guitarist guitarist Nasser “Nas” Abdalla to the band.)

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J.F.L was such a great album and it was the album that really made me a fan. I loved the versatility of the songs and the overall production. What can we expect for the follow up album?

Thanks, Don. It’s going to be way heavier than J.F.L. A lot of the songs are in Drop C so they have a very thick tone to them. It’s just going to be a more involved album. I don’t want to say “progressive” but what we’re doing is taking elements of progressive music and injecting them into a rock environment and just melding everything together. You won’t be able to listen to one song and say, “Oh, this is what the album is going to sound like.” To me, that is very important. I really want our albums to be like a menu. You look at a menu and there are all these different types of food on there. To me, that’s what an album should be like. It should be different styles of music so that it’s just not the same song over and over and over again. I say this but at the same time AC/DC is my all time favorite band [laughs]. It’s just not what I want to do.

 

How will the next album be released? Will it be a self-released thing or what?

Yeah, I think so. Honestly, I think that’s the best way for us to go. We put out the last one on Nightmare Records. That was great and they got it into stores and Sony distributed it. If we could get distribution again that would be cool but I’d love to have a little more control over where the album ends up. There are almost no brick and mortar stores out there anymore so it seems like online distributions is the way to go.

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Bill, what is your take on the current state of music and why do you think that so many bands may never achieve the status of bands that came before them like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and so on?

The thing is that those bands had something that a lot of bands don’t have now and that’s great songwriting. That’s why those songs are classics today. That’s why you can still listen to those songs and love them because they are classic, well-crafted songs. These days, songs seem to be so pieced together and there’s no continuity to the songs.

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So let’s talk about the white elephant in the room: Paul DiAnno. It was huge news all over that LoNero had been tapped as DiAnno’s backing band for what was to be his last US Tour. What the fuck happened there?

I’ll tell you all about it. It’s no fault of Paul’s and it’s no fault of his manager’s Lee. It was completely the scum bag booking agent here in the US that completely took advantage of Paul and lied to the fans. Worldwide Entertainment out of LA is the biggest scum on the planet. Chuck Bernal has had more lawsuits against him than you can shake a stick at.

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So regardless of what everyone thinks, this wasn’t Paul’s doing.

Right. So Bernal went and booked all these US dates for Paul DiAnno. He had all these venues give him a deposit and he never had the visa for Paul like he was supposed to have. He was supposed to take care of the visa and pay for all that. Instead he pocketed all that deposit money. Tens of thousands of dollars and basically left Paul and LoNero just hanging and blew us all off. He kept telling us that he was working on it but obviously he didn’t work on shit. It’s really a shame because Paul’s a really nice guy who has been taken advantage of a lot. That’s the problem with booking agencies like this. How Chuck Bernal is still in the business I have no idea.

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At what point did you know that you wanted to be a musician?

I was five years old and I heard Elvis Presley and that was it for me. Later on I was exposed to artists like Angus Young, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, and Joe Satriani but Elvis was the thing that got it all started for me.

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Why the guitar? Why not bass, drums, or clarinet?

[laughs] Because it’s the coolest instrument on the planet. I mean, there’s no other instrument that is as expressive as a guitar in my opinion. Ever tried to bend a note on a violin? It sounds like shit but if you bend a note on a guitar, it’s just a beautiful thing. The other beautiful thing about the guitar is like, OK, if you play a clarinet in a rock band, it’s still going to sound like a clarinet but you can take a guitar and put it the hands of a jazz player, it’ll sound like jazz and if you put it in the hands of a metal player, it’s going to sound like metal. It’s so fucking expressive and dependent upon the person that is playing it. You can do so much with a guitar.

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What song makes you say, “Damn, I wish I wrote that” every time you hear it?

Hm, probably “If I Could Dream” which was sung by Elvis. That is such a powerful song with such a powerful message. Every time I hear that song I’m just like, “Jesus Christ man.”

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In your opinion, what is the greatest guitar driven album that nobody should go without hearing?

AC/DC’s Back In Black. There is nothing that can hold a candle to the sound of that album. That’s why it’s such a legendary album. It’s such a punch in the face and you just don’t see albums with that kind of power anymore. Yeah, there’s albums that are heavier and faster but there’s just something about Back In Black that nobody can hold a candle to. Pretty much any guitar player will talk about the power of that album. That album is pretty much an encyclopedia of how to write great riffs. Any kid who is starting out on guitar should just put on that album and just listen to it from front to back. Listen to that interplay between the musicians.

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Do you think that technology in music like ProTools and what not has done more harm than good or vice versa?

I think it’s done more harm for sure. Without a doubt. You’ve got people who have no business making an album putting albums out because it’s easy for them to piece it all together on a computer. People who do that are just flooding the market and bands that truly are talented at what they do can’t get heard. Just because people have the ability to record a song doesn’t mean that they should. Just because I can debate something with someone doesn’t mean I should go into a courtroom and defend somebody [laughs].

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Bill, I love you and all but man, I would NEVER have you defending me in court.

Dude, you’d be in there for a speeding ticket and they’d just send you to the electric chair. I’m sorry [laughs]

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If you could have a 30 minute guitar lesson with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

Man, either Steve Vai or Joe Satriani. Steve Vai is such a great guy. People will say things about how arrogant or whatever he is but in all honesty he’s a really sweet, nice guy. He deserves all that he has. He’s a guitar player who does what he wants to do. Vai is a very confident guitarist.

 

This is true. Some would say he’s arrogant but I think its more confidence than anything.

Vai really is a confident guitarist. He knows he’s Steve Vai. I mean, the guy has been breaking ground since day one with Frank Zappa, then with David Lee Roth, then Whitesnake, Alcatraz, all of those bands. He always brought something cool to the table. He didn’t just do what any other guitar player did.

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If I wasn’t a musician I would be __________________.

Oh man, I would be a pilot. Getting a pilot’s license is something I really, really want to do anyways but if I wasn’t a musician, I’d be a pilot I think.

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Bill, thanks so much for taking the time out to talk to me again dude. Let’s not wait so long before the next one?

Absolutely brother. It was great talking to you!

Be sure to check out LoNero on tour with Tony MacAlpine starting in October:

Mon 10/06/14 Denver, CO Quixote’s True Blue

Wed 10/08/14 Kansas City, MO Davey’s Uptown Ramber’s Club

Fri 10/10/14 Chicago, IL Reggies

Sat 10/11/14 Westland, MI The Token Lounge

Sun 10/12/14 Cleveland, OH Beachland Tavern

Mon 10/13/14 Pittsburgh, PA Hard Rock Cafe

Tue 10/14/14 Philadelphia, PA North Star Bar

Wed 10/15/14 Dunellen, NJ Roxy & Dukes

Sat 10/18/14 Cambridge, MA T.T. The Bear’s

Sun 10/19/14 Vienna, VA Jammin’ Java

Mon 10/20/14 Raleigh, NC The Pour House Music Hall

Tues 10/21/14 Atlanta, GA Smith’s Olde Bar

Wed 10/22/14 Nashville, TN High Watt

Fri 10/24/14 Denton, TX Dan’s Silverleaf

Sun 10/26/14 Austin, TX Saxon Pub

Wed 10/29/14 Scottsdale, AZ Pub Rock

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