Bruno Kraler

Laneslide

Another Hard Rock entity born in the vein of the classic acts of the 80s and profound 70s, under the name of LANESLIDE. Featuring several brightest stars of the age, there is Bruno Kraler, the project's found, YngwieViking had a chance to have a chat with Bruno regarding the band's new album, "Flying High", his perception of it, background and more… 
By YngwieViking
May 22, 2013
Bruno Kraler (Laneslide) interview
Hi there Bruno, greetings. I will go right ahead. I think that "Flying High" is a very good album and an unexpected gift, as I'm an old fan of melodic Hard Rock in its purest form: It was a real treat for me …What will be your own words to describe it?

Hi, thank you very much for the nice words. It's wonderful for us to know that the people like our music. We put so much love into this album and we are all proud of it. We wanted to record a pure hard rock album and I think "Flying High" is just that, melodic hard rock with great refrains and a wonderful voice at the top.

Can you please, first tell us about you, your background as a musician/producer…your past or actual involvement in other bands! I want to know everything…go!

Well, this style of music is the soundtrack of my life; I was 16 years old when I was introduced to some AC/DC songs. I liked it very much so I began to listen to other artists like RAINBOW, DEEP PURPLE, URIAH HEEP and of course DOKKEN and that kind of stuff during the 80's. My first instrument was a keyboard because I was a big fan of David Rosenthal from RAINBOW. Then one day I attended a SCORPIONS concert and I fell in love with that big guitar sound so I decided to learn to play guitar. I went to the music store and I traded in my keyboard for a black Gibson Les Paul copy and a small Marshall amp. My mother wasn't happy with my decision because I began to play 8 or 10 hours a day and I think my playing wasn't that good at that time. LOL

The next step was a band called NIGHTPRIDE. We had a female singer in the band, she was very young and not the best choice for heavy rock music so the other guys in the group forced me to take over the lead vocals. After a couple of years I decided to move over from Italy to Germany and I was the lead singer in the band DARK SKY for a while. In 1994 I started a solo project called BRUNOROCK and I recorded 5 albums under that name. After the last BR album I decided to move back to my favorite instrument and to fire up a new project with my friend Alessandro Del Vecchio. It was then that LANESLIDE was born.

Concerning your new Project named: LANESLIDE, can you tell us more about it, it's one shot only or do plan to keep on recording some new albums, maybe touring…Which band/project is the more important for you?

I'm not the type musician that wants to play in a dozen bands or projects. I really like to work on one thing only so LS is not a one shot project. This is a real band and we will surely record other albums in the future. We obviously want to bring LS on stage, but this is very difficult because all the musicians are spread out all over the world, but never say never as anything is possible.

Tell us more about the great line up of guest-musicians involved in the making of "Flying High", how did you manage to work with famous personalities as Bobby Altvater? Frank Vestry? Michael Bormann? Erik Martensson? Tell us exactly which was the role played by Gregor from Avenue of Allies Records, while recruiting those guys.

Bobby Altvater is a good friend of mine, we did some things together in the past and he was the guitar player in BRUNOROCK. Dominik was also involved in my previous project. John Billings did some bass tracks on my BRUNOROCK "Interaction" album. That album was mixed by Michael Wagener in Nashville and John is from Nashville too. I crossed paths with Alessandro on stage because BR was the opener for his band "Edge Of Forever" and of course we shared the same record label at that time (MTM). Today Alessandro is a very renowned player in the AOR / Melodic Rock scene so it's very easy to connect with other musicians trough him. He came up with the connection to Frank and Erik so I really can say that Alessandro is a very important player in the game. In fact I can say that most of the people involved are old time friends of mine or musicians that have played a role in my solo projects. We came in contact with Gregor later as we began to search for a label. He didn't play any role in the recruiting of the guys.

To have such a great line-up, is obviously a marketing trick but it's also I suppose an artistic choice…Please tell your mind about that?

No marketing tricks here. All the decisions are made to achieve the best results possible. For example, we have some really good voices. Alessandro, Bobby and I can track some bombastic background vocals. We did it in the past on the "War Maniacs" album, but for LANESLIDE we needed background vocals that fit Frank's voice in the best way possible. I think Erik and Michael were the better choices and they did an amazing and creative job and they sound really incredible behind Frank's lead vox.

In my review for the Great "Flying High", I state that the album is pretty much influenced or dominated by the familiar sound style of UNRULY CHILD/SURVIVOR/SIGNAL/KING KOBRA/HOUSE OF LORDS ornamented with a positive vibe and a true rocking spirit…what is your feelings about this comment?

Well, you named my favorite bands all in a row!  LOL

In the same review, I also wrote that Frank Vestry deliver an outstanding performance and overshadows everyone else…Am I wrong?

Frank is one of the best singers around for this specific style of music and he fits the LS sound perfectly. Aggressive, yet very melodic. The most important thing in LS are the vocal parts. We write songs for the singer and the whole arrangement is optimized to push the singer to the forefront. None of the musicians work against the singer. That is the main concept in the LS camp.

Who came with the RAF cover song, idea?

This was my idea. I came up with that song because the RAF version was a big hit in Italy and a part of my youth. I really wanted to do a rock version of that track and I think it's a good one.

What do you think of the state of the AOR market in 2013 both from an Artistically and also about the financial side? What do you think of the hegemony of Frontiers Records?

I'm a musician and I love to make music. I love to write songs and I really love to play and work on songs with my bandmates. The financial and marketing side is not really my cup of tea and I don't get too involved in it. As far as I can see there are some really good acts out there. LIONVILLE, ECLIPSE, WET, just to name a few. I don't know how much they sell, but I think it's hard for everyone. FRONTIERS is a good label and they did a very good job for the Melodic Rock scene, but I think it would be great to have another 5 or 6 record labels to create more competition and get better quality.

What is your opinion concerning digital downloading legal and illegal?

I don't have any problem with it. Thanks to Spotify, the illegal thing is near it's end because no one should be stupid enough to search for illegal files on strange servers when they can get it for a few dollars in a legal format. Obviously time changes and the CD is now an old format with no future. We all should accept this fact and move forward to the next step. Digital distribution is the future and no one can stop or reverse this trend. Yes it's cool to have 5000 or more CD's at home. The artwork and all the other things, but I think the new generation of listeners doesn't care about that so much. LOL

Tell us what we have to expect from your side in the future to come?

LANESLIDE 2, LANESLIDE 3! LOL

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

" What are YOU doing here?" And my answer would be: "I'm just here to ROCK!!!"

Please let us know your Italian AOR TOP 5?

I don't know many of them, but to name a few:

LIONVILLE
EDGE OF FOREVER
SHINING LINE

Please let us know your All-time TOP 10?

In no particular order:

Unruly Child - same
Signal - Loud And Clear
Survivor - Too Hot To Sleep
Victory - Temples Of Gold
Slamer - Nowhere Land
House Of Lords - Demons Down
Giant - Time To Burn
Toto - Mindfields
Treat - Organized Crime
Pretty Maids - Future World

Thank you for the interview and I wish you the best of luck with the new album. Any last words for the fans out there?

Thank YOU, it was my pleasure. Two words for all the fans out there: " Keep the faith alive and support the melodic rock scene"

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