Oh, that's a good one, no one's asked me that yet. Well, it's good and it's bad. I think it's good because it's easy access for people to hear music but...what really bothers me, what has always bothered me is...[staring at the tape recorder]

Bootlegs, yeah!

Yeah! [Laughs] No, really, that I really hate...I really, really don't like that, man.

I suppose so! The problem is that there are a lot of bootlegs out there from shows that maybe I didn't sleep for two days and I drunk a twelve-pack before I went on the stage and then it sounds pretty bad and people judge you by that.

Yeah, they judge you by just one show. That's the problem.

Oh, no, no, you won't find it! I was very, very careful! This is important to me. It's so special to me that it needs to be protected very much. No one has a copy, man. I didn't even give it out to my best friends; they don't even have it. I'm very, very cautious about that. When it comes out of course it's going to be all over the place...[Laughs]

So it's good and it's bad (the Internet). Sometimes it helps to sell music and sometimes it's obviously not good.

On my site? No. There's some lyrics on my site right now but these are just things that I'm giving to my fans as a present.

No, I don't. Because the artwork's very important to me. I don't want a small booklet. I want a big beautiful booklet with nice illustrations, like we used to have with the albums, you know, where we could pull it out and open it and things like that. So, it's important to me. It's not about keeping it away from people and trying to sell it...It's about the art and it's important to me, really.

Yeah, it's been a long time indeed. And I've been sitting on a couch most of the time [Laughs]

...or in a cave or in the pool...Inactive is a good word I think, yeah.

It took me so long because I had to wait for the right time, man.

I know. I had to wait for the right time. In my life, I've learned a long time ago to go down the river and not to try and swim up it. The spirits that surround me – and I think maybe people can hear that in my music because it's very strong – they tell me what to do and they always lead me in the right path and I've learned not to fight that. There's been many time where I felt I wanna do it now but then something would happen and I'd go OK, it's not meant to happen now, I'll have to wait another fucking 5 years or so.

Yes.

I almost did. I mean, I could never quit completely because it's inside of me and it's got to come out or I'll go crazy; crazier than I am already. It's always going to be part of me and it's always been but I wanted to try and make my family work; that was part of it. I had a little daughter and she didn't see daddy for a long time and I wanted her to know who daddy was.

Yeah, so I thought you know what, I'm going to quit music, work and make money and come home every night to my family; try to be a family man, nine to five and...it's not who I am. It didn't work! [Laughs]

It wasn't meant to happen, man. And then I went and did a lot of crazy things...

That's not true. I don't remember anything like that happening. Whoever wrote this, whenever he did, it's not true.

Yeah, that was true. I did work with him a little bit. But remember when I told you about me saying now it's time, now it's time, now it's time?

Well, nope! [Laughs]

I was in a very bad state at that time. I had just realized that I was never going to be with my family again. So I went into the corner, into the dark corner and cried for about a year and drank and laid on the floor...That's where the track Pain came from... She sleeps all day, She drinks all day, Never leaves the room.

So, anyway, Rand is crazy, man. He's crazy like me. He's crazier than me and that's hard to find! [Laughs] So I was in a bad place. It just wasn't the right time, you know. We started working out some stuff and there was some scary things that went on and I got very upset. Someone looked at me in the wrong way, I wanted to fight him. All the anger and sorrow and pain had gathered up inside me...So, that's why that didn't work.

Oh God, I love the guy, he's so beautiful, man.

He's a fucking beautiful person, man. He's a really good friend of mine.

True! But they have something in common!

There's a lot of little fucking birds flying around Greece! [Laughs]

And they talk a lot! God, he knows all these things, all the details, everything! [Laughs]

Actually the average is 15. Last time I was in Crimson Glory, the sakadas came. The last time, they came from the ground and then they went back underground and 15 years later they're up again. And when they come out, the male bugs make a very loud noise...they call it a song but it's really more like a buzzing, a very loud noise. Hundreds and thousands of them come out and they make this very loud sound. Some people call it an obnoxious noise. Some people might call this obnoxious too [points at this solo album] but I don't know...[Laughs]

Because I've been underground for 15 years...

Why do I have the feeling that you know something more?

Oh, no, no, it's OK. I just had the feeling you already knew what I'm going to say, that's all.

Alright then. Well, I fell in love with a woman 20 years ago, man.
[Orpheus nods his head]

See? He knew what I was going to say...[Laughs] So, I fell in love with a woman 20 years ago and I saw her like 3 times or so and I loved her and I never forgot about her all these years. And just now, she came back into my life and now we're talking about spending the rest of our lives together!

Combine it with...It's like I said, the spirits are like hey! Go over there man!. This is how it happens...I do an interview in the morning or the afternoon and later that night I'm watching TV, being online too and someone tells me oh so you haven't done any music in 15 years and I was like oh, ok, has it been that long? It seems like yesterday to me maybe [Laughs] and then I hear on TV that the cicadas are back; they only come every 15 years and I went Ok, that's it!.

Exactly!

People keep talking about Hawkwind, I guess I must listen to this music. I never heard this music anyway. I've heard that three times today...

Yes. I've never listened to this music...

You know, my main influences come from the those parts in music that are timeless, man. Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin will live forever man...and it's never going to go away. The Beatles...

Yeah, John Lennon was a huge influence on my lyrics. When I first wanted to try to write lyrics, I listened to his things and I went how the hell did he come up with something so crazy? and I need to do that. So yeah, he was a big influence and see what I did, I would take little pieces of everything and mix it together. People say my music reminds them of the 70's, well that's a compliment because this music to me is timeless. It's meant to be timeless, you know, I'm not writing this to make money, I'm not writing this for any other reason...

I wanna build a bridge to those people, you know, that's why I have like three or four songs on there that are a bit heavier...

War...there you go.

It doesn't get any heavier than that though. [Laughs] Incubus too I thought had a little flavor, a slight touch of Crimson Glory. You've got to remember that...

Yeah and I'm half of Crimson Glory. I am half. But what I am is the mellow half. These are the influences that I had. Now Jon [Drenning, guitarist] and Jeff [Lords, bassist] wrote heavier music and then I put words to it. Painted Skies, Lost Reflections...these are my songs that I wrote myself and I interjected my melodic influences into the heaviness that they had and that's, I guess, where the magic came from, you know... That was the mixture. And now they're hearing half of that but Scott Gibson, who's my guitar player...he's not a heavy metal guitar player necessarily but he's brilliant and so I said Scott I need you to write some heavier stuff because when I go on stage I still want the aggressiveness. It needs to be a rollercoaster, you know, it has to go up and then down – a heavy song and then a lighter song and then a really heavy etc. To make people confused. [Laughs]

...the track list has actually just changed by the way...

Yeah, we rearranged the order of the titles.

For them? Yes. But I want to introduce them to Midnight. I'm good enough and I'm smart enough to write another Crimson Glory album by myself. I can do it. But that wouldn't be real. That's not who I am and I've been waiting for so many years to let people know who I am and what I sound like, what I want to sound like. It's important for me to let them know that and if people don't accept it then...then all I can say is that I'm sorry. I have to be true to myself first and this is who I am, this is what I do. Now, the next album might be even heavier...who knows?

Yeah, you never know! Experiences in life, they move me...

Of course.

No, it doesn't mean that. We're already talking...

Yeah. We're already talking and there is a possibility we're going to do the next Crimson Glory but like you said, this is the most important thing for me...

Yeah. Maybe though I never realized how much but really... how many new fans we have from Crimson Glory, you know, there's so many I went Oh my God, wow!. People will come up to me and go I've been listening to you since I was this big [tiny] and I feel like shit I'm so old! [Laughs] Anyway, we were saying...

Well, we'll have to decide about that because I haven't discussed a title name yet with Jon. Sounds like an interesting name though anything with Lucifer is not really my style. [Laughs] I sing about angels, man...well ok maybe I sing about him too but I kind of try to mix it up a little bit.

We're talking. It's possible.

I'm not going to tour with them. I told them that I will consider singing on a new album as long as the arrangements are right. I will go into the studio I would love to work with the guys again because it would feel great but as far as touring...no. I'm touring with my new band, man. Wait till you hear this! The guitar player could come in right now and make something up and sit down and play it and I will sing it and Phil will play the drums and it will sound like a real song! We have the connection, we have the chemistry which is so important. We can take some of these songs which are three minutes, four minutes and we can make it into a twenty minute long song and make it sound as if we did it on purpose but we're just making it up as we go on man because we have that connection. One of the reasons why I've been waiting for so many years is because I need that, I need to have that. Because when I go off live, I get so much adrenaline that I go crazy sometimes and I need the band to follow me and Crimson Glory never did that, they always followed the song. Even when I went off, I forgot the words or whatever, they wouldn't wait for me, they'd just keep going. But this band, we all flow together, you know.

[Bursts into laughter] You're an asshole, man! I think I like you! [More laughter] I don't know man.

It's a good question but I don't know. [Laughs] As I said, we're still working these things out.

Yeah, we're working on it but we're not sure yet. It's a hard schedule these days and we have no definite dates right now but we're planning on doing some dates and a tour perhaps. But most likely it'll be some dates, a few festivals, a few shows here and there until next year and then we'll resign another contract and do another album and then...

For now, yes.

Then we'll see how the album sells.

April 25th. Four days before my birthday.

Yeah.

[Asking the label manager]Can we wait like till the 29th? It's my birthday man. Maybe it would be a great idea. So, it's on the 29th.

Just don't tell people I'm going to be 2000 years old [Laughs].

Yeah.

No, they were not mine.

You never know...Maybe, maybe not.

That would be interesting but you never know. We'll see.

Thank you for waiting, thank you for caring, thank you for loving me and...I love you back. And I'm back, I'm gonna stay, I'm not going away.