Graham Bonnet remains one of the most prolific vocalists in music, having fronted an assortment of legendary rock groups including Alcatraz, The Michael Shenker Group and Rainbow to name but a few. Graham recently sat down with Metal Wani‘s Carl O’Rourke to talk about his upcoming album ‘Meanwhile, Back In The Garage’, laugh over stories from his time in Rainbow and reflect on music culture and its addiction to its own past.
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On his upcoming album with The Graham Bonnet Band, Graham was asked if it would be fair to say that it is somewhat of a continuation on from his last record ‘The Book’. Graham answered,
“Absolutely, because that was my whole plan.” “The continuity is important. We don’t want to sound completely different from the first album that this band made. Some of them [songs] were written around the same time as we did the first album. I always have the sort of, semi Rainbow, a bit of Michael Shenker, a bit of Rainbow, a bit of Alcatraz in there, but a lot of it comes from just the storytelling and I like to have melodies that aren’t too obvious except when it comes to the singalong bit, which is the chorus.” Graham concluded by saying “I’m glad you recognised that, because the whole plan was to make sure that we did something that was similar to the first album.”
When asked on his thoughts about contemporary music culture, and if he agreed that it is addicted to its own past, Graham offered his personal insight.
“Very much so now. I mean that’s the way things are. Bands are going out and playing live and because nobody buys CD’s anymore because CD’s don’t exist more or less, everybody is just downloading music. So the only way to play and be seen is to go out and play live.” “Are you going to play this? Are you going to play that? This is promoters they ask you to play all the old stuff because this is the only way they can draw an audience.”
Graham also shared his thoughts on the future of the genre.
“Well, I think it’s dying a very slow death, I really do. But as long as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest are going out there, there’s a chance for us all.” “It’s gonna die when that generation dies, I think.”