Sixx AM ready to get back on track:
Interview by Margherita Realmonte (Meg)
The three rock aces are right on their way for a new special release: a double album, lots of amazing stories to be told to say something deep and meaningful
I don't know if you can imagine how does it feel to talk to your fave rockers on the phone, but let me tell you, it's a mindblowing experience. This time it was up to Sixx AM adorable singer and producer, James Michael, to answer our questions about their new work still in progress and he had a lot of inspiring things to say about future perspectives, meaningful lyrics, talent shows, social media and... Motley Crue.
Now I think it's time for you to enjoy this unforgettable interview:
JM: Hi Margherita! How are you?
LFdM: Hi James! I'm fine and so glad to hear from you! Thanks a lot for your time! I'm very pleased and honoured to welcome you to Les Fleurs Du Mal Webzine. I can't wait to know what's going on with Sixx AM new album?
JM: Well this is a very exciting time for us. After the last record we did, Modern Vintage, we really sat down and determined what we wanted the future of Sixx AM to be and it was unanimous that we all wanted to commit, we all wanted to put all of our efforts to make the band grow, which was really exciting, because for, you know, the last seven and a half years we've been making records but... it felt more like a labour of love and a kind of side project; we would have liked to tour like all the other bands do. Now that we've decided to move forward we'll be able to travel around the world as long as we want. We'll have the chance to meet new people, create new fans, create new music, so it's a very very exciting time for us...
We're in the process of making really two records, right now, which will be released next year in two different volumes, volume one and volume two which will be released at a different time during the year. It's just a lot of fun, the music that we're making will lead Sixx AM to a totally new level and we couldn't be happier.
LFdM: Wow, that's great news indeed! So, your new album is going to be released next year. Is there a more specific date already?
JM: Next year, yeah, that's correct. Actually we don't have a very specific date yet, but we are making very big plans, not only for the release of the record but for a lot of touring, a lot of live performances next year as well, so there's gonna be a lot of Sixx AM music coming in 2016, pairing with extensive touring for the band.
LFdM: Wow! That sounds really great! I was wondering if it can be considered somehow like a sort of concept album, what should we expect?
JM: Well, it is. You know, we've always pushed ourselves to have very strong messages in our songs, but also we want a whole.album to tell a story from the beginning to the end and I've always appreciated the fact that the three of us quite tell a story the same way. So this will be in line with what Sixx AM has done in the past, there will be a very strong underlying message throughout the record and I guess that's what we would consider a concept album...
LFdM: Of course...
JM: And what's exciting about the way that we're doing this records is because there are actually two records: each story gets to be continued from one album to the next, the work will be very cohesive. Then when we release volume one, it will be the first part of a much bigger, broader message and I think that the fans will experience that, based on how we're gonna be presenting it and what songs will be playing while we're touring...What we wanted to do is just create a lot of music, a lot of art that we can just constantly be sharing with our fans throughout the year, as opposed to, you know, making a record and then going out touring and then having to start the whole process. All that we wanted the creative process to happen from the beginning and just kind of continue on throughout the year.
LFdM: Yeah, you did it since the first release, actually: it was about Nikki's troublesome story of addiction. It was a sort of soundtrack to his Heroine Diaries. Is this album about something similar? I mean did you take inspiration from your own experiences or it's something that you saw, maybe touring around the world...
JM: Yeah, that's what we've always done. You know, we're all observers of life and when we we did Nikki's Heroine Diaries soundtrack, what we found was that our fans were able to find themselves in those songs, there were parts of those songs that they could relate to, on a very very deep level. So starting from Nikki's memories or from subject matters photographs, like we did in This Is Gonna Hurt, the core it's all about you and I, all of us what we are and how we deal with hardships of life and how we find a reason to go on, dealing with pain, dealing with loss, dealing with suffering, but also finding hope in that. And this is what you can find in all of our songs, especially in volume one and volume two we are working on now, on an even further level. I think people wil find themselves in this music and songs even more than they did in the past.
LFdM: Talking about this, I really want to take this incredible chance I have to thank you for one song that is very dear to me, which is Skin. I find it very moving, with very powerful lyrics. I find it particluarly meaningful since I work with kids with various kinds of physical and mental impairment as teacher's aid and I think those words are very touching and very true, unfortunately. Where did you find the inspiration to write it?
JM: Awe! Thank you, thank you very much, that means a lot to me. It's a very important song to us as well. We are all observers of life, not only musicians, songwriters or poets, and when we setp back we realize that every person's life is an amazing story, not just famous people, not just people we might be interested in just like celebrities or people we know everything about reading magazines, I mean every single person on this planet has an amazing story, and that's something that the three of us discovered very early on. I think that's why we enjoy writing lyrics about ourselves so much, because you never really write just about yourself, you know, as soon as you have a feeling about something and you share it, you will find some other people feeling the same way about that too and that's what excite us. So a song like Skin can mean one thing to one person and another completely different thing to somebody else...
LFdM: I also love a video of this song, made by a little girl with a sort of mental disorder which compelled her to tear off her hair to the point of looking completely bald...
JM: Clohe, yes!
LFdM: That was really touching and very meaningful. I made my kids watching it at school, so they could understand how wrong it is to judge people just on how they look.
JM: Yeah! That was really something special. We were so amazed when we watched it and actually we befriended Clohe, she's very well now, she is still a great Sixx AM fan and a really wonderful girl
LFdM: Yeah! She's amazing. Such a brave and smart little girl! It's really great you're actually friends with her! She has a good taste in music also! What I always appreciated about Sixx AM is the choice to deal with uneasy topics, that's another reason I can't wait to listen to your new double album. You must have written really a lot to decide to release 2 records one after the other...too many songs for just one album?
JM: Yeah, you're right, it's really true, I think the longer that we're doing this, the longer that we're creating music together, the more ideas we have, the more stories we wanna tell, you know, the more life we'd observe and experience, the more heartache we felt, the more joy we felt, then what happened is that it comes out in our music. We are in a very fortunate condition where the things that matters to us also matters to our fans and that's really what we can hope for.
LFdM: I always wondered how did the songwriting process work in your band, since all of you had other main projects, I mean, you are a producer, Nikki had Motley and DJ had Guns... what has changed now, with the new album still in progress?
JM: That's a good question. It always remained the same for us, it didn't change. We let it be very free. When we meet one of us picks up the guitar and then we would start talking about things that have been going on in our lives, about what matters to us. You know, it all starts from us loving to meet and hang out together as friends, having conversations, laughing, joking, sharing painful stories and then, eventually, something would strike us that seems like an important topic and from there we would just start exploring that process as deeply as we can. That can be also a very difficult process to go through, because, as you know from our lyrics, we are very clear, very direct, very honest, we like to tell things like they are, we don't candy corn things and sometimes that can be hard, forcing us to be more vulnerable, a bit more exposed. When you write songs you need to go deeper and deeper, you need to dare to go to places where it really hurts the most. We always try to go as deep as we can.
LFdM: So deep and yet so simple at the same time. Sorry, I was giggling because...you know, it's funny that right now, browsing on Facebook, I found out that Nikki just posted a video where he says “we're not gonna make some babe babe kind of songs here...”
JM: Yeah, that's very important to us, you know, but don't knock'em down, because sometimes songs just have to make you feeling good. There's plenty of really good entertaining songs, but with Sixx AM we want to be meaningful to the people listening to us, we want to become the soundtrack of your life. That's a different process, it's a little deeper and I think that's how we make our personal connection with you and it puts us all on the same level, as people, as human beings that have emotions, that have hard times, things that are painful, things that are hopeful, things that make us feel good, things that make us reflect and at that point we really become one with our audience, because we are all sharing emotions.
LFdM: This is very precious and not so common. That's something the audience appreciate a lot about their fave muscians. I think that it works so well also because of the chemistry that you share with the other bandmates. I mean you are very lucky to have found Nikki and DJ as they are very lucky to have found you, also as a producer...
JM: Yeah, indeed. You know what? With Nikki I was talking on the phone about this a few minutes ago, right before I got on the phone with you. We were talking about this very thing, about how lucky we are that we see things the same way. We were figuring what it is that makes us working so good together and I think it depends on seeing life the same way, even though we lived differet kind of lives. I don't know how it is, no one can really figure out why it is so, I think that we're just lucky that we do, that's what makes the chemistry of Sixx AM. I said it before, this band has its core in a true friendship we share.
LFdM: That's amazing, so true friendship is possible in music biz, you are the example...
JM: Yeah! It's essential within the music business, it is important to create meaningful music that can stand the test of time, I think it has to start from mutual understanding, a mutual love for music and a mutual love for art and expression
LFDM: I think you are a very talented and gifted singer, but you are also a successful producer. What gives you more satisfaction, singing or producing records?
JM: You know? That's a good question. If you asked it just one year ago, I would have said being in the studio producing and writing music but, after Sixx AM hit the road in April 2015 and did that short headlining tour, we all discovered something about ourselves and I would say now I actually get more satisfaction out of being the singer in Sixx AM and being in a tribe with my bandmates.
LFdM: Well, I'm glad your answer is this, I love your voice and I would have been really disappointed if you said you preferred remaining behind the mixer in the studio (laughs)
JM: Aw, thanks, you're very nice
LFdM: Is there any band or musician you would like to record or share the stage with?
JM: There are so many artists that I am excited by and impressed by...you know, it would be hard to name just one. I think that it's probably easier for me, as a producer, to talk about people I know how they work, how they operate...but the exciting thing of being in a band is that you're able to meet a lot of great musicians on the road, you can always see collegues performing, it's really such a great experience you share with brothers on the road, who love what they do, it's like we all speak a common language... I mean with buddies like Jakoby from Papa Roach... but, really, there are so many others too who've been good friends of us during the years...
LFdM: Now, you can chose not to answer this question but, as a producer of one of their latest albums, what do you think about this final tour by Motley Crue? Do you really think they'll never reunite again?
JM: Yes, I do and I think that this is very important to them, that they're not another wannabe band that says this is their final tour and then it's not. These guys take their career and their legacy very very seriously. They appreciate their fans and they don't wanna be like other bands that say they are never coming back and then reappear. So, knowing these guys very well, I think I can tell you that yes, definitely, when they'll leave the stage on December 31st, that will be their final show.
LFdM: So it would be disrespectful towards themselves if they came back in 2 years or more...
JM: Yes, think they feel it that way... It's like being honest with their fans, they wanted to do this in the right way, leaving the stage with a celebration of what we all know Motely Crue are. If you've ever seen their final tour, it's a phenomenal production, it's a beautiful, beautiful show and let me tell you, wether you're a Motley Crue fan or not, by the end of the show you'll be their fan too.
LFdM: Yeah, I saw them twice in the past, but these last gigs must be really something grandiose... Now James, we're approaching to end of this amazing chat and I would like to ask your point of view about talent shows. As a producer, would you ever accept to be part of the jury of X Factor or American Idol?
JM: Well, you know, I never really thought about that, to be honest. I think that talent shows, like the ones you mentioned, have done an amazing thing for the entartainment business, I don't like the idea of judging, if you're simply telling something is good or bad, I don't feel like anyone should have that kind of authority, but to make helpful suggestions, so that you show a bit of attention to someone that can improve their performance. That excites me, I would never say no to something like that. But it has to be contructive criticism.
LFdM: Do you think that the future of music is in talent shows?
JM: No, I don't. I think they'll fade, just like everything does, eventually some amazing new rock band will come along and shake things up.
LFdM: I love your optimism, really. Maybe in the USA rock is not dead yet, but here in Italy it's long time deceased, so I hope some great rock band from abroad will come to shake this scene up!
JM: It will, believe me!
LFdM: Aw, thank you. I would like to know what do you think about social networks and the way they can connect bands with their fanbase...
JM: Oh, we are very excited about what social media can do for art in general and the possibility to really share it with the entire world...
LFdM: There is also this important chance to get an immediate and direct feedback, but what about haters, they can reach you better too..
JM: That's undeniably true, sure. But I think that after all it's not such big deal, it happens in every field, not just music and art in general, but also in politics, for example. Haters have the right to express their opinion as well, so that's what we call social. But you can do something about that...
LFDM: Ignoring them?
JM: Yeah...
LFdM: Good point! Now, thank you so much James for your patience, your time and your kindness, it's been a long and really pleasant and inspiring interview I would like to end with your heartfelt advice to kids approaching to music biz
JM: Write songs, write songs and express yourself as much as you can and always try to be yourself, to be honest. If you are true artists you know where to find stories to tell.
LFdM: Bye James and I hope to see you soon performing, maybe here in Italy too?
JM: We are actually working on building the tour right now, so it's very likely you will see us there
LFdM: Wow! Can't wait!
JM: Thank you very much, we can't wait to share our new album with all of you. It's been a pleasure talking to you, have a nice day!
LFdM: You too James! Greet Nikki and DJ for us!
