|
||||||||||
|
Recent Interviews (rss?)
|
 
ROCK MY MONKEY: Hello, you are listening to the Rock My Monkey netcast on RockMyMonkey.com. Today we are speaking with Jan Kuehnemund of the band Vixen. How are you doing today, Jan, and did I pronounce your last name correctly?
Jan Kuehnemund: Correct enough. It’s Kuehnemund. It’s pronounced Kuehnemund more often than Kuehnemund, so you’re fine. I’m doing great. How are you doing?
ROCK MY MONKEY: I’m doing pretty good. Now, I got to ask-I hope you don’t mind me asking two questions about the classic lineup. The classic lineup reunion is over, but do you remain friends with any of the ex-members?
Jan Kuehnemund: Oh yes, yes. We’re friends, yes. We did that VH1 Bands Reunited back in 2004. We came out of it better friends after that, for sure.
ROCK MY MONKEY: With that we heard that, when that classic lineup broke up, that there was an altercation with Janet Gardner where she ended up down on the floor. Was that before the VH1 special, or after?
Jan Kuehnemund: Well, first of all, that is absolutely not true.
ROCK MY MONKEY: Really! Okay.
Jan Kuehnemund: No. And I think that little story is getting blown all out of proportion. People keep adding crazy stuff to it. That did not happen. There was no physical fight, or any argument or anything like that between the band members at all. Nobody punched Janet, and she did not fall to the floor. (laughs)
ROCK MY MONKEY: So that’s totally not true, and you are still friends with Janet, then?
Jan Kuehnemund: Yes. Absolutely. And whatever they were talking about, they were talking about back in 2001 terms. But obviously the bands reunited thing was in 2004. We all came away from that better friends.
ROCK MY MONKEY: Cool. Cool. That’s great. Now, what do you think that Dennis MacKay brought to the cd that would not have been there otherwise?
Jan Kuehnemund: Oh, wow. A lot of energy, and a lot of extra guitar layers and guitar harmony parts, and probably some extra harmony in the vocals. Just an overall good feeling. I mean, he made us feel so good. We had so much fun working with him. It was just a great experience. It was all positive. He brought all positive stuff to the recording.
ROCK MY MONKEY: Awesome. Now, what made-you guys are on Demolition Records, and honestly it’s been just within the past couple months that I started to hear about this label, and I’m finding that, wow, a lot of my favorite bands are on this label. What made them the right record company for Vixen at this time, and how did you guys hook up with them?
Jan Kuehnemund: We hooked up with them through our manager, and one of our good friends in the U.K. Who was also friends with their manager. We just, we narrowed it down. We had a couple other offers from different people, and Demolition just seemed like they were going to be the best for us, and the best, give us the best support. Just all around. They won out over some of the other offers that we had. They’re great guys. Really sweet guys, too.
ROCK MY MONKEY: If you don’t mind, I’d like to go-you have an entirely new lineup behind you, and actually in front of you, because your singer is also new. If you don’t mind, let’s go through the new members, how did you find them, and what do you think that they bring to the band?
Jan Kuehnemund: Well, I found all of the new members back in 2001 in the middle of, kind of two thirds of the way through the 2001 Voices of Metal tour. Things weren’t working out so well with the reunion Tour. It was a really rough tour. So I thought, well, I’ll give it a shot and see if I can find some new people to finish off the tour. The keyboard player and I-he was also our road manager/driver at the time-we had played in another group together called Population 361. He called up the drummer and said, do you know any singers? The drummer put him on hold, called Jenna, said ‘Would you be interested in playing with Vixen?’ And she said, ‘Yeah! Sure!’ So then she came back on the line and said, ‘Yeah, I know somebody.’ So that’s how we found Jenna. She just brings a lot of soul, heart and soul to the band, a lot of good writing and good lyrics and good melodies. I just love her voice. And she’s a great person. She was perfect.
ROCK MY MONKEY: She’s able to do all the older Vixen songs wonderfully?
Jan Kuehnemund: Absolutely.
ROCK MY MONKEY: Cool.
Jan Kuehnemund: We have a live cd that was released last year. Anybody wants to check that out, they can hear Jenna singing all the old songs. 99% of the old Vixen songs I think were done. I think we have one of our new songs on that record. But yeah, absolutely, she sounds great. And a lot of people don’t even know that it’s a different lineup if they didn’t really know the band before. They recognize the songs, and when they hear Jenna singing, some people don’t really know that it’s a different band, because you can tell when we meet them backstage.
ROCK MY MONKEY: What about drummer Kat Kraft How did you hook up with her, and what do you think she brings to the band?
Jan Kuehnemund: Well, actually, the same 2001 tour, when we were putting the new members together, there had been, was it two or three? There’d been a couple drummers before Kat came along that were all set and worked in and ready to go out and finish the tour. Then something happened at the last minute. Like one of them, I guess it wasn’t enough money, or something, so she bailed out. One of them, couple of days before we’re getting ready to leave couldn’t get out of her day job to go So we’re scurrying around, calling everybody. Thank god Kat came down to audition. She actually was recommended from a mutual friend of Lynn, who’s also new, and somebody that I had called to play bass one other time. They recommended Kat So she came down and we were ‘Wow! She’s great.’ We were going to be able to play our stuff. Kat is from Germany, and she is a fun girl. She brings humor and a lot of energy, also. And also she’s a major animal supporter and rescuer. She’s always, that’s always one of her main things is rescuing animals and stuff, so you know she’s got a big heart, she likes animals that much.
ROCK MY MONKEY: I got to say Roxie is definitely some big shoes to fill, so that’s great you were able to find somebody. What about Lynn Louise Lowrey
Jan Kuehnemund: We put out like musician referral ads or whatever, back at the time, too. We were trying to find somebody on bass really quickly. Lynn was actually in Florida at the time. She heard about it from this other mutual bass player that I mentioned earlier who I had called a few times to sit in or do something with Vixen. So when we said, ‘Oh, I don’t know since you live so far away. I’m not sure that’s going to work in time. You need to be here right away.’ Well, she was determined, so she got up here to L.A. from Florida and auditioned. She was perfect. Like, ‘Oh my god.’ Thank god she came out on her own, because we thought, well, maybe she just lived in L.A., because we were short on time, and everything. Then, she’s a great background singer as well. She really adds into all the harmonies, which we do need the three part harmonies. She’s a writer. And she’s a hilarious human being. She keeps us laughing all the time, too.
ROCK MY MONKEY: Cool.
Jan Kuehnemund: They’re all good people, and our chemistry on the road is amazing. We have so much fun. I love them all. It’s like a miracle.
ROCK MY MONKEY: With this new lineup is Vixen able to do things like touring, and is this able to be everyone’s full time job?
Jan Kuehnemund: Well, we’ve been touring, the past few summers, and also at the same time we’ve been recording, working on this record that finally got released. I wouldn’t say, it’s because we work year long we couldn’t really do it year long. But sometimes it seems like the summer is the better time for the festivals and the longer tours. But the past few years we’ve been mainly touring in the summer, and then kind of recording and writing and rehearsing at the other times of the year. But we’re certainly ready to tour all year long and do it full time if that became possible.
ROCK MY MONKEY: What led to doing a David Bowie cover as opposed to something, I guess more expected from Vixen, maybe a classic rock tune?
Jan Kuehnemund: Well, we threw a couple of our other ideas around. I can’t even think of songs right now. But we’re sitting there with Dennis, and all of a sudden he said, ‘Hey, how about a Bowie tune?’ Yeah, that’s a great idea. He suggested Suffragette City. And it’s just a coincidence-well, it’s not a coincidence because he came up with it-but the great story behind it is that Dennis actually worked on the original Bowie recording of Suffragette City. So we thought, oh, yeah, we have to do it. He was there when Bowie recorded it the first time.
ROCK MY MONKEY: Cool. Cool.
Jan Kuehnemund: He was like just an engineer, or something. Yeah. We thought, wow, that’s perfect.
ROCK MY MONKEY: If you go to the Vixen website, it makes great mention that this is the year of the fox. What makes this the year of the fox for you more than anything?
Jan Kuehnemund: Because this is the year our new record is released. We thought it would be released in late 2006, but that didn’t happen, so it was early 2007 when it was released. Since it’s a new lineup, new record, and Vixen has the female fox connotation, it just seemed right. (laughs) It just seemed right.
ROCK MY MONKEY: So you think this is definitely, things seem to be lining up for this to definitely be one of the best years of Vixen in a long time?
Jan Kuehnemund: Yeah. Yeah. Things do seem to be going up that way. Everybody’s ready to go and tour and play and record the record and everything. So, yeah, it looks like a good year ahead.
ROCK MY MONKEY: Cool. I know because of the 80’s thing you guys are a lot of times called a metal band, but to me I hear more of just kind of a straight up rock thing from you girls more than anything. Would you say that you guys are more of a rock band, or more of a metal band?
Jan Kuehnemund: I would say we’re more of a rock band.
ROCK MY MONKEY: Definitely more of a rock band.
Jan Kuehnemund: I would definitely agree with you. Yeah.
ROCK MY MONKEY: Cool. Now, the title, Live and Learn, what do you say that in this industry, what have you lived and learned?
Jan Kuehnemund: (laughs) I’ve learned that you got to keep going, got to believe in yourself, and not give up when somebody tells you there’s no place for Vixen. I don’t believe in that. I just believe in moving forward. We believe in ourselves, and I think that’s important. I’ve quickly learned you have to be flexible, too. You really do. Not always fun and games. It gets really hard out there on the road. You got to be strong.
ROCK MY MONKEY: Are you guys connected with Dean Guitars, or Luna Guitars?
Jan Kuehnemund: Luna Guitars.
ROCK MY MONKEY: Definitely Luna. Okay. What it is about Luna Guitars that makes them worthy of the Vixen name?
Jan Kuehnemund: Well, Luna Guitars, they are part of the Dean Guitar company. Or did you know that?
ROCK MY MONKEY: I did not know that.
Jan Kuehnemund: So, it is Dean’s new line for female guitar players. These guitars were and are specifically made more geared toward females, because they are lighter, they’re much easier to wear, and the necks are a little smaller. Because sometimes female hands are smaller. Now they’re just promoting their line of guitars for females, and we think they’re great.
ROCK MY MONKEY: Do you think that that’s going to-Vixen definitely has a battle ahead of them, continually, basically trying to break into the so-called boys club. Do you think that’s going to help or hurt with trying to win people over from that outlook?
Jan Kuehnemund: I don’t think when they see a guitarist in that matter, in that way, I think there probably are a lot more female guitar players coming up now than there were ten years ago. So I think that will attract a lot of the younger, newer players, and I think in that way it’ll be really good. I hope it doesn’t turn off any of the boys in the boys club. (laughs) Yeah. Guitars are meant to be played live, and I think people probably forget that they’re made for girls, hopefully.
ROCK MY MONKEY: I don’t want to mention any names, but some of the people in this industry have not aged well since the 80’s. You and the other members of the classic lineup have aged rather well, and you still look pretty healthy, and some would say at least a decade younger than you should. So for our female readers, what’s your secret?
Jan Kuehnemund: Oh, wow. That is too sweet. Thanks big time. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You’re making my day. As for myself, I try to get a lot of exercise, get enough exercise, and I try to eat as healthy as possible, which is not always easy on the road. But it starts to become a habit, and you get used to it. Yeah. So I’d say healthy eating habits and exercise. All good.
ROCK MY MONKEY: So during the 80’s did you avoid all the clichés of drugs and drinking?
Jan Kuehnemund: Yeah, I was not really into that. I mean, I like the occasional drink, but I never went overboard with it.
ROCK MY MONKEY: Cool.
Jan Kuehnemund: You know, I couldn’t really function if I had like one too many. The next day you’re good for nothing, so I guess it just kind of; no I never did that.
ROCK MY MONKEY: Now, with the new album coming out, or actually already out, will there be any video singles released for this cd, anything that we can look forward to?
Jan Kuehnemund: We’ve been throwing around some ideas. We’re talking about that. Hopefully there will be a video for one of the songs. Possibly for I Try, because we’ve gotten a lot of good response on that song. It was nominated for the Independent Music Awards. The People’s Choice. We were The People’s Choice. The judges did not pick us as the winner, but we did get The People’s Choice vote. So that might be one that we do a video for, hopefully. We definitely hope to have a video soon.
ROCK MY MONKEY: What a lot of bands are doing, since MTv doesn’t really play that much straight up rock anymore, especially they’re not playing as many videos, a lot of people are using, basically starting YouTube channels, or launching the videos on their MySpace page. Basically just doing live footage. Has Vixen ever thought about maybe opening up like a YouTube channel?
Jan Kuehnemund: No. But that’s a good idea. Yeah, that’s an excellent idea. We’ll have to look into that. I did want to also mention that we will have a DVD coming out of an entire performance that should be coming out possibly by summer. That was from Sweden Rock concert. So that’s in the works. That’s being worked on right now. But that’s in the works and may be out before the actual video.
ROCK MY MONKEY: With the summer fest approaching, will the U.S. fans be able to get a coast to coast tour this summer?
Jan Kuehnemund: We sure hope so. We have agents working on it right now, so that’s what we’re hoping for.
ROCK MY MONKEY: Cool. Now, I do have one final question. Every year we try and make up one final question that I ask every artist that I speak with, everything from some classic rock legends that I’ve been honored to speak with, to the most extreme, brutal death metal bands. Basically just to end every interview with kind of a bang. So for 2007 I’m asking people to look into their crystal ball and predict what known celebrity, public figure, world leader, politician, musician, recording artist, anybody well known. Who do you think might die this year?
Jan Kuehnemund: Oh. Wow.
ROCK MY MONKEY: This is predict, not necessarily wish.
Jan Kuehnemund: Wow.
ROCK MY MONKEY: Could be a world leader from another country. Doesn’t necessarily have to be a rock artist. It could be maybe a celebrity that’s been partying too hard.
Jan Kuehnemund: Hmm. I don’t know. I don’t even know. I don’t even know who to come up with.
ROCK MY MONKEY: Can’t think of anybody?
Jan Kuehnemund: I can’t-no. Can you give me any of yours?
ROCK MY MONKEY: Just as a hint, one of them is, one of the people that has been actually mentioned three times now is the singer of one of my top three favorite bands in the world, and it was actually friends of his that were kind of trying to call out to him to take better care of himself because they were worried about him. So it could be something like that, or there’s actually been a certain celebrity that’s been, a pop celebrity that’s been in the tabloids a lot, in and out of rehab, she’s definitely on a downhill slope. It could be anything like that.
Jan Kuehnemund: Hmm.
ROCK MY MONKEY: I don’t want to mention any names, because then you could just go, ‘yeah, how about them.’ I want to make sure you come up with it, and not me.
Jan Kuehnemund: Yeah.
ROCK MY MONKEY: Those are some of the ways that other people have approached it.
Jan Kuehnemund: Hmm.
ROCK MY MONKEY: People actually mentioned several different members of our current administration. We’ve actually had a couple of people mention leaders and world political figures from other countries.
Jan Kuehnemund: Hmm.. Wow. I’m trying to think of an actor or an actress. Hmm. (laughs) I just don’t have an answer for ya. Sorry.
ROCK MY MONKEY: Okay, that’s fine. Is there any final words you have for the fans of Vixen and the readers of RockMyMonkey.com.
Jan Kuehnemund: Yeah. We hope to see you out there on tour. Look for our new DVD being released, and of course the new record Live And Learn that’s already released. Thanks for all the support. We love you. Yeah. Thanks for hanging in there through all the Vixen changes and everything.
ROCK MY MONKEY: For anybody that’s listening to the audio version of this right now, they can go to RockMyMonkey.com for the full featured version with clickable links, readable text, and a whole bunch of other great stuff. I thank you, Jen, for taking your time, and I hope everyone reading this can click the album cover that is above and below this interview to order Live And Learn from Vixen.
Jan Kuehnemund: Thank you. Thank you very much for having me.
To post comments CLICK HERE!
|
|
||||||||
| Home : Advertise : MERCH : Rock News : Interviews : Live @ 12 pm Pacific : CD Reviews : DVD Reviews : Concert Reviews : Book Reviews : Concert Pix : Forums : Email us : stats : Staff lists : db : MySpace : Privacy Policy : Rant |