Anthony Morgan of Metal Forces recently conducted an interview with legendary guitarist Michael Schenker. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On filming live DVD "Temple Of Rock - Live In Europe" in Tilburg, The Netherlands on May 13, 2012:

Michael: "We had to go from Glasgow overnight to go there, and get ready to do the filming. It was a long way. We were filming, and there was a lot of stuff going on. Something that I notice with this particular line-up — with Herman [Rarebell, ex-SCORPIONS drummer] and Francis [Buchholz, ex-SCORPIONS bassist] — is that even in Germany and other countries, for the first few songs people would just look and look. They really watch everything, and then after a few songs they would start going crazy. That's what also happened in Tilburg, but it happened not just in Tilburg. It happened everywhere with the exception of England. In England the people just go for it straight away, but in Europe it took a little while because I think they tried to figure out what this combination was all about."

On the health status of Robin McAuley [ex-MCAULEY SCHENKER GROUP]:

Michael: "I don't know if he's had surgery yet. The last time I heard he was being tested, and he didn't enjoy that. I'm not really sure. Nobody has reported to me yet that he has had it done. I don't think he's had it done yet, because otherwise people would've said something. I think he's waiting for an appointment, and being tested."

On touring the U.K. in April 2013:

Michael: "I don't know why, but in the U.K. they're just happy right from the beginning. In Germany, Holland, and some other places, they just check you out for the first four to five songs. I don't know why, but that's what they do. A third into the set, they then start getting into it. I guess maybe they try to figure out what we're gonna be doing. If it's anything good and they like what they see, then they get into it."

On his forthcoming studio album:

Michael: "We are actually already starting a new album which will be released by the end of 2013, so hopefully we will have something ready to perform on the next tour which starts in April. Everybody is putting their things together. I'm putting my things together, putting down my guitars. Basically from that moment on, it goes pretty quick. It's with Doogie White [ex-RAINBOW, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN], with that lineup. Doogie White, Herman Rarebell, Francis Buchholz, Wayne Findlay, and myself. It's the same lineup as Tilburg.

"When I'm writing, of course, I have Doogie in my head because I know he's gonna be doing the vocals. He's a more metal singer, and so automatically it will be more metal. It will be more on the level of 'Before The Devil Knows You're Dead' [from 2011's 'Temple Of Rock'] of course, because that's Doogie singing there. Doogie has more of a heavy metal voice. Automatically, when I've been writing this time I've been writing with Doogie in my head, but I have a very good concept usually. When I wrote 'Temple Of Rock', I didn't know what I was doing in the beginning. I just started and went for it, but this time I have a concept. I already know that the title of the album is gonna be 'Bridge The Gap', and so this time I have a blueprint in my head, like a map that I see. I can see that it's a concept I have, and so I have a very clear direction of what I'm doing."

On his forthcoming acoustic collaboration with DOKKEN mainman Don Dokken:

Michael: "There is the 'Thank You' [1993] album. Don and I got together, and we had been talking awhile about doing something together. He likes the first 'Thank You' album, so I said to him ‘Why don't you put some vocals on it and see what happens?' He did it on one song, and sent it to me. It was fantastic, so I said, 'Keep going. Let's make this a project.' I can't wait to hear more."

Read the entire interview from Metal Forces.