HANOI ROCKS Guitarist: 'We Don't Wanna End Up Being An '80s Nostalgic Trip'

Grigoris Chronis of Metal-Temple.com recently conducted an interview with HANOI ROCKS guitarist Andy McCoy. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Metal Temple: What was the mood while writing/recording for the new album? This is the third album after the HANOI ROCKS reunion. Did you have something specific in mind for the 21st century generation?

Andy McCoy: The mood was really effortless. The songs seemed to just fall in to place very easily. A great vibe in the studio, and we finally managed to capture our live sound on record. For the 21st century we really wanted to remind the kids were rock and roll came from originally.

Metal Temple: Do you believe lyrics are still important for some listener/fan to focus on? Why do I have the suspicion that limited music fans read a song's lyrics nowadays?

Andy McCoy: I think lyrics are very important. I have always liked word play and double meanings. Regarding the fans reading into the lyrics, in my opinion I feel it depends on the person and his or her IQ. The younger generation seems to first listen to the melody, and then get into the lyrics, which was definitely not the case with Bob Dylan (in his heyday!).

Metal Temple: What's the feedback so far for "Street Poetry" and — to your knowledge — both "Another Hostile Takeover" and "Twelve Shots On The Rocks"? I'm rather curious 'bout America, to tell you the truth...

Andy McCoy: The response has been overall very positive here in Scan and Europe. As you well know, you can not please everyone though. America? We are waiting for the right band to tour with. We don't wanna end up being an '80s nostalgic trip, as most of the bands from that era have become. As you can see, we keep working on new material all the time. I miss (my) our fans in the U.S. and can't wait to play there again, and it will happen. It's just about the timing.

Metal Temple: It was recently announced that L.A. GUNS had to pull out from a scheduled European tour with HANOI ROCKS. Or — as we can read at your official website — there never was a final confirmation for this tour?

Andy McCoy: Yes, that was some talk, however, nothing official. We never received any contracts etc... Seems like some amateur promoter thought he could just put a tour together, and he proved to be a failure. They are cool guys and it would have been fun. Maybe in the future, when everything is organized professionally.

Read the entire interview at Metal-Temple.com.