LITA FORD On Her New Album: 'I Really Wanted To Go Back To Basics'

Jesse Capps of RockConfidential.com recently conducted an interview with '80s hard rock queen Lita Ford. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

RockConfidential.com: The lyrics [on your new album, "Living Like A Runaway"] are so personal. After all the emotional struggles you've been through the past couple of years, was it easier to write the songs because of that or did it make it a more difficult experience?

Lita: It made it easier. People write about their experiences in life. For instance, Nikki Sixx and SIXX: A.M. have the song "Life Is Beautiful". Nikki died. He overdosed on heroin and died. You write about your life experiences because they're real. I've been gone from the public eye for 17 years. A lot has happened to me in those 17 years. I'm overflowing with emotions and I channeled them into this record. I know I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve with this record and it's OK. I think a lot of people will be able to relate in many ways — dealing with homework, having a bad day at the office or having a great day at the office. It's almost like the album cover should have one big middle finger on it!

RockConfidential.com: The songs on SIXX: A.M.'s "The Heroin Diaries" touched so many people because they could relate the lyrics. I really see "Living Like A Runaway" having the same impact with listeners. There are people out there that could hear these songs and find some comfort with their own situations or to inspire them to get back up and keep kicking ass.

Lita: Absolutely. This record will be an inspiration to a lot of people in many ways. Like "Living Like A Runaway" — how many people are running away from things? Running away from the law, their homework — it goes many different directions. Or maybe "Asylum" — sometimes your house can turn into a nuthouse. Sometimes your office can turn into a nuthouse. Sometimes your school can turn into a nuthouse. This album has also got a lot of great guitar riffs.

RockConfidential.com: It really does. Every song has that catchy guitar riff that a lot of artists have moved away from or forgotten about.

Lita: That's true. You don't pay as much attention to it anymore. That seems to have gotten lost. I really wanted to go back to basics. When Gary [Hoey] and I recorded this album, that's the first thing we said to each other: "Let's go back to basics and bring back what we both love". Gary and I are the same age. We've watched the music industry change over the years. Now the music industry is up against the wall. OK, now what are you gonna do? A lot of people miss those beautiful guitar parts and the real riffy rock. I didn't pay too much attention at the time what was going on musically, but now that this record is written and I'm starting to compare it to other records I can hear that a lot of it has gotten lost over the years. I'm glad that I'm able to bring some of it back.

RockConfidential.com: Tell me about working with Gary Hoey. How did you two first get together?

Lita: We would run into each other here and there. One day he called and said, "I have a studio. You're always welcome to use it." That was really cool and I thought about it and decided to take him up on that offer. When he called me I was looking for a record producer. I had talked to various record producers but none of them fit the mold because they weren't thinking along the same lines as I was thinking. The type of record I wanted to make didn't appeal to them. They were like, "Eehh — it's gonna be old school and it's gonna be dated." If they felt that way then they were the wrong producer! I kept telling Gary I couldn't find a producer. I told him I wanted to go back to basics and play guitar. I don't want to play some sort of electronic device. I want real bass and drums. I want the album to have a theme like "Welcome To My Nightmare" or "Dark Side Of The Moon". I want it to have a consistency. The first song we wrote was "Love 2 Hate U". It turned out to be a duet and it was really great. It was like, "Wow — this is really something that's going to work". We ended up staying in that studio for a year recording this album!

Read the entire interview from RockConfidential.com.

"Mother" audio stream (courtesy of the Deciblog):

"Branded" audio stream (courtesy of AOL's Noisecreep):