Metal Invader - John Oliva's Pain Interview



J..O.: Hi! This is Jon Oliva. M.I.: Hi there! It's an honour to speak to you, where are you now exactly? J.O.: I am in Tampa, Florida. Where have I called? Spain? M.I.: No, it's Athens, Greece. J.O.: Oh, Greece, my favourite country! I love it man, I am coming there soon! M.I.: Yeah, in a couple of months. So…the new album is out for like a week now. What is happening so far around it? J.O.: I think it just came out, but I have given more than 150 interviews up till now and everyone seems to like it. I like it very much, I am very fond of it and it's great to see the people support something that I like so much. What do you think? M.I.: I did the review for Metal Invader… J.O.: I hope everything you wrote in there is ok… M.I.: Well yeah, otherwise you wouldn't be talking to me I guess! What I wrote was that it is better than your two previous releases of your solo projects. J.O.: I think that too man. It came out of so much effort and with all those old stuff inside that I really like this album. We tried really hard for it in the studio and everybody is happy with the result. M.I.: I also wrote that it keeps the Savatage fans appetite alive. J.O.: Definitely it is what Savatage would do these days. And there are so many things from older Savatage in this album that it couldn't be different. I mean on one hand I have Trans Siberian Orchestra that is doing so well and we are writing new stuff for the next record now, on the other hand there are many things that I want to play and older things that I want to use that can go somewhere else. And that is how "Global Warning" was created. M.I.: So, instead of Savatage we will have Trans Siberian Orchestra and John Oliva's Pain? J.O.: Yeah. If you are fans of "Wake Of Magellan" or "Dead Winter Dead" you have Trans Siberian Orchestra that does exactly the same things and if you like "Streets" or "Gutter Ballet" you have John Oliva's Pain. And in this case you have John and Criss Oliva working together again. I mean Chris is no longer with us, but his music is there and his name is in six songs on the credits. So, he is a member of the band in a way. M.I.: Are those parts some kind of leftovers of previous Savatage albums? J.O.: The thing is that whenever we went on to write an album there were going to be 10-11 songs and we wrote something like 25. So there was so much material left outside because there was not enough room. And then we would go on and write the next record and write new material and the other songs were already a year old and still being kept outside. So, there were so many songs that I found in old cassettes and I would say "Oh, I remember that!" or even "I don't remember that" (laughing). There are so many parts in Chris's tapes with his playing, riffs and half-songs that both of us left them incomplete or didn't know what to do with them. I mean he had many ideas and some of them would become songs and others were left as they were. And people are going to get really surprised in the next couple of records too, 'cause I have found even more stuff that will be used. M.I.: And that keeps the Savatage torch lighted, like the Olympic flame now. J.O.: I like that! I keep the Olympic torch of Savatage!! (laughing) M.I: Along with the songs containing the older parts there some that are taking you to the future with their modern approach. J.O.: Yes. Even the older ones are modernised. They are several years old and I don't play them as I hear them on the cassette. We did a lot of changes in the studio, we tried many different things and we tried to combine the old stuff with the new stuff the way you hear them on the cd. And for sure we made the Savatage torch keep running (laughing again). M.I.: Ok, now I am sure about the title of the interview…Something that I always wanted to ask you: How is your relationship with all those death metal bands that come from your hometown? There is also the occasion of Ralph Sandolla contributing in the album. J.O.: Oh, I know those guys for many years. There is a lot of respect from those guys towards Savatage because they know we were the first to start from there, in Tampa, and many bands came out after us, Obituary, Death, Morbid Angel, Nasty Savage. I never had a problem with anybody, I always liked them and they always liked me. But we were the first to start the whole thing and I have a very good relationship with the guys from Obituary, I know Ralph for many many years. He is a good buddy and a great guitar player and so he played some solos along with our other friend Tom. And there are more guitar players that are friends of ours that came and played, everybody is in this album! M.I.: Another aspect of the album is the lyrics and the ecological awareness you try to promote through "Global Warning"… J.O.: In this album I tried to take a big issue like global warming and I wanted to bring awareness to the people instead of writing again about dungeons and dragons or stories and stuff like that. I wanted to go deeper and write a mini-concept on this theme. And don't forget that I come from America, where we can spend three hundred billions on a war and at the same time have tenths of thousands starving to death without social security back home, because all of our tax money go to support the war. So, I wanted to take this issue and kick off the album, there are some songs that go as a concept and there is a song about terrorism, a song about two soldiers and about dreams, songs about everyday life. I don't want to be something like a preacher on that, but I just wanted to put these things down and talk about them from my point of view. What do you think about that? M.I.: I think that people that are fans of you would definitely check the lyrics and they would like to hear these things from you. J.O.: Well yeah! And some of these songs are really emotional and I think they are going to be classics. For sure we are going to be playing "Firefly" in this tour, it's really powerful live and I absolutely love it. I think I have found my new "Believe". We worked so much for it in the studio, we put so many things in there, there are many sounds, many tracks and the screaming in the end of the song is something I am really fond of! M.I.: When I saw the cover and the lyrics and everything I thought that maybe Al Gore was contributing in there too. J.O.: (laughing) I don't think he likes metal. M.I.: I am sure his wife doesn't! J.O.: Ok, that's for sure! M.I.: What about the forthcoming tour? J.O.: We are leaving on the 24th of April for a small Europe tour for three weeks and 16 shows. I know we are coming to Greece at the end of it. Then we return to America to do some stuff and go to the South America in the summertime. We will return to Europe at the end of October or November for more extensive touring. I can't wait to come in Greece. I love it there. How was this club's name? The drinking club�. Wild West? M.I.: You mean Texas? J.O.: Yes! It's great there, I would like to go there again and drink some more! M.I.: We play music there every now and then, maybe we can meet there. Another question: Do you have any communication with Zak Stevens? J.O.: Everything is good between me and him, there is no problem. We might get together in the future and see if we can do something, but for now I have things to do with my bands. M.I.: So you basically split your time between TSO and JOP, your three-letter bands. J.O.: (laughing) Exactly! M.I.: That's all from me for now! J.O.: Thanx man, I hope to see you at the concert in Greece. I am really waiting to come down there again and see you all, I missed the fans there! M.I.: Be sure that fans miss you too! J.O.: And keep the Olympic torch of Savatage going!