interview_night

» Night Ranger

Interview conducted June 11 2022
Interview published July 3 2022

Imagine the shock when getting told right before the interview that it will take place with the entire 5-man band present and will only last for about 10 minutes. Yes, that's exactly what happened as I was about to talk to Night Ranger at Sweden Rock Festival a couple of weeks ago.

Was it an interview, a chat or just a conversation among a group of people? Well, read and enjoy, and see what came out of our short time together.

Kelly Keagy's epic words when talking about the last couple of singles out: "Where did we release 'em? Like, in somebody's bedroom? I haven't heard 'em yet."

Band lineup:
Jack Blades - Bass/Vocals
Kelly Keagy - Drums/Vocals
Brad Gillis - Guitar
Keri Kelli - Guitar
Eric Levy - Keyboards

Tobbe: With such a long-spanning career that Night Ranger has, is there honestly anything else left to achieve for your band?

Jack: Sweden Rock x 2. And we just wanna play. We just love playing. You know, we just love it. And we're gonna keep doing it as long as we all laugh and joke and have a good time doing it. Right now we just wanna have fun. This is fun for us. It's not work. You know what I mean? Except for Eric, it's work, 'cause he has to stay awake. He only slept two hours, so it's gonna be work for him. But for all the rest of us, we're gonna have a blast.

(Brad:) It's our 40-year anniversary. So we're excited about that. We released in late '82 and it's been going great and everything has been kicking ass. And we got a great schedule this year and we're glad to be up on stage and working again.

Tobbe: To back away from the 40 years. In what way does Night Ranger look at growth or development today when you're making a new record?

Jack: I think every album is a snapshot of where we are in that space of time. So it's, like, in our heads, we're different. You know, I mean, as you grow. I mean, look at the Beatles records. You know, they went from She Loves You to Happiness Is A Warm Gun. [Collective laughter] It's like, "Whoa!". So, with us: We don't think of "Okay, we got to do this, we got to do that.". We think of just like, "Let's write the best stuff that we can come up with at that moment where we are right now.". And that's what we do.

Tobbe: And does a song like Sister Christian define the band a little bit too much in your own opinion?

Kelly: Sure, sure. I'll answer that… [Kelly has full songwriting credit and handles the vocals on this song.] (Jack:) I don't think so, because I think what defines this band is just straight-ahead American rock 'n' roll. I think that's what defines this band. I mean, that's one part, just as much as Don't Tell Me You Love Me or (You Can Still) Rock In America is an integral part of what Night Ranger is. And Touch Of Madness and, you know, Night Ranger. Those kind of things.

Tobbe: Is it sometimes hard that fans and journalists always ask about the old times?

Jack: You know, we don't care. Like I said, it's just fun now. I mean, we enjoy it, you know. Yeah, you wanna ask about old times? We'll tell you all about stuff like that. You wanna ask about new times? We'll tell you all about that. We'll tell you all about anything. Doesn't matter to us, 'cause we're just having a good time doing it.

(Kelly:) I mean, doing this last record [ATBPO, 2021] too was… You know, we didn't even get to be in a room together. So, that was probably the most difficult record we've ever done. Just never having eye contact while we were recording the tracks. It was all done over the internet, so. I think, you know, when you start thinking about doing a snapshot, there's a new snapshot of Night Ranger: Not in a room together recording an album, and making a great album, you know.

(Eric:) I would go so far as to say that a true artist isn't trying to go in any direction to appease people either. You represent where you're at with that snapshot in that time and, yeah, being authentic about it.

Tobbe: And will Night Ranger until the bitter end continue to be an album band, as opposed to a separate single band?

Jack: Oh yeah, we will always be an album band. We'll always go deep with the album stuff. Don't you think, Keri?

[Long pause]

Keri: Oh, me? [Collective laughter] - [The following words were expressed with irony:] I was thinking about releasing some singles. I was hoping to be more a single band. You know, write a song every quarter. Really make it easy on ourselves.

Tobbe: So why won't you guys open that door to these new times on Spotify and stuff with separate singles? A lot of bands are starting to not being an album band anymore.

Jack: I think that it's just we're gonna do whatever we feel like doing. We could either release more singles, and do that, like a song. But, I think we just put out a couple singles, just last week. (Kelly:) Yeah, it's a new single. Living On Wasted Time. [The correct title is "Wasted Time".]

(Jack:) Yeah, Living On Wasted Time, and I think… (Eric:) 3. (Kelly:) Where did we release 'em? Like, in somebody's bedroom? I haven't heard 'em yet. [Collective laughter]

[A band representative steps in for some needed help and whispers to Jack, "Record store day".]

Jack: Yeah, on Record store day in the US. So actually we're doing what you just said. We're releasing separate singles on Spotify. What do you know?

[The band representative steps in for some needed help again and whispers to Jack, "On vinyl".]

Jack: On vinyl? Oh, fuck! That's even better. That's even fun, yeah, that they're on vinyl. Fuck yeah!

Tobbe: And soon on cassette maybe? Still, I'd say nothing is right, nothing is wrong, about releasing albums or singles. It's up to bands to choose.

Keri: Yeah, I think, like you said, a lot of the new school concepts, you know, where the band will put literally a single out every quarter and then, like, after a year then they'll put an EP out or the record of those songs. But it'll take a whole year to develop it, so. (Jack:) I think there's an exciting time right now, with all the ability to do everything.

Tobbe: You know, Night Ranger has kind of being fond to stay in America for live shows. Why wasn't, or why isn't, Europe as important as it is touring America?

Jack: We first had a manager that kept us in the States because we could make a whole bunch of money there. And he never really broke us and we only played… In 1985 we did a tour out here with Foreigner playing all the big festivals and stuff like that. We always wanted to come over here. I mean, we've been to Japan, like, 16 times.

In fact, we're going there again. The shows were just announced for October. 3 shows in Tokyo and Osaka. I mean, like that, so. So, we did exactly what you're saying. We went to Japan all the time, but for some reason, our manager that we had, he didn't send us to Europe, because we were doing so well in the States. I don't know, but you know, he just kept us there. So we fired him. [Collective laughter] Fuck that guy! [Collective laughter]

Tobbe: But still, is it as fun to travel nowadays, as it was back in the day. You know, the traveling part of the…

Brad: Well, you got to realize, you know, we don't play in a rock band; we travel for a living. That's our career, you know. We travel a good 20 hours and play for an hour and a half. (Jack:) What's Keri's famous line? "They pay me not to play on stage. They pay me for the 23 hours of traveling." [Collective laughter] (Brad:) Traveling, yeah. (Kerry:) Exactly. The waiting. All the waiting.

(Brad:) But we're excited to get over here, 'cause we did Sweden Rock here in 2012, and had a great time, and it's great to come back and do this. You know, if it were to happen it'd be nice to do a nice tour around here, 8 or 10 shows, you know. We were over here with Journey and Foreigner in 2011 and did about 10-15 shows and had a great time. You know, the sites and the people, it's just "Wow!". It's amazing over here. A lot different than America, you know.

But we're glad to be here now in the moment looking forward to today and then we're heading to Switzerland and do another festival next week, and with a little vacation in between. So, we're digging that.

Tobbe: Sadly, every career must end someday. Do you see yourselves go out with a bang, or a farewell tour, or…

Brad: Oh, we're just getting started. (Jack:) Jesus, I hope we don't go out with a bang. [Collective laughter - A lot of knocking on wood.] No, man. We're just gonna keep playing until, like I said, it stops being fun. But I see us being around for many years to come. You know, why stop? Like, look at Mick Jagger.

(Brad:) And the reception has been great for us coming out, 'cause everyone's getting out of the house and see live music. And we just played in Norman, Oklahoma. Had 10100 people for the show. I mean, that's huge. I mean, who would have thought that? But, you know, we got a full schedule to the end of the year, and yeah, we have cruises next year, and you know, we're heading all over the world.

Tobbe: If people talk some crazy shit about your band, what is the most frequent misconception there is about Night Ranger?

Brad: We're not a hair metal band. (Jack:) Yeah, we're not a hair band. Even though we're playing in that section. (Kelly:) Yeah, we're just bunched into those bands.

(Jack:) Yeah, I don't think we're a hair band. You know, we were pre all that. I mean, we came up with, like, you know, Journey, and fucking Def Leppard and Van Halen, and all those bands. That's kind of when Night Ranger was there. Like sometimes we get lumped in with, like, Winger, Warrant, Slaughter, all the bands that end with ER, you know what I mean, so.

(Brad:) And we're Night Ranger. (Jack:) Yeah, we're not Ranger. Thank God we have a Night in front of it. But yeah, that's probably the most, you know, truly not who we are.