American rock legend Lita Ford headed across The Atlantic Ocean for a live appearance at Sweden Rock recently and Metal Covenant got to spend a little time with the veteran lady talking about touring, her coming record, which is almost ready to hit the streets, as well as the question of singles vs. albums.

Tobbe: Today's show is the only one in Europe this time around.

Lita: Well, you know, we just wanted to hit Sweden Rock. We hoped for more shows. We did get some shows that came in and I just said, "Let's just do Sweden Rock and let's just get out.". Unfortunately, I don't want to, but we're gonna fly out tomorrow.

We're so in love with Sweden, Denmark, and the surrounding countries. It's just so beautiful out here. And I always loved it, ever since I came here with the Runaways.

Tobbe: Are you kind of happy with just playing principally in the States, because most of your tour dates are in the States in fact?

Lita: You know, there are a lot of artists that are big in certain areas and then that's it. I mean, of course we would like to branch out more. There's a lot of logistics that get involved when coming overseas to play. You know, financial stuff. Of course Sweden Rock took good care of us, so it worked out.

Did you see the Elvis documentary? You know, he talks about trying to get out of the country, and I'm watching him and I'm thinking, "Well, some artists just are big where they are, and so what's the problem?". But Lita is a worldwide artist and I always have been ever since I first started. You know, we have a lot of fans all over the world, so we need to get the hell out there and play for them.

But I was surprised to see that about him when I watched that documentary. Who knows? Is that even accurate? Is that just something for the movie? Probably overdramatized.

Tobbe: It has been a long time since you released a full-length studio album now. Will we see anything new in a foreseeable future?

Lita: Yeah, it's do or die, basically. I have it ready to go, and I have had it ready to go. The problem is our manager died in '21. He was negotiating some projects, and then he died, so it kind of messed everybody up. But now we're back. I'm working with different people and I'm dying to tell everybody about it. It's done, it's ready, and it's badass. There's a lot in it, so.

Tobbe: Have you ever thought about releasing standalone singles instead of putting out entire albums?

Lita: I'm not one of those people that releases stuff on their own. I'm just not digitally inclined, you know, to do stuff. The person who was helping me, unfortunately, was my manager who died. That's okay; we're picking up the pieces, you know. It might take a little longer than we thought, but it's moving now, so I'm happy for that.

Tobbe: It's kind of hard for me to keep track of what artists are doing when they put out singles. I prefer being given 10 songs or 12 songs or whatever. It's easier that way.

Lita: You know, what are you gonna do with a single? I don't know. I'm with you. I agree. You know, you wanna put the record on, play it in its entirety and get behind the whole thing. At least I do. That's what I like to do.

Tobbe: But in your youth, did you listen to singles at that point, or were you more an album girl already back then?

Lita: I was an album girl. And, you know, back then the albums weren't as long as they are now. They were only, like, 14 minutes on one side, or 12 minutes on one side. Now, one song is almost, you know, 7 minutes. It's epic. It's just all an adventure.

I mean, I don't wanna give any words away; I'm trying to watch what I say. [Laughs] But with me, and this record that I've got coming, it's all about the whole record. You can listen to one song if you want; that's fine, but they all go together, which is pretty cool.

Tobbe: I guess that's almost every artist's intention, to get people to listen from the first song to the last song. It's like a book where you read from beginning to end.

Lita: You'd think so, but no, not every artist is… They don't do that, so, "Here's a song, and then the rest of the album is over here.". I don't wanna be one of those. You know, that's not Lita. I'm not saying it's bad; it's just different.

Tobbe: Do you still listen to other people's music today, or did that kind of disappear when you made a career out of this?

Lita: I listen to other people's music all the time. Oh, God! I mean, I listen to Elton John at home. I listen to Rammstein. I've got a huge range of different artists that I listen to, almost every day. Ronnie James Dio, Whitesnake, Eagles. It's just a long list. It's mainly because they are all great singers and I love hearing a great singer.

Tobbe: You started out so young in The Runaways. Did that in any way affect you in a negative way, you think, in comparison to other young girls?

Lita: You know, nobody fucked with me. They just didn't fuck with me. I had a bad temper. I mean, I still do; you'd never believe it. But back then I would do stuff like kick over my Marshall stacks, and people would just go, "Oh, don't piss her off.".

So a lot of times some of the other girls would get a little bit of schlack about things. I mean, I don't know what in particular, but they never gave me shit. [Laughs] You know, I was lucky like that. I guess that's what it was: luck; I don't know.

Tobbe: Will we see some kind of celebration, like a 40-year anniversary for one of the two first albums in, like, 2023 or 2024?

Lita: You know, I wanna get the band in rehearsals to pick up some songs that we haven't done. So maybe; I hope so.

Tobbe: It's been a long time since those two first records were out.

Lita: I know. And we do play some of them. Our set was just so short today. You know, they really cut us short, 'cause there's so many bands at Sweden Rock.

Tobbe: Have you been able to take any advantages in this music industry just because you're a woman?

Lita: Advantages? Hmm. I don't know; I try to, almost every day. [Laughs]

Related links:

www.facebook.com/litaofficial