TRIUMPH's Mike Levine - "When The Audience Is Singing The Songs
Louder Than We Can Play Them There's Nothing More Special Than That" So much has already been documented about the legendary Canadian power
trio TRIUMPH since they formed in 1975 when the band rented rehearsal
space in an old abandoned bowling alley no less. Rik Emmett, Gil Moore
and Mike Levine would later go on to help redefine a whole new sound
in rock and roll arenas and through numerous gold and platinum albums.
The group's longevity and truly pioneering career is something for the
history books. Triumph ultimately succeeded to shape rock music in their
thirty-three year plus tenure. Bassist Mike Levine checked in with
BraveWords.com correspondent Matthew O'Shaughnessy (from WVOX.com) about
Triumph's new Live At Sweden Rock Festival release and more.
BraveWords.com: There's a really great story behind Live At Sweden
Rock Festival, Triumph's latest release which also serves as the bands
reunion show. What do you make of the band's appearance in Sweden?
Mike Levine: "We're really proud of it; I think we really nailed it
over there in Sweden for a first show after god knows how many years.
Triumph was back together and we rocked really good for a bunch of old
guys (laughter). And the fans were into it!"
BraveWords.com: Triumph built its reputation on grand gestures and big risks.
Mike Levine: "Well, you know, we always believed big is better; we
took on things we never should of but, you know, if someone left the
door open a little crack, we would drive a couple of semi's through
it! Everybody said we were crazy; from the concert promoters to
the radio guys. But, we did it our way, win lose or draw. We had a
bigger show than we could afford every tour; it didn't matter if it was
our first one or last one. The show was bigger than we could actually
afford to pay for. It was all for the fans. Whether we were playing a
small theater in 1979 or Nassau Coliseum in New York in 1987. It was
always big and bigger than life."
BraveWords.com: Live At Sweden Rock Festival, in addition to
serving as Triumph's reunion show on June 7th of 2008, was also the
band's first journey to Europe.
Mike Levine: "The way it all happened was Rik and Gil and I made
our peace. Everything was cool. The promoter from Sweden Rock phoned our
agent in Los Angeles and said, 'Hey I've been reading about these guys,
do you think they want to play?' So, our agent called us and said, 'We
got this offer to play this festival in Sweden and we said, 'Let's do
it.' This was a big, big thing. They had more media requests than in the
history of that festival which has been around for more than thirty
years. There were over a thousand media people there and they were there
to see us and talk to us. It was one of those things where we just went
and played and if you watch the DVD; it's pretty darn good."
BraveWords.com: What were the days leading up to the actual big show
in Sweden like for
Triumph? You were in a country you have never played
in before. I understand vocalist RiK Emmett was under the weather
before the big show.
Mike Levine: "Rik, unfortunately, was prone to migraine headaches in
the past and we actually had to cancel shows in the middle of a show
and walk off stage when he got them; and he got one the morning of The
Live At Sweden Rock Festival and I'm in my room and I can hear him
wretching and puking and groaning next door. He's as white as a ghost
and throwing up. I phoned over to the site and said you have to send a
doctor over; it turns out that the doctor they sent who was the festival
doctor was an expert in migraine headaches.
So, ten minutes later Rik was asleep and woke up feeling great."
BraveWords.com: When it came time to come up with the set-list for
Triumph's performance at Live At Sweden Rock Festival was it an easy or
hard endeavour for the band considering you have such a rich back
catalogue of music?
Mike Levine: "It was tough; we were struggling with how to pace the
set and give Rik and Gil - because they swap vocals - enough space that
they could get some oxygen. But at the end of the day, the festival
actually ran a contest and got like thirty or forty thousand responses
( thirty days before the festival) to what would be the ideal set-list
you'd like to hear and we took that into account and we actually changed
the show a little bit to accommodate the fans which was a cool thing
for us and the fans."
BraveWords.com: It's been a long journey since Triumph formed in
Toronto from humble roots and ultimately succeeded in a major way. What
are your thoughts on the past thirty-three plus years?
Mike Levine: "Well, you know, when I think back, basically for me,
and I can't speak for Rik and Gil but I think they would agree; we as
Triumph are honored that we had the opportunity and that the fans gave
us that opportunity and they embraced the band and embraced our music.
And gave us the chance to be entertainers and go out there and make
people happy. You can't ask for much more than that in a life; I think
back and I look at all the smiling faces and the fists in the air and
the metal signs. And the audience singing the songs louder than we can
play them sometimes. There's nothing more special than that."
BraveWords.com: Triumph has broken so much ground in the rock and
roll genre. Was Triumph in the right place at the right time, so to
speak?
Mike Levine: "There's a lot of musicians that chose this life that
never make it. Not every body has that chance. Sometimes it's being in
the right place and the right time. I always say, "You can be really
good, but if you don't have luck you're dead. You don't have a chance.
For Triumph, timing was important."
BraveWords.com: Back to the Live At Sweden Rock Festival album. Triumph has to very proud of the album.
Mike Levine: "I am incredibly proud, but it was a long haul. I mean,
right after we did The Sweden Rock Festival show and the Rocklahoma
show we went in to start editing the video for Sweden and it came out
horribly. We were so disappointed. We just put it on the shelf for a
while to get away from it. Then, back in January, we said, 'Okay, we got
to bring this out, we got to do it; every second email from our website
was saying, 'When are you guys putting this out?' We went back to work
on it with a whole new concept and a new way to edit it and we got it
together. I'm flabbergasted how well it came out; the audio is
unbelievable! Stew Young who did the mix made us sound incredible I
thought. I actually watched it the other day as part of this promotion
we were doing and I set up my system and put it on stereo and it just
ripped my head off! I had it maxed out to eleven and it was just
unbelievable."
Mer 27 Juin - 22:18
