The 80s often get a bad rap for being a decade of style over substance and in a lot of cases, that tends to be true. The decade of excess gave us many things that still make us shudder today. It was also packed full of a lot of talented artists who continue to defy the critics and release relevant material today. If you take one of the greatest voices of the 80s and combine it with one of the most influential guitar players from the 80s, you know the results are going to be pretty impressive. Then, you add to it an incredibly talented and respected rhythm section and you have the makings of a band with plenty of wow factor. That’s exactly what has happened with the band Sweet and Lynch which combines the stellar vocals of Michael Sweet (Stryper) with the blistering fretwork of George Lynch (Lynch Mob/ex-Dokken). Joining those two is the powerhouse rhythm section of Brian Tichy (S.U.N./ex-Whitesnake) and James Lomenzo (ex-White Lion/ex-Megadeth). The result of their collaboration is their debut album Only to Rise, which has been getting rave reviews from fans and critics alike. I recently had the privilege of sitting down with lead singer Michael Sweet to talk all about it.
It’s always a pleasure to talk to you Michael. You and I talked right before the last Stryper album came out and you told me about working on some new material with George Lynch.
Michael Sweet: Yeah, I remember us talking about that.
Here we are a year or so later and it’s finally being unleashed on the public. If I’m this excited for everybody to hear it, I can only imagine how you’re feeling.
It is exciting and it seems like I’ve been talking about for an eternity now. I’ve been talking about it for about a year and the official release day is finally here. It’s one of those things where you put it out there and you hope for the best and see what happens. We tried to make the best record possible and give people what they love and what we love which is that 70s and 80s era rock. There’s a lot of stuff going on about this album, there’s a lot of talk and so far the reviews have been great. So far, everybody loves what they’re hearing and we purposely tried to go back to that retro 70s and 80s era of music, which is personally my favorite in terms of hard rock. George and I wanted to remind people of the greatest eras in rock and roll and metal, in my opinion again.
You and George seem to be vying for the title owned by the late James Brown as the hardest working man in show business. It seems as if every time I turn around, you two are involved in another project of some sorts. You guys seem to be on a creative high the last few years.
We are and with my personality, I can’t speak for George because I don’t know what drives him, I’m a very driven person and I definitely got the whole OCD thing from my dad and the ADHD thing from God knows where or how. I think those two things, oddly enough, help me with what I do. You know, when I get into a project, I give it 110% until it’s done because I’m so absorbed with it. It’s a good and a bad thing; it can be a blessing and it can be a curse. I appreciate the fact that I still have the passion for music; it just doesn’t go away with me and it keeps me moving constantly. One of these days, I’m going to need to take a break or you’re not going to hear from me anymore.
So, did the President of Frontiers Records, Serafino Perugino, pitch the idea to you to front this project or super group or however they’re labeling this as?
Yeah, that’s what they’re calling all these projects with different band members from other groups. It always feels funny to me to call it a super group because I don’t feel like I’m a guy who can make up a super group. He did ask to be a part of a project and then one thing lead to another and I suggested producing it and co-writing it. I suggested George, Brian and James and Serafino agreed to everything and it ended up turning into a really cool thing for me. I want to show people what I can do as a producer because I love to be in the studio and I love to produce. I feel that sometimes gets overlooked because I’m in Stryper and people don’t always take me serious as a producer when I produce a Stryper album. So, this is an opportunity for me to show people a little more what I can do as a producer and I just love it man.
Did you and George ever cross paths back in the day? I don’t remember Dokken and Stryper playing together back then during your first big runs and I apologize if I am wrong about that?
We crossed paths many times, but believe it or not, we never played together as far as Dokken and Stryper goes. Now, recently Stryper and Lynch Mob have recently played together multiple times on things like M3 and the Monsters of Rock.
What about the writing for the album? Were any of these songs partials that had been lying around for a while or is all of it new material for this project?
It’s all brand new and George sent me riff ideas and I wrote lyrics and melodies and arranged them and completed them as songs, so they’re all completely new songs.
Technology has really changed the recording process from what it used to be years ago. Were the four of you in the same room at any point during the recording process?
No, just James, Brian and myself were. I went into the studio and mapped everything out and they flew out, I recorded their drums and bass and they flew back home. I went in and recorded my guitars, then I came home and recorded my vocals and sent all of that to George and he recorded his guitars. He then sent it all back to us and we mixed it.
It kind of blows my mind to think that that whole process can be done without all the guys being in the same room together, but I hear of it happening quite often.
You know, sometimes that’s a hindrance because I can instantly hear when I put on an album if they recorded their parts in separate locations. Nine times out of ten there’s a lack of energy that comes with being in the same room with the same musicians. It’s something that transfers over from the musicians to the recording. Now, with us, Sweet and Lynch, I think because I did track with James and Brian live in the studio, I think that we were able to, thank God, capture that energy. I don’t know if we would have if we all had tracked in different locations. You want to capture that because a lot of times, that’s what the people are hearing. It’s the band locking in together as a unit and somehow building and creating this energy that only somehow only comes from the band playing together.
It’s that chemistry that happens when you’re face to face and things just click.
Totally man!
I’m always curious to the method behind a band’s decision when it comes to picking an album title. What made you choose Only to Rise for the title?
I felt like it was a good, strong title and if you were going down that path of having a title track, that was one that jumped out to me as a potential title; not just an album title but a band name too. We were thinking about naming the band Only to Rise and the album something else, but the label didn’t like that. The label really wanted Sweet and Lynch and George and I personally did not care for Sweet and Lynch and we fought to win that battle, but the label really wanted to have it. We thought Only to Rise was a cool title and it has a roll off the tongue flair to it.
I guess it’s kind of tough to think about taking this out on the road with everyone already having pretty busy schedules. Is it on the wish list because I know it is with the fans?
It’s definitely on the wish list and we’re going to try and pull it off with select key city dates, but if we can’t align everybody’s schedules then it’s going to be impossibility. We’re really trying hard to make it happen because I know there are really a lot of people who want to see this band live, so it would be cool to give them that.
Yeah, I’m over here with my hand in the air because I’m definitely one of them.
It’ll be a good band and, I’m telling you, one of the best bands that you’ll see in this lifetime and I’m not all talking about myself as a singer. I’d pay to go see George, Brian and James play together; they’re all phenomenal players. It’s exciting for me to be a part of that and it’s the icing on the cake to me.
When the project was finally completed, what did you take away from it?
Relief; I was definitely nervous and thinking how was it all going to work out with the way it had to be put together. It felt somewhat thrown together and I was definitely skeptical, but after hearing the mixes and the songs and how they all came together in a very positive way, I was relieved and thrilled and so was George. He had never heard them with melodies and lyrics and when he heard them, he called me and was absolutely ecstatic over how much he loved it. He went on and on about how great the album turned out. I think we were all very pleasantly thrilled.
Sweet and Lynch – Dying Rose (Official Video)
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I had a fan submitted question from my buddy Jason in California and I’m curious about this one as well. If you guys manage to pull off some live dates, are there any Dokken classics that you’re looking forward to tackling?
There are so many great Dokken songs; I’d love to do any of them. I love “The Hunter” and “Unchain the Night”, “Breaking the Chains” and “Alone Again.” There are just so many great tunes and it would really be great to perform and sing some of them. I always loved Dokken and I thought they wrote some great songs and they had that great combination of edge and melody and I love that stuff.
I wanted to focus our talk on the Sweet and Lynch album, but I have to end it with a question about Stryper. I keep up with you on Twitter and Facebook and I’ve seen your recent posts about finishing up writing for the new album. Is there a possibility of seeing that later this year?
Oh yeah, everyone will be able to hopefully around October or November, maybe December, but most likely October or November. It’s a really cool album and definitely heavy and a little heavier than the last one in the sense that we’ve got some drop beat tunes, a little darker, a little more chuggy. I think people are going to dig it; it’s a really cool album.
Again man, you seem to be on a creative high. I almost don’t like to say that because it sort of implies that there is or was a low at some point. It’s always great to be a fan of your work, but it really is now because we are reaping the rewards of that creative process.
I just hope we keep putting out good, quality stuff because we certainly try to.
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By: Johnny Price, Lead Senior Journalist
