UFO  

                                                                                                              Date: 17 March 2012   

MG: Hi, nice to meet you.
Vinnie: Nice to meet you too.

 

MG: That was a fantastic show tonight, how has the tour being going so far?
Vinnie: We are into our third date, and so far it has been going really well.

 

MG: It was great to see such a mixture in the crowd tonight; the amount of youngsters in the crowd was awesome.
Vinnie: It was totally awesome, I couldn’t believe the amount of kids in front of me rocking, and they knew all the words to the old songs and to the new songs. I was really surprised.

 

MG: It must be really difficult deciding what to play from your extensive back catalogue, which makes the final decision.
Vinnie: We kind of kick it around all together in rehearsals, we try all different things, but any way you look at it we have to leave some songs out.  I mean there are so many songs in the back catalogue of UFO, we are bound to leave out something that somebody wants to hear.  We have being doing a lot of tours and hopefully we get to some of the songs that we have left out before.  You know we have done different things with the set in the past.

 

MG: 'Seven Deadly'? Why not Seven Deadly Sins?
Vinnie: Phil came up with the title and I don’t know the answer to that one!

 

MG: 'Seven Deadly' has been getting rave reviews, which are your personal favourites on the new record?
Vinnie: I would say I like 'Burn Your House Down' and 'Steal Yourself'.

 

MG: Your personal favourite songs to play live?
Vinnie: There is so many sometimes, at times I feel like I am playing with the band as a fan.  I grew up as a fan of the band.  At times I can look over and I’m like watching them and I feel more part of the audience than I do with the band.  It’s so much fun to play 'Rock Bottom', 'Only You Can Rock Me' ... overall I enjoy the whole set, it’s a lot of fun.

 

MG: You have a massive tour ahead of you, and then a short break in April, how do you keep the momentum going?
Vinnie: We just get together and drink a lot of red bull!  No we have being going along together for like eight years since I have been in the band and it’s like tour, record, tour, record.  We just get up there and do our thing and we are always ready to go.

 

MG: What bands do you like to listen to when you are travelling? Any there any new bands that grab your attention at the moment?
Vinnie: I can never think of any when am asked this question, mean I like a lot of different styles of music.  I listen to all sorts of different things, nothing comes to mind.

 

MG: What bands influenced you growing up, obviously UFO!
Vinnie: Anywhere from Hendrix, Robin Trower, Larry Carlton, Van Halen.  I was into everything including Blues guys like Albert King, Jeff Beck was a huge influence, Zeppelin, Queen, Deep Purple.

 

MG: What are your plans for the rest of the year after this tour, are you going to be working on your next album?
Vinnie: Tour for a while that’s the plan, do the April tour in Europe, then do a tour of the States in the fall.  Also maybe some festivals in the summer and just keep ourselves out there playing.

 

MG: You yourself are there any plans for a solo tour in the near future also? 
Vinnie: I did a solo tour in Europe in November and December.  I will always do stuff like that and do a solo record sometime as soon as I get the chance, but at the moment I don’t have any specific plans.

 

MG: With the recent UFO shows is there going to be any chance of a live album / DVD?
Vinnie: There has been no real talk about that but we are starting to get the feeling that maybe we should look at doing something like that  as it has been a long time since we last did a live record / DVD.  

 

MG: Looking back on your career, what you would say has been the biggest highlight?
Vinnie: Well there was this girl in South America ... ha ha! ... Man there has been so many I don’t think I could really choose one thing it’s really hard to pin point.

 

MG: Tonight was an amazing show, when you are looking out on a crowd like that what you’re feeling?
Vinnie: You get such a lot of energy from the crowd, it flows through you, through the music and through to them, it's kind of like a cycle you know, it feeds through them and their energy feeds through us.  So yeah, it’s definitely cool.

 

MG: Personal favourite country to play?
Vinnie: There’s fans all over the world, but I would have to say England is the best.  But you know so many places have been amazing, we have been to Russia, Korea, it’s just so amazing we have our fans everywhere who have been so receptive, and totally into what we are doing .  

 

MG: Your own personal favourite UFO album?
Vinnie: When I was growing it up it was 'Force It' , 'Lights Out' and 'Obsession'.

 

MG: Well I am going to let you go and have a deserved rest now, thank you ever so much for your time.
Vinnie: Thank you and I am glad you enjoyed tonight’s show.

Interview by: Seb Di Gatto