- Vixen is reformed, say re-invented if you will, after a long break. How did this come about and when did you decide to make a comeback? IN 2001, OUR MANAGER AT THE TIME SUGGESTED WE GET BACK TOGETHER TO DO A REUNION TOUR. ROXY, JANET & I GOT BACK TOGETHER, (SHARE DECLINED), AND WE GOT ON THE VOICES OF METAL TOUR WITH VINCE NEIL, STEPHEN PEARCY/RATT & SLAUGHTER. PART WAY THROUGH THE TOUR, THINGS WERE NOT WORKING OUT VERY WELL. IT WAS A DIFFICULT TOUR AND THINGS STARTED TO FALL APART. I KNEW WE'D NEVER MAKE IT TO THE END OF THE TOUR THE WAY THINGS WERE GOING, SO I HAD A CHOICE - TO CALL IT QUITS, OR TRY TO QUICKLY FIND NEW PEOPLE TO FINISH OUT THE TOUR! I DECIDED TO TRY TO FIND NEW PEOPLE, AND LIKE A MIRACLE, I FOUND JENNA, LYNN & KAT!!! WE FINISHED OUT THE TOUR, AND WE'VE BEEN GOING STRONG, EVER SINCE!! I BELIEVE IT REALLY WAS A MIRACLE!! - Could you tell us a little about how things worked out after the reformation? AFTER WE FINISHED OUT THAT TOUR, WE REALIZED THAT WE ALL GOT ALONG REALLY GREAT, AND WE KNEW WE WANTED TO CONTINUE WORKING TOGETHER! WE ALSO KNEW WE WANTED TO MAKE A NEW RECORD!! SO WE STARTED WRITING, AND RECORDING DEMOS... - Who's in the new line up? How long have you been working with these individuals? THE NEW LINEUP IS: JENNA SANZ-AGERO ON VOCALS, LYNN LOUISE LOWREY ON BASS, AND KAT KRAFT ON DRUMS. WE'VE BEEN TOGETHER SINCE THE MIDDLE OF THAT TOUR IN 2001! - There's the new album, “Live & Learn”, which was released in the United States in January of 2007 that you recorded with this line up. Could you tell us a little bit about the formation of the album? Did you always consider recording another album, or is this something that came together after you started working with the new members? WE KNEW AFTER THE 2001 TOUR, THAT THE NEXT STEP WAS TO MAKE A NEW RECORD. ONCE WE HAD SOME DEMOS RECORDED, I LOOKED UP OUR FORMER PRODUCER, DENNIS MACKAY, WHO ENGINEERED THE “REV IT UP” ALBUM. DENNIS WAS SOOO WONDERFUL TO WORK WITH, AND WE HAD SUCH A GREAT TIME WITH HIM IN THE STUDIO RECORDING “LIVE & LEARN”!! I ALWAYS KNEW AFTER THE BAND BROKE UP IN 1991, THAT I WAS NOT YET “DONE”!! SO, YES, I KNEW THAT “SOMEDAY” I'D MAKE ANOTHER RECORD!! - What kind of reactions did you get after the album was released? Do you think “Live & Learn” has met your old fans' expectations? WE'VE GOTTEN OVERWHELMINGLY FAVORABLE REACTIONS ABOUT “LIVE & LEARN”!! WE CERTAINLY HOPE THAT WE'VE MET OUR OLD FANS' EXPECTATIONS!!! :-) - How do you compare the new album to the old ones musically? I THINK THE NEW ALBUM HAS “PRESERVED” THE VIXEN SOUND & FEEL, AND I THINK THAT THE INFLUENCE OF NEW BLOOD FROM JENNA, LYNN & KAT HAS GIVEN THE NEW ALBUM A FRESH NEW VIBE & EDGE, WHILE STAYING TRUE TO THE VIXEN SOUND! - We notice that most of the songs on the album are a collaboration of you and Jenna; Jenna being the lyricist. Is this something you had in mind, like showcasing Jenna's lyrics, or is it simply a matter of how things turned out as far as writing the new material? QUITE HONESTLY, WE HAD NOTHING SPECIFIC IN MIND, AND DIDN'T EVEN REALLY DISCUSS WHAT THE NEW RECORD SHOULD SOUND LIKE! JENNA & I JUST GOT TOGETHER AND STARTED WRITING! I WOULD BRING HER SOME MUSIC IDEAS, SOMETIMES WITH A MELODY OR LYRIC IDEA HERE OR THERE, AND SHE WOULD COME UP WITH MELODIES AND LYRICS, AND SOMETIMES SHE WOULD GIVE ME COMPLETED LYRICS FIRST, AND I WOULD PUT MUSIC TO THEM. WE JUST REALLY 'CLICKED' WRITING TOGETHER! LYNN ALSO BROUGHT IN SONG IDEAS, AND WE'D ALL WORK ON THEM TOGETHER. - There's also a very successfully done David Bowie cover “Suffragette City”, on this album. How did you pick the song? And what was it like to record this song with Dennis MacKay, who was also present when the song was originally recorded by Bowie? WELL, THANK YOU FOR THE COMPLIMENT ON OUR VERSION OF SUFFRAGETTE CITY!! DENNIS CAME UP WITH THE IDEA TO DO A BOWIE COVER, AND ONE NIGHT AT REHEARSAL HE SAID; “HOW ABOUT SUFFRAGETTE CITY?” WE ALL IMMEDIATELY LOVED THE IDEA, AND IT JUST “WORKED”! WE ALL THINK IT'S REALLY COOL AND VERY SPECIAL THAT DENNIS WORKED ON THE ORIGINAL RECORDING BY DAVID BOWIE!! - Let's go back in time a little… We can't help but notice the new generation fans' love for the 80's. Why do you think that is? What kind of differences do you see when you compare today to the past? THERE WERE MANY GOOD BANDS AND A LOT OF GOOD MUSIC THAT CAME OUT OF THE 80'S, AND I THINK THE NEW GENERATION OF FANS THAT ARE DISCOVERING THE 80'S, ARE JUST LIKE OTHER GENERATIONS THAT WENT BACK AND RE-DISCOVERED THE 60'S & 70'S AS WELL. ALSO, PERHAPS SOME OF THEM PROBABLY HAVE PARENTS WHO GREW UP LISTENING TO 80'S MUSIC, AND POSSIBLY STILL PLAY SOME OF IT TODAY! THE DIFFERENCES I SEE TODAY, ARE, THAT THERE ARE MANY MORE WAYS TO PROMOTE YOUR MUSIC AND GET IT HEARD, ETC., THAT WERE NOT AVAILABLE BACK THEN, SUCH AS THE INTERNET, ETC.!! WE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A VIXEN WEBSITE UNTIL A FEW YEARS AGO! BACK THEN, BANDS HAD TO RELY MOSTLY ON THE RECORD COMPANIES TO PROMOTE THEIR RECORDS, AND IF THEY DIDN'T PROMOTE YOUR RECORD, YOU WERE SCREWED!! - In general, do you actually miss the good old days where everything was more simple, or do you think more like “Thank God we're in the computer age” ? HMMMM. A LITTLE OF BOTH! IN SOME WAYS, THINGS WERE ACTUALLY EASIER BACK THEN, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, THE INTERNET/COMPUTER AGE ARE AMAZING TOOLS, AND CAN BE SOOO HELPFUL IN GETTING NEW MUSIC OUT THERE!! - Do you still use a lot of hairspray before you get on stage or have you actually cut down? :-) HAHA - NO, I DON'T USE NEARLY AS MUCH HAIRSPRAY AS I DID BACK THEN! I ONLY USE A LITTLE, NOW! ;-) - Vixen has an official website (www.vixenrock.com) and a MySpace page (www.myspace.com/vixenrock). I take it you use the technology to your advantage. In a time of where a lot of musicians share their “home-made” CDs with the rest of the world through the internet, how important are these opportunities for you? Do you think you take enough advantage of it? I THINK ALL OF THE NEW TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE AVAILABLE ARE REALLY IMPORTANT! WE DO TRY TO USE THEM TO OUR ADVANTAGE, BUT I THINK WE COULD ACTUALLY TAKE MORE ADVANTAGE OF THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE OUT THERE...WE'RE TRYING TO BUILD OUR “VIXEN TEAM”, SO THAT WE HAVE MORE HANDS TO GET THE JOB DONE!! :-) - What are your projects for the future? And have you been planning on a new studio album? WE HOPE TO DO SOME SHOWS/FESTIVALS IN 2008, AND WE HAVE ALREADY STARTED WRITING FOR THE NEXT RECORD, WHICH WE'LL BE WORKING ON THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, AND WE PLAN TO BE IN THE STUDIO LATER IN THE YEAR! WE WILL ALSO BE RELEASING OUR DVD “LIVE IN SWEDEN” THIS YEAR, ALONG WITH THE “LIVE IN SWEDEN” CD, INCLUDING BONUS TRACKS... - As we know it, you're such a down to earth, non-egotistical musician. Perhaps my next question will embarrass you a little :-) As one of the greatest female guitar players in the history of Rock, how does it feel for others to look up to you and consider you an idol? What goes through your mind when people walk up to you and say you're the reason why they started to play the guitar? I'M BLUSHING NOW! :-) WOW!!! I THINK THAT'S THE KINDEST AND MOST GENEROUS COMPLIMENT I'VE EVER HEARD!! THANK YOU!!! IT FEELS REALLY GREAT AND I'M HONORED AND FLATTERED WHEN I HEAR SOMEONE SAY THEY WERE INSPIRED BY VIXEN, AND I'M STILL BLOWN AWAY IF I HEAR SOMEONE SAY THEY STARTED PLAYING GUITAR (OR ANOTHER INSTRUMENT), OR PUT A BAND TOGETHER BECAUSE OF VIXEN!! THAT'S ALWAYS TOUCHING AND IT STILL ALWAYS BLOWS ME AWAY!!! - Is there anything else you'd like to mention? I'D LIKE TO SAY A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR LOYAL FANS WHO'VE SUPPORTED US THROUGH THICK & THIN, AND ALSO THANK YOU TO ALL THE NEW FANS WHO'VE COME ON BOARD AND MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR VIXEN TO KEEP ON GOING!! WE LOVE YOU ALL!!! - We'd like to wish you good luck with your future projects and hope to see Vixen in our home country, Turkey soon :-) THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!! WE HOPE TO ROCK IN TURKEY VERY SOON!!! :-) PEACE & LOVE, JAN