Empire Extreme got to talk to Gary Pihl of Alliance about being in the band and being able to work with bands like Boston and Sammy Hagar.

EE: You guys just released the latest album Fire And Grace in May.

Gary: Yes and it’s been a long time coming and the reason is we are all in other projects and takes our time, we like to work on it when we all together. We are old school when we are all there. We just trust each other and know how to work well with each other. We wrote the titled track Fire in Grace in 4 minutes.

EE: How was it like recording compared to other albums?

Gary: I felt this time, we have the Alliance groove. The last few albums we were trying to find that. With this album we know what we wanted to sound like. Also Me, Robert, David and a couple of others guys are in a charity group called December People. We play holiday songs in the styles of our favorite bands. We took off a few days from doing that to finish the album.

EE: How was it like playing with Sammy Hagar?

Gary: That was 8 great years with him. I started with him in 1977, and one of the first bands with toured with as an opening act was Boston. They liked us and asked us to do the full second tour with them. Sammy wasn’t that known back then, they always asked if he’s the Hagar from HeeHaw. What you see is what u get with Sammy, he’s such a nice guy.

EE: You were on the album with “ I can’t Drive 55”

Gary: That’s right. People always say you always look like you’re in jail in the video.

EE: Then you ended up working with Boston for a while as well.

Gary: Yes in 1985, Sammy got the call to join Van Halen and he came to us and told us he got an offer he can’t refuse, but he told us continue the band and find another singer. I got a call from Tom Scholz saying he heard I was out of a gig, and come help me finish the 3rd album for them. Then he asked me to move back out here and help finish the tour and I’ve been here ever since.

EE: What’s been your favorite album to work on?

Gary: Well I would have to say Alliance.(Laughs) all the records I’ve done with Sammy and Boston were amazing but that’s their music, but with Alliance I got to write a lot more.

EE: Any shows coming up with Alliance?

Gary: We were talking about it with the guys, since Boston wasn’t touring this summer. We thought it would be great to do some festivals. I think that would be great for us.

About Author

Ron

Ron has keen eye for new talent, a love for the underground, and a tremendous passion for music of any genera. You’ll probably bump into him at a horror convention or some seedy club checking out the next need-to-know band.

See author's posts