Fall 2010 Interviews

Triumph Interview with Mike Levine and Gil Moore
by Tony Pijar / Fall 2010

After a two decade absence, Triumph made a…well…triumphant comeback in 2008 at the Sweden Rock Festival and Rocklahoma.  Afterwards, there were wide scale rumors that the band would reform permanently and tour across the US. But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be.  After the mudslinging in the press and the very acrimonious break up that took place between bassist Mike Levine, drummer Gil Moore and guitarist Rik Emmett back in the 1980s, there were subsequent rumors that all was not well within the band and that the two-off festival dates would be it.  Not true!  The guys are getting along better than ever and have even set aside time to put together a comprehensive greatest hits CD/DVD package.  Tony Pijar spoke with Mike and Gil recently while the band visited New York City.
I asked the guys if they had a hand in the putting together the greatest hits package: “It was all ours”, emphasized Mike.  “We put it together over a period of time. Actually, it took a long time for us to get it organized…”, “At least five years”, Gil continues; “You have to start with the original, basic tapes that have to be transferred. We took the recordings and stripped them right back down to the original tracks and remixed them just as if we were creating the songs for the first time.  It was a lot of work just to get all of the analog tapes together and transferred…and it cost a fortune.  We did the same process with the videos that are on the DVD.  We had to find all of the tapes, catalogue and transfer them to a new format…so, all in all it took us a long time to get it together.” 
As stated above, the band had two very successful appearances at the Sweden Rock Festival and Rocklahoma, and then once again all was silent in the Triumph camp.  What happened between then and now?  “That was really just the plan; to go do those two shows”, Gil says. “A lot of the rumors about a tour to follow were untrue.  In fact, I was told there were websites with tour dates already announced, but there was no truth to any of that.  The rumor, with a lot of that stuff, fueled the reality.  We wanted to go out and play and told our agent to do whatever makes sense, but to not book many shows.  We originally had maybe four dates and then whittled it down to the one in Europe and the other in the United States.” Mike continues; “You know, we did talk about putting together a tour, but in reality it was just talk.  Rik has a lot of stuff that he’s involved in and Gil’s got Metal Works that he oversees…so there’s a lot of logistics when getting us together.  We are all involved in a lot of different situations with our families and work activities, so trying to put together a massive tour not as easy as it sounds…to just snap your fingers and basically change your life back to the way it was many years ago.  The main thing is we got our friendship back.  We had dinner with Rik a short while ago and had a great time; closed the restaurant down, laughing our guts out until we were crying…it was just unreal how great things are now when the three of us get together.  We start talking about the old days…! The owner came over and said, ‘You will have to leave if you don’t settle down!”  And that’s incredibly refreshing when one considers that these guys wanted at each other’s throats for the longest time.  Back in the late 80s, one of the guys was asked about the chance of a reformation, I think the quote that I read in a music magazine was something akin to, ‘somewhere between when hell freezes over and f**k off!  “Those were the dark years”, explains Gil, “and we all feel really badly about it.  You know, sometimes families have fights and it takes awhile to get over it, but once you restore it…I think we’re closer now than we ever were.  When Rik left the band, I was a complete basket-case because my father had just passed away in 1987 and he was my best friend.  Consequently, I wasn’t myself for around 18 months.  And that certainly didn’t help the situation.  Just like when Rik’s brother passed a few years ago, very tragically, that was an emotional jolt to the system.  And part of the dialogue that took place between Rik and his brother Russell was the idea of getting Triumph back together – I think Russell really wanted that to happen.  And then the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame gathering took place where we were inducted, and the next thing you know we’re all in the same room together and then of course all of that bad stuff melted away.” 

Even though there are no immediate plans to tour, the band is, technically, reunited.  Gil explains; “We are back together, but there’s that gigantic gap because there was no Triumph for a long time.  Some bands have line-up changes, but continue to make music and tour.  Van Halen is the perfect example.  There have been line up changes throughout the years for them, but they’ve always been around.  There was a huge gap from the time we broke up until recently.”  Is the band, collectively, in a better place now then in previous years?  “We’re very happy”, Mike states assuredly.  “It’s just that we don’t feel the urgency that everybody else feels.  The official Triumph plan is that there’s no official Triumph plan (laughter abounds)! That’s kind of the way it’s always been with us.”  Is Rik’s mindset the same as Mike and Gil’s?  “I think he’s comfortable doing what he’s doing”, states Gil.  “But, I know that if we wanted to go play a tour I think he’d be up for it.  He’s made no bones about it.  He said, ‘Whenever you guys are ready, let’s go.”  OK, so there’s no tour on the horizon; how about some new music then?  “We actually have the show from Sweden and Oklahoma recorded and in the can on both audio and video.  So, there’s a possibility that we may turn one or both of those into DVD’s.” Gil continues, “But, we have to appraise everything such as the quality…to make sure it’s worth doing.  But, they do exist and we’ve done a pre-edit from the show in Sweden and it looks good, especially shooting a daylight show.  Our show is pretty theatrical and is better with the lighting and such and the effects are better viewed at night; Triumph in the daylight is a bit weird for me…kinda like Scotch with no ice!  Triumph...lights…it goes together!”  Mike interjects, “Maybe we can do a two-fer putting both shows out as one entity.”
As many longtime fans of the band will attest, we look forward to the time when new material hits the streets.  Other than the one new track, the cover of Nazareth’s “Love Hurts”, on the greatest hits compilation, has there been any discussion of creating new material?  “There are no plans to make anything new at this time”, states Mike.  “If you’re going to have a problem, personality wise, the first place it’s going to rear its ugly head is in the recording studio.  I consider that to be a high-rick venture, at best, and unless we have something spectacular…earth-shattering and world-changing…then what’s the point.  It’s got to be something that we feel great about and that our fans will like; until we get to that point…”  Gil continues; “We were just talking about older band that are recording new music and then go and play shows; the fans will only want to hear the old stuff anyhow.  So, then who are they making the music for?  Themselves or their fans.  We’ve always made music for our fans.”
Hypothetically, the band could tour in the future, perhaps on the back of some sort of release be it the aforementioned live recordings from Sweden and Rocklahoma, but as the band has made very clear, it’s basically a ‘time will tell’ situation.

MORE FALL 2010 INTERVIEWS COMING SOON

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