CORNERSTONE on Rock Overdose

After winning the "next big thing contest" and having their song "Right or Wrong" awarded as the Ballad of the Year, Cornerstone have many reasons to be here with their soon to come 3rd full-length album. Signed to the american label ATOM Records, they have toured USA and Europe, got excellent reviews for their previous albums and just completed their last European "Get Naked Tour" 2012. We had the chance to see them live here in Greece two years ago, and we have the chance to talk with them again now, on Rock Overdose.

 

 

Rockoverdose.gr: Hello Patricia and Michael, welcome to Rock Overdose once again! Greece has seemed to be one of your favorite destinations so far, we're thrilled! Are you planning visiting us again soon?

Patricia: Hope so!! I would love to come to Greece again.
 

Rockoverdose.gr: With all these concerts and interviews on your schedule do you have any day job really? What is a typical day for you?

Patricia: I am studying theatre, film and media science. In my personal free time, I like to do sports and listen to my favorite music. Of course I have a day job to earn some money besides music.

Michael: Getting up, having breakfast, and then here we go with the business of the day. Weekends we are doing gigs, most of the time.
 

Rockoverdose.gr: You're preparing a new album, right? You also revealed its title?

Michael: We’re planning to release the new album in the middle of 2013. At the moment the title is “Reflections”, but this is probably going to change. Let’s see.
 

Rockoverdose.gr: Are you thinking of changing anything else for your next release?

Patricia: For the new album we will be better prepared. We’re working on the new songs right now and we will play them at the coming concerts, just to see the reaction of the people and to find out whether we’re on the safe side to go. Good songs need to maturate.  

Michael: We’ll go one more step into the AOR-direction. SOMEWHERE ("Somewhere in America" album) was pretty much AOR, but there were also some Alternative tunes in it.
 

Rockoverdose.gr: How do you balance between '80s rock and modern alternative sounds? Do you find yourselves leaning to one kind at a time?

Michael: I hope with the next album! We haven’t planned to do a “mixture out of AOR and Alternative”, these came pretty much out of the songs… some tunes, for example “Oblivious” wouldn’t have worked out fine with an AOR-arrangement, I guess…
 

Rockoverdose.gr: You're back from your “Get Naked Tour 2012”, how was it?

Patricia: Excellent! People’s reactions to the new songs were always positive and after the tour we brought home a lot of new fans. Almost every organizer was hooked and asked us, if we could play at their venue again. I’m very proud of my band and I can’t wait to go on tour again.
 

Rockoverdose.gr: That's very nice! How did you come up with this name?

Michael: The name for the tour came pretty much from the pics we’ve taken for GIFLI, a clothing company who has sponsored the band. Patricia stood there, almost naked… so I guess it was either Steve or Mike, who came up with that name. We liked the pics so much, that we’ve decided to use them for the tour-promotion. Very bread an butter!

 

Rockoverdose.gr: Did you hesitate making this almost topless photo-shoot? Not only about personal issues but also of how the audience would interpret it.

Patricia: For me –as the half naked one- it wasn’t a problem, because we kept within limits. With this picture we attract attention almost everywhere. That was our goal. It’s catchy and peculiar and designed for promotion. We always earned compliments for this idea and I am happy that people accepted it so well.

Michael: I guess people are tired of watching tatooed guys with long hair, wearing black. You have to come up with something more interesting to earn some attention. But this is always a thin path: some bands are more photo-models than musicians, and at the end of the day, people should listen to your tunes, not watching some nice pics. (*laughing*)
 

Rockoverdose.gr: Patricia, you also come from a pop background, what was your feedback from the fans? Have you experienced any kind of “racism” from the die-hard rock and metal community?

Patricia: No never. Thank god! I always got very nice feedback from our audience. I was very glad that people, especially in the UK, were so open minded concerning our style of music. Unfortunately, things look different in our homeland Austria. There, folk music counts more than Rock. It’s hard to be accepted.   
 

Rockoverdose.gr: How did you make the change from being a local rock band to a popular band that is getting paid to play in different parts of the world? Is there any advice you would give to young bands out there?

Patricia: Yes. If you want to have international success you need to be unique and differ from other bands. You should have your own style and keep on playing concerts as often as you can. In this manner people will pay more and more attention and they will keep your name in mind.

Michael: I’m always the bad cop in this matter…(*laughing*) but I guess, there are many, many bands out there… and unfortunately most of them are crap. So, in case you play the 10th gig in front of five or so people, I’d ask myself if it is the right decision, to be making music… maybe there are other hobbies that could be done? Someone who is a really horrible singer and guitar-player, could be an absolut excellent tennis-player, just for example…

 

Rockoverdose.gr: I see your point. Are you considering finally moving to UK?

Michael: There were talks about moving to UK, but this isn’t a small step… giving up friends, family etc, and start something new in a new enviroment has to be well-discussed…
 

Rockoverdose.gr: Thank you very much for the nice talk we had guys, good luck with your new cd! Is there anything you would like to add?

Patricia: Yes of course!!! Thanks for having us and thanks to all fans of Rockoverdose. Hope you like our music and that you’ll join us at our next concerts!!! Check out our website: www.cornerstone.co.at. You can also find us on Myspace and Facebook under Cornerstoneaustria! See you soon!!

Michael: …and grab your copy of Cornerstone’s latest album “Somewhere in America”, it’s available at amazon.co.uk, iTunes, etc. Support poor bands! (*laughing*)
 

 

For Rockoverdose.gr: Stella Tsolakou

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