Rock Overdose and Pavlos Giannakopoulos had the pleasure to talk with Geoff Thorpe, singer-guitarist and founding member of VICIOUS RUMORS, in view of the release of band’s new album “Concussion Protocol”.
Rock Overdose: Hello Geoff. How are you doing?
Geoff Thorpe: I'm doing fine...been back in the states and preparing for our tour with Dirkschneider in autumn.
Rock Overdose: How are things going for Vicious Rumors in 2016?
Geoff Thorpe: It can't be better. The new album got awesome reviews and the reactions from the fans are beyond all expectations.
Rock Overdose: Can you introduce us the members of Vicious Rumors?
Geoff Thorpe: Sure...first we have Larry Howe on drums, a long time friend and member of the band. Our animal!!
Then we have Nick Hollemann who is a great character and a great singer.
Next one is Tilen Hydrap....a bass player extraordinaire, thrash maniac and driving force
behind the band.
Thaen Rassmusen on guitar was in the band a lot of times and I'm happy that he is back. And me...the grandfather of this band..(loughs).....it's now 37 years ago that I founded Vicious Rumors!
Rock Overdose: When did you start and what did you make to play music?
Geoff Thorpe: Like I said I founded the band in 1979 in Hawaii. When I moved to San Francisco I wanted to be more professional and I was glad that the whole Bay Area movement started with bands like Exodus, Death Angel and us.
Rock Overdose: Can you tell us some words about Vicious Rumors story? How did you all meet?
Geoff Thorpe: There are no members in the band anymore from the very first line up.....Larry is the longest...we met early 80s and shared the same visions. I had a lot of contacts in SF so I met all the great musicians there.
Rock Overdose: Which are your main influences as a band?
Geoff Thorpe: I'm a die hard Led Zeppelin fan and will 'til the rest of my life. But for sure also bands like Iron Maiden, AC/DC to name some obvious.
Rock Overdose: You have been more than thirty years making heavy metal. You have to love all this to keep on through those years. Am i right?
Geoff Thorpe: You bet. My decision in the early 80s were to found a band, do records and tour. And I'm still doing that. It's dedication and the love of the things you do. I can't think of another life for me.
Rock Overdose: 80s was a great period to play heavy metal. Do you agree?
Geoff Thorpe: It was.....so many bands released great records, we had magazines, radios TV station who played metal.. a lot of gigs, touring etc....I'm glad that we started in the 80s with"Soldiers of the Night" and "Digital Dictator" which paved our way for the future.
Rock Overdose: The band has suffered a lot of member changes through these years. Can you tell us a few words about it?
Geoff Thorpe: I don't wanna dig too deep into that...some were because members have to take care about their families, some because they got better offers or the chemistry was not there anymore. But we survived and now we are here with one of our best albums in our career: "Concussion Protocol"
Rock Overdose: Vicious Rumors are very active in discography. You are moving forward. Do you agree?
Geoff Thorpe: Absolutely. In 37 years we released 12 studio albums, 4 live albums, 2 Video albums and 1 EP.....not so bad. And we toured endlessly in the last 30 years all around the world.
Rock Overdose: You released your twelfth studio album “Concussion Protocol”. Can you tell us some details of this release?
Geoff Thorpe: This time we did the writing as a team . We rented a house in the NL for 4 weeks to be together... no emailing parts!! Then Nick and Tilen came to California to record together!! Everything was so natural and easy this time. All in all it took 8 month but it was definitely worth the wait.
Rock Overdose: We would like to know if this brand new album will follow the same pattern as “Electric Punishment”. In my opinion “Electric Punishment” is one of Vicious Rumors best albums.
Geoff Thorpe: For my point of view the new record takes you on a ride. Vicious Rumors has never limited ourselves to one sound. We have some really fast songs on the album like "Chasing The Priest" or "1000 Years" but also rockin' songs like "Take It Or Leave It" and "Last Of Our Kind". And a complete new sound in form of "Life For A Life". No two Vicious Rumors albums sound alike. We always strive to give you something new as well as the classic elements of Vicious Rumors. This album has it all!
Rock Overdose: I hope to see you in Greece someday.
Geoff Thorpe: I hope so too......it's a long time that we had a party with our Greek fans!!
Rock Overdose: If you want just send a message to all Vicious Rumors Greek fans.
Geoff Thorpe: Thanks to all of you for your loyalty and support.
The Ball is rolling again!!!
For Rock Overdose
Pavlos Giannakopoulos
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