Former HANOI ROCKS singer Michael Monroe will release his new solo album, “One Man Gang”, in the spring. The follow-up to 2015’s “Blackout States”, which is currently being mastered, features guest appearances by ex-HANOI ROCKS guitarist Nasty Suicide and THE DAMNED legend Captain Sensible.
Monroe told Heavy TV he named his new solo record after the album’s opening track, which includes a “killer solo” by the aforementioned Captain Sensible. “It’s one of the songs [on the LP], and we decided that since the band is called MICHAEL MONROE — the name of the band is MICHAEL MONROE; the name of a person — so ‘One Man Gang’; it’s a whole gang of me,” he said.
Monroe was also full of praise for his current solo band, which includes Steve Conte and Rich Jones on guitars, Sam Yaffa on bass and Karl Rockfist on drums.
“If I had a choice of playing with anybody — alive or dead — in the world, I would choose these guys; that’s how important they are to me,” he said. “Everybody is allowed to write. Steve Conte [brought] exceptional, totally outstanding material. And Rich Jones now came through amazingly on this record. I swear, I had, like, five or six songs of my own, and I was, like, ‘Okay, that’s out. I’m taking Rich‘s, because his are better. Forget about my songs.'”
He continued: “See, the best songs make the album; it doesn’t matter who writes. Everybody has the freedom to write, and we choose the best songs for the album; it doesn’t matter who writes them, as long as they’re the best ones. The whole album, as an entirety, has to be as strong as possible. All killers, no fillers. I never let it go out if it’s not perfectly… There can’t be one weak track on the record. I’d rather wait and have it be perfect. Actually, we recorded 18 songs, so there’s a couple of great ones that we left out too. They’ll be on the next album. They’re too good for bonus tracks; we’ll save ’em for the next album. There’s a few obvious bonus tracks — three or four, or whatever.”
Were it not for cruel and fickle fate, HANOI — who disbanded for the first time in 1985, then finally in 2009 — might have ended up as an arena act; but whatever obstacles were thrust in their path, they were never less than the real deal, and major names like GUNS N’ ROSES were ready to acknowledge their influence and their worth (GN’R would go on to issue the European HANOI catalogue in the U.S. via their Uzi Suicide imprint).
Over his three-decades-plus in the spotlight, Michael has befriended and performed with a whole host of artists and acts, including GUNS N’ ROSES and Slash; Lemmy, Alice Cooper, AEROSMITH, Little Steven; and Ian Hunter. But since that first break-up of HANOI in the mid-’80s, he’s essentially been pursuing his own path.
