What else can be said about Kraftwerk that hasn’t already been said? They truly stand as being one of the most influential pioneering acts of all time. Saying anything less truly underestimates the major impact that their work has had on popular music over the last 35 years. The group was formed in Germany in 1970 by Florian Schneider and Ralf Hutter when both of them where students at the Dusseldorf Conservatory. Their first recordings didn’t really reflect the sound that they would ultimately be recognized by, it revolved around experimental music that incorporated acoustic instruments and featured an ever-revolving cast of musicians. It was also around this time that they founded their infamous Kling Klang studio which has served as their headquarters ever since.

Augmented by Wolfgang Flur and Karl Bartos, Kraftwerk became a quartet by the time they recorded 1975’s “Autobahn”. By this time many major artists had come forward praising the group such as David Bowie who’s “V-2 Schneider” is widely seen as a tribute to the band. “Trans-Europe Express” followed in 1977 and it laid the foundation for what would be known as Hip-Hop and Electro over the next decade. In 1982 Afrika Bambaataa heavily sampled the title track on the seminal “Planet Rock” single. “Man-Machine” was released in 1978, it continued in the same vein as their previous work and it featured the key-track “The Robots”. As the 1980s arrived Kraftwerk’s influence was undeniable, it could clearly be seen that they had inspired groups such as Joy Division, The Human League or Depeche Mode. Kraftwerk continued to record into the 80s with albums like “Computer World” and “Electric Café”.

After the best-of compilation “The Mix” released in 1991, the group went into inactivity. It wasn’t until six years later that Kraftwerk reconvened for a live performance at the Tribal Gathering festival in the UK. Expanding on an idea that began with the single “Tour de France” in 1983, the group surprised everybody in 2003 by releasing the “Tour de France” album (their first in almost 20 years) to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the prestigious race.

It was around this time of that I had the pleasure to talk to founding member Ralf Hutter on the phone to discuss at length about the new album and Kraftwerk’s career. I have to admit though that out of all the interviews I have ever done, this must be the one where I was the most nervous. I mean it is not every day that you get to speak to someone who has truly revolutionized modern music as we know it. In the end I found out that Mr Hutter had a great sense of humor and was really open to my questions that despite my nervousness it made for a very pleasant interview.

After famously being hailed by the British press as “the best thing to happen to music since electricity”, Fischerspooner didn’t stop astounding the audiences they met. The electroclash duo of Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner achieved massive notoriety when the single “Emerge”, released on a variety of labels (International DJ Gigolo, Ministry of Sound), topped the European charts. Their live shows have almost achieved legendary status for incorporating multimedia, theater and music.

Despite turning down many offers to do remixes, the group accepted to rework Kylie Minogue’s “Come Into My World” which resulted in Casey being invited to perform the mix alongside Kylie on Top of the Pops. Their debut album “#1” was released by EMI in North America in 2003, several years after it was first recorded. Not known for doing joint interviews or being on tour at the same time, I got the chance to sit down with the duo, while they were promoting “#1” to discuss about their careers and future plans.

La Ley stands as being one of the most successful rock bands ever to come out of Chile. After releasing the albums “Doble Opuesto” (1990), [which features a remarkable cover of The Rolling Stones’ Angie] and the self-titled “La Ley”, in 1992, their popularity skyrocketed all over South America. However the band was struck with tragedy when guitarist and founding member Andrés Bobe was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1994. Despite all this the group soldiered on recruiting former Anachena guitarist Pedro Frugone and releasing “Invisible” the following year to wide critical and commercial acclaim. The single “El Duelo” became one of the biggest hits of the year and gave the group a new lease on life.

1998 brought “Vertigo”, an album characterized by its electronic influence, even thought it gained positive reviews the record didn’t fare so well compared to their previous ones. It also signaled the end of an era for La Ley since founding members Rodrigo Aboitiz (Keyboards) and Luciano Rojas (Bass) left the band halfway through a South American tour.

Abandoning the experimentation for a more “song-oriented” approach, the group, now a trio, entered the studio in 2000 to record the Grammy-award winning album “Uno” which confirmed La Ley’s staying power in the new decade. While wrapping promotional duties for this record, the group was invited to perform at Montreal’s Francofolies Festival, the largest French music festival in North America. It was during this occasion that I had the chance to sit down with frontman Beto Cuevas to discuss at length about La Ley’s career and future projects.

Blur was formed in London in 1989. The group’s four members are Damon Albarn (vocals), Graham Coxon (guitar), Alex James (bass) and Dave Rowntree (drums). They rapidly gained notoriety for their energetic live shows and quickly signed to Food Records in early 1990. The quartet’s debut album “Leisure” attained the British Top Ten however its success was short lived. The group was often accused of just ripping off the Madchester sound. But Blur had a lot more to offer…

“Modern Life Is Rubbish” was released in 1993 and it signaled a rebirth for the band. Although not a commercial smash it proved to be a critical triumph. Clearly inspiring themselves from some of the classic British groups (The Kinks, The Jam, Madness), Blur truly crafted an album that showcased their songwriting abilities. A successful tour gained Blur some of their best ever live reviews topping all the critics and fans polls. This laid foundation for the follow-up “Parklife”, their first number one album which proved to be Blur’s biggest record yet. After winning an impressive four Brit Awards in early 1995, the group prepared itself for a full fling assault on the charts. This carried on with “The Great Escape” which also debuted at #1 on the UK charts.

Never content to sticking to one particular sound, the band radically changed their approach for 1997’s self-titled “Blur” which showcased more American indie influences. Once again with 1999’s “13”, Blur defied the preconceptions of what a pop group should sound like by recording one of their most ambitious records yet. Produced by William Orbit (Madonna) “13” navigated through several musical styles such as Gospel, Trip Hop, Prog and Punk.

As Blur began recording their seventh album “Think Tank” (2003), Graham Coxon left the group after tensions between him and Albarn reached boiling point. Despite all of this the group soldered on with Albarn providing almost all the guitar work on the record. It was destined to become a critical and commercial success in England where it reached number 1 upon its release. After not touring “13”, Blur embarked on its first tour in almost six years to promote “Think Tank” which brought them to North America in July 2003. It was during this occasion that I had the chance to sit down with bassist Alex James and discuss at length about Blur’s career and future projects.

Johnny Marr is simply one of the most skilled and influential guitarist of the 1980s. Upon forming The Smiths along side Morrissey in 1982, Johnny Marr defined guitar rock music in the UK for the next decade. His influence can be heard everywhere ranging from the likes of The Stone Roses, Oasis, Blur, Suede and more recently new bands such as Babyshambles among others. Having co-written such iconic songs like “This Charming Man”, “How Soon Is Now”, “There’s A Light That Never Goes Out”, Johnny Marr became a guitar hero for many generations to come.

After The Smiths split in 1987 what could he do for an encore? He simply carried on putting his magic guitar touch wherever he could participating on albums by Bryan Ferry, Tom Jones, Beck and Oasis. He temporally became a member of The Pretenders performing on tour and also appearing on the single “Windows of the World” b/w “1969″. He then joined The The, collaborating in what many see as the group’s classic album “Mind Bomb” which featured the hit, “The Beat(en) Generation”. Around the same time, he formed Electronic with Bernard Sumner (New Order) a group that also included occasional members Pet Shop Boys. The group had several hits notably “Getting Away With It” in 1989, and “Disappointed” featured on the Cool World soundtrack in 1992. Marr became as well a frequent collaborator with the Pet Shop Boys guesting on many songs and also providing all the guitar work on the duo’s 2002 rock oriented album Release.

In 2000 he began writing songs for a new project that ultimately became Johnny Marr and The Healers. It marked the first time he wrote all of the lyrics and performed all lead vocals on a project. The Healers included Zak Starkey (The Who, Oasis) on drums, Alonza Bevan (Kula Shaker) on bass and Lee Spencer (Cavewaves) on guitar. It was while the group was on tour supporting their debut “Boomslang” in 2003, that I got the chance to sit down with Johnny and discuss at length about his career and future plans.

Formed in 1975 by bass player Steve Harris, Iron Maiden went on to define heavy metal music for the next decade. Dubbed by the British press as leaders of the “New Wave Of British Heavy Metal” movement, Iron Maiden quickly became one of the genres most enduring and popular acts ever. They have managed to sell well over 80 million albums worldwide without the benefits of massive media attention or mainstream radio airplay.

The band went through several personnel changes before their first album 1980’s “Iron Maiden”, the line-up at the time consisted of Steve Harris on bass, Dave Murray on guitar, Clive Burr on drums, Dennis Stratton on guitar and Paul Di’Anno on vocals. The record attained the British Top Ten peaking at number 4 during its first week of release. It also featured the first appearance of their mascot “Eddie” which would eventually grace all of the band’s album covers. The group then embarked on a headline tour of the UK and went on to play shows supporting Kiss and Judas Priest. Dennis Stratton was sacked from the band shortly after the tour’s end and was replaced by Adrian Smith in October 1980.

The album “Killers” appeared in 1981 just as Iron Maiden was beginning to enjoy worldwide success. However, due to Paul Di’Anno’s increasingly erratic behavior and substance abuse, the group decided to fire him at the end of the year. Ex-Samson vocalist Bruce Dickinson was drafted just in time for a small headline tour where the band debuted its new singer and also new material destined for their as-yet untitled third album. What is widely considered as the definitive Iron Maiden album, “The Number Of The Beast”, was released in 1982. The record gave the group an unprecedented feat as it was their first ever to reach the top of the UK Albums Chart; it also went to achieve Top Ten status in many countries. Sadly at the end of 1982, Clive Burr departed due to health problems. Having made his debut dressed as the devil in the “Number Of the Beast” video, Nicko McBrain, joined for 1983’s “Piece Of Mind” album. “Powerslave” was released the next year to glowing reviews and it was followed by the band’s biggest tour yet. The “World Slavery” tour brought them everywhere playing 193 shows in the span of 13 months culminating in the release of their first live album “Live After Death” in 1985.

The next half of the decade signaled a new era in Iron Maiden’s music with the inclusion of new elements such as keyboards and synthesized basses and guitars. This was evident in the group’s next two releases, 1986’s “Somewhere in Time” and 1988’s “Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son” the later becoming the band’s second UK number 1 album.

Iron Maiden took a break in 1989 to allow its members to pursue other projects. Adrian Smith put out a record with his band ASAP while Bruce Dickinson released his first solo album “Tattooed Millionaire”. The group soon reconvened to work on a new album but Smith opted to stay with ASAP and quit after ten years of service. Janick Gers replaced him having previously collaborated with Dickinson on his solo album. The band decided to take a more of a back to basics approach for the next record, 1990’s “No Prayer For The Dying”. The album gave Iron Maiden their first UK number 1 single, “Bring Your Daughter… to the Slaughter”, originally recorded by Dickinson for the “A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child” soundtrack.

In 1992, they released “Fear Of The Dark” which proved that they were as popular as ever. However the band shocked fans all over the world when they announced that Bruce Dickinson would leave after the following tour in order to concentrate in other projects. His departure was marked with the release of not one, not two but rather three live albums!!! (all released in 1993). Recorded during the “Fear Of The Dark” tour, “A Real Live One” comprised of Iron Maiden’s 1986 to 1992 material while “A Real Dead One” included songs from their repertoire up to 1984. “Live At Donington” documented the band’s entire performance at England’s annual heavy metal festival “Castle Donington” on August 22nd, 1993.

The group never hinted at calling it quits after Dickinson’s exit. In 1994, the band auditioned several vocalists before settling on Wolfsbane’s Blaze Bayley. His vocal style was much different than Dickinson but ultimately Harris revealed that the rookie had received 70% approval in a fans poll. Iron Maiden returned in 1995 with “The X Factor”, it didn’t chart as well as the predecessors but it proved nonetheless that the band could still deliver a solid record. Now playing in smaller venues, the new line-up toured extensively through 1995-1996 and celebrated the year’s end by putting out their first compilation “Best of The Beast”. “Virtual XI” came out in 1998 but it proved to be the group’s lowest performing album failing to generate any public interest.

In early 1999, Bayley officially left the band. Almost simultaneously, Iron Maiden announced that Dickinson and Smith were rejoining and that Gers would stay on the fold. The group, now with three guitarists, went out on tour supporting their “Ed Hunter” computer game based around their mascot “Eddie”. The year 2000 marked the return of Iron Maiden on record, “Brave New World” was very well received by both fans and critics. The next tour included almost 100 shows and came to end with an appearance at the 2001’s memorable “Rock in Rio” festival in Brazil where the band played to an audience estimated at 250 000. The performance was immortalized with the “Rock In Rio” live album and DVD released in March 2002.

After such a successful album and accompanying tour, Iron Maiden wasted no time in going back to the studio to record its follow-up. “Dance Of Death” (2003) was recorded in London with the help of producer Kevin Shirley (who had worked on their previous album). The band then embarked on a European and North-American summer tour before the record’s release. It was during this occasion that I had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with guitarist Dave Murray to discuss about the up-coming album, Iron Maiden’s career and future plans.