Hey Joel, let’s talk about your own personal project, Joel Hoekstra’s 13. How did you come up with the idea for the new album “Crash of Life”? What about the singer change?
J: As far as coming up with the album, some of the riffs were ones I’d had for a while. And some of them were written like specifically for it right on the fly. So, it’s a combination of those things and for me, the opportunity, to write the lyrics and the vocal melodies and do all of the writing on a project as opposed to Revolution Saints, where I did very little of the writing is kind of the appeal of doing the Joel 13 albums. It’s like something that’s more my baby. The songs are mine, like entirely.
Regarding the singer change, you know, that’s something that the label gave you the heads up on Girish Pradhan (Girish and the Chronicles). He’s obviously doing a little bit more of a screaming kind of thing on his band. Amazing range, also great rock singer. I guess I needed to see as it went, whether or not he could sort of just sing some of the songs as well, and not just have it be really aggressive… screaming and singing and as it turns out, he can do it all. And he does it all really, really well. He did an outstanding job on the vocals. So I’m really happy to have him on board.
Which are the music similarities and differences between your new album and the previous ones?
J: Having Russell Allen on lead vocals and, obviously everybody else; Vinny Appice on drums, Tony Franklin on bass, Derek Sherinian on keys and Jeff Scott Soto on backing vocals, because we’re dear friends, and he obviously could sing lead if he wanted to, but Jeff’s got a lot of projects and so I kind of wanted somebody who’s like a little less spread out with that and is a little bit more just can be identified with my project.
I would say that with Russell in there, it lends itself more to that description of like this is Dio-ish. Girish to me doesn’t necessarily emulate Dio as much, so I think it gives it like its own sound this time around. The formula is still basically very classic rock and, it’s a pretty diverse record.
It’s kind of like the first one I did “Dying to Live”, there’s some really heavy stuff. I think the first single, one of the heavier, almost sounds like Megadeth in a way, with some of the guitars, very metal. And this leads all the way to ballads, which kinda have that Foreigner-ish kind of sound that I talk about with, on the lighter side of things. I suppose you could still use the description as Dio-ish heaviest and Foreigner-ish lightest, but I don’t think that Giris sounds as much like Dio. This record has its own sound, although it is very diverse. People should dig it. It’s just good, solid, classic rock.
When you started working on the songs, did you have Girish in mind or not?
J: So I sang the Guide Vocal, uh, for the entire thing. And things were a little up in the air as far as who was gonna sing on the record. You know, for a while I was talking about Russell doing it and, Dino Jelusick and Frontiers were still kind of trying to work through their issues together, legally.
So, Dino and I talked about it for a while, trying to work it out, and then they presented Girish to me at the same time. Everyone sounded great. I mean, it’s sort of like, you know, apples and oranges, you know, pick, pick an amazing vocalist. As a result, Garish ended up becoming the guy.
And I think it’s really cool because of that. I think it’s got a new sound. It’s got a little more of a fresh start, I guess, so that will give, Girish more popularity as well. Russell was never willing to participate in record promotion in the form of videos or anything else since he does not want to be criticized. I respect his opinion on that, but he only wants to do it for bands he’s in. Girish is willing to take part in the promotional cycle and make videos. It helps and, you know, perhaps even tour, so if we can get it out on the road as well, that would obviously be a major feather in my cap to be able to tour.
Swell! Are there currently plans for a tour?
J: There was some initial plans and trying to find windows and make it work. It always seems like schedules fill up. It’s definitely something that I’m looking at in the future. So there’s an opportunity to play live at some point. I’d love to do that, especially with this band, because it the music is more near and dear to me, as I basically write all the lyrics and the melodies and everything. So, the opportunity to tour my music would be very exciting!
What does the album title “Crash of Life” declare?
J: It just felt like that kind of period, you know, with Covid and everything, it just kind of did, inspired me writing songs just sort of like surrounding like themes of life altering events, etc., and “Crash of Life” ended up being one of the songs. And again, sometimes it comes down to what, what song title is the coolest for the name of your album. And a lot of the songs kind of started to match that theme. So, you sort of find it as you go. That’s exactly how it was with the others as well. “Dying to Live”, that record just kind of all the songs seemed to match that phrase in the end. There seemed to be a theme. Then it was “Running Games”. I didn’t really have a theme song to tie it all together. So I wrote the song “Running Games”, kind of in the 11th hour at the last minute because I thought this is the name of the album, but I didn’t have a song called “Running Games” yet. So, I wrote that song at the end, to close out the record.
What are the lyrics about in general?
J: Like I said, as far as specifics go, it’s just like life-altering events. I love when people can interpret their own meanings and things, so it’s, the less I get into like exactly what things are about, the more it opens things up for people to kind of like hear their own song in it, if that makes sense.
I really like that when things are vague enough that people can interpret songs. There’s so many songs on the other records that people think are about relationships and things like that that aren’t so, and it’s fun for me. Since the Covid era you had the time during the Covid era to record write ideas, lyrics and stuff
Did you have time during the Covid era to record ideas, write lyrics, and other things?
J: Yeah, I mean, Covid became very productive for all of us with recording and, doing remote sessions. Obviously for me doing guitar lessons and doing cameos and things like that, it kind of opened up this whole other world and some of that kind of continues on here. You know, even though we’re all kind of back out playing live shows, I still find myself doing a lot of these things. I’m still teaching remote lessons when I have days off on the road and doing cameos, and so on. As terrible a period as that was for everybody to lose all their live work, there was some cool lessons learned out of it and, and things that open up and you just try to adapt and keep going.
Did you get involved in the album’s production, songwriting, and arrangements? You’ve also cooperated with Chris Collier for the mixing and mastering, right?
J: Yeah, Chris has been my guy for, all the JH13 stuff and, really a lot of stuff since he and I have met… I really like his engineering a lot. He makes everything sound big and fat. You know, heavy. so, yeah, I really enjoy working with him. He’s also very open-minded if I have anything that I say, would you mind doing this or trying this? He’s always willing to, he doesn’t necessarily fight me on things like that, so very easy to work with.
I noticed you performed at the Monsters of Rock Cruise. How did that go?
J: Yeah, it was cool. Since my first year on the Monsters of Rock Cruise with Night Ranger, I’ve played some acoustic on deck the second day while John Korabi renewed people’s wedding vows.
And when Larry Moran, who runs the cruise, wanted to have me on the next year without Night Ranger because the band wasn’t gonna do it. He said, why don’t you play some of that acoustic stuff? And I thought, “You want me to play finger style acoustic on a heavy metal cruise”. Okay. So, I thought I better give away free drinks.
Thus I gave away Free Bloody Mary’s during my set, and then I also gave away merch between every song. And that’s kind of evolved into its own animal. I mean, it’s getting to the point where this year I’m getting like sponsors giving away things that they want their product promoted as the free merchandise between.
The sets have become really, really popular. I mean, I think the first time I did it, there was probably about 25 or 30 people in the room and now we filled like the theater this year. I mean, it’s at 10 in the morning. So, it’s free drinks for everybody, free merchandise, play an acoustic guitar.
You know, we get up and we just play basically a lot of our favorite covers and just have a fun little jam. I mean, it’s meant to be casual and fun. Then, this year, a singer I know, Gabriela from Trans-Siberian Orchestra, has been working with Nuno Bettencourt; I’m not sure if he’s producing her or what, but Nuno wanted to play Gemba on the set and asked me if I would play guitar. So, I did a little acoustic set too with her and Nuno and that was great fun.
And then, the other tradition that’s kind of started up as the basketball game on the cruise, and that’s something that I kind of started by playing basketball with, a lot of the cruisers and that’s, it turned into a whole thing. Now we’ve got like uniforms and we’re running full court. And, so, it’s just being friends with Larry Moran, who runs the cruise. Larry and I have a great relationship. He’s been really good to me, and, it’s all good fun. You know, it’s a really, really fun cruise.
Anybody that hasn’t gone, it’s different than a lot of cruises and there’s just always some kind of name band playing somewhere. There’s also so many bands on there that you’re constantly amongst them. So, you walk down the hallway and you’re gonna meet somebody from a band like every five steps.
It’s fun. It’s a great, great experience. Something I’m glad that it’s been something I’ve been able to do this many years and, I grew really grateful Larry for having me on every year too. I wish I could attend with my band there at some point, cuz I love the sea as well.
Therefore, do you have any plans to play there with any of your bands next year?
J: As far as live stuff goes this year, this is kind of a strange year, because I did some recordings as well. I’ve recorded the follow up for Revolution Saints, I’ve given the riffs to Michael Sweet for the next Iconic album. I’ve recorded this Joel Hooker’s 13 album and so on.
But as far as live band stuff goes, playing with Broadway’s Rock of Ages Band and doing acoustic duo gigs with my friend Brandon Gibbs, which we just finished a run in the UK doing 12 shows in 13 days. I think we’re gonna do Europe and there’s talk of Japan. Obviously there gonna be some North American dates too.
It’s kind of an odd year. It’s the same as with the recording things; it’s not the same as what I’m doing live this year. But I will be going out and seeing David Coverdale in a few weeks and spending some time with him. And so we’ll see. You know, he’s floated the idea of getting back out and trying to do some dates, whether or not that materializes, we’ll just have to wait and see.
I really don’t know any more than you do with that. And of course our Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the end of the year. Thus, I should be doing it in November and December.
I was going to ask you about Whitesnake, because many fans are asking what’s going on with David. Is he okay? Can he sing? Will he be on the road again?
J: I think he’s okay. I think he’s been given a clean bill of health as far as I know from his doctors. But as far as like plans to actually do it, I, there’s been some talk, he’s floated some things recently in interviews about, you know, what he feels like he would like to get out and do, but there’s nothing concrete.
I can’t really say like we’re gonna play here or I can’t say we’re never playing again. I really don’t know. So, I know basically as much as you guys know and that’s perfectly OK. David and I have a great relationship, and I’m going to spend some time with him in the studio in a few weeks. Maybe I’ll know more then. I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes,
Are there any plans to record any new music? A single or something?
J: David always got a lot of ideas. We’ll just see what actually ends up happening. I can’t really offer any specifics on it right now, so, I really don’t know. I’m gonna go out and spend some time with him in the studio, and that’s about all I know right now.
Can you tell me about your personal plans for the next year?
J: Well, I think people can definitely know there’s a Revolution Saints follow up to “Eagle Flight” that’ll be coming out and hopefully people will get “Crasher of Life” from Joel Hoekstra’s 13 that’s out now. If you wanna see me play live, I’ll be poking around with Broadway’s Rock of Ages Band and doing these acoustic duo gigs with Brandon Gibbs, and we’re gonna try and get out internationally and get out everywhere.
Getting out to the UK was great. We had great crowds. Hence, my whole thing is to always stay active and to stay busy and keep working hard, and then certain things open up and, other things don’t, so you just kind of take it as it comes. But the one thing that remains constant is just trying to work hard and make sure that I’m doing the best I can.
It’s time for our “Strange Questions”!!! How did you come up with the Joel Hoekstra’s 13? Why 13? Is this your lucky number or what?
J: Lucky number, yeah, just that… nothing else to it.
Do you prefer the physical products over the digital ones?
J: Well, I mean, whatever works for people, man. As far as I’m concerned, I think they’re starting to get some things realigned with streaming to make it a little fairer. I don’t think we’re there yet, but, it’s headed in the right direction. Hopefully it becomes more fair to the artist as time goes by, but hey, I’m just grateful to be putting out new music, and grateful to have people supporting me, and I’m doing just fine.
Fill in the phrase… “Hard Rock wouldn’t have evolved the way it did, if it hadn’t been for…”
J: Hmmmm… That’s a tough one. Let’s go with the innovations of Jimi Hendrix. He really changed things as they were in a major way.
Which are the best 3 Hard Rock albums of all time according to you?
J: Another tough one. I’ll try not to think too hard as I’m going to miss some obvious ones. AC/DC – “Back in Black”, Dio – “Holy Diver” and Whitesnake – “1987”.
If you had the chance to travel in time… where would you choose to go? To the past or the future and why?
J: The past. I’d love to be young again!
What are your thoughts on A.I.? It appears to have taken over the world in every part of our life over the last few months, and this is just the beginning. What are your thoughts on the AI-created music?
J: It’s going to be a huge game-changer. It’s really hard to say at this point. Most of the tracks I’ve heard haven’t actually been that cool. But, as you said, it’s just beginning.
Finally, we’ve come to the end Joel. Thx for talking to Grande Rock. Say anything you feel like saying before we close. Take care, dude!
J: I wanna say thank you. If anybody’s streamed a song or bought a CD or, bought a T-shirt or whatever, or just even wrote me words of encouragement online. I appreciate it very much. It always sounds corny, but you all have really helped me live my dream! I set out to play guitar when I was 11 years old and here I am all these years later and it’s worked out. So, I’m really grateful for that.
