Frank Kelly, leader of the canadians Paradise, has answered to our questions, here's the report...

Hi Frank, how and when were Paradise born? In which bands have previously played and which kind of music did you do with them?
I played in different blues and funk bands, but the last two years before Paradise I was in a new metal/funk band. But now I have found true love. Phil on the other hand, was playing in a glam/punk band called One976 when I met him.

From where is your love for polinesian pop art born?
It all started at an early age. It was really popular in the 60's and 70's here and we all had someone in the family who had their basement or backyards decorated with Tiki bars and stuff. We even had Tiki restaurants and hotels, those were the coolest. It was and still is a really kitsh thing but it always rocked.

You decribe your sound as "volcanic rock", is there any reference to Pete Wells's Buffalo? They recorded a great rock'n'roll album in the '70 bringing this title..
We actually described our sound this way in reference to our artwork and concept and also because we didnt really know how to call it. But be sure I ll be checking them out.

With wich adjectives would you define your "volcanic rock" to someone who hasn't listened to you yet?
Strong, straight forward with a lot of groove.

Your pics and some carachteristics of your sound remind me a kind of Elvis Presley in an esotic and heavy metal oriented version! What can you say about it? In general, which are the past artists who influenced you most?
I think we were influenced by a lot of different things and people. I think that it is how you create your own style. But defenetly Elvis is there with us but also Rob Halford/Judast Priest, Motorhead to name a few.

In the back notes of "Rock Anthropologists on the kon-tiki voyage" we learn that Richard Eusanio, Mike Plant and Xavier Cafeine helped you also with the songwriting. What did they bring to your music? How do you create a Paradise song? Can you spend some words about Eusanio and Cafeine?I don't
think that in Italy they're well-known.
We like to have friends aroud when it comes to composing and recording, it brings something you cant have on the road. The way we do it is we compose the main riffs and ideas of the songs and decide what it is going to be about and then we work on the lyrics with Richard Eusanio. Cafeine is our live drummer also but he is front man (singer/bass player) for his own project called Poxy. So we exchange a lot of songs and ideas. And I cant forget Mike Plant of Sword who is always there helping out. Kahiki Pearl's riff was actually a Sword song that never made it to a record and I thougt it totally rocked so we used it.

It looks like Canada is an happy place for heavy metal and rock'n'roll. just think about the actual Red Hot Lovers, Bitchin'Camaros, Crystal Pistol or about some myths like Anvil, Voivod or Sword. Which are the pro and cons of being a Canadian rocker?
I think we have a good overall reputation as Canadians and we sure do have a lot of rock and metal going on but It is a huge country with no one in there
so it makes it a lot more difficult to tour or to support an album.

You contacted Evilbitch666 for the European promotion, are you planning an European tour in brief time? I hope there will be a positive answer!
That is our only goal right now. Press was really good for us thanks to Evil Bitch 666 but booking seems to be difficult to find nowadays. If you know any good one let me know ahah ! But it is our intention to do so.

What do we have to expect from Paradise in the near future? Have you already written some new songs? Is there any label interested in you? Have already planned to release a new work?
We have new songs on the way and some that we are already playing live but we want to tour this one first before putting a new record out. For the label issue we dont know what we will do, if someone comes up with a good offer we will certainly have a look at it but meanwhile we will continue doing it the hard way.

How did you meet Mike Plant and Michel "Away" Langevin and how did you manage to involve them in your project?
They were friends of us. So we just asked. They both thought it was an interesting and fun project and they will also be on the next one.

Will Langevin follow you (or already did it) during your live gigs or was his collaboration just in the studio? So, do we have to consider him an official member of Paradise or is he just a special guest star?
Michel is now really really busy with the new Voivod album and tour so we didnt have the chance to play live with him, maybe in the near future who knows but he will certainly be on the next record. I think he even was the one who asked but we also we never thought of anyone else.These are big shoes to fill.

Can you tell me where Mike Plant disappear after the end of Sword? I'd lost him until I saw him between you.
Mike played with a lot of artists here. Too Many Cooks, Lou Lou Hughes (Sword's singer Rick Hughes' sister), and a lot more. He is doing great.

Is there any concert in particular that you like to remember of your live career? Is there any song you think is perfect to be played on stage? Have u ever played abroad?
The Montreal Olympic Stadium will be one we will never forget. It was for 50 000 people. We were playing for the 15th anniversary of the Montreal's Super Motocross a huge event here. I think that Blue Hurricane from the album is the one I like to play best, and we played in Holland a couple of times and it s the song that seemed to work best.

Now some curiosities: Do you have any particular rituals before coming on stage? Do you have any kind of superstition?
I scream a lot, my brother (he s the bass player) and I we just scream, not shouting at people but scream like it s the last time we are going to play. It gets us pumped up. I think Phil gets anoyed by it (laugh). But we are far from being superstitious.

Am I righ in saying that you also love tattoos? Is there any that you particularly love or are proud of?
Yeah it s something we are into. We are working on the same tattoo my brother and I on our left arm. It something we wanted to share.

Who and why had the idea to put the little paper umbrella for cocktails in the cd?
It came out one night while partying with friends, all sorts of ideas came out but we kept this one we thought it was cool.

Which is the polinesian cocktail you like most and which is you fav polinesian food? Who is your favourite pornstar and you top 5 records of all time?
We love to eat and drink so we would try them all and we would do this with porn stars. I work in the industry so I see a lot of beautiful women everyday but Tera Patrick would be someone we would almost all agree on. This is our top 5 records of all time: Judas Priest "Screaming for vengeance", Fu Manchu "King of the road", Red Hot Chili Peppers "Blood Sugar sex magic", Black Sabbath "Heaven and hell", Voivod "War and Pain".

What is the craziest thing you've ever done in your whole life?
We have done a lot of insane things, most of them we cant tell. We all had troubled adolescence but got threw it alive. Now it's fast cars, motorcycles, snowboarding and free fighting.

Ok, the interview is over! Now girls you have free space to say what you like to Italian fans: bad words, compliments, threats and whatever.thanks
for your cooperation!
Play the record loud and get wasted on tropical drinks!!! We will get to you soon!!!

Intervista realizzata da Bruno Rossi.
Traduzione realizzata da Margherita Realmonte.