Interview by Kris Peters
Legendary US rockers Winger have been relatively quiet since their last album Better Day's Comin in 2014.
When it came out it had fans the world over salivating in anticipation, heralding a new era of rock as only a band of the ilk of Winger can provide.
While proving the band were still a musical force to be reckoned with, that album also marked a period of relative inactivity that seemed to drag ever so closer to potentially being the closing chapter of a stellar career. But although fans bemoaned the lack of new material frontman Kip Winger and the rest of the band held firm in their convictions, working towards the day when the time was right to step back into the fold on a more permanent basis.
That time is thankfully now, with Winger announcing their seventh studio album - the appropriately named Seven - will be released on May 5.
And to top it all off the band then released the chunky as hell lead single Proud Desperado hinting at possibly a slightly heavier direction while still retaining the lifeblood that has served the band for over 35 years.
Not only that, Winger have also announced an extensive run of tours in support of the album, one of which could possibly lead them back to Australia later this year.
HEAVY caught up with the incredibly talented and affable Kip Winger earlier today to get more information.
"The album is very definitely aimed at a combination of the first album and the third album Pull, with a little bit of what came after that," he offered. "We went for the inspiration of the first album and the depth of songwriting on the third album and tried to find a happy balance in that. The album features all of the original members including Paul Taylor and each member is playing on every single song, so it's the ultimate recipe of all things Winger. There's 12 songs on it, all of which we're happy with. I was insistent on there being no filler. There's a lot of really good playing... I'm not really a player myself any more. I worked on the singing very hard, but there's a lot of great guitar playing, a lot of great drumming, a lot of things that you might expect from our band and like I say, it encapsulates the full what you might expect from a Winger album but trying to set a higher bar."
In the full interview Kip talks us through Seven on a deeper musical level, the opening track and single Proud Desperado and why it was chosen to kick off the album, the beefy guitars, producing the album himself and seperating himself musically, how much the landscape of rock has changed since the band started, their upcoming shows with Steel Panther and why it is an ideal touring partnership, Australian tour plans and more.