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Darrin: Ok Mike, the tape is rolling, and we are on the record….We
need a Triumph loves you, for the people in your forums on the
website. Besides, I love Triumph, so it is all good… It has been too
long…
Mike: Well, I was doing an interview yesterday for a radio
station. I had like 15 or 20 of them yesterday, and they said “WXYZ
Loves You” It was funny, I knew where they were going. But, hey,
Triumph Loves You Too….Triumph
Loves You!! (click on text for sound byte)
Darrin: There we are. I actually have enough there to make a
clip out of!!
Mike: There you go.
Darrin: How did you hear about being inducted into the CMW Hall of
Fame? Email, letter?
Mike: Well, I got a phone call first, which said, “Did you
get my letter? Which was from Neil Dixon, who runs the Canadian
Music Week. I said no, that I never got the letter. So he told me
that they wanted to induct Triumph into the Hall of Fame. And I
thought that was cool. So he explained that he had sent a letter to
me, to Rik and a letter to Gil. So he asked me what did I think. I
said that I was in, but the rest of it is YOUR problem **laughs**.
Darrin: And how do you feel personally, about being inducted in?
Mike: Oh, I think it is fabulous. The only issue I have,
is that being in the Hall of Fame means you are usually really old,
or really dead.
Darrin: Oh man, you guys have not even started to get old yet.
Mike: **Laughs** And you know what, I don’t think I am either
of those things yet.
Darrin: I know you have probably been asked this question way too
many times the past little bit, but what was it like to sit at a
table with Gil and Rik again after all these 18 years?
Mike: Well, I thought it was more like 17, but what’s a
few months? **laughs** It was certainly awkward at first, and I
think we have all been on record already, and there has been stuff
about pink elephants and things floating in the air.
Darrin: I think Rik mentioned in a previous interview, that there
were definitely landmines out there to be avoided. But so far he has
been relieved. Which I guess was a fair way to put it. I think it
was probably pretty tough on Rik over these years.
Mike: See, I never took anything that hard. I am a
pragmatist, and it is like…life goes on. I am a big believer, in
that. It is like the guy that invented jogging. He died while out
jogging. At a young age yet. But it was good for you. Unfortunately
for him, he did not realize that jogging down New York City streets,
would cause your lungs to explode. I was born with a finite number
of heart beats. And everything I do to increase that number, is
going to shorten my life. So, what does that mean? Well, in rock and
roll, there is this saying if I knew I was going to live this long,
I would have taken better care of myself. In any given situation, I
do not want to carry baggage on my back, because it adds to my
weight, and it is going to increase my heart rate. My heart rate
does not increase. I have the lowest blood pressure in the world. My
doctor can not believe that my blood pressure is what it is. Just,
nothing bothers me that much.
Darrin: It must be something to do with all that time you spend
down in Jamaica on the beach.
Mike: Oh, I think so. Possibly just because I took that time
to go there. And even during Triumph’s hey day, it was a pretty
primitive island then, but I still went. The headlines would be
“Airports are closed, they are burning tires and they have blocked
the roads” and I would get a phone call saying that they were
sending a helicopter to get me out. And I was telling them it was
not a big deal. It was the American government, trying to burn up
all of the ganja.
Darrin: When did you start going down there?
Mike: 1976.
Darrin: Wow, so since the very beginning.
Mike: Right after Triumph started, was when I first went
to Jamaica. And I have been going there every year since. I haven’t
missed a year. Touch wood. I sometimes will go down there for just
4 days at a time, just to chill out.
Darrin: Ok, I am going to cut right to the chase here. Let’s get
this one right out of the way. What do you have in response to the
mass outpouring of questions about a reunion? If a promoter walked
up to mike Levine, and asked if you wanted to do it, how would you
respond?
Mike: Umm, you know what? If you asked me about this 2
years ago, I would say No Way. Both of my parents were in distress,
and there was no way I could have gone on the road. They have both
passed away since, and right now I can say, Yeah, I would. I think
the key thing, is that Gil, Rik and I are all talking again. And we
are taking baby steps. It is really even too early to talk about
that. We are just getting to know each other again.
But you know, my way of thinking is, if we can still go out, have
fun, and entertain the fans, yeah, let’s do it. If we can’t have
fun, I don’t want to do it. Which means, we need to be friends. I
want to know Rik’s family, and I want to know what he has been
through in the past 15 to 17 years. So those are some of the things
that would have to be addressed. We are taking baby steps right now.
Darrin: Wow, it is boggling to think that the last time most of
saw you all together was the Sport Of Kings tour, in the mid/late
80’s. all I can say is, if you do tour, or do not tour, that is fine
by me, but if you DO tour, and skip Vancouver, you will ALL be
hexed.
Mike: Have no worries, I will send you a plane ticket.
**laughs** You won’t miss out.
Darrin: See, always a class act. Nothing changes. It is ALWAYS
about the fans with you guys. What was your favorite Triumph track?
Least Favorite?
Mike: Wow. I have too many. My favorite Triumph track?
Darrin: Was there one that you particularly looked forward to in
the set?
Mike: Ohh..geez…That is too tough of a question, because
we had so many great songs. They were so much fun to play.
Darrin: Ok, fine. Pick 3 **laughs**
Mike: Ok, Thank you, that is WAY better…
Darrin: Pick 5 if you really want to!
Mike: Lay It On The Line. Because as soon as that started,
the audience would light up like a Christmas tree. It was great
after that. Magic Power we could just stop playing, and people
would sing every word of the song. Fight The Good Fight, it was the
climax of the evening, it meant I could go drink, **laughs** but it
had the best production, and it was a fun song to play, and the
audience would go absolutely apeshit. What was the best song? Rock N
Roll machine. I could go have a smoke. **laughing** and Rik could
blow his jets. But I could hear every note he played, and he would
change it up a little bit sometimes. Every song in our set was fun
to play. Now, recording, that was a different story. It was always
a nightmare for us.
Darrin: And did you guys not send poor Rik out there to play the
acoustic version of Hold On, to satisfy the record companies, and as
well as you did not like to play it live?
Mike: That’s correct. We only did it when record company,
or really important guys were there for the show. We had to play
that or risk being ripped from the radio. It just sucked live the
couple times we tried it. **laughs** It just didn’t work. It is a
mid tempo song, that didn’t work. Yet on record, it worked great. It
was like, one of the biggest song’s in Detroit history. We were
playing there, 12,000 people sold out, and we have to play Hold On.
Otherwise we are off the radio. So, we decide, we have to play it.
So it was, Rik, you need to go play it. And he went out, and damn
it, he pulled it off.
Darrin: So, what was your reaction when you looked up and saw the
crowd from the stage of the Us Festival?
 Mike:
I..was scared shitless. Actually, I was nervous flying in. We came
in by helicopter.
Darrin: So you saw the tops of the heads.
Mike: Yeah, and you just see the massive amount of people.
And the whole site. You just kind of went, Holy shit…I had no idea
it was this big. It was crazy. And we were playing on rented
equipment. I do not think everybody knows that.
Darrin: Yeah, you guys flew in from Florida or something, and had
to rent your back line.
Mike: Yeah, we had just played in Tampa with ZZ Top and Sammy
Hagar the night before, Tama sent drums for Gil, but the entire back
line was rented. We did not even get time to sound check. So, it
was kind of nightmarish for the first couple of songs. Then you
realized, that you could not see the end of the people. They went
so far back, you could not see it. Then you kinda went…How do you
deal with this? How are ya doin’ California? **laughs**
Darrin: Do you remember the crowd reaction, when Rik sang the
first words of Lay It?
Mike: It was unbelievable, the people went nuts.
Darrin: Where was your last gig, with Rik, as Triumph?
Mike: We did a one off gig, at what I call Wally World,
that was Canada’s Wonderland. And that was the last gig we played
together.
Darrin: What was it like?
Mike: It was great, and I had no idea it was the last time
we were going to play together. I read it in the papers the next
day.
Darrin: Wow. That must have been a bit mind blowing.
Mike: Yeah, it was. I mean, we had a huge party, the guys
at Labatts, gave us a ton of dough to sponsor the show, and they
threw a big party for us after, and I think I got home at like 7 in
the morning. And that is when I found out Rik had left the band.
Because I read it in the newspaper.
Darrin: That had to be a downer..
Mike: Yeah, it was.
Darrin: Was it expected?
Mike: Well, it was not unexpected, let’s put it that way.
It was a little bit early in my mind, but whatever happened then,
happened then. Everyone had their own reasons for doing it. Whether
Rik was going to leave first, or Gil was going to pack it in, or I
was going to leave… We had a really nice run as a band.
Darrin: And you know what, to a point you still are.
Mike: I know. I have done honestly 30 to 40 interviews in the
past few days, and people remind me that we have 30 years of giving
people great music. And I go, well we only had 15 or 16 years. But
no, then they tell you that you have had 30 years. And they
corrected me. That is such a huge honor to hear that especially from
radio people.
Darrin: I spoke to Gil yesterday, and I reminded him that you
guys caused me a lot of pain. I remember my brother had some albums,
and this Fender Lead III and a Peavey Backstage Bandit, and I used
to sneak in his room and use it, when he was not home, to try to
learn Lay It. He beat the crap out of me more than once for that.
But importantly, it made me want to play guitar.
Mike: **laughs**
Darrin: And even today, my 5 year old daughter LOVES Triumph, and
makes me listen to Time Canon in the truck, as much as possible. The
music has great influence on people.
Mike: It is amazing that you are still sane after that.
**laughing** It is amazing to me. You just never know about things.
It is amazing to me how music affects people, and how it affected
me. A good example, I got involved with MADD, Mothers Against Drunk
Driving, and they wanted me to drive in this car race at
Indianapolis, it was 4 days out of my life, I had to go to the Skip
Barber racing school, and learn how to race a fast car. I was
there, Nugent was, Jeff from 38 Special, Pete Cetera, who to me was
one of the best bass players that ever existed. I sat with him one
night, and we got really drunk, after the racing lessons and told
him that he had no idea how much time I spent with the Chicago
Transit Authority double album, trying to learn his licks, and how
many times I had to drop the needle down every 10 seconds to try and
figure out what the hell he was playing. And he is saying, Oh
man..you have to be kidding. I was dead serious man.
Darrin: Hey, I have all the respect for you bass players. My site
right now features Billy Sheehan, Jeff Berlin and Stu Hamm…
Mike: You know, Billy Sheehan used to come to me…I used to
see Billy play, and all I could think is, Holy shit, you are fucking
amazing. **laughs** But he would say..no, no..YOU are amazing, and
taught me so much. I was thinking..but you are such an amazing
player…how? Even though he was a little shit from Buffulo.
**laughing** Maybe he WAS a little..busy..**laughs** But we became
really goods pals.
Darrin: I had no idea that you guys were friends, but it makes
sense, and very cool. What are you doing now Mike? What is keeping
you busy?
Mike: I had gotten into the financial industry a little
bit, and had friends in that business, and they offered to finance
anything that I wanted to do. This was in 1999/2000, and I had no
idea of what I wanted to create. What do I know about this stuff?
**laughs** I talked to my son, who is a wiz in the tech industry,
and I remembered trying to buy some stuff online, and what a pain it
was. It took me forever to be able to execute the transaction. I was
one of the abandoned shopping carts on the Highway of abandoned
shopping carts. So I wanted to create a site/shopping cart that
allowed you to buy what you wanted from whoever you wanted, all at
once. We created a website called Retail Highway.com where people
could go and check it out. It never really got to fruition. There
was a lot of skepticism from the big companies, on ensuring that we
could deliver and all that. And places like Amazon, were more like,
why do we need YOU?
I spent 2-3 million dollars of investor money, but it never really
got there. I hired the best programmers and best people possible to
make it work too. Once the tech markets crashed, that was the end of
it. It was hard to try to raise more money, and my partner, died. I
was lucky to get to meet some of the people I did, and be involved
in that type of a business. They knew the idea I had was sound, it
was just an issue trying to get the dirt world/brick mortar
companies to go with it. But, like I said, I am a pragmatist, and
life goes on, everyone lost some money, but they would back me
again, if I wanted to try something else.
Darrin: Anything else you are working on?
Mike: I am also working on another Triumph’s greatest
hits. It has been remixed, not just re mastered. It is so cool. It
sounds like we just recorded it last year.
Darrin: Going way back, what was the favorite band you ever had
open for you on tour?
Mike: Ouch, that is so tough. Oh god..let me think… Bad
Company I think.
Darrin: I would ask who you liked to open for, but that never
happened.
Mike: Yeah, we never opened for anybody.
Darrin: You never had to experience the crowd throwing change,
and bolts and other items at you to chase you off the stage.
Mike: You have no idea how many times we got called at the
hotel, and told to get our asses down there, and that we were going
on early, because the opening act is not going to last another 2
minutes. There were like thousands of dollars in quarters on the
stage. If anyone else gets hit by a lighter, we will have to call an
ambulance. It was shocking to me, that our fans would disrespect
other musicians like that. They were crazy times.
Darrin: Mike, I know you have a ton to do to prepare, and that you
are leaving back to Jamaica Monday, so I just want to thank you for
spending this much time with me, and that I am very happy to see you
guys all talking again. Let’s do this again soon
Mike: You bet. Thanks so much until next time. |
Even
though I have had the pleasure of talking to both Rik Emmett and Gil
Moore on a couple of occasions, I have never had the opportunity to
get to the 3rd part of the Hall of Fame rock band Triumph. Mike
Levine is an integral part of the Rock n Roll Machine, as part of
the rhythm section, picking up keyboard duties, a whiz in the
studio, and being a person on stage that a person never forgets.