Chords for Adrian Vandenberg (VANDENBERG'S MOONKINGS) INTERVIEW & STUDIO REPORT by METALXS

_ This interview was brought to you by Hard Force and Metal XS.
_ Adrian [Ebm] Vandenberg.
For veteran metal fans, this guitarist's name is synonymous with [Eb] melodic hard rock.
But don't worry if you're less familiar with it, because here's a recap.
At the age of 60, Dutch [Bb] guitarist Vandenberg belongs [Db] to the hard rock blues band generation.
[Ab] He brought out a single in 1974 with the group Darling, but his career was really [Eb] launched with the band Teaser,
which drew its influences from Free and Bad Company.
[C] However, it was with his own band [G] Vandenberg that he became [E] famous internationally.
_ _ _ [G] _ [C] _ Three albums later [G] in 1987, he [E] joined Whitesnake, where he shared guitars with Steve Vai.
_ [Dm] _ _ [E] _ _ And even though in 1994 [D] his heart was never truly in the project [C] Manic Eden,
he stayed by David [Bm] Coverdale's side [Am] until the end of the 90s, before [F] retiring from the limelight.
_ Yeah, actually [E] what happened was, the last tour I did with Whitesnake, which was until 1999,
_ David and I decided, well, especially [G] David, he [D] was getting a little tired of touring,
and [E] he thought, well, this is the goodbye tour, you [Em] know.
And I thought it was a good idea, because _ I really missed painting,
that was my original _ _ thing actually, together with music.
But I thought, well, [G] good, I can catch up with painting and exhibitions and stuff.
And I did a lot of stuff.
I didn't [Em] realize that time went that fast, you know.
And I got, a year after we stopped touring with Whitesnake, [E] _
my girlfriend at the time,
[Em] _ _ [Bm] and I got [E] a daughter, which is 13 [C] years ago.
And I didn't want to [G] be one of those dads who flew all over the world and then once [Em] a year,
say, hi, I'm your dad, [Bm] you know.
That was important too.
And with the painting, I caught up [E] with the whole thing.
And before I realized [Em] it, 12 years are gone, you know, [E] or 11,
because I started [C] writing about, slowly, [D] you know, about a year and a half, two years ago.
I [Em] realized I really wanted to make another album and _ [E] do concerts again.
[Eb] _ _
_ _ [Ebm] _ [Eb] I [Ebm] didn't want to go through that, you know, try out hundreds of guys.
And as [Eb] soon as the rumor came out that I was looking around for a band,
[Ebm] _ I got [Eb] emails and stuff, and I didn't want to try [Ab] anybody.
[Abm] This was because Adrian already had a few people in mind.
Singer Jan Hoving, bassist Sem Christoffel, [Db] and drummer Martin Yennes, who had [Ab] already talent spotted.
[B] _ _ [Gb] _ _ [A] A lot of people were expecting from [E] me to come with a super group,
with a couple of well [B]-known players, and then make [E] music that you can't already predict beforehand.
Because if you play with a [B] couple of guys that people already know,
then they know [Db] exactly how the album is [E] going to sound, even before the album is there, you know.
So that's not challenging for [B] me, that's not exciting.
It was more of an adventure [Bbm] to do it with unknown guys, in this great [E] studio,
with [Db] all these great people who have been really supportive.
_ [Gm] _ _ _ He [Cm] did invite one big name for [Ab] one song, though.
David [Bb] Coverdale.
[Eb] I would have asked David [Ab] anyway, but he was first, because [Bb] when I told [F]
him_
Actually, he started already [Gm] _ years ago.
He [F] said,
You Dutchman, why don't you make another album?
I said, I'm not ready [Gm] for it, because I'm painting. _
[F] So last year [Ebm] I told him, I'm getting [Gm] ready.
I've got [C] three quarters of the songs finished.
Oh, you're going to record an album?
[Gm] Oh, finally, you [F] lazy Dutchman.
I said, it's not lazy, I do a lot of stuff, [Gm] you know.
But he [Eb] said, [F] it would be my honor if I can [D] sing on your album.
And [Gm] I said, well, it would be my honor, you know, because I would love it.
[F] So, the last song on the album is [G] a ballad called Sailing Ships,
[F] performed by one of the [F] rock world's loveliest voices. _ _
[Gm] _ _ _ [F] Let's take a look at the [Fm] studios where that song was recorded.
The Whistler Studios, in the suburbs of Amsterdam.
[Bb] Adrian explains why the [Eb] studios are so important to him.
[Bb] [F] Yeah, very [Bb] special.
I recorded my very [Fm] first blues rock album when I was 22.
I [Bb] realized that the microphone [Eb] that in 1977 I [Fm] recorded when I was 22 [Bb] or something,
I [F] recorded my acoustic guitar with, and [Ab] the piano.
It's the same [Bb] microphone that I recorded [Eb] my mandolin and acoustic guitar with it now.
[F] Same, I [G] took a picture of it.
[Gm] It looks like it's been in the Second World [G] War, you know.
It's beaten up in this dance and scratches and stuff.
But [Cm] it's the same microphone.
It's a really strange idea, you know.
[A] _ _
_ [D] Adrian chose this [A] back to basics approach because he wanted the sound to be as plain as [E] possible.
[Eb] I wanted [Am] the record to sound like _ [G] you're three [Am] meters away from the stage of a rehearsal,
[C] the best rehearsal from your band, you know.
And then, [G] have that sound, so, [D] bam, it's right here.
It doesn't sound [E] like in the 80s, all reverb on it where it [D] sounded like you're in the back of a stadium.
[B] You're [D] right over here.
Word, word, [A] word, [D] word. _ _
[G] As a musician and a [D] painter, does he think all creation [G] stems from the same source?
[D] Yeah, I really think so.
I really think, for me it is.
But for me, [G] cooking, I like to cook as well.
[D] It comes from the same place too, you know.
It's just [C] like, _ [G] when [D] you compose, you basically [C] cook with [D] sounds.
And when you paint, you cook [E] with colors or you make music with colors, you know.
And when [G] you cook, it's all about your [E] senses, you know.
_ So, Adrian [B] Vandenberg is officially back with a classic hard rock blues album
and [Eb] a set of concerts with his band Moon Kings, programmed for the [C] next few months.
[Gb] This interview was [A] presented