Michael Wagener
From Skid Row To The Richness Of Hydrogyn
By The Atomic Chaser and The Rocker
Some of you may not recognize the name, but you have definitely heard his work. He’s the man behind the desk as producer of some of metal’s all time classics, such as; Ozzy, Motley Crue, Dokken, Accept, Great White, Alice Cooper, White Lion, Megadeth, Skid Row, Bonfire, Extreme, Saigon Kick, Warrant, Hair Of The Dog, Raven, Hammerfall and the new King's X. To the soon to be classic, from first timers, HYDROGYN. With his track record, we cannot wait to hear what he has in store for us with his latest project, HYDROGYN. They are a modern heavy rock band, lead by a multi-octave ranged female singer, who doesn’t just hide behind her drop dead gorgeous appearance, she attacks you, with the whole package. The five some were represented by Pepsi Cola at a NASCAR race in front of a quarter of a million people and did not disappoint. More sponsorships began flowing in, opening the floodgates for this unsigned band. Then, Brian Coles at Thunderground Media somehow got a tape to legendary metal producer Michael Wagener and their first major CD, ’Bombshell’ should be released in February.
So in order to get ready for the explosion that’s about to happen, The Atomic Chaser and I got to chat with Mr. Michael Wagener and here’s how it went.
AAM: First of all, it’s an honor to talk to you, we really didn’t need a discography as we’ve been following you since Dokken’s ‘Back On The Streets’ in what, 1979? How did you get involved with that and what were you doing at the time?
MW: I had a studio in Hamburg, called Tennessee Studios, believe it or not. There was a German country band named Tennessee and those guys had a bunch of money and I had a little bit of knowledge, so we opened the studio together. Then Don walked in one day and said “Hey, give me a guitar, I haven’t played in three days.” I said, ”Well hello to you too!” That’s pretty much how we met. They were playing a club across the parking lot on their first German tour and we had a cable going up there so we recorded the show and that’s basically how we met and got involved. He invited me over to visit.
AAM: We understand that the Skid Row’s debut holds a dear place in your heart , but is there something you were involved with that didn’t have the success you think it deserved?
MW: I always thought that Kane Roberts (Alice Cooper) albums should’ve had a lot more exposure than they had. He’s an amazing artist and amazing songwriter, great singer and guitar player and for political reasons mostly at the label, he never got the exposure that he deserves, I think. I just talked to him yesterday actually. Were still in contact. He’s one of the few people in L.A. that I’m still in contact with. He’s directing a movie and does a lot of computer work, like game designs and stuff like that.
AAM: You’ve built your own studio in Nashville, since technology has advanced since your early years, how has the atmosphere in the studio changed over the years?
MW: I’m not in Nashville, I’m about 30 miles outside of Nashville on a 10 acre farm. At first I thought it might be a little critical by not having the connection to the city but people absolutely love it out here. They can relax and it’s a working atmosphere, you don’t get interrupted. It’s a very relaxing atmosphere out here. It’s a nice little studio. I’d call it my “product” studio, but it can keep up with anybody out there.
AAM: How long has it been open?
MW: I’ve been here for 9 years now, since Aug.1996. It’s a second generation, I used to have a Tascam D88 and Yamaha consoles. Now I have a couple of Sony consoles and a Euphonix R-1 recorder for my main machine. I haven’t used analog tape since the early eighties.
AAM: O.K let’s get the scoop on the next big thing, HYDROGYN, can you describe the band and the music?
MW: The band is from West Virginia and have a female singer. Her name is Julie, and she stood out to me the first time I heard anything by them, recorded and when I saw them live. I was very impressed. They did a live show up in Louisville, which I went to and they played for 3 hours, over a four and a half hour period. And she did not hit one wrong note, all night. I thought that was very impressive. She had a great stage presence, with a very very powerful voice. They came down and we got together. It’s a modern style rock band, with heavy guitars, which is totally my thing.With her singing and the band, they are just right on. It’s better than I normally get.
AAM: We’re sure you get a lot of demos.
MW: Oh yea. It’s very rare , I go, “Hey, this is really cool, I want to do something with this. And HYDROGYN was one of them. They just had everything I was looking for.
AAM: Was Julie classically trained in any way?
MW: I don’t think so. As for as I know, she sang Country before.
AAM: HYDROGYN has posted a cover of “Back In Black” on their website. Tell us how that came about.
MW: I do these workshops at the studio, where people come in and we record and mix one song from top to bottom. They came down to do “Back In Black” by AC/DC and it was amazing. They played amazing, she sang the whole song in like 15 minutes. She blows my mind. That’s not an easy song to sing. It’s not the final mix yet, it was a workshop and I want to spend more time on the mix. But its close. It will be on the record.
AAM: What were the main factors that attracted you to this project?
MW: Just the quality of their performance and the songs. You get this feeling when you go, “Hey! That’s a good band.” I had the same feeling when I heard SKID ROW for the first time.
AAM: Where will they fit in the scheme of things? Will they be an OZZFEST band or will there be a different market for them?
MW: Well I hope they don’t fit anywhere. I hope they are like the “new thing”. It’s a very heavy band and it will be produced very heavily, in a heavy sounding way. But still with her voice it gives it a whole different touch. I wouldn’t put them as an OzzFest band, not necessarily. They’re more a modern rock band.
AAM: HYDROGYN have already released an independent CD called ‘Best Served With Volume’. How will this one be different and did you have to add anything to their sound?
MW: O.K., we’re going to be re-doing most of the stuff off that CD, that’s most of the material we’ll be doing. Obviously there’s a whole bunch of new songs too. I would call that CD, ”a good demo”. They did it themselves and there’s a lot more in them, then what’s on that CD.
AAM: You did a remix of Janet Jackson’s “Black Cat” which included Nuno Bettencourt on guitar, who you worked with in Extreme, where is this version found?
MW: It was a video and a single, it was also on her “best of”.
AAM: We hear Lemmy from Motorhead wants to do a cover of that song.
MW: He should send it to me for the mix!
AAM: Alright we are dying to hear the new King’s X. What can we expect?
MW: The band has produced and released their own records over the past few years. Somehow we were put together and we came out with a great great record. Somewhere a Cross between ‘Gretchen’ and ‘Dogman’. It’s going back to their original roots and their original big sound.
AAM: Were you a King’s X fan before? Is the sound like the old or the newer stuff?
MW: Oh yea, I loved those guys.I went to their show here and we go to talking and that’s how we got together. We ended up doing a record together. It was really cool. Ty would walk in with a riff and an hour later we had this song. It was like blowing your mind.
AAM: What does Michael Wagener listen to at home or in his car?
MW: Oh man, talk radio and audio books. I don’t listen to too much music, especially when I’m working on a project. I listen to music twelve hours a day when I’m working.
Michael, The Atomic Chaser and I would like to Thank You for talking to us.
For more information, please visit www.hydrogyn.com and www.michaelwagener.com
Story by The Atomic Chaser and The Rocker
