Chris: Pins will be release March 23rd in Europe, a later date in the US and rest of the world. From the reaction I have gotten so far people seem to feel it is a lot heavier than Faces/WARPED. I think it is just a bit more focused in one direction and that is dark and heavy!

Chris: Hmm…not really, I do have one song called Mettle Eastern that has political lyrics, but it has a deeper meaning.

Chris: I worked with Nick Douglas from Doro on bass…he will tour with me. I used a female drummer named Yael, she played with My Ruin and Fireball Ministry. My brother also played drums on one song. I will use John Macaluso from Yngwie Malmsteen and TNT for my tour. Paul La Placa played some keys and he will accompany me again on the road. Alex Skolnick played a guest solo. Dave Eggar and Lucia Micarelli played strings.

Chris: The tour is with Timo Kotipelto. I am hoping to announce a US tour very soon for June! There will be more!

Chris: Jeff decided his schedule was too busy and we still work together in TSO and Savatage.

Chris: Black Lotus went bankrupt! They had a huge business merger in the works, lots of money owed out…a lot was to be coming in. They operated as things were fine and it fell apart so they were stuck with huge debts. It happened right in the middle of my recording! It was quite sad. Metal Heaven has been great. I have just begun to work with them and things are going very smooth. I hope I can have great success with them!

Chris: This tour was a lot bigger! We played to about one million people total with both the East and West schedules. The schedule was so busy. 62 shows in 60 days! This tour was similar to the past tours but it ran much smoother and the band stayed very healthy. Surreal moments…I got to play Nassau Coliseum and the Meadowlands Continental Airlines Arena. Nassau is where I saw my first concert ever and the Meadowlands is where I saw most of my concerts as a kid. It was so cool to pack them both. I was in a daze both of the shows because it was so surreal!

Chris: The CD is being worked on by Paul and someone every day. He is writing with Bob or Jon, working on lyrics, auditioning singers…There has been tons of progress. He has been working for years. The majority is written and lots of basic things have been recorded. We hope to have it finished this year. Fingers crossed!

Chris: Not that I have any information on right now. The focus is on Nightcastle.

Chris: The large arenas are a lot of fun, I do miss the crowd up in your face sometimes but the whole TSO thing is so first class and successful that is definitely has a lot of up sides! I do like the smaller venues, I like the feeling of the crowd up close and personal. They both have their advantages and I am lucky to experience both worlds!

Chris: This has been the case for the past 5 tours but this year I used a live amp as well. We had speaker cabinets that were closed to keep the sound down. I liked that addition to my sound and feel a lot.

Chris: Well…I know I would love to play a Savatage tour at any time and any size venue and would do it for free so that is not my opinion for sure. I suppose you would have to ask everyone individually. I am sure if Savatage really wanted to fire up the engine it could. If a band wants to play that badly it will, even if it is just for fun in a rehearsal place.

Chris: Savatage would have no problem making the tour economical, the demand is there. But as you said the love of the band…the band needs to want to do this, this has to include everyone, not just a few of us.

Chris: Well, I feel after Criss died many things changed. Savatage definitely was not the same. The core of the band was half gone. So there were certain elements that were the same but huge differences as well. It was a bit more of a business because you dealt with people that were not in the trenches to make the band. You were at a rebuilding stage. We had a great chemistry with the Dead Winter Dead band and we did morph into TSO but I do feel both bands could have co-existed if it was what everyone really wanted. No matter what we are all fortunate to have TSO in our lives. I feel bad for the fans who miss Savatage because I am one of them but there comes a time when you just have to let the frustration go and think positively that something will happen in the future.

Chris: Yes, there is a very strong possibility and in pure Savatage fashion our 25th Anniversary will probably happen in the 27th year! ;)

Chris: Hmm…well, I had been meaning to clear this one piece of woods up at my mother’s house in NY State. I finally got some time off last summer and went there to do the work. I was clearing out an old pile of wood and logs and throwing them over an old horse fence. One log was about 10 feet long. It had no bark. It was old but still heavy and solid. I was deciding on whether or not to lift it over the fence, drag it around or cut it up with my chain saw. I chose to lift it. It slipped out of my hands and smacked me in the jaw. It hit so hard that it knocked my feet out from under me and I fell to the ground. When I got up I checked my face and there was no blood. I brushed off the dirt and felt a pain in my side. I looked down and saw muscle hanging out of my upper right chest. Something had stabbed me about 3 inches deep. If it was an inch in either direction I may have bled to death or lost feeling in my right arm forever. I was lucky.

Chris: I am hoping to get there for sure. I apologize about the incident on the tour with Jon. It is very difficult to cross borders now and some people on the tour did not have the proper paperwork. I know my band was fine to cross. So, I hope we can make it this tour for sure! I love Toronto!

Chris: Thanks to you and to all of your readers. The fans make it possible for everything to happen and I appreciate each and everyone of you. Look out for Pins and Needles and I will see you on tour!