Metal Contraband’s Chelsea spoke with Mike Tirelli and Mickey Lyxx about the new Holy Mother record Rise. Check it out below:
Chelsea here on the phone with both Mike Tirelli and Mickey Lyxx of Holy Mother. How are you guys doing today?
Mike:
Doing great! Doing lots of interviews today, it’s a great day.
Definitely, yeah, I’m sure you guys have had a busy day of interviews! There’s lots to talk about with your new album Rise on Massacre Records. So let’s just dig right into that. Can you give us a little lead up into this album coming out of 2021’s Face the Burn?
Mike:
Sure. We can tell you that we have a new album out called Rise, and it’s been doing pretty well, we’ve been touring it, playing it, getting a lot of airplay, and doing a lot of interviews for the album here in the States, which is great. Because usually we’ve been doing just mostly Europe stuff, you know? So the States are really starting to recognize Holy Mother and the new album Rise and we’ll be touring, we signed with a new management company, and we’ll be with a booking agency, and we’ll be playing in the States soon and we do have dates booked for Europe.
Awesome, that’s great! How did you guys get started with the process of getting into Rise, coming out of the last album? Maybe some of the ideas and concepts that you had, going into creating the new album?
Mike:
Well, actually, Mickey came in halfway through the process of the album Rise. And basically, it was me and Jim Harris that pretty much were the writers on this Rise album. And Jim is no longer with us, he actually retired from the business, he doesn’t like traveling to Europe anymore. He did the last tour with us. But Jim is a lyricist, he would write a lot of the lyrics with me, and I’d write a lot of the music, and he would help me arrange, but basically we have our own studios, and I’d record and do a lot of ideas at home here. I actually produce it the best I can, before I send it out to get mixed. We used a gentleman by the name of Ray Marte, he’s actually in a band called Moon Tooth, he’s the drummer, but he also has a studio in Farmingdale, where we live pretty close to. And basically that’s it, you know, I do a lot of production here, and the writing, send it out to be mixed. And Ray did this one, this last record.
Ray is definitely well known for doing some producing aside from his time in Moon Tooth, and it’s cool that you guys have that Long Island connection with them as well.
Mike:
Yeah, I didn’t know you knew Ray. How do you know Ray?
A friend of mine actually got his record produced by Ray as well, and I’m also from Long Island originally, but I haven’t actually met Ray in person. I just know about him, pretty much *laughs*.
Mike:
You know, Ray does a great job, and we also had — “The Elevator” was mixed by another gentleman, Stefan Liebing, he lives in Germany. Stefan’s great, he did an amazing job on “Elevator”, but I just wanted to be a little bit close to someone who’s mixing a product that I produced, put together, and wrote. So I was really adamant about being able to be in the studio with Ray when we needed to tweak things, you know?
Definitely, yeah, I mean, there’s a lot of great technology these days that you can do things remotely. You can have somebody overseas help you out with mixing and stuff, but there’s something special to just getting in the studio and getting that in-person kind of feel with the music.
Mike:
Yeah, most definitely. Because, you know, the mixes come back and it’s just great, but you go to the studio and you tweak things, sounds…he always got a great vocal sound for me. So obviously, I’m the singer, so I’m like, I’m sold on Ray *laughs*.
*laughs* That’s great. But you definitely have a good connection with Europe as well. I mean, you, Mike, are simultaneously in Messiah’s Kiss. That’s another band that you’ve had alongside Holy Mother for a number of years. So can you talk about the kind of balance, and maybe the contrast, between those two band experiences for you?
Mike:
Yeah, sure. Messiah’s Kiss, I joined in 2002. That’s when I took an 18-year hiatus with Holy Mother. And the first album we did, we went out, we toured right away. We actually went on tour with Doro, we did 34 dates with her. And our first show, pretty crazy, was Wacken on the main stage. It was a crazy, crazy, crazy time. It was great, you know? And then we went out and toured. But the contrast, the difference between Messiah’s Kiss and Holy Mother, we’re obviously an American band, and I like to mix the American influences and what we have going on here with the European influences. Like on this new record, for example, I wanted to mix the two styles. Being on tour and seeing what’s going on over there all the time influences me and I’m trying to pursue both sides of the pond, you know? So pretty much an American style during my verses a lot of time, and then during the choruses, I like to open up and get that big sing-along thing that the Europeans seem to be really into. We were actually out on tour in 2022, I think it was, or 21, with a band called Dynasty in Sweden. Great guys, amazing band. I really dug what they were doing, you know. The singer’s great, the musicians are great, and I kind of got influenced by what they were doing. So I came home and refined a lot of the ideas that I had, and pretty much incorporated it into the style of this new album Rise, and it seems to be getting excellent, excellent response and reviews.
Rise is sounding great! I’ve definitely been listening to it and loving the sound. And Mickey, I want to ask you, you’re a fairly recent addition to the lineup of Holy Mother. So can you give us a little of your backstory and where you come from musically?
Mickey:
Oh yeah, of course. I’ve always been playing music, I started around when I was 12, I’m 20 now, so about 8 years. But I’ve always been surrounded by guitar, I was always hearing Van Halen, Pantera, on the radio, always kind of just been into it. So I’ve always had music around, and from there, I started playing locally. Eventually, I got to meet Mike and then from there, it kind of just took off. August of 2022, I got to actually join the band, and from there it’s just been all uphill.
Mike:
I found Mickey and…it’s funny, I tell the story. Here, we’re all Long Islanders, and you too, Chelsea, there’s a local music store and I walked in just to say hello and see what they had, it’s in Patchogue. I see a poster of Mickey, I’m like, “who the hell is this kid”? I go, “can he really play”? They’re like, “you got to see this guy”. So anyway, my wife actually saw him at like a local festival here in town, and that’s when I was first introduced to Mickey, and then Mickey asked me to…Well, his dad is a big supporter of Mickey, which is awesome, and also Holy Mother as well. They asked me to come and do a couple songs with Mickey in a club in Smithtown. We hit it off from there, and then my last guitar player has his own band going on, it’s a very Progressive Metal thing, and he decided he didn’t want to do this anymore. So I said, okay, I got the guy. And it obviously worked out tremendously with Mickey, it’s a great thing, it’s amazing, the shows are great to watch, and I can’t be more excited about it.
Awesome, and also you mentioned your family there, and I noticed Violet Tirelli is credited with some backing vocals on Rise, and certainly the intro to “Fire”, the opening track, is such a cool opening, so what’s the relation there?
Mike:
She’s my daughter! *laughs* She’s not into the style of music that her dad’s playing. Totally not into it. She’s musically gifted. She has like, perfect pitch, which I don’t have. It’s amazing. But I got to twist her arm to come in the studio and be like, listen, I need an idea for this song. What do you got? What kind of melody? “I don’t want to do it, I don’t want it”. It’s like twisting her arm. So even with the opening to “Fire”, I had the bass line going, the drums coming in, and I’m like, give me something, something eerie, something great. She’s like, “oh, okay, whatever”. It took her literally, I’m not even kidding, and I’m not exaggerating – it took her maybe, three to five minutes to put that vocal on. I was blown away. I’m like, “okay, you can leave now”. So, yeah, it’s funny. She’s amazing, she really is, but she doesn’t like the style of music. I get it, you know.
Yeah, that’s funny though. For not liking it, she really has some great talent for it there, because that is an amazing intro to “Fire”. It is eerie, it kind of sets an atmosphere, so yeah, great job on her part. So cool.
Mike:
It totally influenced me to write the song, “Fire”. I mean, the song, “Fire”, is really about a toxic love addiction. You know, never ending and it’s haunting you forever, you can see it in the video. And I know people who just can’t get out of their relationships and finally put an end to their misery per se. But the eeriness of her voice in the beginning, she was only like 13 or 14 at the time, really set the musical tone for me, to inspire me to write that melody, and the lyric – me and Jim actually came up with the lyric. It’s one little piece of music that can inspire you to go in such a direction, you know?
Definitely! You never know where the inspiration will come from, and sometimes it’s within your own family, so that’s fun, I love that. Rise is full of great strong songs, so let’s dig into a couple more tracks, and one that stands out to me as a very powerful track, is “Jeremiah”. I feel like the harmonies…you have some unusual choices in there that are really effective.
Mike:
Yeah, that’s funny you say that, I was listening to it today, I’m like, “God, I put a harmony there? That’s kind of crazy”, yeah, thank you. I mean, I’m happy that you noticed that, that’s cool “Jeremiah” is definitely one of my favorite songs, because I never really categorized that song as being a Black Crowes meets a Ronnie James Dio song. but a couple of people, like my wife’s like, “That’s like Black Crowes”, and I’m like, “What you talking about? It doesn’t sound like that”. Anyway, it is kind of bluesy but heavy, and yeah, I mean the lyric is strong, you know “Jeremiah was a bad man”. Right away you hear it, and you can remember the lyric right away which is pretty important for a song that’s going to be “popular” per se.
And then “Down” is another great track too, I feel like that one has a great rhythm and groove so any thoughts to share from either of you on writing and playing that track?
Mike:
That’s actually Mickey’s favorite song.
Mickey:
I love that one.
Mike:
That one was just like a groove kind of thing, that was Ray Marte’s favorite song, so we’re always getting different opinions. I love “Down” too, I’m thinking maybe we should do this one live because the groove is so good, Mickey got to play his guitar with his…he used a drill on that one, on the solo, which was really cool. Great song, I love it, yeah. The groove is what makes that gig.
For sure. Mickey, anything to add on your side of it?
Mickey:
No, that was just a great song in general, it’s definitely one of my favorites. And I had a blast doing all the solos, but that one in particular was a lot of fun.
Definitely unique, that’s super cool. Another thing I want to mention, Mike, we had last spoken on the red carpet at the Metal Hall of Fame at the start of this year. After the red carpet, tell me how the rest of that event went for you, and did either of you take part in NAMM this year as well?
Mike:
Mickey didn’t make it out this year, Mickey had a show back home with Stephen Pearcy at the Patchogue Theater, so Mickey couldn’t make it.
Good reason not to though, that’s cool.
Mike:
Yeah, with his solo, it was a great show, but yeah, I mean the Hall of Fame was great, Pat Gesualdo is a great guy, I actually wrote a song for the Metal Hall of Fame, it’s a Halloween song. It’s called “Attack of the Witch”. I played all the guitar on it except for the solo, Tony MacAlpine played the solo on it. Bob Daisley from Ozzy played bass on it, Derek Sherinian played keys on it. I went up and I did a couple of Dio songs, and Wendy Dio was out in the crowd. So it was very flattering to talk to her after, and she was very appreciative of me honoring Ronnie and stuff. And that was a special day, you know? But after, yes, I did NAMM, I went with my wife and it was great. I actually have been there a couple times. NAMM is always great, so it was great all around. We’re gonna go back this year to the Metal Hall of Fame, and maybe we’ll get Holy Mother to perform, and we might be doing some shows out in LA while we’re out there – pushing for it, pushing for it.
You mentioned Ronnie James Dio, something fun about Holy Mother is that you guys seem to always throw a cover in on almost every album. I see that Rise doesn’t seem to have any covers, but in the past you’ve done Van Halen covers, in earlier albums, Judas Priest, Elton John, and you, Mike, were even part of a tribute to Ronnie James Dio album. So I’m curious what goes into making a cover as Holy Mother, and how do you go about choosing which songs to do?
Mike:
Good, good question. I think it’s really tough to choose a cover, because like we did the Dio thing, we did the Priest thing, I actually did a cover of a Carpenters song on the last album, just because I love Karen Carpenters’ voice, I’m like, “maybe I’ll make it heavier”. But it’s really a tough thing to think about, because we wanted to put a cover on this last album, but we were trying to make a deadline, to be truthful. And we just never came together with the cover, but I think it’s sometimes really an advantage to a band to put a cover on the album you know. That’s the only thing I think we could have done. I’m definitely going to put a cover on the next one. And to choose, you know, I like to ask everyone, you know. Mick, what do you think? Maybe our new drummer, Steven, I’ll ask him, you know, I like to try out a couple of things before we put a definite on what’s going to go on the album. So the next time, we’ll explore, but there’s no definite method or whatever, you know?
Of course, that makes sense. It’s something that just kind of naturally comes about once you pick the song, your own sound is going to influence it and come out in your own style, which is great. I’ve mentioned a couple of tracks that stood out to me just as some of my extra favorites on the album, but I want to ask both of you, what are some other tracks that maybe I haven’t mentioned, some other things that really stood out to you during the making of Rise?
Mike:
Hmm, “Elevator” is great. I like “Jeremiah” a lot, it’s one of my favorites. But you know, like this album here really, I believe in it so much. I believe there’s so many great songs, and not different styles, but song structures, I guess, that can appeal to really heavy guys who are into really heavy stuff, and then the guys are into mainstream Hard Rock/Metal. There’s a lot of good songs on there, but favorites are hard to pick. I think “Elevator and “Jeremiah”, what do you think, Mick?
Mickey:
Yeah, I’ve brought it up, it’s funny with this album, I feel like it’s one of those albums that’s very rare. It’s like, it just doesn’t seem like there’s a unanimous favorite. You know what I mean? Like, when you’re listening to Van Halen 1984, you know “Panama”, you know “Jump”. You’re listening to Ratt, Out of the Cellar, you know “Round and Round” and “Wanted Man”. With this album, it’s like everyone has a different favorite. Like for me, my favorites are “Power” and “Down”, those are my two. But Mike’s are different. Even if you go to our Spotify and Apple, the biggest song is “Interventionist”. It’s just crazy. But for me, yeah, I’m gonna have to say “Power” and “Down”. I really like how those two groove. I think they’re just strong songs.
Mike:
So why don’t we play them live? We’ve got to play “Down” live.
Mickey:
Or we could even play “Interventionist”.
And apparently “Interventionist”, right? Exactly, you never know what people are going to be drawn to. I know that I only have you guys for another minute or two, but I do want to ask you, Mickey, real quick, because Mike mentioned about you playing with Steven Pearcy, you mentioned Ratt just now…tell me about any other projects you have going on outside of Holy Mother.
Mickey:
I was opening for Stephen Pearcy, I do my solo band, the Mickey Lyxx band. We play now and then, we play here and there, we like to mainly do shows once in a while off the cuff. The drummer is actually the new drummer of Holy Mother, Steve McQueen, and then from there I worked with a singer, Jill Joya, and usually I’ll do some studio work here and there.
Good stuff, well, this has been awesome, guys, to know more about Holy Mother and what you have going on right now, so why don’t we wrap it up with an outlook of what to be on the lookout for, new music, new shows, anything you guys have locked in right now.
Mike:
We’ve got another tour with Doro Pesch in December in Germany, we just toured with her all of March, and we just signed with a new management company, so they’re hooking us up with some booking agencies to do some stuff here in the States. We’ve been getting a lot of press, doing a lot of interviews, and a lot of feedback here in the States on the music, so it’s about time that we put something together here in the States, so look out for us. You can go to holymotherband.com. My socials Mike Tirelli Musician, Facebook, Instagram, and then we got Mickey with his stuff too. Fill ‘em in!
Mickey:
So like Mike said, www.holymotherband.com, that’ll show you all our dates @HolyMotherBand on Instagram, Holy Mother on Facebook, my Instagram its @Mickey_Lyxx, on Facebook, I’m just Mickey Lyxx, and then Mike, you’re Mike Tirelli Musician, you can find his stuff there. We all update with everything that’s going on, especially with Holy Mother. So keep an eye out and hope to be in a city near you.
Awesome, sounds good. Well, thank you so much for all the info and for just getting us a little more of an inside look into Holy Mother. Thanks so much for your time today, and have fun with everything! It’s going to be great to hear more from you guys.
Mike & Mickey:
Thank you!