JACK STARR, founding member of Virgin Steele and leader of Burning Starr, is back with a new band called "Guardians Of The Flame". Dream Theater fans should be interested in the fact that the band features two former Dream Theater / Majesty members. Features? Hmm... not really. Featured. So I was very surprised when Jack sent the interview answers. Band lineups can change faster than the weather forecast...

RR: You have a new band called "Guardians Of The Flame". Why did you choose the title of the second Virgin Steele album as band name?

JS: I chose Guardians Of The Flame because I felt that it spoke of what I believe is the need to protect the flame of rock and metal or anything that you believe in, and that's what I want to do. "Guardians Of The Flame" was my title and Virgin Steele was my group, so there is no problem for me to use this name.

RR: How did you get in touch with ex-Dream Theater / Majesty singer Chris Collins?

JS: I got in touch with Chris Collins when he came over to ask me to borrow a lawnmower. I know this sounds strange, but this is how we became friends again.

RR: The band features two former Virgin Steele members and two former Dream Theater members. A supergroup?

JS: This is not a supergroup. Nobody really know Chris or Tony and now Chris is gone anyway.

RR: Gone away?

JS: There have been some changes. Chris Collins is no longer with me, I am going into the studio this week with my old singer Mike Tirelli and we will do a song that will appear on the Metal Blade reissue of the early Virgin Steele records that I am on. This will be out in October.

RR: Can you tell us more about this song?

JS: The name is "Personal Demons". This is a song not about the occult or evil, but in my country when we talk about personal demons, we are speaking about vices or bad habits like drugs or alchol or womanizing. In other words, things that are bad for you and I think I know something about that. This song will appear on the Metal Blade double CD "The Early Virgin Steele" which will feature only songs from the time that I was in the band. I am very happy that Metal Blade has given me the chance to do this.

RR: All fans know that Mike Portnoy is the drummer of Dream Theater. But no-one knows Tony Matassa. Please give us more info.

JS: As far as Tony Matassa, he was in a band with the guys from Majesty and then they went away to Berklee School of Music and when they came back they got a new drummer named Mike Portnoy.

RR: What have Chris and Tony been doing during all those years after their departure from Dream Theater?

JS: Chris and Tony were playing in a lot of local bands and Chris was in a band called Snow Blind and as you can guess they played Black Sabbath songs.

RR: Joe O’Reilly has been the original bass player of Virgin Steele. Why did he leave the band after the "Age Of Consent" album and where did you dig him up?

JS: Joe did not leave Virgin Steele, he was fired. And Joe told me recently that he found out he was fired when he saw an ad in a music magazine that Virgin Steele was looking for a bass player, also I think Dave DeFeis made up some nonsense that he was sick, this was not at all true.

RR: What do you reply to the critics who might say that "Guardians Of The Flame" is only a bunch of old guys who live in the past?

JS: We are not old men living in the past, we can play alongside anybody any age and rock the house, but... you know, it's not bad to be proud of your past! My new music sounds very modern, but not in a stupid way like Tommy Lee who is trying to be something he is not. I will tell you a funny story: about a month ago we had many kids from around the neighberhood at our rehearsal and one of them said "it's great man, your song sounds like Hammerfall, especially the part with the viking chant". I had to explain that my band Virgin Steele was the first band to do that on record on a song called "Children Of The Storm". And also speaking of Hammerfall, who are a great band: when my son emailed Joacim to compliment his band, he wrote back and asked him if Jack Starr was his father and when he said yes, he said some very nice things about the album that I did with Rhett Forrester.

RR:"Guardians Of The Flame" made their debut live show in April 2001 at the Metal Meltdown Festival. Tell us more about this gig.

JS: The Meltdown concert was good, except for one thing: Chris Collins, our singer, got there too late to perform. So we went on with our roadie singing the lead vocals! He was good, but he was no Chris Collins.

RR: You were scheduled to perform at the Powermad festival on August 18. Will you also play after the departure of Chris Collins?

JS: We will play the Powermad if Mike Tirelli decides to do this show with us. If not, I will go there and play solo and give a guitar clinic.

RR: Which songs will you perform? Any new tracks?

JS: Some of the songs we do live include "Burn The Sun", which is a song I wrote when I was in Virgin Steele. Also about 3 years ago, I recorded some songs with Dave DeFeis, those were called the "Sacred" demos. I do those and some new ones that are great. One is called "I Stand Alone" and this is sort of autobiographical.

RR: You plan to record an album with "Guardians Of The Flame". Did you already start with the songwriting or the recordings?

JS: There is a whole album ready and I have started to record the songs, so you will all be hearing things soon and the first song will be on the Metal Blade re-issue of the Burning Starr albums.

RR: Are you in contact with some labels for the new album?

JS: I am speaking to labels, especially in Germany. We were already offered a deal by a label in Finland called Lion Music, but we are holding out for a bigger deal.

RR: What are your memories from the early Virgin Steele years?

JS: My early memories of Virgin Steele are good and it felt great to make great powerful music and touch so many people all over the world. It was quite amazing, but it was also very difficult because we did not have a big organization. So we had to do everything. In fact, the first record we put out ourselves and we made this record ourselves from the music to finding an artist to finding a pressing plan to making the publicity... it was crazy, but it worked. Within a few months, we were offered record deals and we went to England and Kerrang started to write about us etc...

RR: The Virgin Steele debut album has been the first release of the legendary record company Music For Nations. Have Virgin Steele been pioneers for Metallica, Manowar and many other bands?

JS: I feel Virgin Steele were pioneers of modern metal and I am proud of that I have said on my website, that if the first Virgin Steele album had not done so well, perhaps the label Music For Nations would not have continued, and some of the later bands that were signed would not have been, because there would have been no money to give them. So our initial sucess helpled more than just us! When I performed at a concert in France and Metallica were also on the bill, I remember that James Hetfield and another member came to our trailer and told me that they thought the song "Children Of The Storm" was a great song. This of course made me quite proud, it happened around 1982.

RR: Why did you leave the band after the "Guardians Of The Flame" album?

JS: I did not leave Virgin Steele and its a very complicated story, but I think that Dave and the new manger I hired (Zoren Busic, who was managing a band called Saga at the time) plotted to get rid of me, so they could totally control the music publishing and make more money. I was the main songwriter and Dave wanted to be the main songwriter and now he is. But there is one problem: most of his songs are no good or they sound like Manowar copies, and that is why they have not been able to get bigger.

RR: Do you think David DeFeis betrayed you? (At least you mention it on your website.)

JS: Yes, Dave betrayed me. But he hurt himself by doing it. We had magic and he destroyed the chemistry. Virgin Steele could have been a very great band and much more popular than it is, but Dave chose to destroy it, and now he has to open up for bands like Hammerfall who were kids when Virgin Steele was enjoying popularity. And like a bitter old man, Dave has nothing but bad things to say about Joacim, the wonderful singer of this great band. Dave likes to talk bad things about other bands. My bass player Joe O'Reilley told me that when Virgin Steele toured with Manowar, Dave said bad things about the great band Manowar, and when Joey DeMaio heard this he was going to beat up Dave. But thankfully for Dave, Joe - who is a big guy - was able to save Dave from a beating. I am saying this because I have been silent tool long and Dave has been a real bastard to me. I will give you an example: about 3 years ago I got together with Dave and we recorded 4 songs together. This project we called the "Sacred" demos (as I mentioned above). Dave told me he would help get me a deal and later I found out he never played these songs for anybody, and I believed him. Now I know I must put these great songs out myself with another singer. Have you ever heard of these the 4 songs? They are "The chosen Ones", "Hellfire Woman", "Reign Of Fire" and "The Final Days". Some of these songs are better than anything Virgin Steele has done. P.S.: I call the band Dave has Virgin Steele, but it really isn't. Dave is the only original member.

RR: Tell us more about your first solo album "Out Of The Darkness" with ex-Riot singer Rhett Forester.

JS: "Out Of The Darkness" was great and Rhett was one of the great singers of the eighties.

RR: In the late 80s, you played with Randy Coven, Jim Harris and Mike Tirelli. Why did those guys form another band with a new guitar player?

JS: The guys in Burning Starr made Holy Mother because they wanted to write thier own songs and call thier own shots. They didn't really continue. What happened is: a couple of years went by, the nineties started to happen and the kind of music we were doing was not appreciated. So we became discouraged and the band broke. I think it was a time that everybody wanted to start a new and reinvent themselves. And since I was most identifed with the eighties sound of Burning Starr, I think they needed to distance themselves from me and create their own thing.

RR: What’s your opinion of their band Holy Mother?

JS: Holy Mother is an okay band, but not great. It's not Metallica.

RR: What do you think has been the best Burning Starr album?

JS: The best Burning Starr record is "No Turning Back", Mike Tirelli sang great on that!

RR: The Burning Starr albums "Rock The American Way" and "Blaze Of Glory" have been re-released by Metal Mayhem. What can you tell us about the re-releases?

JS: The Metal Mayhem releases are real good with good sound and good artwork.

RR: What was your first reaction when you heard that Rhett Forester has been killed in 1994?

JS: When Rhett died I was very hurt and sad. I lost a friend and it took me quite a while to get over that.

RR: You also released two solo albums called "A Minor Disturbance" and "Soon Day Will Come". Tell us more about them.

JS: The solo albums are good, but there not really metal. "A Minor Disturbance" is like a Joe Satriani / Jeff Beck style and "Soon Day Will Come" is like Santana.

RR: What’s your opinion of the albums Virign Steele recorded after your departure? Do you agree that "Noble Savage" is a masterpiece?

JS: "Noble Savage" is a great song and the title was 100 percent mine. And a title is very important, sometimes it can inspire you to write great music. The title and concept "Noble Savage" is my idea and Dave and I discussed that as our next allbum, so I am not happy that this was never mentioned. Dave owes me a big thanks for the title or better yet a big check! As far as other Virgin Steele music, some is good, some is very bad. A friend of mine who is a music critic told me that on the "Invictus" record there are 4 songs that sound like Manowar. If this is true then it is sad.

RR:What do you think of your successor Edward Pursino?

JS: Eddie is a good guitarist and I think a nice guy. He really deserves better than to work with a guy like Dave. Dave once told me that he tells Eddie the guitar player what notes to play. So in answer to your question, I think Eddie is good, but I would like to hear him play what is in his heart not what Dave tells him to play.

RR: What are your plans for the near future?

JS: I will make a complete album this year and I promise it will be better than anything Dave could create if he had a thousand years time. My record will come from the heart and I will not copy anyone. The bottom line is this: I love music, and for me there is nothing better. To get this chance to come back now is the greatest gift of all! I sincerley hope to come to Germany and play, for it seems to have become the new home of heavy metal!

RR: Thanks alot for the interview, Jack.

JS: First of all, I must say that this was a very good interview and you really seem to know a lot about me, and that makes me happy. And secondly, I want to say that I think it is incredible how many young Germans and Europeans speak and write in English! This is something that is not the same in America and it is sad. We as Americans should learn about other cultures and speak other languages too!