THE STORY OF THE ALBUMS: RISING

by Mark Fox

«I was the new singer of SHAKRA!»

I had finally finished recording my first dialect rock album and was waiting for the big deal with a major label when the phone rang. On the other end of the line was Oliver Macchi, who was in negotiations with the record companies for me. Of course, I was now expecting the good news that someone wanted to sign me. But it was about something completely different: The band SHAKRA was looking for a new singer and I would be very suitable for it. I had already heard the name SHAKRA, but not the music. Shortly after I had announced my interest, Thom already called me and sent me the "Power Ride" album, from which I should rehearse "Why Don't You Call Me" and "Out In The Rain", in order to sing then in the Trub, two weeks later. For me, that in itself was a life-changing time! I practiced like crazy, because I really wanted to become the singer of this band. The euphoria was at a peak when I got the certainty a few weeks after the audition: I was the new singer of SHAKRA!

«"Baptism of fire in front of 10,000 people"»

From then on, everything went one after the other, because the first gig was already coming up: at the "Bang Your Head" festival in Balingen! What a baptism of fire! There was no stopping us. We played concert after concert until it was time to record a new, for me first SHAKRA album: "Rising".

«Rock star overnight»

Thom had opened his own studio at that time and this became the birthplace of the upcoming silver disc. You could hardly be more euphoric than I was at that time. I had made it - the youngster who mutated into a rock star overnight and wanted to live it up with all the trimmings - which I then did ... The mass media published a scandal story in the biggest newspaper in Switzerland "Blick", which contributed not a little to fill the concert halls and to lift "Rising" to number 21 in the Swiss charts, even in Germany it reached number 69! With the ballad "I Will Be There" we celebrated the entry into the Swiss radio landscape and got airplay and hearing in the "normal" media for the first time. So the name was program. We continued with a tour together with Krokus through Germany and Switzerland. "Rising" even had a godfather, which is rather a rarity. This was none other than Simon Ammann, the multiple Olympic high-flyer. He visited us in Germany on tour and duly christened the disc. Further live highlights were not long in coming, such as our appearance at the biggest metal festival in the world, the Wacken Open Air, and also in Spain we played at the mega-festival "Rockmachina" with other renowned greats of the metal scene. Many wild rumors surround this time and the following years, but this is another story and shall be told another time.

Cast

Vocals: Mark Fox, Lead Guitar: Thom Blunier, Rhythm Guitar: Thomas Muster, Bass: Oli Linder, Drums: Roger Tanner

Produced by Thom Blunier