Marc Storace of Krokus

Interview by Avril Savoie
Exclusive to Rockstar Weekly
Biography based on Wikipedia

Over a period of 3 decades KROKUS have recorded a total of 15 studio albums, 2 "live" albums and 3 "Best of..." (some remastered) albums with various line-up's.

The breakthrough came in 1980 with Triple Platinum selling METAL RENDEZ-VOUS. Fernando Von Arb on lead-guitar, Chris Von Rohr on the mighty bass and drummer Freddy Steady established an International identity for the band and instant recognition with the powerful vocals of Marc the voice Storace. Three Rock Classics were born (Bedside Radio, Heatstrokes and Tokyo Nights) and caught the attention not only of the Swiss fans but also the British and American public as well as the press. In fact, Heatstrokes shot up to first place in the British Heavy Metal charts.

The follow-up album from 1981, Hardware, was recorded at the Hammersmith studios in London and features such songs as "Easy Rocker" and "Rock City", which are still a part of the band's live repertoire today.

In 1982, with new American management, Krokus recorded One Vice at a Time, which features hits such as "Long Stick Goes Boom", the Guess Who cover "American Woman" and a duet with Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, "I'm on the Run". Chris von Rohr described it as "the album AC/DC never made", since the sound is extremely close to the Australian band. This fact caused doubt about the creativity of the band since many considered them to be copycats.

Headhunter was awarded platinum album status in the United States and hit number 25 in the 1983 album charts. It is the most successful album from Krokus to date and is also widely considered to be their biggest musical achievement. All Krokus albums to date have gone platinum in Switzerland. It boasted the power ballad "Screaming in the Night" which saw heavy rotation on MTV. Judas Priest's Rob Halford also guested on backing vocals.

In 2005, longtime lead guitarist Fernando von Arb left the band after continuing wrist problems required surgery. Mandy Meyer, who had played with the band in the mid-1980s, replaced von Arb in the lineup. The new formation recorded the studio album Hellraiser in 2006, which went to gold in Switzerland on the first day of sales.

On 18 November 2007 the line up featuring Chris von Rohr, Fernando von Arb, Fready Steady and Marc Storace reunited to play a medley ("Tokyo Nights", "Bedside Radio" and "Heatstrokes") during the TV show Die grössten Schweizer Hits on Swiss television. This event broke the ice between the members of the 1982 formation and led to their reunion concert on in 2008.

It was announced in 2008 that the classic lineup of Chris von Rohr, Fernando von Arb, Freddy Steady, Mark Kohler and Marc Storace had reunited and would be releasing a new studio record in 2009 with a supporting world tour.

On 2 August 2008 the band performed live in the Stade de Suisse in Bern.

Krokus will perform the official anthem of the 2009 Ice Hockey World Championships, which are hosted by their home country of Switzerland. The song is entitled "Live for the Action".

RockStar Weekly's Avril Savoie had the chance to chat with Marc about the history and future of the band and RockStar Weekly was given a sneak preview of Live For The Action.

Check out Live For The Action here:

Krokus doesn't do a lot of interviews in Canada.

Let's go back to the start. How did you get into Krokus to begin with?

What do you remember about those first tours outside of your home?

You eventually made it to Canada.

Krokus is known for its rockin' cover tunes. How did you get into doing those?

What went on with Tommy Kiefer?

How about Fernando von Arb?

Mandy Meyer was part of the Krokus return.

Hellraiser was the last CD, the start of the real Krokus return. Where did Hellraiser come from?

Your website says you're working on a new CD.

One last question. I heard that you turned down the job as AC/DC's new singer when Bon Scott died. Is that true?