Continued from page 34
Mosh: Since Neil hasn’t played with the
band as you said, since the ’80s, how has
this configuration gelled, personally and
musically?
RDL: He's easy to get along with in every
way. He's a strong musician and a really nice
guy; he's a team player. It's funny; UFO has
been together so long. When we meet people
who are into the band, a lot of them have dif-
ferent eras that they're in to. A lot are into the
Schenker era. Then there's a lot who [prefer]
the Paul Chapman era, and a lot are into the
Vinnie era. Neil Carter is part of the
Chapman era, and some people are so excit-
ed that we have someone from that era
because that's when they discovered the
band, or when they liked the band most.
That's when I [first] saw them in 1980 when I
was in high school. It was just a couple of
months before Neil Carter came in actually.
So, everyone has their own favorites,
whether it's a favorite song or favorite era.
And that's what happens when you have a
band that's 50 years old; you’re not going to
have everyone liking one thing. We do
shows, and people are insane about meeting
Neil, or just insane that Neil’s on stage again
with us. So, it's been interesting. It was defi-
nitely a quick, sudden turn of events that I
never saw coming. But I think the band is
doing pretty good with it, considering what
cards we were dealt with Paul passing and
what we've made out of it.
Mosh: You've been with UFO since 2008,
replacing Pete Way, who was iconic and
such an essential part of the band's DNA.
Was there any trepidation on your part com-
ing into the band?
RDL: Luckily, I'd been playing for a long
time, and I'd been touring and making
records for a long time at that point. So, I
wasn't really intimidated, honestly. But I
knew I had to do a good job, and I do respect
Pete and his bass arrangements and his
songs. So, I wanted to do a good job and the
band to like me. I wanted the fans to like me,
and I wanted to do justice to the UFO legacy.
Mosh: UFO’s last original studio recording
was 2015’s Conspiracy of Stars. It was your
first record with them, and you collaborated
on the songwriting. What was it like to con-
tribute to this great legacy?
RDL: That was definitely a big deal for me,
and it's one of my proudest accomplish-
ments. There was a third song that I co-wrote
called “King of the Hill,” but it was the bonus
track, so you might not have that track. And
that’s actually one of my favorite songs on
the album. It was also written with Paul
Raymond and Phil Mogg. It was a big deal,
and it is a big deal for me to be writing and
recording with the band. Never say never.
Maybe Phil will get bored and decide he
wants to make another record. That would
be fantastic!
Mosh: I hope so because the last album
was the 2017 covers album The Salentino
Cuts. What made the band want to do a col-
lection of covers? Were these bands a signif-
icant influence on the group?
RDL: I don't know how big an influence
these bands were on UFO because we went
through so many lists. We started, obviously,
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Continued on page 44
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