Greetings Mr Reece – many thanks for joining in with our end of year retrospective! It’s been a busy year for you – please tell us a bit about what you’ve been up to… “Greetings and thank you for taking the time to let me share my story with you and your readers! For starters after I left Bonfire – I’d been growing very tired of the direction I’d been going the last few years musically and felt a fresh start was greatly needed as I’d been listening to a lot of young bands and productions and decided to sort of take another turn while keeping some of my sound”.

You’ve certainly done that with your new album, Resilient Heart – are you pleased with the early reception the album has received? “Very! Actually today I learned we charted at number eight in vinyl sales in Denmark! Also the response from the fans has been really positive – loads of positive reviews and, playing the songs live on this current tour the audience is really responding”.

That’s good to hear. Is it important for you as an established artist to keep moving forward and releasing new product, rather than merely settling on resting on some well-deserved laurels or concentrating on nostalgia? “Absolutely! I think that’s part of the problem with rock’n’roll the last few years! Everything sounds the same, the same lyrics, same melodies and productions. I’ve always pushed myself personally and vocally. For instance I no longer have a home studio because I found that producing myself I was settling for the average. So I go to an outside studio in Ospeledetto in Italy near my home called Tanzan Studios where I work with a great vocal producer called Mario Percudani. He and I have recorded many times together and he gives me that push to be better”.

What other practitioners of your particular art have impressed you in 2018? “I like Sixx: AM. And Nickleback – they write clever melodies and maintain a fresh sound. I’m also a fan of the new Judas Priest album… they’ve really nailed it on the new album”.

They certainly have! I was worried for a while that it was all over for the band – but on the evidence of Firepower there’s a bit of life left in the old dog yet! And what would you say, other than yours, were the top metal or hard rock albums to emerge this past twelve months? “Again the new Priest, I actually like what Dead Daisies have done too”.

Dead Daisies are very much a musician’s band, I think. Looking at the world in general, would you say 2018 has been a good year for humanity? “No, It’s becoming an entitled world, everyone expects life to come to them… I wasn’t raised that way at all – I believe in hard work and treating others with respect plus speaking face to face rather than texting. Somewhere humans have lost that connection”.

Well, we certainly hope to keep that connection alive in some small way here at Sentinel Daily… That’s this year done and dusted – what about 2019? Are you going to be just as busy next year? “Yes, I’m writing a follow up to Resilient Heart during December. I’ve got a ton of ideas in my head that need releasing so we’ll see where it flows? Also I’m booking lots of shows around Europe as well and will have some exciting news to announce with that regard soon”.

Any chance of a quick jaunt down to Australia? “It’s on my bucket list, I’ve always wanted to play there and also do a walkabout in the bush. Your country is beautiful from what I’ve seen in film and from what people tell me”.

Anything else you’d like the readers of Sentinel Daily to know about? “Only thank you for the support these last thirty or so years and to remind everyone to stay resilient!”

Thanks for taking part!