In hard rock circles the Swiss band enjoyed a good reputation from the very beginning. It basically took on the heritage of Tea and Krokus. Their grandiose cover version of "Hush" (Joe South song in deep-purple version) was long their calling card. Leo Leoni as guitarist and singer Steve Lee were since then set as a trump card in the nineties hard rock circus. When Steve died in a motorcycle accident in the USA in 2010, the Gotthard universe was shaken violently. After a year later a replacement was found in Nic Maeder, the question arose for a moment whether the band would really manage to continue on a similar high level ... and they did. The new album is now simply and aptly titled "#13".
eclipsed: New album, new luck? The "13" - is that a lucky number for you? And what is the special thing about the new album for you?
Leo Leoni: We have decided that the "13" is definitely a lucky number for us. On the other hand, we approached the task of recording the new album with little reflexivity and just quite relaxed. So there's nothing really special on or about the album. I hope the Gotthard fans like it, at least we had fun writing and recording the album. Basically we just tried as always to put out our best songs. Whether it will be "just" another Gotthard album or a classic, that will be a matter of time.
eclipsed: That's an answer that could've come from Biff of Saxon..
Leoni: Good band, just like us (laughs). But honestly, sometimes you write more ballads, sometimes the hard rockers come out of you as if by magic. Because I still believe in the album format, I just want a Gotthard album to be listenable, to have a good balance and not to be boring. Of course we had a phase when we recorded our songs acoustically, that was obviously fun. But "#13" should become a really good rocking album! Not more, but in no case less. Unfortunately less and less people buy records or CDs, which is annoying especially because you can't keep a band alive just by streaming alone.
