In 1990 you released you first ever instrumental album. Some of the tunes on this record sound like they are songs but without vocals (“Exodus” is a good example in my opinion). Was it really like that? Did you use any leftovers from Burning Starr records?
No, actually the song “Exodus” from the movie “Exodus” which was written by Ernest Gold did not have lyrics in the movie and it was a hit without lyrics. Later on there was a version with lyrics. I wanted the guitar to sing the melody and I often to that when I try to visualize the guitar as a human voice. I did not have any leftovers from Burning Starr records. I don’t have a lot of melodic ideas so they all get used. Someone said that Prince would have music constantly flowing out of him and he could record ten songs a day if he wanted to, but for me it is more difficult
“A Minor Disturbance” is still your only instrumental record. Don’t you want to release another one?
Maybe one day I will do another one, but for now I love hearing the human voice and I am also trying to sing on my non metal music.
The story with Smokestack Lightning was that we had a manager who was financing this band — his name was Frank Cariola and I’ve already told you about him. David and I got along well in that band and we both loved the idea of working with Craig McGregor who had played bass with Foghat on all their million selling albums. It really was an honor for both us that a musician of his talent and success would be willing to play with us. The only problem was that around that time the music in America was changing and grunge and alternative were becoming big ,and so Frank was not able to secure us a record deal. If we had gotten a record deal then the band would have stayed together. Nothing succeeds like success. A few years ago Craig passed away and I was very sad to hear that because he was a great person who gave me a lot of good advice and made me feel good every time I saw him
As far as I understand, some of the songs which you wrote for Smokestack Lightning ended up on Strider’s album. Could you tell me brief story of this band please?
Strider was supposed to be a Burning Starr album but the only member left was Mike Tirelli. So it became another band and we came up with a new name because it was no longer Burning Starr. Strider is a very good album but the only fault I have with this album is that it does not have a real drummer. We used a drum machine and that is something I will never do again. I love the sound of a real drummer.
Somewhere in the 80’s you played in the band called Oxygen together with Bobby Rondinelli. How did that happen and why didn’t this band succeed having two well known members like you and Bobbi? Is it true that you tried to shop Oxygen’s album as your solo album taking off the vocals out of it?
Oxygen was a very good album, everyone on it played and sang great,we did not perform many gigs with it and Bobby was in a few other bands so he could not commit to it . It was made during a time when the music was changing and grunge was still big .I thought the vocals and everything else on that record was great so I would not have tried to change anything on it
Paper Tiger was another attempt at getting a record deal but I think that again the sound of that band which was good was not in style when we were doing it
You weren’t active in terms of recording during the 90’s, so what were you doing as a musician? Did you keep on writing songs and if yes, did you use any of them on the albums which came out in 2000’s?
In the 2000’s I played a lot of classic rock and I continued to play guitar in clubs and bars but without doing any recording and not with the idea of trying to become known as a recording artist. I love music and I just want to play guitar and if anyone liked it that was great but if not I would keep playing anyway to make myself happy. I really think that a musician has to play first for himself. I think it was Bruce Springsteen that said music can save you and you play it because “you have to”.
While you were out of the scene Jag Panzer kept you legacy by recording “False Messiah”. What do you think about their version?
I was really surprised when I was contacted by Jag Panzer about doing a cover of “False Messiah”. I thought that everyone had totally forgotten about me, so it was very cool that this great band was going to do one of my originals. They did an incredible version and to be honest I think the guitarist played a much better solo than I did. I am not even sure I would be able to play his solo because it was very complicated and very fast. When I first heard it I was amazed and felt like I was shown up and outdone and knew that I could never play as well as the new generation of guitarists that I was not a part of.
You first record in 2000’s was “Soon Day Will Come” and you surprised your fans delivering awesome bluesy, funky and Latin tunes. Was it hard for you have the courage to put it out? I mean people knew you as a heavy metal guitarist and they certainly didn’t expect something like that…
No, it was not hard at all and I was proud to say to whoever was listening that I was capable of doing other things besides metal. The truth is I love a lot of different music and it would be sad to limit myself to just one style. For me the “Soon Day Will Come” album was an exploration of different styles including Latin Santana style. When I recorded that Santana was very big and I loved his comeback album. I knew some Hispanic guys that lived near me on Long Island and I asked them if we could jam sometime. They looked at me like I was crazy and said “Aren’t you a guy that plays heavy metal and had a band in the eighties? Why do you think you can play our music”? I said all I want is to jam and let’s see if we can clique. So we got together a few times and it didn’t sound bad so we put together an album.
How did you get the idea of putting out “Before the Steele” compilation? Can you provide some information about this collection of songs? Were the songs recorded by the same band or were they different bands who helped you?
“Before the Steele” were all recorded in the 1970’s with various Long Island musicians and most of them were done with my good friend Gary Saint in his living room on a 4 track Teac machine. It was a lot of fun and without Gary’s guidance and recording ability those demos would have never been made.
I know that you were born in Paris and played in a band Starr System there. Were any of the songs off “Before the Steele” recorded in France?
Starr System
No, when I lived in France, I did not record with Starr System and none of the riffs were ever used. The truth is I was just learning to play and I was not very good and my riffs were not that great. Guitar playing has always been very difficult for me. I know that we often hear about guitarists like Clapton that are playing for two years and join famous bands or Eddie Van Halen who was very very young when he recorded “Van Halen I” and played brilliantly. This was never the case for me. It has taken me fifty years to get “good” and I’m still not sure that I am any good. (Laughs)
Finally in 2003 you’ve returned to playing heavy metal. What was the turning point for you? When and how did you realize that you need to record another heavy metal album?
When I moved to Florida and got back together with my original bassist Ned Meloni and he said, “You need to get back to metal, that is what you do best”. So in 2003 we started working on original songs.
Why did you decide to release it under Jack Starr’s Guardians of Flames moniker? Did your label tried to capitalize on the reference to Virgin Steele?
Well, I think the record company liked that name and it was a name that I originally came up with. So I Tdidn’t see a problem but now that I look back on it I don’t think it was a good idea. The name of that album should have been “Burning Starr V” and if there is another reissue of that album I will ask what ever label puts it out to change it to that name.
How was it to work with Shmoulik Avigal? Did he write the lyrics and vocal lines or was it you who wrote everything? 
Guardians of the Flame
Shmoulik contributed a lot to the album. He helped with lyrics, melodies and he was a very good singer. Ned and Joe Hasselvander also contributed a lot with the arrangements and parts. That album made me realize how important Ned was going to be in my life if I was going to continue to make metal music.
Sorry for saying that, but in my opinion the album suffers a bit from sloppy sound production while the songs are great.
We had a small budget for that album and worked in a garage studio. So I understand your critique but I do think that the song “Conspiratos Sanctos” came out great and also T”he Flame that Never Dies”. So if you have two great songs on an album that is not bad. I remember when I was young I would sometimes buy an album if it had one great song,
In 2003 you played with Hirax at Bang Your Head festival. How did that happen? What song did you play with them and what are your thoughts about the music Hirax play?
First of all I was friends with Katon who I always thought was a very cool guy and one of the founders of the Thrash music sound. We were talking one day and he said “How would you like to be our guest musician at the Bang Your Head festival?” Of course I said yes but than I had to also let him know that I did not have any money to pay for the flight to Germany and he said he would try to get my expense approved and he did. I am grateful to Katon for making that happen. For me he is a great guy .I remember one day I was walking with Katon in a little German village near the festival and an old German woman who must have been at least 80 years old stopped us and started talking to us. We asked our translator what she wanted and he explained that she had never seen a black man before and she wanted to touch Katon. I looked at Katon not knowing what he would say and he looked at her and smiled and said yes. The old woman was happy and touched Katon’s cheek and said “Danke” and from that moment on I knew that Katon was a very good and kind man. Hirax are a great band and they have remained true to their music all these years and I wish them continued success. There is a cool video of me with Hirax on youtube.
After that you disappeared for another 6 years when you have returned with an amazing album “Defiance” (and another blues album a year before). First off, how did you get to know Todd Michael Hall? And how was it to work with him? As far as I understand he was responsible for many lyrics on your albums?
Joey DeMaio was helping us find a singer and one day he sat us down and made us listen to Todd’s demo and everyone loved his voice right away. So it was decided that day and Todd became our singer.
“Defiance” was released on Manowar’s Magic Circle Music label. Were you satisfied with their job in terms of marketing and promotion of the album? How substantial was Joey DeMaio’s input as producer?
Joey is an amazing musician and producer and he guided us tremendously during the making of “Defiance”. In fact he even picked the songs we were going to record. We gave him total permission to make all the decisions. Magic Circle did a very good job and it was very difficult for them because at that time we were not well known at all and many of our fans from the eighties did not even remember us.
In one interview you mentioned that some song on “Defiance” was based on Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”. Which song was it?
The song is the “The King Must Die”.
Another interesting track off this album is “Indian Nation”. What influenced you to write it?
I have always thought that our treatment of native Americans which are the Indians was not something that as a nation America should be proud of. I wanted a song with lyrics to honor the great traditions and spirit of the Indians.
Fortunately the next album — “Land of the Dead” — came out soon enough. Is it true that you tried out 8 different studios to record the album? What was wrong with all of them? 
JSBS with Todd Michael Hall
The problem was that we did try several studios, but I think that maybe the correct number was five or six. The problem was that in the 2000’s many studio’s did not like guitarists playing loud and they did not know or want to know how to get a good guitar sound using loud amps like Marshall’s. So we needed to find a studio that was okay with me playing loud because after all in the words of a metal critic we played guitar driven metal and that should be done loud. Of course now that I look back on this I know that I damaged my hearing greatly and very often I cannot hear people unless they talk very loud and if I am watching TV I have to have it very loud or I don’t hear anything.
How did you get to know Bart Gabriel who has become producer of your albums and unofficial manager?
Bart was and is a great fan of my first band Virgin Steele and it is because of that reason that he has been helping us, Bart is our unofficial manager but he has done more than any “real” manager has
By the way, how does he produce your albums living in Poland? Do you fly to Europe, does he fly to the States or do you work online sending files to each other?
He produces our albums through the use of file sharing which is very common today, so everything is done online. We only see each other when we go to Europe . We also have another very important person that helps us named Kevin Burnes. He gets us amazing sounds in this studio and also plays all the rhythm guitar and most of the harmony guitar lines. He is a great musician and has recorded with Dokken and many others.
People say different things about Limb Schnoor and his label. What are your impressions about him?
Limb did a very good job for us and continued to make us more known in Europe.
I admire the song “Daughter of Darkness”. What inspired you to write the music and the lyrics?
“Daughter of Darkness” was written about how there are people that are always in the shadows and you wonder about them and think, “Who are they and what are they about” and you think are these people evil or is it that they are afraid to be friendly and maybe they think it makes them weak?
What caused such a long break between “Land of the Dead” and “Stand Your Ground”?
Part of the problem is that “Stand Your Ground” is a double album so it was like we recorded two albums but at the last minute the record company said they wanted to fit everything on one CD (79 minutes of music) and in order to do that two songs were left out and two songs had to be edited to reduce the time so that it could fit on the CD.
How come that you used same Ken Kelly’s picture for “Stand Your Ground” as the band Thaurorod did on their album from 2010? Weren’t you aware of that?
That is a crazy story. We did not know that another band had used the cover art and Ken Kelley did not tell us. We would have not have used that art work if we knew that and in the future the artist will have to sign an exclusivity agreement so that this situation can never happen again. We were not happy when we found out. Ned had done an image search for that painting and nothing came up so we were surprised to learn about this.
This album contains your longest song ("Stand Your Ground") so far. Did it just happen to be that long or was it a plan to write such an epic track?
I and Ned wanted to write an epic track, though some critics have said it was too long. But as far as I can see when I listen to it, I don’t find it too long but maybe I am biased?
Could you tell me a bit about the song “Worlds Apart”? Who is Lissa who inspired you to write the song?
Lissa is Lissa Knight the wife of my friend Charles Knight and both of them great singers and hosts of Karoake shows in the town I live in. One day I went to one of their shows and the song “Still Loving You” by the Scorpions came up and Lissa got up and sang it beautifully and I thought what an incredible ballad this is (maybe the best metal ballad ever}. I went home and I was filled with the fire of wanting to write a great ballad and “Worlds Apart” was born a few weeks later
Tell me please about original recording of the song “Stronger Than Steel”. Why didn’t you release it in the 80’s and how did you ménage to find this tape?
Ned found it and it was very cool to hear Rhett singing and us talking and putting the arrangement together. Ned and I both loved Rhett’s voice and this song was really a tribute to Rhett
There is a thank you to Bart Gabriel for sticking with the band when things looked pretty dark. Can you comment on this line?
I think what we meant with that thanks to Bart was that it has not been easy for Burning Starr and it was hard to find promoters or labels to work with us in the start of our comeback and we wanted to let Bart know that we were grateful for his support and loyalty.
Todd Michael Hall quit Burning Starr to play with Riot V and he was recommended to Donnie Van Stavern by Bart Gabriel. It’s a bit complicated situation, isn’t it? Your manager recommends your singer to another band…
We didn’t think it was a problem and we understood that Todd needed to play out more and Burning Starr was not being offered many gigs or the quality of gigs that Riot was.
Fortunately, Bart found Alex Panza for Burning Starr…
JBR with Alex Panza
Bart found Alexx and we could not be happier. Alex will show the world very soon that he is in the top percentage of metal singers and we hope he will stick with us because if he does we are sure we can become a very well known metal band.
Did you consider an idea to ask Mike Tirelli to return to the band after Todd had quit?
I did think about Mike but Mike is in a great band called the Rising Five (and also in Holy Mother).
Could you provide some information about “Souls of the Innocent”? Song titles, some unusual stuff, guest appearances, release date etc.
I am not allowed to say too much about Souls of the Innocent but I can tell you that Ned Meloni came up with that title and it is about the shooting of 160 people at a concert in Las Vegas several years ago both me and Ned were very shocked at the senseless deaths of these innocent people whose only “crime” was wanting to enjoy a nice night of music and it cost them their lives
You’ve had some interesting guests on your albums like Paul Chapman, David Shankle, Ross the Boss and Joe Stump. How was it to work with them? Do you see yourself recording an album with a second guitarist?
I love working with great guitarists, it always makes me proud to have musicians of that caliber play on a Burning Starr album. It really is possible that one day Burning Starr will have a permanent second guitarist, and in a way we already do because Kevin Burnes has been contributing a lot of guitar on these albums and live Marta Gabriel has done a great job of second guitar in Europe, and in America Kevin has done festivals with us and always plays great and recreates the album parts better than I do. So I am eternally grateful to both of them for helping to make Burning Starr a cool band to hear live.
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