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Rock Legend Interview
Phil Mogg
UFO-singer/songwriter
By Wayne "Doobie" Dubay
July 12, 2005
UFO is one of those bands that undoubtedly helped pave the way for Rock Music as mankind knows it today! Although UFO has gone through many changes over the years, and hit a bump or two in the road along the way, it hasn’t slowed the band down one single bit. UFO is still alive and well, and better than ever!
Aside from the great classic albums UFO has put out over the years like the “Lights Out” album back in 1977, or the “Obsession” album in 1978, or even the newer albums like “Covenant” released in 2000, or their “Sharks” album in 2002, the legendary rock band still continues to write, record, and tour. Currently in the band is vocalist Phil Mogg, Keyboardist\rhythm guitarist Paul Raymond. Bass guitarist Pete Way, Vinnie Moore on lead guitar and last but not least the drummer boy himself, Jason Bonham.
UFO is currently still touring in support of their latest album, titled “You Are Here,” released in 2004. The rockers are currently touring the U.S. and toured Europe prior to coming here. The newer members in the band, Vinnie Moore and Jason Bonham bring a unique new sound and energy to the group with songs like, “When Daylight Goes To Town,” and “Baby Blue,” just to name a couple. UFO also have a new DVD coming out which was filmed and recorded in a small venue in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, which will knock your socks off! The band has no plans of slowing down anytime soon!
Ladies and Gentleman and kids of all ages, gather around because Glam-Metal has a big surprise! We have an exclusive interview with the legendary Phil Mogg himself! In this interview he talks about old School UFO, new School UFO and everything in between, so kick back and enjoy reading what Phil has to say. Aside from being the hard rocker he is, Mogg is a total gentleman and joy to be around. We at Glam-Metal being big UFO fans ourselves are totally honored to bring you this exclusive interview with the very talented and very funny Mr. Phil Mogg! Enjoy!
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Phil Mogg, welcome back to the U.S. How are you?
I’m very well, thank you.
Anybody have any Visa problems this time around?
Only the usual! Pete Way still has a visa problem, and we don’t know how long that’s going to be ongoing for. It’s only in America, and hopefully it gets sorted out soon.
I hope so as well. I’d like to see him perform on the next U.S. tour.
I don’t know whether he has a two year or five year ban. It’s a mystery really. Um, you don’t know with him, he’ll tell you one story, and then it could be another story. So, I don’t know. It was originally supposed to be a two year ban, but I think the minimum is a five year ban.
He’s being punished I guess.
If you know the score, don’t fuck with it. (Laughs)
(Laughs) Exactly! In my interview with Jason last summer, he claims UFO has some sort of a curse. Do you believe that as well? I mean, does UFO have that much bad luck?
(Laughs) No. Unless he’s the latest curse. (Laughs) No, it’s not a curse, it’s just how it is. I mean we fuck up here and there, you know? (Laughs)
(Laughs) Well, it sucks to be human sometimes huh?
Well it does, yes. (Laughs)
You look great man. What’s your secret for staying in such great shape? Do you work out?
Worrying! (Laughs) I do my bit. I just mind what I eat, and what I do and stuff. You know, when you’re twenty years old, you don’t bother with it because it’s not a problem. As you get older, you just have to be a bit more aware of what’s happening. I’ve got no intention of going to seed. (Laughs)
(Laughs) I was just wondering what your secret is, if you run or workout, a lot of sex probably huh...(Laughs)
(Laughs) Oh, the whole spectrum really. You have to have a good balance.
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So, you’re still touring in support of your latest record “You Are Here.” Which is a kick ass record by the way. Is the tour getting off to a good start so far?
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoy it. Yeah, the tour is starting off quite well. Barry Sparks who filled in for Pete last year is with Ted Nugent, so Jeff Collman who I know from doing Chocolate Box was around when I was asking about bass players, and he goes, I’ll do it!” So I was like “Cool, problem solved.” It’s nice, because we don’t have the problem of getting to know someone new, and see if they’ve got problems or something, you know?
Yeah, exactly. Barry Sparks is actually a good friend of the Glam-Metal family. He’s a really nice guy and very talented as well. He’s a busy man for sure.
Yeah, he is, we like Barry.
How many songs off the new record are on the set list, and how well of a response are you getting with the new material?
I think real good. I mean obviously the new stuff is a bit different for the audience, but we’ll keep playing it until they really get it! (Laughs) We’re playing about four songs off of it. It out weighs other stuff, it’s in the forefront of what we’re playing.
I love the record, and I’m not just saying that, I really do. It’s fresh!
Thank you.
What’s a couple of your favorite songs off the new record?
It’s usually the ones we play. I love “When Daylight Goes To Town,”and “Baby Blue” is a great song as well. I kind of change sometimes though. I’ll put on an album that I haven’t heard for a while and go “oh, I kind of like that.” So I might switch to something else. With the new DVD thing which we’ve done, we did one live, and we’ve done the other in the studio with a string quartet, playing the strings on “Love To Love,” as was when we first did it, but it’s kind of live in the studio, and we do “Profession Of Violence,” “Try Me,” and we do “Slipping Away” in the studio, and that comes out real well.
With all the songs you have recorded over the years, how hard is it to pick a set list? I understand that you have to play certain songs that the fans want to hear of course, but what’s that like in the UFO camp?
Yeah. We’re changing the set list tonight actually. Jason’s come up with a brain wave. We’re playing a different running order and everything tonight. I understand we’re slipping in “Cherry” and we’re doing “Pack It Up (And Go).” It’s going to be an interesting evening for sure. (Laughs)
Overall, are you happy with the way “You Are Here” turned out?
Yeah. It was a turn of events, we recorded in Europe, we had a German guy, we recorded in Germany. Vinnie, Jason, so yeah, I’m very happy. It could have gone disastrously wrong, but it didn’t, it went just fine.
Many of your songs are very poetic. Where does the inspiration come from?
It depends on what’s going on around you at the time. You know, if you haven’t recorded in a year, there’s generally stuff that’s going on at around that time. Oh, and you can pull stuff out of the newspapers and stuff. You might read something you can relate to that’s happened, and then change it into something else that makes sense to you kind of thing.
Does writing come easy for you?
Well, sometimes it’s easy, and sometimes it’s a real pain, and you go blank. That’s not much fun, but you kind of get through. A lot of bands that get new record deals are kind of pushed into recording something in a certain amount of time, and put under pressure. It could ultimately produce a bad record.
It doesn’t work generally. The more pressure you put on someone, the harder it is. I mean, a certain amount of pressure is needed or you’d be a lazy sod, and say “Oh, I’ll just do that tomorrow,” which I’m very good at doing. But yes, to much and it blows the whole thing.
UFO played a few European festivals prior to the U.S. tour, how’d that go, and which festivals did you particularly enjoy?
Actually we did one with Cheap Trick which I enjoyed a lot. Um, I saw lots of people I haven’t seen in years. Motorhead was there, and Deep Purple which I hadn’t seen for twenty years, so I got to see some bands I hadn’t seen in a long time. Oh and Judas Priest which I hadn’t seen in decades. It was good seeing a lot of people.
You have toured the U.S. many times. What’s your absolute favorite stop in America? (Besides Hampton Beach of course)
I have to be where it’s hot! (Laughs) I don’t really have any favorite gigs. Years ago when you’d first go somewhere, a certain place might leave an impression on you. After a while, you just enjoy the gig. Like tonight, I’d like to see a bit of Mountain perform...and yeah, you just enjoy it for what it is. Actually, I wouldn’t have minded going on before, and then we could have the nice relaxing time watching them. Back in the late 70's to early 80's we’d do opening slots for where ever and whenever and we’d do forty-five minutes, an hour if you were lucky. I thought it was great, cause we would do that, and then we could watch the main band, kick back, party and then go on to the next gig. But when you started headlining, after the gigs you’d look around and everyone was gone. The support band has stolen all the girls... and the drugs. (Laughs) So, I never found it to be that glamorous closing the show. (Laughs)
(Still laughing) You guys played at BB Kings place last night, that’s a nice venue.
It was very good. For New York, it was good, because we played like nine months ago and I thought we came out a bit too quick, but yeah, it was fun. I loved the audience.
Madam Tuso’s is across the street, did you go check that out?
No, I’m not into wax.
Phil, you’re probably in there! (Laughing)
(laughter) Ah...
Of all the tours you’ve been on over the years, is there a particular one that really stands out?
Yeah, some of the older tours, it was us and Judas Priest and... we did a lot of co-headlining. AC\DC was great! Rush was established and it was us, Cheap trick, Judas Priest, AC\DC on the coming up if you will, and we’d do tours together. That was kind of fun really.
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So, I bet you’ve got quite a few Bon Scott stories then huh?
(Laughing) Yeah, yup...out of the older ones, the Doobie Brothers were a lot fun. We did two or three dates with them, and they were very hospitable.
Any wild or crazy stories from the road you care to share with us here at Glam-Metal? You toured with Bon Scott, I’m sure you’ve got something! (Laughing)
(Laughing) oh, it’s all the usual stuff, you know... everything you’ve heard before, or read before...it’s the same old stuff really.
How well are Jason and Vinnie fitting in with UFO?
Great! You get lucky sometimes. We really took our time and hopefully made sure it was right, and particularly with Vinnie, it was a question of getting material from him, and then seeing whether or not we could write stuff together. I spoke to other guitarists before Vinnie around the same time, but we got to the point with Vinnie where we actually exchanged material and saw whether we could do something or not. Other than just having Charlie Blokes who shreds a good guitar, but can we work together? So with Vinnie it was real good, and with Jason, he’s the character that he is... 
Jason is quite a jokester, what kind of pranks has he pulled so far on this tour?
He is a prank! (Laughs) He sets the balance. There’s always a balance in a band. You’ve got the quieter ones, and then the real loud ones. Jason full fills all that loudness for us. (Laughs)
(Laughs) yeah, Jason is a funny guy. Do you plan to record another album with Jason and Vinnie?
Yeah. We just did that DVD, and that should come out at some point. Towards Christmas I think, or November we’ll start putting some stuff down.
Where was the DVD recorded?
Wilhelmshaven, which is the Northern part of Germany. We were looking for a small gig to do, and um...I wanted to do it in a cabaret club, and the one that we found or managed to get... well, we couldn’t get one in Berlin, and then we found one in Hanover which was cool, it was all red chintz and gold, but it had two pillars in front of the stage, so we couldn’t get the gear on. So we ended up in Wilhelmshaven.
So you wanted to keep the gig a bit more personal then huh?
Tighter gig, like a tight stage. We found this pump house, so we did the gig there.
Cool, so are you happy with the way the DVD turned out then?
Ah, I’ve only seen the roughs...looked rough! (Laughs) I’m not sure what it’s going to come out like.
I’m sure it’ll be great. We hope!
I can’t imagine UFO having a bad show Phil.
The shows are all right, it’s the pictures and the close-ups that I’m worried about.
Did you have a pimple or something you were worried about? (Laughs)
(Laughs) No, it’s having a camera shoved up your nose.
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Do you still keep in touch with Michael Schenker or work together musically at all?
Nope. I don’t know what he’s up to. Mostly our meetings have been purely musical when we have gotten together, not a personal thing really. He’s a great guitar player that Michael.
I was always under the impression you and Michael were good friends.
We used to knock around together in the 70's some...
Do you miss playing with him on stage, and have you ever thought of reuniting with him?
No, we’ve reunited so many times. No, unfortunately it wouldn’t work.
What’s your all-time favorite UFO album?
That’s a tough one. I like the “Obsession” album because it was such a major turning point.
Do you listen to your own music?
No. (Laughs) You tend not to listen to them once it’s done. I don’t anyway. I seldom go back and listen, but I do sometimes.
Who inspired you to be a singer in a rock band growing up?
Joe Cocker, Steve Marriott, Eric Burdon...that lot. They were part of that whole movement at that time. I also enjoyed a lot of guitar players as well. Eric Clapton, Alvin Lee, who played with Ten Years After, Peter Green as well... any guitar players that could play a few licks, I thought were great. Free was very hot when they came out, a very different kind of band.
Where are you from?
London.
I’m sorry to hear about the ruthless attacks this morning in London. I hope your family and friends are all fine.
Thank you. It was destined to happen unfortunately. The government has such lax border control there. At least in America there is great effort now to make it difficult to get into the country.
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It’s hard to say though. At the same time we want the security of it, but then we don’t like the hassle of it when it’s time to travel, you know? I mean...look, they won’t let Pete Way back in. (Laughs)
(Laughs) Well yeah! Keep that scummer out! (Laughs)
(Laughing) I’m not going to print that!
That’s all right!
If Pete was to read this, he’d be pissed off at you. (Laughs)
(Laughing) No, No, he’ll be fine.
All joking aside though, this terrorist bullshit has gone way too far.
It certainly has. Not to get into a whole political thing, but we’re just stirring the pot. We should have left that all alone. We have to go to the embassy before I can come back here, Because the last two interviews, Pete couldn’t get in, and then when I went for my interview they asked me if I had ever been arrested, which I went “No”...they kind of looked at the computer and said, “Are you sure?” I said, “Oh, I don’t know.” Well, apparently I had been. (Laughs) I was on an Ozzy tour in Lubec Texas twenty-five years ago. I think it was just before Randy Rhodes had died. I unfortunately mooned the audience, and that was it, I got arrested. I went to the county jail in tights! It was a Saturday Night! I kept my back to the wall. Some huge gorilla that was at the gig got arrested that night also, so I was ok. He was my best friend ever! (Laughs)
I’m glad you had someone to watch your back man. What do you like to do mostly when you aren’t working or touring the world?
Yeah, I do as little as possible. (Laughs) I just do the general stuff that most people do, go to the beach, fix something...I like to read...
Good, you have something relaxing you can do then. You don’t want to write music all the time...You must need a break from all the craziness at times.
Exactly, it’s a complete walk-away from it, because that way, when you come back to it, you’re that more refreshed.
What are your thoughts on the music scene today, and are there any newer bands you dig?
No, I haven’t heard anything that gets my pulse racing, you know? It’s a wimpy kind of scene going on it seems. There are a few bands in England that are just wimpy sounding. In actual fact, I went back and started digging out my old records, the first Hendrix album, and the Humble Pie record, “Rockin’ the Fillmore,” Lynyrd Skynyrd...
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There you go...That’s what you slap on for music when your home huh?
Well, I was getting a bit bored with the radio, so I put this stuff on and go, “Oh Yeah!” I kept thinking, is it because I come from that generation, or what? But in actuality, it’s just because it’s truly music. I don’t care what anyone says. I would listen to it, and go “This stuff is just fucking great!” This is the stuff that started it all. That’s the kind of stuff I like. If I hear a rock band on the radio that’s really good, I’ll go out and buy the album. I just haven’t heard anything lately that gets me going.
What about the Darkness? They’re a European band, what are your thoughts on them?
I like it because it’s different, and it’s done in tongue and cheek, it’s humorous as well as melodic.
I’m sick of the corporate music today...the boy and girl bands and stuff, you know?
Yeah, they don’t come up through the club scene, and work up through, if you will...it’s manufacturing a group. Whatever works, but yeah...I like the rock bands.
Ok, is there anything I didn’t ask that you’d like to mention?
No, I’m just happy to be here.
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Any comments for your fans out there Phil?
Come out to the gigs, don’t just sit at home wishing you were there, get up and go, you’ll have fun. (Laughs) Also, check out our new DVD that’s coming out, and thank you all for the support over the years. Cheers!
All you UFO fans sitting at home thinking about going, PACK IT UP AND GO! (Laughs) I had to say that!
(Laughs) Very nice!
We at Glam-Metal are huge UFO fans, and want to thank you very much for taking the time to talk with us and your fan’s Phil. Good luck with the tour, the new DVD and the latest record, “You Are Here.”
That’s terrific! Thank you and Glam-Metal!
Any of you aliens out there looking to find out more info on UFO’s tours, merchandise, etc... go to www.ufo-music.com
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