Dennis if possible could we start the interview off by asking you to introduce yourself to our readers and giving us a brief overview of your career thus far

Howdy, Dennis Wards’ thuh name ‘n making records is muh game! I’ve started out in 1987 as the Bassist for Pink Cream 69 and have been stuck there ever since. Oh yeah, I produce records for other people too. Bands like PC69, Angra, Silent Force, ect….

Starting off bang up to date October saw the release of the Place Vendome album. Now that the album is out there what are your feelings with regard to how it has turned out.

I’m quite content, there are always things from every album I've made that I could imagine to be better but that’s an Artsy-Fartsy kind of hangup. I’m very happy about the great reviews and responses we’ve been having so far world wide.

I believe that the whole project was the idea of Frontiers label boss Serafino Perugino and that initially you were brought on board as producer and song writer. How easy do you find it to write music on demand like this and to a set formula for the way Serafino wanted the finished product to sound.

I find it quite easy, as a matter of fact I feed off the challenge. That’s probably why I like to produce records as well. I love get ideas thrown at me. For example with writing lyrics, if someone throws a good theme my way I can finish the lyric in no time. Finding a good theme takes me forever!

Place Vendome

Following on from the last question I also believe that vocalist Michael Kiske was brought into the project at a fairly late date in proceedings. Did you need to change many of the vocal melodies and lyrics to suit Michael’s voice once he was confirmed for the project?

No, Kiske was brought into the project at the same time. I was asked to write a record in the style of AOR with Michael Kiske as lead vocalist. I was aware before I started song writing that the songs had to fit his voice.

The majority of the press hype around the release of Place Vendome has centred around Kiske’s return to melodic hard rock, do you feel that in way this focus has devalued the creative input and performances of the other people involved in the project?

Not at all! He’s the singer! I feel the singer should not only be the centre of attention but the “image” to be stuck in peoples mind when they hear the songs. I have no desire nor need to pump up my ego with this or any other record and I’m sure the others guys feel this way to, that’s why I love working with them all.

Kiske has also gone on record as saying that the album turned out heavier than he would have liked Does his comments about the album disappoint you at all?

I’ve always been aware that Kiske would prefer to make a Pop record, we spoke of it many times. As a Producer it’s also my job to keep in consideration the marketing aspect of selling\promoting a record. I did what I felt would bring more attention to the record. I’m also pretty sure that the degree of “heaviness” that Kiske is talking about is very minimal when comparing to the demos I delivered.

Place Vendome also marked, I believe, the first time you had worked with guitarist Uwe Reitenaur, who is a member of the touring line up of Pink Cream 69, in a studio situation. Does this suggest that Uwe is more likely to be involved in the next PC69 studio recordings?

Yes, definitely!

Next up for Dennis Ward is the release of the second Khymera album ‘A New Promise’, which marks your debut as a lead vocalist. How did this collaboration come about?

A weird story! As it turns out Serafino thought that I was the singer of PC69. When I was asked to sing on the album I kind of knew that this was the case but I didn’t want to insult anyone or make anyone (including myself) feel uncomfortable. After asking politely “are you sure you want ME to sing on the album?” I suggested that I sing one song and if no one liked it we could just drop the whole thing, I wouldn’t feel insulted at all. I was given the song ‘If you Dare’ as a playback to sing on. After I sang the song and sent it to Serafino and the Producer Daniele Liverani I was told that they both “love” my voice so I agreed to sing the whole album. The song I demoed, by the way, is on the album as I sang it for the guys!

How nervous were you being the voice of an album as opposed to the bass player?

I’m never nervous (except when I get mail from the tax office). I love trying new things and I’ve sang many times in studios for PC69 as well as countless demos for myself. I used to be a singer in a cool 3 piece band when I was younger – kind of RUSH style.

Having not heard ‘A New Promise’ at the time of writing this can you let us know what we can expect from the album?

It’s a melodic rock album, no strings attached! It’s got some beautiful melodies and fantastic guitar playing from a new young guitarist named Tommaso Ermolli. I love the emotion of the songs on this album and I hope everyone else will too!

Kyymera - A New Promise

Moving on to Pink Cream 69. it is now almost two years since the release of your last studio album ‘Thunderdome’ Looking back objectively how happy were you with the way the album turned out and the reception that it received from both press and fans alike?

We always get good press, now if we could just find a way to get people to buy the damn album J (kidding..). Seriously, we are very satisfied how the album and reception has turned out. We are all very down to earth and just the opportunity to make albums when we want to is satisfying enough. We all look forward to the next one.

The touring cycle for Thunderdome brought PC69 back to UK for the first time in thirteen years with a spot on the inaugural Firefest bill. What are your memories now of the show?

ooOOoohhh, my freakin head….! Who was that blonde chick? Had a blast! It was great to see Dave in his element as well and finally to meet his family. It was also great to see old friends.

Pink Cream 69 - Firefest

I guess it begs the question of why, especially with David Readman, an English vocalist in place, you stayed away so long –was it simply that you had no suitable offers from promoters in the intervening years?

There was no place to play! Cost were too high and until recently there was simply no demand to have us. By the way, we played in Athens one month later. Kosta, our drummer, is Greek and this is the first time we’ve performed in Greece - ever. Strange world really.

In general do you feel that where Melodic Hard Rock is concerned the UK lags behind the rest of Europe in taking this form of music to its heart and as such it isn’t considered an important market for many of the mainland European bands?

I really cannot answer that, I find that being in a band like PC69 - or making similar music – that we will always be taking a back seat to “trendier” rock music, eg. Power Metal, true metal, nu metal…. And therefore I don’t really notice a difference between the UK or Holland, as an example.

I think I can safely say that this is a busy period for Dennis Ward, once the whole promotion cycles for Place Vendome and Khymera are out of the way what do you have lined up next and when can we expect to see new PC69 material hitting the shops?

Good question, we are all so busy at the moment with other things that it’s been really hard to try and concentrate on the new album. Fact is we will make another album, hopefully very soon. I’ve made a lot of commitments that have to be taken care of and I need to get them out of the way before I can put full concentration on the next PC album – but I’m looking forward to it!

 Finally to round things off the ubiquitous final question, ‘Is there anything else you would like to add or cover that we haven’t mentioned?

Errr… my favourite colour is blue and save a tree, eat a beaver
Take care and thanks for the interview!
Cheers, Dennis

Many thanks to Dennis for taking the time to answer our questions. You can read the  HardRockHouse.com review of the new Place Vendome album via this link and to find out  more about Dennis Ward & Pink Cream 69 by visiting their official website at www.pinkcream69.com.