MARC STORACE: “KROKUS as reborn”, six years after announcing farewell
30-09-2024
In a new interview with The Metal Voice, vocalist Marc Storace of Swiss hard rock legends KROKUS, who released his first solo album, “Live And Let Live”, in late 2021, was asked if the group is “packing it up now”, six years after he and his bandmates announced that they would embark on their “farewell” tour. He said: “No, no, no, no. KROKUS is reborn. We all feel fresh again. We’ve had a really nice run and the feeling in the band is really harmonious. And I don’t sense any bad vibes for doing my solo stuff, because they know I did it because I was in a lockdown situation and that’s how it started and the ball kept on rolling. So it’s something I’m doing not because I wanna leave KROKUS.”
He continued: “KROKUS is my lifetime work; it’s been my main baby since 1979, end of 1979, with a couple of breaks here and there. That happens in all bands, and we had so many musician changes and everything and ups and downs and troubles and lawsuits and all this. But we’re still together because the music holds us together and our history holds us together. It’s a sentimental thing. It’s a brotherly love kind of thing without being cheesy about it, because we’re not really like that. We don’t meet up to go and drink a bottle of wine together or we don’t really meet up outside working hours, if you like. I enjoy every time I have to drive down to Solothurn where the band comes from and do a rehearsal. And, yeah, it works. There’s a nice team. The crew is fixed, and it’s great.”
With regard to the possibility of KROKUS making new music, Storace said: “Ah, yeah. Good question. That’s what I ask myself. It would be nice, and I know there would be a lot of fans who would be thankful for that, but I don’t see any sign of life in the creative way, except for the live stuff that we do. And the band has never been so good playing live, and it’s really fun. And everything comes automatically nowadays. I mean, it would be nice, but who am I to talk, if everyone else is not on the same page about it.”
Last year, Storace told Disturbing The Priest that he thought KROKUS was dead during the pandemic. “I really thought it was over,” he said. “But then, you know how it is — we’ve all got this rock and roll virus in our blood. Music isn’t easy to switch off. For us, it’s like a hobby which turned to work, and we could manage to live off it, which is, for me, a golden thing. I really treasure the fact that what I do is what I love to do, what I loved to do when I was a kid already, and I’m still doing it.”
Four years ago, KROKUS postponed what was supposed to be the band’s last-ever concerts in USA and Canada due to the coronavirus pandemic that was sweeping the globe. The 13-date trek was originally scheduled to kick off at Canton Hall in Dallas, Texas on September 18, 2020 and conclude at Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California on October 10, 2020.
In September 2022, KROKUS played a special concert on the steps of the St. Ursus Cathedral in Solothurn, Switzerland. In addition, Solothurn honored the band with a “Stone Of Honor” on its 2000th anniversary. KROKUS also returned to the “holy ground of rock” in Switzerland, the Hallenstadion in Zürich, on May 6, 2023.
Earlier in 2022, Storace explained to Rock Show Critique why he and his bandmates toured America so infrequently over the course of the last 20 years. The 72-year-old musician said: “Well, it starts with the work permits. And they cost money. Then the tax. Then the booking fees, the percentages, the renting out of equipment, buses, hotels and everything. So if you’ve gotta do a club tour, you can’t even pay for all that. We haven’t been there for a long while, so we don’t expect to come over and do a headliner tour in stadiums; we’re far from that again. Because in the meantime, there’s a lot of water under the bridge. And that’s how it is. The status sinks because there’s no longer promoters who believe that you’re gonna bring in the money back for that. I guess that’s the way it is. It’s like a vicious circle. You have to come over one day and get the ball rolling again and then come back the next year and the next year to reach the status that you are used to. And you have to also release a new album to accompany that. And the new album isn’t enough. Albums don’t sell anymore. There’s Spotify — all these parasites around — streaming, which don’t give you your money’s worth.”
When KROKUS first announced its decision to embark on a farewell tour in September 2018, the band explained in a statement: “KROKUS shows have always been special and should stay that way. That’s why we decided to stop when it’s still really good. That’s how the fans should remember us.”
Formed in 1975, KROKUS has sold over 15 million records, toured the world, and received gold and platinum discs in the USA and Canada. KROKUS was also the first Swiss band to sell out Hallenstadion and has received a diamond disc for selling one million albums in Switzerland alone.
In the course of its career, KROKUS has rocked over 2,000 shows on five continents, countless cities, unique locations, crazy gigs, and loyal fans.
English rock journalist Malcolm Dome quite rightly said: “If you look at the long-term output of this band, KROKUS is clearly one of the best hard rock bands of the last 40 years.”
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