Mike Levine, one third of the 70s & 80s Canadian powerhouse known as Triumph, treated us to an entertaining and informative conversation where he touched on a variety of topics that included the recently released Greatest Hits Remixed CD/DVD package, his extensive hockey jersey collection and the unavoidable reunion tour question. During our nostalgic trip back to the 80s join us as we laugh about everything from Spinal Tap moments to the the wardrobe challenged. I even had the opportunity to solve a tour program mystery that had been eluding me for nearly two years now. With that put to rest, I also have a renewed confidence that if I ever misplace anything, or cant locate something from an era long since past, all I have to do is find an attic that contains an old Traynor amp, and Viola! it will appear; some kind of Magic Power so Im told. (wink, wink).
Tracey: Hi Mike! Just to refresh you, last time we spoke was in 2008 at the Rocklahoma Festival. Remember we were sitting outside by the hotel pool?
Mike: Right, I remember it well. And it was about 100 degrees!
Tracey: Slightly warm and breezy (laughs). So anyway hows it goin? Howve you been?
Mike: Busy! Just working hard, on the phones, on airplanes, doin this, doin that.
Tracey:I want to start right off by asking why the cover of Love Hurts was chosen to appear on the new Greatest Hits package and second, why does the video that accompanies it includes old live Triumph footage playing throughout the song? What is the concept behind that?
Mike: Love Hurts is there because it was an incarnation of Triumph. I think we refer to it somewhere in the jacket as Triumph v2.(with Phil X).
Tracey:Yes.
Mike: So when I went scouring through the master tapes looking for things that were previously unreleased, it was the only real thing I could find that had some quality to it. So it was kind of like, this is a fan-based package, so we decided lets put that on because it is part of Triumphs history. As far as the video, our editor just put together a viral type video, just for fun, to go with the song. Were not trying to misrepresent that Riks playing guitar on it or anything like that.
Tracey:I guess to me, I saw it more as a poignant message about the bittersweet brotherhood that the three of you shared, and sometimes that brotherhood, well, it can hurt.
Mike: (laughs a bit nervously) Actually, at the time, the song was left over from the sessions from The Edge of Excess record, and it didnt make it on that record, so, um, like I say, the only other stuff we have in the archives are what I call Triumph Bloopers. (laughs). Maybe we can put them out for fans. Well only make 500 of them, because theyre not very good!
Tracey: That was my next question, which you already kind of answered, but is there any old footage from old shows, video, audio, etc?
Mike: Yeah, theres stuff around, but were having trouble locating a lot of it. Some of the old videos, we thought we had but we didnt. So, we reached out to MTV in the States, and Much Music (up here) and got the bits and pieces together that we needed. But again, in the course of looking through stuff, the things I thought were there werent there and vice versa, its very strange. So theres gotta be a couple of boxes somewhere in someones attic or something, (laughs) maybe underneath an old Traynor amplifier!
Tracey: Why wasnt any footage from both reunion shows included or was this strictly a nostalgic look back?
Mike: Yes, it was a nostalgic look back plus, the footage from those shows will probably come out within the next 8-12 months. Really, our editor had his hands full just trying to complete what he was trying to complete, without having to accept all that stuff that wouldve had to have been edited and mixed, audio wise and everything. This was already in progress, a lot of it prior to when we did those shows so
Tracey: How big a part did each of you play in choosing the videos, audio set list, pictures and content for the Greatest Hits package?
Mike: Well start with the audio portion. It was really based on fan polls. When we did Sweden Rock, the promoter there did a survey on his website where people could send in their ideal Triumph set, so we could get a feel of what to play over there too. There were over 10,000 suggestions as a response. We looked at ten maybe, took the top 15 from that, plus input from our own website, taking the top 15 from the fans over here. Because we wanted it to be a fan-based package, some were really close, some were a tie, it was very close. We just didnt have space for all of it.
Tracey:Fight the Good Fight is a long song, but I was shocked it didnt make the video set-list.
Mike: It didnt make the video set-list?
Tracey: No.
Mike: No kidding? We have no footage of that believe it or not.
Tracey:Really? That is the king of the songs for the illuminated Triumph sign to come down.
Mike: Thats one of the missing things. Its really strange, wait…we do have footage of that, actually I dont why its not on there, now that I think about it, we do have footage of that.
Tracey: What ever became of that big lighted Triumph sign anyway? Is that is someones attic too?
Mike: (laughs) Thats in storage.
Tracey: To be later resurrected at some point in the future hopefully?
Mike: (jokingly)Youd have to dust it off, clean it up and hoist it up above the band again.
Tracey: With all of the stage stuff you guys had, there had to be a Spinal Tap moment in there somewhere. Can you recall anything like that?
Mike: OoooooohGod, many!
Tracey:Or is that in the blooper reel?
Mike: Yeah, thats in the blooper reel under video bloopers. Actually there was one very early in our career, like the first year we were together. We didnt have a lot of money or anything and we were just trying to put together as many little effects as we possibly could, so we built this thing we called a mirror wheel. It was just a busted up mirror glued onto a piece of plywood and it had a little motor on it, set-up on a stand. We used to do a cover of Stairway to Heaven. During the last line of the songand shes buying the stairway the lights would go down on stage and then one spotlight would focus on the mirror, it would start to spin, filling the room with a mirrored ball effect. So, were playing this bar in northern Ontario, and we get to Stairway to Heaven and the mirror falls off the motor and starts rolling around the dance floor. You know how like how a quarter rolls? Then it gets to the center of the dance floor, right in front of the stage, falls over and starts flopping like a fish. Brought the show to dead halt. That was a very Tap-ish moment. (laughs) Yeah, I would say that qualifies!
Tracey: Ok, I know youve been asked this a million times, so I apologize, but I have to ask. Is this Greatest Hits package meant to hold fans over until a tour? Is it to take the place of one? Or is it yet to be determined?
Mike: Um, in the official Triumph lingo, Triumph has no official plan, or the Triumph official plan is there is no official plan! We just wanted to get this out because weve been working on it for a long time. Ya know, the pressure was building, we were getting 100 emails a day on the website asking when is this coming, when is this coming? Wed been talking about it for 5 years. Finally, we hired the studio manager at Metalworks to kind of be the producer of the whole thing, just to put all the pieces together. You have the video to deal with, the video editor, getting the footage, all the audio stuff, which was mixed but still needed to be packaged up and manufactured, the graphics, and the whole nine yards. So, he kind of put the heat on everybody and ran with the ball. Where Gil and I would start on it and then go fall asleep for six months (guilty laughter) and then resurrect it again. But to answer your question, I dont want it to be taken as a precursor to a potential tour or that its instead of a tour either. I mean weve been chatting about it, but we all have different lives since Triumph was out years ago.
Tracey: And its a big undertaking, considering the stage production Im sure you want to put on.
Mike: Yeah, wed all have to map out six months out of our lives. Rik tours all the time, wed have to know that we were going out for sure because he is booked 4 or 5 months ahead sometimes. Gil would have to make arrangements for his businesses and
Metalworks, and me, I would just have to stop drinking for a while. (laughs)
Tracey:I noticed there were some comments from fans on your website pertaining to an idea for a tour package containing all Canadian Acts, with Triumph headlining a show featuring Loverboy, Honeymoon Suite, April Wine etc. What do you think of something like that?
Mike: Anything is possible these days. Packaging is part of the deal to be able to sell tickets out there. So, if you make a ticket a nice price and people want to come see you, theyre gonna come. But $200- $300 a ticket is ludicrous. You better have 7 bands for that price, unless youre the Eagles or the Rolling Stones. And even then, thats a little over the top.
Mike: I wouldnt pay that much to see anybody!
Tracey:Yeah, neither would I. Ok, well, maybe Triumph.
Tracey: Did you get any flack from your Canadian fans about the two reunion shows being in other countries as opposed to Canada? And are they expecting one to kick-off there or end there, should a tour happen?
Mike: There was a little bit of noise about that, but not a lot. I think they understood why we did it they way we did. We just tried to be as anonymous as possible. Little did we know, you know, its been a long time that we played dates and been involved the live tour circuit, we didnt have managers. We just didnt know, we just booked the dates for fun, not realizing that thered be a massive media turn-out. Especially in Sweden, it was unbelievable! So, this quiet little show we wanted to, just to see if we could still do it, turned into this huge event. There was a lot of pressure on it. I think for us to play Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver or wherever, it would have to be part of a tour because of the production. We got stadium productions for those two shows, with more gear. Unless, it was our show, 100%, it would be very difficult to play in one of our big markets for our fans.
Tracey: Given the discussions, has there been any talk about a future studio release of any kind?
Mike: With studio releases, youre damned if you do and dammed if you dont, I think. Based on the powers that be, (for lack of a better term) its claimed that older acts that put out new records after an extended period of time are just wasting their time and wasting their fans money because hardly anyone buys them. The second part is you wont get much radio airplay. Theres just no stations that play music by older bands, they just dont exist, except for classic rock stations. They may spin it a few times, and then they go back to playing the hits again. So unless you have something absolutely exceptional, and I mean exceptional I dont know that its a good idea to make a record. Plus, most bands break-up in the studio, and I dont really want to go there again (laughs). The third point is, if you do something new and you do two or three songs off it, thats two or three slots in the show where fan favorites dont get played. So its all this kind of like damned if you do it and damned if you dont do it, like I said.
Tracey: Now, I have a question, going back to Rocklahoma and you can answer if you are allowed. I had purchased a tour program early on and noticed that the cover featured a montage of all the acts that were playing the festival, however, Rick Santers appeared on the cover representing Triumph instead of you, Gil and/or Rik. I pointed this out to Rik, who instructed me to show it to Gil, which I did. Later in the weekend, we heard rumors that the Triumph camp had the tour book pulled because of the error. Can you confirm if this is true?
Mike: That was true!
Tracey: Wow! (laughs)
Mike: Our agent, ya know, he saw it, and he went and said Hey, you cant do this! You have no permission from the band to do this, you didnt make any kind of financial deal with them. You cant just go ahead and run a program without incorporating it into the deal. So hes screaming at the promoter and the promoter says, I dont know anything about a program at all! Whether hes telling the truth or not, who knows. So apparently, the way that Troy, our agent, tells the story he grabbed the kid who was selling them (or his boss) and dragged him back to where the headquarters were and told him, You gotta do something about this, you cant sell them. The guy then ran away, picked up all his programs, shoved them in a van and disappeared into the night
Tracey: Wooooow! I have an autographed copy of that program, so boy, thats a priceless E-bay item right there!
Mike: Yeah, Id hold on to that one!
Tracey:As a matter of fact, over where the T-shirt tents were set-up is where I bought it on the first day for like $10 and then they were gone! When people started asking where I got it and then I heard the rumor, like I mentioned, I couldnt believe that what I pointed out to Gil caused one string to be pulled and it was history!
Mike: Well ya know, agents have a lot of power!
Tracey:Yeah, Apparently!
Mike: Even the T-shirt guy said he didnt know anything about it either, I talked to him a bit, and he thought it was part of the show. Well, after I read through the program briefly I did notice a lot of mistakes in the bios and whatnot and wondered who put this thing together and who in the hell approved this before production?
Mike: Yeah, it got really messy with this guy and Troy. There were threats of lawsuits and shit goin on. It was unbelievable. I was copied on all the emails and I was killing myself laughing! The guy said Well all the money was gonna go to whatever that place was in Oklahoma that got blown down by the tornado, I cant remember it right now, so Troy tells him, Then why didnt you print that on the program? It got really insane! (laughs) Yeah, it was a crazy disorganized weekend, with the mud and everything.
Mike: I forgot about the mud part!
Tracey: Oh, and then your limo driver gets pulled over for DWI on your way to the press conference! It was a comedy of errors! (we both erupt in laughter)
Mike: That hick cop, Ill never forget it (in his best Southern accent) Get your skinny ass back in that car boy! Yeah, its a different element there thats for sure
Mike: Oh boy, let me tell ya, its really been a long time since Ive been spoken to like that! I was gonna turn around and slap the guy! Outta the car long hair!
Tracey: That wouldve been the wrong thing to do! Ok, final question. How many hockey jerseys do you own?
Mike: Um, I have no idea anymore.
Tracey: Do you have at least one from each team?
Mike: Let me think. Which ones was I missing, oh I was missing a Chicago Blackhawks, cause you never played in the buildings they played hockey in, there were never any concerts there.
Tracey: Did you just pick one up in town or get them from the fans?
Mike: They were in the dressing room.
Tracey: So, it became your thing really.
Mike: The guys that managed the building or the merchandisers always made sure there was a hockey jersey for me, even if it wasnt an NHL building, even if it was a minor league building, thered still be a shirt there. It was like my trademark, and they just wanted me to wear the shirt.
Tracey: There must be a Sabres one in there, probably a vintage one!
Mike: Im going to Allentown this weekend to see some friends and Im going into the big radio station there, and my buddies ordered me a Philadelphia Flyers jersey to wear!
Tracey:Whats your favorite?
Mike: Actually, the one I dont have anymore, I gave it to the Hard Rock, the St. Louis Blues one. It was really a nice jersey. The Maple Leafs had a nice jersey, so did the Canadiens. I never had a Boston Bruins jersey because they didnt play in that building, they played in Worcester. But, theyve all been cleaned and shrink wrapped and are all sitting in storage somewhere, underneath that old Traynor amp. and the lighted sign and everything else
Mike: and the spandex pants(laughter from both) Yeah, speaking of, I have to talk to Rik about that!
Tracey: What was up with that red bare-chested leotard spandex number?
Mike: Ha! Rik and Gil were really on me about that. One time we were doing a radio show called Rockline and they started calling me wardrobe challenged, I was like, looks whos talking! I really got a chuckle watching those old videos. Like the Never Say Never video. It had absolutely nothing to do with the song. I was like, what is going on here?
Tracey:But I guess that was the era, the Scorpions had the same type of videos.
Mike: I hated doing those things. I thought they totally misrepresented the song. It took it out of the theatre of the mind thing. I hated videos, other than live ones, forget it. I didnt want to do them. At the core, thats what music is about, how its interpreted by the listener. Unfortunately, videos kind of force fed ideas that werent necessarily in relation to the song.
Mike: Some director comes up with a concept, then some chump at a record company says, thats really good. Then they come to you with it and say do it or else! Well, I dont like it, come up with another concept, and they say, Ahhhh, we dont have time.
Theres not one of them that I think is cool. You have to look at the creation of MTV as a double-edged sword. It got you the exposure, but at the cost of your integrity in some instances. Especially looking back now, its almost hard to take it seriously, and its not just you guys, you werent the only ones! There was some really cheesy stuff out there as far as concept goes.
Mike: Wed have to call up the corn meter, ya know the meter you use in the studio, (laughter) it starts to get a little past zero into the red, its like its getting distorted gotta judge videos by how hard it hit the corn meter, and some of those were reaching plus 40! (still laughing) Rik with those thick striped shirts, red and black, and the matching spandex to go with it.
Tracey: Well, some things come back into fashion. Were about due for striped spandex to come around again like bell bottoms did. 
In closing, is there anything youd like to say to the fans regarding the CD/DVD package or anything else youd like to add?
Mike: For a Triumph fan, I think its a great package. The tunes sound impeccable now, like we couldve recorded em yesterday. We didnt cheat, there was no re-recording. It was strictly going back to the original tracks and Richie Chycki mixed them and did a fantastic job. The DVD is in 5.1 surround, so it sounds great on a big system or even a small surround system for that matter. The booklet is a really good booklet; weve never done one that comprehensive before.
Tracey:Yeah, I agree, its excellent. I was surprised that all of the lyrical content was included, plus all of the pictures and stuff.
Mike: Yeah, liner notes, pictures you havent seen, even a lot of pictures I never saw. Randy Rowe, who put that together, I dont know where he got some of those shots. When I asked him, he said, Well, I went up to the atticlooked underneath the Traynor amp (we both start laughing) I wanna know where is this damn attic is, we gotta find this attic man!
Mike: Yeah, he said I found a box of pictures I bet you didnt even know you had. Its really neat that some of that this stuff is there. From a fans point of view, this is for the fans, so hopefully well be able to satisfy everybody and get on the road next year, but ya know, I cant promise that.
Tracey:That would be fantastic! Im probably one of your biggest fans, so I thank you for spending some time talking with me this afternoon and filling us in on whats been going on and giving me the low down on what really happened in Rocklahoma. Its been a two-year mystery!
Mike: Jeez, I dont even know if I have one of those programs.
Tracey: I might even have an extra one.
Mike: Im not a pack rat, sometimes I never get something. But I think, no, Im sure I got one. Whether it was yours somebody showed meI dont know, whatevermaybe I have one, maybe I dont.
Tracey:Well, if you ever need one for any reason, I have an extra in my archives.
Mike: There ya go, alright!
Tracey: Mike, good luck with any future Triumph endeavors. Itd be fantastic to have a reunion tour to look forward to, but if not, you guys gave us awesome, great years and huge contributions to the music world and that is simply magnificent as it is!
Mike: Well, thank you so much Tracey, I appreciate that. Well talk soon? Yep, take care!
We would like to thank Jen from Chipster Entertainment for setting up the interview with Mike. For more information on Mike, Triumph, and the new greatest hits remixed, you can go to: http://www.triumphmusic.com/.
