Interview with Lita Ford & Jim Gillette (Nitro)

Soft Boy had the privilege of hooking up with Lita (Ford) & Jim Gillette in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA while they toured with Queensrÿche (in support of their American Soldier release). Lita Ford has been out of circulation for about 15 years, opting to settle down with former Nitro vocalist Jim Gillette at their very isolated Caribbean home to raise (and home school) two fine boys. In the latter half of 2009, Lita & Jim combined their efforts to put together Wicked Wonderland, an album that meshes their very different musical styles into a very original, ass-kicking set of tracks that is bound to surprise many, but disappoint few. In walking onto the Gillette’s Tour Bus to get this interview underway, it became apparent very quickly that Lita & Jim have a very special relationship … both amongst themselves and with their children (who were touring with them). Seldom do you see two people anywhere, much less in the entertainment world, even much less in Metal, find their true “soulmate” … and stick with them … and appear to enjoy and cherish every single moment together.

Here’s what Lita & Jim had to say …

Metal Express Radio:
Lita, why did you stop making music in the mid-90s and did you think at that time you had made a permanent split?

LITA:
I did think I made a permanent split … or at least knew that I had to. I wanted to truly “raise” my children, and didn’t want to have to hire other people to be there and take care of my sons. I knew the road and the lifestyle wasn’t something that could be maintained while trying to have a family … so I stepped away and really didn’t look back … and I’m glad I did. We live in a very secluded, beautiful home in the Caribbean with few distractions and without many of the pressures that many people have to deal with. It’s a great place to focus on a family and to enjoy the beauty of our surroundings.

MER:
You were away from the scene for roughly 15 years … did you continue playing guitar and writing music even though you weren’t recording or touring?

LITA:
Actually, I didn’t. I was enjoying being a mom, being married to Jim, the surroundings of where we live, and being a family. I really didn’t have much time or desire to get back into playing and writing until recently.

MER:
This is a question for you both … each of you were so embedded in the Hard Rock/Metal scene when you exited. Even though you weren’t writing or playing much, did you at least keep up with what was going on in the music industry?

JIM:
You have to first understand where we live … we really are in total seclusion. When we see footprints on the beach out through our window, we know those could only be made by someone in our family. We also don’t have access to many of the modern technological conveniences that others have taken for granted over the past 15 years. It wasn’t really that easy to keep up with what was going on, and like Lita said, we’ve been so focused on our life together and our family that we haven’t had much time to track what has been happening in music. Don’t get me wrong, music’s always been in our blood and a part of us, but we’ve just been focused on other things we’ve felt were more important.

LITA:
(looking at Jim) I guess looking back, it probably is a surprise how much we’ve been able to “let go” of what we used to do … sure, we missed it at times, especially as the boys got older, and I suppose that’s in the end why we recently felt the opportunity was now to re-enter the scene to some degree.

MER:
Did you have an epiphany or did anything specific happen one day that made you realize you wanted to give it another shot?

LITA:
Nothing earth-shattering, but Jim and I talked about it and felt it would be fun to write and work on an album together. Because of our lifestyle and the fact that we’re always together, we really didn’t have to rush, and if on any day it appeared we weren’t making progress, or were starting to feel any sort of frustration, we had the luxury of just being able to put everything down and call it a day and know that we could pick it up again tomorrow. We wanted to keep it fun throughout the whole process… and we did!

MER:
You both have been out of the music scene for a long time by industry calendars … what do you feel has changed now that you’re back in circulation?

JIM:
A better question is probably what has stayed the same! (both Jim and Lita laugh). Really, almost nothing is the same as what we remember and were accustomed to. Things in the industry always change quickly, and we expected that, but from how you record an album, to how you distribute it, to how you promote it, to how you support it on the road … just about ALL of that has changed.

LITA:
Some of those changes are good, and for our situation a lot of those changes made it possible for Jim and me to even consider the possibilities of getting back into the scene. Still, at certain times it’s felt like we’re in a totally new environment that we were never a part of in the first place. But, it’s still a lot of fun and we’re glad about the opportunity.

MER:
Jim, what was it like to work with your “wife” on a Metal album?

JIM:
Actually, it couldn’t have gone better. I know that may be hard to believe, but we love doing things together, and this was just another chance to do something together and do something that comes naturally to both of us in one way or another. A lot of times, I would come up with ideas and show them to her, and she’d kind of look at me like and say it needs this or it needs that. So, I’d try out what she’d say to do, and sometimes she’d come back and still look at me and say, “Ehhhh, nope, not yet … that’s not what I meant.” So I’d try again, and then suddenly she’d blurt out, “YES! That’s it! That’s what I meant!” … and sure enough, her ideas helped out my ideas and we ended up making some kick ass songs.

MER:
Your work with Nitro has notably been more aggressive than Lita’s style that was so popular in the past. Did you have differing opinions that made writing together difficult at times?

JIM:
I know you’re probably looking for some “juicy” stories here, but to be totally honest, we worked incredibly well together. As we said, we weren’t under the gun from a record company to produce an album by some deadline, and when we felt like we needed a break on any given day, we had the ability to just stop and come back to it the next day, or after a few days if that’s what we wanted. Lita was great to work with, and I believe Wicked Wonderland is a complete meshing of both of our ideas and musical styles. There’s some of me in that album, some of Lita, and there are times when we put together songs that are completely unique to us both … stuff that neither of us have really done before.

MER:
Is there any particular meaning or motivation behind any of the song titles on Wicked Wonderland?

LITA:
Wicked Wonderland is about Jim and me. The song titles and topics are a reflection of our relationship and what’s part of our life together that we know. We have a lot of passion in us and for one another … and that was the prime motivation for the songs on Wicked Wonderland. From that perspective, Wicked Wonderland is a very personal album to Jim and me, and I’m sure not everyone is going to pick up on that … but that’s o.k., because we do, and although we want people to like it and buy it, we did it for ourselves more so than anything.

MER:
You’ve both said that your life out of the music scene has been pretty much secluded from the rest of the world, and that you live in very comfortable and beautiful surroundings day in and day out. Is it a big adjustment to be travelling in a tour bus and subject to the rigors of embarking on a tour?

JIM:
Actually, it’s been a lot of fun so far. What we have on our tour bus is essentially a mini-version of our regular home and home life. We’re all together, we’ve got our dog with us, and we spend a lot of time around each other, just like at home … so again, I know you’re looking for some “juice” here, but things are really going well, and we’re just enjoying the experience as a family.

MER:
How are your 2 sons handling the tour? It’s got to be an adjustment for them…

LITA:
They were really looking forward to hitting the road and seeing some new places. We’re not going to be on the road long enough for them to get bored out of their minds, so I think they’re handling it well and are enjoying something different. We were all looking forward to a change of pace for a while.

MER:
What are your thoughts about touring with Queensrÿche?

LITA:
It’s been a great fit. We weren’t in a position to put a full band back together, and really had no desire to go through all of that, so when the offer came through to play with Queensrÿche on the same stage, we discussed it and felt it was right in line with what we wanted to do at this point.

JIM:
Yeah, the way it works, we use Queensrÿche as “our” band to perform a few tracks off of Wicked Wonderland, and then Lita sings a duet with Geoff Tate for “Close My Eyes …” It’s great, because we can do our own thing together on stage … I can grab Lita’s ass on stage and she welcome’s it (laughs), and we can show some of the energy that went into writing and making the album together.

LITA:
We’ve found Queensrÿche to be a very “precise” and well-calculated band. Very professional. Jim and I, on the other hand, are overtly open and energetic and loose. So I think, in some small ways, we’ve been able to loosen up Queensrÿche a little bit, and Queensrÿche has been able to tighten us up as performers and musicians. Kind of a win-win situation in my mind. All the guys in Queensrÿche are great, and we feel very privileged to share the stage with them and for the opportunity to tour with them.

MER:
When you both finish touring to support Wicked Wonderland, and you return home and sit back, what do you hope you feel you will have accomplished, and what do you foresee as being “next”?

JIM:
Well, I think the goal initially is to just enjoy the moments we shared on stage and the memories of the tour. We’ll probably then digest it all for a while and decide what we’d like to do next.

LITA:
Like before, I’m sure we won’t rush into anything right away. But, we’ll look too to see how well Wicked Wonderland does, and maybe the way it’s received will influence what we think would be fun to do next. And I’m sure we’ll enjoy the beach, our pool, our beautiful surroundings, and each other.

JIM:
One thing that I think we’ll also let soak in after this tour that has been really special … and something I guess neither one of us expected … is the fan response we’ve gotten. I mean Lita especially has touched so many lives … in particular, the lives of women … and that’s become so evident as we make our stops along this tour. What she stood for in the past and stands for even today is very important to many people … you know, a role model to other women showing that a woman in Metal can hold her own and stand toe-to-toe with the best of them. She really has motivated so many women, and provided inspiration to them.

One thing that we’ll never forget happened not too long ago. There was a woman who was able to get my attention who so desperately wanted to meet Lita. After talking to me for a little while and trying to get her point across, she showed me her key chain with her daughter’s picture on it, and she said that she named her daughter “Lita” after my wife. She had such a moving story about what Lita’s music meant to her, and how Lita as a person provided so much motivation in her life. Everything she said was so emotional and touching and it all just blew me away. (writer’s note: Lita was completely silent during everything Jim was saying about the encounter with this fan, but was noticeably tearing up as Jim brought the memories of this encounter back to life … as he went on, Lita half-curled herself up on the couch at Jim’s side, and in a very tender moment, Jim brought her under his arm as if to both provide consolation for Lita’s tears and to celebrate together the obviously deep-reaching positive memory of that event). So, anyway, I introduced her to Lita, and we were both extremely impacted by how this woman was so thankful for the opportunity to meet Lita, and by all of the things she had to say that she seemed to just have to get off of her chest … things she wanted Lita to know. This woman was crying and so filled with joy and emotion … it was just a truly incredible thing to see, and it made me realize how Lita has been able to positively impact others’ lives, whether she knew she did or not. I think that day we’ll both remember for a very very long time…