Glam rock legends Madam X are presently working on a new album that has been a long time in the making. Perhaps you could say all good things come to those who wait. The US-based quartet will be returning to our UK shores in 2024 to play at HRH AOR X.
So far this year things are going well for the band. “We’re off to a good start, I’ll tell you that. It’s going to be a busy year for both bands, Vixen and Madam X,” says Roxy Petrucci. “We are both releasing new music. I don’t know when Madam X is releasing the album. We’re still putting the finishing touches on it. We may even add another song or two because we want to.” Maxine adds: “We’re taking our time recording that album. We want it to be great. We don’t want to be pushed into a deadline. It’s all about the music.” Lead vocalist Bret Kaiser explains: “We don’t like to rush things. We want it to be, so that we like it.”
The group are presently geographically dispersed across the USA. “It’s a very, three-way kind of thing. Those guys are over in Michigan. I’m in Arizona, our producer is in Sweden. Everybody does their thing, and then we throw it at Chris Laney, and he is putting it together. But from what we’ve heard so far, it’s amazing,” explains Bret.
Madam X will perform at HRH AOR X in Great Yarmouth between 7th – 10th March 2024. For ticket information and further details click or to enter our exclusive online competition, click here
Speaking about the album Chris Doliber confirmed that the band’s producer made it known that he was open to working with Madam X. “He expressed an interest in producing our next record,” explains Chris. “I said, do you have any credits to your name? And he said, well, I think he said, 16 or over a couple of dozen platinum awards, some multi-platinum. I thought, well, that’s more than I bargained for.”
The band have been overjoyed with how their album is developing thus far. “When I listen to what he gives us back. As far as we’ll record and then he’ll do a quick mix of it. I get the same feeling when I hear our music coming back as when I first heard Pyromania, Hysteria, and Back in Black by AC/DC, that kind of like, oh my god. The dimension, the depth, the production, the hooks, it just sounds like big rock,” explains Doliber. He adds: “It’s got a very 80s sound to it. But it sounds really fresh.”
With bands like Def Leppard and Motley Crue currently touring stadiums across the globe, there is certainly still demand for this style of music. “I can tell you just from the live shows just from touring. We’re playing with bands like Slaughter, Great White, Skid Row and Kip Winger. And these places are selling out,” explains Roxy. “We’re talking theatres, we’re talking festivals. So, there’s still a demand. It’s our generation, and they’re bringing their kids. We are getting 19- and 20-year-olds, and 30-year-olds, it’s just I think that music resonates because it was positive, big and fun. You leave, and you just feel exhilarated. And that’s not going away.”
Madam X are taking their fans for a walk down memory lane. “It’s like a time machine. It brings you back to that time when you were really into the music. And it’s like, oh, my God, I feel like I’m back in the 80s,” says Bret. “Especially with us, over the years, each person just got better and better and better and better. So now, we’ve still got that feel from We Reserve The Right. When we’re together, it’s like the magic is there.” Roxy adds: “Even when we’re apart. Let’s say we get together, six months later, we get into a rehearsal room. It just comes right back together. We haven’t lost that chemistry, it’s always going to be there no matter what.”
Madam X recorded their seminal debut album We Reserve The Right with Rick Derringer in 1984. “We recorded that whole album in one week,” said Maxine. “That’s the beauty of it. We didn’t overanalyse the songs or anything. We went in there and we just played. I think that’s why it resonates with everybody because that’s really who we are. And we played those songs a million times. So, I think that’s why to me it worked.”
Following a long hiatus, the original line-up of Madam X returned to the stage at Sweden Rocks Festival in 2014. Recollecting that show, Maxine said: “It still felt like the same as it did in the 80s. We got that same feeling, that vibe, the energy, the way we play off each other, everything felt the same.” Roxy adds: “The hunger is still there. We’re still driven. We still love what we do, even 30 years later.”
Regrouped, reinvigorated and with a new album to boot, Madam X will arrive in the UK in 2024. “We are very excited to come back to the UK,” confirms Chris. The band recollect performing at one of London’s iconic venues. “The Marquee. Oh, that was fun,” recalls Maxine. “It was with Motorhead, Magnum and Lords of the New Church,” said Bret. “I mean, the crowd was dressed wilder than we were,” adds Roxy.
“I remember when we did The Marquee, people flew in from Japan,” says Bret. “And it was sold out in half an hour, and they had to turn away like so many people.” Maxine declares: “Ozzy was at that show, and Jake E Lee and Sharon Osbourne.” Brett recalls that: “People were following us asking for autographs. I think we were eating at Burger King, and they were taking pictures. It was wild man.”
Bret adds: “It was quite often there was a Kerrang Cover. Malcolm Dome showed us so much love. It was thanks to people like that who helped Madam X be Madam X”. He concludes: “I think it’s notable also to say that out of all the bands that you interview, we are all original members. We’re still alive. We still feel great.”
Words by Adam Kennedy
Photo Credit: Press Provided
