"Where Are they Now" segment with Mike will air in the USA today (12/29) at 10PM Eastern time. Check it out.

Check out the fantastic new review of ColourSound in the "Press" section (MPO users, go to www.coloursound.com)

“I have seen the Second Coming of Rock ‘n Roll and its name is …COLOUR SOUND!”
When Rolling Stone magazine first coined that immortal saying it was in
reference to Bruce Springsteen. His 1973 debut release “Greetings From Asbury
Park…” had just eclipsed the music community and his high-energy weekly gigs at Asbury Park’s Stone Pony were what legends were made off. So it was all too coincidental that a little known band from Wales take on the legend full in the face.
Six blocks north of the Stone Pony on the same stretch of Jersey shoreline stands the Asbury Fastlane, a religious shrine to the history of beach-party rock. Its walls are cluttered with wallpaper thick nostalgia ranging from Springsteen, Bon Jovi and Southside Johnny to George Thorogood. Fishing nets hang from the ceiling and a hodge-podge of junkyard throw-aways ornate every open space. The name on the club’s skylight reads Colour Sound, an open-ended band name, attracting an audience of mixed breeds. There was the store bought cowboy decked out with boots and hat standing in a dark corner trying to pick up anything with two legs and a double D cup size. There was the couple off to the side wearing skin tight leather with spikes and died jet-black hair, their Cult T-shirts two sizes too small, echoing a flashback to Long Island’s 1987 Billy Idol / Cult show. The old Alarm crowd was huddled off by themselves, tucked away in their own personal universe. Some still had their hair and for tonight it was properly spiked with tubes of gel and cans of hairspray. We all looked a little older but we all remembered.
Colour Sound is a super group of sorts made up of members of the golden age of crossover rock that infested the record charts over a decade ago before it was squashed by the alternative Seattle sound. Mike Peters fronts the group. His face, with various hair cuts, decorating all six of the Alarm records. Peters is the inspiring link that brings the basic song subtitles to the crowd. Billy Duffy anchors the band. His “Rock-Star” blonde mane is now fashionably ‘90’s, close cut over the ears and off the back collar. Duffy brings to the band the legend of the Cult. His big-open chords plow through Peter’s rhythm slamming with distinctive thundering. Each song for Duffy is a performance, he plants his feet firmly, holds his Gibson hollow-body low and deep then leans back as the rafters rattle with organic affirmation. It is the Duffy trademark that brands Colour Sound, loud and proud.
A power duo as forceful as Duffy and Peters demand an equally dynamic rhythm section. Enter bass professional and harmony vocalist extraordinaire, Craig Adams. From 1980 to 1986 Adams slogged through Goth’s underground with Sisters of Mercy then migrated to the more elaborate volume of The Mission (UK) 1986-1992. When the Cult found themselves with out a bassist in 1992, Adams stepped in to hold down the bottom line till they split in 1995. The other half of the rhythm section is comprised of drummer, Steve Grantley most recently of Stiff Little Fingers. Original Colour Sound skin basher, Johnny Donnelly had to pass the sticks when his “other band”, Ireland’s favorite folk-rock foursome The Saw Doctors hit the road in support of their latest effort.
Peters and Duffy became friendly a couple years back meeting at the Phoenix Festival football tournament. The friendship led to Duffy adding his bit as guest guitarist to Peter’s current release, Rise. But more than that, they started writing a significant amount of real substance. “I didn’t want to develop into a guitar-for-hire,” explained Duffy to Billboard. “I’m not a session guitar player. I only have a couple of tricks but they’re very good ones.”
The two forged ahead and sparks ignited. The risk of taking their own private project on the road ended when they debuted the new band at The Gathering, a festival hosted by Peters in Wales. The band then ducked over to the States for three club shows including the Viper Room in LA and the Mercury Lounge in New York. When they were finished the buzz in the industry was louder than Duff’s Marshall feedback and a bidding war began. Foaming at the mouth, monster metal producer Bob Rock instantly went into overdrive patching together bits for their debut album not to be released until next spring.
However, tonight it was Asbury Park that got a sneak preview of the full magnitude of Colour Sound. Uniting their untidy audience, the four piece simply plugged in and let go. Under The Sun punched holes through the smoke filled room with a wave of tightly clinched fists. Peters hunched over his Les Paul Standard violently strummed the rhythm parts looking up only to bellow out his gut-wrenching vocals. Where Do You Want To Go, Independence and Fountainhead dipped closer into the Alarm territory but with a fire only Duffy could deliver. The crowning jewel was a blistering version of the Alarm’s Strength..
Never had it sounded so beautifully raw.
Mid-set, Perfection transcended the mixture into the Cult classic and audience favorite Rain. Peters looked through his sweat-soaked blond hair and announced, “This is one of Mr. Duffy’s.” Then wide-open chords of the Cult’s signature riff blew through the nightclub like a typhoon. Awed faces turned to meet the rush of one, very electric, hollow-body coming through a stack of Marshalls. Fade In-Fade Out-Fade Away was a typical pop-rocker with instant appeal as was Heavy Rain followed by the very addicting Alive, which closed the show. It was already way past midnight so the rush for the encore was brief. Toweled off and one beer down, out they ran taking the stage for an encore not to be forgotten. “You might remember this one,” were the only words that left Peter’s lips before She Sell Sanctuary echoed through the hall. Old men wept, children huddled close the their mothers and adolescent girls stared disrobing…it was beautiful.
“It’s very important that we be ourselves,” Peters told Charles Bouley of Billboard magazine. “I said to Billy ‘you do what people know you for and I’ll do what people know me for and if the two meet in perfect harmony and have a natural quality that will excite people.” The result, live, really has proven to be a meeting of the Cult and the Alarm…the best of the Alarm with the best of the Cult.”
Opening for Colour Sound was the very gifted Miles Hunt of the Wonder Stuff. His set was crisp and clean, developed largely on his acoustic talents and magnificent voice.

So here I am. I find myself on a train bound for destiny. The last full

decade of my life is about to be laid before me to examine, scrutinise,

reminisce and enjoy.

On behalf of every Alarm fan worldwide, Thanx Mike.

face=arial color=ff0000>Album Information

'Red & Blue, The Acoustic Works of Mike Peters is officially released,
exclusively from MPO on November 5th.



Two separate C.D.'s each containing a double album's worth of material,
featuring 46 songs and approximately 2.5 hours running time, with special
sleeve notes written by Mike himself and exclusive photographs from Mike's
personal collection throughout the years of 1981 -1991"



Produced and performed in its entireity by Mike Peters, using the basic
instrumentation of voice, acoustic guitar and harmonica. 'Acoustic Works'
was recorded during the course of the last 2 years at 'Fort Apache' Boston
MA, 'Dreamland', Woodstock NY and 'Mountain & Sea' Wales.'




"I began these recordings in 1995 at Fort Apache studios in Boston USA and
ever since then, whenever I have been in a recording situation, I have cut
some more of these songs, usually with fans/friends present. In 1997,
having completed the final recording sessions at Mountain & Sea Studios
Wales, time has dictated that this record be released. It has taken more
than 10 years to write, at least 2 years to record and over 17 years to
produce and, together with Acoustic Works 1981-1986 contains 46
performances of songs that have, and will always remain, a huge part of my
life." Mike Peters, October 1997, Wales.

As the leader of The Alarm, Mike Peters was one of the most under-appreciated pop crafters of the 1980s. The press could never let go of the "U2 clone" tag, and it wasn't a fair tag, at that. Peters displayed pieces of the influences of The Beatles, David Bowie, and any number of Welch bands that had gone before them, weaving it all into a nifty pop sound of his own. The Alarm is no more, of course, and Peters' latest solo offering, Rise, isn't apt to shoot him to the top. Not for lack of quality, however. Rise is a wonderful pop album with a handful of entirely memorable tunes. It even contains more than a few tales of deep introspection, separated from the other introspective albums that actually sell these days only by the fact that Peters isn't wallowing in it and blaming everybody else. The man actually sings the line "everything's alright," instantly guaranteeing the alt crowd will ignore him. Shame on them. Peters' voice is in fine form, and his pop sensibilities serve him very well on this dreamy album. Enlisting the help of Cult guitarist Billy Duffy was a nice touch, as his volcanic work on "Burnt Out Syndrome" is quite memorable. Rise feels like it may have been a deeply personal and cathartic experience for Peters. It deserves attention.

© 1998 - DJ Johnson

AS leader of anthemic 80s band The Alarm, Mike Peters achieved more than
most frontmen, including countless stadium performances of Spinal Tap
proportions.

Since the Alarm stopped, Peters has carved a solo career and retained a
loyal following, many of whom had travelled a long way to see him in
Bristol on Tuesday.

Billed as "The Interactive Acoustic Works Tour", this was Peters unplugged,
armed with only an acoustic guitar, harmonica and a pile of requests from
the audience.

It was a passionate and well-executed 90-minute performance, during which
Peters played songs covering his entire career.

However, judging by the large audience, tracks from the 1984 debut album
Declaration still mean the most. Men in their late-30s sang along to songs
like Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke, The Stand and Marching On
as if they were teenagers .

There were moments when it felt like an Alarm convention, which is a shame
considering Mike Peters' latest album contains some of his finest work.

The gig is most notable for the one thing you do not think about Mike Peters. That's "How the mighty have fallen."

It is not the Glasgow Barrowlands of peak Alarm days, there are no strobes, no ice blue lights, and Peters the bleach-blonde pin-up, whose hair gel bill was once possibly quadruple that of Gary Rhodes, is long gone. He has a floppy, straw-coloured mane these days, and there are a couple of pounds round his waist, just as you'd expect. This is one man, his black denims, his acoustic guitar and a whole bunch of songs. Well, all right, hits if you must.

"All right, all right I'm getting to that one," he says time and time again during the evening, which begins intimately enough but has soon explodes into lines of jumping bodies joined at the shoulders. "Take it easy…go and have a few pints, mate!"

He's loving the heckling and so he should be since the songs-on-demand ethos is entirely down to him. Musically, things are stripped of any technology but our Mike is net savvy and has been inviting fans to email him with special requests. So everyone gets what they want in the end - although maybe it was a safe bet he would come up with Spirit of 76 and 68 Guns at some point.

Still, if he is riding on the glory days of the likes of the Strength album, when the Alarm were lauded with U2 comparisons, punk plaudits and melodic rock cliches, there is enough evidence of a following that goes far beyond that to ensure you don't once get the feeling you are watching a dying dinosaur cruising on the old days. Not likely. At least half of the assembled seem to know the newies just as well. It's almost redundant for Peters to mumble "This is something from the Rise album," or "This is my second favourite Alarm song ever." When they start singing a "rarely played B-side" you know they are Alarm fans but, more than that, they are Mike Peters nutters.

The guy has a grin on his face all night, would you believe it, a sure sign that after all these years rock n' roll is still in his soul, even if it comes with this much-modified delivery style. Subdued just isn't in it, though. If this was electric, there would be rubble round his ankles by now.

The other thing is the voice itself. Maybe it got somehow lost during all those singalong choruses of before, but here it never falters. Then, there are the tunes too - and Peters has more than enough of his own that show he was up there doing it when the likes of fellow Welshmen The Stereophonics were potty training.

Acoustic doesn't necessarily mean low-key. Mike Peters doesn't necessarily mean The Alarm.

It’s a common story. Two musicians meet by chance, become friends, start
playing and writing together and decide to form a band. It’s a formula
that fills garages with noise and keeps small recording studios in
business. But when these two friends are high profile members of two
successful rock bands, the equation becomes a bit more extraordinary.

Former Alarm frontman Mike Peters met the Cult’s key guitarist Billy
Duffy quite by accident at a soccer game. The two became friends and
began playing together. That led to a collaboration on Peters’ new solo
album “Rise” (Velvel Records) and the decision to combine their talents
in the new group Colour Sound.

“There is a certain inevitability to it,” Duffy commented on the
formation. “I tried to actually avoid working with Mike for a while,
because it could have been perceived as a bit predictable. But, it just
seemed to keep cropping up. It was an organic progression, it wasn’t
planned. The songs just came out of our friendship.”

It’s very important that we be ourselves,” Peters continued. “I said to
Billy ‘you do what people know you for and I’ll do what people know me
for and if the two meet in perfect harmony and have a natural quality
that will excite people.’ It really has proven to be a meeting of the
Alarm and the Cult. The best of the Alarm with the best of the Cult."

The duo wrote and produced twelve songs together, and put together a
stage show—all before any deal was arranged.

“It’s the old tried and true formula,” Peters explained. “Write songs,
put them together, rehearse them and see if they work. Then worry about
what to do with them. Music first.”

Peters combined his current tour for “Rise” with laying the groundwork
for Colour Sound. Duffy joined Peters in Austin, Texas for the South By
Southwest conference and debuted the new band. It is that performance
that Duffy and Peters attribute to getting them their American deal with
Velvel.

“Velvel is very clued in,” stated Peters. “They’ve given us freedom. I’m
impressed with Walter Yetnikoff and the staff all the way down. He’s
really building a fantastic artist-friendly label that is being peopled
by music people who actually care. They remember to support the artist
and don’t place unrealistic targets on you—you don’t feel pressurized
there. They’ve got that old maverick spirit about going forward and
breaking bands tempered with an incredible industry savvy.”

Bob Frank, President of Velvel, also views the signing of the band as a
perfect marriage. “Velvel is a growing independent and we don’t have the
McKenzie group to worry about, telling us how to run our company,” he
commented. “Colour Sound is a perfect fit with Velvel. We’re a company
filled with ex-major label executives now matched with a couple artists
that were key elements in major gold and platinum bands. Everyone’s
already climbed the peak before, knows the pitfalls , knows the good and
the bad of being part of that huge machine. This allows us pick out the
good parts and use them to make our company, and our service to our
artists, better.”


Colour Sound will begin recording in January of 1999 for Velvel. While
the two want the music to lead them, Duffy points out there are some
guidelines for the new entity.

“For the first record we want to just capture the musical honesty and
enthusiasm that we’ve got,” he commented. “We’re starting with a clean
slate. There will be nothing artificial, it will be all organic. We will
steer away from anything that could be considered a kitsch ‘80s
plastique. That would be our major red flag. There may be some flavor
which is unavoidable because of our history. The other guidepost is that
it wouldn’t behoove us to go and try and act and sound 18 years of age.
We have to be true to who we are now. Those are the two boundaries we’ll
work within.”

That’s not to say that their sound won’t be current. Individually, the
duo has stayed quite busy since leaving their respective groups. Peters
has released several solo albums and has maintained a touring regime. He
has also kept abreast of technological advances and has used cyberspace
to stay in touch.

“I got actively involved in the internet when I left the Alarm to give
me a voice with the fans,” he stated. “When you’re in the underground,
it’s hard to have a global voice. So I asked, if I can’t go to the fans,
how can I get them to come to me? The net was the answer. It makes that
possible, to cultivate and foster the audience. Through the net I
developed an event called The Gathering, a three day musical event in
Wales. I created a role reversal, I let the fans do the touring. And, as
we developed the band Colour Sound, creating new songs, we’d put some of
that on the net for immediate response. We’ve had to stop that because
of the amount of Cult fans and Alarm fans that were overloading the
site.”

Peters even lets the net dictate his current show lineup. At each
performance he has a computer and takes requests live on the net while
cybercasting the show.

Duffy has been a little more low key in the three years since leaving
the Cult.

"After a 12 year run with the Cult, I was pretty traumatized for a
while,” he recalled. ”It’s a big culture shock going back to being a
regular citizen. My life was seen and gauged through being a band member
for so long, it was odd to be seen as anything else.”

Musically, he did some guest appearances but didn’t want to develop in
to a guitar-for-hire.

“I’m not a session guitar player. I only have a couple of tricks,
they’re very good ones, but people often invite me to do sessions only
if they want what I have to offer as me. I create a sound and an
approach that’s my own, and it has to fit.”

The approach appears a perfect match for both Peters and the industry
critics alike.

“The audience and industry keeps the perception of you as a bandmember
even after you leave a group,” Peters explained. “Usually, the idea of
being a solo artist doesn’t fit with them. The idea of Billy and I as a
band is immediately appealing to all of those people, especially the
industry. The industry says yes, a band, a rock band, active rock,
modern rock, college radio...now this clicks. It makes sense.”

Frank feels it will make sense to retail and radio as well. “We believe
they can have success at several radio formats, just based on what we’ve
heard so far. These guys are seasoned pros that know what it means to be
commercially successful. They know how to deliver a musically
interesting yet solidly commerecial record.”

Colour Sound will be playing in New York on November 18 at the club Life
and updated touring schedules, music samples and contact can be made
through the website at www.coloursound.com.

MIKE Peters has never been seen as hip by the trend-conscious media and the days when The Cult were in vogue are just a vague memory. So some may swiftly dismiss the newly formed Coloursound, featuring ex-Alarm singer Peters and former Cult guitarist Billy Duffy. Admittedly, the Coloursound demo didn't immediately leap out, it could pass for The Cult reincarnated with a far better singer.
But then, anyone who has seen Peters play live will know that your opinion can change in a few minutes. Coloursound, also featuring former Mission bassist Craig Adams and drummer Steve Grantley, perform a blistering hour-long set in front of a captive crowd with an impressive tightness and consistency. Peters' strength lies in his passion and energy, intriguingly combined with a good-natured, almost self-deprecating humour. 'Heavy Rain' and 'Under The Sun' could pass for old Cult, but the real potential rests with the catchy 'Fade In, Fade Out' and the radio-friendly 'State Of Independence'.
They conclude with a rousing version of The Cult's 'She Sells Sanctuary', which Peters sings to perfection, proving, to those who will listen, that he is undoubtedly one of the most under-rated performers of our time.

ColourSound have signed world wide a record deal with USA upstart Velvel. The deal was signed Sunday night. Photos to come soon.

Mike Peters, formerly of the Alarm, and Billy Duffy, formerly of the Cult,
have formed Coloursound. The group, managed by Ian Wilson of Track Artist
Management in London, has signed worldwide to Velvel and plans to release
an album in the second quarter of next year. Coloursound plans to do a
U.S. residency tour after Peters wraps his current tour in support of his
recent Velvel release "Rise."

www.rocklove.com


editor's note: I'm blown away by this story. Mike Peters was an international hit as lead singer of the Welsh outfit, The Alarm. He left the band, wanting to reinvent his sound and along the way developed, battled--literally-and defeated cancer. As you read his story, see if your jaw hangs open, as mine did while hearing Mike Peters tell me his story during a RockLove exclusive interview from just last month, November, 1998.

Most often when we talk about climbing to the top of the mountain, only to retreat from it, in musical terms at least, we are talking about sales or stature. For Mike Peters, life took on a much more complicated meaning, as he faced death straight in the eyes and decided rather to wage a war for life. And not only did he succeed, but in his new record Rise, Mike Peters scales a mountain top not witnessed since his days as lead singer of The Alarm, the late 70s band that scaled the heights, only to find that life has more meaning to it than just the sales charts and radio airplay.

RockLove caught up with this dynamic singer/songwriter, who now basks in the light of his renewed health, his newest batch of songs and an unlikely, but successful new pairing with Billy Duffy, formerly of The Cult. And like all good stories, Mike Peters' life is filled with the good, the bad, the ugly and now more good than he ever could have imagined. Because for Mike Peters, nothing could be better than just having life--something that all the hit records and money in the world still can't buy.

RockLove: First off and most importantly, how are you feeling?

Mike Peters: Everything's brilliant, yeah. It's quite thrilling for me to be here in America and even having people play my music on the radio, again and all. And playing shows and having people come out, it's fantastic.

RL: Going back to your days with The Alarm, have you always found America a different animal, so to speak?

MP: It's definitely more overwhelming. I love the fact that in America people take it a little bit more seriously than they do in Britain. People here tend to be more aware of the nuances and they are a bit more into it, and I think that is great. People can be more penetrated, even from an interview point like this over here.

RL: And I imagine that after a lengthy career like you have had, one is better equipped to deal with it all?

MP: I just enjoy coming over here and speaking with people over here. I think in America, more so than in Britain, people that you talk to definitely have more of an awareness of your whole history, whereas in Britain, there's only a couple of magazines to really talk to.

RL: What about the difference between fans here and on the other side of the Atlantic?

MP: It's quite different in the sense that British fans are more physical in their response, so you play your show in Britain and everyone is like, well the whole wood of the floor is leaping up and down, whereas here it is much more of an intellectual response. People in America are really focused on what you are doing and they are really honed in on the music and they notice that you've got a different guitar sound than the one that was on the record, people definitely pick up on those kinds of things here. I think it is probably because in America, people have grown up more on singer/songwriters, the Dylans and all that. There's that whole history and side of it here, whereas in Britain, it is much more the punk thing.

RL: Do you find that one place is more open or closed-minded to one type of music or another?

MP: I think it is reversed from what it was. I think earlier on, when I was starting a band in the late 70s or early 80s with punk and then The Alarm, that Britain was like a real hot bed and people were up for almost anything. Then you came to America and they were definitely fighting punk wars over here and you were up against Led Zeppelin and The Who and the stranglehold they had on radio and the consciousness of fans in America and that changed in the early 90s and since then, I think Britain has regressed and America has gone a lot more forward musically. I think Britain carries a bit of a chip on its shoulders these days.

RL: Along those lines, though, there is quite a big scene in your native Wales that has sprung up in the second half of this decade.

MP: Yeah. You've got the Manic Street Preachers, Catatonia, Stereophonics and it has just come to the forefront. What it was in Wales was that really a lot of the good music was done in the Welsh language. And that was a really political statement for bands to make, because the culture has been under threat for such a long time. It was recorded in the Welsh language, reported in the Welsh language and critically assessed in the Welsh language and any band that broke out of that was seen as selling out and going over to the English. And I think that suppressed a lot of very good music in Wales for a very long time. And in 1989, one thing I did with The Alarm, was I decided to make the album in the Welsh language as well, which was going against the grain of the Welsh music scene, because I was English speaking first. And I think that, in a way, that you could be bilingual. You could play somewhere away from home and sing in English--the international language. Why not? And I think a lot of that was picked up by many bands.

RL: Tell us where you have been since you left The Alarm?

MP: I left the band in '91. I think that there was a big change coming musically. The last Alarm album was our attempt at sort of reevaluating ourselves, giving us a new basis to go forward in the 90s. In the same way that Neil Young achieved with the Freedom record and I felt that we didn't go as far musically as we needed to establish a base camp to take on the 90s. The band was physically splintered in half--half the group living in America and half living in England and Wales and it became increasingly hard to communicate and unify the musical direction of the band. So, I thought it would be best to kind of go it alone, really, which basically involved me getting back into the underground. With The Alarm, I don't think that people really looked at us as individuals within the band's framework.

RL: And this also signifies Mike Peters coming out of his comfort zone within that band frame work?

MP: Definitely. I felt we needed to go underground as a band and I felt that on our last record, we didn't make it enough of the violent musical statement that I thought we should make, sort of stir things up. We played it safe and I don't think that was what we needed to do so me going into the underground was what I thought I needed to do.

RL: Isn't that an easy trap to fall into, especially for a band that achieves the success that you guys had?

MP: Very much so, yeah. Look, everyone gets in a comfort zone in terms of having a life style that they want to protect and everyone loves touring at the level we were at and playing the shows with the trucks and the tour busses and that kind of thing. And you spend years building that mound and all of a sudden you want to deconstruct it all again and that can be very hard for people to go through that process. But, it was something I'd thought we had done as The Alarm in '81, we deconstructed ourselves to become The Alarm. We were all together as a group called Seventeen from '79 to '81 and we'd gotten nowhere. And it was only through a period of hard deconstruction and looking at ourselves in a very harsh light that we were able to create the foundation that was The Alarm and what was the cornerstone of that was a song called Unsafe Building. And I thought that we needed to do that again in '91 and we weren't equipped to do it.

RL: Do you think a band like The Alarm would find it easier to go back and reinvent itself in today's climate, especially after the Nirvana thing, which was all about deconstruction?

MP: Possibly. I don't know. Remember, we had been together for ten years and if we'd been together for 20 years and everyone was trucking along in a nice comfort zone, I don't know. I think it is easier for an individual to do it, it's very hard to focus four people to get to the same degree of clarity that you need to go through a deconstructive creative process that is about tearing everything down. It is kind of like a negative creation, isn't it, in a way?

RL: So, when you decided to leave the band and step out on your own, what did you find?

MP: I wasn't sure, at first, because I never really expected to leave The Alarm. It was a bit of a shock and I just kind of immersed myself in a kind of home studio and wrote hundreds of songs and it got very eclectic. I think a lot of it was a reaction to leaving the band. There's a lot of different feelings you go through and a certain amount of feelings where you feel you need to justify yourself and you need to prove to certain people what your contribution was to that band. Sometimes you start to then state the obvious at certain points, when you don't really need to. And I think that for me musically and even for a lot of the fans, it was a bit of a confusing time.

RL: And you were the front man, so aren't you always walking that tightrope any ways?

MP: Yeah. And everyone expects it to sort of be at a level of like it was with The Alarm and it's not. And that throws up a whole set of conundrums that you have to work your way through and deal with. I think it is very hard to leave a band, get it out of your system and become a new person. And I don't think you can do it over night, at least I haven't been able to do it over night. It's taken me like a couple of albums and all kinds of stuff where I can actually be at a base level where I can project myself as Mike Peters who is an artist that is worthy of attention and has got records that is grabbing a couple of headlines here and there.

RL: And then you start to find your groove in all this deconstruction, reconstruction and then the problem with your throat and the cancer.

MP: I think that was sort of the low ebb and my hitting rock bottom, really. It came at a strange time, when I felt like the first sort of shots of hope were starting to surface, if you like. I was making my second solo record and was just about to come to America to do some dates to begin reacquainting myself and reconnecting. And I had played this set of dates in the UK first and I had this lump on my collar bone and swollen glands and I thought, "well, I must just be run down." I had been working hard and so I went to the doctor and I thought I just needed a course of antibiotics and then they hit me with the big C. It was really out of the blue and it was a big shock and I didn't know how to take it at first. They were brilliant in the hospital, they were like, "look, we're going to go for a cure." I had a biopsy and they diagnosed it as high grade lymphoma and they wanted me to really blast it with chemotherapy and go for a cure. And they must have felt I was insane, because at that point, I said, "Look guys, I know we're going to do this and I appreciate what you're saying, but all my instincts tell me that I've got to put this off for three months while I finish making my record, get the tour done, do the gathering (an annual tour and 'gathering' of musician friends that Peters' hosts) that I had planned at the beginning of the year." So, I said to them, "Look, can I just defer this for about three months while I get my life together, because if I cancel all these dates and blow out these studio sessions and all that, it's going to bring so much negativity into play and I'd rather keep it quiet and then I can go into the treatment in a positive frame of mind and it will work better for all concerned."

RL: And what is your frame of mind as you finish up that record, get ready to go out on tour, knowing what is to come?

MP: Absolutely all kinds of things. It was a tough time, because you've got so many conflicting thoughts going through your mind and you sort of veer in between, like one minute you are positive about it and the next minute you are down. I found myself in a sort of very hyperactive phase at that point--I didn't want to go to sleep, because I didn't want to go to bed and think about it, so I just stayed up and worked--wrote songs, wrote lyrics, until I was exhausted and just crashed out.

RL: Was it affecting your singing at all at this point?

MP: Oh, definitely. I was playing an acoustic tour of America and I was playing songs that I had known all my life, but they were taking on a brand new meaning for me--especially all The Alarm songs. I mean, I'd play a song like Strength and knowing what I knew at the time, it was like a big thing for me and I think it really hit home for me through the fans. I mean, they didn't know, but they were being really moved by these gigs and I was, too. So, it was a huge area of discovery, it was a big time of rediscovery for me.

RL: And I imagine this acoustic tour brought you physically closer to the fans. I mean, you are playing smaller clubs, not the big venues you had played with The Alarm and the closeness of proximity can only add to the emotion.

MP: You could feel the love big time. And it was just touching in that way. It clarified a lot of things for me. It enabled me to sort of rid myself of the demons that you kind of get haunted by when you have a band like The Alarm, because breaking up is such a painful time. And you tend to start focusing on the things that went wrong and doing that tour brought me back in touch with everything that was right about The Alarm. And that set me free, because all of a sudden I could focus on the positive and bring that positive energy forward into what I was trying to do in becoming a new and different artist than I had been.

RL: And what about as the tour ends and the reality of chemotherapy, the cancer and the whole health issue reality resurfaces to the forefront?

MP: Yeah. I was going to book shops all over the place in America and buying these self healing books and stories about people taking on cancer and defeating it by mind over matter. And I drew a lot of strength from that and I saw a faith healer and the faith healer told me that green was a powerful color for me and was a healing color and my whole sort of John Lennon influence kicked in and I went green completely. I went to an army surplus store and bought green fatigues, green underwear, the lot. And I wore it every single day onstage, off stage, lived in it and it became a real focal point for me to focus on it and direct it and everytime I looked in the mirror, I just saw me in this green that reminded me of the battle that was going on and when I came home and did all of the final blood tests before the treatment was to begin, they were like, "Hold on a minute, here. The signs are starting to reverse." My blood cells had started to replenish and started to go up slowly and they decided to put the treatment off and just monitor me. And every time I've gone back for checks, my vital signs have all gone up.

RL: That is a bit freaky, don't you think?

MP: It was very freaky.

RL: So, you had no treatment what so ever?

MP: No. It was incredible.

RL: So, at that point, I imagine you are able to get your focus back on the music, but your life means so much more to you?

MP: Exactly. It's too massive of a thing for me to try and put into words without it sounding trite. I was in such a hurry while I was touring, because I was like, "What if I don't make it through this and I want to get the album down and make a statement." And I went back to Boston whenever I had a couple of days during that last tour and I was making the record in the middle of it all. It was a very intense time and it taught me a lot about myself, it taught me a lot about my song writing and it taught me to be less precious and work faster and I felt that I started writing clearer and I tried to write almost stream of consciousness and not let the physicality of who I am get in the way of things. It was a very enlightening period of my life. And even though it is a couple of years after the event, I'm still feeding off of the energy of the whole thing.

RL: And in a way, it sounds like the deconstruction you wanted to go through musically happened, albeit from a different angle than you had intended?

MP: Absolutely. I think you are absolutely right. And I again equate that to when we started The Alarm. It was other things, it was our friendship that forced The Alarm out of us and again, the same thing happened to me with what I went through.

RL: And you recorded the Feel Free record during this time, before this new one, Rise. Was Feel Free an exorcising of the demons?

MP: I think that when you hear the Feel Free record now, it is kind of a painful record to listen to. It's a record of conflicting emotions. A lot of it was made in the darkness of not knowing whether I was going to be here at the end of the process or not and whether that was going to be my last record to make. And then some of it was made when I was giving the all-clear. I have to admit that I was so focused on being ill that when I was given the all-clear, I find that almost as confusing, because I was so focused on it. It's only now, over a year later, that I am able to get over the whole thing properly and then go forward from it.

RL: So your new record Rise, which I love by the way, speaking of John Lennon influences, is the first after your deconstruction and getting past the horrors of your illness?

MP: I felt totally free and I felt like I had a clean copy book all of a sudden. I felt like I could go wherever I wanted to go, but more importantly, I knew exactly what I wanted to do and I wrote the record really fast--I almost didn't have to think about it. It just took on a whole life of its own and I wanted it to be a record that summed up who I was today. And it refers to who I was, but it is definitely about who I am.

RL: Wow! That is some story my friend. Well, we wish you continued health. I can't wait to see your set and I am just as excited about your work with Billy Duffy of The Cult, whom I understand you are really getting on well with.

MP: Billy and I met at a music event I had 18 months ago. I still have it, it is called The Gathering. When I was back home, I didn't have any infrastructure at all. I didn't have a record deal, I was just making music in Wales and I wanted to stay in touch with the fans. I started this website, figuring if I can't get to the fans, I will bring the fans to me, which is what I did. And they could share in the music in that context. And it was The Gathering 5 and just prior to that I had met up with Billy playing soccer and we had a good friendship. He came up to The Gathering and we did a couple of Cult songs, we did Raid and Sanctuary. And the place went mad. And in the aftermath of this, people were talking about how amazing it was that Mike Peters and Billy Duffy were playing together and it was an amazing vibe. And Billy and I were aware of it as we were playing. So he helped me out on the new Rise album and it just started from there. We are just so in tune together musically. So, as soon as I finished the album, we got together back at my house and started writing songs for our own project and we started a band called Coloursound and at the moment, we are running it parallel with the solo thing. It's very exciting and it's a really fresh band and we are going to make an album in the new year.

RL: Are you feeling at all like your musical life has come full circle?

MP: There's a line on the new album and it goes, "I wish I knew what I knew then. I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now." And that's exactly how I feel.

Mike Peter's taped Broadcast for the nationally syndicated "Acoustic Cafe" will be broadcast on Nov. 23rd. It will also be posted in RealAudio format on the 23rd at mlive.com. For local stations that run the Acoustic Cafe program, visit the Acoustic Cafe Web Site.

"A Creation That Creates"
Billy Lamont, world famous New York poet and heir to the Alan Ginsberg poem "Howl" (The inspiration for the song 'Absolute Reality') has teamed up with Mike Peters for an absolutely incredible version of "Into The 21st Century". Interwoven with Mike's music and lyrics are Lamont's stingingly funny and heartbreaking spoken words, all of this over a backing track of a young Ginsberg reciting "Howl". The effect is amazing.

The song is Featured in Billy Lamont's new Book/CD named "Into The 21st Century" The release party for the book will be:

Wed. Nov. 18th, 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM at CBGB 313 Gallery (downstairs lounge) 313 Bowery @ E. Houston in New York City (212) 667-0455.


Mike Peters will be in attendence, and a performace with Billy Lamont is a high probability. This is not to be missed!

Let me tell you the kind of guy singer Mike Peters is. Driven, dedicated
and downright aggressive are a mere three attributes of this talented
personality.

The name Mike Peters should ring a bell to readers who listened to the
radio throughout the 1980’s. As head songwriter and vocalist for The
Alarm, Peters made his mark worldwide on the airwaves and with record
sales.

After guiding the band through more than eight years of success, The
Alarm packed it in come 1991. Through those years, Peters and The Alarm
scored 14 Top 40 UK singles, hit the UK album charts six times and
enjoyed Top 40 success throughout its history. The band managed to take
that success to the United States, headlining stadiums across the
country.

As the band’s main songwriter, vocalist and guitarist, Peters was
exhausted by 1991. The sabbatical he chose to take at that point led to
the group’s expected demise.

The decision Peters made carried merit. “We had reached the end of the
creative road. I always said that the day the enjoyment went out of it,
that was the day to call it quits,” he said.

Since those days of yore, with songs as powerful as The Alarm’s (Give
Me) Strength, Peters has been doing anything but relaxing on his
laurels. Downtime was minimal for Peters; he retreated to a converted
chapel in Wales where he wrote material that provided the backbone of
songs that led to his first solo collection titled Breathe (1994). A
critic’s choice, the success provided what was necessary for Peters to
continue as a solo artist - Feel Free was released in 1996.

However, between albums, Peters would deal with a major setback in his
life - the discovery of lymphoma in his throat. Denouncing the trauma,
the singer consulted a faith healer who instructed him to wear green
combat fatigues to fight the cancer as a form of physical and
psychological protection (a visual statement to himself and the people
around him that he was in a “psychological combat zone”). The therapy
worked.

During the summer of Ô97, Peters wrote and recorded the eleven brand new
songs that would become Rise - released on the new Velvel label of New
York. A superb offering of Peters’ heaviest influences, Rise would exude
of songs that would emit single potential. Unquestionably reminded by
his brother Brit heroes The Beatles, the song titled In Circles offers a
great tribute to the soundscape style of The Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper
days and emits vocal visions of the late great John Lennon in
Transcendental. While the Beatlesque pop sound is reminiscent, somehow
the signature voice and song writing style of Mike Peters emerges
throughout the album.

With a new lease on life, a new recording company and a successful
tour in the works, Mike Peters in on track. The ever sharing and
talkative sort, Peters offered his thoughts to The Weekender in the
middle of his solo tour:

Joe Limongelli: So how are things thus far in the states with the tour?

Mike Peters: Oh, it’s been very positive to date! No complaints on my
end.

JL: Life after The Alarm - has it been a struggle for you?


MP: It’s been hard, but I’ve enjoyed it at the same time. You have to go
underground; you leave a band like the Alarm, all of a sudden you’ve got
no infrastructure to make music - obviously you haven’t got a band to
make it with anymore (chuckle). You do lose touch with a lot of fans,
you lose touch with the industry to a large degree. You have to start
forging your own path, but it puts you back in touch with the self that
decided to start a band and make music in the first place. I’m grateful
for that - to get a second bite in making music.

JL: You’re hooked up with Velvel, a label - according to many other
artists - that is much more open, more giving.


MP: Yes, they came to me, they plugged into what I was doing on the
Internet as an artist in the UK. I was really attracted to the label
because it’s run in a family way; they were fans coming to me to make
music, not just businessmen.

JL: You’ve mentioned the Internet, and I’ve checked out your Web site.
There’s a lot going on there!


MP: There certainly is! The Internet is my tool ... I started that a
long time ago in The Alarm. I’d opened up the phone lines into my office
in Wales so we could have personal contact with fans - the Internet was
a very quick extension of that. You lose a certain amount of voice once
you fall out of fashion. All of a sudden you can’t get interviews and
you can’t get press and you don’t get on the radio. The Internet is my
way of combating that.

JL: What is the status with your bout with Lymphoma?


MP: Well, I’m all clear now. That was a very confusing time because when
I found out, I didn’t know what to do. Instinctively, your survival
instinct takes over and I decided that I would continue. I asked the
doctors to give me three months to clear my schedule because I didn’t
want to cancel the touring and the recording ... I felt that would bring
down a huge wave of negativity. I came to America at the time and read
books on self-healing and went to the faith healer. (I) was told that
green was a powerful color; I went to an army surplus store and got
myself some green surplus from top to bottom. (I) played in it, slept in
it, traveled in it. I tuned into the whole psychological combat zone and
I was determined to win. When I got back from the tour, all my
statistics had started to stabilize and certain key readings in my blood
started to go back up. Eventually, I was given the all-clear even though
I was prepared for the war - to win this. It took me the Rise album to
really get over it. I was able then to move on.

JL: A good name for the album - tell me about a couple of tunes on this
record. Is Transcendental a reflection on the last few years of your
life?


MP: Yes, but it’s the first time it’s really come out in my music.
Transcendental is about the amount of love that has gotten me through
the last few years, people giving me a lot of love, fans and family
helping me get through.

As for the Mike Peters of today, he is healthy, he is prolific and he
has a legion of fans behind him. If you’d like to dip into the current world
of Mike Peters, check out his new album entitled Rise (Velvel Records)
and visit the Mike Peters Web site at http://www.demon.co.uk/alarmpo/

For Alarm fans and new fans alike, Mike Peters is a talent who continues
to be reckoned with.

From new construction comes new creation.

That line from the song Ground Zero on the third solo album by former Alarm
frontman Mike Peters says a lot about the process he has been through in
trying to find an identity as a solo artist. In fact, Peters feels his
latest solo CD, Rise, represents a new beginning for him as a
singer-songwriter.

I felt that I was able to have a starting point again with this record,
Peters said. I was definitely working at the end of something when I left
the Alarm. I liken it to the time when I started the Alarm. I was in a
group called Seventeen which musically didnt achieve a lot. But it taught
us a lot.

Peters formed the Alarm in 1981 and served as the bands vocalist and
primary songwriter over the course of four studio albums and an EP that
established the bands passionate, anthemic guitar rock sound. When the
Alarm split in 1991, Peters began a solo career, feeling the need to remind
listeners of his role in the Alarm.

I was trying to live up to it to a certain degree and show people how much
I contributed to the band. (But) the real fans ... they knew what I did, he
said. It was very confusing to me because I started the band and shaped the
vision of the group ... and I never saw Id have to be the one to leave the
band.

I think when I left the Alarm, I tried to make the record that I thought
the Alarm was capable of making but never made, Peters added. I probably
tried to sound too much like the Alarm.

The new album has echoes of the Alarms sound. Songs like In Circles, Ground
Zero, My Calling and I Want You feature bold guitar lines and the
expansive, folk-edged rock sound that was the Alarms signature. But Peters
offers stylistic departures such as White Noise (Part II), which liberally
blends techno and industrial sounds into its guitar rock sound, and
Transcendental, a Lennonesque ballad that uses muted keyboards and
electronic effects.

Trying to establish his own musical identity, however, has not been the
biggest battle Peters has faced in his post-Alarm career. In 1995, as he
was preparing to begin an American tour, Peters was diagnosed with
lymphoma. Doctors gave him only a 60 percent chance of surviving his cancer
and wanted him to begin treatments immediately.

But Peters chose instead to complete his tour and used the time to take
stock of his situation. I said Look, if Im going to beat this, I have to be
in the most positive frame of mind. Give me a couple of months and then
well go for it, Peters recalled. I actually went out on the road, and just
the instinct took over.

While on the road, Peters read books on the power of mind-over-matter and
visited a faith healer. She said that green was a powerful color and a
healing color, he said. I went to an Army surplus store and bought green
combat fatigues and dressed from head-to-toe and went into (what) I
describe as a psychological combat zone. And it was a battle I was
determined to win.

When Peters returned from the tour, more tests were taken. My vital
statistics had started to stabilize and in some cases they had started to
go back up on the charts, he said. So we monitored it for awhile, and I was
finally given the all clear. It was a really strange set of circumstances.

Facing down a disease like cancer had a profound effect on Peters, his
outlook on life and his passion for music. It made me more determined to
live my life in a way that I enjoy it and feel good about it, he said. I
feel good about my sleep at night, waking up in the morning. I can live
alongside my fellow workmates and companions and be able to look them in
the eye and live a life that is free of all the stuff that gets in the way
of enjoying life, arguments and dishonesty ... I try to be as open as I can
with everyone. I just completely live for today. The whole situation just
sped my life up and I want to cram as much into every 24 hours as I can.

The experience filtered into Peters second solo CD, Feel Free, which was
released in 1996. But Peters said some of that material doesnt reflect his
contented state of mind today: Theres a lot of anger and confusion on the
record.

In contrast, Rise finds Peters in a much more optimistic frame of mind.
Many of the songs express a new-found joy, an appreciation for life and a
spirituality that is deeper and more personal than his music has previously
revealed.

In some ways, Im sort of glad it happened because it enhanced my life so
much, Peters said of his battle with lymphoma. But its something I would
never want to go through again.

Mike Peters will be in-studio at KCXX-FM San Bernadino tomorrow, Nov. 6th at 8:00 A.M Pacific standard time. To listen to the broadcast LIVE!, you must have Real Audio, and you must go the the KCXX 103.9 Web Site.

Mike will also be on KOTR FM (San Luis Obispo/Cambria) Monday Nov. 9 at 10:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. To listen to the broadcast LIVE!, you must have Real Audio, and you must go the the KOTR 94.9 Web Site.

A Celebration of the Man, the Music, the Moments and the Magic of MikePeters. A stunning 20 page full colour publication that reviews all that is amazing about Mike Peters. Looking back at The Alarm, thru his solo career and the celebratedlaunch of "Rise" in America to the introduction of Coloursound.

If you are a Mike Peters fan then this one is a must for you. To reserve a copy at £9.95 plus p + p (UK) $17.00 plus p + p (USA)email doctor k today on city@karlkpam.demon.co.uk.

This is a limited edition publication produced in association with the MPO.

"I have been fooled by the rock and roll dream. All I wanted was snatched
away," sang Mike Peters on Monday at a solo show at Shank Hall. "I will not
look back."

Those lyrics, from the song "Breathe," have a special poignancy for Peters,
who spent much of the '80s as the front man for The Alarm, the Welsh
folk-punk quartet unjustly dismissed by many as U2 wannabes.

Although they were no doubt influenced by Bono and company, The Alarm was no
imitation. Dominated by jangly guitars and Peters' distinctive voice, by
turns plaintive and defiant, the band forged a sound all its own. Before a
slide into obscurity and subsequent breakup in the early '90s, The Alarm had
earned an impressive fan base here and abroad.

A few dozen of those fans were on hand when Peters took to the stage, armed
with just a guitar and harmonica. It was all he needed.

Looking fit and fully recovered from a 1995 battle with lymphoma that almost
killed him, Peters blended old Alarm classics with material from his
just-released solo effort, "Rise," into a seamless flow of acoustic rock.

Lyrics have always been Peters' strong point, and the acoustic environment
spotlighted his talents on such songs as the new "Ground Zero" and old Alarm
standard "Deeside."

Most in attendance appeared to be Gen-Xers who had doubtless packed the
larger venues that The Alarm filled in its heyday. Songs such as "Absolute
Reality" and "Rain in the Summertime" were greeted with wild applause that
seemed out of proportion to crowd size. When Peters announced he would soon
be touring with a new band that included guitarist Billy Duffy, the audience
began cheering in recognition even before he mentioned the name of Duffy's
old band, '80s hard-rockers The Cult. Written requests from the audience,
read aloud by Peters before he launched into the songs, revealed many
longtime fans who had seen him several times in the past.

Many of the Alarm tunes that Peters delivered rocked as triumphantly as when
he had his old band behind him, particularly "The Stand," inspired by the
Stephen King novel of the same name. Other songs showed his gentler side,
such as the delicate love hymn "First Light."

Despite his earnest energy, Peters sometimes faltered, most notably on a
leaden rendition of "Strength." With his "aw, shucks" banter in between
songs, however, it was hard to fault the man for a few slow moments.

Deadlines precluded a review of Peters' entire set.

One-man band Hamell on Trial was not so much an opening act as a live-action
Tasmanian Devil, mixing frenetic guitar work with the occasional hillbilly
yell and Johnny Cash cover. Hamell summed up his philosophy of hard-rocking
acoustic rants best: "If I ain't sweatin', then it's not fun. I'm like the
Beastie Boys, except I'm one."

Mike just played Acoustic Cafe which is syndicated to approx 40 stations
across the U.S. To hear the session and interview please go towww.acafe.com
between 16th-23rd Nov

Mike is playing the 'Big Room Performance' on WWCD (Columbus) with 20-30
radio winners in attendance on Oct 21, live on air at 3.30pm

Mike is performing a couple of songs and on-air interview on Thurs Oct22 on
WOXY (Oxford, Ohio)

Mike Peters, formerly of '80s anthem-rock
band, plays one-man show at Asbury Park,
N.J.'s Saint nightclub.

Contributing Editor Jon Vena reports:

ASBURY PARK, N.J. -- There was nothing remarkable about
the atmosphere at the Saint nightclub Wednesday night.

The place was far from full. The stage was all but empty. The
crowd was quiet and focused.

It was the man on stage, former Alarm singer Mike Peters,
who gave life to the club for a few hours.

Standing alone with his acoustic guitar and a harmonica, and
towering above his sequencer
which lay on the floor in front of him, he put on a show that
turned an ordinary night into an
unforgettable evening. His performance was nothing much to
look at, but it was everything to
listen to, as his strong and resounding vocals displayed a
power that reverberated even as he
left the stage.

"Make yourselves comfortable," Peters told the
crowd of about 50 fans, who
fit easily into a space large enough for three
times as many people.

Peters started off the night with the Alarm
nugget "Marching On." The
crowd, a collection of obvious die-hards,
greeted the choice with audible
glee, as Peters seemed to be easing his
following back into things. For the
next 120 minutes, Peters proceeded to show the
people something of what
he has become, deftly mixing trip-hop with
melodic rock and doing it all by
himself.

Back in the mid-'80s, the Alarm vocalist and
guitarist had to deal with
numerous comparisons to U2 lead singer Bono. The
Alarm's grandiose,
politically charged rock anthems certainly
brought to mind U2's early
punk-style.

So maybe it's not surprising that the same
ambient, atmospheric haze of
techno and borderline trip-hop that U2 embrace
on their latest records is
quite similar to the sound of Peters' latest
album, Rise.

What is surprising, however, is how the
Welsh-born Peters is presenting his
new music on his "Interactive Acoustic Works
Tour." The performance went
down as advertised, interactive and stripped-down, with
Peters playing solo and mostly
acoustic.

Throughout the set, Peters sifted through requests pulled
from his website, reading the
comments that accompanied them and looking into the crowd to
locate the lucky fan.

"Ground Zero" from Rise recalled Peters' songwriting in the
Alarm: dramatic, yet heartfelt and
sincere. "I was looking for a way out," he bellowed, his hair
drifting into his eyes. "All I found
was a way back in."

On another new song, a collaboration with ex-Cult guitarist
Billy Duffy called "In Circles,"
Peters adopted a Beatles-like vocal effect. In fact, "Wasting
Land," "My Calling" and the title
track from the new album all revealed Peters' obvious
fascination with the Fab Four. But that
connection was most evident on "Transcendental," which was
accompanied by a sequencer
that broadcast a track of brooding, psychedelic noise.

"I would paint the sky a purple shade," Peters sang,
recalling the smooth yet heartfelt vocals
of Paul McCartney. "Dye the blue sea black, spray the clouds
in tangerine, make the trees
electric blue for you, all for you."

The best audience-reactions of the night were saved for
Peters' lean interpretations of Alarm
numbers.

"The Stand," with its shrill harmonica bridge and resounding
chorus, sounded as strong
acoustically as the original. "Rain In The Summertime" was
tranquil and sweet, as was the
unplugged take on "Elvis In Folklore," the original B-side to
the band's "Rescue Me" single.

Peters later wowed the crowd with "Hwylio Dros y Mor," a
retooled Welsh version of "A New
South Wales."

The most surprising moment of the night, however, was an
acoustic version of "The Day The
Ravens Left The Tower," an Alarm cut from 1988. "This is
based on the folklore of the Tower of
London," Peters explained, "and how, if the ravens leave the
tower, England falls. But what
they don't tell you is that their wings are clipped, so
they're not going anywhere."

It all made sense to longtime Alarm fan Chris Rake.

"Mike's gift is that he can write intensely personal songs,
yet they don't come across as
corny," said the 26-year-old Rake. "His sincerity and
feelings always come through. He writes
from books, folklore and everything he sees and feels."

Solo in the spotlight, Peters proved to be an effective solo
performer, choosing substance over
style. And with the electronic sound of his latest song,
"Rise," which was released Tuesday,
he may advance his career along the way.

In the meantime, though, Peters is performing for old Alarm
fans, who allow him to showcase
his new works, plus works-in-progress like the evening's
poppy choice, "Kaleidoscope."

Halfway through one song, he stopped in his tracks and asked
to start over.

"I wouldn't get away with this on 'Saturday Night Live,' " he
quipped.

Surely not. But, then again, who cares?

Ask ex-Alarm frontman Mike Peters about the impact his former band had on
the musical state of the world and you'll get the impression he likens his
former group to something like 8-track tapes-you remember them, but for the
wrong reasons.
"If you want one picture of the Alarm, it's haircuts," laughs Peters.
"That's what gets remembered, not that we had some amazing songs that made a
huge connection with an audience. In general, people think, 'Oh yeah, "68
Guns" and a haircut.'"
Peters may be slightly exaggerating, but let's face it, the Alarm did have
some big-ass hair-but then again who didn't back in the mid-'80s? In all
fairness, though, the band did manage to churn out an impressive string of
punk- spirited, arena- rock flavored guitar anthems. From the aforementioned
"68 Guns" in 1994 to 1985's "Strength" to 1987's American breakthrough "Rain
in the Summertime," the Alarm fought the good fight. But they never did
shake the U2 association (they opened for the Irish band in 1983) and, like
a host of other decent '80s bands, disbanded with little fanfare after
getting lost in the Great Grunge Shuffle of 1991.
But just as quietly as the Alarm ended, since 1995, Peters has continued
making music, albeit not by the most conventional means of distribution.
Among his releases are two solo albums, one Alarm rarities album, an
acoustic version of his first solo album, a double, acoustic- only Alarm
best-of, a live album, and an EP with former Cult guitarist Billy Duffy as
Coloursound-available only online via the Mike Peters Web site.
His most recent work, Rise, was picked up by Velvel Records in the U.S. and
has become his first album available in stores, as of Tuesday (Oct. 13). "I
never thought I would have to leave the Alarm, but I did and had to brace
myself for a long period of going underground again," he recalls. "I decided
that the best way to do that was to make underground records and not be
under pressure of having to deliver some commercial masterstroke."
In the meantime, Peters was diagnosed with throat cancer and told the mortal
words: chance of survival: 60%. Peters turned to faith- healing, rather than
conventional medicine, and will be the first to champion the existence of
miracles. "It worked for me, that's all I can say," he says.
"It was a very frightening experience, but in some ways it was liberating
because all of a sudden you just had to get on with things. I'd never wish
it on anybody and I certainly would not to go through it again, but in many
ways I'm glad it happened. It woke me up. I totally live for today now, I
don't even think about tomorrow. I want to do everything today and I cram as
much in as I can." Like releasing eight albums in three years, for instance.
Rise is as solid a collection of finely- crafted rock songs you can ask
for these days, and even flirts with electronica, something which had
eluded Peters in the past. "It all started to go wrong for me in the Alarm
when the technology started to take over, and you can hear me ranting about
that on the Electric Folklore album," he recalls. "But I kind of analyzed
that after the tour and thought, 'Why was I doing that rant-because I'm
afraid of [technology] or ignorant of it?' I decided it was a mixture of
the two. Rather than just saying , 'I hate all that technology, computers,
and music,' I said, 'Let's see if it's something I can utilize and take
on.'"
The result is full-on rocktronica on songs like "White Noise Part III." "I
tried to use it like modern psychedelia, really-like the way the Beatles
used the Indian influence during their psychedelic era," Peters explains. "I
thought it would be nice if this record could burst off on a tangent in the
same way."
It does, in much the same way that Peters burst off in a tangent of musical
creativity, even though America hasn't seemed to notice until now. Of the
former Alarm members, Peters is the only one still pursuing the rock and
roll lifestyle. Drummer Nigel Twist is a public defense investigator in San
Francisco, bassist Dave Sharp plays in an Irish bar every Monday night in
New Orleans, and guitarist Eddie McDonald is a photographer living in
London. But don't call it a comeback, Peters never left.
"I didn't want to come back as being another one of the '80s nostalgia
pipelines," says Peters. "Everyday someone phones me and says, 'Why don't
you put the Alarm back together and do a tour with Simple Minds and Big
Country?' And I think, 'No thanks.' Nice idea. But I would have probably
bought a ticket to go and see the gig."

MIKE PETERS: 9 p.m. Thursday. Maxwell's, 1039 Washington St., Hoboken.
$ 7. (201) 653-1703.
Inspiration, in form and in timing, is so often unexpected, and no
one knows it better than Mike Peters. He only wishes his muse hadn't
arrived in such sudden, brutal fashion.
"I was actually diagnosed with cancer the day before I came to
America," says the 39-year-old Peters, remembering the day in the fall
of 1995 when doctors confirmed his worst fears. On the eve of a U.S.
solo tour, Peters, who spent the Eighties as frontman for the Welshrock
quartet The Alarm, was told that the lump he'd noticed on hiscollarbone
was lymphoma.
He was also told to stay in Wales and begin treatment as soon as
possible. He said no."I had to ask the doctors to hold off,"says
Peters, on the phone recently from his home in Wales."I said, 'Look,
I've got a tour starting in America tomorrow. They thought I was mad."
Three years later, Peters, alive, healthy, and inspired by the
experience of his illness and survival, is on his way back to America.
Currently in the midst of a five-week U.S. tour that includes a
stop Thursday at Maxwell's in Hoboken, Peters has just released"Rise,"
his third solo album since the 1991 breakup of The Alarm. On"Rise,"
Peters deals with the soaring highs and stunning lows of humanexistence
all from a uniquely learned perspective.
While on that 1995 tour, Peters wrote and recorded"Feel Free,"a
record he now describes as a combination of"anger and confusion."At
the same time, he immersed himself in self-help books and took the
advice of a faith healer, who advised him to wage "psychological
warfare"on the cancer. He spent the tour clothed in green combat
fatigues ,"It kind of scared my wife,"he admits, and eschewed
conventional medical treatment.
When he finally returned to Wales, shocked doctors gave him a clean
bill of health. Without radiation or chemotherapy, the cancer had
disappeared. Had he not kept to his touring schedule, Peters says, he
likely would've undergone the treatments, and the story might have hada
decidedly different ending.
"In a way,"Peters says, offering a knowing laugh,"rock-and-roll
sort of saved my life."
Fitting, since Peters life has been a true rock-and-roll existence
since his days as a young punk on the thriving U.K. scene of the late
Seventies. With his distinctly emotive voice, he led The Alarm to
prominence in the Eighties, earning U2 comparisons and a loyal
international following with songs like "Spirit of '76"and"Rain in the
Summertime." He made his solo debut with 1994's "Breathe,"then followed with
the tumultuous recording of"Feel Free,"released two years later. What
makes Peters third solo effort unique is a lyrical perspective that
has, understandably, been affected by his experience.
"It's made me 10 times more resilient, and at the same time, it has
made me more optimistic in a strange way,"Peters says of his bout with
cancer."My optimism now is a little bit more slow-burning. For that
reason, maybe it can be a bit more realistic as well."
On"Rise,"resiliency and optimism share space with exasperation
and disgust. On "White Noise,"Peters opens the album with a rant at"A
deafening sound in the void," lamenting sensory overload in the
communication age. Later, on"Ground Zero,"he sounds utterly hopeless
when he asks,"Are those tears on the ruins/From staring at defeat?"For all
that, Peters is a survivor, and it doesn't seem
contradictory on the title track when he offers,"Come together/Come
together now/Put your loneliness in mine and rise."The track readslike
a Nineties update on"Imagine,"and it's not the album's only reference
to John Lennon.
The airy"Transcendental"is vintage Lennon, a fact Peters happily
admits, but it's just one of many musical reference points. Peters
incorporates a techno feel into the opening of"White Noise,"then
shocks the listener with an innovative cover of the hip-hopclassic"The
Message." "As a punk who followed The Clash around, one of the things I
always liked about them was that they tried to turn their audience onto
new things," Peters says."I've tried to make a record that was as
challenging and threatening as I can make it."

"When you've been in a band like the Alarm, people kind of hold that against
you like a criminal record sometimes," laughs Welsh songsmith Mike Peters,
guilty as charged. "It's like, 'Oh, that guy can't be creative or do
anything of any relevance anymore.' And I totally refute that. I think just
because you get into your thirties, you don't go to sleep."

Granted, he continues, some folks go to sleep on you. They might have grown
out of their pop fetish all together, or perhaps long since traded all their
old Alarm albums in for adult contemporary rubbish or whatever the next
generation is listening to in a vain attempt to stay hip. But there will
certainly be stragglers left to listen -- and, if you're lucky, a few new
fans to be made yet. Peters takes a decidedly 'career-is-half-full' point of
view. And he has good reason to. With his third solo album, Rise, he's
garnered some of the best reviews of his career, and his music is finally
connecting with the "people who didn't get the Alarm or couldn't see it when
the hair-was-up-to-here.

"When I left the Alarm [in the early Nineties], it was like going back into
the underground," says Peters. "I've been working in the vacuum for such a
long time, and there's only been a few close friends sticking by me for
support, so it's great to be here now doing all these interviews, having
people talk about my record -- it's like, 'All right! I've made it through,
I've crossed the bridge."

Rise represents a bigger triumph for Peters than critical acceptance,
however. It's his personal affirmation of winding up on the winning end of a
brief but worrisome battle with lymphoma cancer. Nearly every song is an
anthem, espousing not so the much the shiny, happy-to-be-alive vibe the
affable Peters gives off in person as the meaner intensity of a snarling,
triumphant Mel Gibson standing atop a heap of butchered bodies in
Braveheart.

The Alarm's music was never much about subtlety, and Peters hasn't changed
in that regard. Although he worked out many of the songs on Rise live as
acoustic numbers, the finished product crackles with a high voltage guitar
and electronica-based rock best summed up by the title track, "White Noise."
Peters gives ample credit for the album's sonic assault to guests like
former Cult guitarist Billy Duffy, with whom Peters plays in a side-project
called ColorSound ("It is what it is," he explains, "it's the Alarm meets
the Cult."), and a couple of Welsh DJs whom he invited to the studio each
morning to pick and choose bits of the previous day's sessions for
experimentation.

Perhaps given that the Alarm endured a decade of U2 comparisons, Peters
himself invites comparison between Rise and the Irish group's own
electronica excursion, Pop. With all due respect to U2, whose support during
the Alarm years he readily acknowledges, Peters notes that the key
difference between the two albums is that Pop didn't quite work.

"When I was importing the DJs' pieces, they weren't dictating the tempo that
I was making my record at, because I wanted the band to move and sway and
slow down on the verses and speed up the choruses, which you can't do with
techno music," he explains. "When I heard that U2 record, it was obviously
done in direct tempo computer time, and U2 got lost in all that. I didn't
want to make that mistake with mine. I didn't want all the esoteric elements
to infringe on the record's ability to rock."

It's a classic case of having one's cake and eating it too, which is the way
Peters does things these days. He's got his solo acoustic shows to showcase
his singer/songwriter side, and ColorSound to get his rocks off. He lives in
a wee little village in North Wales with his wife and parents, who run the
info lines for his fan club. Oh, and then there's the annual Gathering,
which Peters' web page describes as "an audio visual celebration of Mike
Peters and the Alarm's music, past, present and future."

"I created it when I left the Alarm, when I didn't have a record label or a
setup to get me on the road anymore, and I thought 'Well, I've still got an
audience ... how can I get them to come to me?'" explains Peters. "And we
created this three-day event that's based around the music of Mike Peters
and the Alarm. We have soccer tournaments, we have quizzes, we have parties.
People fly in from America, Peru, Brazil -- we draw up to about 2,000 now.
We started out in the townhall in Rhyl, but we outgrew that. Now we're in
the North Wales conference center in Llandudno, on the seafront. It's great.
All the hotels sell out. It's brilliant -- you should come over. It's great.
Life's been good to me."

http://www.tollbooth.org/creviews/mpeters.html

The ColorSound EP is totally Sold-Out!
But there is good news. You can
now order ALL the
MPO/ColourSound merchandise
on-line!

Former Alarm singer Mike Peters' third solo album, Rise (Oct. 13), finds him adding electronic accents to his politically aware rock. Songs such as the lead-off track, "White Noise Part II," find Peters experimenting with studio sound manipulation and drum machines, whereas "My Calling" feature Peters' signature acoustic/electric roots-rock sound. Peters will kick off a solo acoustic tour of the U.S., dubbed "The Interactive Acoustic Works U.S. Tour," in Boston, Mass., on Oct. 10.

Mike Peters, Lead singer of The Alarm from 1981-1991is taking the intimacy
of an acoustic tour one step further whe nhe hits the road on Oct. 10...
he's actually invting audience members to pick the set lists before ach
show."I'm going to be using the show as a forum to cater to the audience
that has invested in me over the years, so to speak," Peters said,I have
always had requests every time I play a show. I tended to not read them out
fro mthr stage in general because once you do it for one, you have start
doing it for them all."For the Interactive Acoustic Works U.S. Tour, fans
can request songs - Including Alarm Material such as "68 Guns", "Spirit Of
'76" and "Sold Me Down The River" either by accessing Peters' web site
(www.demon.co.uk/alarmpo), by telephone, or o nthe night of the actual show.
Peters does ask that each request be accompanied by a short explanation
ofthe significance of the song to the person requesting it. Some of these
explanations will be shared with the audience."I'm hoping the stories people
tell will bring outa lot of humor," said Peters, "I'm probably goingto tape
and film every show. Maybe that can become something like a CD-Rom ofthe
best pieces."Peters will be organizing the list right up until the last
minute before he goes on-stage at each show."I don't like leaving the venue
after the sound check," Peters said. "I like staying in the venue and
feeling the build up of atmosphere that goes on uo to showtime. I like
watching a bit ofthe support group, whoever;s playing with me. So, that's
one way to kill some time: I'll get i nthe requests and start shifting them
around on my laptop."The show will feature only Peters with just his
acoustic guitar. One tour manager will be traveling with him, and maybe one
other person to help collate the requests. Booking agent is Loch Buchanan
at Premier Talent, and personal managemnt ishandled by Ian Wilson at Track
Artist Management.The American tour will last five or six weeks, andthen
Peters starts a British toiur on Nov. 20. Afterward, he will be working on
a project with Cult guitarist Billy Duffy called "ColourSound.". The buzz
is the pair will cut an album in January which will come out sometime next
year, and itsrelease will be followed by a full-scale tour.Peters's
Interactive Acoustic Works U.S. Tour conicides with the release of his solo
album "Rise" (on VelVel Records) Oct. 13.Peters has been doing live shows in
Britain, and has done eight solo albums that were only available ovet the
Internet and through his fan club, but this is the first commercial album
and U.S. tour since he was diagnosed with cancer in 1995."Hopefully. the new
album shows Mike Peters is 'awake' again i nthe 90's" Peters commented, "and
I've revitalized myself mentally, physically, and musically. I Feel rwady
to put Mike Peters back o nthe big stage.".

http://www.dailyvault.com/peters.html

Snowdonation update!
Snowdonation is completely sold-out. Watch your local listings (in Wales and the rest of the UK) for TV
information. Confirmed bands: Mike Peters, ColourSound, Stereophonics, The Levellers, The Crocketts,
Cartoon, Murray The hump, Big Leaves.

Mike Peters has enlisted fellow Welsh rockers, and current "Best New Band In The UK" award winners The
Stereophonics for "Snowdonation" a benefit for the National Trust to help buy and save a portion of the
Snowdonian Mountain Range in Wales that has been put up for sale by its owner.4The show will take place on Oct. 3 at the International Arena in the village of Llangollen in Wales, and tickets
are nearly sold out.

The highest mountain in England and Wales is getting a little help from its friends. Along with Britain's National Trust, an organization founded in 1895 to act as a guardian for Great Britain in the acquisition and protection of threatened countryside and buildings, ex-Alarm singer and Welshman Mike Peters is organizing a benefit concert, tentatively titled Snowdon Aid, to help save the Southern flank of Mount Snowdon in North Wales before it becomes available on the open market. Peters is currently rounding up a slew of Welsh acts to help raise an estimated 2 million British pounds still needed to save the mountain from sure development. "I'm trying to get any band that is associated with Wales to play," says Peters. Welsh band du jour Stereophonics are already confirmed for the all-acoustic gig, which will take place on Oct. 3 at the International Arena in the village of Llangollen in Wales. Fellow Welshmen the Manic Street Preachers have also expressed an interest, while Catatonia, Bush, and the Charlatans U.K. are being courted for the benefit as well. Peters also hopes to snag Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, who have written a good portion of their catalog in Wales. And of course, Peters will perform a solo set. Mount Snowdon (or Yr Wyddfa in Welsh) stands at 3,560 feet and is located inside Snowdonia National Park. The 14th generation farmer who owns the land on the Southern flank has given the National Trust 100 days to come up with 4 million British pounds. If the money is not raised in time, the land will become available on the open market and likely be snatched up by private developers. Actor Sir Anthony Hopkins, who is President of the National Trust Snowdonia Appeal, gave 1 million pounds himself, and Peters hopes the gig will raise the rest. With 66 days left in the Save Snowdonia Campaign at press time, the National Trust has raised 2 of the 4 million British pounds. "I live in the shadow of Snowdon, I can see it from my house," says Peters. "I've climbed all the 15 peaks-in one day, no less. It's been there before man ever existed on this planet, and it will be there long after man has disappeared. I think somehow climbing a mountain that has been there before your species-there is something great about that. That's why this is important to me." The benefit will be televised by Channel 4 in Wales, an independent station funded by the BBC. Tickets for the benefit go on sale in Great Britain on Monday (Sept. 14).
*

Ex-Alarm singer Mike Peters will release his third solo album, Rise, on Oct. 13. The 14-track album from the former leader of the anthemic British rock band contains the single "Transcendental," which is slated to hit radio in early October. The album also features the song "In Circles," which Peters co-wrote with ex-Cult guitarist Billy Duffy.

8/20/98

Side Project With Billy Duffy To Tour U.K. Ex-Alarm frontman Mike Peters is gearing up for the Oct. 13 release of Rise, his third solo album since the Alarm disbanded in 1991. The 14-track album, due on Velvel Records, features a collaborative effort between Peters and ex-Cult guitarist Billy Duffy called "In Circles." Duffy also contributes guitar to several other tracks on the album. The album's first single, "Transcendental," will hit the airwaves in early October. In the meantime, Duffy and Peters' side project ColorSound (allstar, March 24) will kick off a small U.K. tour in September, according to Peters' official Web site. ColorSound also recently worked with producer Bob Rock (Metallica) in Hawaii and have some 20-odd songs written for a possible album sometime next year. ColorSound tour dates:

Sept. 20, Manchester, Manchester University
Sept. 21, London, The Barfly
Sept. 28, London, The Barfly
Sept. 29, Leeds, Duchess of York
Oct. 1, Aberdeen, The Works
Oct. 2, Glasgow, King Tuts
Oct. 5, London, The Barfly

ColourSound 4-track ep!!!!


under the sun
alive
heavy rain
fade in - fade out - fade away

AVAILABLE NOW!
EXTREMELY LIMITED EDITION
1000 COPIES

£5 + £1 p&p (UK)
£5 + £2 p&p (overseas)


To make your order:
Please call 00 44 (0)1745 571571
fax 00 44 (o) 1745 571577
e-mail mpo@alarmpo.demon.co.uk
Order On-Line Here!

Another relic of the '80s returns Oct. 13, when Velvel releases "Rise," the third solo album by former Alarm lead singer/songwriter Mike Peters. The 14-track disc, recorded last summer in the U.K., features a guest appearance on several tracks by erstwhile Cult guitarist Billy Duffy. The album's first single, "Transcendental," will be sent to radio in late September.

Mike Peters guided the Alarm for eight years, scoring such alternative rock hits as "Sixty Eight Guns," "Strength," and "The Stand." The Alarm disbanded in 1991, following a world tour.

BILLY DUFFY AND MIKE PETERS FORM BRAND NEW BAND, DEBUTING IN THE UK WITH A RESIDENCY @ THE BARFLY AND SELECTED BRITISH DATES

Billy Duffy, Cult guitarist and Alarm singer-songwriter, Mike Peters, have formed a brand new band called 'COLOURSOUND'. Having already performed 3 infamous shows in the U.S.A. the band have decided to hold a London residency and mini tour of the U.K. prior to recording a full blown debut album later in the year.

'Coloursound' is the vehicle for Mike and Billy's newly formed songwriting partnership which began after a chance meeting at last years Phoenix Festival footie tournament, and continued with Billy being invited to play guest guitar at the recording sessions of Mike's recent solo LP 'Rise'. Having enjoyed working together so much, Mike and Billy relocated to Wales to collaborate on the songs which form the basis of 'Coloursound'.

Billy Duffy, who says, "This is the first time I've picked up a guitar since the Cult without being paid and it feels great" and Mike have subsequently written some 20 songs, four of which were written while the band recorded with producer Bob Rock in Hawaii after their much talked about NY debut in April this year. The Coloursound Demos [some of which are soon to be exclusively released via the band's newly-formed website at www.coloursound.com] have caused quite a stir with the U.S. industry: "The A&R event of the week was the COLOURSOUND show at the Mercury Lounge. Coloursound are the new band fronted by CULT guitarist BILLY DUFFY, and the label weasels were out in force to catch this show. The band are allegedly so hot that METALLICA producer BOB ROCK is already twiddling the knobs for their debut album-despite the fact that they've only got seven songs...and no record deal! At least not yet! Kerrang Magazine, 9th May 1998.

Back in the UK, Mike and Billy, together with bass guitarist Craig Adams and drummer Steve Grantley, will be performing at the following venues:

Sun, September 20 - Manchester, University
Mon, September 21 - London, Camden The Barfly
Mon, September 28 - London, Camden The Barfly
Tues, September 29 - Leeds Duchess of York
Thurs, October 1 - Aberdeen, The Works
Friday, October 2 - Glasgow, King Tuts
Monday, October 5 - London, Camden Barfly
Tickets are priced at £6.00 in advance and £7.00 on the door. For box office information call 01745 571571.

The Galway festival show in Ireland was a rousing success. Finally the Cult fans are starting to hear the word about ColorSound and are showing up in impressive numbers, bolstering the ranks of Alarm and MPOers who have caught wind of the next big thing.

Tour/Recording News!!

Exciting things will be happening in September, especially if you live in the UK! Check back next week for details.

Highlights from Mike Peters and the New Electric Band's recent stunning performance at the Dolgellau Festival are to be televised this Friday evening, July 31st at 7.25pm on Channel 4 Wales. Tune in to see an electric performance of 'Aer'/Breathe and an acoustic performance of Hwylio Dros y Mor/ A New South Wales in Welsh, together with an interview with Mike from the riverbank in Dolgellau. The entire Mike Peters' performance was filmed by the same TV company as the recent Stereophonics concert at Cardiff Castle and sneak previews at MPO HQ suggests that this is the best video footage of Mike and the band in performance to date. MPO hopes to offer the entire concert for general viewing at a later date.

On Bank Holiday Monday, 31st August, Mike Peters headlines the last ever Greenbelt Festival in Northamptonshire England. One day tickets have been made especially available to MPO members at a price of £15. This tickets allows admission to the festival from 4pm onwards. Tickets can be bought on the day and Greenbelt Festival Organisers confirm that all MPO members will be guaranteed admission. For further Greenbelt information please call 0171 700 6585.

Mike Peters and Colorsound have recently returned from Ireland where they recently appeared at the Galway Festival. Please Stay in touch with MPO for possible Colorsound news, happening in late August/ September!!!!

**********
The release of Rise in the US has been confirmed for October 13th on Velvel Records. Watch out for new tracklisting together with extra tracks, previously unreleased. Mike