Triumph frontman, Rik Emmett, is featured in a new interview with Talkin' Bout Rock, in which he talks about the days of arena rock shows with Triumph, his latest solo release Diamonds, and more.
Asked if he thinks Triumph will ever perform live again, Rik responds, "I doubt it. I'm sorry to take out a sharp little pen and prick the balloon of hope, but... Honestly, I think when did the Triumph documentary (Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine), and we rehearsed for... (drummer) Gil (Moore) rehearsed for a long time - we only played three songs, but he was going to sing and play 'When The Lights Go Down'. You know, he hadn't played ever since we did the Sweden reunion, he hadn't sat down and played any music, touched his drums. And then, when we did that, at the end of it, I think he went, 'Okay. I'm done.' A show of hands. It's a lot to ask of him, the whole idea of singing half the show, but you're sitting there and you're trying to drum an extremely aggressive kind of a set of music for anybody that has to play drums, and I would say in a Triumph situation, in a trio situation, but even more, you know, Rik Emmett writes these tunes where, you know, it's, like, 'I wanna get busy and that's why I'm gonna need a drummer to play a lot of fills.' And Gil was game for a long run, and now he goes, 'Yeah, I think I've had enough, you know, my back doesn't like this... my shoulders, my wrists, my elbows.'
"There was a time, I don't know if folks know this, but when we did the live album Stages, we'd played a long tour, and when we came off it and we were doing that, the record company wanted a couple of tracks, and there was one where Gil couldn't... his elbow was so sore. Now, I think it was maybe from playing too much golf, as well as playing too much drums, but we had to have another guy sit in and play a drum part on one of the tracks because he couldn't do it - he was in sort of rehab for his elbow. So, you know, Gil was always very avid golfer, and I think, over time, I think that kind of cost him a little bit too. He goes now and he gets physio so that he can still go golfing. But the idea of touring and playing drums, I think it's a non-starter."
Canadian label Music In Motion Ent has released Diamonds: The Best Of The Hard Rock Years 1990 - 1995, a brand new compilation featuring Rik Emmett's hand picked rock tracks from his three Duke Street releases, Absolutely, Ipso Facto and The Spiral Notebook, plus two previously unheard songs.
Remastered with the most up to date technology at Iguana Studios in Toronto ON, Diamonds provides Rik Emmett fans with a new listening experience. The Diamonds cover art features the work of renowned photographer Andrew MacNaughtan.
