It’s a very rare musician who can be said to be the founder of two influential bands in two new genres. But for Ross ‘The Boss’ Friedman, it is simply one aspect of a remarkable career that has lasted nearly 45 years and seen him traverse the world playing music, releasing more than two dozen albums as a member of a host of bands, as well as a solo entity.
But it is for his ground-breaking work as a member of proto-punk legends The Dictators, and for his subsequent co-founding of power metal pioneers Manowar for which Friedman is best known. The Dictators were punk before people really knew what punk was about, and released their first album, The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! a year before the initial releases of both The Ramones and The Sex Pistols, making them the true progenitors of the influential medium.
After spending a year in France working with the band Shakin’ Street, Friedman, a native of the Bronx, New York, returned home and formed Manowar with bassist Joey DiMaio, spending eight years with the band, which was arguably the period of their greatest commercial, critical and popular acclaim, highlighted by the landmark 1984 release, Sign of the Hammer.
Never at a loss for a gig, nor for opportunities to quench his creative thirst, Friedman would contribute to bands such as Manitoba’s Wild Kingston, The Hellacopters, The Spinatras, The Nomads, Thunderboss, Majesty, The Brain Surgeons, DawnRider, The Thunderbolts, Wotan, Burning Starr and more recently his eponymous Ross the Boss Band and Death Dealer.
Under Ross the Boss, Friedman has released two albums, New Metal Leader in 2008 and Hailstorm in 2010. With a collection of songs that fit that same power metal vibe that he made famous in Manowar, and which he brought into the 21st century on the first two Ross the Boss albums, Friedman is set to release what he believes to be one of the best albums he’s ever created – By Blood Sworn, which was produced by Dean Rispler (a well-respected producer and bassist for The Dictators) and will be issued through AFM Records.
“I thought it was time. I had the songs, I had the band, which is amazing and after all the work we put into it, we’re very satisfied with it. I think it’s a really great record and it’s a case where it just had to happen, because it had to happen. The music needed to come out. Once we got off the road from the major part of our European tour last May, [bassist] Mike LePond and I started writing songs. Then we took a break for some dates in July including at Wacken in Germany, but we managed to demo some tunes before then and once we got back home, things really started to take shape. By September, we had enough of the music done and [vocalist] Marc Lopez started coming up with these amazing melody and lyrical ideas. Every day from then on, the album just got better and better,” said Friedman, during a short break in between dates of the band’s current tour.
“This is an intense album for sure and I still have a lot of passion for my music. I am not going to go through the motions. There is too much at stake. I am not going to put my name on something unless it’s something absolutely amazing. I would never put something out that I think isn’t up to my standards – I have too much integrity, too much pride as a musician. It’s an inner drive I have, even after all these years, and that’s that I refuse to lose. I absolutely refuse to lose and my band refuses to lose too. And the way the songs come across live is amazing. I am just telling you, I think this is a classic metal record. I am going to write a new part in metal history by putting out a record like this at age 64.”
As confident as Friedman is about the finished product, the early creative stages for what would become By Blood Sworn was actually filled with moments of self-doubt as he believed he had hit a dry patch artistically.
“I’ve got to tell you a true story. I was really depressed because I said to myself that I’ve got to write a record. And even though I have done about 30 of them, and I knew it was time to write a new record, I told myself I had nothing: I had no riffs, and if I got no riffs, I’ve got nothing. But then I reminded myself that over the last couple of years, every time I had a good riff or a good idea, I recorded myself on my cell phone or on my iPad’s voice recorder,” he said.
“I said to myself, ‘you’re a f***ing knucklehead Ross, you have all these ideas – you have them!’ So, I started listening to them and I wasn’t depressed any more. There were all sorts of good ideas and once we started using those ideas and Mike came on board, the album just started to take off.”
As the lead vocalist, Lopez is responsible for penning the lyrics. He said he takes his cue from the music being provided by Friedman and LePond.
“The music helps paint a picture in my head and it gives me a vibe and I kind of work off that. I kind of roll with it when I am demoing stuff, like a continuous train of thought that just flows, and I just let it happen and I starting writing down whatever comes to me. I usually start with the melody lines and then go from there to the words,” Lopez explained.
“For a few of the songs on this album, there were different versions before I actually locked in and finalized what the vibe was. We would get it all done and the I would be, ‘yeah the lyrics and the vibe don’t really fit the music.’ For me, they really had to fit together, and I can tell when they do and when they don’t because it just doesn’t feel right. And that’s a challenge but a good challenge. When I write stuff for my own band, I write everything, so I know exactly what I am looking for lyrically and atmosphere-wise. So, when Ross presented me such a variety of material, because there are so many different types of tones he is looking for, that was a challenge, but a fun challenge”
He talked about the themes of a number of the songs, including the stand-out track Among the Bones, which Lopez said was a metaphorical boot in the ass.
“It’s basically saying that people need to get their shit together in this world or they will just end up among the bones of the dead. It’s meant to be an inspiring song for you to do more with your life and saying it in a very symbolic way with the lyrics,” he said.
“We Are the Night was heavily influenced by the [2015] movie The Witch, and it’s pretty much about witches and werewolves, while Faith of the Fallen, believe it or not, is about the story of the downfall of Lucifer. Play Among the Gods is actually about Dr. Who. And Circle of Damnation was the last song I wrote and it’s basically about random thinking. There’s a blurb in the middle that is pretty much about how everybody is trying to find the meaning of life, but if you start thinking about it too much, it will drive you crazy.”
Friedman said he feels he meshes well with both LePond and Lopez as collaborators, and that everyone in the band plays a part in making the songs as good as possible.
“Mike LePond is my biggest ally and friend in the band – he’s like a brother. And he really helped me form and shape these songs. Marc showed me that my choice of singer was the absolutely right choice. He came out with these amazing anthems and these amazing textures and just overall amazing stuff for this record. Mark showed me that my faith in him is correct and I couldn’t be happier,” he said.
“Everybody contributed something to the songs. I am just really happy with the whole thing. I told the guys early on to have patience, that the more we worked at it, the better the songs were going to be and that it was going to be great.”
At the time of writing this article, the Ross the Boss Band had travelled north of the border into Canada, with dates in Quebec City on March 14, Montreal on March 15 and Toronto the following night. The band then heads back south for shows in Detroit, Cleveland, Indianapolis and Chicago, before heading over for a run through Europe.
“I think with this record being so good and us being so excited about it, everything’s going to be revved up a notch on this tour. I think we have a hit record, although I don’t know what hit records are these days. It this ain’t a hit, I don’t know what is. And as for coming to Canada, we played in Canada a lot when I was with the Dictators, but the Ross the Boss Band has never played here. I think it’s going to be my first time here with my metal thing, and we’re really looking forward to it,” he said.
Besides the aforementioned LePond and Lopez, the Ross the Boss Band also features drummer Lance Barnewold.
For more information on Ross the Boss, By Blood Sworn and the band’s tour, visit www.ross-the-boss.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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