Interview by Tony Cannella
For fans who are missing the days of big AOR/Arena rock, have I got a band for you. They are Cornerstone and hail from Austria. Their sound definitely recalls the classic styles of some of the biggest AOR bands from the 80s, with a definite updated sound that fits right in, in 2016 and beyond. Recently, lead vocalist Alina Peter was kind enough to answer a few questions for Femme Metal. She talked about the bands influences, hard rock sound and (of course), their excellent new album “Reflections”.
You have just released your excellent new album, “Reflections”. I must say, I really love it. For those who havent heard it, how would you describe the record?
It’s pure AOR/Melodic Rock like Fleetwood Mac or Journey. We are heavily influenced by these kind of bands and we want to keep the good old Melodic rock alive. While listening to it you feel like going on a journey through the 80s.
Can you talk a little about the writing and recording process for ”Reflections”?
The songs are mainly written by Michael and Steve. Michael is very good at writing lyrics and Steve at finding the perfect guitar parts. There is just one song called “Whatever” which is written by Michael and me. About the lyrics and the feeling behind the song, Michael didn’t have to tell me anything, I knew what he was trying to say with the song by reading the lyrics only. There were no words needed. The recording process was exhausting but also incredibly fascinating as I had never recorded an album professionally before. After a five-month production period in the Vespa Studios in Toronto, Canada with Harry Hess it can be said that the album is a huge step forward especially production wise.
How did you like recording with producer Harry Hess?
There has already been some talking about Harry Hess producing the previous album “Somewhere in America” but due to time problems it was not possible to collaborate on that album. So now we are more than happy that it finally happened. He is a very kind and hard working person and he tried to give ”Reflections” a personal note. It was a pleasure to work with such an amazing and experienced producer and musician.
Why did you decide to record in Canada?
We did the mixdowns, mastering, part of the keyboards and arrangements in Canada, the rest was recorded here. It would have been too expensive to ship the whole band plus equipment over to Canada laughing. The studio experience was pretty awesome, but exhausting as well. We spent so many hours in there, we temporarily made it our second home. Michael even fell in love with the most uncomfortable couch ever in the studio laughing.
Lyrically, what are some of the subjects that you write about?
Michael‘s and my relationship with our partners ended up in an unfair and very hurtful way pretty much the same time, and we also had more or less the same experiences. So it was kinda natural, that we wrote about those things. And this is, what “Reflections” is about: looking back, express your feelings and experiences. Therefore most of it deals with love and broken hearts, but we also wrote about partying like “Last Night” or family like “Brother”.
The new video for the song “Last Night” is great. Can you talk about the process of filming a video?
It was a lot of fun but also pretty exhausting, because we haven’t had much time to shoot it. So we decided to film it all at once. That was not quite a good idea, because we had trouble with the lights, therefore we had to redo a few scenes. Thankfully we had wonderful people to support us during the entire project.
When can we expect to see Cornerstone out on the road?
We are going on a short break over the winter season but we will definitely be back on the road again next year in spring. We are planning on playing a few gigs around Europe again but we haven’t fixed anything yet.
What can fans expect when they come see Cornerstone live?
They can expect 80s AOR and enthusiastic live performances. We always give our best on stage, we just want to have some fun and we try to leave our fans with remarkable memories.
Who are some bands/artists that you would like to tour with?
It would be an honor to tour with Bryan Adams, Fleetwood Mac or Journey as they are our role models and we would love to learn from there live performances.
Who are some of Cornerstone‘s biggest influences?
Journey, Fleetwood Mac and Quarterflash are our major influences but we also try to develop an individual style.
How did you originally join the band?
Michael was searching for a new singer. There were a few other choices but none of them were the perfect fit. One night Michael found my ad, we’ve been in contact and he listened to my cover songs – after that he knew that I was the new singer. He wrote me an e-mail saying to make a long story short: WE WANT YOU IN THE BAND! And so it all started.
Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, Alina. We wish you the best of luck and look forward to continuing to support Cornerstone in the future. In closing, do you have any final comments for your fans?
Thank you too! It was a pleasure to be interviewed by you. I just want to say thank you for the continuing support and I will do my best to live up to your expectations. Check out our new album ”Reflections” on iTunes and Amazon and in case you want to find out more about the band: here’s our website and Facebook.