I N T E R V I E W S

Ann Boleyn--from mistress of the King to Wife of the King, Mother of a Queen, Sister of another mistress of the King, Courter of Saints and Sinners and Beloved Beheaded Heretic. She screams like only a Hellion could and proudly wears her accusations on her sleeve.

As the original and only Queen of Hell, Ann continues to wade through the bloody bodies in the valleys of death. Never wavering in faith for the better part of four decades now Ann is her own soundtrack to her victories in this world--a world of heavy metal, not hard rock. A world where the ancient Gods still roam the Earth in spiritual link to her so that she may share her vision through her voice.

She is the first of the fallen females and the last of her kind. Here we have the Witch of Witches to give us a piece of her mind. Much thanks Ann for stretching your legs off the throne to gather the masses!


Maximum Metal: Freud is begging me, "Tell us about your rebirth into your current life. Where were you born? Who were you born to? And how does this differ from past lives?"

Ann Boleyn: I don't have a recollection of my birth in this life. I did a past-life regression one time along with a group of my friends and some musicians in the early 1980s. It was a profound experience. During the regression, we were able to experience a previous life as if we were actually there via hypnosis. Both myself, and Alex Campbell, the bass player of Hellion had profound experiences.

During the regression, the hypnotist asked me what clothing I was wearing. I couldn't respond because the only thing I saw in front of me was an old wooden door. When I answered that I did not know what I was wearing, the hypnotist told me to look down. When I looked down toward me feet, I could see that the shoes I was wearing were very odd and that I was wearing a long off-white skirt, and I realized that I was no longer in the present time. It would take a very long time to explain my entire experience. However, was something I can never forget.

The past life regression went on for quite some time. I recall being taken to an older male relative when I was a young teenage girl, who I believe was my uncle or great uncle. I had the impression that something had happened to my parents, but I am not sure why they were gone, or why I was being taken to my uncle. I recall that my uncle was a fisherman, or had some sort of job that required him to be gone for long periods of time. He was a nice heavy-set man will gray hair, and a full beard. My uncle told me that he could not care for me because of he had to be gone all of the time, and the cottage where he lived was not set up for two people, and especially for a young girl.

A short while later, my uncle introduced me to an old man who seemed to have more money than the other people in the village. I vaguely recall that he was a butcher. The old man wore better clothes than everyone else and was very arrogant. He smelled very bad, but his breath smelled even worse. My uncle took me to some kind of building where I met the old man. When my uncle left us alone, the old man grabbed me and I screamed -- loud. I remember yelling at the old man and telling him that my parents told me to never let any man touch me like he did! The old man was furious.

After that, I continued staying at my uncle's place, but my uncle went away for a long time. I helped keep my uncle's cottage in order, but there was not much else to do. There was no thread for sewing and I was terribly lonely and bored. In the afternoon I would go for a walk. During my walks, I would sometimes meet a young man and we would talk. Sometimes he would bring food or cheese and we would sit and eat and talk in the afternoon. He was my only friend. We never did anything improper.

One day after my uncle had been gone a very long time, he came home abruptly and announced that I could not continue living with him and that he had made arrangements for me to live at a church school. He told me that since he had no money to pay for my keep that I would have to work in order to stay there. I didn't want make my uncle angry, but I had a bad feeling about what he was telling me, and I didn't want to go. I wanted to tell my friend that I was going to leave, but my uncle would not allow it. I felt horrible and wondered how many times my friend went to the place where we used to meet.

The school was a long way from my uncle's home. I was made to sleep in room without heat that was in back of the kitchen, in what you would have to call a storage porch. I was often sick and I was made to work so hard that my knees hurt very bad. I remember that it would hurt really bad when I would get on my hands and knees to scrub the kitchen. One day I was asked to come out to the building where the wood was kept. One of the men who had something to do with the church told me he wanted to show me something. When I was there, he raped me. I don't know if the man was a preacher, but I think he was because of the way everyone addressed him. Besides, I was not allowed to attend the church service because my clothes were not good enough.

A while later, I became so sick that I could not work. I remember being beat a couple of times for not working. A while later I remember a man who was very big coming to get me and telling me that he was taking me somewhere and that I was not going to have to live at the school any more. I remember walking for a very long time. I asked where we were going, but he wouldn't tell me. I was concerned because we were walking across a field, and not on a path, like the ones that let to the town, or to other places.

As we were walking across the field the only thing I could see was a big tree. As we came closer, I realized that I was being led to the tree, and began to panic because I knew what that meant. I knew I was going to be hung from the tree. That is all I remember of that session.

MM: The debut of your new project, "Boleyn" has a couple of historic years in the making. The quote on your website reads: "Much to the disappointment of those evil hearts whose never-ending purpose is to discourage and deny...I am very much alive and well and am crafting a new music project to carry on the tradition of metal, music, and magick."

Exactly how does that quote connect to your current labour of love in "Boleyn"?

AB: First of all, I am not 100% committed to using the name Boleyn – but it is still a possibility. There is also a chance that I will use the name Hellion. After Hellion split up, Ronnie James Dio suggested that I use the name "Boleyn". Recently I also had discussions with some well-known musicians who played in bands that are much better known than Hellion, and who said they were interested in recording and touring with me. They also suggested using the name Boleyn. I can understand why, because playing in Hellion might be considered a step down for them, considering who they've played with. However, at this time, everyone's schedules have been busy to try out the new songs with the players and see how things sound, and how everyone feels, there will be no final decision about the name.

As for as your question about the quote, from the day I started making music I have been faced with nay-sayers and people with bad intentions. When I started as a Hammond player in the 1970s, as a teenager, I was told that it was improper for a female to play in a band. There were many instances back in the 1970s, and perhaps into the early 1980s, were people would hire me to play on recordings, but had no intention of having a female musician tour with the band. In other situations, after I was kicked out of a band, I was told that the group was just using me for their demo, or because I lived at a house where they could rehearse, and that they had always planned to replace me as soon as they found a male keyboard player who played as well as I did.

I'm looking for the original mix of the "Black Book" or the 2-inch tapes. If anybody knows what happened to either the two-inch master tapes, or to any version of the original mix, I would love to hear from them. I would love to release the original mix of the album. --Ann

In about 1981, I had a band that we called Beowulf. David Reece, who later joined Accept, was the singer. David was, and is, very good. But the band broke up under the typical situations of that era after the drummer announced that he intended to audition for Ratt because he didn't want to be in a band with a girl. When I formed Hellion, I contacted the musicians that David Reece had played with prior to joining Beowulf, because Dave told me that they were very good players. When we formed Hellion, the musicians took turns singing, because the chance of finding a singer that was as good as David Reece was about 0%.

At that time, there were no female metal singers that I knew of. The female singers I liked were Janis Joplin, Wanda Jackson, Aretha Franklin, and Tina Turner. The male singers I liked were David Coverdale, Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Alice Cooper, and Paul Rogers. I hated the sound of my voice and had no experience singing in a band. At first it was all I could do, just to stay on key. Hellion played our first "mega party" on the grounds of my house on the 4th of July. There were hundreds of people there, if not more than a thousand. After that show, people were asking for autographs and telling me I reminded them of Ronnie James Dio. I was not happy about this because I was a huge fan of Deep Purple, and for a long time had considered Ronnie James Dio to be one of the reasons Deep Purple broke up.

Almost immediately Hellion began getting attention in the press. There was a picture of Hellion, and the house where we played the "mega-parties" on the cover of the first edition of Aardschok Magazine. I wish I had a copy of that. It seemed like in no time people were offering to help Hellion, and myself. When I met Ronnie James Dio at a 5-K race in the early 1980s, I told him that I considered myself as a Hammond player – not a singer. Ronnie told me that I reminded him of himself and that he used to be just a musician, and not a lead singer. He told be that it is rare when people have a voice that sounds different than other people, and that I should focus on singing and that he'd help me.

The guys in Hellion were thrilled with the possibility of working with Ronnie James Dio, and they loved his voice. In the early days of Hellion, we had done some cover versions of Black Sabbath songs and Rainbow. However, after we started working with Ronnie, Hellion never did any more cover-versions of songs that Ronnie James Dio had sung. And, naturally, as I began working with Ronnie, he became one of my favorite singers.

In the 1980's I also had the chance to work with some incredible engineers and producers, such as Ken Scott (who engineered and/or produced albums like "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band" for the Beatles, "Crime of the Century" for Supertramp, "Ziggy Stardust" for David Bowie, etc.), Angelo Arcurri (who engineered the first three Dio albums and also worked with John Lennon and Rick Derringer, just to name a few), Casey McMackin (Megadeth), and others. I can go on and on about the wonderful people who assisted myself and Hellion. Even the photographers such as P.G. Brunelli, Niel Zlowzower, Gene Kirkland, and others deserve credit. Everybody worked together to make something special.

Regardless of this, during the 1980s, we were told again and again by the major record companies that the general public would never support a heavy metal band with a girl singer. Ed Leffler, who managed Van Halen, tried to convince me to leave Hellion. He said that Ray Schenck, our guitarist, was "too tall," that I needed fake boobs and had to get my teeth fixed. He wanted me to become "the next Pat Benetar." It really made me angry because I regarded Hellion as a band – and it was never intended as a solo project.

By late 1988, after years of struggle, Hellion had finally begun to be taken seriously. We'd toured all over and had enjoyed a lot of success on radio and on MTV and VH1. We'd finally secured a record deal with Enigma Records who had distribution through Capital, and were excited. However, by that time the music business was already having problems. That was also the same year the industry stopped releasing vinyl records.

After the "Black Book" album was done, the release kept getting delayed. We learned later that a few days after we'd signed the record deal with Enigma, Wess Hein left the company and went to Hollywood Records, which was Disney's new label at the time. Enigma went out of business and our contract was transferred to Medusa Records. Where we'd been told that we were "the priority metal act" at Enigma, Medusa was not focused on metal. For some unknown reason, they decided to change what was really nice packaging in Japan and Europe – and did not even include color picture. And they insisted that it be "re-mixed" because there were "too many effects and it did not sound modern enough."

I fought the remix, because the first mix was great. I recall walking in when Medusa was remixing the album and noticing that most of my screams were completely gone. I asked why they were missing, one of the record company people said my screams were "over the top" or that one, which I was especially proud of, and had done on a single take, sounded like "an effect."

By the time the album came out on Medusa in the USA, it was already the 1990s and nobody wanted to know anything about heavy metal – let alone any performer that had been making music in the 1980s. I was an acquaintance of Wendy O' Williams. We were both signed to Music For Nations, a record label in England. I remember my last conversation with her. We were both complaining that no one wanted to know ANYTHING about any of the females who had performed in the 80s. It was not too long after that that Wendy O' Williams killed herself.

As women have gained acceptance in metal -- especially in thrash – and especially in recent years -- it is interesting to see how often Hellion is left out of the history books and how some people have tried to manipulate history. Nobody mentions about how Hellion's mini-LP was #6 in England on both Sounds and Kerrang in about 1983 and 84. They forget that Hellion was the first US band to tour in the former-USSR, that we played at Monsters of Rock, or about many of our other significant accomplishments. They also fail to mention Dawn Crosby, who was an incredibly talented singer who was a fan favorite, as well. Instead, the so-called "historians of heavy metal" have pretty much focused on the women whose claim to fame had very little to do with the quality of their singing or songwriting – and instead seemed to focus on their photos in lingerie or bondage gear and their ability to perform simulated sex on stage.

In one recent "history of metal" book, Lorainne Lewis was referred to as the first American female to make any impact in Heavy Metal. No offense to Lorraine, but her band's first album did not even come out until at least 1988, at a time when Hellion had been receiving radio airplay for at least five years and when "Bad Attitude" had been receiving MTV airplay for about a year. It is also interesting to hear about how many people have outright lied about the fate of myself and of Hellion.

Facebook has been a great thing because it has allowed people to contact each other directly. In the last two years, several old friends told me that they had tried repeatedly to contact me to ask me about singing in a band or on an album, and been told by a former manager, or a publicist that is now working with new clients that I was "dead!"

So, I say, "Much to the disappointment of those evil hearts whose never-ending purpose is to discourage and deny … I am very much alive and well and am crafting a new music project to carry on the tradition of metal, music, and magick."

MM: What's going to happen to my speakers when I play this new cd?

AB: That will depend on the kind of speakers you have. I am told that the producers and engineers are currently mixing music with the goal of it being heard on ear-pods through iPhones. I can appreciate that, but, I intend to make music that is intended to be played loud and on big speakers.

MM: Will this be an extension of the past or a reinvention for the future? Who would you like this to appeal?

AB: I have had many years to learn my craft. I love classical music. And, I have learned hard rock and heavy metal first hand from many gifted people. I cannot pretend that this does not influence who I am and my music. In 2008, and early 2009, I sat in for the late Dawn Crosby in Détente. Détente was more of a thrash band then Hellion. I had fun singing with Détente, and while I am confident that I proved that I can sing thrash as well as traditional metal, at this time I prefer to focus on traditional metal. If you like songs like "Stormrider," "The Tower of Air," and "Break The Spell," you will probably be very happy.

MM: I've previously written a few columns titled "Offenders of the Faith" featuring the likes Metallica and Queensryche. Thank you for not giving me a reason to include you! (laughs) What is your definition of a "Defender of the Faith?" And how do you hold the responsibility?

AB: Music is something that has always been very personal. In order to sing the same songs, night after night, year after year, there has to be a lot of commitment to the music. The songs have to mean something real. I have to feel them. Otherwise it is just bullshit. There is nothing worse in the world than to see a singer or a band that is just going through the motions when they are not playing with the feeling that was intended by the songwriter. I have no problem when metal and hard rock performers want to try something different. But, no matter what they perform, it needs to be real, and the performer or band needs to be committed 100%.

MM: You are recognized as the pioneer of female empowerment in heavy metal. How does the label of "Original New Wave of British Influenced American Female Heavy Metal" (ONWOBIAFHM) suit you?

AB: I appreciate that there are people who know the real history of metal and hard rock. Your suggested title doesn't bother me because Hellion was much different than the other bands that were playing the Sunset Strip and getting record deals in the 1980's. We were in a gray area. We were heavier than bands like Motley Crue, Ratt, or Van Halen. But, we were not as heavy as Metallica or Slayer. Even though Hellion is not from England, I spent a lot of time in England promoting Hellion there. We had good success on Music For Nations in England, and many people still mistakenly think Hellion was from England.

MM: What are your feelings on Doro Pesch? It seemed while you were reigning over the West she was ruling the ruins of the East.

AB: Doro is a very nice person. I met her on many occasions. Hellion and Warlock were formed about the same time. In the 1980s there were a lot of people who were trying to create some kind of rivalry. However, I never saw any competition. We have entirely different voices, different images, and are different in many other ways when it comes to lyrics and writing music.

MM: Ronnie and Wendy Dio have always been a part of your family. Where were you when you heard of Ronnie's passing? What was the first thing you did? And how does this affect you to this day?

AB: I was coming back from a friend's home. I got into my car and turned on the radio and heard the song "Man On The Silver Mountain." I knew as soon as I heard that song that he was dead. Minutes later, I started getting many text messages. I did not even look at them for a long time because I knew what happened. I really didn't know what to do. I hadn't had the home phone number of anyone of Ronnie's band members or crew since about 2005. And, I certainly didn't feel like talking to anybody who didn't know him. Thankfully, a few days later, some old mutual friends contacted me through Facebook. It was sad that it took Ronnie's passing to bring old friends together.

I have so many mixed feelings about Ronnie's death that it is hard to explain in the space of a few words. Ronnie had been having stomach problems since about at least 1986. At that time Ronnie was at the top of his career, but there were also a lot of other things that were stressful in his life, as well. And, he was drinking more than he probably should have. Plus, Ronnie hated vegetables, and he let everybody know it. He'd say, "No veg for the Reg." By 1986, it wasn't easy for Ronnie James Dio to just go down to the local pharmacy and buy something for his stomach, so he'd send his friends. Ronnie attributed his stomach problems to his diet and drinking. He was an intelligent man, and figured that the stomach problems were the result of the way he was taking care of himself. Ronnie's death still affects me today, and for many reasons that I can't and won't go into here.

MM: 2011 sealed the 20 year anniversary of the library classic "Black Book" album. Any ideas of commemorating it?

AB: I'm looking for the original mix of the "Black Book," or the 2-inch tapes. If anybody knows what happened to either the two-inch master tapes, or to any version of the original mix, I would love to hear from them. I would love to release the original mix of the album.

MM: 1983 calendered Hellion's official 4 song EP debut. And again, any chance of commemorating a thirty year power metal breakthrough?

AB: We plan to release a Hellion box set in 2013, but have not decided what music will be on it.

MM: The "Sunset Strip" in the 80's was as constructive as it was destructive. As a female in a male dominated genre, what did you do differently that awarded you the legacy you built? And how did you receive the "Sex Symbol" attention?

AB: In the 70s and 80s most female musicians were regarded as being a novelty or a joke. Because of this, I always tried to focus on Hellion being a band of equals, as opposed to a singer with a back-up band. I refused when photographers wanted me to dress up in lingerie for band pictures. I still do not like females in metal bands that try to promote their sexuality over their music. I never regarded myself as a sex symbol. I certainly was not trying for that image.

MM: Two words: Ray Schenck.

AB: Ray Schenck is a very under-rated guitarist and a tremendous musician. I have not seen or talked to him since before Ronnie James Dio was diagnosed with cancer. Ray was one of several people who were involved with Hellion who continued to see Ronnie James Dio on a social basis. I have no doubt that Ronnie's death must have been hard on Ray. I hope he is doing okay.

MM: Two more words: Mikey Davis

AB: Mikey Davis did a very good job on "Screams In the Night," especially considering the low budget we had to do the recording and the conditions under which the album was recorded. "Tower of Air," "The Hand," and "Screams In the Night" are among my favorite Hellion songs.

MM: You once held court with saints and sinners alike. In 2007 you attained your law degree and now you hold court in a court of law. What is your intended application? For your music? For your personal business? Or so you can find rightful justice in those that ordered your beheading? (laughs)

AB: There are just as many saints and sinners in the American judicial system as there are in the heavy metal business. I wish I knew what I know now, back in the 1980s! Yes, I use my law school education with my current music career. However, I also am a civil rights attorney and I take case to trial. I do not like it when big companies take advantage of low-paid workers, and especially those workers who are subjected to discrimination and are fired for complaining about it.

MM: Magik. What does it mean to you? Where does it fit into your life? What type of personality should a person have to have interest in magik?

AB: Magick is the science of the power of the life with in us all. Those words are from "Break the Spell." Allister Crowley once wrote, "Magick is the science of causing change to occur in conformity with one's will." To me magick is both about taking responsibility for the outcome of your own actions, and trying to be the best human being you can be.

MM: Can you predict each new question?

AB: Good question.

MM: A history of mystery: The Runaways, Tommy Bolin & Chet Thompson. Please share a glass of your early days.

AB: The Runaways and Tommy Bolin:
I am from a very small town about a little more than 10,000 people just north of Portland, Oregon. I got a call from Kim Fowley in late 1975 or early 1976. Kim was the manager of the Runaways, which was a new all-girl band. Kim asked me to come to Hollywood and play in the band. I was 16 or 17 years old. But I had already been playing in bands since I was 13 or 14. A few years earlier, in about 1971 or 1972, Tommy Bolin asked me about playing keyboards in Zephyr, which had a female singer. I remember something about Zephyr splitting apart and that he liked the idea of having a female keyboard player. But, I was too young, and my parents would not consider it. By the time I got the call from the Kim Fowley in 1975 or 1976, Tommy Bolin was already a star. I felt that time was passing fast and had an urgent need to get out of my small town and get on with my life.

I first met Kim Fowley at a pay phone at a grocery store in Hollywood in about April of 1976. Kim Fowley was very much into promotion. He would insist that the Runaways be photographed hanging out with celebrities as much as possible, and preferably wearing as little as possible. Kim's friends, like Rodney Bingenheimer (a DJ on KROQ) and Lester Bangs would hang around all the time. I remember once telling Kim Fowley that I needed to go to Guitar Center. Kim Fowley warned me that there was a man called Phil Spector who liked young female singers and musicans and that, if I ever met him, I should not to talk to him because Phil did not have a sense of humor. The way Kim Fowley said that was very stern, which was odd for Kim Fowley. I never met Phil Spector, but years later, when Phil Spector was accused of murder, I remembered Kim Fowley's warning.

Kim had got on my nerves with the way he talked. Every sentence started with "Dog." He called the female musicians "Dog." He would say his food tasted like "Dog Vomit." And it was really disgusting and I did not feel comfortable around him.

One day Rodney Bingenheimer asked me to give Tommy Bolin a ride to KROQ. I hadn't seen Tommy for several years. By that time he was out of Deep Purple and was working on his solo album with Mark Stein from Vanilla Fudge. Tommy didn't drive, and I had a Chevy truck to haul music gear, so I ended up making lots of trips to SIR rehearsal studios for him. Tommy warned me that Kim Fowley was bad news.

I went to Fidelity Studios, in Studio City, where the Runaways were recording their first album. Cherie Currie was nowhere to be found and there were rumors that she had quit the band or was on some kind of a binge. I hammered out music on an acoustic piano, and what I did was being recorded. Someone later told me that it was my piano tracks that were on the first album even though Cherie Currie was given credit. Later, Kim asked me to play bass. I explained that I wasn't much of a bass player. Kim told me that I didn't have to play well because Nigel, a guy, played the bass behind the amps. Kim Fowley bragged to me about how he auctioned Sandy and Joan off for sex at a Mercury Records party. At the time all of us were under 18. Sandy West was the youngest. The people Kim Fowley hung out with were significantly older and I had no interest in being sexual with any of them and I told Kim Fowley that to his face.

The whole situation with the Runaways was weird. You had an eccentric wild man, meaning Kim Fowley, as the manager talking about sex every time he opened his mouth. And, you had a singer, meaning Cherie, that could not be found. It didn't seem like a stable band or a good situation. Lita Ford once told me that when Kim Fowley got obnoxious to just tell him, "Go Fuck yourself!" -- and that he'd leave you alone. I wasn't used to talking like that to people. But, when I did to Kim, it worked.

More on Tommy Bolin:
Also, for the record, I had no idea that Tommy Bolin had a heroin problem. I recall him dozing off in the middle of the afternoon and never considered he was on anything. I never did drugs with Tommy. Tommy was more like a big brother to me and a musician that I admired. I remember going into a studio where some of Tommy's friends were playing. Tommy could hear a song one time, then pick up a guitar and proceed to improvise on one of the most creative solos I have ever heard, spontaneously. I have no doubt that his ability to jam like that was a major reason why Jon Lord and Ian Paice agreed to have Tommy in Deep Purple.

Chet Thompson
Chet Thompson comes into the story is quite a few years later. What can I say about Chet? He is one of the most underrated guitarists ever. To this day, I have never heard any other band be able to play many of the songs Hellion recorded with Chet Thompson. Just check out some of his work on YouTube.

MM: Do you still keep in touch with any of the Runaways?

AB: I ran into Lita Ford over the years. Once or twice I've seen her on airplanes, or occasionally back stage at a show. That is about the extent of it.

MM: Does Ann Boleyn have a "Bucket List?"

AB: It changes from time to time. I've accomplished many things on my bucket list. But there is lots more.

MM: What is your favorite scary movie? Is it one that you have been in?

AB: The Shining is probably my favorite at this moment.

MM: As the Queen of Hell, is the Devil hot?

AB: That depends on your image of the devil! Besides, my friends tease me about my taste in men!

MM: The L.A. Marathon has been graced by your presence for how long now? What do you get as a person out of this?

AB: I was a pace leader (team coach) for the L.A. Marathon's official training program for ten years in a row. And I have run about 30 marathons, including two times as an official qualified entrant into the Boston Marathon. I have one of the official Adidas posters with my name on it for the Boston Marathon framed at my home. Running makes me feel better when I am sad, stressed, or angry. Being a coach probably helped me more than the runners. I used to feel very good when I would show up at six in the morning and have a big group of people there, all expected me to help them train for, and complete the marathon.

MM: Any charity causes you support?

AB: Of course I support the "Stand Up And Shout" foundation, which is named in the honor of Ronnie James Dio. I also help some smaller groups and causes that you have never heard of before.

MM: Is your cat familiar with you?

AB: I have two cats. And yes, they are both very familiar with me. They serve as my guards and take turns sleeping.

MM: Can you please list your official discography?

AB: [This would take some time. No time to do this now. But here are a few of the things that usually are left off people's lists:]

*Soundtrack of Return of the Living Dead, Part Two. "The Monster Mash" Duet. This played when the credits run at the end of the movie. (Produced by Ken Scott)
*Third Stage Alert. Guest Appearance (keyboards-ARP Quadra) Yngwie Malmsteen worked with these guys. (Metal Blade Records)
*"Nightmares In Daylight" and "Black Knight" (Deep Purple cover tune). 7-inch. 1982 (Mystic Records)
*The Sound of Hollywood Girls. Compilation LP. (Mainly punk but includes Bitch and Hellion). 1982. (Mystic Records)
*Hellion Mini-LP (4 songs) (Bongus Loadus Records) (1983)
*Hellion Mini-LP (6 songs) (Music For Nations; Roadrunner) (1984)
*Hellion -- Screams In The Night (New Renaissance Records, USA; Music For Nations, Europe).
*Hellion – "Postcards From The Asylum" (1988) (Music For Nations Europe; New Renaissance Records, USA)
There are a lot more. Also, this doesn't begin to include all the recordings I did playing Hammond organ.

MM: In the past you have played some of the same venues with King Diamond. I would love to see a "King and Queen Tour." Think you could make that happen?

AB: I have known the members of King Diamond and Mercyful Fate since the beginning. But, I never toured with them. In 1985 or 1986, Roadrunner Records and asked if I could help with publicity for King Diamond's debut solo album, "Fatal Portrait." By this time, in addition to Hellion, I had formed New Renaissance Records and we were getting a lot of radio airplay and media attention for bands like At War, Blood Feast, and Wehrmacht. Roadrunner did not have a west coast office. Roadrunner told me that if my staff and I did the promotions for King Diamond, in return Hellion would have the opening spot on the west coast part of the Fatal Portrait tour. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons (that had nothing to do with the bands), those shows did not happen.

MM: Are you still running "New Renaissance Entertainment?"

AB: Jeanne Hill, who ran New Renaissance in the 1980s for me is planning to return in the coming months. We are already planning to release merchandise and some box sets

MM: Again for the fans, where can we find info about all things "Ann Boleyn" on the internet?

AB: That is a good question. People who do a google search of Ann Boleyn usually end up on a page about the deceased queen of England – not me. This is obviously a problem. I am in the process of looking for a web designer that can make the proper links to solve that problem. For now, use Facebook pages or www.boleyn.info. I am looking for someone to help maintain the web page right now.

MM: Final words and Thank you's:

AB: I would like to thank the people who have supported me and who have stayed loyal to quality metal and hard rock over the years. I will be recording soon and putting new music out in 2013. That is a promise!

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There you have it rock and roll children! Ann Boleyn! From a man who talks way too much Ann left me speechless being able to pick her brain for a while. This is most compelling, honest, thought provoking, profound, articulate and heartfelt interview that has ever been granted me. Her storytelling is mesmerizing and her answers and perspectives are out of this world and entertaining as Hell. I dont know how to say thank you a thousand ways but I can say it a thousand times. She is indeed the "Queen of Hell" with a heart and soul unmatched. May the Gods bless her and keep her spirit shining upon us all.


--Jonah Haze




ALL INTERVIEWS FOR: ANN BOLEYN
INTERVIEW INTERVIEWER DATE TAGLINE
Ann BoleynJonah Haze10/30/2012

ALL REVIEWS FOR: ANN BOLEYN


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