Jimmy Kay from The Metal Voice spoke to Jon Mikl Thor and his band – Guitarist, Kevin Stuart Swain and bassist Ted Andre Jedlicki – on The Metal Voice Facebook live via Zoom on May 27 2020.
Thor talked about his experiences with Kiss and Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider as well talked about his new video single ‘The Rut’
Thor recalls, “Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider Wanted me to train him in New York. I was in tremendous shape at that time in 1984. It was not long before that where I won numerous bodybuilding titles, like Mr Universe, Mr USA and Mr Canada (1973-74). I was still in good shape and we were doing really well in England. BTW Dee is in great shape today.”
The Canadian Metal Avenger Thor releases his fifth single, ‘The Rut’ off his new album Rising via Cleopatra Records Feb 28 2020. This new single is a Video Remix.
The song was co-song written by Thor and Kevin Stuart Swain
Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice spoke to Jon-Mikl Thor in Montreal, Quebec, Canada at the Piranha Bar on June 14 2019. Thor spoke about his props argument with W.A.S.P. in 1984 , hanging out with Lemmy and Fast Eddie Clark from Motorhead, getting rav reviews by Sir Bob Geldof for his shows, helping Dee Snider of Twisted Sister train and work out and his thoughts on the Dio Hologram.
Watch the interview here:
When asked about his argument with Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. in 1984
“What happened was in 1984, we were playing with W.A.S.P. in London England and we had big props like lasers which were shooting out of lion statues and pillars. And W.A.S.P. had the big buzz saws on stage. We both had hits on the radio they had F…. like a beast and we had Thunder on the Tundra and so it was a battle over the props really. Their management went against our management Douglas Smith who also managed Motorhead and they are fighting about the size of the props, it was a props argument. Yeah my hammer is bigger than your hammer kind of thing. We tried to do a settlement but then after we had an after-party and they were kind of were snooty you know. I said, don’t you guys get snooty with me, go f..k yourself. I got a little heated.”
When asked about being review by Sir Bob Geldof
“Bob Geldof came over in 1973 and 74 to work for the Georges Strait which is a weekly periodical in Vancouver British Columbia. So he was a student in England and this was learning journalism. So he came over and he became a big fan of Thor. He actually did two Thor rave reviews on us, big articles. He was a Thor fan and later when he got knighted I met him again when he was doing the Live Aid at the time of Queen in England. ”
When asked about Twisted Sister
“I I love the Twisted Sister guys, when I lived in New York in the late seventies early 80’s they played all around the Tri-state area and none of the labels would sign them and they were packing in every place. I trained Dee Snider for a little bit and got the arms going and he looks pretty like he is in pretty good shape, right. Also Jay Jay French is a tremendous guy and very smart and he did a guest appearance on my Metal Avengers album.”
When asked about hanging with Lemmy and Fast Eddie Clarke of Motorhead
“Fast Eddie Clarke of course was a great friend I was friends with all the guys in Motorhead Lemmy, Fast Eddie Clarke and Filthy because we had the same manager Douglas Smith. When I lived in England I hung out with all of those guys. It was a real pleasure to have Fast Eddie Clarke on my Metal Avengers album it was his last appearance before he passed away. I remembered Lemmy and how he played the song Killed by Death when he first wrote it . He said, Jon you want to hear a song killed by Death by death. At the time Lemmy was living on a houseboat and so I go see him on his houseboat and then we would have tea together this would be like 1984.”
When asked about his thoughts on the Dio hologram and if he would like a hologram of himself
“I’m not opposed to a Dio hologram in fact I would like a hologram of myself Thor.”
For The Metal Voice former Anthrax singer Neil Turbin sits down with Jon Mikl Thor in Los Angeles on April 26 2019 at the launch of his new album Hammer of Justice and release of his new DVD Documentary Return of the Thunderhawk. Thor talks about how he learnt to do his feats of strengths, His meeting with Jimmy Page in London in the 80’s.
Watch the Interview here:
When asked about his new album and new DVD Documentary
“Return of the Thunder Hawk is coming out on DVD April 26 and it will be a complement to the new album ‘Hammer of Justice’. This is gonna be a package you buy the CD you get a DVD, plus there’s going to be screenings across North America of the documentary and also in Europe and the festivals. The musical direction will be power metal with sing-along choruses like when you’re in the arena and you want everybody to sing with you, like the Vikings would do it back in the day when they were going into battle. The new album musical style will have lots of heavy rifts I think when you hear the songs on Hammer of Justice you’ll say there are incredible powerful metal riffs that will hit you right in the face. ”
When asked about his meeting and playing to Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin
“We signed to Doug Smith on a management deal as he was blown away by our show in New York in the 1983. Doug Smith also managed Motorhead, Gilrschool and Tank. Smith said to us he can break us in England during the release of the Thor album Unchained .Early 1984 we played the Marquee Club in London and Jimmy Page was in the audience and he said to me afterwards, very good Jon. I think he was a little plastered at the time when I met him cause during the after party and I saw him sleeping, with his head on the table.”
When asked about his time competing with Arnold Schwarzenegger
“Before music I was exposed to the bodybuilding scene, I used to come down to the US from Canada in the 1970’s to train at Gold’s gym on Venice beach and Arnold Schwarzenegger used to train at the same time. I’ll tell you a story I was 18 at a competition and I see a big crowd back stage and Arnold is posing and I look closer and Arnold is getting sucked off by one of the contestants ( Miss World) and Joe Weider says to him , what are you doing Arnold and Arnold said I’m pumping up.”
Fans of Metal and Hard Rock music know well, that THOR wasn’t only the legendary Nordic God Of Thunder and Marvel’s super hero, but also the Canadian vocalist, performer and bodybuilder. Jon Mikl Thor – as he also appeared under this name – has an impressive discography, that includes bunch of albums (incl. the legendary “Only The Strong” LP from 1985, or his classic Rock debut “Keep The Dogs Away” from 1977), singles, and various compilations and special releases.
Now the king of Muscle Rock returns with “Thunderstryke II”, which will be released on February 1st, 2014 by Rock Saviour Records (part I was released by Rock Saviour Records in 2012) – a new album that includes both new and old but unreleased re-arranged tracks from the ’70s and early ’80s. Songs like “Megaton Man Returns”, “We Live To Rock Again”, “Back For Blood” or “When The Hammer Falls” surely will be well received by all fans of the classic and unique Thor style. Rock Saviour Records recently also released limited 7″ single titled “Energy” – the title track (taken from the “Thunderstryke II” album) is coupled with two non-album tracks: “Kings Of Muscle Rock” and “Storm Warning”. The EP is limited to 555 copies.
“Thunderstryke”, the new studio album of THOR — the Canadian heavy metal band led by vocalist, performer and bodybuilder Jon Mikl Thor — will be released next week in Europe via Rock Saviour Records.
Jon Mikl Thor has an impressive discography that includes a bunch of albums (among them the legendary “Only The Strong” LP from 1985 and the classic debut “Keep The Dogs Away” from 1977), singles, and various compilations and special releases. Now the king of “muscle rock” returns with a new album that includes both new and old but previously unreleased rearranged tracks from the ’70s and early ’80s. Songs like “Der Thunderstryker”, “Ceremony Of The Godz”, “Megaton Man”, “Metal Warriors” will surely be well received by all fans of the classic and unique THOR style.
“Thunderstryke” track listing:
01. Collider
02. Der Thunderstryker
03. Hey With You
04. Metal Warriors
05. High Times
06. Rock ‘N Roll
07. Flight To The Stars/ Warriors Of The Universe
08. Megaton Man
09. Gladiator’s Arena
10. Lady
11. That Girl Is Poison
12. Across The Sky
13. Now Comes The Storm (with “Thunder On The Tundra” Riff)
14. We Came Here
15. Ceremony Of The Gods
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