Saturday, Jul-17-99:
Rock Report talks w/lead guitarist Frankie Sullivan at Rock Fest '99.

RH:? Frankie, we haven't heard much from Survivor ever since the german tour of 1993 ?
FS: We haven't been hanging around though. We toured every summer and in between we were in the studio making a lot of demos.

RH:? Is Stephan Ellis still a member of Survivor ?
FS: A while ago he returned to Survivor, but he left again. The reason for leaving is he couldn't handle it as he used to anymore, physically.

RH:? Who is his replacement ?
FS: Billy Ozzello and he has been a member for awhile now.

RH:? In our recent poll for "best band ever" Survivor came in second. How do you feel about that ?
FS: What a question ! I think it's great. I only hope that your audience keeps following the original line-up. I heard before of a fanatic following in the Benelux and your poll confirms this clearly. Perhaps we should come over for some concerts...

RH:? This afternoon I noticed that you still haven't lost it as a guitarplayer. Too bad the sound was very poor, otherwise we could have enjoyed your solos even more. Do you mostly play around here ?
FS: We prefer to play around here. Especially in the midwest - Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin - we still haven't lost our popularity. Just once in a while we play outside the abovementioned states.

RH:? With the exception of Survivor, which band would you consider best AOR-band of the eighties ?
FS: My favourite is Foreigner. They are the ones that influenced us most - much more than Journey who came in first in your poll. Their album "4" to me is a milestone in melodic rock.

RH:? Last question: in october Jimi Jamison is releasing a new album "Empires" on the european market. What do you have to offer us ?
FS: For now we are laying low. New material from us can be expected no sooner than the summer of 2000. Since a couple of years I do have my own studio at home and there I am working very relaxed on demos for a new album. Most material is written by me but on occassion I do write with Dave Bickler. For the new album I am definitely going to contact some of my friends. I am thinking of Curt Cuomo - with whom I produced the recent Eddie Money album - and the duo Duane Hitchings and Jake Hooker. So be a bit more patient. It will all take a while longer, but the result will be all the more impressive. !

by - Rick Huisseune