Interviewed by Mark Balogh
Date: January 2008

Mark Balogh: So Dan, TNA has been on the New York/New Jersey scene since the late 80’s and it’s been a long time since you’ve hit the stage. How long has it been since you guys played live together?

Dan Tore: You know it’s funny because we’ve actually recorded a couple albums and we’ve been in the studio but (this past) New Years Eve was eighteen years to the day of our last show, which was with DOKKEN. So it’s been a long time and we’re looking forward to this.

Mark Balogh: So with this being your 1st show in a long time do you have any more planned beyond just this one?

Dan Tore: You know, we’re gonna see how this goes and then we’ll look forward to being open to doing others as well. We’re big fans of LAW & ORDER and AMERICAN ANGEL, so who knows, maybe we’ll jump on with them for some more things but we’re definitely open to the possibility.

Mark Balogh: How about on a personal level… After the split of the band back in the early ‘90’s, did you remain active in the music scene?

Dan Tore: I took some time off as I think a lot of us did. I think Sean and Mike were a lot more active in other projects. I took a break but then I did a lot of session work and I’ve done a few shows with other musicians but nothing major; nothing that I had as much fun at as with the guys from TNA.

Mark Balogh: Back in the day, the band put out some demo tapes but you didn’t see the release of your 1st official album until 2001 with “Finger On The Trigger” on Kivel Records. Was the material on that album recorded back in the day?

Dan Tore: You know it’s funny because Sean and I were discussing getting together and just re-releasing some of the old stuff and right around that time John Kivel from Kivel Records contacted us and asked us if we wanted to put some stuff out. So it’s a little bit of both, we took a bunch of the songs from years ago and we re-mixed some of those recordings. Then what we did was we went and recorded 2 or 3 new songs, so it is a little bit of a mix. You could probably tell on the sound what’s what. So it was a little bit of both but mostly the older stuff.

Mark Balogh: You then followed up the debut album with “Branded” in 2004. Can you tell us about the recording of that record? It was obviously newly recorded material I assume?

Dan Tore: Everything on “Branded” was newly recorded. A few of the songs were written back in the day but a good part was currently written at the time. One of the songs, “Kill Your Idols”, Mike wrote with his old band. We wanted, I don’t know if I’d say a more contemporary sound, but we’ve always had a little bit more of an edge of heaviness to the band and we figured at that point and time it was more acceptable to come out and put a little more of the aggression in. Plus times change, so it was kind of where we were with our lives was reflected a little more on that album. We weren’t so concerned with trying to fit into the puzzle we just wanted to express what came out… and that’s what came out. Sean and Mike did the writing on that record and we’re really proud of that album. We love the first one too but we liked the expressive freedom we got on that album.

Mark Balogh: I have a tape of yours in my collection. It’s the 6-song demo cassette TNA released in 1987. There were songs like “Calling Out” and “Coast To Coast” on it and I remember them being played heavily on WSOU. Do you think you’d ever consider releasing those tracks just to clean out the closet?

At this point in our interview guitarist Sean Tarr walks in and Dan directs this question to him…

Mark Balogh: There was talk of you guys doing something with a DVD release a little while back. Do you still have plans with that and if so what would be included on it?

Dan Tore: Basically, we’re working right now on editing a bunch of videos and our thoughts at this point, and there is still so much on the table, but I’m a bit of a myspace virgin and so is Sean and just seeing how much is on the Internet. These days do you release a product or do you do things with just putting them on a myspace page? We’re kind of learning a little bit about what the options are and because of the holidays, we haven’t really talked with John (Kivel) about a whole heck of lot right now. We’re gonna film a lot tonight but the how, when, and where (of it) I’m not real sure… we’re just looking forward to getting through tonight. It’s been eighteen years!

Mark Balogh: So furthering what we talked about earlier are you guys looking at getting back together as a unit and maybe recording new material?

Dan Tore: You know something? Doing this show has kind of opened up a can of excitement and enthusiasm. We’ve had some really good rehearsal sessions and we’re having a lot of fun. So we would love to go do some more shows and we’d love to go and do another studio album. We’re definitely open to it.

Mark Balogh: OK, last question… We’re here at the new L’amour in Staten Island tonight. Do you guys have any memories of the original L’amour back in Brooklyn? Maybe any special show that stands out?

Dan Tore: It was such a big part of our history. We played with WINGER at L’amour, we played with KINGS X, and KIX. And we played with TRIXTER at L’amour too. I believe from what they told us we were one of only four bands that won the L’amour “Battle of the Bands” contest and I think we were the only one at that time that were not signed because TRIXTER won, WHITE LION won and I believe TYKETTO won. So yeah, we have a lot of memories and it was a great, great time.