SCORPIONS guitarist Matthias Jabs will take part in an online chat during NAMM's Believe In Music event later this month. The 66-year-old German musician will be interviewed by journalist Rick Damigella on Thursday, January 20 beginning at 2:30 p.m. PT. This year's Believe In Music virtual event is open to the public and registration is free at attend.believeinmusic.tv. Believe In Music is being hosted by NAMM president and CEO Joe Lamond and Pensado's Place co-founder Herb Trawick and will include livestreamed music, interviews and entertainment from artists in a wide variety of genres, interactive brand pages to connect buyers and sellers directly for networking and multiple live and on-demand music education seminars. Seminar topics include music and social justice, music and wellness, live event production, studio production and music business tips on how to strategically grow a retail business or brand. SCORPIONS' 19th studio album, "Rock Believer", will be released on February 25. Two months ago, SCORPIONS released the official music video for the LP's first single, "Peacemaker". The track features music courtesy of guitarist Rudolf Schenker and bassist Pawel Maciwoda and lyrics by singer Klaus Meine. "Rock Believer" was recorded primarily at Peppermint Park Studios in Hannover, Germany and was mixed at the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin, Germany with engineer Michael Ilbert, who has earned multiple Grammy nominations for his mix work with producer Max Martin on albums by Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. SCORPIONS' new album will mark their first release since 2017's "Born To Touch Your Feelings - Best Of Rock Ballads", which was an anthology of new and classic material. SCORPIONS originally intended to record the new album in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, whose previous credits include SLIPKNOT and METALLICA. However, because of the pandemic, some of the initial work was done with Greg remotely, after which SCORPIONS opted to helm the recordings themselves with the help of their engineer Hans-Martin Buff. Meine previously told Talking Metal that the goal with using Fidelman to produce "Rock Believer" was to bring "the old vibe from albums like 'Blackout', 'Love At First Sting' or even 'Lovedrive'. We try to focus on those albums and this attitude," he said. "If we get there, who knows — it's so many years later. But it's the spirit and it's the whole vibe around this album. This time, the focus is on the harder songs." According to Meine, SCORPIONS' new LP features "no outside writers at all," unlike 2015's "Return To Forever", which was largely co-written by the album's producers, Mikael Nord Andersson and Martin Hansen. SCORPIONS will kick off their "Rock Believer" world tour in March in Las Vegas where the band will play nine shows as part of their residency at Planet Hollywood Hotel. Afterwards they will cross the Atlantic to Europe where they will play six concerts in France and six shows In Germany supported by Wolfgang Van Halen's new band MAMMOTH WVH. SCORPIONS' last full-length collection of new recordings was the aforementioned "Return To Forever", partially comprising songs the band had in the vault from the '80s. It was the final recorded appearance of SCORPIONS' longtime drummer James Kottak, who was dismissed from the band in September 2016. He has since been replaced by Mikkey Dee, formerly of MOTÖRHEAD.
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