Paul Mazzolini is 'Gazebo'

Paul Mazzolini is an Italian musician. He has a legend status among the fans of the "italo-disco" music style, a variation of 1980s eurodance, also known as eurodisco.

He was born in Beirut, Lebanon, the son of an Italian diplomat and an American singer. He learned to play the guitar at aged 10 to impress a German girl in his class.

As a rather cosmopolitan teenager Mazzolini began a career in a variety of jazz, rock and punk bands before meeting Rome based producer Paul Micioni. The first release, Masterpiece, was a minor hit in 1982.

He made chart history with his 1983 release "I like Chopin", popular opinion notwithstanding, the piano motif herein is not a Chopin composition. The release sold 10 millions copies worldwide and reached #1 of Italian charts along with 15 other countries.

The follow-up song "Lunatic" and the eponymous album also entered the Top 20 across Europe. Since then Mazzolini has released more albums, not counting the occasional hit compilation with all his best track called Portrait & Viewpoint. In autumn 2006 he released a new single called "Tears for Galileo", which achieved constant radio airplay on Italian RAI Radio2 and peaked at #1 in the Euro dance chart.

Gazebo found his own record label, Softworks, in 2006 and relaesed his latest CD '...the syndrone' in 2008.

My good friend Kate Rossi Stewert hooked Paul and me up while he visited Los Angeles for a concert and some vacation time with his daughter Eva. We met at the Hard Rock Cafe in Hollywood which didn't open for business for a few more days so they sent us on the subway to the Hard Rock Cafe in Univeral City. It's just one stop away we were told. Well that is true if you know what you are doing. We ended up going the wrong direction everytime resulting in about 45 minutes of waiting around for trains! Everyone was on a time schedule so we decided to do the interview underground waiting for our trains. I snapped the photos while we waited for a tram to take us up the hill to Universal City! Sometimes it's just a lot of fun! Paul and Eva were both delightful in every way.

 all photos: Alan Mercer

AM: So you visit the United States about once every ten years. How did your performance go?

PM: It was great. I had a lot of people who are involved in my kind of music so it was alright.

AM: Speaking of that your newest CD, '....the syndrone' is so good! How did that come together?

PM: '...the syndrone' is my latest album and it's quite different from my earlier work. I think a musician has to develop. By the time I was making my third album back in the eighties people were copying my first album. I was trying to get away from that style of music. All my albums are very different.

AM: Yes I noticed that. I've heard all of them and you have a certain individual style that remains no matter what the music is.

PM: That's my main goal actually when I make a production. I think an album is an image of you in that period of your life. I take it very seriously. I don't think an album is something you make just to sell to people for money. Money is not the issue there. That's how I've always made my music and maybe that came out. Maybe that's why some of it has been successful. I have the same way of approaching songwriting and singing. It's always been about the pure love of music. I've always had an interest in production and arranging.

AM: Do you produce other artists as well?

PM: Yeah, but very few. I live in a country where music has been destroyed by piracy in the last few years.

AM: That is so unfortunate.

PM: It's a very strange situation for us musicians. Many of us have had to get other jobs. It's not like the United States where the market is so big you can find different opportunities. Italy is very small and when the market has been killed there isn't much to do.

AM: But not for you right?

PM: I'm quite lucky because I had a lot of hits in the 80's. I have songs that are considered evergreens and they play all the time on the radio. I survive because I have a lot of copyrights from that.

AM: Are you a different artist now?

PM: That's how I approached '...the syndrone.' I wanted to make an album that reflected the fact that I am a fifty year old man. I did not want to compromise.

AM: What did you do differently this time?

PM: I called in the people that I really wanted. People that were my myths when I was small. Not the top notch at this time, just people that I really liked all my life. I dreamed of calling them and they turned out to be really perfect and in sync with what I was doing. This album reflects what I am doing right now. There is a bit of 80's in it of course. There is a 70's band sound behind it as well. There are actually people playing instruments. It might seem strange but people think if you have a band of course you're going to play an instrument, but my career started off with electronics. People are not used to identifying my sound without synthesizers. I've always tried through out the years to put different instruments and drift away a bit from the keyboards.

AM: I guess the keyboard is so closely associated with your big hit, 'I Like Chopin.'

PM: I'm very happy with the album. I like it and I know the people who listen to it like it. It's not on top of the charts or selling millions of copies but it has a lot of heart.

AM: CD's have a longer shelf life now with downloads.

PM: Exactly, people can approach it at any time and appreciate it at any time.

AM: Have you always recorded in English?

PM: Yes

AM: Italian isn't as popular in recording is it?

PM: No. I was brought up in American schools because my father was a diplomat so the first songs I learned on the guitar were songs by Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel. This is my world. I've never associated singing and music with another language. Being an Italian that is very weird. I've been asked many times to sing in Italian but I always say this is how I express myself. It wouldn't be me if I sang in Italian.

AM: Don't a lot of Italian singers sing in Spanish?

PM: Yes many do. It's a much bigger market.

AM: Do you speak Spanish?

PM: Yes of course. I speak six languages. In a certain way I don't consider it a foreign language because it's like cheating a bit. It's so similar to Italian. Many of my songs were really big hits in Spain and South America. There's no need for me to sing in Spanish either.

AM: Do you have an area of the world were you are more popular?

PM: Basically Central Europe, Italy, France, Germany, Austria and Scandinavia, but also Asia including Japan. The great thing about this trip is I discovered I have a great number of fans in the Vietnamese community. There are a lot of them in Southern California.

AM: Maybe you can come back to the States more often now.

PM: We were talking about that. There is a lot of demand and there's also a lot of fans in the Eastern countries like Poland and Russia. There's a lot of Polish and Russian people in the States. Who knows, maybe I will be able to come back for these various communities.

AM: That would be wonderful to have you here more often. Would you enjoy that?

PM: Oh I would love it! It would be great!

AM: Are you still hungry to create new music?

PM: Oh yeah. I write everyday.

AM: Did you write your big hits?

PM: I wrote all of them as far as the lyrics go. I wrote a good amount as well as the music too.

AM: Have you stopped performing at any time?

PM: I did actually give myself a break between the second to last album which was released in 1991 and '...the syndrone' which was released three years ago. I skipped the 90's.

AM: What did you do during that time?

PM: Basically I produced. I have my own studio and I worked with other artists and leased out my studio. I spent time with my family. I have two kids so I did those things. I have a boy named Gabriel who is 21 and Eva who is 16.

AM: Do you all live in Rome?

PM: Gabriel lives in France because he is studying Political Science. He going to college in France.

AM: Does Eva know what she wants to do with her life yet?

PM: She likes architecture so I think she's going to get into that.

AM: No more musicians or artists?

PM: They both are but I told them to get a degree in something normal and established first.

AM: Were your parents supportive of you being a musician?

PM: Yes, my father was very busy and didn't mind anything. My mother helped me a lot. She was a singer when she was young. She was the first one to buy instruments. When she saw that I was into the guitar she bought one right away.

AM: Do you have a philosophy you live by?

PM: My philosophy is basically summing up what I said before. Be sincere and give priority to the things that are important like your family. At the end of your life that is what's important. Try to be as clean as you can with your projects. Try not to be influenced by things that are not important. These things can be tough. Many times if you don't allow yourself to be compromised you will lose some income or contacts with people. It's not the easiest way out.

AM: What is your secret to happiness?

PM: I like to wake up in the morning knowing that I don't owe anything to anybody. I like knowing that nobody can hate me for any reason at all. I like to wake up with a smile. I don't understand people who live with so much stress just for money. Money is something you can have one day and not have on another day. You can rebuild your life every time. That's something I learned in my teenage years. I used to travel a lot with my guitar and sleep in train stations on the floor. The idea is you can come out of the station and build your life anyway. The sun is out and nothing tragic is going to happen if you know what you're doing. Of course I don't smoke or drink, and I don't take drugs.

AM: You never have done any of these things?

PM: Well being an Italian I cannot 'not drink' some wine once in a while. I don't like to be conditioned by external factors. I don't like things that alter my chemistry. The day after you drink you are not yourself anymore. I hate not to be in control. I like the idea of making music during the daytime. The stereotype image of people having to be drunk at four o'clock in the morning in the studio is something I don't understand. It doesn't make sense to me.

AM: Did you start off with this attitude even as a teenager?

PM: Absolutely my idea of life was that I was going to be a diplomat maybe. I never thought I'd make music. For me it was something that came from above. Getting back to me not singing in Italian. When I made my first song, 'Masterpiece' all the producers I shopped it to asked why wasn't it in Italian? I said, "This is not Italian music." This was the first time I was quite stubborn and clear minded about what I really wanted to do. It was either that or nothing. If it would have been nothing, too bad, who cares, life goes on. You don't have to compromise at any cost. That's the way I see it. Of course everybody's different. People have different approaches and different goals in their lives but that's the way I see it.

 To learn more about Paul and his music please visit his web site http://www.gazebo.info/

Bebe Buell: The Goddess of Rock n' Roll!

All Photos: Alan Mercer Lighting: Eric Venturo Make-up: Giddle Partridge

Bebe Buell is a well-known singer/model with stunning looks and glamorous appeal. She has long been considered an authority on Pop Culture. Bebe began her career as a model at the age of 17. She eventually became a Playboy Playmate and was well known as a personality dating several top rock stars of that time such as Mick Jagger, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Jimmy Page and Steven Tyler. She is also famous for being the mother of Actress Liv Tyler.

In 2001, she wrote an autobiography (with Victor Bockris) entitled 'Rebel Heart: An American Rock and Roll Journey.' It hit the New York Times Bestseller list and the paperback was then issued in 2002.

Buell's mother, Dorothea, sent her pictures to the Ford modeling agency, and received notice that the agency was interested after only three days. She began modeling professionally at the age of seventeen, and moved to New York City in 1972.

She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for the November 1974 issue.' She was one of the first top-line fashion models to pose for the men's magazine, although it cost her the contract with Ford. She was promptly signed to Wilhelmina in the USA and Models One in the UK. Even after the Playboy appearance affected her career in the States she was still in demand in Europe appearing in British and French Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Cosmopolitan to name a few.

When Bebe came to Los Angeles recently to promote her latest release 'SUGAR' and for a knock-out performance at the Roxy, she spent an afternoon being photographed by me and Eric Venturo. It's hard to describe how exciting it was to be able to work with Bebe Buell. She was one of the top models when I was young and only dreaming of taking glamorous photos. She has been photographed by all the leading fashion and beauty photographers of the time. I was elated when she told me she wanted to work with me. She first appeared on this blog last February when she called me on the phone from her home in New York City. We planned our photo session then.

AM: Everybody cares what you think and what your opinion is. Isn't that wonderful?

BB: Everybody cares what I think? Do you mean on Facebook?

AM: I mean everywhere for the past thirty years.

BB: You know it finally got interesting when I got called a Pop Culture Historian. I felt then at that point my life had made sense. I think even my Mom was finally proud when I got called a Pop Culture Expert. There's validity in being a part of musical, cultural and artistic trends. There's something to be said for being a part of that. I've experienced and witnessed all the different changes.

AM: You really have been a part of all of it.

BB: I was really fortunate to be born in the fifties. I was young enough to experience Elvis but not quite old enough to appreciate him. For all the people that went crazy over Elvis Presley I was the one who went crazy over Mick Jagger. Just like every other ten year old I was watching the Beatles when they were on Ed Sullivan. It was an amazing thing to witness, but when the Rolling Stones came along it defined me. I found my niche. Later I got into Astrology and it linked up with everyone in my life at that time. I did all my boyfriends charts. Astrological compatibility can seem kooky to some people.

AM: Does Astrology help you fundamentally and logically understand people better?

BB: I got interested in Astrology from a friend of mine, who has since passed away, named Jeanne Theiss who worked for Robert Stigwood during the 'Saturday Night Fever' time. She wouldn't even get on a plane until she did a chart. Whenever anything would happen in my life she would say let me look up what's going on.

AM: Did you start relying on her readings?

BB: I became very dependent on her readings. She never predicted the future for me. We had a deal that if she told me something and it happened I could tell her after the fact. She would give me warnings sometimes that I would often heed. Now I don't like to get tarot readings anymore. I don't like any of that stuff anymore.

AM: Why not?

BB: I think that it can affect the mathematics, the synchronicity that's already created in the Universe. We live in a three dimensional world but there is a lot more going on than we can see. We just don't know it here on Earth. Dream state is a perfect example.

AM: How much importance do you give your dreams?

BB: I think it's another place. I don't look at dreams as an extension of my brain doing things. People say your brain picks up what you've been thinking about or what you've seen that day. I think it's all possible but I think your brain is a big battery that picks up what's really going on everywhere.

AM: It seems like it's all a point of view.

BB: I think everything that is said, be it positive, negative, true or false all has some kind of validity. Even if someone is blatantly lying to me and they think they're fooling me and I know they're lying, I won't tell them I know. I let them continue to lie to me and then I conduct myself around what they just said. I don't think it's always necessary to let somebody know everything you know. It's not important to have that showdown.

AM: You should write a book around these topics.

BB: Well my ADD is so bad and I don't take any medication and I'm not going to. Some people can look on that stuff as a curse.

AM: Is it hard on you?

BB: The only thing that's difficult about it for me is that I have trouble focusing. Music is the only thing I can really focus on when I write, rehearse and perform. You are going to see a whole different person on stage. I don't even know who that person is. I swear I don't know her. I guess I know her because she is a part of me but I swear to God that is not who I am. How many people say this? I feel like an old cliché because every artist says this.

AM: Well if it applies...

BB: It's the truth. I don't know that girl on stage. I like her but I think she's more of a boy than a girl. I think my energy on stage is much more masculine. I almost feel flat chested. I almost feel like a man on stage. I'm channeling something that is much more male. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I equally love men and women. For some weird reason my art channels male energy. Yet I write a lot of my lyrics for women. I feel a lot of compassion and love for women.

AM: Sometimes people mistakenly call you a groupie. How do you react to this?

BB: People get upset with me because they think I get offended when someone calls me a groupie. I always say, "Because I'm not a groupie." If I were I would be very proud and flaunt my stuff. The thing is I was called a groupie because of the boys I dated. I've always had a job and always had my own identity, always paid my own bills, always bought my own airline tickets and always did my own thing.

AM: How are groupies different?

BB: Most of the girls that I knew who were groupies lived for the musicians and not for themselves. That's why I never related. I never understood the doormat mentality. I never understood giving yourself over to people and letting them hurt or use you.

AM: It didn't make sense to you?

BB: No it didn't. I've already started my next book. The outline is finished and I'm trying to hone it down. I've been working on it steadily.

AM: Why did you pose for Playboy back in a time when it wasn't considered a smart thing for a fashion model to do?

BB: I was taking my frustration out on my sexual inabilities by posing nude for Playboy. People considered it self-sabotaging. Why would a fashion model from the magazine covers go and be a Playboy centerfold? I didn't even think about it like that. I thought, "Oh Jayne Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe, Bettie Paige, Stella Stevens!" Did you know that Diane Lane's mother was a centerfold? There are only twelve a year. It's kind of an honor. Back then it was very hard to be a Playmate. Now they can airbrush you and of course the girls can get fake breasts. In the seventies you had to be perfect!

AM: I remember it was always a big ordeal to find twelve girls perfect enough!

BB: They were not easy to find and nobody had fake tits back then. That didn't happen until the eighties.

AM: I understand why it was an honor as opposed to now.

BB: Standards of beauty have changed. Hef wanted us to be wholesome and fresh with an all-American quality, but have a touch of exotic. His order was tall and he would go over the pictures with a magnifying glass. When you look at my centerfold you can see my pores.

AM: Was it an easy photo session for you to do?

BB: I took the pictures and I didn't know if I would ever be a centerfold or not. I never thought about it again and one day they called me up and said you're Miss November. They sent me my check and I went to Bergdorf's! (laughing) Then I went to London and hung out with the Rolling Stones for a month! I'm just one of the boys. We weren't having sex we were just friends.

AM: So different than most people think of you.

BB: Back then people were doing so much coke there was very little sex. It's all myth. In the true Rock n' Roll circles where people were doing a lot of chemicals everyone just sat around and talked all night.

AM: What does sex mean for you?

BB: Sex for me is a feeling you get when you really fall in love. You have to really feel a connection with a person. I'm a Cancer and I want stability and one partner. I always found myself in situations where I was with men who would never settle for one partner in my wildest dreams. I always set myself up to be hurt.

AM: You did go to the most extreme opposite you could go!

BB: When I went out with my daughter's father it was several months and I remember when we had one of our first fights and he told me, "I have been completely faithful to you and I have never been completely faithful to anyone else!" (Laughing) Back then men used to really consider it an accomplishment to remain faithful. You sort of had to keep up with the boys back then. It was either be a doormat or fight back! I would just go out with whoever I wanted to go out with. I figured I wasn't married to Todd. We lived together for six years and adored each other, but we weren't man and wife. He traveled and I traveled. I explored relationships with people.

AM: I read a lot about all this in your book 'Rebel Heart.'

BB: The thing I don't like about 'Rebel Heart' is the publishers were trying to make me have a more confident tone. The word narcissistic keeps coming to mind. My voice in the book is more narcissistic than I am. The voice in the book is not completely me. It's me mixed with a very dominant male voice who was Victor. He was not my ghost writer. Ghost writers are different. They don't reveal their voice. Victor used his voice and entwined it with mine. I don't come off humble at all. I come off too cocky in the book.

AM: I don't think you come off cocky in the book, but it's hard to know what is you and what is Victor.

BB: Well in an autobiography you have to talk about yourself. Then people say, "She's so conceited!" The next book I write will be one hundred percent by myself. I'm already writing it in pieces. Every time I get inspired I keep track of my inspirations. I'm keeping track of all my one line quotes that friends on Facebook find so inspiring. I get letters from women all the time telling me I've helped them and changed their lives. I'm feeling very good about all that. If I can take all this knowledge I have after all these years and share it allowing people to benefit from it, that will bring me a lot of joy.

AM: That's what you're here for, besides your music. You are shifting into a much more important person!

BB: I went to this spiritual retreat in Arizona called Inner Path. My life coach there, who can also channel Angels, took me to be with a horse. You don't know what's going on but you get there and they tell you to pick a horse. You go into a ring and have an interaction with the horse you picked. They don't tell you what all this means until after you've done it. They don't reveal anything to you. After you have the interaction your Angel coach tells you what just happened.

AM: Why did you go in the first place?

BB: I went to Inner Path because I was suffering. I internalized everybody else's stuff so much that I was starting to really be affected! I was really not in a good place. Anyway back to my point. I picked a horse that nobody else liked. I figured if nobody likes you, why?

AM: Was there something different about him?

BB: He was white and not as big as the other horses. I watched some of the other girls go into the ring and watched their horses buck away from them and they couldn't control the horse. There was trauma. One girl went in and had an effortless experience where the horse went around the ring with her. So I get out there with my horse and he looked me right in the eye and he kneeled down in front of me.

AM: What did you do?

BB: My instinct was to kneel too. I was thinking we're going to go down real low so I got down low with him. I felt like I wanted to put my face on his nose.

AM: How did the staff react to this?

BB: I could see everybody panicking. They were afraid he was going to rear his head up and I was going to have my face knocked off.

AM: Weren't you afraid?

BB: For some weird reason I wasn't feeling that energy from him at all. I just put my face right down there and started rubbing him. We kept our faces nose to nose for three minutes. It brought me to tears. We just stayed like that. There was zero movement. Finally he stood up and looked me in the eye again. It was scary because he was really looking at me.

AM: What was your coach doing now?

BB: My coach was absolutely affected by this. Tears were streaming down her face and I didn't know what was going on until we got back to the class. It turns out that this horse was horribly abused and was a rescue horse. He was not very nice often. He never hurt anyone but he wasn't an easy horse to communicate with. Most people found their experience with him awful!

AM: Can you describe why?

BB: He could be feisty and violent with his physical movement. That's why they were all afraid. I asked my life coach what that meant. She told me that I was reading his heart and he was reading my heart. She also told me that I would definitely work in service one day and that I would be doing what she does one day! I've decided when I'm done with music, though I'll never be 'done, done' with it, and I get into my sixties that's what I want to do. I want to work with animals and people to be a healer.

AM: You mean officially because you are already a healer.

BB: I feel bad to get paid for that sort of thing but it is a living. When you go to one of these places it costs money. You don't get to go for free and I wish it was free. I wish everybody just thought it was part of life. Wouldn't it be nice if it was like learning your ABC's. I started teaching my daughter all that stuff immediately from the minute she could understand. Everything happens for a reason.

To learn more about Bebe Buell check out her web site http://www.bebebuell.org/

Miley Cyrus Tao hollywood Hot Actress

Olivier Gruner: The Action Movie Star

Olivier Gruner is a former Commando Marine and World Kickboxing Champion. He became an actor specializing in the field of physical fitness.

Gruner was born in Paris, France into a family where both his father and brother became noted surgeons and his younger brother became an engineer.

After seeing a Bruce Lee movie at age 11, Gruner became captivated with martial arts and began studying Shotokan Karate, and then boxing and kickboxing.

At age 18, rather than pursuing the academic life many expected of him, he joined the Marine Nationale, volunteering for their Commando Marine unit. As a part of his military training he learned to scuba dive, sky dive and climb.

In 1981 Gruner left the French military and traveled to the French Alps and began training to fight professionally. In order to pay for his training expenses, he had to hold down four jobs, as a bouncer, a ski patrol member, a trainer and a ski lift operator. In 1984, he began fighting professionally as a kickboxer in France. After 10 professional fights, he became the French middleweight champion.

By 1985, his successes in the ring allowed him to train and fight full time and, in 1986, he became World Middleweight Kickboxing Champion. Having achieved his dream of becoming World Champion, in 1987, he retired to pursue a career as an actor and model.

Discovered at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival, he began a film career. Gruner joined Imperial Entertainment and began acting in action movies in 1990 with the urban action movie 'Angel Town' and Albert Pyun’s cyberpunk 1992 sci-fi thriller 'Nemesis.'

Gruner has stayed with Imperial Entertainment and gone on to star in 'Automatic,' 'Savate,' 'Mercenary,' 'Mars,' 'Interceptors', 'T.N.T.' and 'Interceptor Force 2.' Ultimately he appeared in over 35 films and five television series, and developed a reputation as a hard working, disciplined Hollywood actor.

Throughout his career after leaving the ring, Olivier Gruner has maintained his passion for fitness, continuing the brutally demanding physical regimen he had developed and maintained through his military and kickboxing career.

I remember when I first discovered Olivier Gruner's films just a few years ago. I have always felt he has a special quality not seen in any other of his contemporary peers. It's an indescribable charisma that shines through in films...and in person. Eric Venturo and I met Mr. Gruner at The House Of Champions Gym in the heart of The San Fernando Valley for a quick photo session and a chance to see what's new in the world of "Olivier."

With a very special thank you to Brett Ashworth who put Olivier and me together.

AM: Olivier I have to tell you that my birthday is the day after yours.

OG: No way!

AM: First I want to say that you are one of the most remarkable men in the whole world because of all your accomplishments. Did you always have so much ambition?

OG: Actually I think it starts when you're a kid. Things happen when you are very young. It's funny because one day I came back to my Dad's house and said, "Hey Dad I got a 15 out of 20."
That is pretty good in French. I was not very good at spelling in French. I always misspelled different words. I had a problem with that so when I came home one day with 15 out of 20 I was excited. I gave it to my Dad and he said, "Ah, you could do better."
So I thought OK...I can do better. The next time I came back I had 19 out of 20! I'm all excited and said, "Dad look at that!!!"
He said, "How come you didn't get 20?" (laughing)
I said, "Come on Dad!"

AM: Was he serious?

OG: He was a cool man. He was only joking, but in my subconscious I thought I had to be perfect in everything I do.

AM: How do you approach life?

OG: I think life is an adventure. As soon as you accomplish something and you are on top the only thing you can do is go down at this point. When I became a champ I decided I was done with that. Let's move onto something else so I moved on to the movie industry.

AM: Is it what you thought it would be?

OG: As you know the movie industry is very hard and very tough. It's very competitive and it's always about relationships. So even if you are really good at what you do, if you don't have the right attitude you can get burned. There's a lot of things going on and it's kind of weird. So after 37 films and 5 TV series I think I have accomplished what I wanted to do.

AM: What's left for you to do?

OG: There is one thing I've never done and that is to produce my own film from start to finish. I mean direct it and star in it, everything. This is the first time I have done that. We started seven months ago and we just finished the film titled 'One Night.' I'm so happy with it and I'm so excited. That is really a huge accomplishment. It went from my brain to writing to making images and we watched it last night. It was a big celebration and we are really happy.

AM: When will it be released?

OG: We are fixing a couple things because I am a perfectionist, but pretty soon actually.

AM: Will it go straight to DVD?

OG: We are going to try to release it in the theaters first. That's how good it is, but then again it's politics. If there are a lot of big films coming at the same time they will pull mine out. That's the way it is. It will be on TV definitely.

AM: You have a worldwide audience however. Do you know where you're the most popular?

OG: I really don't know. Sometimes we go to different countries. I went to the Eastern block and I couldn't walk down the street. Sometimes I go to France and it's a little bit different. Maybe one out of a hundred people recognizes me. It's a little different everywhere. I thought my country would support me, but it's strange.

All photos: Alan Mercer Lighting: Eric Venturo

AM: Well you are on the cover of all 37 boxes of your movies! I think you're doing ok!
I know your father and one brother became doctors and your other brother became an engineer. Did you feel like the odd one?

OG: Actually no. My Dad was living the adventure with me. It was really cool. I was in the Navy first and I did some special operations in Africa but I couldn't talk about it. He was living the adventure with me so he was always supportive of what I did except for fighting. He didn't like that. That's the only thing he didn't agree with.

AM: Did you ever get hurt in the ring?

OG: Yes all the time.

AM: Do you still feel pain?

OG: That's the thing. It's funny because we notice in mixed martial arts, which is what I teach, the level of fighting went to another notch. Before it was kick boxing and now we do wrestling and a mix of everything. We found out that every time you get hurt and feel pain the body sends that signal to your brain and your brain analyzes it and tells you right away in a split moment if it's important or not. If you touch something hot right away you react to it. Now if you are used to touching something hot the body will get used to it which means the signal is so different. We found out that to condition your shin for kicking you have to develop a pain tolerance so when you do that over and over the brain doesn't react anymore. The brain thinks it's normal. That's why sometimes you have a toothache for days and then you don't feel it anymore. The brain tells you it's not an emergency.

AM: Do you still do all the things you learned in military training like scuba diving and sky diving routinely?

OG: Not routinely. Like with sky diving I'm kind of tired of it. I do take my son to the wind tunnel.

EV: You mean in Las Vegas?

OG: Yes they have one in Vegas but they have one here at Universal Studio.

EV: Really I didn't know that.

OG: It's so cool. It's glass so you can see everything.

AM: You have a son. Do you have more children?

OG: No, only one boy who is six years old. I do still fly helicopters. That's a big part of my life. I flew for Blue Hawaiian in Hawaii where I did tours. I was flying on the big island and I flew in the Grand Canyon. I worked for ABC News here in Los Angeles where I did the chase videos.

AM: I think you are a world movie star, besides being a world champion in so many things. Do you live in California?

OG: Yes I live in Santa Monica and Las Vegas. My mixed martial arts is really important to me. I do everything now so when I film I can show that I am really doing the real thing! That's why it's really important for me to train with the UFC guys.

AM: I bet you enjoyed filming your TV show, 'The Pros.'

OG: It was on NBC but then they put it on the shelf so that's it.

AM: What is your goal in terms of future films?

OG: My goal is to do exactly what I did with 'One Night' and that is to produce my films so I can control the quality. I don't want my fans to be disappointed with my films and sometimes you do not have control. It's not really your fault. You do the best work that you can but sometimes things happen. I can't afford that anymore. I want to make sure that when we shoot a film and release it, that it's a good film.

AM: You've worked with quite a few stars in your movies.

OG: Oh yes like John Ritter, Gary Busey, David Carradine, Eric Roberts and many more.

AM: Was directing natural for you?

OG: Yes the main thing is when you look at the screen you know if you have it or don't have it. When you do the editing if it doesn't cut you know you've made a mistake. So from my experience with other directors you watch them and you learn. It really made a big difference.

AM: I bet it's a lot more satisfying for you to watch the final film.

OG: It's no comparison. It's so different and exciting!

AM: I can't wait to see 'One Night.' It's going to be exciting to see something you have created yourself.

OG: Thank you so much!

To learn more about Olivier Gruner visit his web site http://www.oliviergruner.com/index_content.html