NIKKI SIXX On Forthcoming SIXX: A.M. Album: 'We Are Constantly Struggling For Greatness'

SIXX: A.M. — the band featuring MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx alongside James Michael (vocals) and DJ Ashba (guitar) — is continuing to write and record material for its second album, tentatively due before the end of the year.

SIXX: A.M. is the project Sixx started a couple of years ago whose debut disc acted as a "soundtrack" to Nikki's memoir, "The Heroin Diaries".

Commented Sixx: "Creating new music is like a rollercoaster ride marked by the highest highs and the lowest lows. This dose of high highs and low lows doubles while writing a book that requires me to uncover things from my past I have either forgotten about or chosen to keep hidden away. Finally, flushing these waves of emotional honesty through the lens of photography whilst meshing the words and music together is exhausting, almost to the point of becoming spiritual.

"The last few weeks in the studio with SIXX: A.M. has been intense and exhilarating... (not to mention a fucking blast ).

"We finished two more new tunes yesterday. One will rip your heart out and leave it torn to pieces on the floor... and one is gonna rip your face off... Either way, you're pretty much fucked... I know I am.

"I don't see this project as just another 'rock' record. This is a very important album to us as we are constantly struggling for greatness and trying to push the envelope. It's not only musically, but also lyrically condensed into these very potent little potions that I feel are open to interpretation.

"When the whole project unfolds, I hope people will be blindsided by the big picture.

"I feel we're pushing ourselves further beyond what we, as a band, ever expected."

In a summer 2009 interview with Road Crew Magazine, James Michael stated about the forthcoming SIXX: A.M. CD, "The new SIXX: A.M. record, it's kind of gonna be a long time coming, just like the first one was. . . What I can tell you is that it's gonna be more than just a record full of songs; it is gonna be attached to some other things, and they are things that are really inspiring to all of us. And that's really all I can say at this point."

On whether the forthcoming CD will be more about all three members of the band as opposed to focusing primarily on Nikki, James said, "Yeah. In fact, I think that the last record ended up being about all three of us in different ways. A lot of the songs even were written before 'The Heroin Diaries' book came about, but they all just fit in so well, and we kind of adjusted them to work. I think that's why 'The Heroin Diaries' soundtrack so well — we were all sharing our personal experiences with it, and we found a universal theme that kind of worked. Nikki's book happened to be the catalyst for that and happened to be the guiding force, and I think that's kind of what we're doing on this one. Because for three songwriters to be in a room writing, it can't just be about one of those songwriters; I think that it has to be about shared experiences."

Although SIXX: A.M. was initially just a studio project, a touring lineup did go on the road in 2008 as part of the first Crüe Fest package,

SIXX A.M.'s debut featured the hit "Life Is Beautiful".