RONNI LETEKRØ On New TNT Music: 'We're Starting To Create Stuff'

In a new interview with Scott Itter of Dr. Music, guitarist Ronni LeTekrø of Norwegian hard rockers TNT, who recently reunited with American singer Tony Harnell, was asked if he and his bandmates have commenced work on new music. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm supposed to not say anything, but I can say yes, gradually we're starting to create stuff. I can't say how far we've come or anything, but there's definitely a good vibe in the band. And I think we all look forward to creating new stuff and also performing, of course, the old songs, the classic songs."

He continued: "It's been hard being a European band with an American singer. It's been hard for both parts, especially for Tony; he had to travel a lot. But we also had to do that to promote [the band] in the United States in the '80s and '90s. It's like FOREIGNER — a British band with an American singer. TNT, a Norwegian band with an American singer."

Last month, TNT shared several photos from Studio Studio Nyhagen in Norway and included the following caption: "First basic tracks session for new TNT music taking place."

The 60-year-old Harnell, who was born in San Diego, grew up in California and moved to New York when he was 16, announced his return to TNT last November, saying that he would reteam with LeTekrø and drummer Morten "Diesel" Dahl on stage in 2023 for select live appearances. The trio is joined in the current TNT lineup by returning bassist Sid Ringsby, who played with TNT for the first time on the "All The Way To The Sun" album in 2005 and has appeared with TNT at various concerts over the years.

In January, Harnell said in an online post that he and his TNT bandmates were hoping to "get some new songs out there for you all" in 2023.

In March 2022, Le Tekrø confirmed to the "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" that he had been in touch with Harnell about a renewed collaboration. Speaking about the group's status, Ronni said: "I've started writing new material, and I'm currently having good talks with Tony and the whole band. We have very much communication. And it's been 40 years [since TNT's formation]. But we're trying to bring the band back together and hopefully make one last tour of Europe and maybe America… I think we might wanna end the TNT chapter with dignity and do one last tour."

In April 2021, Harnell, who has been in and out of TNT several times throughout its four-decade existence, told "The Chuck Shute Podcast" that he didn't rule out returning to the band. "Ronni and I, contrary to popular belief, we talk often," he said. "Ronni's not a big technology guy, but he really loves FaceTime video. And it's kind of annoying, because I love him, but he'll call me early in the morning, 'cause he's overseas, so he'll call me early in the morning [for a] video chat, and I'm, like, in bed. But I love the guy. Whatever happens, we'll be on a beach someplace when we're in our 70s, laughing and hanging out.

"Most of the things that pushed us apart — again, contrary to popular belief — are business related," he continued. "I'll just leave it at that.

"'Never say never' is a good way to put it [regarding a possible new TNT album]. And there might be a time and a place."

Harnell's most recent split with TNT took place in October 2017, less than a year and a half after he rejoined the group. He later described his relationship with TNT in an "Unphiltered" interview as "a very long marriage. I'm here [in New York], they're there [in Norway] — they're across the pond really far away. It's a very difficult situation to be in without having a very unified business organization, and no matter what I did, I could not get the thing unified. We were just on two totally separate not only continents physically, but mentally, psychologically, we were on two different continents as well."

Harnell said that he "really, really wanted" his latest collaboration with TNT to work out. "In my opinion, this was gonna be it — we were gonna stay together until I didn't feel like singing anymore," he said. 'I was gonna do other things and do other projects and so forth, but my goal was that TNT would be my band for at least another five years, maybe 10 years or whatever, until it ran its course. So this was kind of an unexpected thing."

In a 2019 interview with "80's Glam Metalcast", Le Tekrø said that he was still on good terms with Harnell. "Definitely," he said. "We talk regularly and we're even discussing making a kind of Page/Plant album, a Harnell/Le Tekrø album, which could maybe lead into something in the future. But I think me and Tony Harnell — I'm speaking not on behalf of him, but on behalf of myself — we need a different playground to do more extensive hard rock with other ideas, whereas TNT is more limited to a [specific] sound. You see what I mean? So, we're definitely buddies, and that will last forever. We don't hate each other, and we never did. That was never the [case]."

TNT's latest studio album, "XIII", came out in June 2018 via Frontiers Music Srl. The band's thirteenth LP was TNT's first to feature vocalist Baol Bardot Bulsara, who replaced Harnell. Baol is a Spanish singer whose debut with TNT happened in front of 8,000 fans in November 2017 when the band opened for German hard rock legends the SCORPIONS in Oslo, Norway.

Photo credit: Cecilie Leganger / ABC Public Relations