TYGER BAY – interview with Richard ‘Rocky’ Laws, Tygers of Pan Tang original bassist

August 24, 2017November 7, 2022 / Alikivi / 4 Comments

In 2016 Tygers of Pan Tang released an album of new tracks mixed by Soren Anderson, filmed video’s for the single’s ‘Only the Brave’ and ‘Glad Rags’, completed tours around Europe, including dates in North and South America – not forgetting brewing their own beer -Tyger Blood !

This year they continue to support the album with UK dates arranged for November.

But way back in the 1970’s in the small seaside town of Whitley Bay in the North East of England…

‘I think it was about 1976 when I met Robb (Weir, guitarist) and Brian (Dick, drums). I knew Brian through some other musicians I used to hang out with. Drummers were rare beasts in those days, especially one’s as good as Brian so I made sure I jammed with him as often as possible.

I met Robb when someone gave me his telephone number as he was interested in getting a band together, actually we didn’t start playing together at first. I started to roadie for his punk band first, they were called Trick’.

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Who were your first influences and how did you get involved in playing music. Was there a defining moment when you said ‘I want to do that’ ?

‘I wanted to be in a band from a very young age. A live band played at a Christmas party for kids where my father worked. This would have been in the sixties so they were a bit like The Beatles and had red guitars which I was fascinated by.

I got a very cheap acoustic guitar as a Christmas present but didn’t know anyone who played guitar or could teach me and the few lessons I had only taught stuff I didn’t want to play.

It was only when I was given a copy of Space Ritual by Hawkwind and heard Lemmy play bass, especially Lord of Light, that I knew I wanted to play bass guitar.

So I got a cheap bass and started learning bass lines by ear. So yeah, as a bass player it was definitely Lemmy that got me playing’.

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When did you meet up with the Tygers, when did you start playing gigs and what venues did you play ?

‘When Brian and I decided we really wanted to get a band together I suggested we try jamming with Robb. It was an instant success!

We started writing songs and looked for a singer and a guy called Mark Butcher joined the band. We did about 25 shows with Mark.

After Mark left we had a bit of a hiatus then got back together and Jess Cox joined as singer and we started gigging regularly.

There was no real metal scene around Newcastle at the time. There were no regular venues for local metal bands but there was a metal audience for bigger bands who played the Newcastle Mayfair or City Hall.

There were three metal bands already playing locally when we started. There was Raven though they had not really hit on their athletic rock style at that time.

There was Axe, who eventually became Fist, and there was Fastbreeder who now would be most notable for having Andy Taylor on guitar, later he joined Duran Duran !’

‘What separated us from these bands was that they all predated punk rock whereas we were starting during the punk scene and were heavily influenced by it.

Although there was not a local metal scene apart from the three bands I mentioned, there was a thriving local music scene generally in Newcastle in the mid to late 70’s.

Many pubs had a room upstairs where bands could play and take money on the door. I can’t remember all the pubs we played but the Gosforth Hotel and the Bridge Hotel were ones we played regularly, as well as pubs further afield in and around the North East.

In fact the Tygers first ever gig was at the Coach and Eight in Durham. As well as pubs which didn’t pay very well we got a club agent so we could play the CIU working men’s clubs’.

‘Often these clubs, as well as serving the excellent Federation Ales would have rock nights where we could play, even playing our own material.

You had to play two one hour sets, so you had to have quite a lot of material and obviously you had to play some covers. We played AC/DC, Ted Nugent, Motorhead, Status Quo, ZZ Top among others.

One club we played was Sunderland Boilermakers, though playing in Sunderland was always an adventure for us Whitley Bay boys as of course they never clapped, something which Sunderland was famous for.

Though you were still expected to do an encore, which they called a false tap, on the basis that if you were still alive they must have liked it!’

One of Tygers of Pan Tang early gig’s at Mingles Bar, Whitley Bay.

How did the record deal’s come about with NEAT and MCA ?

‘We invested in some pyrotechnics which always ensured a good reception in the clubs as they were a bit unusual. We played schools as that way you could play to kids who couldn’t get into the pubs and clubs.

It was at a show at Whitley Bay High School where we were seen by David Wood of Neat Records. His kids went there and I think having a fan base with school age kids was what helped our first single to sell.

A big help to our early progress was doing a residency every Wednesday night at Mingles nightclub in our home town of Whitley Bay. It was already a venue but I think even after we stopped playing there it carried on being a sort of Heavy Metal club.

Our biggest local gig before we had a record deal was when we headlined the Mayfair Ballroom in Newcastle. It was a bit of a disaster as we had loads of technical problems and probably because I was nervous I had got completely pissed and could barely stand up!

Still we attracted 1,500 people which was a lot for a local band and due to a misprint this got reported as 15,000 in the industry magazine Music Week and we got a record deal with MCA Records as a result!

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Did you come across other NWOBHM bands ?

’The first support we did was Iron Maiden for two nights at the Marquee in London. This was the first time we had travelled any distance to play and the first time I had ever been to London.

The venue was packed and they were amazing gigs. Maiden were unbelievably good and you could tell they were going to be big.

We did a support tour with Magnum which was our first national tour. Later they supported us on a UK tour and they weren’t very pleased about it.

We also supported Def Leppard and Saxon. Saxon were very good to us as Motorhead had been good to them in the same circumstances.

Saxon were my favourite NWOBHM band and when we toured with them we helped out in their show by doing things like operating smoke machines, dry ice generators and spotlights just for fun.

We also supported Scorpions at quite large venues and it was a steep learning curve as we were not used to big venues. They weren’t impressed by our first couple of gigs and I think we were close to being sacked off the tour but we had a storming gig in Glasgow and then everything was fine.

We learned a lot from Scorpions as they did everything very professionally’.

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What were your experiences of recording ?

‘I would be a bit hazy on dates! We first recorded at Impulse Studios in Wallsend. In fact our first session was doing three tracks for which we got cheap studio time by doing them as a competition entry for the Vitavox Live Sound Awards, this was David Wood’s idea.

This would have been in 1978 I suppose. We hadn’t really thought about the Awards competition, we even put false names on the entry form. But actually found that we had to play at the competition and won it!

We did two other sessions at Impulse one of which was just to record our live set so we just set up and played the whole set live without stopping and no overdubs.

Much of this was eventually released as the First Kill album so those tracks would be a pretty good example of what we actually sounded like at the time.

We also did a session to record the Don’t Touch Me There single with two b side tracks, which was our first single and was released on Neat. All of the Neat stuff was produced by Steve Thompson’.

(Featured in an earlier blog The Godfather of North East NWOBHM in June 2017)

‘I don’t think he had worked with a band who knew so little about music, as we couldn’t have played a scale between us!

After we got the record deal with MCA, at first this was through Neat. Well Neat wanted us to record our first album in their studio at Impulse in Wallsend, but the producer Chris Tsangarides came up to look at it and said he couldn’t work there and wanted to use his usual studio which was Morgan Studios in London.

That was where we did the Wild Cat and Spellbound albums.

We actually demoed Spellbound at Guardian Studios in Durham. The demo’s were the first time we had recorded with new singer Jon Deveril and new guitarist John Sykes both albums represented an amazing leap forward for the band.

When I first listened to the demo’s at home after the sessions, I couldn’t believe how good this line up sounded’.

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‘Recording Wildcat and Spellbound was a great experience but there was no time for self-indulgence and both albums were done in a couple of weeks. Guitar, bass and drums were recorded in a couple of takes, then guitar overdubs and vocals.

We did get to add a few extras like kettle drums and bass synth pedals, I was a big Rush fan at the time!

‘The next recording we did was with a mobile at a gig in Nottingham at the Rock City venue. For some reason which I still don’t know, John Sykes listened to it and said it was unusable and it got forgotten about until it was released some 20 years later.

I think it would have made a massive difference to our career had it been released at the time because instead we had to do the Crazy Nights album, and we weren’t ready.

We didn’t demo that album and quite a lot of it was written in the studio. It was recorded just bass and drums with a guide guitar and later guitars were added then vocals. It wasn’t a very good way to record because we had never actually heard the songs before we recorded the basic tracks as there were no lyrics, just a chord progression or riff.

Only a couple of songs were actually written properly before recording. There are virtually no overdubs and no backing vocals.

We hadn’t used Chris Tsangarides, partly as we just wanted a change but partly as he wanted a writing credit on a track on Spellbound which annoyed us.

Anyway we got in Dennis MacKay on Gary Moore’s recommendation but he was totally wrong for the band. He was doing a Stanley Clarke album in the States at the same time and was flying back and forwards.

It was also our own fault as we were partying too hard at that point and not taking the music seriously enough. Still there are some good tracks on the album.

Crazy Nights was partly recorded at Trident Studios in London which closed down straight after though I don’t think this was our fault. The vocals were done on the Virgin recording studio on a boat on the Thames!

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After the first three albums what was the band’s approach for the fourth ?

‘After the problems with Crazy Nights we decided to get serious and get a commercial producer in and this was Peter Collins. He had never done rock before but he must have liked the experience as he went on to do Rush and various other rock bands after us.

He came to a rehearsal said he couldn’t believe his first experience of hearing loud rock guitar in a confined space!

Our first recording with Peter was Love Potion No 9 while John Sykes was still in the band. Love Potion No 9 got a lot of radio play and was our biggest single. Obviously it is a cover but it doesn’t sound much like the original.

It was suggested by Peter Collin’s manager who was Pete Waterman who later became part of Stock, Aitken and Waterman of Kylie Minogue fame.

At that point John Sykes left the band to try for the job with Ozzy after Randy Rhodes died. He didn’t get the job but when he asked to come back we said no and looked for a replacement.

At first Fred Purser was just supposed to be temporary to do a French tour we had booked but we got on so well we asked him to join full time.

Fred had been in local punk band Penetration but in fact he was quite a sophisticated musician, at least compared to the rest of us’.

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‘We recorded The Cage with Peter Collins at Marquee Studios in London. We had picked some cover songs to do after the success with Love Potion and there were also some co-writes with people outside the band and Fred had a few songs so it was a different pool of songs to our usual stuff.

We still didn’t get that long to record and it was the usual couple of weeks to do most of it but Peter Collins was a real slave driver so we got a lot done.

The Cage was a commercial success and was our biggest album and we went to Japan and did a big UK tour and did supports and some headlining in Europe’.

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What festival’s did you play, what other bands were on and was there any stand out moments ?

‘Festivals in the UK in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s were not like they are now and were pretty rough and ready. I’d say they were a bit like the wild west and from the stage you looked out on thirty thousand people seemingly all throwing cans of piss at each other. It was pretty scary.

The only UK festival we played was Reading which we did twice. The first time was 1980 it was John Sykes first proper gig with the band. It was mega exciting to do though we were well down the bill and must have been playing early afternoon.

The second time we played Reading was in ’82 after The Cage was released and was scarier still as by this time we were well up the bill. In fact we had been given a very strange spot.

There were two stages but these were for the same audience and they were set apart so they could be setting up one bands gear whilst another played.

One stage was slightly smaller than the other so the top of the bill and second on the bill played the bigger stage and we had to play between them on the second stage. Therefore we were sandwiched between Blackfoot and Iron Maiden.

We knew how good Blackfoot were and were not keen on the idea of going on after them as they were a bigger band than us. We contemplated not doing it but a majority of the band wanted to do it so we went ahead.

Our agent said the secret was to start playing the moment that Blackfoot left the stage so that is what we did and it was a fantastic success’.

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‘Reading in 1982 was still a bit lawless and during the performance I did get hit by a bottle though I barely noticed it at the time and there was a large bruise afterwards.

Backstage was a bit different, before our performance we were eating strawberries and cream with Brit Ekland!

In Europe we did a few festivals and we did two in the Netherlands a week apart which left us staying in Amsterdam for a week with nothing to do but enjoy ourselves!

Festivals in Europe were different to UK festivals as they were not specific to a genre of music.

So in one festival we played with The Beat and Killing Joke, at another it was Dexy’s Midnight Runners and at a festival in Sweden we headlined one night and Simple Minds headlined the next night.

In the UK the different audiences would have killed each other but they all got on fine in the festivals in Europe’.

TV SHOW (1)

The Tygers recorded a few TV appearances notably The Old Grey Whistle Test and The Tube. How did they come about and what other bands were on ?

‘There wasn’t as much opportunity to be on the TV in those days. You had to have a hit single to get on Top of the Pops and we were one spot away from that with Love Potion but never actually made it.

Our first TV was in Manchester on a show presented by Tony Wilson who went on to start the Factory label. This was on the Wild Cat tour and is on YouTube. It is the only film of us with Jess Cox and we did Euthanasia.

We did a local North East TV show but I can’t remember the name of it. It was a kind of chat show and we were the band that played in the middle. We did Don’t Stop By off Spellbound but whilst there are some photo’s there is no surviving film.

After Crazy Nights we did a TV special about Viz magazine. The show was called Something Else and was a kind of magazine show that each week did something about a particular city. The one on Newcastle centred on Viz. The two bands on were us and Angelic Upstarts who were great’.

‘The music bit was filmed in London at BBC TV Centre and we did Raised On Rock and Love Don’t Stay these are both on YouTube. Whilst we really liked Viz, they didn’t really like us and I know that Simon Donald of Viz didn’t want the Tygers on but was told he had to have us!

We then did the Old Grey Whistle Test. The other band on was someone from Wings but I can’t remember who they were.

We did Running out of Time from Crazy Nights and Love Potion No.9 which by then I think was out as a single. This was our last TV with John Sykes on guitar.

By the time we did OGWT the format had changed a bit from the early days and there was an audience of sorts but when they applied for tickets they didn’t know who was going to be playing. It was just a generic TV audience and not fans of the band.

After filming we went out for something to eat and were stopped by the police as apparently, we fitted the description of people they were looking for in connection with criminal damage. We were able to give them an alibi !’

‘Our final TV performance was The Tube in 1982. It was one of the early episodes of The Tube and we were on with Iggy Pop and Twisted Sister.

Unfortunately Iggy Pop was a total dick and a complete diva and by the time he was happy with his sound there was no time for anyone else to sound check.

It was great meeting Twisted Sister. They were a fantastic band, great performers and we felt very reserved and British in comparison. They were all absolutely enormous as well, it was like meeting a bunch of wrestlers!

I think The Tube was the last time the version of the Tygers I was in played together. We split up shortly after. We were not in a very good state of mind but the film which is on YouTube is better than I remembered it at the time.

As to who arranged the TV appearances I suppose it was our managers or the record company. I know our managers used to badger local TV to put us on as we were a local band’.

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NWOBHM, did you realise the impact that the genre of music would have ?

‘NWOBHM was quite big at the time and had pretty much an instant impact but I certainly didn’t realise that anyone would be talking about it in thirty years time.

Or that it would directly influence the future of metal by inspiring the thrash metal bands that would come after it.

The first time we heard about NWOBHM was Geoff Barton’s piece in Sounds Magazine. At that point we were doing quite well on the local scene.

There was a local indoor music event called the Bedrock Festival at the Guildhall in Newcastle and we headlined one of the nights. There were many local band’s on so I would say we were quite a big local band.

However, the problem was how to expand outside of the North East and the NWOBHM was that opportunity’.

NWOBHM

‘When the first article about Def Leppard and the second about Maiden was in Sounds magazine our manager sent Geoff a tape saying that we were a similar sort of band but in Newcastle rather than Sheffield or London.

The next week there was a sort of round up of heavy rock and metal bands around the country and we were in that.

Our single started selling outside the North East and we started to get national attention. I don’t know if any of this would have happened without the NWOBHM.

Obviously there was a few NWOBHM bands at the start including Maiden, Saxon, Leppard, Diamond Head and Girlschool but I think we kind of stopped thinking about being part of the NWOBHM once we got to release our second album.

I was aware of Venom of course as we knew Conrad (Cronos) quite well from before Venom and in fact I went to their first gig with Cronos.

I just didn’t understand it at all though, of course they were right and I was wrong as they went on to be probably the most influential NWOBHM band other than Maiden’.

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Can you remember when the Tygers called it a day?

‘Unfortunately in the success of our fourth album The Cage lay the seed of the bands demise. MCA records wanted to do more covers and more rocked up versions of soul classics and we didn’t want to do it.

We had a four track machine on which we demo’d some songs written by Fred but this did not change MCA’s mind and whist other companies were interested in the band they were not interested in buying us out of our deal with MCA.

However the fifth album demos were interesting as we recorded live drums and everything as we would in a studio but on the four track. We turned one of the rooms in my parents’ house into a studio and put mattresses on the walls and used the next door room as a control room.

Fred was actually a pretty good producer and now owns a studio in Newcastle. Anyway, as a result of all the frustration we split up as there seemed no way forward.

Apart from Venom I was completely unware of all of the bands who came along as the kind of second wave of NWOBHM or that NEAT had become some sort of NWOBHM label.

The Tygers thing all happened between ’78 and ’82 and then it was over and I completely lost touch with the whole scene that carried on after that’.

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Mischief or Madness, have you any funny stories from being in the band ?

‘There is a rule among bands that what goes on the road stays on the road so there is a lot I could tell you about which I am not going to tell you about. But a couple of funny things come to mind.

We were always looking for practical jokes to play on people or each other and when staying in a large hotel in France, having returned from the gig Brian and I noticed that people who wanted their breakfast in their rooms hung a cardboard notice on the outside of their doors with what they wanted for breakfast, and more importantly what time they wanted it. So we went round and changed all the times to 6am.

The next morning pandemonium ensued as half the hotel were woken for breakfast several hours before they wanted to be, including our band mates and managers who were traveling with us’.

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‘Another time whilst recording at Morgan Studios we knew our manager was coming to visit the studio so we set up pyrotechnics just inside the studio door and got reception to warn us when he was coming in.

He opened the door and found himself in total darkness and then a few seconds later a whole bank of magnesium explosions went off! He didn’t know what had hit him.

We didn’t always know when was a good time for jokes and when wasn’t. Jon Deverill was doing vocals at the studio and the rest of us were at the apartment we had rented so we decided to set up a few surprises for when he got back.

What we didn’t realise was that he would actually get back at about 4 in the morning after a particularly gruelling vocal session, was exhausted and was therefore not really in the mood to have a bucket of water on his head from the top of the door, his bed sheet folded over so he couldn’t get in properly, and the legs of his bed collapse once he was in it!’

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Current Tygers bassist Gav Gray with Richard Laws.

What are you doing now and are you still involved with music ?

‘I am involved in the music business as after the band I qualified as a lawyer and started working in the music business and have been doing that for the last 30 years or so.

I tend to represent companies rather than artists and whilst I still do a lot of record company and publishing company work, the industry has changed in the time I have worked in it. There is a lot more brand related work and merchandising.

I don’t go to many gigs these days as my days in the Tygers left me with permanent hearing damage and some gigs now are so loud it is actually painful unless I wear hearing protection.

I did go to see the current line-up of the Tygers about a year ago and it was great to see them as they were really good. It was great to see Robb again as I hadn’t seen him for 30 years though I am now in touch with some of the old band on social media and speak to Robb on the phone occasionally.

I still play music though I didn’t for many years. I only started again because at one of the places I worked someone had the idea of putting a band together for the Christmas party so I dug out my bass and we ended up doing quite a few private parties just playing covers.

Now I just play for my own amusement and guitar rather than bass, though I still have my old Rickenbacker bass from the Tygers days. At least I know some scales now!’

Interview by Gary Alikivi July 2017.

Recommended:

Micky McCrystal, Cat Scratch Fever, 17th March 2017.

Steve Thompson, Godfather of New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, 27th June 2017.

Robb Weir, Doctor Rock, 5th November 2017.

ON THE HOOF – Lee Payne bassist with Cloven Hoof

August 21, 2017November 7, 2022 / Alikivi

‘We play from the heart and soul and after every show I can throw my stage clothes against the wall and they stick there!’

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Originally formed in 1979 in the West Midlands, UK, New Wave of British Heavy Metal band Cloven Hoof went on to record five studio album’s including this year’s release on High Roller Records ‘Who Mourns for the Morning Star’.

To support the album they have lined up three gig’s starting on August 25th in Belgium supporting USA hard rock legends Riot.

I got in touch with Cloven Hoof bassist Lee Payne as he was preparing for the gig’s.

‘A lot of logistics need sorting out with Hoof as the line up is Anglo-American. We are always mindful of one another’s commitments before committing to anything.

We usually plan six month ahead to avoid problems, that way gigs are hand picked and we only do the ones we really feel enthusiastic about.

100% commitment and dedication is demanded by all band members and a lot of effort goes in by all concerned to make it work – especially as we have a continent to divide us.

The good side to this of course is we can play in America and Europe easily because we have a base camp in both territories’.

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‘All the band meet up about a week before a show in England and go into seven days solid rehearsal. We practise 12 hours a day continuous to get the set slick. In truth we have it down in about a day but use the rest if the time to work out fine details and stagecraft’.

‘No one has ever forgotten their passport so far thank goodness, but we have a fair share of scares along the way with touring.

Once due to fog in Milan we had to take six flights to get home to England due to rescheduling. You have to be super dedicated to your craft to take these things in your stride.

Endless hotels waiting around and travelling is the biggest drag in any musicians experience. We all live for the time on stage when we can kick ass and get off on the music along with the fans. It makes all the hassle seem worthwhile’.

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After the Belgium gig the Hoof go to Germany where you are headlining the Trveheim Festival. Have you played any of these gigs before ?

’We normally try to break new ground and play new venues and territories to keep things interesting. On occasions some festivals are so prestigious that you feel you should perform at them more than once.

Sweden Rock Festival was incredible last time so we would play it again in a heartbeat. The same for Keep it True, Headbangers Open Air, Bang your Head, Sword Brothers and Up the Hammers. They are institutions these days so we would be silly not to play at these festivals when asked.

In fact I think we will play Sword Brothers again next year as a point in question. America will be our prime target 2018 so it will be very exciting to play there at long last.

Brazil and South America is another place we are eager to tour to help promote the re-releases on the Classic Metal label’.

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For the third gig the band travel to France for the British Steel Festival on 7th October playing on a bill with Tytan, Satan’s Empire and headliners Oliver/Dawson Saxon.

How do the band write the set list, decide what songs are in/out and is tempo important to the set order ?

’The set list is tricky because we have so many songs to choose from these days. We always exclude someone’s favourite song unfortunately but it can’t be helped.

There are only so many songs you can fit into a set. 90 minutes is our longest set time because any longer and we run out of energy.

We like to keep up a high tempo set and it takes it out of you burning up the stage. The fans tell us what they want to hear via the website so we are governed by them what to include in part at least’.

‘We always start off with a fast song either Inquisitor or Astral Rider that everyone knows because we have the fans attention right from the start. Then we introduce a new number early on before the usual stage favourites.

A show has to be structured and flow so the audience can interact with you at the right pace. We let the singer suggest the order songs are in to protect his voice.

We always finish with Laying down the Law because it is a famous audience participation song and an old classic. You have to balance the back catalogue and tracks from new albums seamlessly.

At least that is our aim, something for everyone in fact. Old fans and new can come to our shows assured we will all rock out together and they will hear at least something they are familiar with’.

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What kind of ages are in the audience and do you see familiar faces ?

‘We are lucky enough to have whole families attending our shows these days. Some have been fans for over 40 years and have followed us right from The Opening Ritual up to the present day.

We do see a lot of familiar faces but lately we have seen a lot more young kids on the front row. It seems there is a revival in NWOBHM that is very encouraging and it bodes well for the future.

Music can defy age limit or nationality and that is what is fantastic about metal. Young kids get off on our energy level, it is still high octane from start to finish. Not many bands out there can match our drive, power and stagecraft’.

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Is there any difference from coming of stage now to when Cloven Hoof played their first gigs ?

‘Definitely! In the old days I would come off stage and still be full of energy to run a marathon. It would take me hours to come down I was so pumped up with adrenaline. Now I am totally shattered!

But I am quietly pleased I can still rock out with the best of them. As long as I can run about the stage like a crazy man and deliver the goods then I will do it till I drop.

I give the fans everything, all the guys in this band and the audience knows that. We play from the heart and soul and after every show I can throw my stage clothes against the wall and they stick there!

If they didn’t then you are not working hard enough, the audience deserve and demand your very best… and when they see Cloven Hoof that is what they get in spades!’

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For more info, merchandise, photo’s and tour dates visit the official website at clovenhoof.net

Interview by Gary Alikivi August 2017.

Recommended:

CLOVEN HOOF: Shine On, 20th April 2017.

SAVAGE: The Mansfield Four, 8th May 2017.

TOKYO BLADE: Under the Blade, 26th May 2017.

JAGUAR: The Fast & The Fury, 24th October 2017.

RUNNING WITH THE PACK ‘We had a gang mentality, we weren’t scared of any band’ interview with drummer Ged Wolf

August 14, 2017November 7, 2022 / Alikivi

Blast Recording Studio in Newcastle is the venue to record another story for the blog. Since starting in February this year there has been over 50 interviews and over 6,000 views

This time it’s Ged Wolf who has been drummer with North East heavy metal bands Tysondog and Atomkraft who gave him many fantastic memories which he has shared here – let’s get started Ged.

Who were your influences and how did you get involved in playing music ?

’As a drummer I loved Cozy Powell, he was a hero, but what got me first into drumming was my brother. He was in a band with Tony Bray the Venom Inc drummer.

Before they became Venom they used to rehearse on a Saturday at Clegwell school in Hebburn. I’d go along there and inbetween breaks used to have a knock about on the drums. I found I was natural, never had a drum lesson in my life’.

‘Then Christmas morning when I was 13 year old my brother bought me a Premier red sparkle drum kit. The noise was a nightmare for my parents so I used to put t-shirts on my drums to dampen it down.

I got into listening to rock bands with other kids at school and in the meantime my brother started managing Venom and I ended up on the road crew.

Used to go to the rehearsals and got a background in how things worked. Ended up as back up drummer for the band when I was 15, never had to stand in but I was there in case’.

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‘My very first gig at Newcastle City Hall was watching Whitesnake, (pic.above with Cozy Powell 3rd from left) the second was Bad Company and I remember seeing Twisted Sister at Newcastle Mayfair.

You had to be over 18 to get in and I wasn’t old enough then but was with my brother and mates so snuck in with them. The Mayfair was the hallowed ground with a bar in it and surrounded by all the big boys.

It was a great sweaty gig but the very next day flew out to America with Venom to do a couple of shows. Out there they had Metallica supporting. They only done two shows at the Paramount Theatre in New York but they made a big impression.

We all lived together in one big house for about three weeks, it was the crew, Venom and Metallica. But me and the other drum tech Gordon were too young to go out drinking and watching bands with all the others so we stayed in the house and got drunk. But living with them was great, we had some real adventures’.

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‘The first gig in New York was memorable, we had made some huge bomb pots the size of footballs, you know Venom was all about the show. Well the guy in charge of the pyro was out of his head on something and he ended up loading the pots twice.

The bombs went off at the start of their first song Witching Hour, one of the bombs went down through the stage creating a big hole. The other one went up over the crowd, past the balcony and embedded into the back wall. There is a plaque there now, Venom 1983!

But the explosion blew the whole backline so for the second gig we had to get all new equipment. I’ve never had to work so hard all my life it was 24 hours non stop. I was that tired I was asleep under the drumriser when Metallica were playing. It was the only place I could stretch out’.

‘I was in the studio at NEAT records as drum tech when Venom were recording. I remember they were working on a new song Countess Bathory and Tony the drummer popped out for something to eat so I filled in on drums and played with Conrad and Jeff. I worked out the drums for the song. So when Tony got back they said Ged’s worked it out just do it like him!’

‘But I didn’t want to be a roadie all my life, I wanted to be in a band, see the lights, hear the crowd an all that. I had ambitions of my own and had all these studio and touring experiences at an early age, and was considered a pretty good drummer in the North East.

One day I saw an advert in local newspaper The Chronicle for a band wanting a drummer. Thing was I had just got the Venom drum kit as Tony Bray had got a new one built, a Viking drum kit the biggest in the North East. So mine was second biggest.

But I didn’t tell my brother I was going, I just went for the audition and didn’t tell the band my connections with NEAT and all that, kept it all quiet. I just turned up at the Coach and Horses pub in Wallsend with only a three piece drum kit – and I got the job !

I was drummer in Tysondog. They were like a Judas Priest sounding band so it was all fill’s which was fine for me. Every rehearsal after that I used to take an extra piece of kit so it ended up a twelve piece’.

‘But I wasn’t happy, I was a good six years younger than the others so as a young one I wasn’t getting listened to, but other aspects I had more experience. I was also a bit of a hot head you know.

Well we recorded an album with NEAT records and just before it was due to be released, I left the band. So that was it. They got in Rob Walker to replace me, great lad, good drummer’.

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How did the Atomkraft job come about ?

‘About six months after leaving Tysondog I was in NEAT Records and Venom bassist Chronos came up to me and said there’s a guy you should talk to. That’s when I met Tony Dolan.

He was a bass player, so we had a few jamming sessions and got to know each other. It was going well, just playing a few Motorhead songs stuff like that, just bass and drums.

He had a band called Atomkraft but wanted to update it. They used to wear jeans, t shirts and bullet belts, it was like the press photo for Ace of Spades.

We needed to freshen things up and arranged auditions for a guitarist and got 16 year old Rob Mathews in, he was from Pelaw. Tony was from Wallsend and I was from Jarrow. So at the time Atomkraft was just a three piece’.

‘We had punk influences, the metal thrash scene had that, we all loved AC/DC, I also loved Kiss but mix it all together and that’s what we were. The attitude side of it was from punk that was a big part of it’.

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‘We wrote, rehearsed and recorded at NEAT Records and came out with our first album Future Warriors in June ’85. Our very first gig was supporting Slayer at the Marquee in London which was Slayer’s debut European gig.

We all went down there with our gear, done the soundcheck and out pops the assistant manager of the Marquee asking who’s in your roadcrew? Well we had 14 people on our crew. Basically it was our friends from Newcastle who came down wanting to see the gig’.

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‘The stage was so small I had to arrange the drums with Slayer’s drummer Dave Lambardo and see what was the best way to do it. We were supporting them and he played drums facing the side of the stage which was a bit awkward but we sorted it out.

In the end he said ‘can you lend me a pair of drumsticks I haven’t got any’ ? I said yes it’s the least I can do.

Well we’re on stage but after only three songs of our set the whole backline goes off. Even though we had 14 roadies not one of them knew what they were doing.

We found it was the guitar that had gone off so me and Tony played along then after 30 seconds I just smashed my whole drum kit and threw it into the crowd. I’d just bought a new kit that was back home so I thought, fuck it, smash this one up !

We went off stage everyone is howling, funnily enough it went down great. We got some great press off it. Anyway stage is cleared and ready for Slayer to go on. Dave Lombardo says to me ‘have you got them drumsticks ?’

I’d hoyed everything into the crowd. So my drum roadie had to go out and get some back for him.

Yes that was Atomkraft’s debut gig. Then after that for about six weeks we went over to Europe with Venom and Exodus and had a great time’.

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Atomkraft only played a few gig’s in the North East. Was that a deliberate decision ?

’Yes by 1986 Atomkraft turned into a five piece and in came DC Rage from South Shields and Ian Swift on vocals. At a trial for that line up we got a 25 minute support slot with Girlschool at Newcastle University. Then we played The Riverside at Newcastle. But I was gutted at that gig because a lot of young kids couldn’t get in.

The thing was at Atomkraft we were once at the Mayfair and someone next to us was talking to his friends saying ‘that’s the band that everyone has heard of but nobody has seen’. I thought that was a great compliment. We weren’t bothered, we knew we hadn’t played Newcastle, that’s just the way it was’.

‘Sometimes it’s not about ability it’s about determination and focus to where you want to go. We had that as Atomkraft, we used to go to the Newcastle Mayfair on the Friday and Saturday nights getting drunk but always made sure we rehearsed every Saturday and Sunday, that was our focus and dedication.

Putting the groundwork in that’s how we got those tours. There’s no substitute for rehearsal’.

‘We had a gang mentality of it’s us against you, we don’t care if you like us we just went out on stage and done the best we could we weren’t scared of any band. We made sure if we played live or recorded we were rehearsed and ready to go.

We went out with some of the top American bands and if you weren’t up to it you were off the tour, but we put the groundwork in and worked really hard’.

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‘Through our hard work and the management, in the space of two years we done three major European tours with Venom. They were at 5-6,000 seaters some were 10,000. We were young kids compared to them.

There was a point in 1983 when Venom were the biggest selling independant band in the world – not too bad for some guys from Tyneside.

Venom were the big boys they brought over Metallica and Slayer for European tours. But the difference was that those bands ended up on good record labels that supported them with promotion.

Now there is two bands Venom and Venom Inc, it’s not a competition between them I’m friends with them all, it’s good what they are both doing’.

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Have you any memorable gigs ?

’A stand out gig for us was in ’87 The Longest Day at Hammersmith Odeon with Agent Steel, Nuclear Assault and Onslaught. There is a video of that and it went live on Radio One.

Another stand out gig was when we toured with Nasty Savage and we were the first British thrash band to play Poland. The security was 2,000 armed troops circling the crowd.

There was around 40,000 people there they loved the British bands. It was video’d and a live album was made which we never saw a penny from’.

‘Atomkraft’s biggest audiences were Holland and Germany. Another memorable gig was the Dynamo in Eindhoven. Testament and Onslaught were on the bill and Stryper were headlining.

For that we had the Future Warriors image which was Mad Max style. We got off the tour bus heading for the stage and went past Stryper who looked at us and said what’s going on here ! Our vocalist Swifty had injured his hand so we gaffa taped his mic to his hand.

Marshall Amps had just brought out Jubilee stacks which were silver, we had 12 either side so our image and our stage presence really stood out. The crowd were jumping, absolutely bouncing, I’ll never forget it.

That was the gig somebody threw something on stage, it was like a cannon ball with a fuse burning, everyone saying it’s a bomb !

It roll’s in front of my drum riser, everyone splits off the stage, so I do the natural thing and tell my drum roadie to go and get it. Turned out to be nothing just burnt itself out’.

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‘The headliners Stryper were a Christian band, and on that day nobody was allowed to swear, it was part of the contract. Well our singer Swifty went straight out there on stage ‘How the fuck ya doing Holland’.

But on the side of the stage Stryper just gave us the thumbs up, they loved us really’.

Was image important ?

’Yes we wanted to stand out, everybody was doing the Metallica thing, jeans, ripped t-shirts you know but the thing we had was as we progressed from a three piece to a five we sounded like Venom, a bit of Motorhead and Kiss.

We were speeding up, the guitar sound was getting crisper, we knew we had to up or game.

But we were on NEAT Records who never put money into their bands and all American bands coming over on Music for Nations were getting money thrown at them for tour buses and that. We never got one advance from NEAT Records and we were selling a lot of records’.

What has music given you ?

‘I was talking to me dad years ago and he said he joined the merchant navy and saw the world – I joined a band and saw the world. I’ve been to so many places and met so many people, some good some bad, but I would never change anything.

All those years ago learning how to play the drums in Clegwell School in Hebburn got me here today, it’s been one big adventure’.

Interview by Gary Alikivi July 2017.

Recommended:

WARRIOR: The Hunger, 12th April 2017.

VENOM INC.: Hebburn or Hell, 28th July 2017.

TYSONDOG: Back for Another Bite, 5th August 2017.

ACE OF BASS with North East musician Duncan Emmerson

August 9, 2017November 7, 2022 / Alikivi

‘Is there a bass player out there who didn’t want to be Lemmy? Motorhead were always my favourite band, and still are to this day. One of my proudest moments was meeting Fast Eddie’.

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Was there a defining moment when you said “I want to do that” ?

‘Blimey, there’s a question. Probably hearing Overkill and seeing my first gig, Motorhead supported by Saxon at Newcastle City Hall on December 2nd 1979. That did it for me, and for the following few years I was virtually a resident both at the City Hall and The Mayfair. I still maintain 1979-1984 were the best years in music. Ever’.

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What were your experiences of recording ?

‘I haven’t been in a proper recording studio since 1992 when I recorded with a band called Honey at Dungeon Studios in Oxford. I was living in Oxford at the time when there was quite a healthy music scene with a few bands becoming high profile on a national scale.

The likes of Ride, On A Friday who became Radiohead and The Jennifers who became Supergrass. I answered an advert in the paper for Honey and ended up doing a few support slots, usually at the famous Jericho Tavern.

In Dungeon Studio we recorded seven tracks in two days and slept under the mixing desk. We still keep in touch which is nice. Those experiences do give you a bond don’t they?

Actually, while I’m talking about them, our one claim to fame was that we supported a local band called On A Friday, who as any fool will know, changed their name to Radiohead’.

When did you start playing gigs in the North East and what venues did you play ?

‘The first local band I played in was a three piece called Requiem, the brainchild of Glenn S Howes, until recently the singer/guitarist with Fist. I was on the bass, and Sean Taylor from Satan was the drummer. We were a cover band, did gigs on the local pub circuit, bike rallies and the like. This went on for a couple of years from about 2008’.

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‘I joined Warrior in 2014 as the band had been asked to play at Brofest in Newcastle. They needed a bass player and Sean Taylor, yes him again, was drumming for the band. He got in touch and asked if I would like to do it.

We played the gig at Brofest in February 2014, and the year after that we played at Headbangers Open Air in Germany and Garage Dayz Revisited in that there London. I’m going to put this on record…thank you to Blitzkrieg for looking after us on both occasions’.

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‘Locally, we played the legendary venues of Trillians and the Penny Gill, and last year we played at Negasonic in Belgium which was a tremendous gig. Guido who runs it is such a lovely bloke.

Personally, I was delighted to meet Rock Goddess at HOA, we’d just come off stage and suddenly there’s Tracey Lamb asking me ‘What was it like mate’? Starstruck or what ?

To this day I’ve never been able to talk to musicians I grew up admiring and listening to, even those who have gone on to become good friends. I just babble like a twat!’.

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Have you any funny stories from playing gigs ?

‘Well, the one that springs to mind was doing a lunchtime gig with Requiem at a club in Sunderland which is notorious for two reasons.

I’m not going to mention the second reason, but for the first one, the audience, and there’s usually a healthy turnout, take great pride in ignoring the band. They’ll read their papers and play dominoes, and revel in silence after each song.

Anyway, we did our opening number, finished to deathly quiet and Glenn, as he did at every gig announces ‘Good Evening (name of venue)’ at the top of his voice. Not a thing.

Then we heard from the darkness ‘It’s lunchtime ya daft c**t’. Probably the only reaction ever, which should be a point of pride’.

‘One more semi funny tale. When Warrior played HOA we did a signing session after the set. One guy presented us with a cd by the band from Chesterfield with the same name, the album was called Let Battle Commence.

Despite the fact they were a trio, he refused to be convinced he had the wrong band and wouldn’t leave until we signed it. I think he had to be removed eventually.’

What are you doing now and are you still involved with music ?

‘I’m currently playing bass for the recently resurrected Dark Heart, who had an album out in 1984 called Shadows Of The Night on Roadrunner Records.

I joined Dark Heart after I left Warrior. The line up is myself, Alan Clark who was an original founder member on lead vocals/guitar, Nick Catterick, an outstanding lead guitarist who I’ve known for many years now, and Elliot Sneddon on drums who I played with in Warrior’.

‘How that came about was Alan Clark got in touch and asked if I’d be interested as he’d been offered an album deal and wanted to resurrect the band. He’s a great singer and I jumped at the chance to work with him.

Having Nick and Elliot on board as well was the icing on the cake. It’s nice to get the old rhythm section back together.

Dark Heart are currently recording a new album to be released later this year via the Greek label Sleaszy Rider Records. We’ve already got rough mixes of around five or six songs so it’s well under way, and I have to say it’s going to be well worth a listen. Watch this space….’

Interview by Gary Alikivi July 2017.

Recommended:

Brian Ross SATAN/BLITZKREIG: Life Sentence, 20th February 2017.

Lou Taylor SATAN/BLIND FURY: Rock the Knight, 26th February & 5th March 2017.

Micky McCrystal, Cat Scratch Fever, March 17th 2017.

Steve Dawson SARACEN/THE ANIMALS: Long Live Rock n Roll, 2nd April 2017.

WARRIOR: The Hunger, 12th April 2017.

Harry Hill FIST: Turn the Hell On, April 29th 2017.

Martin Metcalfe HOLLOW GROUND: Hungry for Rock, 18th June 2017.

Kev Charlton HELLANBACH: The Entertainer, 23rd June 2017.

Steve Thompson,( NEAT Producer) Godfather of New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, 27th June 2017.

TYSONDOG: Back for Another Bite, 5th August 2017.

ATOMKRAFT: Running with the Pack, 14th August 2017.

Richard ‘Rocky’ Laws, Tyger Bay, 24th August 2017.

BACK FOR ANOTHER BITE – with Kev Wynn, bassist with NWOBHM band Tysondog

August 5, 2017November 7, 2022 / Alikivi

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Have you any funny stories from gigs ?

‘I could fill a book really ! Some of them unprintable. But one of the stupidest was when Tysondog were in Scotland and before a gig in Glasgow we were due to be interviewed by the legend that is Tom Russell on his radio Clyde Rock Show. We were trying to find the studio, no sat nav’s in them days !

We stopped in the Clydebank area and asked these young kids for direction, I noticed some of them were carrying guitars. Well years later around 1991 I’m in the Cardiff Post House hotel on business when I get talking to, well pissed really, with Wet,Wet,Wet, yes the pop band.

They had just performed at Cardiff Stadium in front of 50,000 people and after the gig the drummer Tommy Cunningham bought about a dozen bottles of champers in the hotel bar. Tommy says to me ‘Kev I hear you used to be in a band ?’ When I told him yeah Tysondog you won’t have heard of them we were a NWOBHM band from the ’80s.

Well from his reaction he nearly died. He jumped up shouting ‘No fuckin’ way man !’ ..yup …it was him and some of the other lads out of Wet, Wet, Wet, who we’d asked for directions.

They said that night they tuned in to the radio to hear us being interviewed and were telling everyone they’d met some rock stars.
Oh forgot to tell ya that after the radio interview we all jumped into our hotel swimming pool bollock naked. They had security cameras so most of the staff had a good laugh at a bunch of skinny, pissed up, hairy arsed Geordies !’

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Where did it all begin ?

‘When we were 16 year old we just played the local church halls and youth clubs. Then progressed to pubs in the Newcastle area’

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Kevin also talked about his influences…

‘Early on I liked Bowie, Queen, Sweet, T.Rex. then proper rock of Deep Purple, Sabbath and Zeppelin. That lead me to heavier stuff like Judas Priest and Saxon. I decided to get involved in playing music after watching my first concert The Sweet at the Newcastle City Hall. They were heavy as f##k !’

What were your experiences of recording ?

‘Our first demo was a live recording of a gig in a working man’s club in Ashington, Northumberland. We sent a copy to NEAT records who had just started releasing heavy metal records. They asked us to record a single there. It was our first time ever in a studio and we came out with Eat the Rich’.

(In 1983 Eat the Rich was released as a 7” single on NEAT records. The studio also released two albums by the band. Beware of the Dog in 1984 and two year later Crimes of Insanity, which included a version of School’s Out, the Alice Cooper anthem).

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What are Tysondog doing now and have you got any plans for the future ?

Yeah Tysondog released their third album Cry Havoc on Rocksector Records in 2015. In September this year we’ve got a gig at the Gaura metal festival in Brazil with Anvil.

Later that month we go to Manchester for the Grimm Up North festival with a few bands on the bill including founder members of Saxon’.

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‘Then in December it’s the big HRH NWOBHM festival in Sheffield with Satan, Raven and a few others before a few club shows in Newcastle and over to Holland.

Last gig this year is in December with Girlschool, Diamond Head, Tytan, Spartan Warrior and a few others, it’s a great line up at the Blast from the Past festival held in Belgium.

We are busy planning more European dates for 2018. Yeah that’s enough to be getting on with’.

Interview by Gary Alikivi June 2017.

Recommended:

WARRIOR: The Hunger, 12th April 2017.

VENOM INC: Hebburn or Hell, 28th July 2017.

ATOMKRAFT: Running with the Pack, 14th August 2017.

STORMY DAZE – Life’s like that for North East guitarist Jim Clare

August 2, 2017November 7, 2022 / Alikivi

In the early 1980’s guitarist Jim Clare played for North Eastern UK bands Hellfire and Geneva…

‘It was hot pies and cans of Carlsberg Special in the rehearsal rooms with my first band, in the next room were Fist and the other was Hellanbach… it was like the Walk this Way video by Aerosmith and Run DMC !

During the late 80’s Jim was guitarist in Black Metal merchants Venom where he recorded the album Calm Before the Storm and went out on tour…

‘I remember we were in America and met up with the Cycle Sluts From Hell, basically they were the Spice Girls on PCP, that was some wild night at the Ritz in New York City’.

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Where did it all begin for you?

‘Music was around me from an early age, my older brother’s were into folk and my cousin Bob Henrit played in Argent and The Kinks. I started studying bass then moved on to guitar.

In 1980 I bought my Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Goldtop (1972) for £300 and used my brothers HH amp. I was listening to British rock bands like Queen, Thin Lizzy and UFO also American stuff like The Doors and Van Halen’.

When did you start playing gigs and what venues did you play ?

‘In 1980 my first proper band was called Hardline, we played The Mitre in Benwell and a few other pubs in Newcastle. Then by 1981, I was in a power trio called Hellfire who had a couple of line ups and played a few gigs around the North East. That lasted until 1983’.

‘Then I moved down to London to join metal band Tank who were signed at the time, but that didn’t come off I can’t remember why exactly, it’s lost in the mists of time.

So I came back to the North East and although I couldn’t play NWOBHM to save my life, and still can’t ! I auditioned for a few heavy metal band’s that were on the scene, Warrior, Tysondog and Tygers of Pan Tang.

But eventually joined AOR band Geneva in 1985 and again gigged around Tyneside notably at Edwards Bar, Mingles in Whitley Bay, Tiffany’s in Newcastle, yes loved that band’.

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‘Then I joined Venom in 1986 which lasted a couple of years, that line up was Tony Bray on drums, (featured in an earlier blog) bass and vocals was Conrad Lant with me and Mike Hickey on guitars. Around ’89 we had Chris Patterson on drums and were called Cronos then. That lasted till around 1993’.

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What were your experiences of recording ?

‘First recording was using a 4 Track at Desert Sound in Felling. Ian McKie was the engineer he used a 1/4” Reel to Reel with Roland 301 Space echo. A great little sound with nice tracked guitars’.

‘With Hellfire we went to Guardian Studios in Durham. I can safely say that was the worst recording experience of my life. Starting with little or no overdubs, the producer told us all the old stories that the studio was famous for including the one about the studio ghost as well as the solo he played on The Carpenters track !

Other studio work was when I played for Warfare and Venom. We recorded a few things in Impulse Studio where NEAT records were based’.

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Have you any funny stories from playing gigs ? ‘To many to mention but here’s a couple of snippets for you. We were playing a gig in Newcastle with Hardline and for dramatic effect we came bouncing on stage on space hoppers and used a lot of smoke bombs. The landlord went crazy as it turned the beer flat and people retching in the toilets.

On tour with Venom we arrived in Japan with all our guitars and amps still back in London. We were sound checking with cheap radio systems that picked up samba music on the radio and it was blasting out of the 4×12’s’.

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What are you doing now and are you still involved with music ?

‘I play with The Ballbreakers who’ve been described as ZZ Top on crack. We’ve played quite a few Bikers festivals where we do a range of our own tunes She’s On….I’m Off and Shaved By The Bell. As you can tell with those titles we’re not collecting for charity, we refuse to compromise even when we do covers we do them our way.

I’m joined along with Pete Green on bass and Matty Wilson on drums. Right now we are in the middle of finishing our debut album which we are recording in Alnwick’.

‘I also play in a two guitar outfit called Balls of Steel playing a brand of anthemic, air punching cheese rock where the punters and the band have a lotta fun. I’ve been lucky enough to have taught players that are now ripping up the North East scene. So I’m busy as hell’.

Interview by Gary Alikivi May 2017.

IT’S ONLY ROCK ‘N’ ROLL – blog hits 5,000 views.

August 1, 2017December 15, 2020 / Alikivi

It’s all about the story isn’t it. For over a decade of making documentaries and releasing them on DVD, in February this year I decided to try a different media.

The original idea was to transcribe the interviews from my music documentary ‘We Sold Our Soul for Rock n Roll’ (available via You Tube). The stories still sounded fresh and funny even though I heard them many times during editing. But where do they go from here ? I’d read a few blogs and thought they would be a good outlet for the stories, how do I put one together?

I got in touch with a friend who wrote a blog and he talked about using a WordPress template. It didn’t sound too difficult so I checked it out.

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The interviews filmed for the music documentary were a good start, they just needed updating. Then I got in touch with more musicians, recording their stories via email or meeting up and recording our conversation with a dictaphone.

The initial idea was to interview North East based musicians but social media makes it easier to contact bands from across the UK, Europe and USA. Managers and European PR agencies have also been in touch to arrange interviews.

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The blog mainly covers rock, punk and NWOBHM. Although the scope has widened lately, but if the story is good – it’s in. The latest feature, Vinyl Junkies, interviews musicians, actors and writers who talk about their favourite 7 records that shaped their world.

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So here we are, 5,300 views in 6 month on a blog which I thought would be read by a handful of people. Starting with 300 a month in February it has grown to 1,500 in July. Special thanks to everyone who has shared their stories…they just keep on coming.

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Listed below are all the blogs from the past 6 month. To make it easier to find an interview you can now check on the month or put the musician or band name into the white search bar.

February:
Vince High & Maurice Bates (Mythra) Brian Ross (Satan, Blitzkreig) Lou Taylor (pt 1 Satan, Blind Fury).

March:
Lou Taylor (pt 2 Satan, Blind Fury) Mond Cowie (Angelic Upstarts) Micky McCrystal (Tygers of Pan Tang) Bernie Torme (Gillan)

April:
Steve Dawson (Saracen, The Animals) John Gallagher (Raven) Paul Mcnamara (Salem) Dave Dawson (Warrior) Lee Payne (Cloven Hoof) Paul Di’Anno (Iron Maiden, Battlezone) John Roach (Mythra) Harry Hill (Fist).

May:
Danny Hynes (Weapon UK) Chris Bradley (Savage) Rick Bouwman (Martyr) Maurice Bates (Mythra) Neil Wil Kinson (Spartan Warrior) Kev Riddles (Tytan) Andy Boulton (Tokyo Blade) Steve Dawson (Oliver/Dawson Saxon).

June:
The Butchers of Bolinbroke (Angelic Upstarts) Neil Newton (Angelic Upstarts) Wavis O’Shave (Alternative), Terry & Gerry (Ska/punk), Mick Maughan (Phasslayne, Cirkus) Trevor Short (Dealer) Martin Metcalf (Hollow Ground) Trevor Sewell (Blues) Kev Charlton (Hellanbach, Bessie & the Zinc Buckets) Steve Thompson (Bullfrog, Neat records) Mark Duffy (Millenium).

July:
Ian Dick (Soldier) Jeff Baddley (Troyen) Lee & Chris Wright (Crashed Out) Stevie James (Grudge, Warwound) Martin Popoff (Vinyl Junkies) Bernie Torme (Desperado) Will Binks (Vinyl Junkies) Thunderstick (Samson) Blast Recording Studio (Newcastle, UK) Let the Music do the Talking (Tyneside musicians) Antony Bray (Venom Inc).

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HEBBURN OR HELL – Venom Inc. drummer Antony Bray decides…

July 28, 2017November 7, 2022 / Alikivi / 2 Comments

Out of the North East of England came a band who exploded onto the heavy metal scene and created their own genre of music. Black Metal.

In the early 1980’s they scorched a path for American thrash bands Anthrax, Slayer and Metallica.

Over the past thirty years Venom have released a series of studio, compilation and live albums. This year Venom Inc. signed a record deal with Nuclear Blast and release a new album in August. But what is the story behind Venom ?

‘Venom had its own momentum we were trying to do everything wrong, be blasphemous, be over the top, HMV wouldn’t display our third album in the window things like that. We were trying to get banned, wanting to be in the worst top ten records all that, we were trying – but it kept working’.

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What is the situation with Venom Inc now and how did the band get back together?

’A guy called Oliver Weinsheimer who promotes the Keep it True festival in Germany, came over to Brofest in Newcastle and saw Tony Dolan on stage with his old band Atomkraft. Guitarist Jeff Dunn was also there and he got on stage and played a couple of songs.

Well I was stood at the bar there and Oliver came over and said would you fancy doing six songs at Keep it True in 2015. I said yeah if the rest of the band are ok about it, a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then. So that’s how it happened.

We got together to do a one off festival in Germany, just rattle off some old songs we thought it’ll be good fun.

After the gig the phones lit up, people saying will you do it again, will you come to Japan, places like that, we got requests from different countries. There was a lot of interest.

We got together, sat around the table saying do we realy want to do this ? We talked it through, just forgot our old problems and yes, we agreed to go ahead and do it.

After that there was a month in America some time in Europe, Australians want us over there. We went back to America twice, been to Asia, done a South America tour, it’s been a very busy time. Actually were doing more gigs than the original Venom did in the ’80s’.

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Compared to Venom’s earlier output, production of the new single ‘Dein Fleisch’ has a very slick and polished sound, is that what the band were going for ?

’Jeff had a lot to do with that, his Empire of Evil stuff is quite slick, he spent a lot of time on it with pro tools. Jeff said the record company are happy with it and that’s cool. We had the opportunity to crash through some demos but it went very modern and slick.

We don’t live in the same country never mind city so it suited us to work this way. I done the drums at Blast Studio in Newcastle, Jeff sent over some guitar licks from Portugal, Tony lives in London’.

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‘There’s different ways of recording and I like the new Mythra album to be honest. It’s like getting back to how we done it in the early days you know, getting in the room kicking it around and see what we can do because that’s what Venom were about.

With raw metal bands like us, if we are all in the room we can change it up and effect it.

Last month we were in California and we played one of the tracks off the new album. We played the song as it is on the record but Tony said ‘can we pick this up ? ‘Yeh I said, it needs a bit of drive I was hoping you would say that.

We were sitting on a hotel roof in Rio being interviewed when Jeff said I have worked out what makes the Venom sound and he turned and pointed at me, well I was stunned it was great to hear that.

I know I’ve been a hammer and nail’s drummer but that’s what Venom have only ever wanted’.

Where did it all start for you Antony ?

’Used to go and see loads of bands at the Newcastle Mayfair and City Hall. The first band I seen was when my brother took me to see Deep Purple, then I went to see bands like The Runaways, Rainbow and Rush. We’d queue up all night to get tickets.

When I left school I worked at the electronics engineering company Reyrolles, in my hometown of Hebburn, that’s where I met Eric Cook. We started on the same day. Little did I know that later he would become our manager.

I started playing drums around ’77 and my first drum kit was called Viking, it was built by Mick Lewis in Jarrow. He showed me how to make them and I made all my toms there. Then I was in a band called Oberon with Eric Cook on guitar.

As everyone was buying motorcycles with their first wages from Reyrolles, Eric bought a Stratocaster’.

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After a few line up changes Venom settled on the unholy trinity of Conrad Lant on bass, Jeff Dunn on guitar and Tony on drums.

‘We used to rehearse in a church hall on Westgate Road in Newcastle where all the motorbike shops are. Really Venom were punks with long hair. We saw the instruments as a means to an end. Conrad was really proud of his lyrics and put them across the best way.

But as instrumentalists it was always about making the biggest noise and craziest fashion. Sometimes we used to get a crowd of 30-40 people come in to see us rehearse.

Our neighbours in the North East, heavy rock band Fist came in one time, their drummer Harry Hill heard us and said what is that, I can’t hear myself think’.

‘Drummers have a different style of playing depending on what bands you’ve heard. Before we started there was no Slayer or Metallica. We were in front of all that, we had heard Motorhead, and knew we had to be louder and harder than them.

Venom weren’t known as a big touring band, yes we did some festivals, there was plenty in Europe.

But when we started out we played a gig at a heavy metal disco at the Quay club in Hebburn on Tyneside. Eric Cook ran the disco and he arranged to put Venom on. We bought our stage effects from Sound & Lights store in Newcastle where former Satan and Blind Fury vocalist Louie Taylor was working. (Louie features in earlier blog Rock the Knight February 2017).

He ended up doing some pyro for us, we were big on that ! Louie was all about the safety aspect and I was all about let’s chuck some more powder in and see what happens.

Well that gig we fused the building, lights went off right through the whole club, the bingo mafia downstairs went mad haha’.

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‘We were putting all the money back into Venom, buying the pyro, all the stage effects. We got our drum riser built for us in the shipyards, the whole scissor lift, it was just one big thing it never came apart. It was huge, they couldn’t get it out of the doors.

Around this time Conrad was tape operator at NEAT doing a few days here and there and he bugged the owner Dave Woods about getting spare time in the studio for the band. He kept asking him ‘can my band come in on the weekend ?’ Woodsy got so sick of him bugging him he just said ok, just do it, but pay for the tape.

So we recorded a three track EP and we thought it might get a little review somewhere. I was still working at Reyrolles then and one morning I wandered in and someone had a copy of the Sounds. Couldn’t believe it, there’s a two page spread about our EP, f’ing hell look at this. When Woodsy saw it he thought, I hate the band, think they are bloody awfull – but kerching!’

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‘This all happened in one big wave, we played our first proper gig in Belgium, it got massive reviews. Next we went to New York and Metallica opened up for us. We did two nights in Staten Island but our gear got impounded, we were supposed to play the Aardschock festival in Holland with King Diamond and Raven.

We trudged over there with no gear but we did take with us the Bloodlust video that we shot at the Peoples Theatre in Wallsend. It cost £3,000, the first sales of our album Welcome to Hell paid for that.

We told the promoter what had happened and he watched the video and loved it. He said ‘This is the idea, we’ll show it on the screens and you can get up and tell the crowd you are sorry you can’t play because of what’s happened with your gear, and then you’ll sign some stuff afterwards’. We said yeah no problem.

As Raven were setting their gear up on stage we walked out and told the crowd what had happened but we will play next year, big cheers. We played the video and the crowd went apeshit. Dave Woods was backstage saying ‘I don’t get it, I just don’t get it’.

‘I was in the NEAT offices one day as I was doing photo’s for bands like Avenger, and logo’s for Atomkraft. Just hanging around the scene and happy to be be there. A guy called Michael Rod came up he was from the TV programme Tomorrows World or something. He had a film company and was partners with Dave Wood in D.W. Enterprises who had NEAT records and Impulse Recording Studio.

Woodsy pulled me to one side and said do you want to do this video with a few bands on, it’s called ‘Metal City’? Funny because Woodsy didn’t like heavy metal apart from Raven. We had a laugh putting it together but not sure why Saracen were on because they weren’t heavy metal like the other bands Avenger and Warfare.

A couple of Venom live tracks were on from Hammersmith Odeon plus a video for Nightmare. Yeah it was good fun’.

’We brought Metallica over here and they opened up for us, they were heavily influenced by the North East NWOBHM.

I remember we were topping a bill in Europe, I was on the gantry at the side of the stage. I was looking down and listening to the band who were on before us. I turned to the person next to me and said ’They’ll be headliners soon’. This was around 1984. The band were Metallica’

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After one more studio album ‘Possessed’ was released in 1985, Venom were heading for changes…

’Jeff left the band, so me and Conrad got Newcastle musician Jim Clare in and an American lad called Mike Hickey. Venom only recorded one album then as I had a falling out with Conrad’.

1987’s studio album ‘Calm Before the Storm’ was released plus a live album. Conrad went on to front his new band Cronos… ‘I went along with Eric Cook to see Brian Johnson’s ex-wife Carol, we bought Lynx Recording Studio off her and as we were on a hiatus from Venom we were just putting other bands through the studio. We had Kieth Nicholl engineering for us after ex-Angelic Upstart Mond Cowie left.

One day a call came in and it was Music for Nations, they wanted to meet up. So I went down to a meeting in London and talked to the label. They said they would be very interested if Venom got back together.

Travelling back on the train to the North East I thought this could work. So I rang Tony Dolan who was a long time fan of the band and said I’ll take your arm off to be in Venom.

We got Jeff Dunn back and we made the album Prime Evil in 1990. We stuck together a few years and recorded three albums in that time. Because it was a really good label, there was proper advertising, the lot, it was a big step up for us’.

Fast forward to 2017, what are the future plans for Venom Inc ?

‘We’re working our balls off. In the past two years we’ve done 300 gigs. Now we’re promoting the album it’ll get heavier. We have another five festivals in this summer, then five weeks in America starting September. We’ve got UK dates in November and then full European tour through Christmas and New Year.

We’ve got good set up’s in America, Australia and Europe keeping us working. Our set is an hour and a half and a lot will be off the new album but we’ll always do Black Metal, Countess Bathory, Die Hard and a few others. People at gigs shouting for some other old songs so we are re-learning some of them, yeah really looking forward to the tour’.

For more information about the new album ‘AVE’ released by Nuclear Blast and the latest tour dates check official website http://www.venom-inc.com

Interview by Gary Alikivi June 2017.

Recommended:

Lou Taylor SATAN/BLIND FURY: Rock the Knight, 26th February & 5th March 2017.

WARRIOR: The Hunger, 12th April 2017.

Harry Hill FIST: Turn the Hell On, 29th April 2017.

TYSONDOG: Back for Another Bite, 5th August 2017.

ATOMKRAFT: Running with the Pack, 14th August 2017.

LIFE’S A BLAST -Making records on Tyneside

July 22, 2017November 6, 2022 / Alikivi

Ged: ‘The New York Dolls would only record on vintage equipment, so we had to do numerous trips down to London to get old drum kits, old amplifiers, old recording machines, proper vintage stuff from the 60 and 70’s.

Actually, the piano in the studio now is the one we brought in especially for them. It’s about 120 years old and they just left it there because it took eight people to bring it in, so they weren’t going to take it home with them !’

Sitting down in the boardroom with owner Ged Cook and studio manager Lisa Murphy, they introduced me to the world of BLAST recording studio in Newcastle…

Ged: ‘Blast is international. We can attract bands from all over the world it’s an international brand, it’s got a reputation. We’ve had bands here from Black Star Riders and Therapy? who have recorded all their albums here from 2008. They love the place and they are coming again soon.

We had the New York Dolls here for a month. We’ve also had Take That here for a couple of days’.

Lisa: ‘We also have local bands just working on a project, we’re open to support local music as well as the bigger names’.

Ged: ‘Sometimes you can’t tell people there’s a famous band in the studio. With Take That we had a contract saying we couldn’t mention it. We had three blacked out limo’s and chauffers standing in the courtyard, but we had to shut the gates ‘cos the fans got to know’.

Lisa: ‘Mark Owen tweeted a picture of himself in the studio and people could tell it was at Blast. He was told off and sheepishly replied ‘I’m sorry guy’s, I’m sorry’. We all laughed about it really’.

Ged: ‘We are a bloody good recording studio for band’s, but we also do some voice over work like we had Aaardman Animation here a few year ago and we work closely with the broadcasters Sky, BBC, ITV and Metro radio’.

What is the logistics for a band who don’t live in the area?

Ged: ‘Most of the bands who come here have record labels or management and the fee’s would be sorted out with Lisa. They might also want catering and accommodation which is strictly down to their budget.

They can go from the Premier Inn, to the Hilton or down to Seaham Hall. Some bands do it themselves and they might stay at a friends house, it just depends on what they can afford.

Maybe the band need extra equipment for the recording session, again Lisa and I can source that for them. We’ll always work around the clock, and find out what we can do for them’.

Lisa: ‘Yeah let’s face it, it’s not 9-5. We might just be working with a band for a day but we are really flexible that’s the way the industry works’.

Ged: ‘Our record label brought The New York Dolls to Newcastle. It was original members David Johannson, Sylvain Sylvain and from Blondie was Frank Infante. Really lovely people.

We hired a big gated house over in Gateshead with a swimming pool, cinema room the lot, because the budget was there for them.

We hired a bus to bring them over here each day. They started recording at 10 o’clock at night and finished at 4 or 5 in the morning, it was just the way they liked doing it’.

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‘The song writing process was absolutely fantastic. They had brand new material and needed to try it out. Well The Cluny bar is just near here so they put on three live shows and sold out in ten minutes. People from all over Europe came over, queues outside.

It was great, a hot summers night, they just walked out of here, onto the stage and tried the songs out asking the audience if they liked them or not, it was a great night !’

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What sort of prices do you charge to record in the studio?

Lisa: ‘We are more expensive than some other studios around here but we justify that with the quality recording and production available to the artists who record here. The live room and the desk is quite different to anything that is available around here’.

Ged: ‘For what you get here would cost you around £1,000 per day in London. That’s the beauty of Blast being in the North East ‘cos you get the local bands wanting to use the same studio as bands like Black Star Riders. They don’t have to go to London or New York they can come to a place like Blast’.

Lisa: ‘They can also request the same engineer, to get to use the same microphones, the same cab’s, everything, it’s pretty special’.

Ged: ‘From the rock and heavy metal lad’s based in the North East we had Tygers of Pan Tang doing their latest album here so did Avenger and Tysondog who I have connections with.

Andy Taylor who produced the Power Station album and is recording another, said our live room gives the best drum sound he has ever had. And he has done Duran Duran, The Alarm and Then Jerico albums. He did the first Thunder album, a lot of rock bands.

Everyone who comes in here has their own way of recording and Andy loved recording the vocals in the toilet…yes really. But yeah what do I know, I mean he’s the one who’s sold millions of records’.

A lot of musicians use home recording equipment, what do Blast offer that is different?

Lisa: ‘The way technology is moving it’s going software based but there are still people who want to use vintage gear. We do have producers who want to do parts of their recording here, maybe a drum track or a vocal track or orchestral stuff.

They need to do that in a controlled live space which you can’t replicate with a home studio.

In our studio we have some pretty special outboard gear too which is a big selling point. People still want to use these things, not just the software version, and they can hear the quality of what comes out of getting hands on in here’.

Ged: ‘The way the music industry is now is that a lot of people record in the house and that’s fine ‘cos there is a lot of great kit out there but you will never replicate brilliant microphones and our live room.

We had Luke Morley from Thunder here last year he set up his two amps and cranked off a big sound on his guitar which you can’t do in your bedroom. That’s what we do here, that’s what you pay for’.

Who works in the studio?

Ged: ‘It can work a couple of ways, the Dolls brought their own guy over who has worked with The Killers or we use our own experienced engineers’.

Lisa: ‘It’s down to budgets and music genre’s where we can match the right engineer to the right job. It was one of ours who tracked up for Take That. Engineering is some times about relationships.

You’re dealing with individuals and their sound in really important to them – so having experience with developing that sound helps’.

Ged: ’Some of the younger bands have some great songs but need help from our experienced engineers to make them sound good. They need that because there is so much out there, so much content. It’s a fight to be listened to and to be heard.

Our engineers are the best in the North East and help them as much as they can’.

Lisa: ‘My background is education so I am keen on bringing in new talent. There are a number of venues in the North East training a lot of people on music courses.

We have good relationships with the colleges and Uni’s so we can bring in degree students to assist with engineering in appropriate jobs. That way we are developing home grown talent and giving them a foot on the ladder.

It’s important to add the ‘who you know’ to the ‘what you know’, the contacts are just as important as the music course qualification.

To have the experience of sitting in when a band is being recorded is vital. We also offer workshops and masterclasses to develop skills for the industry’.

Sadly, music can be a throwaway object now.

Ged: ‘You’ve hit the nail on the head there, you used to buy album’s before, now you buy songs. Some people just download songs and in some cases not knowing who the bands are’.

Lisa: ‘Some of those songs haven’t been written by that artist, they’ve overlaid the vocal that’s all. The whole thing can be turned out in days and go worldwide – as you know the internet has completely revolutionised everything we do.

Sadly, some of the modern music industry is about fame rather than actual musicianship’.

Ged: ‘It’s not what it used to be in the industry, there used to be big budgets. The trend now, if a band are lucky enough to get a big advance, is try to keep as much of that themselves and record as much of the album themselves in the house, then come to places like Blast for final recordings.

There is some bigger bands who can come in from the very beginning of the recording process but it has changed a lot in the last 10 years. Not for the better because to a trained ear you can hear programmed drums and some of those bands can’t play it live’.

Lisa: ‘Some bands now are playing live to a click and a full backing track. Sometimes I look and say where’s the keyboard player? I don’t see any strings, where are the backing vocals coming from? It’s a new sort of art really which is mainly found in pop music’.

Ged: ‘Sometimes we use the modern technology to our advantage by an engineer using Skype talking to an engineer in say New York where they are working on the same recording project’.

Lisa: ‘Yes by using Pro Tool’s in the Cloud you can have numerous artists in various locations at one time working on the same project. That’s using technology in a positive way because it can be about the logistics and cost.

The band can have members living all across the UK and getting together is a total nightmare to arrange. So they will remotely rehearse and record but come together to tour for a week or so. It’s just the modern world and adapting to what works best’.

Ged: ‘Yeah but I’m old skool like ‘get in the same room’ haha. We had Therapy? in here a week before they recorded. They live all over the UK but make sure they rehearse beforehand, then come here for pre-production, just blasting through the songs for a week, then record. That’s how I would do it to be honest’.

Why would a famous songwriter, musician or band come up to the North East to record?

Ged: ‘Basically this cost a million pounds to put together. It’s the best studio in the North, not Newcastle but the North. Everybody we’ve had here from outside the area, Black Star Riders, Take That, New York Dolls were blown away by the friendliness of the place.

Andy Taylor has been all over the world but loves coming home to get the geordie back into his veins haha. Therapy? will not record anyway else, they love Newcastle’.

Lisa: ‘We’ve got amazing musicians up here who I can call upon when a band or songwriter needs a certain sound, bit of keyboards here that sort of thing, same for our engineers’.

Ged: ‘We’ve had musicians from around the country, we had a session the other year with Spike from the Quireboys on vocals, Luke Morley on guitar, Simon Kirk from Free and Bad Company on drums, and the keyboard player from Magnum. They were here for a week. Simon Kirk loved walking around Newcastle, they all loved it!’

Lisa: ’It’s like it’s a hidden gem up here and we are getting the story of Blast out there. We’re very competitive price wise and want people to come here and fall in love with the North East’.

For more information and rates for recording sessions check out the website http://www.blast-recording.com

Interview by Gary Alikivi June 2017.

RETURN OF THE MASK – interview with drummer, THUNDERSTICK

July 19, 2017November 6, 2022 / Alikivi / 1 Comment

Famously pictured on the front of Sounds was Thunderstick, drummer for New Wave of British Heavy Metal band Samson.

By the early 1980’s he had formed his own band, but that folded in ’87.

Thirty years later, he’s back with a new album but he has noticed a few changes in the music industry…

‘Back then a drummer would have to do an entire performance without any mistakes allowing the bass player and guitars to ‘drop in’ when they mess up. Today the stuff that can be done to make everyone in the band sound ‘perfect’ is in my opinion makes music kind of sterile’.

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‘I released an album of past Thunderstick material back in 2011, it was called Echoes from the Analogue Asylum because everything on it was recorded in analogue.

The truth be known I have used the basic principles of recording in an analogue way for the new album. Hopefully it gives that feel of a time gone by both in the song writing style and the recorded sounds’.

Who were your influences and how did you get involved in playing music. Was there a defining moment when you said “I want to do that” ?

‘The way I got involved did have a defining moment. I was a young kid helping my uncle collect stuff for a jumble sale. Somebody threw out a pair of military drumsticks. Guess what? they didn’t make it – I kept them.

The flame had been lit. I started beating up on my parent’s furniture until they were forced into buying me a drumkit just to stop the carnage……I was 9!’

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When did you start playing gigs and what venues did you play ?

‘I started playing ‘serious’ gigs that had a beginning a middle and an end rather than just playing continually until it was time to pack up and go home, which was the way it all started.

I was about 14 year old when we started getting structure to the songs and were ready for people to hear us. The band were called Innomina Patris (pic.above) and the supports that we did were for UFO, Sutherland Brothers and Quiver, and Steeleye Span. It felt amazing to do a real gig where we actually got applause’.

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Did you realise the impact that NWOBHM would have ?

’No in a word! It all felt like ‘work in progress’ each band trying to get tighter and more proficient at song writing. We would run across each other regularly.

It all started for real when the term NWOBHM and Kerrang was written in a gig review of us, Samson, Iron Maiden and Angelwitch by Geoff Barton for the music paper Sounds. Coupled with putting a picture of me in the mask on the front cover.

A movement had been born and suddenly each band was aware that we were part of something. Punk had been killed off after their little time of domination, move over, it was time for the musicians that could actually play their instruments to once again take the spotlight’.

Recording techniques are more fluid now, how and where did you record the new album?

‘I am fortunate that the musicians that I chose for this new album all live in the same country. Albeit scattered here there and everywhere in the United Kingdom. We did all of the rhythm tracks in a studio in Wales.

I worked with Dave (Kandy) Kilford who was in my band back in 1986. We recorded his guitar parts on the south coast of England where I live. Then it was back to Wales for the vocals and rough mixes. Pre-mastering and eventual mastering I did with my brother in arms Rob Grain at his home studio’.

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What are your plans for touring ?

’Yes, I want to get it out there. I have just had some knee surgery and have to train my bionic leg to play kick drum..!
I haven’t chosen my gigging band yet it all depends on availability. I will of course keep you informed. Bye for now ‘it’s been emotional’!

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Scheduled for release at the end of July, the CD album ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ will be available for purchase via Thundersticks Facebook page.

Interview by Gary Alikivi July 2017.