BURNT OUT WRECK

Ex Heavy Pettin’ drummer Gary Moat now fronts classic hard rock band Burnt Out Wreck, his own creation where he made the transition from the back of the stage to the front, focussing on lead vocals, songwriting and developing his own style of unpretentious, no nonsense, full on rock and roll with typical Scottish flair. Now, with three albums under their belts and festival appearances booking up for the summer, Gary took some time to chat to Victoria Llewelyn about the band, his history in music and why he loves playing at HRH events!

Gary, you’ve spent over 30 years in the music industry – Heavy Pettin’, Mother’s Ruin and now Burnt Out Wreck. Over that time what are the biggest changes you’ve made and has it always gone to plan?

Burnt Out Wreck, the name, is reflective of how I was feeling back in 2016 when I had the idea for the band! Just myself though, not the rest of the band. It’s a long time to be in any industry. We recorded our first album in 2016 and haven’t stopped since apart from the lockdown period, gigging and recording pretty continuously.

I’ve been a drummer all my life but if you were to ask my mother were she still alive, she would tell you that as a young child in the late 60s I used to sing into a hairbrush in front of Top of The Pops! I moved on to drums at the age of 9, started hitting pots and pans like every other drummer I reckon, and then decided in the late 80s to go into singing. We had just formed a new band after Heavy Pettin’ finished, I was writing the songs and when I was singing them it was sounding good, so I just carried on.

I realised what had been holding me back all along was that I didn’t want people looking at me. You have to be seen as the singer; people want something to relate to, so I had to quickly get over that, and now I’m hanging off the front of the stage and almost falling into the pit, and I don’t care any more, it’s great!

None of it was especially planned, I haven’t really changed, I stuck to doing what I loved, and this is how it’s turned out.

How would you describe Burnt Out Wreck and where do the band’s influences come from?

I always liked a particular style of music and never deviated from that, really, I appreciate the musicianship within everything but I like the very basic style, with the AC/DC slant. If you go back to my first song on my first Heavy Pettin’ album, a song called Love Times Love, and you compare that with anything I’m writing now you won’t find much difference. It’s straightforward, good time rock and roll, nothing too fancy in there. I can do other things, write other things, but this is the way I like it so why bother?

The albums have done well, people seem to like them, there are trolls of course that say – oh it’s just AC/DC, but I don’t worry about them. Growing up I loved bands like Queen, Status Quo and Bad

Company, anyone with that classic rock sound. I’ve never strayed from that, and it comes out in the music I’ve always written.

‘Stand And Fight’ came out in December last year, are you working on any new music at the moment?

I’ve always got something going on in my head! The next album won’t be this year, probably 2024 when I can get back in the studio again. We have a lot of festivals lined up this summer, plus some of our own gigs up and down the country so we’re going to focus on that. We’re supporting Geoff Tate one night of his tour, we got his attention at a festival we both played in Scotland last year. He came on and we went out and sang every song standing in the middle of the crowd – that’s what you do when Geoff Tate comes on, right? So, to jump on the tour is a fantastic opportunity for us. The new music will happen in time, but nothing’s been written yet.

With the band coming from all over the

UK this must present a few issues when it comes to rehearsing and gigging. How do you manage this?

We don’t, really! We went out to do a rehearsal in Glasgow a couple of months back and Paul, our drummer, couldn’t get there so I ended up singing and playing drums that day. I’ve had two hip replacements and I was in agony afterwards, but I still really enjoyed it. It’s an issue for a lot of bands, everyone’s from all over. To an extent it’ll be – let’s just plug in and go, but we need to get tight again before we start gigging in June. If you love rock and roll, you’ll always find a way.

You have appearances booked in at many of the big festivals for the summer, there’ll be lots of opportunity for fans to see you. How are you feeling about coming back to the HRH stage again this year?

Our association with HRH started in 2013 when we were Mother’s Ruin, we went on the Ibiza Road Trip. I was playing rhythm guitar then; we went for a laugh and to see how we got on and we had a great time! We gigged in the Rock Club and then did an acoustic set in this place on the beach front the following day which was a great success. Rest of the time we got drunk in the sunshine!

As Burnt Out Wreck we played in 2018 and 2019, and then last year we played Sleaze. We did a couple in Wales too, once on the main stage the year UFO were playing. That was amazing, just fantastic. We went on about 1.30pm and the room was packed, wall to wall, and it’s a big room. Maybe 1000, 1500 people out there. That’s really what HRH is great for, getting the crowd in and keeping them in, no one wandering off halfway, everyone’s attention is on the stage. We really look forward to it.

Glam rock legends Madam X are presently working on a new album that has been a long time in the making. Perhaps you could say all good things come to those who wait. The US-based quartet will be returning to our UK shores in 2024 to play at HRH AOR X.

So far this year things are going well for the band. “We’re off to a good start, I’ll tell you that. It’s going to be a busy year for both bands, Vixen and Madam X,” says Roxy Petrucci. “We are both releasing new music. I don’t know when Madam X is releasing the album. We’re still putting the finishing touches on it. We may even add another song or two because we want to.” Maxine adds: “We’re taking our time recording that album. We want it to be great. We don’t want to be pushed into a deadline. It’s all about the music.” Lead vocalist Bret Kaiser explains: “We don’t like to rush things. We want it to be, so that we like it.”

The group are presently geographically dispersed across the USA. “It’s a very, three-way kind of thing. Those guys are over in Michigan. I’m in Arizona, our producer is in Sweden. Everybody does their thing, and then we throw it at Chris Laney, and he is putting it together. But from what we’ve heard so far, it’s amazing,” explains Bret.

Speaking about the album Chris Doliber confirmed that the band’s producer made it known that he was open to working with Madam X. “He expressed an interest in producing our next record,” explains Chris. “I said, do you have any credits to your name? And he said, well, I think he said, 16 or over a couple of dozen platinum awards, some multi-platinum. thought, well, that’s more than I bargained for.”

The band have been overjoyed with how their album is developing thus far. “When I listen to what he gives us back. As far as we’ll record and then he’ll do a quick mix of it. I get the same feeling when I hear our music coming back as when I first heard Pyromania, Hysteria, and Back in Black by AC/DC, that kind of like, oh my god. The dimension, the depth, the production, the hooks, it just sounds like big rock,” explains Doliber. He adds: “It’s got a very 80s sound to it. But it sounds really fresh.”

With bands like Def Leppard and Motley Crue currently touring stadiums across the globe, there is certainly still demand for this style of music. “I can tell you just from the live shows just from touring. We’re playing with bands like Slaughter, Great White, Skid Row and Kip Winger. And these places are selling out,” explains Roxy. “We’re talking theatres, we’re talking festivals. So, there’s still a demand. It’s our generation, and they’re bringing their kids. We are getting 19and 20-year-olds, and 30-year-olds, it’s just I think that music resonates because it was positive, big and fun. You leave, and you just feel exhilarated. And that’s not going away.”

Madam X are taking their fans for a walk down memory lane. “It’s like a time machine. It brings you back to that time when you were really into the music. And it’s like, oh, my God, I feel like I’m back in the 80s,” says Bret. “Especially with us, over the years, each person just got better and better and better and better. So now, we’ve still got that feel from We Reserve The Right. When we’re together, it’s like the magic is there.” Roxy adds: “Even when we’re apart. Let’s say we get together, six months later, we get into a rehearsal room. It just comes right back together. We haven’t lost that chemistry, it’s always going to be there no matter what.”

Madam X recorded their seminal debut album We Reserve The Right with Rick Derringer in 1984. “We recorded that whole album in one week,” said Maxine. “That’s the beauty of it. We didn’t overanalyse the songs or anything. We went in there and we just played. I think that’s why it resonates with everybody because that’s really who we are. And we played those songs a million times. So, I think that’s why to me it worked.”

Following a long hiatus, the original line-up of Madam X returned to the stage at Sweden Rocks Festival in 2014. Recollecting that show, Maxine said: “It still felt like the same as it did in the 80s. We got that same feeling, that vibe, the energy, the way we play off each other, everything felt the same.” Roxy adds: “The hunger is still there. We’re still driven. We still love what we do, even 30 years later.”

Regrouped, reinvigorated and with a new album to boot, Madam X will arrive in the UK in 2024. “We are very excited to come back to the UK,” confirms Chris. The band recollect performing at one of London’s iconic venues. “The Marquee.

Oh, that was fun,” recalls Maxine. “It was with Motorhead, Magnum and Lords of the New Church,” said Bret. “I mean, the crowd was dressed wilder than we were,” adds Roxy.

“I remember when we did The Marquee, people flew in from Japan,” says Bret. “And it was sold out in half an hour, and they had to turn away like so many people.” Maxine declares: “Ozzy was at that show, and Jake E Lee and Sharon Osbourne.” Brett recalls that: “People were following us asking for autographs. I think we were eating at Burger King, and they were taking pictures. It was wild man.”

Bret adds: “It was quite often there was a Kerrang Cover. Malcolm Dome showed us so much love. It was thanks to people like that who helped Madam X be Madam X”. He concludes: “I think it’s notable also to say that out of all the bands that you interview, we are all original members. We’re still alive. We still feel great.”

Madam X will perform at HRH AOR X in Great Yarmouth between 7th – 10th March 2024. For ticket information and further details please visit: https:// hrhaor.com/.

It’s been a busy year for Jackie Chambers. The Girlschool and Syteria guitarist will be releasing albums with both of her respective projects this year. Jax, as she is known by her friends and fans will be also performing with Girlschool at HRH Road Trip in Ibiza.

Syteria are presently gearing up to release their new album Syteria World in the summer. The band were running a crowdfunding campaign in support of the release and subsequently smashed their targets in no time at all. “We’ve got some amazing supporters, and they are very generous as well. People follow us all over the country, and you can’t ask for more than that can you? They are so loyal and so enthusiastic. There are some amazing supporters, it’s really cool. They will like this album, I’m sure they will because if they like It Hit Me, Pause for Peace, and Monsters they’re on there already. And of course, another eight,” she says. “So, there’s 12 songs and a bonus track.”