The Metal Mag N10 june-september 2015

The Metal Mag N10 June - September 2015

Hello fans, I’m trying to keep the time between mags equal, due to circonstances it last a bit longer depending of the bands I interview as the reviews (see the site they are many) So here it is this new Issue.

Always looking for great bands that deserve exposure and I was pleased to receive a mail from Swirl, they are really good and so all the bands interviewed in this issue ;) The cover been once again parts of my friend Marie who realise awesome paintings that blows your imagination and as an artist I had to show the world her artork, hope ou enjoy as much as I do.

Logo @Franck Michaud Cover artwork @Marie La chipie

Thank you for reading ;)

The Editor : Franck Michaud

Get your ad on the mAg !!!

#P.2-4 Swirl #P.5-9 Witches #P.10-11 Steve Bello #P.12-13 Voodoo monshine #P.14-15 sterbhaus #P.16-17 jaguar #P.18-19 primal #P.20-21 black earth #P.22-23 sin of night #P.24-25 desolation angels #P.26-27 diemonds #P.28-29 steel raiser #P.30-32 iron kingdom #P.33-34 iron angel #P.35-36 kaine #P.37 mohauk radio #P.38-40 HEXENHAMMER #p.41-43 Jameson raid #p.44-45 David reavis band #P.46 Reviews of the best albums

http://www.metalzoneprod666.com The Metal Mag 13 Rue de la Sole - Apt 14 17000 La Rochelle France

1/ your album is from 2013 how come no label has signed you? have you got new tunes to record?

Well that is a fantastic question. Thanks for asking. We went through a period where we wondered that ourselves...I mean we have music licensed in film, have pretty extensive touring history as an independent band and are receiving global recognition for the ‘SWIRL’ release. As a result have an established and ever growing fan base that calls themselves the Swirl Society. We ran the gamut of theories as to why we remain unsigned...were we too established for the smaller labels to try to sign and not quite as established as the larger labels would like? Have all the labels in the world conspired to keep Swirl unsigned? Maybe in the hopes we would simply give up? Have we just not done enough to warrant label interest although we seem to have accomplished more than some of the other bands that have gotten their break? In the end we realized that we don`t need to waste our time worrying about something we have no control over. We are a very solid band of brothers with a plan to take our music straight to the people. Our battle cry is simple- “’LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE”. Everywhere we are able to gain exposure for the band and music through live show, review, video or interview no matter the country Swirl is well received.

We do have new tunes ready to record. However we have not fully worked this current release. By the time we released ‘SWIRL’ online via iTunes we already knew we had 3 songs in ‘Ditch Day Massacre’ so our plan was to capitalize on the marketing of that film and tour in the markets where it was released.The film has had fantastic reviews and even won the Best Feature Film Award at the 2014 Burbank International Film Festival, still, as of this writing, it has no distribution deal in place. It is becoming a bit of a cult type film in that so many people have heard of and a few have even seen this movie (it was released online briefly by Water Tree Media). In the spring of 2015 we decided to aggressively market and promote the ‘SWIRL’ EP ourselves without relying on ‘Ditch Day Massacre’ and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Initially we were thinking movie to promote the EP and now we are thinking EP first with the movie being a nice icing on top of the cake for the marketing plan for the ‘SWIRL’ release.

2/with all the good elements from your songs and your long life touring and the movie stuff, what is stopping you from getting out of the crowd?

Thank you for the kind words about our create abilities. It helps to have allies. We recognize that we have been more fortunate than a lot of unsigned bands to have spent time in recording studios being mentored by artists who have had extremely successful careers. Now that the disc is done Neil Zlozower has taken a real interest in Swirl and has shot some new photos for the band as well as promoted us to some of his industry contacts. That having been said this is a hard business to break into. Made even harder by the current state of the music industry as it pertains to sales verses the cost to market/ break a band. I don`t subscribe to the”Rock is dead” theory that some established artists promote. Things are just done in a very different way in the new music business. In the end if we knew the answer to your question I would like to think we would have done something about it. However. what I can say with confidence is that whoever does decide to take a chance on Swirl is going to be extremely well rewarded. We are very focused on making Swirl a big band. We have the work ethic and apparently the musical chops (check out the ‘Swirl Press” button of the official Swirl website to see for yourself to see the global positive press). www.swirltheband.com 3/so tell us how a band gets a song on a movie? how have you been chosen what’s the deal?

The movie came about through a connection our drummer Brian “Bam Bam” Jones had at the time. He knew the wife of the writer for the movie who liked an early mix version of 5 songs from the ‘SWIRL’ release enough to take to Megan Waters of Water Tree Media. She loved the music and asked if we would be interested in licensing it to her film. We were thinking it was going to be one song which is an honor in itself. By the time the final edits were done we ended up as the featured band for the movie with 3 songs placed. It`s not like we set out to write songs for their movie. The songs we created worked for their film. It was an incredible honor. We are very grateful. The film stars Emmy Award winning actor Bill Oberst Jr and that has definitely helped with the buzz for the movie.

4/have you had line up changes? are you friends ?

Swirl has had the same lineup since 2008. I absolutely love these guys. There is nothing like working with my brother Brian. He is an amazing drummer and that family bond is undeniable. Shane Carlson (bass) and Alfred Ramirez

(lead vocals) were working in a band for 2 years together so they already had their bond before we all joined forces in Swirl. There is a lot of respect and admiration for what each of us brings to the band. One of the first things we did as a foursome was go on tour together for nearly a full year. We headlined club level shows and supported established bands in venues ranging in capacities from 150 - 2500. It was during that time spent working, living and traveling together that we became a band. That`s where the bond comes from. We are friends and business partners.

We are a band of brothers and still very much in love with the idea of working together in Swirl. The four of us are very different people with our own lives and friends outside of Swirl and that helps as well. We give each other space so when it is time to come together we are locked in.

5/how do you write your songs? what is the movation line?

For the ‘SWIRL’ release the songs started with guitar parts. After that Brian (or Cinderella drummer Fred Coury in the case of ‘Time To Fly” and “Mad Disease”) worked on the arrangements while Alfred created the lyrics. With the exception of maybe one phrase the entire release was written by Alfred. He has a gift for words. The final touches (bridges and alterations) were provided with ideas from Shane.

6/have you all played in bands before?

Definitely. That is part of the reason we work so well together. We have had experiences with other bands and this is the best one so far in terms of music, respect, and common goals by all members.

7/is one of you a sound engineer who knows how to make the best of a song?

No. As I previously touched on we have been very fortunate to have spent time in recording studios with very successful artists who have mentored us with regard to songwriting and recording techniques. Our debut full length CD ‘Out of Nowhere’ was produced by Carlos Cavazo (Quiet Riot and later RATT) with Matt Thorr (Rough Cutt and later a Grammy nominee as an engineer). The ‘Timeline’ CD was mixed by Fred Coury with the songs “Adrenaline” and “Sleepwalker” co-written, produced and mixed by Fred. With the ‘SWIRL’ release we wanted to take the lessons learned about writing/ recording from those sessions and work with some up and comers outside of LA. We recorded the drums, guitars and most of the lead vocals at Baxter Rd studios in Wildomar, CA with Bruce Copeland, Jeff Gaylor and Conrad Brauer. Then we went into another studio in Lake Elsinore, CA with the husband and wife team of James and Carol Rieger to do all the post production and final mixes. The mastering for the release was done by the band and James in Lake Elsinore. At the end of the day it is very rewarding to have 3 songs that you wrote, mixed and produced independent of any “name” industry people be selected for a licensing deal. We are currently in various stages of negotiations with two other films, a TV show, a video game and a commercial...all with music from the same ‘SWIRL’ release.

8/who chose the bands name and why?

On a drive from Washington State to Southern California to do a writing session for songs that would ultimately become the ‘Out Of Nowhere’ CD with the singer and bassist at the time while tossing around band names I came up with Swirl and using the Yin Yang logo as the band was a half White/ half black; half Canadian half American band. A United Nations or rock if you will. After ‘Out Of Nowhere’ was releases we started touring North America, Canada and Japan then found ourselves in a legal battle for the name with Mercury Records that we ultimately prevailed in. We have worked hard to establish the name Swirl as our own so when Alfred and Shane joined we saw no need to change it.

9/are you playing live covers or you have more songs written already?

We have enough music already written and recorded that we do not need to do covers in our set. In fact for our direct support slots with established bands where we are typically given a 35 minute set length we exclusively play songs from the ‘SWIRL’ release. When we have longer set lengths we add songs from ‘Timeline’ and ‘Out Of Nowhere’.

10/have you got an agent ?

We do not have an agent at this time so every tour we have been on we have negotiated ourselves.

We would love to work with an agent and again when the right agent says “yes” to Swirl they will be extremely well rewarded. We are a live band. We love being on stage and love touring so as long as the tours are out there for us we would love to stay on the road.

11/you are only four members, have you had another guitarist in the past or will in the futur?

Swirl has always been a one guitar band. Naturally the idea has come up from time to time about adding another guitar player so I will never say never, but as it stands right now it is not something we are planning on doing.

12/the cover artwork is pretty simple, photoshop filter... who decided to do this, is there a story behind the bands name?

I suppose in some ways the simplicity of the logo was our way of leaving something for a label to have a direct influence on as the music was done and as we knew we had placements already for 3 songs it didn`t seem very likely we would be going back into a studio to record the songs again. We moved away from the modified Yin Yang logo we used while promoting ‘Out Of Nowhere’ and ‘Timeline” to the current logo on the CD cover and Brian`s kick drum. I am even playing the “Psycho Swirl” Charvel guitar which is in step with the cover artwork and kick drum.

As it stands now that simple logo is getting more and more established.

13/have you got other bands or other biz activities in the music?

Brian, Shane and I will occasionally take on session work for other projects or jam with other bands, but Swirl remains the priority. The reality of it is as an unsigned band we recognize that we are our own record label, management company and booking agency. To succeed with Swirl to the level we have to date requires a lot of attention.

Swirl is a 24/7/365 business for us. That leaves very little time for other non Swirl related music business activities.

14/What are your lyrics about, what inspires you?

“My lyrics are inspired by my life experiences and the world we live in. These songs all deal with universal themes.

What I feel is most important is not such my specific experiences, but the experiences of the listener. I want the listener to find their own story within my lyrics and the music. In turn I hope the music of Swirl captivates you, elevates you and most importantly inspires you”- Alfred Ramirez 15/do you all come to music schools?

Brian studied jazz drumming at Cornish College of the Arts in Washington State. I started out on violin and played in the middle school orchestra before switching to guitar where I had 6 months of instruction private instruction. Shane received his music education from private study and credits his father as well. Alfred is self taught.

16/who are your favorite bands and the ones that inspired you?

The answers to this question are a varied as the members of the band...We all like listening to different things and that (I hope) is reflected in the sound of our music. Alfred is a huge David Bowie and Billy Idol. Brian and I started out liking KISS, but then branched out in totally different directions as he got into Rush and jazz greats like Dave Weckl.

Some of his favorite more current bands are NIckelback and Alter Bridge I am an 80s guitar guy with Jake E Lee and Warren DeMartini as my favorites, but there are so many fantastic guitar players out there that have influenced me.

Favorite bands? RATT and Whitesnake from that era. Shinedown in the current rock n roll landscape. Shane is big on Metallica, Korn and Rage Against the Machine. There is so much diversity in the music in our van when we tour.

www.swirltheband.com

Witches (Sibylle Colin-Tocquaine) 31/08/2015

Francais

1/ça fait longtemps depuis le dernier album que s’est-il passé ?

Oui, ça commence effectivement à faire un petit bout de temps. 8 ans depuis notre album « 7 ». Il s’est passé beaucoup de choses, en fait, certains d’entre nous avaient un ou plusieurs projets parallèles et ont fait des albums, des 1/it’s been a while since the last album what happened? concerts avec d’autres groupes. Puis les chemins se sont Yeah it starts to get long. 8 Years since the last album éloignés et ne se sont pas recroisés. J’ai donc décidé de “7” many things happened.In fact some of us had one or chercher d’autres musiciens pour continuer l’aventure. more projects made albums and gigs with other bands.

Then our path got lost and never get back. So I decided to 2/le LP avec les démos était-ce un moyen de nous faire patienter? qui a décidé de le sortir? look for other musicians to continue the adventure.

Non, en aucun cas un moyen de faire patienter.

2/The demos LP was to help us wait? who decided to Cela faisait longtemps qu’on me disait qu’il fallait ressortir les vieilles démos du placard pour les rééditer, je ne make it? comptais pas le faire au départ, car le son, les compos etc…

NO,it wasn’t meant to make people wait.

It’s been a long time since people were telling me to get c’était bien pour l’époque, mais le groupe avait fortement those old demos out of the box to repress them, I didn’t évolué depuis. Reprendre les anciens morceaux n’avait jawant to cos of the sound , compositions etc...it was right mais traversé l’esprit des autres membres de Witches. Puis at the time, the band has evolved a lot since. Playiing est arrivé le nouveau line up de Witches et surtout Olivier again the old songs never crossed the other musicians à la Basse qui est fan de Witches, depuis cette époque. Et mind.Then the new line up arrived and mostly Olivier qui voulait absolument jouer Thrashing Witches ! Cela m’a whos is a big Witches fan from the beginning and he décidé donc de reprendre le morceau, j’ai donc cherché un wanted to play Thrashing Witches! It gave me the wish label qui serait intéressé par la sortie d’un vinyl car c’était to play the song again so I searched for a label who could plus sympa de ressortir ces vieux enregistrements sous ce be interested in pressing a LP cos it’s really cool to have format-là, le plaisir de faire une pochette « à l’ancienne » those old tracks on this format, the pleasure of the cover retrouver tout plein de vieilles photos et de faire un patchlike the old days with lots of photos in a patchwork that’s work avec, c’était vraiment sympa ! Et en plus 2014 était really cool! The date 2014 was the year of 25 years old l’année des 25 ans de ces démos (Silly Symphony datait from those demos (Silly Symphony dated from 88 and de 88 et Agressive Soap de 89) donc c’était le moment ou Agressive Soap from 89) so it was the time or never! All jamais ! Tous les labels contactés étaient très enthousiastes the labels I have conctacted were interested to get a LP à l’idée de sortir ce vinyl, mais j’ai choisi Emanes Metal out but I chose Emanes Metal Records to press « Agres- Records pour sortir « Agressive Symphony » parce qu’il sive Symphony » cos he could do it in the time I wanted. pouvait le faire dans les délais que je souhaitais.

English

3/est-ce que ce nouvel album « The Hunt » comporte un line up connu du groupe ou il y a du changement?

Le line-up de The Hunt est complètement changé, comme je l’ai dit tout à l’heure les chemins de chacun des autres membres de Witches se sont éloignés et du coup j’ai cherché d’autres musiciens. Je ne voulais relancer la machine que si je trouvais les musiciens adéquats ! Jo, notre batteur, a joué dans Insain et Disaster, Olivier a joué et joue encore dans un tas de groupes différents Et Lienj, en plus de Witches, joue aussi dans un groupe de Brutal Death : 4/French bands are all there (Agressor, ADX, Loud- Desarticulate. blast...)do you manage to play gigs together? is there a 4/les groupes français sont tous là, (agressor, adx, loudfriendship (a scene)?

It’s been a while since I played with Agressor or Loud- blast...) arrivez-vous à faire des concerts ensemble? y a-t-il blast.We would like to do it again! But sometimes, un- une entraide (une scène)? Ça fait un bout de temps que je n’ai pas joué avec Agressor fortunetly it’s not just wishing that helps. ou Loudblast. Et on aimerait bien que cela se reproduise !

Mais des fois, malheureusement, il ne suffit pas de le vouloir.

3/Is the new album « The Hunt » has the line up we know or it has changed?

The line up from The Hunt has completly changed, as I said earlier our path went both ways so I searched for musicians. I wanted to get the band going only when I got a full line up that fits. Jo the drummer has played in Insain and Disaster, Olivier has played and still play in many bands as Lienj who is playing for Witches is also in a brutal Death Metal band Desarticulate.

5/Is it easy to find gigs? who is dealing for the band?

Finding gigs? no it’s easy at all! It’s rather hard! except if you do it all yourself : you need an association to organize gigs, promote it all (the local promo mostly), selling your own tickets the day of the show, finding the bands to share the bill etc etc....in the cafes who propose you only one place eventually a sandwish and a drink to each musician....fortunetly not everyone is like that, but when 9 times to 10 that’s what you get offered it becoming boring. Who’s in charge of the band well I always dealt with it as noone did it or at least few (they know who they are) . Now with the new line up it’s different I got more help than in the past so it’s really good!

6/you are still with Emanes, what do you like from them is it cos they are French?

We worked with Emanes only for the LP, we don’t have any contrat. We haven’t chosen them cos they are French for the LP Agressive symphony, but mostly for their motivation , enthusiasm from Laurent to make those old demos out on vinyl!

7/have you got festivals coming? Hellfest, Wacken?

No, none festivals booked, we are for the moment on the organisation for the tour with Venom inc and Vader, we’re gonna play 7 countries which is pretty cool. We’re starting the 20th september!

But of course it doesn’t stop here, we are opened to any propositions from festivals mostly if they come from Hellfest of Wacken :D :D :D 8/you recently uploaded your songs on internet,does it make ou earn money? doesn’t it stop from selling CD or LP albums?

Earning money? Do you think it’s possible? No I don’t think so! The days of physical albums are gone! I was wondering if it was necessary to press CD for the new album.But only for us , our collection, having something in our hands, the souvenir , well having personnal pleasure, Just for that it’s a pleasure to press! But don’t get fool, when you press an album all the money is a complete financial loss.You can’t count on getting it back. Except having a CD for us it’s also good for the fans, They are many people who will never even buy a CD, it’s not the way music is sold now. People listen on the internet or not, whatever they love, it’s a bit like the old days with trading tapes we were spreading the bands music through the K7. Today it’s the same but faster and nothing is impossible to find online. The fact we uploaded our tunes online will not stop the sells if ever they are. But it helps

5/est facile de trouver des concerts? qui s’occupe du groupe?

Trouver des concerts ? Non, pas du tout facile ! C’est même très difficile ! à part si tu fais tout toi-même : tu dois être une association pour organiser le concert, faire toute la promo possible et imaginable ou même inimaginable, (promo locale de surcroit), faire ta propre billetterie le jour du concert, trouver les groupes avec qui jouer, etc…etc… dans des cafés qui te proposent juste une salle, éventuellement un sandwich et une boisson par musicien…. heureusement tout le monde n’est pas comme ça, mais quand 9 fois sur 10 c’est ce qu’on te propose, c’est juste un peu énervant :D Quant à qui s’occupe du groupe, je me suis toujours chargée de cette mission car aucun des autres musiciens ne le faisait avant, ou presque (les exceptions, s’il y en a, se reconnaitront).

Mais maintenant avec le nouveau line up c’est différent, j’ai beaucoup plus d’aide qu’avant, donc c’est très bien !

6/vous etes toujours chez emanes, qu’appreciez vous chez eux, est ce parce qu’ils sont francais?

Nous n’avons travaillé avec Emanes que pour le Vinyl, nous ne sommes sous contrat avec personne. Nous n’avons pas choisi Emanes pour Agressive Symphony juste parcequ’ils étaient français, mais surtout pour la motivation, l’enthousiasme de Laurent de vouloir sortir les vieilles démos sur Vinyl !

7/avez vous des festivals a venir? hellfest , wacken?

Non, pas encore prévu de festival, nous sommes pour le moment sur l’organisation de la tournée avec Venom inc et Vader, nous allons aller dans 7 pays, c’est déjà pas mal. Nous commençons le 20 septembre ! Mais bien sûr, cela ne s’arrêtera pas là, nous sommes ouverts à toutes propositions de concerts et festivals, surtout si ces propositions viennent du Hellfest ou du Wacken :D :D :D 8/vous avez récemment mis vos morceaux sur internet, cela vous fait il gagner de l’argent? est-ce que cela ne réduit pas les ventes d’albums lp et cd?

Gagner de l’argent ? Tu crois que c’est possible ? Non je ne crois pas ! L’époque des albums physiques est quasiment révolue ! Je me posais la question de l’utilité de presser sur CD notre nouvel album. Mais ne serait-ce que pour nous, pour la collection, pour avoir quelque chose dans les mains, le souvenir, enfin bref se faire plaisir, rien que pour ça c’est toujours sympa de faire presser !

Mais il ne faut pas se leurrer, quand tu fais un album, tout l’argent que tu y mets est une pure perte financière, tu ne peux pas compter sur un retour sur investissement. Outre le fait de pouvoir avoir un objet pour nous, c’est toujours sympa aussi pour les fans.

Mais il y a aussi beaucoup de personnes qui n’achèteront jamais de CD car ce n’est plus le mode de consommation de la musique.

Les gens écoutent sur internet, téléchargent gratuitement, légalement ou non, peu importe, s’ils aiment… de toute manière c’est un peu comme le tape trading qu’on faisait à l’époque avec nos cassettes, on faisait circuler la musique des groupes ! Maintenant c’est la même chose mais on le fait plus rapidement et avec tout, rien n’est introuvable ! Avoir mis les morceaux sur Internet ne supprimera pas des ventes si tant est qu’il y en ait. Par contre c’est un bon moyen de rendre accessible notre musique, de nous faire connaitre. Par contre ce qui est vrai c’est que s’il n’y a

getting our music heard to a worldwide audience.

Although if you only have free downloading yes the band has it’s own fundings to play live or even for the recording of the albums and personal funds aren’t eternal. Many people or bands don’t have the finance for the recording and pressing of the albums so they general die. To survive you need constant news and I mean “survive “ cos there is a time the fans need to participate. Not to make the band live which in our case it’s impossible but only to participate to the life of the band. It helps! We have used presales , and honestly I was surprised to see how many bought it before even listening to it. It’s a beautiful gift people gave us : they trust us!

9/in which country do you sell the most? the biggest fan base?

For the oldest albums (341,7) we mostly sold in France cos the distribution through labels was only national. But our fans are all over the world! Even Chili and Guatemala! With the Venom/Vader tour I hope will gain more abroad!

10/When you look back to the history of the band what do you keep, what makes the band still alive?

The band still exist cos i can’t live without music and mostly without playing music.There has been empty periods of times. Now I’m back with a new line up there shouldn’t be anymore empty periods.

11/you always have your BC RICH Warlock have you tried other guitars?what kind of effects do you use, what’s your gear?

I always play with my Warlock, I have two other BC RICH as a red Mocking Bird and black bitch but the warlock is the one I prefer for Witches! I use an RP500 Digittek pedal board and always my old JCM 900 Marshall head.

12/what is the story of that new album? is it different from the earliest ones?

After getting ‘Agressive Symphony’ in Septembre 2014, we wanted to release a new album around October or November 2015. But Tony and Mantas from Venom asked us to play with them but we couldn’t go on tour without a new album so we’ve done everything to find a studio and a press company...which wasn’t easy with summer holidays and found the ones not closed to release before the tour. It’s different from the earliest albums much more agressive and violent that’s what we wanted to do! I’m surrounded by people who don’t play with dolls!

que du téléchargement gratuit, le groupe n’a plus que ses fonds personnels pour se produire, que ce soit pour enregistrer de nouveaux morceaux, ou tout simplement se produire sur scène et que malheureusement les fonds personnels ne sont pas sans fin ! Il y a beaucoup de personnes/groupes qui n’ont pas les possibilités financières de se payer un album ou autre et donc le groupe s’éteindra. Car pour survivre il faut de l’actualité constante. Et je dis bien « pour survivre » C’est pour cela qu’il est important que les fans participent à un moment donné. Non pas pour que le groupe gagne de l’argent, car cela n’est pas possible à un niveau comme le nôtre, mais que cette participation soit comme son nom l’indique une participation, un investissement commun. Ça aide ! Nous avons mis cet album en prévente, et franchement j’ai été étonnée que des personnes achètent sans avoir écouté. C’est un beau cadeau que ces personnes nous ont fait : nous faire confiance !

9/dans quel pays vous vendez le plus? le max de fans?

Sur les albums précédents (341 et 7), les ventes se faisaient principalement en France car la distribution via les différents labels et distributeurs se faisaient à l’échelle nationale. Mais nos fans sont éparpillés dans le monde entier ! Jusqu’au Chili et au Guatemala ! Avec la tournée Venom inc / Vader que nous allons faire, j’espère qu’on touchera beaucoup de monde à l’étranger !

10/quand tu regardes l’histoire du groupe que retiens-tu? qu’est ce qui fait que le groupe existe encore?

Le groupe existe encore car je ne peux pas vivre sans musique et surtout sans faire de la musique et m’occuper du groupe.

Il y a juste eu des périodes creuses de par la vie tout simplement. Maintenant que je suis repartie avec un très bon line up, il ne devrait plus y avoir de périodes creuses !

11/tu as toujours ta warlock as-tu essayé d’autres guitares? quels sont tes effets ton équipement? utilises tu le numérique?

Je joue principalement toujours sur ma warlock, j’ai 2 autres BC Rich aussi. une mocking bird rouge et une bich noire mais c’est la warlock que je préfère pour Witches !

Sinon actuellement, j’ai un pédalier digitech RP500 et toujours ma vieille tête Marshall JCM 900 12/quelle est l’histoire de ce nouvel album? est-il diffèrent des anciens?

Après la sortie d’ « Agressive Symphony » en Septembre 2014, nous avions prévu de faire un nouvel album et de le sortir vers octobre ou novembre 2015. Mais Tony et Mantas de Venom inc nous ont proposés de jouer avec eux et nous ne pouvions pas arriver en tournée sans nouvel album, nous avons donc tout fait pour trouver des studios, un presseur etc… qui n’étaient pas fermés pendant les vacances et qui pouvait assurer la production de l’album avant le début de la tournée. Et Oui il est différent des autres albums, il est beaucoup plus violent et agressif car c’est ce que nous voulions ! Je me suis entourée de personnes qui ne font pas dans la dentelle !

13/how do you compose your songs? music has changed a lot maybe your taste too does it bleed on the new album?

I always composed depending on my mood , I never stopped myself in one music style (i’m not doing pop right) then the musicians bring their own influences in my compositions reason why “7” is more melodic. Music is feelings ,sensation, a moment in time,depending on your mood you will rather listen this or that, well it’s the same for compostion one day you have melodic riffs but you didn’t think you would play those here. For this album I wanted a ‘punch’ sound so we stayed on that heavyness and it worked. People you play with influence a lot the way you compose, how you write songs.In the band Jo n Lienj have a big Brutal Death influence so it gets into the song!

14/this album got an awesome design who did it, have you had your word?

Stan W Decker did it. I already worked with him for another band I was into. A Maiden Tribute 100% feminine for which he made our Miss Edith.I really appreciated his collaboration! We explained him what we wanted , we asked him to change few things which is normal it’s the artist work so we had our say. It’s a team work and must reflect the bands’ image.

15/since you started with which band you are the most friendly or best relation?

Let’s say since we started I met loads of different bands French as Abroad. But your path cross and then goes away. We are not stuck together to everyone either! Recently it’s tony and Jeff from Venom with whom we have gotten friends when we met them at a live gig for the Warm up from Vernouillet during their tour with M:Pire of evil. We then shared the stage uring two monthat at Triel Open Air so we decided to tour with them and it will start the 20th September with Vader also.

16/what do you think of the French Scene? all the old bands are still here and still work!

Yeah all the French bands are still here or came back.

It’s cool to see everyone we met when we started. I hope we will play with Agressor and Loudblast and also with bands like No Return and Mercyless!

13/comment composez-vous les morceaux? La musique a beaucoup changé et peut être vos gouts aussi est ce que cela se ressent sur l’album?

J’ai toujours composé comme l’humeur du jour m’apportait des idées, je ne me suis jamais attardée à rester dans un style de musique (bon ok je ne vais pas faire de la varièt’), de plus, les musiciens avec qui tu joues apportent aussi leur influences dans tes propres compositions, c’est pour cela que « 7 » est plus mélodique par exemple. La musique c’est un moment, des sensations, des ressentis, bref suivant ton humeur tu vas préférer écouter tel ou tel morceau, c’est pareil dans la composition, un jour tu peux avoir des trucs mélodiques qui sortent alors que tu ne te dis pas forcément à l’avance que tu veux quelque chose de mélodique ! Sur cet album, je voulais quelque chose de patate !

Donc on est resté sur cette ligne de conduite et ça a fonctionné. Comme je disais, les personnes avec qui tu joues influencent aussi beaucoup la manière de composer, construire les morceaux. Dans le groupe, Jo et Lienj ont une grande influence de brutal death, donc forcément cela influence les morceaux !

14/ce nouvel album a un super design, qui l’a effectué et as-tu eu ton mot?

Stan W Decker a fait le design. J’avais déjà travaillé avec lui pour un autre groupe dans lequel j’ai joué. Un tribute à Maiden 100% féminin pour lequel il nous avait fait notre Miss Edith.

J’avais donc déjà apprécié notre collaboration ! Nous lui avons exposé ce que nous voulions, il nous a fait des propositions de dessins, nous avons demandé des retouches sur tout un tas de trucs, car c’est effectivement le groupe qui doit avoir le dernier mot, car c’est l’album du groupe, le design doit être le reflet de ce que nous souhaitons, c’est un travail d’équipe avec le dessinateur !

15/depuis tout ce temps avec quels groupes vous êtes le plus amis? en relation?

Disons que dès le début, j’ai côtoyé pleins de groupes différents, français et étrangers. Mais les chemins se croisent et s’éloignent. On n’est pas collé aux baskets de tout le monde non plus ! Dernièrement, c’est Tony et Jeff de Venom inc avec qui nous avons sympathisés lorsque nous les avons vus jouer avec M:Pire of Evil au Warm up de Vernouillet. Nous avons ensuite partagé la même scène 2 mois après au Triel Open Air. De là, a découlé la tournée que nous commençons le 20 septembre avec eux et Vader.

16/que penses-tu de la scène française? tous ces vieux groupes qui sont de nouveau la et qui visiblement marchent toujours...

Oui tous les vieux groupes sont toujours là ou sont de nouveau là. C’est cool de revoir tout ce monde que j’ai connu à nos débuts. J’espère qu’on jouera, comme je le disais tout à l’heure avec Agressor et Loudblast, mais aussi avec des groupes comme No Return et Mercyless !

17/quels sont les groupes que tu écoutes aujourd’hui ou que tu suis?

17/which bands are you listening these days or you are following?

My favorites these last two years are Revocation, I have only two words : It kills! I really love the guitar part, I can’t stop listening! I also love Lost Society on their album as live. I saw them at the Hellfest this year they have lots of energy!

Mon coup de cœur de ces 2 dernières années est Revocation, je n’ai que 2 mots à dire : ça tue ! J’adore vraiment certaines parties de guitares, je ne m’en lasse pas ! J’ai aussi beaucoup aimé Lost Society, sur album mais aussi en live. Je les ai vus au Hellfest cette année et ils sont bourrés d’énergie !

www.witches.fr

1/you are a three piece band, have you always be this way? are you old time friends --I always wanted to be in a power trio since playing in bands back in high school. I was influenced by Rush, Cream, The Police, Jimi Hendrix Experience (and then when he had Band Of Gypsies) and always enjoyed that “three guys sound like nine” sound. I’ve been friends with my bass player Joe DeMott since 1990, as we played together in a band called Quiet Zone. Kamran Vaziri, the drummer, joined up in September 2013 and so far so good!

2/are u creating all the songs or it’s a band’s one?

--Up until the GO BERZERK! album, I wrote every song. When I reconnected with Joe, he showed me a riff that blew me away and I said “That has to go on the new cd” so he wrote “Chomp” on the GO BERZERK! cd.

3/ you said you love steve vai, did you want to play that kind of instrumental music?

--I liked the idea of doing instrumental music, and yet I always heard from people “You need a singer if you want to get signed” and all that nonsense. I used to record instrumental demos but with the intention of finding a bigname band, never “Maybe I should start doing this kind of music.” But it kind of worked out that way, so I ran with it. Smartest decision I ever made.

4/how did you learn the guitar? what made you want to have a band?

--I started learning guitar when I was nine but didn’t get serious until I was 12 and saw a video of Hendrix playing the Monterey festival. That, along with seeing Rainbow on MTV, got me really inspired to pursue guitar for life.

I didn’t think I was good enough to be in a band when I was a teenager, the idea actually kinda scared me. But once I played my first gig back in 1986, I was sold. I knew I wanted to be a professional musician. As for wanting Steve Bello Band, again it all happened purely by accident. I had been done with bands by 2000, and it was only when Ibanez approached me with an endorsement and clinics, that I started doing instrumental music but only for clinics. Never with the intention of performing live.

5/so who has influenced you ?

--My biggest guitar influences were Hendrix, Ritchie Blackmore, Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Vernon Reid, John McLaughlin, Akira Takasaki, Uli Roth. I was a Prince fan in high school but wouldn’t tell anyone for fear of losing whatever “metal cred” I had (laughs). But when I read an article that Gary Holt of Exodus loved PURPLE RAIN, I declared “I am a Prince fan!”

6/how long have you been playing? have you played in other bands before?

--I’ve been a guitar player for 36 years, and 26 of those years as a professional musician. I’d been in and out of bands since 1986, walked away from performing in 1993, would do little gigs here and there and then stopped in 2000. Got back into it in 2003.

7/tell us your gear and why you chose them?

--Ibanez 7-string guitars strung up with Von York Strings, Orange amplifiers, Spectraflex cables, and on my MetalShop Pedal Board (“the pink beast”), I have an Ibanez Airplane Flanger, MRX Phase 90, Ibanez DE7 Delay, Ibanez Jemini distortion, and Morley Lynch wah. I chose all this gear because it works best for my sound and everything is very colourful.

8/have you ever wrote lyrics or wanted to have a singer?

--I used to write lyrics in bands I was in years ago but one day a drummer told me that I wrote shitty lyrics and his were better, so I stopped writing. When I started Steve Bello Band, my first “rule” was “no singer” because

the last singer I worked with back in 2000 really screwed me over and tried smearing my name on the internet (long before there was such a thing as MySpace or Facebook 9/have you searched for bands’ name before using your name?

--When I was asked to play a fill-in gig last minute back in 2004, the club owner asked me “What’s your band name?” so I jokingly said “Eh, just put Steve Bello on the bill.” And then the next show, I was asked “Can you put the word ‘band’ after it so people won’t think it’s just you alone on stage?” and it stuck.

10/is it easy to find places to play live show?

--It’s easy to find places but some clubs make it tough to get in.

11/how many songs have you got so far? any album coming...

--I have at least 15 songs that I need to whittle down to 7 or 8 for the next album. I was hoping to get a sixth album out in 2012...then 2013...then 2014. One day it will happen.

12/they are more and more shredders, what do you think categorize those and how to be original?

--It’s really tough to be original per se, but I do think I offer something a bit unique to the table. People will hear my influences on my sleeve but at the same time, I hear things like “You have your own sound” and “No other band around here is doing what you’re doing”, so I must be doing something right.

13/is there someone you’d like to share the stage with?

--Prince!

www.stevebellorocks.com

1/who started the band? what was the idea?

1.i started the band in 2000 2/what’s the meaning of the bands name? why not a shorter one?

2.the name is. Just a name I came up with and it had a meaning of a mystic high (drunk) laid back mood

3/you’re mixing different type of music, is it a choice or it has evolved with members change?

3.in each of the cds I’ve tried to keep each song with a different feel and style and that hasn’t had anything to do with band member changes.

4/have you released albums if so how many?

4.the new cd will be released by the end of the year and it is our 2nd one..we’ve released 1 cd,1st and 2e.ps 5/is VPM records your own ? how many bands are on it?

5.VMP. PRODUCTIONS is the record label I own and we are negotiating signing other bands but “voodoo moonshine is the main band on the label be a use I refuse to sign to a major record label.

6/have you got a recording studio?

6.the new cd was recorded at multiple locations in Tennessee and England but yes I have my own studio as well.

7/what is your inspiration for lyrics? are you writting story line?

7.the inspiration for each song varies and have different meanings but I try to write them where everyone can relate to rhem.

8/have you got a touring basis? a manager who finds you dates?

8.yes we have toured all over the world but we took time off for me to do my solo cd and for the new cd...and if I could find a manager or booking Agent I trusted I would rather them do it so I could focus on the band and the business.

9/who writes most of the songs?

9..on the 1st cd me and my singer wrote most of the songs together...on this cd I wrote all the songs by myself.

10/since you aren’t stuck into one style, does it make easier to get public and places to play?

10.being versatile with our music and being in demand it is easier to get better shows 11/what’s your view on the scene today, have you seen evolved and how?

11.my view of music today is that I think it sucks...I think to many bands are trying to sound alike instead of who they really are..the music business has killed good bands.

12/who has inspired you, what made you want to be a singer?

12.good music and life experiences have inspired me... great songs have influenced me but life has inspired me..

13/how did you learn singing? do you practice everyday?

13.even though I sing even more on this cd...I am not the lead singer and I never want to be even though people have pushed me to be.and no I do not practice everyday... sometimes I will go months without touching an instrument.

14/have you got friends in the music, some bands you get on pretty well?

14.yes I have many musician friends who are famous and some who are not but I try to surround myself with genuine nice people.

15/what’s your equipment and why did you choose it? are you endorsed?

15.my equipment varies...I play Gibson les Paul’s, Marshall heads and Yamaha acoustics...but on this cd. I used especially Ltd guitars, line 6 amps and Marshall cabs and Dean guitars. As well as obscure equipment. ... I hope that answered all your questions and I appreciate your interest in the band and me.s.. let me know if there’s anything I can do for you....

Jeff Losawyer

www.facebook/voodoomoonshine.com

Erik Röjås

1/can you recall us, when Decadence split you joined Frantic Amber since then you’ve been in many bands until now Sterbhaus, what happened?

1/ No, I was already playing with Netherbird since the beginning of 2010 as a full-time member and joined Frantic a year later as a session/live drummer. During this time I also helped starting Nekrodelirium as a project. I felt I had enough time to deal with all of the bands I was in, as I indeed had. In May of 2011 I recorded the drums for Sterbhaus album “Angels for Breakfast... and God for Lunch”, but I wasn’t able to join full-time at that point. Earlier last year I joined Claymords from Norway, and later in July I teamed up with the Sterb-dudes again, full-time.

2/have you played the same drum in all of those bands?

2/ Well, seeing how I’ve been playing in different kinds of bands, I try to adapt my drumming accordingly. I always try to play as dynamic and with as much feeling as possible, sometimes it’s easier and other times harder. It’s a balance between technique, feeling, dynamics, groove, timing and innovation that makes out some of the keywords in the art of drumming, a concept that I have really begun to embrace in later years.

3/ is it a choice to play in different bands or a problem with musicians?

3/ Stockholm is a small town, with a lot of musicians and bands. It feels like everybody knows everybody. Most drummers I know, if not all, have at least two bands they are playing in. It’s not really a musician-problem, it’s just a natural occurrence I think.

4/are u still in touch with your old mates? have you tried to make a band with one of them?

4/ (If you are referring to Decadence) Me and Kenneth Lantz are still in contact frequently, and chances are we will work together with his own project sometime soon. We shall see.

5/it seems it’s easy to get a band in sweden, have you got plenty of musiciains to play with? do you have a place where you can have rehearsals easily?

5/ There are plenty of people playing metal in Stockholm, and there are almost too many bands. When you go and see a concert, probably 80% of all the people there have their own bands. Rehearsal spaces vary, sometimes you have to share with other bands and sometimes in certain places you have fixed/set times for rehearsing, it’s hard to find the good ones. We have our own rehearsal space/studio with Sterbhaus, so we can basically rehearse when we want to.

It’s coming along real nice.

6/have you learnt the drums or you are self taugh?

6/ I am mostly self-taught. Started playing by myself from time to time in my youth, and in 2003 I started playing with some friends I went to school with, just rehearsing, mainly playing covers. Practiced a lot by myself at home at this point, played various furniture and other stuff while listening to albums on a cd-player. Good practice. I later went 3 years to the Stockholm music conservatory, Rytmus, and got some tips and advice, played a lot of different kinds of music. And after that I have just been doing my own thing, pretty much all metal oriented.

7/what’s so good about this brand new band? you just released an album can you talk about it?

7/ Sterbhaus for me is an utter let-out, creative and metal stimuli. The music we describe as Metal Deluxe - plain and simple, the name was kind of a gag at first but we decided that we should go with it since we got tired of saying that we were incorporating Thrash, Death, Black, Heavy etc, it just summons the 4 cornerstones of great metal that we all about. The new album is called “New Level of Malevolence” a 10 track record filled with dynamics and a shitload of hard work that hopefully shines through. I would say it’s a very diverse, aggressive, well-arranged and solid piece of work that we are very proud of. Sound-wise, we deliberately decided to shy away from most modern metal productions, using no triggers. Organic real drums, old school sound to the guitars that have a nice 80’s Marshall ring to it in my ears, a bass reminiscent of a freight train. Add some angry dynamic vocals with the glimpse in the eye, ironic twists and dark humor and this is what you get.

8/so how guys did you meet?

8/ I first met Marcus Hammarström (vocals, bass) at a bar, probably 8 - 9 years ago, and he seemed like a great dude.

Some time later we started talking, and he wanted me to play drums for his solo-band Elvira Madigan, on one of his records. Unfortunately, we never got around to do it, and some time later he put the band on ice. The rest of the guys; Jimmy Ahovalli and Simon Olovsson I met some time later, probably also under alcohol-related circumstances, and we have been friends ever since.

9/it seems like johakim you guys are more into the brutal than before?

9/ I don’t know about that. I still listen to the same bands I did 10 - 15 years ago, and then some. Growing up I was always searching for more and more extreme stuff, and now I just listen to what I feel like, anything genuine.

10/have you played gigs already? with which bands are you friends?

10/ Sterbhaus has already done extensive touring; 2012 in South America, in 2013 with Vader and Melechesh in Europe, and later the same year with Shining also in Europe. Played a variety of festivals like Extremefest, Rock Harz, Metaltown and are now ready to hit the roads again with the new album “New Level of Malevolence”.

11/who influenced your drumming or the wish to play drums first?

11/ I think drummers that have been of great influence are; Gene Hoglan, Dave Lombardo, Kjetil (Frost) Haraldstad, Sean Reinert, to just name a few. The drummer that got me to realize I wanted to play drums was Frank Beard (ZZ Top). I was 2 years old.

12/obvious question, what’s the difference between playing with girls musicians and male ones?

12/ I guess it varies from band to band. But, there are a lot less intrigues when there are only dudes, On tour, for example, I feel it’s often much more easygoing, if there is a problem, you fix it, no need to get stressed out or fired up about it, you can have a beer mid-day without causing panic etc. Personal experience talking.

13/who’s creating the most and do you have your input in the creation?

13/ The main music-writers in Sterbhaus are Marcus and Jimmy, and they collaborate forward an arrangement, and we all have inputs and creative ideas that we all go through. If it works and do justice to the song we’ll use it, if not we keep moving. That goes for riffs as well as individual instruments. Works great.

14/did you self release or you got label on your back?

14/ The new album is released through Black Lodge Records, which we are also signed to right now. Sound Pollution Distribution.

15/so what do you think of the metal swedish scene? are they bands you’ll recommand to follow?

15/ I think the scene is not really at it’s best, although it seems that the underground scene is on a bit of a rise again.

Some new bands are starting to get back to the old school stuff, even though it’s not new, I think it’s essential for the genres survival. Some bands are also able to pull of a little reinvention. Many clubs and venues have shut down in recent years and the main places to play are either small or very big. That contrast is a problem for many bands who are too big to play the smaller clubs, but just not big enough to get to rent the bigger places for a big show. We need a great metal club in Stockholm again. Sweden has a rich history of very important bands, and there are always a lot more to find. Thanks Marcel and The Metal Mag! Cheers.

www.sterbhaus.com

1/how do you see the life of the band now when looking back?

It’s easy to look back and see where you went wrong of course and we made some mistakes for sure, some pretty big ones actually. I believe if we hadn’t made those mistakes the band would have been much more successful and would have had a totally different life to the one it had / has now. That’s tough shit on us though, we are all responsible for our own actions and decisions.....what a bummer though!

2/youíre changing singer, does it get harder to keep up with musicians today?

No I don’t think so, shit happens and you have to deal with it. In this case we fired our singer so for the band to continue we need to recruit a new one, which we are doing. No band wants to keep changing members but you either do it or split the band. There are musicians out there, the difficulty is finding the right one.

3/what ís your plan right now? are you searching for the perfect leader to record a new album?

Yeah the perfect singer for us, to eventually record a new album but the priority is to be ready to start gigging again.

We’ve had to cancel too many shows because of the situation so we need to get back out there as soon as possible.

Our last album ‘Metal X’ has only been out for 8 months so a new album will be some time away.

4/it seems many bands today have to change singers, are they becoming rare? it kinda change the bandsí first music direction? is it something we should be used to now don’t you think?

As I’ve said us and other bands only do it because we have to. Bands like ours are older and sometimes people just don’t want to do it anymore, singers, guitarists, whoever, so you have to get new personnel in to continue. I don’t think singers are becoming rare but I do accept a new singer can totally change a bands’ sound and direction so you have to be careful. You have to be true to the bands’ original sound, that’s what we try to do anyway.

5/have you asked other bands to participate, like destiny or other? sweden got so many talented mucisians...

Yes Sweden has got awesome metal bands and musicians, the standard is very high. Some members of other bands here have helped us out, they seem to be more of a family here than in the UK. In fact a possible singer we are very keen on came to us via a singer in another band.

6/tell us why leaving the uk to live in sweden? what is changing? is the uk scene gettiing too bad?

No it was nothing to do with the UK scene. I moved to Sweden to be with my Swedish fiancee, we now share a home here.

7/many 80ís bands are back what is your view on this? do you think the new bands donít have what it takes to keep up with originality or good creation?

Hmm.........I don’t have a problem with any 80’s band coming back, good luck to them, if people want to hear it then great, after all we are one of them aren’t we? The problem with newer bands, if there is one, is the lack of truly great riffs, great big hairy fuck off riffs, where have they all gone? Maybe that’s why people hark back to 70’s and 80’s bands, to hear cracking riffs, perhaps they’re a dying breed, I don’t know........

8/are you trying to write the same tunes as the beggining or your have other creativity with the new technology and the new sound?

We always write just what comes out but we have to bear in mind what our fans want from us, will they like it? ls it a Jaguar song? Questions like this we have to ask ourselves when we write though, it’s important. What I’ve always wanted is our ‘oldschool’ sound, if want to call it that married to a modern production, the best of both worlds I believe. I think we kinda got that with ‘Metal X’ but I also think Accept and Megadeth are good examples of the

perfect marriage of production and sound.

9/Are you still using the same gear or you tried the new digital ones?

Well I still use Gibson and Marshall as my preferred set up but I’ve got other gear too, Peavey and Laney amps, other guitars which I use. My pedalboard can be considered ‘old school’ too I guess. I’ll use whatever sounds good but as usual the limiting factor for me is money, if I had more money I would buy more gear, simple....lol...

10/is the band a familly?

We used to be a few years ago, then we started having problems with singer Jamie Manton leading to him being fired from the band in September 2014. I still consider Nathan and Simon to be my brothers though so yeah, we’re still a family as far as I’m concerned.

11/have you tried starting a new band or a solo project?

Not yet but I intend to put together a side project as soon as Jaguar is back up and running and ready to start gigging again. There are so many great musicians here in Sweden, I can’t wait to get something going.

12/who was your first influences the ones who got you in the music and play?

My initial influences when I was young were all the bands I loved at the time, Motorhead, Sabbath, Priest, Budgie, Maiden and so on. I loved UFO but I was also heavily into The Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Damned and punk in general, an odd mix I suppose but all influences nonetheless. Maybe that is why I like to play fast, ha ha!! The Ramones still inspire me today as do Lemmy and Motorhead for example. Masses of bands influence me, I am still a huge music fan.

13/have you had arguments with other bands like Tygers of pan tang for example, with the jaguar? already played live with them?

We’ve never had an argument with any band, I’ve met one or two musicians I didn’t like but no arguments. We’ve played with The Tygers a few times, the last time was in Holland in 2013, they’re still pretty cool.

14/have you got your own studio? or label?

No and no I’m afraid, either or both would be nice, maybe in the future. Of course if I had been sensible I would’ve had my own studio by now....doh!!

15/your wide cope with the website have you got computer skills?

I haven’t got the time to spend on it I’m afraid, my fiancee Wictoria does that for me, she’s the computer wizard... lol....!!

www.jaguarnwobhm.com

1/you said you would retire from music was there an issue with heretic? the band seemed back on track!

GR: Yes there was an issue with Heretic. We were not seeing eye to eye on how to proceed with the future plans or how fast things were progressing.

I also had an issue with my health so I felt maybe it was time to stop.

2/have you started primal? how did it happen, did you really want to start another band?

GR: The band Primal was started by my ex Hirax drummer Jorge Icobellis ,and ex Logos/V8 singer Beto Zamarbide. I was asked by Jorge to check it out and see if I would be interested in playing. So we got together for a jam and I went really good so I joined up.

3/you sold some of your guitars was it to get another one?

GR: Well frankly I needed the money. Music doesn’t pay and I have a family. Food is important and daycare for kids is not cheap. Also I had a few extra hanging around. I can only play one at a time.

4/did you choose the band’s name? what’s the meaning?

GR: Our singer Beto came up with the name Primal. The meaning for me is a beginning where it all starts from.

The roots of Metal music.

5/you have played in many thrash bands does it make it easy to find members? faster to start?

GR: Not really. There’s a lot of musicians out there, but finding the right one’s is not easy. The hard part is to find the right guy’s that you can get along with. Then finding the musicians who are good enough.

6/have you got already songs or riffs or you just compose with the complete line up?

GR: When I joined Primal they had been writing already. So when we played together I showed them a few songs I had written. Everyone seem to like them so we started to re work them to fit the band. Now we have a full cd’s worth of songs. They sound more traditional Metal with a touch of Thrash.

7/are you endorsed for guitrar or pedals?

GR: I have a few companies that I play. All of them have been supportive and I truly like their gear. My favorite guitar is my Jackson Soloist loaded with Lace pickups. I play through a EVH 5150 III amp and cab. SKB and Anvil protect my gear while on the road. None of it’s for free by the way. They don’t pay me to push their gear, but I really would use with this equipment. They all ROCK! 8/what’s your gear? have you always had the same ?

GR: I have always been a Jackson guy. Even when I didn’t have one I always wanted one. Amps have been a journey over the years. I have played through a lot of different brands . I have found a home with EVH. The same thing can be said about my pickups. Lace is the brand I use. They deliver the tone without the noise.

9/are you friends or you played live together before on the same bill?

GR: I have made more friends over the years. When I was in Hirax we played Sweden Rock with Exodus, and Testament on the same show. We all had a great time with them. It’s always great to run into friends on the road.

10/with all the bands outhere why creatin another one? is joinging a hassle?

GR: It’s kind of funny,but things seem to just come my way? The hard part is learning already written material. I have never been really good at figuring out other bands older songs. That’s why I write my own. I just do the best I can to get the songs as close as I can.

11/what are the plans? any label, gigs…

GR: Right now Primal has been getting ready for the studio. It’s looking like the end of 2015 or early 2016 for the release of a full cd. We did put out a digi single on CD Baby called Someone Is Coming. There is also a song on Youtube called Afflictions. As for labels we will be shopping to various markets around the world. Gigs will follow the release of the cd.

12/are there any support from other bands or you are just like any new band?

GR: Other bands really don’t have time to worry about anyone else. They are too busy with what they have going on. I think once the cd is out things will line up for us. We have friends in other bands. Maybe when we are ready they will step up and help out.

13/what’s your view on the metal scene?

GR: The Metal scene is different because it’s harder to get the fans out to the clubs now. Bands have to put together a really good package to draw out people to the shows. It’s also harder to sell cd’s and records. There is very little label support.

14/are they any new bands you’re following or you just listen the old stuff?

GR: I love the old stuff because I’m old. However I usually buy a cd from new bands while I’m on the road. That is if I like them. I like Wolf, Ram, and a few others that I’ve played with on tour.

15/you had a problem with your hand, how do do you go back on playing? did you have to stop playing for a while?

GR: I have been dealing with some health issues lately. Torn up wrist and neck left me with some nerve problems in my left hand and arm. It will never be 100% but I can play ok. I will have surgery at some point in the future.

16/which guitar player inspired you?what’s your view on the shredders?

GR: I like Pat Travers, Michael Schanker, Ted Nugent, Eddie Van Halen Chuck Berry, George Harrison, Robin Trower, and Jimi Hendrix to name a few. I’m not into shredders like Wing Nut. I like Soul in the music.

17what would you recomment to a kid who want to play like you?

GR: Don’t play like me…. My best advice for someone who wants to play solos is to sit down and sing the solo first.

That way it comes from inside you. You will breathe soul into your playing. Don’t copy riff a and b and c….Sing what’s inside you and learn that.

www.facebook.com/primalmetalband

1/ tell us about the band, a new one with new members?

Unfortunately I decided to close the book on Blak Earth. The band no longer exist. It was fortunate enough to have worked with some great talent, some of the best musicians I’ve ever worked with. I wish them all the best.

2/ last time you told me you had line up troubles, does it mean the music is different than unscarred? unwho? Yes, the band did suffer through some set backs due to line up issues, musicians can be unpredictable at times.

As far as the bands material is concerned, it’s uncertain at this time which direction I would like to take. There are so many venues in music.

3/ you already played with Lita Ford on tour, is she a good friend? how did you get this so quickly?

Lita Ford was a great start for the band, the show was a complete success and we held our ground and then some. I just met Lita in passing.

A promoter from the past contacted me about playing some upcoming shows, he found out I had a new project . Other shows he offered were Queensryche, Black Label Society, Puddle of Mud, etc. He’s a good friend and great contact to have.

4/ have you had already some songs created? you uploaded few live covers did you start as a cover band to get the songs done properly?

We had new material for the show, but I thought to mix up the set by adding two songs I did with my previous band and an Iron Maiden’s “Wrathchild” in which is the only cover we have online, I don’t think that put’s the band in the category cover band. Since we are on the subject, I was told there was a joke running around town from my old band, that Blak Earth was a cover band since we performed two songs from the EP Haunting Memories. I’m happy that they’re following my career. But to put everything in perspective and lay a lot of things to rest. In 2009 myself and three other guys decided to record a much needed EP, in which I wrote all lyrics, melodies and performed all vocal tracks on the album Haunting Memories as well as every song performed live till 2012 when I left the band. Let’s just say whomever they get as a replacement will still be singing the same material I wrote since 2009. You tell me who the cover band is? It’s actually pretty childish and pathetic to say the least, but it’s to be expected.

5/ can you tell us if this band will get longer with album releases etc?

As far as Blak Earth is concerned, No. I will be taking some time off from music to pursue other venues in my life.

But I am planning and have been talking to some people about a project. So, we’ll see.

6/ So what ‘s the history behind the bands name?

Black Earth is a song title I used in my previous band, I thought it fitting for the project at the time. I won’t go into details of the lyrics, but the title is self 7/ are you still writing lyrics about life?

It’s the only thing I know - I can be mythical and pretentious, but it’s not who I am. I write what I feel at that moment, in that time of writing and not focus on creating and being creative, it makes words less meaningful and pretentious.

And sometimes a lot of things I write wont make any sense to others, and that’s ok. I make it to where I understand.

But if by some chance that someone gets what I am singing about, then it makes the song a little more interesting.

8/ with the difficulties of bands getting good promoters have you got one who knows the Metal scene?

I have several.

9/ how did you all meet and what was the aim of the band for the direction to take?

I contacted musicians I have worked with in the past, my vision for the band was Symphonic Metal at the time, sometimes things just don’t turn out. It’s a gamble.

10/ are you away from social medias? some musicians seem to get haters and crap things from those...in the overall it helps keeping in touch with fans and else...

It’s a great tool to have. Communication and interacting with your fans/audience is key, without them a band or artist is nothing. Your audience is your life source. Yes I agree, sometimes I do have the occasional trouble makers that peak their ugly heads, and that can’t be avoided. It was my choice to put myself in the publics eye. It’s about dealing with it in a professional and legal manner, always remember jealousy is not an easy word to swallow specially for musicians, it always seems to be about competition for the mass. One reason, why I hate the business, and I have many! Haha.

11/ what’s your secret for keeping your voice up and running? are you learning again or just exercises?

For me it’s about discipline in body and mind, I still see people that play music who abuse alcohol and drugs till this day thinking it’s the Rock N Roll lifestyle and it’s only way to live the Rockstar dream. If you’re a drug addict or alcoholic don’t call yourself a musician, call yourself a drug addict or an alcoholic. I see no reason for it. I have lost lots of good friends because of this. It’s about staying focused and knowing your limits.

12/ what’s your view on the music scene , how it evolved, is it getting harder?

Music changes everyday, it’s almost impossible to keep up with what’s new. Lot’s of great young talented musicians along with technology spells disaster for the old, not unless you’re an established musician with recognition. Other than that it should all just be for the love of playing music, nothing more. I have heard some amazing new metal vocalist that play the local circuit and I just hit the floor, I was very impressed. It’s the sign of the times, and now is their time. It’s always good to see and hear young musicians nail old school metal.

13/ do you prefer having less metal bands as headliner? how do you get along with the bands you play with?

I personally welcome it, I like aggressive metal bands that put on a show. What doesn’t impress me are shoegazing musicians. All bands (musicians) are the same and have the same mentality, but there are some exceptions. Here’s a good example I got along better with Hammerfall than I did with WASP , but gave an better show with WASP. If you think hard enough it will make all the sense in the world.

14/ are you trying to change your past or it’s the same way to create and function? is it for you a way of creating some kind of story line in your life? a mutation...

I wake up everyday, and that by itself is a blessing. Changing the past is inevitable. What is creating? The only thing I ever created are two beautiful and wonderful children. I can’t predict the path I take, I don’t think anyone can. You can set goals and try to achieve them, and the next day WHAM! You get hit by a truck, end of story.

So for me to draw a story line or pattern makes it almost impossible, and changing the past would be a greater disaster.

15/ is it easy to find musicians in the states? do you have a way through the music scene that helps? a network?

Los Angeles is one of the melting pots for musicians, everyone wants to be in a band. It’s like having tattoos, it was cool at one point, but now everybody wants one and has one.

There are many ways find musicians, for example music connection, craigslist, bandmix, etc.. I don’t know what you would have in Europe? Maybe the same?

16/ you are on linkedin but now on facebook do you think they are different?

I have actually have been on both for a long time. There is more inner action with FB than there is with Linked, although Linked is more industry driven.

17/ what could you tell to kids who wants to get a band? any advice...

Pick an instrument you enjoy playing not because you have to, but because you want to. Time is on your side. Be true to yourself, enjoy life, plug it in and Let it Rock.

Thanks Eric

www.facebook.com/EricClaroVocalist

1/who started the band? chosen the name, what’s the story?

The band came out by an idea of the singer Aivil and the guitarist Julie, whom have played together in a previous project. Some time,and attemps, later we’ve found Electra the bass player in a site called “Villaggio musicale” and a drummer with whom we’split up after one year more or less. Last but not least, Noemi,our drummer, joined us through “Villaggio musicale” too, and it worked! The name was invented by Julie and we immediately loved it.

2/have you wanted to be an all female band or it just happened?

Actually both of them. We started with the idea of being an all female band, but initially we couldn’t find the members. So we submitted to the idea of being a mixed band. And there the luck helped us, making us find Electra and Noemi and supporting all of us in the creation of this all female project.

3/are you school mate? how long have you been friends for?

Aivil and Julie have studied in the same school,and have been friends for almost five years now. With Noemi and Electra we’ve been friends for less time, but the affection we feel is really strong. We’re a kind of a family.

4/how did you get signed with Agoge Records ?

They found us through a collaborator who knew us.

5/your music regroups different styles from the 80’s , are you inspired by those bands? which ones are your favorites?

We all have different influences, and the 80’s are the greatest melting pot to draw from. But we even love punk and other genres. We love,for example, Motley Crue, Sex Pistols, Guns ‘N Roses, Iron Maiden, Megadeth.

6/is it your first band?

No,no for none of us. We’ve all had previous projects when we were in high school.

7/you seem to have dark lyrics, are they from real life or just stories you’ve heard?

Some of them are real, some others are metaphores or allegories. We want to speak about themes that we think are relevant in our songs, and always try to put some of ourselves in them, sometimes sharing our experience, some other sharing our thoughts or emotions.

8/Italy is exploding in the music , do you know many bands and is there a supporting scene?

Yes there are a lot of bands in Italy nowadays, some people say there are more musicians than fans and,in a way, that’s true. There is a supporting scene but yet is not wide enough for the number of bands. And, sometimes, italians tend to be a bit lazy and go only to big gigs, which is a pity because in the underground there are a lot of valid and talented realities.

9/since you have a wide range of inspiration are you playing gigs easily with different bands from Rock,Metal...?

We’ve played gigs mostly with hard rock bands,but not only. Even because in Italy in a gig often play three, four,or even five bands, and it’s difficult that they all play the same genre.

10/so how is the response from the medias?

From italian media the response is not as good as one hopes unfortunately. But Italy is still not ready for that kind of music. Digital medias, on the other hand, are really good tools, and allow us to spread our Music and message worldwide.

11/how do you create your songs? does everyone brings ideas or you just sit in the rehearsal and it comes?

Once again both. We all brings ideas, riffs, lyrics and then we sit in the rehearsal room and try to put them together, change this or that until we like what it comes out. Sometimes we just start improvising and we find that a piece of what we were doing was really gripping, and we start working on it.

12/who directed the video, what’s your impression about it?

The video was directed by the guys from “Progressive Media Studio”. We like it really much , they’ve fine a good job and it communicates exactly the dark atmosphere that the song needs.

13/do you think the video brings lot of people buying your album? why choosing this song?

We hope so! We chose this song not only because we love the groove it has, but even for the lyrics which deal with a topic that we find really important : intellectual suicide. Too many people kill their minds and waste their lives in the comfort of lack of personality, lack of ambition and complete ignorance, sometimes even falling in drugs addiction.

14/have you participated to the cover ‘s creation on the CD? We’ve came up with the idea and some material and followed all the steps of its creation.

15/which songs do you cover live and why?

At the present time we do not cover songs live. But we used to cover “Cherry bomb” from the Runaways and “Pour some sugar on me” by Def Leppard. We really like these songs because they are the ones the band started with.

www.facebook.com/pages/Sin-of-night

1/what was the first reason you reformed the band and what were the difficulties you encountered?

1. Putting together the CD box set fired us up again and there was a demand for us to play live. Then it was a case of ringing up past band members to see who would be interested and committed.

2/have you been in other bands before and have you always been in touch together?

2. Rob and myself have always been in bands together since growing up. Our first band we formed was called Blackwater Fever. We’ve been through some tough times but are still riffing.

3/so what’s the difference between DA first years and the new ones?

3. We still like the same sort of music so i’m not sure if we have changed much apart from having better production these days. We’re just carrying on from where we left off.

4/with the changes in music and technology did it help to move on?have you tried to get on the new wagon?

4. The internet is a huge factor as to why we’re still playing and recording. It helps us to connect with our fans. We keep our eyes and ears open to what’s happening in the music scene but we’re happy with the wagon we’ve got.

5/since you refomed what is your view on your journey so far?is it still tough?

5. It’s always been tough just to keep a band together, different personalities need to gel and have the same level of commitment. Since reforming we’ve played in countries we’ve never been to before as a band, so it’s good to reach out to new people.

6/you managed to play live shows in france how did you get that chance?why uk bands don’t play often abroad?

6. Our manager gets the gigs through his network of promoters. I can’t speak for other bands wanting to play abroad, but in our case we have to negotiate a fee to make it worthwhile.

7/are you friends with other 80’s bands who reformed or still alive? is there a metal union in the uk?

7. When we meet up at gigs we all get on. Every so often there’s a NWOBHM gig somewhere in the UK. 8/your last album is on LP, although people ask for it,it seems a hard task and expensive! how did you get this opportunity and are you a lp collector?

8. We get approached by these small independent record labels asking to release on vinyl. We cut a deal with them and we supply the artwork which keeps the cost down.

9/is that album full of new compositions or you have rewritten old one?

9. All the songs are new and we’re in the process of writing our next E.P. We may in the future think about re-recording some of our earlier songs or save it for a live record.

10/since you are two original members are you the only one to create?

10. Both myself and Rob are creative, we work together well and it’s always been that way.

11/what’s the reason for title of the album?is there a story behind?

11. It’s taken from the song title Sweeter the Meat our manager suggested using it for the name of the album. It’s about a bloodthirsty entity but it can have other connotations.

12/who designed the cover?it’s pretty dark have you participated?

12. Rob designs most of our artwork as well as Dave Wall our original vocalist.

13/are you following new bands ?what ‘s your view on the metal scene?

13. We stick to what we’re good at and what moves us and hopefully so do other people. There’s always a metal scene otherwise we wouldn’t still be doing it and if you like rock then there’s something for everyone.

http://desolationangels.co.uk

1/what challenges you have you had to make this album ? Compare to the previous ones.

This was our first time working with a producer. I wouldn’t call it a challenge but it was definitely a new experience and more of a process than our past albums. We’ve always wanted the opportunity to spend a lot of time working on an album just like they used to in the 70’s or 80’s so we took about three months of working everyday on this one.

The greatest challenge I believe was going into the studio for the first time ever without our brother Alan Riches who tragically passed away last year. He had been by our side since our first recording and it was very difficult to do this one without him.

2/Have you tried to get heavier, there is a bit of “thrash” riffs?

It’s more of a natural progression I think. Our guitarist Daniel comes from a heavy metal and specifically thrash background so that type of “chug” riffing is definitely heard in his playing. Our other guitarist CC is filled with punk/hardcore influence as well which can attribute to some of the more “thrashy” speeds in some of our new tunes.

3/are you still writting the same way or you did it differently?

Songwriting for Diemonds is definitely a group contribution process but the original song structure usually comes from CC before the rest of the band has their input on it.

4/when the album title came ou and what’s the story? are songs linked?

The themes for the album are definitely centred largely around life and death. Struggles that we encounter in our everyday life. There’s also songs that we hope will empower listeners to make a change in their life, or a take a risk. Over It and Ain’t That Kinda Girl are linked in that one of them is sort of a call to arms and the other is a call to action. The album title “Never Wanna Die” felt appropriate with the art concept we were going for as well as the it being a title of one of the albums proposed singles.

5/how do you lay down melodies, what makes you choose the way you sing?

I like to listen to the instrumentation first and find inspiration in that. Sometimes I feel so passionate about the lyrics I’ve written that a melody comes without me even hearing a guitar riff. Music is magic.

6/which band would you say or singer inspired you?

Davy Vain, Sebastian Bach, Stephen Pearcy and Ann Boleyn are definitely some of my biggest inspirations for vocal style but for a modern approach I definitely would say I’m a big fan of the way Lzzy Hale delivers her hooks.

7/have you taken singing courses?

We all need a little help sometimes...sometimes before a tour or heading into the studio I like to do some private vocal lessons to help me prepare my voice for the beating it is about to take.

8/are you playin any instrument?most find ideas on guitar...

I don’t play any instruments well, but I’m definitely around them enough. I still usually find my ideas with guitar.

9/so how the band creates the songs?

Generally CC comes to the jamspace with a riff and loose song structure. From there everyone contributes and we record demos. We listen to the demos and tweak the songs to make them better and then we head into the studio to make the final version.

10/with all the tours you’ve done , would you say you have a fan base that following you? has this overwhelmed your expectation? a little word for them...

It still blows my mind when I step on stage and see people singing my lyrics. It’s a feeling I don’t think I’ll ever get used to but I absolutely love it. The fact that fans are willing to wait outside venues to meet us for photos and autographs is pretty much the coolest thing ever. That’s how I am with my favourite bands, so it’s unreal to see it come full circle. We are nothing without the Die-Hards!

11/are you dealing with merch or social media for the band?

Yes! We are very proud to be a DIY band when it comes to social media and merchandise. CC designs and hand prints all our merchandise and I do a lot of the social media posting from the Diemonds account. We know exactly how we want to represent ourselves and we love doing it. It’s all a labour of love!

12/how did you get signed by Napalm Records? and what do you think of them?

We really wanted to work with Napalm because of their genuine interest in Diemonds and our music. They approached us and it was a bit of a no-brainer. We are incredibly excited to sign with Napalm! Never Wanna Die is just the beginning of this relationship.

13/have you played abroad, which country seemd the most into the band?

We haven’t had the opportunity to venture much outside of North America. That’s going to change very, very soon. We can’t wait to meet our international fans!

14/you have that sexy outfit do you think it helps for people getting attracked by the band? is it necessary? women singers seem to play more and more on this now...

I don’t necessarily think I’ve dressed “sexy” but I’m more wearing vintage threads in an effort to channel the rock n’ roll powers of my heroes from the era I style myself in. I like to imagine the people who were wearing my old vintage vests and bodysuits and tees were at rock shows just partying. Also, I liked the way Stephen Pearcy, Doro, & Vanity all looked onstage.

15/are you like a familly in the band?have you had line up issues?

We are 100% a family. Even past members – everyone’s contributions are recognized and appreciated.

16/most of your songs are 3 mins long is it intended or it’s cos you have tons of ideas?

We certainly have tons of cool ideas for songs but 3 minutes just feels like the perfect length for a tune, doesn’t it? Not everything can be In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida! Ha! 17/how did you get this awesome artwork? who made it and have you participated to it?

The artwork was drawn by the very talented Tom Martin. He’s also the lead singer and driving force behind the worlds greatest thrash band Lich King. Tell him we sent you.

18/you have left your funny horror show but still with the dead, are you gonna reach the tombs?

I think we are still goofballs, but our album has darker subject matter in Never Wanna Die. Let’s hope we don’t reach the tombs though. We’ve definitely dealt with too much loss over the past year and a hald.

19/what’s the scene like in canada? have you got friends in the music?which band you’re most into?

Canada has an amazing scene – we’re actually on tour in Canada right now! There’s so many amazing bands and venues. Some of our favorites are Cauldron, Kobra & The Lotus, Striker, Mortillery, Unleash The Archers, The Wild, One Bad Son, Shotgun Cure, The Balconies, Die Mannequin, July Talk, Cancer Bats, Fucked up, Wildheart, The Cola Heads, & Monster Truck. Do yourself a favour and check them all out!

http://www.diemonds.net

1/ you left Pure steel records for Iron Shield why?!

1/ Hi Marcel, meanwhile, on behalf of all the band I want to thank you for this interview. it is a pleasure and an honor for us to introduce our music to as many people as possible.

Therefore, the choice to change the label is not motivated by a wish to change the air but just plain from the expiry of the contract that bound us to Pure Steel Records. Without of the conditions for a renewal we have found in Iron Shield Records the right enthusiasm and the potential to continue our journey. However we want to say thanks to the guys of Pure Steel for the great work they have done and continue to do for us.

2/ you have a great cover artwork who designed it and have you participated to it?

2/ Thank you for appreciating it. The artwork was designed by a local artist, Simona Brancè, which has collected our ideas and she made the whole thing.

3/what have you changed or worked on compare to the earliest albums?

3/ I believe that we have not made many changes to our method of approach to the new material, we continued on the road began with Race Of Steel. We do more and more attention to every aspect of every song and we try to bring out the best. In the past this process took longer, but over the years the feeling of the band is increased and now everything is easier.

4/the song “the last tears” sounds apart from the whole album, like another singer with a female voice, what’s the reason? is just cos every bands doing it now??

4/ Yes, we can consider this song like a moonbeam in a stormy sea. This is not because of a specific reason or simply from a desire to do what other bands do. We like to do what we like, not follow the trends nor copy other bands, above all, make it clear to our listeners we create pieces that Kick-ass. The decision to add a female voice is dictated precisely by this our desire to step outside the schemes sometimes.

5/did you have line up changes while recording or guest?

5/ The line up on the disc is the same as established for the past six years. We had the pleasure to host Nadia Orlando to the voice in the song “The Last Tears” and Dino Fiorenza, a great international artist, on bass in a bonus version of “Scent Of Madness”.

6/your voice has lost of variety of influences , how do you modulate it? what’s the challenge for you?

6/ It is a great challenge for me. I always try to find the right voice and especially the right approach in each song so that it can come out better. I always listened to the great voices of metal, I tried to study in depth each facet and this helped me to use different registers according to the characteristics of our songs.

7/the italian scene seems to have perfect bands, have you all played together? or it’s just the fact people really live Metal? - 8/so which bands are you friends with or play live shows often?

7-8/ The Italian scene is full of great bands that have nothing to envy to those of other countries. In recent years, we had the great fortune to work and play with some of these and, among all, let me to mention our brothers Alltheniko.

However in my opinion the scene does not enjoy much health, so it’s quite fragmented. There are many difficulties for the bands to emerge, and there are too many stupid wars between the bands themselves, and this is not good for anybody. This is why we try to pull straight on our road and we surround ourselves only to people who share with us the pure love for this music.

9/you have influences on few songs from thrashers Sanctuary and Metal church, are they big influences in your sound?

9/ There are so many bands that have contributed to our sound and to which we are inspired. To those that you mentioned I would add Primal Fear, the Accept, Judas Priest and Saxon to name a few.

10/the last song is more hard rock with different influences, have you tried something or it’s another direction you might take in the futur?

10/ Yes, it sounds more hard rock than the other parts, but it is not a choice, nor even a future direction. As I said previously is just a different way to express our music and give our fans something different.

11/you got at the beggining of the album a big influence with Judas Priest, his this band your favorite heavy metal band?

11/ Yes, Judas Priest belong to the musical background of all of us and certainly in many tracks, even of past albums, you can listen to this influence. Then maybe in songs like Scent Of Madness comes the Saxon side of Giuseppe, and the piece is more hard rock.

12/have you had many line up changes since you started the band?

12/The line up is the same since 2009. Initially, the bands was a studio project made only by Gianluca and Alfonso.

Later, with the first consents and with the need to start playing live they have joined the rest of the members who currently make Steel Raiser.

13/have you got a tour planned already?

13/ Currently there are no scheduled tour. Organize one for us is not easy given the logistical difficulties of our land.

We’ll see after the summer as move in order to promote live at the best our last album.

14/do you find it difficult to make a new album, creating songs that will please?

14/ The creative process in Unstoppable was not difficult as in Regeneration. Although we gave our best to blow up the full potential of each individual track the route was very natural and fast. As musicians we know each other very well, we have a great feeling and we know what our strengths and our flaws and that’s why we always know what to do without leaving anything to the case. If one of our songs convinces us metalheads, then we are certain that it can convince anyone else to hear it.

15/can you tell us what are your equipment and why did you choose them?

15/ It would be a bit long to be listed XD. I can tell you that we try to connect the power to shine, blow up the ears in the uptempo pieces and exalt at the most harmonies and guitar solos. For this we use amplifications Laney, Engl and Ampeg, and tools such as Fender, Warwick and Pearl.

16/you have great powerfull songs have you remade some or didn’t took them all for the album? how do you put al ltogether?

16/All the songs that we composed in 2014 are contained in the album.

We focus on a specific number of songs, starting with the riff and a basic arrangement understand whether or not we can continue the development of the material. Obviously we always try to give the brand Steel Raiser in all the pieces and give the album the right uniformity.

www.facebook.com/ SteelRaiserOfficial

1/you “reformed” in 2011 what happened?

The simple explanation is that we re-named the band and had a change in attitude. The attitude became basically, stop waiting around for someone to help us, and let’s do anything and everything we can, with or without any help. So far it’s worked out pretty well!

2/you are self-releasing two Lps that must cost a lot! How do you get these done?

Well yes indeed it costs a lot! We basically took out a loan. We figure a record label works the same way, except paying for the albums ourselves gives us more potential to gain in the long run. We aren’t completely on our own however as we’ve got help in releasing short runs of specific formats, which include Underground Power Records (Germany) who are releasing ‘Ride For Glory’ on Vinyl and Tridroid Records (USA) who are releasing ‘Ride For Glory’ on Cassette.

3/who did that great cover artwork and have you given instructions or you chose something done already?

Isn’t it crazy!? The album cover was illustrated by Alan Lathwell from the UK, we told him the themes of the album along with the album title and he took it from there. Alan came back to us a bit later with the main image sketched out, we were extremely impressed and just made some minor tweaks to take it to the final stage!

4/is it easy to have sister/brother in the band?

We’ve influenced each other throughout the years and I think we have a unique bond, especially through music. At times our personalities can clash a little, but most of the time I think its pretty fun! No matter the relation, everyone has different personalities, the main difference is, if you get in a fight you need to try a little harder to make things right again!

5/who creates the music? it is a whole band’s work?

I generally will write the majority of the riffs and I will usually be the main person involved in the songs structures, however we all as a band influence the direction of the songs and all write our own parts. When it comes to lyrics Leighton is the main writer and Amanda or I will take on some lyrics from time to time!

6/the album is about world wars history, what motivates you to write this? are you reading lots of books?

For me personally I was influenced a lot when we toured through Europe there was this sense of all these countries who’ve been at war with each other for centuries, I found the history incredible, and wanted to write songs about every story I heard! Obviously for one album that’s an impossible feat but I got really inspired hearing about all the tales of old! With a little persuasion from Amanda (Also wanting to do the same type of album) we decided to theme the album around world history and heroic events!

Once we got the theme in mind we went into research mode and looked up probably hundreds of stories from all over the world and through history to find the ones we settled on!

7/ Your music reminds of Maiden and Priest, are they your big influences? Are you trying to get close to those band you like?

Priest and Maiden are my top two favourite bands! To state that I’m trying to sound like Iron Maiden or Judas Priest, well no that’s not exactly my intention, I have many influences from many different bands and I just write what I think sounds cool! It just so happens that I think 80’s Heavy Metal sounds really cool, and so most of the time the riffs tend to sound that way.

Ideally I’d prefer to invent a unique sound for Iron Kingdom, something that is reminiscent of an older style of metal but somehow still modern enough that we can create a unique sound. I’m not sure we’re quite there yet, but I feel we are closing in on it!

8/ How did you get that voice? Have you learnt and practice in different bands or school?

Obviously the tone is just my natural voice and then whatever power or ability to extend my range is through practice and the odd vocal lesson, which I have taken on and off since the start of Iron Kingdom.

9/you have a big live tour have you got an agent? how do you get deal with it?

There’s no booking agent working with us at this time, (As much as I sometimes wish there was! Haha) I booked the entire tour on my own, working with local bands, venues and promoters in each city. We ended up with 34 dates across North America and I couldn’t be more excited to hit the road!!

If anyone who’s helped me book us in his or her city is reading this, I couldn’t have done it without you! You guys were all extremely helpful and I can’t wait to rock with you! HUGE THANKS TO YOU!

10/have you got label interest?did you send tapes?

We aren’t actively looking for a label, however a few have approached us, and we were extremely close to signing with this one label for ‘Ride For Glory’ but the timing just didn’t quite work out, we’re still on good terms with them and so perhaps the next release we will see Iron Kingdom signed!

If not well we’re still going to play Heavy Metal music the way we want it!! All we really need are our fans to keep us rocking! \m/

11/do you have a recording studio?

I have some equipment in our jam space, it’s decent enough for making a quick recording for ideas but nothing good enough to actually record an album. Depending on how things go this could be an option for the future!

12/is one of you knowledgeable in mix or recording?

I know more about recording than I do mixing but I have dabbled here and there! Nothing I would feel comfortable releasing at this time anyways!

13/are you using digital equipment? what do you think of those?

Yes I wish I had the space and / or money to use analogue but its just not possible at this time, I think digital equipment does the trick and keeps costs down, however I don’t think it will ever be better than a pure analogue signal.

14/are there bands you’re friend with or gig a lot?

Absolutely! Ill just name a few from some of our more recent tours, so there’s Toledo Steel (Traditional Metal) and Hundred (Traditional Metal) from the UK, we played a few shows with them on our European tour in 2014, Night Demon (Traditional Metal) from the USA of course from our Warriors of the West USA tour in 2014, not to mention our local favourites in Vancouver, Unleash the Archers (Power Metal) and Omega Crom (Power/Thrash Metal), both of which will be playing our upcoming CD release party this Thursday in Vancouver, Canada!

In fact I stay in touch with a decent amount of the bands we’ve played with, including Naraka (Melodic Death Metal) from Medicine Hat, AB and Kantation (Power Metal) from Apple Valley, CA just as examples, just cool dudes who love to play music and support other local and touring bands!

Heavy Metal these days is a network of cool musicians and metal heads that support each other and make wicked tunes, you need to make friends and hell they’re all so fuckin’ cool anyways so why not!

15/would you recommend any band?

Besides the bands I mentioned earlier I would also recommend Skull Fist, Holy Grail, Enforcer, Air Raid, Midnight Malice, Stallion, Crystal Viper, and the list goes on and on, but there are a few pretty stellar bands worth checking out if you haven’t already!

16/since you have an 80’s sound what’s your view on new Metal bands n the evolution?

I can’t blame bands for what they are doing these days, however I don’t care to listen to many of them because to me they all go too far in one direction or the other. In the beginning of the genre, Hard Rock and or Heavy Metal was the start and then everyone took a small part of Heavy Metal and made sub-genres that ran off in different directions, they all started off pretty badass for the most part but they kept on going farther and farther, some I like and some I hate!

See I understand why Metal music progressed and where it went, however I just don’t find many of those directions appealing to me. I feel that Heavy Metal lost one thing that I think made it so great back in the 70’s or 80’s, that middle ground where it made the average person enjoy rocking out to a wicked Heavy Metal song! You can say it got over popular and too produced, which I can understand, but there’s been this void in Heavy Metal, and for me Traditional Heavy Metal is starting to fill that void, but is it going to completely do the trick? At this point its either not properly promoted to the masses or it’s just not quite ready and I don’t know yet what the progression will be.

Here is how I came to this conclusion, the very first album I ever got was Deep Purple’s Machine Head, and I was so into this album that when I found out it was made in the 70’s I went holy shit! I wonder what modern rock and roll is like! (It must only get better with time, right?!) So I bought a couple modern rock band CD’s and I just didn’t understand what happened.. Something 30 years old is better than something just released?

This doesn’t make any sense to me! I then slowly heard of other older bands such as AC/DC and Iron Maiden, etc.. And again I was so happy with what they had created!! It was incredible! This eventually lead to me making my own band, I thought, hey, if no one else is making the music I like then let me give it a try! I want this music to survive through the ages and although I love Judas Priest and think their tunes are timeless, people will always want something new to listen to and I want to help them have that choice!

Thanks so much for doing this interview with me! And a big thanks to the reader for listening to my ramblings!

Check us out, enjoy the tunes, and as always keep the faith! \m/

www.facebook.com/ironkingdom www.iron-kingdom.com

1/you had a break but seems you get back to life? what happened?

Dirk: Peter, Mike and I, have made a 4 Track Demo after 25 years. Just for fun. The resonance was huge

Dirk: In our youthtime we inspired of Band´s like Slayer, Anthrax, Venom, Judas Priest, ect. I don´t know if we inspired other Band´s …. Hope so (Haha)

10/ are you commited in other bands or projects? are you like 2/did you find it hard to get things going, gigs, website...? a familly?

Dirk: It is not hard, we have a awesome booking Team and Dirk: After Iron Angel in the 80´s, we have had some Kinds they do it for us (Thank´s Guido) of Projects, JR. Blackmore, Tony Carey and other Artists.

Andy es: we are a great team and have a lot of fun together.

3/obviously the fans are still here and even demands on albums, what would you say to them and is social media 11/do you still have the same gear or you try new tech dehelped? vice?

Dirk: First we want to say, all of your Guy´s are totaly cra- Dirk: We like the old analog sound. We have some old gear. zy, and we are so exciting to play in your Country.

The guitars have the old 80´s Metal-Sound Andy es: Facebook and all the other plattforms make a great support.

12/the 80’s bands are back or still here what ‘s your view on this?

4/are you playing old tunes or you have already new ones?

Dirk: The Sound oft he 80´s was great and still great. The Dirk: On these South America Tour, we play the best old people say yes or no ! cracks oft he 80´s, and one of the Demo. We waiting fort he resonace and then we will working on a new album.

13/since you had line up changes, how did you recrut ? would you say it won’t change again?

5/what difficulties you encountered to get the band going?

Dirk: Now, I am the last oft he original Form. But the new Dirk: Only the time ! We all have a job and so it is not easy Guys are brilliant Musicians and they are realy good friends. to organice the timetable. We want realize as many show´s as possible.

14/have you changed your likes in Metal, are there any old songs you don’t like to play?

6/do you think the metal scene is more difficult than it Dirk: 2 Songs of us I will never play it again in my life !!! used to be?

Dirk: I think it is not so difficult between the 80´s and to- 15/have you contacted labels?which one is the best for you? day. The real fans are 18 or 50 years old. Anywere !

Dirk: I think a new Album will come on Nuclear Blast (Maybe) We will see whats going on.

7/who organise the shows? have you sent out demands to big festivals?

Thank you Hope to see you on our show. Have a great time Dirk: We have a great booking company. They do all for Metal rulez \m/ us.

8/are they any bands that are friends or support you? you’re touring with often...

www.ironangel.eu

Dirk: Schmier from Destruction (Panzer) is an old friend for many years. Maybe we plan a Gig together 9/heavy metal is still going strong , which new bands you support or like? do you think you have inspired many?

Rage Sadler 1/you were signed and now it seems you get on your own, what happened? do you think it’s hard to get trusty labels these days?

1- We have been signed by several record labels, starting with Specky, then it was MGR and the last one was an American deal with Static Tension. Specky wasn’t strong enough to really do anything, MGR ended up costing us over £4000 and had way too much influence on our album The Waystone and we never made any of that money back and Static Tension didn’t want to actually print any materials to sell to that was essentially pointless. We haven’t had any interest from a major label, so we put things out under our own Revival label.

2/you release singles, are you catching the internet wagon?

2- Justice Injustice was released to promote our upcoming third album and to see how the audience took to the new direction we have taken musically and in terms of production. I had a far greater say over how Justice Injustice sounded then our previous album and I think it sounds all the better for it, especially in terms of guitar tone and vocals. I had a lot more freedom to do what I wanted without MGR saying it should be one thing or another and having it sound the way they wanted.

3/do you get money from those singles?

3- The whole thing has cost us about £700 to put together, right from recording the track to the art and subsequent promotion. We have only sold about 5 “downloads” so this definitely wasn’t a money making exercise. This was more about showing where we are going next with the band.

4/it seems you have a big fan base, how come your line up keep changing?

4- We have a small but dedicated fan base we have both built up in our home region of East Anglia and our relentless gigging up and down the country. We can do very well some nights at shows playing to a full house, others, depending on the promotion and generally there’s very little from some of the venues/promoters themselves except from a facebook event nobody sees so those nights are poorly attended because nobody knows they are even happening and they just won’t spend anything on advertising. As for the line-up, the core of the band is essentially the same as it has been since 2012 with Anthony Murch who was on our first album and Chris Mackinnon who joined us later that same year. Dan sadly left us recently to pursue other interests. As there’s no money in the game you really have to be 100% dedicated to it and Kaine is essentially a full time job that doesn’t pay, that costs a fortune to run and is a lot of hard work.

5/have you thought of giving up the band and join one?

5- I will never join someone else’s band, as soon as Kaine is through, I am through with music. As for giving up I am sure there are many who would if they were in my position but I am just not that sort of person. The only thing I lack is money for promotion of our music, if we had that then we would be touring and playing the bigger festivals but without that money you’re always going to be fighting a battle to keep going. That’s the nature of the music business.

6/how did you get your LP done? what’s the price for an underground band? have you sold many ?

6- Falling Through Freedom cost close to £5000 to produce and sold 200 copies but is now out of print, The Waystone cost about £6000 and has sold close to 500 copies. These were both self-funded.

7/how do you create? are you the only one to or you manage to get other members to bring ideas?

7- Traditionally one of us will have an idea and bounce it back and forth between us before jamming it in the studio and turning it into an actual song. I write a lot of the material in the first instance but my guys have 100% creative freedom to add to it and play with it how they see fit too. We are a very good unit and get along really well.

8/have you got endorsement?

8- Chris is endorsed by Pellwood Drumsticks and Code Drum Heads, myself, Ant and Saxon are endorsed by Blackstar Amplification and Rotosound Guitar strings.

9/ many 80’s bands are getting back, is the uk scene growing again? what’s your say/view 9- The 80s bands never left us it’s just with the internet you can now follow what they are up to and they can also make their fans aware that they are still going. There’s a few bands taking advantage of this and it’s good to see them out there playing their music. As for audiences our scene here in the UK is pretty good in some areas and absolutely woeful in others. London is so bogged down with Pay 2 Play and screwing bands that it’s probably the worst place for any band to gig in the entire country where as you can get much smaller places where the people are just happy to see live music and the venues/promoters don’t screw the bands into the ground. I think it’s a shame we don’t see more younger people out supporting new bands and venues on a regular basis but there’s a perception that underground bands are all rubbish scream bands which puts them off going out. It’s a hangover from 2007 when that’s all you would see at gigs which for the most part has died off now and thank God for that.

10/on your last single justice, there is a Thrashy rythm to it, have you always wanted to have this heavy side or you just moving to get heavier?

10- I wrote the main riff and lyrics to that song back in 2011. Justice Injustice is the best thing we have ever recorded in my mind, the best we have sounded and definitely from my point of view a perfect song.

11/ who did your design? how do you get those done, do you have already some thoughts about it?

11- Silencer 8 does all of our designs, he also works with a number of other bigger bands. I am always very impressed with his artwork.

12/is there a Metal familly in the uk or it’s like todays ‘im the one’ kinda way..?

12- I am not sure what you mean by a Metal family. Certainly in East Anglia we have a thriving underground scene where I have a lot of good friends we see regularly out either at gigs or with their own bands.

13/you are saying that blabermouth n else are talkin shit on you, why is that happening? do you think those sites are just crap?

13- I am not a fan of the those websites, if I want to see what a session musician from a once popular bands live tour is doing now I will check the crime shorts in the papers. What they generally write about is irrelevant and they do next to nothing to promote new bands.

14/tell us about your equipment, why you chose them?

14- Personally I play ESP-LTD Ex guitars, I have about 6 different models with different pickups but my preference is EMG HZ’s which are passive and give a nice heavy sound. I also play an Epiphone Explorer. Amp’s wise I use Blackstar HT Metal heads and Series One speaker cabinets and at home I use Blackstar ID Core amplifiers. String’s wise I use Rotosounds British Steel strings.

15/your thoughts to the young bands?

15- First and fore mostly do it for enjoyment and not for money. It’s no secret that broadband changed the music industry, in many respects it devalued music in the eyes of the consumer so the record sales are just not there anymore so chances are you’re never going to make a living from music. Never buy onto anything, never sell tickets for promoters or pay to play because in the long run that won’t benefit you, find the right venues and promoters and the people who will help without taking money from you. Remember that no one person is going to make you famous, so just do what you want to do and if you work hard enough you can achieve great things. Love music and enjoy playing it!

http://www.kaine-metal.com

1/what’s the reson for that name? I first thought of a radio station... : The name comes from a comedy sketch in Bermuda called not the Um Um show. The band is named Mohawk Radio after the comedy sketch ‘ Radio Mohawk’

2/when did you start the band ? what was the idea? ; We started the band in 2012. We started it because we wanted to bring rock n roll back to its crowning glory

3/how guys got together in the first place? : We met through an online posting! Mia was looking for a band we we were looking for a singer.. very new age dating of us! lol

4/have you taken singing courses? : Yes Mia has, with Opera Diva Marcelle Clemens

5/on the internet they are plenty of covers you did, have you started as a cover band? No we never started as a cover band, but we do like to do a cover or two. Paying homage to some of our favourite bands/artists is why we enjoy doing some covers

6/on your website there is a video where you kill your band members, have you got the wish to kill people ?..

Only the boys sometimes! LOL!! The only thing I’m interested in killing wise.. it killing it on stage and slaying the music industry

7/you have been signed, how did it come? have you chased labels or they just came to you? Yes! We have recently signed to LMC Records in the UK. We are also signed with Chatfield Entertainment in the US. We were approached by both companies, as our music was submitted to them.

8/you have released albums, are they self releases and have you got songs you created? Yes! We have Mohawk Radio #1 and Halfway to Heaven EP’s both are available via a the regular mediums .. Itunes, Spotify etc

9/how would you describe your band to the people who don’t know you? We’ve lovingly been described as the moment when Cher met Metallica

10/who has inspired you as a singer? which musical direction the band is going to? Singers who have inspired me are mainly : Freddy Mercury and Robert Plant .. We straddle a few different disciplines of Rock. From Hard .. Soft .. and even a little ballad here and there

11/have you toured the whole country? have you been abroad? We have been all over the UK. Earlier this year we did a short stint in America, we travelled to New Orleans and New York

12/which bands are playing live with you? is it easy to get on together since you have many influences? A few bands locally to wherever we’re touring, we all love rock music so it’s a pretty easy fit

13/what is the reactions from the public? the people who discover you? Whenever we play, we get the best reaction from the audience. This weekend we played a festival and filled the tent with men, women and children .. people were singing our songs dancing in the sunshine .. it was a magical moment. People discover us from word of mouth, from friends of friends, from stumbling into us when they are already out enjoying an event, and of course on line

14/have you used the social media to get exposure? does it help? Social media is something you can’t get away from these days if you’re in a band :).

We are on all the major sites: Facebook/ Twitter/ Youtube/ Instagram and we have our own website :

www.mohawkradio.co.uk

1/Why reforming the band now? > Ronnie Dean: Well, if we wait much longer we may all be dead didn’t you know? I’m sure that you and your readers are aware that we are all living at the threshold of a very strange moment in time. Events transpire and unfold around you, and as we speak- this world is headed down inevitable tracks to a conclusion of sorts. What would you say if I told you that we may be privy to inside sources- that hint at things coming our way that could not be postponed any longer? Would that please you? Have you even wondered lately, as the seconds tick away - “Do the End of Times draw nearer?” As it turns out- I can’t think of a better time for us to hop back on this ride, and play our part, before the carnival comes to an end. I can’t control these future events, however, I can tell you this - there are forces at work behind the curtains - and shortly, when the cycles and seasons are in alignment - they will come full circle. > 2/Is it the original line up? Have you always been in touch? > RD : The band consists of myself on guitar & vocals, original member- Gene Davis on guitar & backing vocals, our original bassist- Tony Pruitt, and Jon Lynch on the drums. Kevin Montgomery, the bassist on the “Underground” CD, no longer plays - and our previous drummer John McClain died back in ‘93. Gene has lived in California since the band’s disappearance in ‘91 and the rest of the band lives in the hollows of Tennessee, so we have what is known as a long-distance-relationship.

3/How did you get Heaven & Hell pressing your tunes? > R.D : The main-man at Heaven & Hell Records - Jeremy Golden contacted me out of the blue around November of last year, with the prospect of re-releasing our old cassette on CD. At first, I was skeptical & a little puzzled, but we discussed it on the phone & he convinced me. I’m sure you know that’s pretty much what they do- find older obscure metal, dust it off a little, and put it out there for all of you to discover all over again. He turned out to be a really cool guy, so I sent him a bunch of artifacts & relics, and he put together the current CD for Heaven & Hell Records. I think that they do an amazing job, and it has been a really cool experience & we’re very appreciative.

4/Have you got new songs already written? > R.D : There are so many awesome HexenHammer songs that were written to be on the follow up album to “Underground” that never got the chance to be recorded. That is unfinished business that has haunted me in the back of my mind for years- and with the circumstances at hand that should finally be addressed in the near-future.

5/Music has changed how do you see the evolution? > R.D : Well, it’s like night & day, isn’t it? But at the same time- the more things change the more they stay the same, as well. Metal is still here, basically same as it ever was. But the internet provides opportunity for musicians, and destroys it at the same time. You have an infinite amount of ways to consume and socialize now, but it is virtually impossible for real bands to make any money off of their music, right? Also, don’t you think that there are maybe just too many bands/artists now? It overwhelms us. I think that there is some very good music out there, but is it just me - or does the VAST majority of music suck right now? To each his own I am told. I’m a perpetual outsider. I don’t fucking get it, yo.

6/Have you been into other bands during those years? > R.D : Well, if you mean- Have I been a member of other bands after HXH?- the answer is yes. I never stopped playing, writing, & recording songs, and have been in several other bands over the years. I have delved into many different musical tastes besides metal, but two of the bands that some of your readers might be interested in would be The Invincible Side Project, and MEPRO the carnivorous membrane- both of which can be found on Youtube under NFCrecords.

7/The band’s name is in use in other countries does it matter? > R.D : Of course, we don’t like that very much - but what can you do? Shit happens, you know? The way I look at it- we had the name first, I came up with that in 1984 and we carried it on to 1991, and then on our journey into Limbo.

So to us- it’s our name & it always will be. The other bands have the right to do what they do, and we’ll do what we do. It doesn’t seem to be that much of an issue right now.

8/So far we have old photos of you , are you gonna keep the old image? > R.D : Indeed! That was 100% what we were- and always will be. But, of course, now we would want to update, and attempt some things that we had planned but never got the chance to do back in the day, when our journey was so rudely interrupted. What you have to remember is -that image & look we were going for was in its very amateurish infancy. We were basically making shit out of garbage-bags & duct-tape at the JamHall. The fucked-up thing is that no-one ever actually got to find out where we were going to take it from there, or realize our potential.

If you only knew of what plans we had- that we never got to try- that were similarly done by others years later. If you have ideas that are a little ahead of your time, but you don’t get to put them into action- then of course, nobody believes you later on- so what’s the point in dwelling? What’s done is done, of course, and the fault lies with those responsible - but that’s an awfully hard nail to put in the coffin. Because of our untimely diversion into Limbo- the path was severed. Now we find ourselves side-tracked in this parallel dimension, 25 years later- left behind in our own shadow. But, for some reason, this damn world keeps on spinning....

9/Are you friends with the 80’s bands who are still alive? > R.D : Are there any of them that actually still are alive? None of this stuff ever really dies, does it?

10/Are you going on tour? > R.D : Now there’s a thought. I guess it depends on your definition of the word “tour”, but very odd things have been known to happen in this modern-age. A HexenHammer show is a splendid and terrible affair- Who knows what the future may hold, my dear?

11/What has been the response so far? > R.D : I’ve been very pleased! Of course, I’m under no illusions of what we should expect. What should a dinosaur fossil feel like when it’s unearthed? When science puts it back together and it roams the Earth once again?

Pretty fucking weird, I would imagine. We have gotten several very cool reviews on the re-release CD of “Underground”- considering that it was done 25 years ago on a cheap 4-track cassette-recorder by ourselves at The JamHall! It is absolutely awesome to get some appreciation for something that we did and believed in so much back in the day- and now, thanks to Jeremy- can be shared with all of you. We have gotten a lot of great feedback from people on the internet, as well, and we really appreciate that. Most of them seem to be new to us & just discovering our band. I’m not really sure if the old fans that have survived have found out about what’s going on with us now- it’s been so long since we disappeared. Won’t they be surprised? We’ll have to do something about that.

In due time, I guess. They are all really great - the poor souls don’t realize what’s coming around the bend- and awaits us all....

12/Are you using social medias to reach out to metalheads? > R.D : “Step right up! Come one- come all! Right this way- watch your step! Womens & Mens & Childrens of all ages! Stop pushing, please- don’t crowd - Now visit our very own “HEXENHAMMER FACEBOOK Page!”

And don’t forget to “Like” us- if you know what’s good for you! Next in line is the HEXENHAMMER Page on REVERBNATION! Don’t forget to leave comments, questions, etc. on both. And over here- you also got your YOUTUBE to search through as well, you know! Now, what you want to do is go on over here at the end of the tour to HEAVEN & HELL RECORDS.com! Contact Jeremy & the gang- and order your “HexenHammer Underground” CD, already! They don’t grow on trees, you know- so there’s a very limited amount of them remaining! When they’re gone- they’re gone, so get on it, Kid - or you’ll miss out! They’ve also got lots of other good obscure Metal there too that might strike your fancy! So have at it! Spread the word!”

13/Have you replayed those songs or it was just a remastering from old tapes? > R.D : The CD “HexenHammer - Underground” is a new enhanced version of our old original cassette that was done on a Tascam 4-track cassette-recorder in

1990. It’s not re-recorded or re-mixed, but it is remastered, exactly, because the original unmixed tracks no longer exist on this planet. The sound quality still retains that DIY raw lo-fi quality that a lot of old-school collectors seem to appreciate- so they should be pleased. You have to remember that this is not a modern “slick” recording- this is an artifact of 1990 small-town American Metal. An “as-is” snapshot of that time & place. Heaven & Hell Records also put a lot of never-before-seen photos of the band, artwork, extras, a different cover, etc. in the package- and there are also 2 never-before-heard HXH songs that were not on the original cassette - so it’s really cool for anyone who might have heard of us back in the day, as well as all of those unfamiliar twisted individuals out there who may be curious & weighing their options.

14/Do you still use old gear? Have you checked the new ones? > R.D : To be honest, I’m not much of a gear-head. I try to keep it basic & just use what works for me at the time.

There’s so much out there right now, isn’t there? What to choose? I’ll have to get back to you on that.

15/Which bands you are following? Would you recommend any? > R.D : No, I’m afraid not. I don’t really seem to get out much lately. This sunken tomb of our own design does seem to be rather confining as of late. I really should try to brush off the cobwebs & get out and stretch a bit. Mingle. >

www.facebook.com/hexenhammerUS

1/you made a song “metal people”, what led you to write this song ? why is it a live song?

1) I’m glad you asked this, Franck. Metal People is a story & also a statement. The story part is about Jameson Raid being ‘lost’ or hidden from sight for so many years & people discovering us again in this new period. It also talks about Metal fans, who we are, how we look & think. The statement is, of course, that both band & fans are Metal People. People who love & care about Metal music. Why live? Because all these feelings can explode with a live Metal band when the fans & the band feel the intense energy that Metal music gives and are welded together to form one whole.

2/you write on your bio you reformed the band in 2010 what happened? did you keep in touch with the members?

2)Jameson Raid had a reunion with the original members, Ian Smith, John Ace, Phil Kimberley & myself. We did it because we wanted to, and we had a fantastic time playing gigs in the UK & Germany. Ian lives in Thailand, Acy was abducted by aliens & Phil has a high management position so it was impossible for them to continue. During the reunion I met up with Pete Green, who played bass with JR from 1980-83 & together we went looking for new musicians.

3/what was the challenge to release this new album?

3)Pete & I knew that we did not want to sound like a 1980’s band that had stood still musically. We wanted to sound as if the band had continued to grow over the years. The challenge was to achieve that & yet still be identifiable as Jameson Raid. It was also our aim to create an album that sounds good & had the best songs we could write. All this had to come together to remind everyone that JR was a force to be reckoned with back in the day and also that it still is!

4/did you compose as a whole band o you had already few songs on tape waiting?

4)Me & Pete wrote the songs for Uninvited Guests. Pete would come with musical ideas which I would add to. Together we would give them form & structure, then, when I had a ‘feel’ for the music I would write the melody line & lyrics.

5/what inspire your lyrics? how do you lay your vocals?

5)The track ‘Uninvited Guests’ was one of the first tracks we wrote & it inspired me to build an almost hidden, shadowy theme into the album. On ‘SS Idol Tearz’ it is an uninvited guest who sinks the ship. In maze of Rats it is a nightmare that is the uninvited guest. In ‘haunted’ it is ghosts that fulfil this role, etc,etc. I sang all the vocals & backing vocals in Dave Rothan’s studios over 2 weekends. Hard work but great fun!

6who decided the cover artwork? what does it represnt for you, have you been part of the creation?

6) The four band members presented ideas to Alex Cooper who based his artwork upon them. The band had full say in certain areas of the creation through a majority vote system. The Uninvited Guests themselves are clearly visible & it is a modern design. The hooded figure is neither human nor skeleton but somewhere in between. You probably wouldn’t want to invite him to your wedding.

7/how has been the response so far?

7)The album has been overloaded with compliments so far which is a sign that the band members got it right.

8/what’s your view on the uk scene, have you got friends with other bands?

8)Ha,ha. I myself have lived in the Netherlands for many years but have contact with lots of UK, Dutch & German musicians via e-mail & Facebook & at gigs, etc. The UK scene is still good for well known bands & there are some excellent festivals to go to. Music sales in the UK aren’t great though.

9/would you say it’s easier for you than new bands?

9)It certainly helps to have a name & a history. People are more likely to listen to you. Because we had a ‘break’ from 1983-2010 we have had to to work very hard to convince people that we still have something relevant to say.

10/i lived in B’ham didn’t seem much a Metal town...where do you play?what do you like in this city?

10)I still visit Birmingham regularly. Jameson Raid has played at the O2Academy, The Robin 2, as well as the Wolverhampton Civic venue. There are other venues such as The Asylum & many pubs still have live music but it’s not easy to get gigs, you have to keep trying. The people of Birmingham are the most friendly City people you can find.

11/doyou have a label, an agent? do you peferdoing it on your own..tell us!

11)Jameson Raid has signed a deal with PureSteel Records in Germany for publishing & promotion; they love the album too, and are going to help it reach a wider audience so this is a big step forward. We still need an agent & a label. Doing it alone is challenging. There are songs to be written, the voice needs practice, the band needs gigs & promotion, there’s the website and so on. It takes a lot of effort but it feels worth it when it goes well.

12/you toured with legends, what do you recall from those moments? how do you get a tour with them?

12)Jameson Raid was an up & coming band, tipped for the top and we were asked to support some of these bands.

It’s in everyone’s interest that as many people as possible come to the gigs so bands that can attract fans & bring them with them are very welcome. It was great to play with Judas Priest, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden & others.

Some nights were super special & with others I need to look at the photos to remind me how it was.

A new double dvd is coming out from the 2010 reunion which features a gig we did in 1980 plus Birmingham’s O2Academy & Germany’s Headbangers Open Air from 2010. It gives a very good idea of then & now & how it feels.

13/do you have your own recording studio? do you produce other bands?

13)Unin-

vited Guests was recorded in Dave Rothan’s home studio.

He does not produce other bands at present.

14/are there bands you are following or support?

14)Judas Priest, Manilla Road, Def Leppard, Accept, Black Sabbath & Avenged Sevenfold & many still active nwobhm bands like Cloven Hoof, Saxon, Maiden, Soldier & The Deep.

15/have you played abroad? what makes it difficult to play in other countries?

15)Personally, I’ve done all my gigs within Europe. I would love to take JR’s music to far off places like, Brasil, Japan or the USA; one day maybe I’ll have the chance. If like us you are commonly called a ‘cult’ band it stays difficult. It means only a small number of fans in places like Tokyo or Rio know about you. We need a good hit record!

16/any news info?

16)I’d also like to mention that the band in the future will be known as Terry Dark’s Jameson Raid as I will be inviting different musicians to work with me.

Metal Greets Terry E-mail: info@jamesonraid.co.uk www.Facebook.com/Jameson.Raid99 YouTube/Jameson Raid Twitter: (@JamesonRaid1)

www.JamesonRaid.co.uk

and B s i v a e R d i v a D 1/when did you start the band what was the idea?

1/ My idea was to get my orignal songs out there and performing...

2/you are only a three piece have you had another guitarist? a singer?

2/ We tryed having a rhythm guitarist. ..but it seemed unnecessary. ..I like the tight 3 piece sound... a singer?I feel these songs are from my soul to deliver personally ...they all have meaning and feeling involved. ..

3/Did you know each other or you just searched for musicians? .3 / I met both of these through other musician in town ...we have also became good friends..

4/You have a big blues base but you also shred quite well, have you played in other bands before or you just wanted to make a very different and original band?

4/ I had 2 Orignal Bands Stiletto and years latee formed Suicide King...I was pumping out orignal material then also ...we had a singer another guitarist bass and drums. ..we were strong for about 3 years ...but after that fell apart I decided I was going to take it on by myself. ..doing solo acoustic gig...to producing my first real solo album “Soldier “performing all the instruments with exception of drums...to forming the David Reavis Band ....

5/Playing guitar an singing is not easy, Gary moore, Satriani... they all did it, how do you manage ? Do you need concentration or high distortion sound to hear what you play?

5/? It came natural...i have to say it still has its challenges but I like being able to show up with an acoustic and being able to present a song....

6/you have four songs on your website that really gives the idea of your creations, you got plenty of musical influences, is this helping to find places to play or it kinda stop sometimes?

6/I’m definitely a music lover...not just a certain genre...but I lean on Rock from the 60s70s 80s 90s00...it is great to be able to grow up on the great musical genius...but I’m not one to copy ...I like doing things my way ...my finger print...the way I like it...ahhh true freedom. ..

7/how would you describe your fans, more into blues, rock...?what kind of reaction you have?

7/wide range of fans mostly rockers...though our set has a variety of songs.. and genre. ....

8/why calling your band with your name?

8/I was in a contract with NBC production for a year in 2006 for a show NBC 9/who have influenced you, your style? did you always play that way?

9 Well that is a good Question. .My family is musical play folk old country and gospel at our family gathering ...big influence as a kid watching my uncle playing wildwood flower Chet.Adkins style... but I would say the.70s 80s 90s changed my world as I was introduced to Black Sabbath Led Zeppelin ...all classic rock to Van Halen... to Dokken to White snake... Dio to Steve Vai...Pantera ...Alice in Chains..Sound Garden. Judas Priest and Iron Maiden...Yeah Rock was an incredible part of my life to say the least. .

10/what are your song about? what makes you write?

10 /my songs are from my life experience of every emotion...good or bad it is my vent..I get inspired by just sitting down to an instrument keyboard... guitar...and beating my feelings out it....

11/what are your gears? do you use the same on stage?

11/ I use multiple amps mesa marshall gibson... guitars are gibson Ibanez Jackson Charvel. .Bass play uses ibanez guitars and Aguilar amps Drums are Pearl 12/are you playing live with any type of music style? any friends you like to share the stage with...

12/Rock Bands we have opened for several cover bands and also have done many events with some original bands 13/are you the main composer? so how do you write together?

13/yes 14/have you got a label? where did you record your album? how people can get it?

14/No .we recorded the Turn album at 2 studios...the drums and bass at Soundlab...guitars and vocals at 420 studios...Albums are available at I tunes Amazon.com CD baby. ...we also have a new album coming it is being recorded at Earthtone Studio. .it should be available in a month or so ...really looking forward to that. ..

http://www.davidreavisband.webs.com

REVIEWS Some of the best for 2015 but check the site for all bands Chastain:”We Bleed Metal”CD 2015 6th november release Pure Steel Records .Well it’s with a surprise I had the chance to hear that brand new album signed to a great label. The cover artwork is awesome and kicks fukin ass! 9 pure Metal tracks to blow your ears. From the first note you got blasting tunes with Leather’s voice that hasn’t changed and I give much respect to that lady who rocks the hell out of Metal world.

Mr Chastain has his own sound and always pushing riffs by riffs without getting too much heavyness. It’s pure fukin Heavy Metal and if you ear the bits here and there of the famous albums “the voice..” “ruler..” well it’s cos the man knows the receipt for making great songs. The wait is few weeks away so get it when it comes! Awesome album 100/100 STARBLIND:”Dyin son” CD 4 December 2015 Pure Steel records. Although you’ll have to wait to get that masterpiece from the swedish Heavy Metal maniacs, I’ll give you a stint of what to expect. If you heard their first effort you know they have an extreme facility to kick your ass. The cover reminding Dracula ‘s battle. The first song is wow a great song that reminds Iron Maiden’s Bruce dickinson best years.

Once you got this in your mind you have already the idea of what you will hear. High pitch vocals, melodies and entertaining songs that reaps it all. I’m always amazed by those great musicians who can bring us back to the 80’s with such a precision and beauty. They won’t deny it they are inspired by the mid eighties and it feels good. A bit of Judas Priest is leaking and I’m sure you will hear some other NWOBHM that made the world ‘s happiness. You ought to get that masterpiece!!!100/100 Diemonds : “Never wanna die” CD 2015 Naplam Records. Canada Heavy Metal band with an awesome cover reminding Ed repka /Megadeth style. I must say this is my fav album! It is very entertaining and although most songs are around 3mns it grooves so much I can’t get them out of my head and just press play again and again! The influences are still very large and so I’m gonna give you ideas they have tiny bits reminding many bands which makes it very special and we can say they have their own style and it kicks ass. U’ll get pieces of Skid Row, Megadeth, The Donnas, Mortillery, Saraya, Girschool, Crucified Barbara, Lita Ford , Twisted Sister, Skew Siskin and so on...A lot of 80’s inspiration with fun videos.The mix is just very clean and heavy it will please many metalheads and you will headbang and mosh ‘till you fall into the grave! Voted best album by Metal Zone Prod.666 for august 100/100 Steel Raiser : “Unstoppable” CD 2015 Iron Shield Records. The label is most known for thrash but this time they have signed a pearl from Italy Heavy Metal that kills from the first note you know it’s a blast. Look at that awesome cover artwork, everything is excellent that band will concquer the world!!! Vicious Rumours, Judas Priest, Accept, Saxon, Paragon, Helloween, Running Wild, Sanctuary, Metal Church ...pounding drums, powerful voice and entertaining riffs that lead you to mosh and headbang it’s just pure fuking goodness. Voted best album by Metal Zone Prod.666 100/100

To be continued.... on the website many great albums to check!!!