Paulo Turin (ex-Battlezone, ex-Di'Anno): "It was just madness!"

I’ve already touched Paul Di’Anno’s career after Maiden (see the interview with Mark Venables) but I believe that this subject could fill dozens of books. So here is a small bit of Mr. D’s history according to Paulo Turin who recorded “Feel My Pain” with Battlezone and Di’Anno’s solo album “Nomad”.  

        Paulo, tell me about your passion to heavy music. How was it to be a metalhead in Brazil back in the late 80’s? Who were your favorite bands both local and international?

In the late 80’s I was living in London, England, already. During the 70’s and early 80’s, was really frustrating being a heavy metaler in Brazil because I used to listen to bands from the US and UK, but the Brazilian scene was just crap, there was nothing I liked from Brazil at that time. I discovered I liked heavy music when I first heard Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog”.

When and how did you move to the UK? Did you want to become a musician there or did you want to study in some British college?

I moved to the UK around 1985. I’m an Italian citizen, so I could stay legally in the UK. I was already a musician at the age of 13. I started playing the acoustic guitar at the age of 5. I joined my first school band when I was 12. In order to get paid for playing while living in Brazil, I used to play in bands with older guys, some styles of music I didn’t like. When I moved to London I carried on my music studies there.

Tell me a bit about the band Gangland. Who played in the band and when did you form it? Did you record anything with this band?

Gangland was an underground Metal band from London. They were looking for a lead guitarist and a friend of mine called Paul Rooney Vice Squad’s guitarist told me if I wanted to audition for Gangland, I said ‘Yes’ and after the audition the bassplayer Lenny Baxter said that the job was mine. The band lineup was Lenny Baxter on Bass, Mark Storey on Vocals, Dave Cavill on Drums and myself on Guitar. We recorded a single called “One in a Million” and the “Metal for Muthas” album’ for the Japanese market.

How did you get in touch with Paul Di’Anno? Did you just come to the audition or did you know him way before he decided to resurrect Battlezone?

First time I met Paul was back in 1988 in a bar called The Royal Standard. Paul was looking for musicians to reform Battlezone then, but I decided not to audition at that time. Later on in 1997 Paul Dianno and John Wiggins heard a horror movie sound track I had recorded for a film director called Frazer Lee and invited me to join Battlezone.

What can you recall from the days before Battlezone went to the studio? Did you play some shows and rehearse a lot? Would you say that the band was well managed and had a good working discipline at the time?

(Laughs.) Well that’s a sort of a hard question to answer. Before we went to the studio to record the tracks we were drinking heavily and doing other things too. During the recording of the album “Feel My Pain” we were just out of it most of the time. It was winter and besides alcohol there were mind altering substances in the recording studio and during rehearsals. I remember we were kind of aggressive to each other. It was just madness!

All the songs on “Feel My Pain” were written by John Wiggins and Paul. Why was that? Did you try to offer your ideas and arrangements?

When I joined Battlezone, they had the songs already! I just recorded my parts in the studio.

How was it to work with Paul and John? Were they very demanding? Did you had a chance to lay down some solos?

As I said in the previous questions, I recorded some guitar solos and rhythm guitars in all tracks except “Children of Madness”.

What are your favorite songs on the album? Don’t you think that “Victim” reminds of “Fast As A Shark” of Accept?

“Victim” is a good song and yes it’s similar to “Fast as a Shark”, but I had nothing to do with the writing of the songs. I like “Smack” too.

What was the reason to re-record “Children Of Madness”? Did Paul and John try to legitimize the new line-up of Battlezone?

To be honest I don’t really know. Maybe they re-recorded “C.O.M.” because they didn’t want to be creative. It’s a common knowledge that the band was into drug taking and that had a not so positive effect on the outcome, if you know what I mean!

The album was produced by Nick Beer. Was he a competent producer?

Oh yes! Nick was great. The album sounds really good.

Did it take long to record the album? What are your best memories from the studio sessions for “Feel My Pain”?

It took, probably a couple of months. I don’t remember having good memories about it. (Laughs.) I have some good memories whilst recording and touring “Nomad”.

What do you think about the sound of the album? Some people consider it as “too modern” or “too angry”. Was it natural for the band to record such album or was it an effort to keep up with the times? Do you still like the album?

The album sounds good probably because of Nick’s production. I think Paul and John were a little influenced by Pantera. I hardly listen to this album because I was into Thrash Metal then and I was also listening to classics such as Purple and Sabbath.

Were you satisfied with Zoom Club Records and the level of promotion? Did you tour in support of “Feel My Pain”?

I left Battlezone because we didn’t tour enough. It wasn’t Zoom Club Records fault at all.

As far as I understand around that time Lea hart became Paul’s manager. What can you say about him?

Lea helped us to get a record deal with a Brazilian label when we recorded “Nomad”, and after that he helped us to put together an American tour.

By the way, how can you describe Paul as a person? Is he really the monster as he is described in the book “The Beast”?

(Laughs.) Paul is like Jekyll and Hyde or as he describes himself a loose cannon.

How come that Paul moved to Brazil? Did he want to capitalize on his popularity in South America? Did he like the country?

The Brazilian people gave him a lot of support. I think Paul likes Brazil.

How did you get in touch with the guys from Karma (Chico Dehira, Felipo Andeeoli) and Aquiles Priester? Would you say that you and Paul helped Felipe and Aquiles to become successful musicians? What happened to Chico, by the way?

Who suggested to Paul and myself to team up with Chico, Felipe and Aquiles was Encore Records. Aquiles came from a band called Hangar. Absolutely, Felipe and Aquiles became successful musicians because they played with Paul and I, that was the reason they got the job in Angra. Chico decided to follow an academic career, last time I spoke to Chico he was living in Ireland.

Tell me about the songwriting process for the album “Nomad”. Were all the songs written especially for this release or did you use any old ideas?

All songs were written for the “Nomad” album. Paul asked me to explore power chords and give it a punk feel. Actually what you hear in that album is the pre-production. When the record company heard the pre-production recordings they said, “That’s good enough for release” and the album was released. As simple as that.

Can you comment on the song “P.O.V. 2000”?

What does it stand for? I think Paul wanted to make a statement against neo-nazi movements.

Do you remember anything special or extraordinaire from the recording of “Nomad”?

Yes! Paul drank a whole bottle of whiskey whist recording the vocals.

Where did you film the video for “The Living Dead”? Was it popular in Brazil?

That video was made in London somewhere. I wasn’t there at the time.

And again, did you tour in support of “Nomad”? What were the best things about playing live with Paul?

Yes, we toured to promote the “Nomad” album. The best thing of playing live is when the audience interacts with the band and Paul doesn’t pick a fight with our body guards.

There are some rumors that you started working on the second album. What basically happened? Did you write and record anything? If yes, what happened to that material?

I did work on a second album but Lea and Paul started selling shows only for Paul to perform Iron Maiden songs. The material I was working on is in a Hard Disk somewhere.

When and why did your collaboration with Paul come to an end?

After our American tour was canceled.

What you’ve been doing since then? Do you still play guitar in any band?

I did recordings for a publishing company from Illinois USA and produced songs but I never released them.