Fred Avesque (Troy, Tour de Force, Driveshaft, Farenheit): French connection

 

New Wave of British Heavy Metal adopted few musicians outside Great Britain. EF Band, who moved from Sweden to England and contributed to “Metal for Muthas” compilation, are one of them. Another one is a French man Frederic Avesque, who moved to London in the 80’s to pursue his rock and roll dream. There he played with the ex-Angel Witch sticksman Dave Dufort, Blind Fury’s singer Lou Taylor, and Driveshaft. More to that, he has worked in Shades record store and has been a manager in Music for Nation and Metal Blade Records. But enough of facts, let monsieur Avesque tell his story himself!

Stormhunters "Eye of the Storm" (2022)

 01) Lost

02) New Horizons

03) Keep Believing

04) Long Way Down

05) Don't Let Go

06) I Won't Forget You

07) Time to Take the Fall

08) Holding On

09) Overload

10) You Won't Take Me 

Night Vision: Visions of the past

Although Derbyshire’s group Night Vision were formed in 1981, they failed to catch the last train of NWOBHM, and recorded their original songs only in 1985, so the band remained relatively unknown among the fans of NWOBHM. Even Malc Macmillan’s Encyclopedia had zero information about the band. (No disrespect to Mr. Mcmillan, he did fantastic job for the pre-Internet era!) The situation changed around 2013 when Night Vision’s demo resurfaced in the Web, and people started talking about the band. I was so impressed by their music and contacted Russ Sharpe (the guitarist) immediately for a possible interview. Unfortunately he was too busy, and that lasted for a few years, until Russ unexpectedly died in 2018. But the idea of paying homage to the band kept haunting my mind, until John Towle, Night Vision’s drummer, came to the rescue.    

Tysondog "Midnight" (2022)

1) Batallion

2) It Lives

3) Hellbound

4) Defiant

5) Midnight

6) Dead Man Walking

7) Paper Cuts

8) Cold Day in Hell

9) Waiting for God

Label: From the Vaults

Eddie Kelly (ex-Rankelson): Walk through the fire

The bastards of rock'n'roll Rankelson along with Wrathchild represented the glam side of NWOBHM. They came out quite late (1984), lived fast and bright (sometimes literally) life, released 2 albums and by the 1988 were done. Here is an interview with Eddie Kelly, one of the founders of the band. He quit Rankelson before they recorded their debut LP "Hungry for Blood" (1986), and he still regrets it. 

Quartz: Back in the Band

 

Are Quartz a NWOBHM band? Well, if Rage (formelly Nutz) are than Quartz are, too. As they note they were too old for NWOBHM and started playing waaay before musicians from Iron Maiden, Angel Witch, Gaskin (you name it) picked up an instrument. But by the late 70's and early 80's they definitely had turned into heavier music and contributed to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. This interview was done in 2021 by a good friend of mine for Russian printed magazine "Stay Heavy". Now, when Quartz are ready to release their new album "On the Edge of No Tomorrow", here is an appetizer for you! This is very first appearance of the interview in the Web and in English. Answers were supplied by Mick Hopkins (MH), Derek Arnold (DA) and Malcolm Cope (MC).

Nicky Moore: Retired but not tired

Nicky Moore has done hundreds of interviews during his long career. So what’s the reason for another one may ask some of you? Well, it’s never enough of his stories about Hackensack, Samson, Big Jim Sullivan and other bands he sang with. Now, when Nicky is retired from music, it’s also great to let him know that there are people who still love his amazing voice and appreciate his achievements. So turn on some album from Nicky’s huge back catalogue (jazz, blues, rock, metal — he sang them all, so you’ll definitely find something for your taste!) and dig into his stories!