Del Hodd (ex-Chain Reaction): Tied in chains

A band called X tried really hard, recorded a bunch of demos with some very decent songs but never made it big and split-up. I guess this was a formula for many many young and talented acts who emerged during NWOBHM era. Cornwall natives, Chain Reaction, were among them. The band went through numerous line-up changes and released several demos but the only one original member and driving force behind Chain Reaction was Del Hodd who patiently answered all my questions. Here we go!

Tony Clee: A historical perspective of Smiler’s early days and the roots of Iron Maiden

Well, we all know the story of NWOBHM and one of its originators - Iron Maiden. But today we are going a bit deeper in those days when young Steve Harris made his first steps in music and had joined band Smiler after short affair with Gypsy's Kiss. I believe we can say that Smiler was the band when it all started to get serious for Steve and where he met Doug Sampson and Den Wilcock who later all became parts of Iron Maiden. Here is an extensive interview with Tony Clee who was Smiler's guitar player.  

Graham Collett (ex-Lionsheart): "You have to make music people want to hear!"

When I think about bands that emerged in a wrong time the name Lionsheart comes to my mind among the first ones. Their debut album “Lionsheart” (1992) was such a great collection of top-class songs. It had everything to become a hit (and it did in certain countries) and should sell in millions of copies (which it unfortunately didn’t). The band always consisted of great musicians but there were two gentlemen — Steve Grimmett and Graham Collett — who remained permanent members of the band during the 90’s and recorded three studio albums. I guess that the band suffered from those line-up changes as much as they did from lacking of label support and Grunge invasion.

I contacted Graham to cover the story of Lionsheart and he turned to be such an incredible storyteller — witty, smart and fun. Have a good read, folks!

Wildfire: The fire still burns!

This interview was done originally for Stay Heavy magazine in 2014 when I was lucky to get singer Paul Mario Day and guitarists Martin Bushell and Jeff Summers to answer my questions. A few (un)necessary words. I firstly heard Wildfire back in 2002 when I got my hands on re-issues of their albums “Brute Force and Ignorance” and “Summer Lightning”. I was intrigued by a sticker “Featuring ex-Iron Maiden singer”. Everything related to Maiden gave me goose bumps those days. Needless to say I immediately fell in love with their music! What an amazing voice! What incredible harmonies and guitar leads! So much passion in every song! Oh, man! It’s a real shame that Wildfire remained obscure and never made it bigger while they were active. So here is the story of how the fire was lit and burned out.

Stevie Trudgett (ex-Clientelle): "The urge to perform is never far away"

When I see local bands of today playing in front of a bunch of bored guys I feel deeply sorry for them (basically for bands but sometimes for both). There were times when even locals like St. Albans’ Clientelle played regularly in crowded venues and by the standards of that time they were yet another small time band. Stevie Trudgett (or Stevie T) shares his memories about the long and winding road of the young band from Hertfordshire area.

The Deep "Watching You" (2018)

1) Prepare To Rock

2) Dead Man Walking

3) Watching You

4) Taking Over

5) Premonition (live)

6) The Rider (live)

7) All I Want (live)

8) Night-Stalker (live)

Self-released

The Deep: Premonition of success

I guess you all are aware of who Tony Coldham is otherwise you have got here by some strange ocassion. The singer is curently very busy recording a new EP with his band The Deep but he kindly took the time to answer my numerous and detailed questions about his eventful career with Minas Tirith, Deep Machine, Airrace and more.