Satan laughing spreads his wings: The early days of Satan

The story of this band is well documented in countless interviews (read one here for example). But I decided to bother Russ Tippins and the original drummer Andy Reed again and talk about the childhood years of Satan. What was an occasion? Well, basically my ongoing curiosity and a habit to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong, hehe. Actually the interview was done in 2020 when Listenable Records released “Early Rituals”, a compilation of Satan’s demos and singles, and I wanted to support it by publishing the interview in my (now defunct) printed magazine. So this is the first time the interview is posted online and in English.    

Bob Starling (Stormhunters, ex-Stormtrooper): Riding the storm

For many years Stormtrooper were known as a band who released sole single back in 1980 and detached Paul Merrell to Jaguar and Colin Bond to Stampede. But thank to Bristol Archive Records and High Roller Records who brought Stormtrooper's "lost album" to all NWOBHM followers, we discovered the mastery and the awesomness of this band. The Troopers managed to release another album before calling it a day once again. But guitarist Bob Starling refused to give up and is ready to release a new album with his new group Stormhunters (read the review here). I got in touchwith Mr. Starling for an in-depth interview about his music career with Stromtrooper and Hunted and the new beginning with Stormhunters.  

John Phillips (Lautrec, Megaton, Weapon, etc.): Fanfare for the humble man

There are musicians who happened to play a gig or two with some well-known bands and they live off of this legend for the rest of theit lives, telling the same story again and again and adding "ex-memeber of ..." to the posters of their shows at bars. And there is drummer John Phillips who have played with at least three very respectful NWOBHM bands and with Kenny Driscoll's Lone Star, auditioned for Ozzy Osbourne and Waysted. Never heard of this man? I'm not surprised as he is a very humble guy, and I even had to convince him that his memories are important for the history of NWOBHM. I also want to apologise: the interview was done in 2018 right before the blog went on hiatus and I kinda forgot about it for a few years. I'm really sorry for this, mr. Phillips! Here it is at last.   

Quartz: Against all odds... again!

 

A while ago I already posted an in-depth interview with Quartz done by my friend Alexander Zhoglichev, and here we go again talking to the guitarist Mick Hopkins about the band’s fifth full-length album “On the Edge of no Tomorrow” which came out May, 20^th, 2022. The album is a true gem as always (it seems the band discovered Midas’ secret how to turn everything they touch to gold) and it’s a real tribute to the late Geoff Nicholls as there are several tracks based on his ideas and included his playing/singing. Mr. Hopkins explains how it all became possible and how they overcame technical difficulties, Covid restrictions and David Garner’s departure in the middle of the process.

Original Sin: Guilty as charged

"The golden age (of metal, literature, humanity, art, whatever) has gone forever and will never be repeated" — this idea is as old as hills. Apparently, there won't be anything like NWOBHM with its sheer rawness, over the top enthusiasm of both bands and fans, excitement, electrified atmosphere (geez, I'm ready to burst into tears!). But modern days have their own advantages. There are way more opportunities to discover the bands that were overlooked back then, there are much more labels who are into re-releasing all sorts of NWOBHM stuff from classic albums to rough demos. What did I know about Liverpool's Original Sin 10 years ago? Only what was written in Malc MacMillan's book (i. e. very little). And now we can talk to the guitarist Kevin McGinn while waiting for the release of Original Sin's demo anthology on Obscure NWOBHM Releases label. Ready for another journey down the memory lane? Here you go! 

Le Griffe: Looking back from a birds eye view

Doing interviews for quite a while now, I tend to believe that some things happen only when the time is right. I tried to do an interview with somebody from Le Griffe back in 2018, but it seemed no one was interested. When I decided to restart the blog earlier this year, I found the list of questions for Le Griffe members and decided to give it another shot. I also accidentaly found out that both Le Griffe's EPs were reissued via No Remorse Records. And you know what happened next? Robert Moseley, Le Griffe's ex-bass player and one of the founding members, came to the rescue! I tell you — timing is everything! So here we are remembering the early days of the Stock-on-Trent music scene and recording of the "Fast Bikes" EP. 

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!