10 Q's with HOWIE SIMON (TALISMAN/JEFF SCOTT SOTO)

Website

Guitarist Howie Simon is not only a member of the fabulous Talisman but tours with Jeff Scott Soto as well plus he has worked with the mulit-talented Ken Tamplin in the past.

1. What are you currently up to? (E.g. touring/studio, etc.)

I am just home from our European and South American tours with the Jeff Scott Soto band. It was a total of almost 3 months on the road. I have heard rumors that I will be playing a bit on a new Talisman cd, so that will be very cool. I am also forging ahead with writing for my own solo cd, but I am a bit lazy and writing doesn't come extremely easy for me. It's taking longer than I had hoped.

2. How did the recent European and South American tours go with Jeff Scott Soto?

The South American part was great...good size crowds and the audiences were very appreciative. Brazil is one of my favorite countries to play and Argentina turned out to be really cool as well. The European tour had its ups and downs crowd wise, but the highlights were definitely the shows in Greece and the gig in Belfast. Spain is one of the best places to play but we only did the island of Mallorca this time and I am hoping to get back to mainland Spain for some shows soon.

3. What have been the highlights (and any lowlights) of your time with Jeff Scott Soto? Why do you think he has never got bigger success and recognition he so richly deserves?

You ask that question like we are not working together anymore! There have been alot of highlights but still the one thing that I remember is our very 1st gig at the GODS in the UK in 2002 that became the live DVD. We all hardly knew one another but there was just a special magic at that show that I can't explain. You can still feel it when watching the DVD. Lowlights are really something I don't like to dwell on after the fact...let's just say sometimes organization of things is not at a professional level.
I can't really say why Jeff isn't more widely known. There are plenty of great artists who should get more recognition (Butch Walker, John Cowan, Glenn Hughes,etc.) but sometimes it just doesn't happen. Maybe playing in a band with me is like a black cloud hanging over Jeff's head...who knows?

4. How did you hook-up with Ken Tamplin and what other artists/bands would you like to work with in the future?

Ken Tamplin called an ad I had in a music paper almost 12 years ago. We have become great friends since then and he is one of the most talented people I know...singer/guitarist/engineer/songwriter/producer...he does it all. We toured Europe 6 times, went to Japan in 1998, and have done countless recordings and other gigs together. I owe him alot.
I guess my buddy Doug Aldrich has the 2 gigs I would like the most - Whitesnake and Dio (the lucky bastard). There is also a very little known bluegrass singer named John Cowan who has one of the best voices I've ever heard who I would like to do something with I would love to bring him into a more hard rock-ish project and let him wail!

5. What have been the most memorable gigs and why?

Talisman at the Lokerse Festival in Belgium in 2003 where we had 17,000 peeps. Part of it is on the "World's Best Kept Secret" DVD. I already mentioned the GODS 2002 with JSS' solo band. And in 2000 I played the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City with my Metallica tribute band ALCOHOLICA opening up for Cypress Hill and Limp Bizkit. That show had the most energy from the audience I've ever felt.

6. How have you enjoyed the MySpace experience so far? Many bands/artists have commented they have gained more fans/interest via MySpace than via other music websites. Has this been the same in your experience?

I have been on MySpace for quite awhile...I started on Friendster even before that. I don't really know if I have gained more fans since I am not selling any product on there yet. I have had some people I haven't heard from in years find me on there and that's been the best thing about it so far. But if you look at my page you can see I am not a "friend collector" and if a band I dont know or like wants to add me they get denied.

7. Talisman – What has been the reaction to the live DVD & CD the band released earlier this year? Will the band continue with just you as sole guitarist now Fredrik is a member of Arch Enemy?

Talisman is not a very active band and when the time comes to do stuff you can guarantee Fredrik will be there...the band would not be the same without him. I've spoken to him recently and he's very happy in Arch Enemy, but will still be involved in all things Talisman as far as I know. The reaction to the DVD has been nothing but positive. It's weird to answer questions about it since the band has been around for 16 years and I am the "new guy", but I am very proud of the performances on there and the guys in the band are the greatest people you could know.

8. Where do you get your songwriting ideas from and who musically is an influence on you?

I struggle sometimes to complete my song ideas, as I said before. Sometimes things just come to me and other times I get serious cases of writer's block. John Sykes is probably one of the bigger influences on me in that department, but there are others.

9. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I am a big NHL hockey fan and I love following my team - the Buffalo Sabres! I also spend time with my dog.

10. Message to your fans...

Fans? I actually have fans? My message to you is- Stop reading this and go outside and do someting!!!!

Rising Star - BONRUD

Bonrud released a very classy melodic hard rock debut album last year via Frontiersd and if you love bands like Foreigner, Journey et all I urge you to get a copy ASAP Over to the man himself Paul Bonrud...

What are you currently up to? (E.g. touring/studio, etc.)
• Right now I am busy writing new songs for the next CD. That’s my main focus along with continuing promotional activities for the current CD.

Brief history of how you got into the music business and the style of music you play…
• I come from a musical family and have been playing music my whole life. My dad is a professional musician back in Minnesota and my sister is a piano teacher and songwriter. I started singing, playing piano, violin, and baritone horn as a child and by the time I was in my teens I was playing guitar. Once I started playing guitar I knew I had found my calling. I played in bands and that eventually lead to doing session work both in Minnesota and eventually in Seattle as well. I played in quite a few bands and played on lots of CD's but I always wanted to release my own music. This CD is quite a milestone for me and I really feel it's a great first step in furthering my musical career. My style is best described as melodic rock and my biggest musical influence is Neal Schon from Journey.

Your debut album came out last year via Frontiers (and a damn fine album it is too!). Have you been pleased with the reviews and reaction form fans to the release?
• Definitely. The fans seem to really enjoy it which makes the hard work worthwhile. Andrew McNiece from melodicrock.com gave my CD a total score of 88 which I felt was great for a debut CD and you gave me a 4 out 5 as well! Thank you! 

Could you take us through the album and some personal highlights/stories behind the songs?
• Leap of Faith - Upbeat rocker clocking in at exactly 150 BPM (I still remember every tempo to every song on the CD!) This song is about believing in yourself, pursuing your dreams, and knowing that somehow everything will work out and be okay in the end.

• The Phoenix - I love this song! This has a very heavy groove and also has one of the coolest hooks I ever wrote. I used to collect comics as a kid. I often found the X-Men character Jean Grey to be drawn very inspirationally. ;-) Anyway, one of the best stories in the X-Men was "The Dark Phoenix" saga. That story was the seed of inspiration for this song and is what the song is about. It's just a great fist pumping, arena rocker, put your little devil horn fingers in the air and rock type of song. :)

• Desperate Heart - This is my favorite song on the CD. It's a beautiful, powerful, dramatic AOR power ballad with some of the most emotionally drenched vocals on the whole CD. I wrote the song about the loneliness we feel when a relationship ends. "With every beat of my desperate heart, I'm crying out for your love..."

• I've Changed - This is a really fun, upbeat rocker. It's one of the fastest songs on the CD (158 BPM!) only behind "Look Me In The Eyes" which is even faster. What makes this song so much fun is that it is very self deprecating. It's about knowing you've made lots of mistakes, have screwed up your relationship, but you're begging for forgiveness..."Cause baby I've changed! I was going through growing pains!" Begging in love songs is always fun! :) The guitar solo is really spirited in this song as well. It's just plain fun! :)

• Give Me A Chance - This is a more modern mid-tempo pop rock song. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only guy in the world who made the painful mistake of falling in love with the prettiest girl in school...only to find she didn't know i even existed! This song is about wanting that pretty girl to give you a chance because you know she'd really like you if she just got to know you.

• Take Me Home - This is a power ballad about longing for home but more to the point, it's about longing for returning to a simpler time and place. The world seemed so much nicer when we were young and innocent and were unaware of all of the problems. I wish the world could actually be the nice place I thought it was when I was innocent and didn't know better...

• Date With Destiny - Another big rocker with harmonized guitar leads! This is a story about a guy who gets involved with the wrong kind of girl and she gets him into big trouble...This song really rocks. I wrote it with my good friend Dieter Rehrl who lives in Germany. Dieter sang some of my earlier demos before I met Dave.

• Once in a Lifetime - This is another big rocker with lots of guitars. Why is it that we sometimes don't know what we've got until it's gone? That's what this song is about...realizing how wonderful someone was after they are gone and the relationship has ended.

• Live Your Dreams - This song is about pursuing your dreams and not letting anything stop you. It's also about enjoying life to its fullest and making the most of our time here on Earth. I really like one line Dave came up with on the second verse where he sings "or seen Aurora Borealis..." I've never heard that used in a song before and just think that was one of the coolest lines he contributed to any of our songs. This song starts out simply with just an acoustic guitar but it keeps building and building to a big huge finish where it's a wall of guitars, drums, organ, and vocals.

• Look Me In The Eyes - This is a big rocker and the fastest song on the CD. Keith really dug my guitar on this song. I actually wrote it after he told me about a high profile rock star divorce. I used that story as the seed of inspiration for the song but believe me...the actual story that inspired this song is way too crazy and lurid to put in lyrics! :)

• Hollywood Movie Star - This is a beautiful power ballad about a girl who dreams of becoming a movie star and struggles along the way. It's also a very voyeuristic song...especially in the second verse. I wrote all of the music for this one but this is one of the only songs on the CD where Dave wrote most of the lyrics and I really like his second verse on this song in particular. There's one line there that is super voyeuristic but I thought was cool..."They stare at you with the lights down dear...dolby in every corner". It's the last half in particular that I think is way cool. :)

How do you hope to get heard above all the other bands and singers vying for attention out there?
• It’s really tough because there are so many bands and CD’s out there but the internet really helps. Web sites like your own really help to get the news out to the fans of the genre and hopefully after reading the interviews and hearing the sample clips, they’ll want to surf on over to www.bonrud com and but the CD.  We’ve been getting airplay in Europe and Japan and some airplay in the US as well which is helpful.

How do you view the current live scene in the US as regards new bands getting exposure?
• There are lots of bands out there but the best bands always rise to the top and draw the biggest crowds. You just have to get out there and play the shows and give it all you’ve got and eventually you’ll get noticed.

How has the Internet helped spread the word about the band? Do you think downloading is helping or killing music?
• The internet is very helpful for marketing and spreading the word about a band but downloading has hurt the market to a degree. I think the young kids are used to getting their music for free now which has affected the market place rather dramatically. Having said that, the internet is a bigger blessing than it is a curse, especially for a someone like myself who is really just starting to make a name for themselves.

What bands/artists do you admire and/or are an influence?
• Journey is my favorite band and not surprisingly, Neal Schon is my favorite guitarist and Steve Perry is my favorite singer. My list of musical influences is pretty broad though. It starts with Journey, Boston, Van Halen, Foreigner, Bryan Adams, The Eagles, Rick Springfield, Def Leppard, and Bon Jovi and then goes to the modern era of Nickelback, Fountains of Wayne, Butch Walker, Waltham, The Darkness, and many more. I spend far more time listening to new bands and music but I still like the old classics.

What has been the highlight(s) and lowpoint(s) of your career to date?
• The absolute highlight was working with Keith Olsen and becoming good friends with him. He’s a legend in the industry and I learned so much from him. The low points were all of the typical frustrations along the way which were amplified by the fact that I bore 100% of the financial burden for making this CD.

What ideally would you like to achieve by this time next year?
• I would like to have a dozen strong new tunes written and at least partially recorded. I’ve got a good start but it takes a lot of time to write and record great songs. A lot of songs get written and dropped along the way as well.

What’s the most rock ‘n’ roll moment you have had so far?
• Oh man…there are so many ways I could answer this. The radio station interviews, the rock magazines, the radio airplay and recording the bumpers for the radio stations, working with Keith Olsen who has won 6 Grammy’s and produced all the bands I liked growing up like Whitesnake, Sammy Hagar, and Foreigner…but if I had to pick one moment, it would be before all of this recent stuff happened. It’s really more of a Spinal Tap moment. Many years ago my band Citizen Kane was going to play a house party (this was back in Minnesota). When they showed us to the basement where we were supposed to set up, there was hardly any room for our equipment let alone for the kids to watch us play. There was a wall separating the basement and I jokingly knocked on the cherry paneling and said “well, I suppose we could tear the wall down”). I went upstairs with my guitar and was warming up playing some licks while I was sitting on the couch flirting with a very pretty girl. I heard some banging downstairs and thought it was Tommy setting up his drum kit. I was pretty distracted by the girl but after awhile, I realized that I wasn’t hearing drums! I raced downstairs and much to my horror, the cherry paneling had been ripped off the walls and all that was left were the 2x4 studs. The kegs were on the far side of the basement with the kids while they watched the band playing on the other side through the 2x4’s. It was an incredible party and of course there were underage kids there too. After about ten songs, a very angry man suddenly appeared downstairs. He was the landlord and he called the cops. He was furious to see his basement had been destroyed and it was all we could do to flee with our equipment before the cops arrived. THAT is what I call rock and roll. 

What CD's do you currently have available and where can they be purchased from?
• The debut Bonrud CD can be purchased for $10 at my website which is www.bonrud.com. I sign every CD as a thank you to the fans who are helping to make my musical dreams come true.

Message to your fans...
• I’d just like to thank everyone who has purchased the CD and everyone who has written me to tell me how much they like the CD. I always appreciate hearing from the fans and that is what motivates me to create the next Bonrud CD.

CREDO + JOHN YOUNG gig review

Stripes Bar, Brentford FC Saturday 26th November 2005

Credo
John Young

John Young despite having a very bad bout of flu still performed and it was interesting to see his songs done in a solo setting as previously I had only seen the full band shows. John Young has a very melodic voice (he doesn't do angry vocals) which suited tracks like 'Significance' and 'When I Was Young' superbly. He did a long progressive number 'Unknown Soldier' to keep the prog rock fans in the audience happy and closed the set with the bombastic instrumental 'Kings'. He is well worth seeing live if you get the chance and I would point you in the direction of his website for more. A very satisfying and enjoyable set. Young's tunes are destined for Radio 2 daytime airplay as fans of Peter Gabriel and Sting would love these tunes if they ever got the chance to hear them.
Credo were launching their rather good new album 'Rhetoric' - a mere eleven years after their debut album. Starting the set was the superb 'The Game' with a real 'air keybaords' intro, quickly followed up by 'Turn The Gun'. Singer Mark Colton kept up cheeky and enjoyable between song banter but thnakfully refrained from the Gary Glitter joke he knew! The addition of keybaords player Mike Varty and drummer Martin Meads has certainly breathed a new passion into the band (the short drum solo was a real Carl Palmer moment - classic!). 'The Letter' and 'Sweet Scarlet Whisper' pleased the older fans presenrt being of the band's debut album. 'Skin Trade' was another highlight showing the band can successfully transfer the studio sound into the live environemnt something sometimes prog rock bands fail to do.
The band played a very tight set and they are well worth seeing live - they plan some further UK dates early next year. Excellent progressive rock with a distinct nod to the 70's and Fish ear Marillion - sheer class.

10 Q's with BILL WYMAN

Former Rolling Stone bassist Bill Wyman is a busy man with a new DVD just out plus touring with his band the Rhythm Kings (who have alos just released a live cd).
Thanks to Nikk Gunns for some of the Q's.

1. What are you currently up to? (E.g. touring/studio, etc.)

JUST RETURNED FROM 7-WEEK TOUR OF EASTERN EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA, WHERE THE BAND GOT 6 STARS OUT OF 6 IN REVIEWS FOR MOST OF THE SHOWS NOW I’M BACK TO WORKING ON OTHER PROJECTS

2. How did you come up with the diea for the new DVD, 'Digital Daydreams' and how did Richard O'Brien get involved?

I FANCIED MAKING A HUMEROUS VERSION OF MY FANTASIES & DID IT IN A BETTER WAY THAN JUST USING THE HOME MOVIE TECHNIQUE
RICHARD O’BRIEN WAS KNOWN TO MY DIRECTOR ROBERT DORNHELM, WHO HAD HIM PARTICIPATE IN THE SCRIPTING & PERFORMANCE-WISE

3. You recently released the book "Bill Wyman's Treasure Islands - Britain's History Uncovered", not necessarily a book people would have expected from you. Can you tell us a bit about the book and how you are involved in metal detecting?

PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ‘EVERYTHING’ ABOUT MY INTERESTS OUTSIDE OF MUSIC – THEY NEVER HAVE. I’VE ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED IN ANCIENT CULTURES & ARCHAEOLOGY, & HAVING A 15TH CENTURY MANOR HOUSE GOT ME INTO SOME AMATEUR ARCHAEOLOGY THERE & IN THE SURROUNDING FIELDS IN SUFFOLK – HENCE THE INTEREST IN METAL DETECTING AS THE ONLY REAL WAY TO DO THIS ON OTHER PEOPLE’S LAND
I’VE ALWAYS BEEN AMAZED AT THE THOUSANDS OF FINDS IN GREAT BRITAIN & I WANTED TO SHARE THESE WITH THE GENERAL PUBLIC

4. Your book "Rolling With the Stones" was a great documentary into the phenomena of The Stones- was it hard to put together?

IT OBVIOUSLY TOOK 40 YEARS TO PUT THE COLLECTION OF MEMORABILIA TOGETHER, & ALMOST A YEAR TO FINISH THE BOOK – THANK GOD FOR MY DIARIES – IT’S JUST ABOUT THE ONLY STONES BOOK THAT RINGS TRUE TO THE FACTS

5. A lot of people credit you with the idea of the fretless bass - can you tell us a bit more about this?

I MADE MY FIRST BASS GUITAR IN 1959 & MADE IT FRETLESS SOON AFTER – I THINK THIS PRE-EMPTED THE PRODUCTION OF FRETLESS BASSES BY ABOUT 5 YEARS TO MY KNOWLEDGE

6. You own the successful "Sticky Fingers" in Kensington, almost a museum of Stones memorabilia and arguably some of the finest burgers this side of the Atlantic - it has been said that from time to time you could be found serving tables and meeting diners. Is this still the case?

I NEVER SERVED FOOD OR DRINK AT THE TABLES AT STICKY FINGERS – ANOTHER SILLY INVENTION BY THE PRESS NO DOUBT

7. The Rhythm Kings 2005/2006 tour takes in a lot of dates, the latest album "Just For A Thrill" sounds great and the band always looks like they are having a great time live- can we expect more of the same for the next few years?

THE BAND ARE AS POPULAR AS EVER & IT’S HARD TO KEEP THEM ON A LOW PROFILE TO AVOID GETTING IN THE SAME SITUATION OF ALL-YEAR TOURING, LIKE THE LAST BAND I WAS IN – I DON’T WANT THIS.
WE HAVE RECENTLY RELEASED OUR FIRST ‘LIVE’ CD – RECORDED IN BERLIN LAST YEAR – WHICH HAS RECEIVED GREAT REVIEWS

8. Looking at your website you seem to be very busy with your book writing, photography, playing- is there anything you haven’t done yet that you still want to do?

YES – ALL THE THINGS ON ALL SUBJECTS THAT I HAVEN’T DONE YET

9. You are a keen cricket fan - did you attend any of the recent Ashes matches and how do you rate the current England team?

I PLAYED CHARITY CRICKET FOR ABOUT 10 YEARS FOR THE BUNBURYS CHARITY CRICKET TEAM, & PLAYED ALONGSIDE JUST ABOUT EVERY INTERNATIONAL CRICKETER (PAST & PRESENT) IN THE WORLD – I LOVE THE GAME & AM OVER THE MOON WITH THE GREAT PERFROMENCES BY THE ENGLISH TEAM OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS – LONG MAY IT CONTINUE

10. Message to your fans...

COME & SEE THE RHYTHM KINGS – YOU’LL BE AMAZED BY THE QUALITY & VARIETY OF MUSIC - I PLAN TO CONTINUE AS LONG AS WE ARE SELLING TICKETS

GLYDER & JACKSON BROWNE CD reviews

GLYDER (2005) Band website

Supposedly a promo sampler album but with legendary producer Chris Tsangarides at the helm the sound is top notch. This young Irish four piece successfully mix a modern rock sound with a good dose of classic rock a la Thin Lizzy. In fact if Thin Lizzy were still going today (I know there is the Sykes/Gorham version but without Phil Lynott it will never be a true Thin Lizzy) I reckon they would sound not unlike this album. Some cracking tunes on here including opener ‘’Saving Face’ and ‘You Won’t Bring Me Down’, both mix catchy guitar riffs and melodic choruses. ‘She’s Got It’ is a classic rocker (in fact the opening guitar passage sounds at times like AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’!). The Thin Lizzy vibe pervades over ‘Colour Of Money’ whilst ‘Takin’ Off’ hits a catchy groove.

Definitely a band who are worthy of further investigation and although they have a Thin Lizzy sound at times (mainly in the vocals and bass lines), the band are not mere copycats. Live the band are tighter than a gnat’s chuff as well. A band worthy of your further attention.

JACKSON BROWNE ‘Running On Empty’ Rhino (2005) Rhino website

Jackson Browne’s classic album, originally released back in 1977, gets a revamp with an added DVD disc featuring the entire album in surround sound plus photos and a couple of video montages. If you have yet to sample the delights of this album then you are in for a treat. Lyrically it is based around life on the road with songs being recoded live, in hotel rooms and one even on a coach! The title track contains a cracking guitar soloing – nothing flashy but damn good to hear. ‘You Love The Thunder’ hints at a country rock vive a la the Eagles, WHILST ‘The Load-Out’ must be one of the few tunes to show the roadies’ life in a true light. There are some, wonderful performances on here not least Brown himself and his melancholic vocals. David Lindley stands out to with his lap-steel and fiddle playing.

A very classy package and if you don’t have this album I suggest you grab a copy now.

THE THORNS CD review

Website

The Thorns are Matthew Sweet, Shawn Mullins and Pete Droge who all have successful solo careers in their own right. I picked this little beauty up at a local CD store and boy I wish I’d heard it sooner! The harmonies (I am a big fan of harmonies!) are some of the nest I’ve heard in years – juts listen to the wondrous opener ‘Runaway Feeling’. Very Tom Petty circa ‘Full Moon Fever’ in sound and arrangements, whilst ‘I Can’t Remember’ gives CSN&Y a run for their money. ‘Blue’ will appeal to fans of the Travelling Wilburys (in fact the Thorns could be seen as the Wilburys natural successors). The title track features some top notch guitar whilst ‘No Blue Sky’ is a summer classic that never was. There is a two disc version of this CD which I recommend you get as the second disc is all the songs done acoustically and it is a real treat to listen to.
I really do hope we get another album from this very talented and enjoyable combination of talents.

BRYAN ADAMS `Anthology' A&M/ Universal (2005)

Website

A two disc collection that unlike his previous `Best Of's' covers his work from his debut right up until his latest release `Room Service'. Disc one is nigh on classic kicking off with `Remember'
and it includes `Summer Of 69', the frankly superb `Somebody'
and `Lonely Nights' (although I still prefer the Uraih Heep cover version!). The disc ends with `Best Of Me' and not one duff track in sight. The second disc however is not quite so classic as it does contain a few misses like `Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?' and a dire remake of `When You're Gone' now featuring the vocal `talents' of Pamela Anderson whereas the original version was much better with Mel C. Methinks a marketing ploy as Pamela Anderson is obviously better known in the US I guess. But all is not lost as we have live versions of `Back to You' and `I'm Ready' plus `The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You'. All this and a live DVD as well, making it an excellent introduction to the talent and tunes of Bryan Adams.

FISH gig review

Mean Fiddler, London Saturday 12th November

A packed Mean Fiddler was testament to the amount of fans keen to hear not only Fish's solo output but the entire 'Misplaced Childhhod' album. I remember it well from my sixth form days and being one of only a few people into Marillion at school, most others were more interested in a man singing in a whining voice with a twig sprouting out his ass! But first a short support set by ex-Karnatka voclaist Anne Marie Helder. She has a wondeful voice - very sweet and mellow but I would have prefered a full band backing here as after awhile the tunes sounded very similar!

Fish kicked off his set with 'Big Wedge' with a six piece backing band including long serving guitarist Frank Usher. The a few insults were traded with the crowd over the football results and then next up was 'Moving Target' and we were treated to 'Credo' - sounded superb live and 'Raingods Dancing'(the crowd loved this one!)amongst an hour long set of solo material. A short break ensued before it was straight into the entire 'Misplaced Childhood' album. Fish's voice was onviously suffering from a bad bout of flu as he struggled to hit the high notes but like a true showman he carried on and delivered sparkling versions of 'Lavender' and 'Heart Of Lothian'. Not so sure of the slower paced 'Kayliegh' though but hey it was still great to hear it live again (last time was back in 1988 for me!).

Encore time and the crowd went wild to 'Incommunicado' (dedicated to Tommy Vnace) and set closer 'Market Square Heroes' which had all the audience pogoing. An enjoyable night and great to here Fish era Marillion songs live again. Just proves you can mix pure nostalgia with your modern outpuy and keep fans happy.

MORNING EVERYONE by SIMON HUGHES

Published by Orion (2005)

Former Middlesex and England cricketer Simon Hughes returns with another humorous and well written book this time covering his time as a sportswriter and commentator. One of his previous books ‘A Lot Of Hard Yakka’ won the William Hill Sports Book Award. He writes in a easy to read style with little pen portraits of key people involved in cricket, like Richie Benaud and Mike Gatting (who gets plenty of stick throughout the book) plus other sports he’s covered including football and golf. Even if you are not a big cricket fan there is much to enjoy in here including his time as the Analyst in the recent ashes series. Well worth a read for any fan of well written and entertaining sports books.

THE BRIAN SETZER ORCHESTRA ‘Dig That Crazy Christmas’ Surfdog records (2005)

Website

Stray Cats front man returns with a new album chock full of Christmas goodies! You can’t help but dance around the room to this one (or get funny looks on the Tube travelling to work bopping around to this on your CD player!), with old songs revamped like ‘White Christmas’ and a new take on Glenn Miller’s ‘In The mood’, re-titles here ‘Getting’ In The Mood (For Christmas)’. To slow things down a touch there is ‘What Will You Be Doing New Year’s Eve’, a neat duet with Julie Reiten. Lots of up tempo playing throughout the album and some very tasty guitar as well. Not a duff track on here and all wrapped in a traditional rock ‘n’ roll musical vibe – wonderful!
Along with the excellent Californian Guitar Trio’s album these are the only two Christmas albums yule (excuse that bad pun) ever need…

Interview with Dave Hill (DEMON)

Demon first rose to prominence with their debut album ‘Night of the Demon’ and have proceeded to release a string of high quality melodic hard rock meets metal albums including ‘The Plague’ and this year’s rather excellent ‘Better The Devil You Know’. I caught up with vocalist and sole remaining founder member Dave Hill (and answered a question I’ve been longing to know the answer to…yes he is a Stoke City supporter!)…

Thanks to Phil Berisford, fellow Demon fan for some great questions.

Album review

Site of the Demon

The excellent new album ‘Better The Devil You Know’ was recently release. Have you been pleased with the feedback so far?

Yes it’s been very encouraging so far. We planned it as a back to basics album and we have been pleased with the reviews so far.

Earlier this year you played a gig in Leek where some former members came along like Chris Ellis. What was that like?

It was great. I bump into Chris quite regularly. I keep in touch with most people. We had a great gig.

Have you any plans to tour the album? You played the Bang Your Head festival in the summer.

We did Bang Your Head and some other dates. Some dates are pencilled in next year for a couple of weeks with Bob Catley (Magnum vocalist). We meet him the year before when Magnum were on. We have been working on some dates, club dates in Europe and possibly Sweden (Rocks) again. The album got delayed and delayed so its come at a strange time.

Given a lot of bands like Dio for example are touring their classic albums have you ever been tempted to tour playing the whole of ‘The Plague’ album or even record a follow-up?

When we started recording ‘Spaced Out Monkey’ the track ‘Let Me Out Of here’ was the opening track of ‘Plague 2’. I based it around that and the central character was called Human and we started to base the album around this. Then we changed it.
I thought of just touring ‘The Plague’. We did most of the album a few years back at Sweden and we did ‘Fever In The City’ which we had never played live before.
We’d be up for anything. With the classic rock tag fans expect these things. The bands are getting older and they are not going to see them forever. We had to resurrect the grave and the horns for Sweden, we hadn’t done it for twenty odd years. We are always open to that.

It must be frustrating at times especially when you have new material you are trying to promote.

I’ve got no problem. We always get tagged with this New Wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) but I always say to people we carried on after this period. You get a lot of, which is sad in some ways, bands from that era who did a couple of albums reforming and they aren’t as good live as they used to be. We did continue to put an album out every one or two years. To pick on any period is no problem for me. The satisfaction of turning out new material and seeing it accepted by the fans is great.

Did you ever contemplate after the first two albums changing the band’s name especially as ‘The Plague’ was so different to these albums?

We did change direction and I always quote Pink Floyd as there is no stranger name than that as their early albums are nothing like ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ and ‘Wish You Were Here’. Demon is a bit more ferocious but it was more of a problem in Britain. For us we had to carry on our shoulders and if you had never heard of the band you’d think ‘Oh no it has to be devil worship’. The amount of times abroad that I have been told the cover of ‘Night of the Demon’ is responsible for black metal.
We didn’t what to make albums that sounded the same. A lot of bands have done that and been very successful.

Bar the current line-up is there any you consider to be a ‘classic’ line-up of the band?

Because we have not had the success of Iron maiden there is bound to be changes. We have always worked on a budget and it is always very difficult to keep the same personnel together. The bass player has been with us the past fifteen years. The first line-up was probably a bit of a classic line-up and the first three albums.
Someone came up to us after the recent gigs and said this has to be the best line-up of the band.
Someone will want to get the original line-up together which is not impossible bar Mal Spooner who passed away. I am surprised abroad someone hasn’t come along to try this. Former band members have guested with us from time to time. Can we do something better the next time album wise? That’s what is always burning in my head each time.
I saw some old film of European dates from ‘Taking the World By Storm’ and the band then were really rocking.

You mentioned Mal Spooner. What is your fondest memory of him?

We go back to our school days. I remember sitting down with him and writing ‘Night of the Demon’ in the back of a shop locally. We would knack a song out and then go in the studio and record the song. I didn’t expect 25 years later people would still be talking about that album. We had the reunion at Leek, we had Mal’s children, who are the same age as mine and Mal’s wife and it was absolutely terrific.
One of the fond tales was in Leek where I live we went up to the Roches and it was a sunny day writing a track from ‘British Standard’, ‘Wonderland’, just sat there with an acoustic.
We were basically the old school of singer/songwriters. I’d worked with him before. I met him whilst taking songs down to Tin Pan Alley in London. We met there and eventually teamed up.
‘The Unexpected Guest’ had charted in couple of countries and it was with Carrae, who had other bands like Saxon and Rose Tattoo. We did two sold out nights at the Marquee in London and a big party. The next day I came back to Stoke with Mal and we had to sign on at the dole office. The same day we started to write ‘The Plague’. If someone had told me as a boy we had charted in Germany and Sweden I would have thought it was success for life. But in reality it was ‘What do we live on?’ Next to the dole office was Hanley museum and we looked up Samuel Pepys and the plague that was raging in London in the 1600’s. We bought a daily newspaper and saw things going on in Lebanon and we just wrote the album in the order it appears. It’s the only album I’ve ever done that way. It was all done because we were angry and ‘The Plague’ just happened because of that. It was a kickback at the music industry. We did laugh at it many a time after that.
We had all the press and a huge tour lined up with Gillan, a hundred dates or so but the record label wouldn’t back it. They had spent their money on other bands like Rage and Rose Tattoo, who got the Rainbow tour and stuff like that. They spent no money on us and the album’s success took them by surprise. If they backed the tour we could have had a lot more success.
We did the album in a week. A lot of people said we jumped six albums musically and perhaps we should have done another one like ‘Unexpected Guest’ but we always believed in moving forward with each album. Fond memories of Mal at that time.

Fast forwarding to 1994 and you did a solo album. Was this originally planned as a new Demon album?

It was a strange set-up. It was time for a break and I was just knocking some tracks around when a company in Germany, Zemaphore suggested a Dave Hill album which I found a really strange concept.
I would like to remix it at some stage as there are some good tracks on there. Funny thing was we had to rock it up as it was quite acoustic and the label wanted more guitars. In the end it sounded more like Demon. I quite regretted as it never ended up as I wanted it. To be quite homes tot wasn’t planned as well as doing a Demon album.

It’s never been released in the UK has it?

No but funnily enough we got some great reviews on it in the UK. Zemaphore went bust and we own the whole catalogue now.

You’re quite lucky like that as many bands have had to re-record their songs to get any money from them like Uriah Heep.

Oh yeah the tales you hear from other bands sat in hotel bars and festivals, the tales they tell are horrendous. To quote Stevie Wonder get your money on your advance ‘cause you might never get anything else.

Any plans to do a Demon box set?

Yeah, we are working on a ‘Epics and Ballads’ album which is not unreleased stuff but our ballads and epics like ‘Remembrance Day’. It would make an interesting collection instead of a ‘Best Of Volume 2’. There’s lots of stuff around and now we control our own destiny.

Are you planning a DVD as Demon have never done one yet.

No we haven’t actually but there is a video that everybody I have ever met has got from the early 80’s and the Unexpected Guest tour. Next year we will try and do another live album as the one we did in Germany in the 80’s is always popular. We will do another live album plus we have lots of footage from past tours and we could do a history of the band with Mal and everybody else. This would go well and put the record straight on these fronts.

Message for your fans…

Thanks for staying with us and all the people who come onto the site and to the gigs. Thanks for buying the stuff and staying with us and from the bottom of my heart thank you. We will keep going and s[preading the Demon message.