Mark Gus (Savage)

Savage came up in early 79, in London, formed by school friends Mark "Gus" (Guitar) and Russel Elliott (Bass), and recorded a three track demo tape at Picsa Studios in Manor Park, London, the same year. We had a chat with guitar player Mark "Gus", who now a days plays with Les Binks' Priesthood.

Q. - Hello Gus, tell us a bit about the origins of Savage, how and when did it all start?

How did you get in touch with the other members?

Gus - Savage was formed in early 1979 by school friends Mark ‘Gus’ Gustavina (Guitar) and Russell Eliott (Bass).

They were joined by Kev Hegan (Guitar) who was from another school, but Gus had played with him briefly in another school band, and Mark Kirkby (Vocals), who had gone to Primary school with Gus, and finally Dave Edwards (Drums), who was friends with Mark.

Later that year, Dave was replaced by Paul Margolis on Drums, and Mark felt he had no choice but to leave with his good friend.

The group then asked Alan Sergeant, who they’d seen guesting with Angelwitch at the Crackers night club, to join the band. This was also where we met Paul.

Q. - Who were your major influences at that time?

Gus - Our main influences were Judas Priest (we named ourselves after one of their songs), Black Sabbath and Rush. But we also played covers by Styx, UFO and Scorpions. We also loved Angelwitch.

Q. - In the early days, did you start writing your own songs or were you most concentrated on covers?

Gus - Mostly our own songs, most of which I’d written while at school, but as mentioned above, we did play covers too. The only one we performed live was Rockbottom by UFO.

Q. - A 3 song demo tape were recorded in 1980. Was it your first experience in studio?

Gus - Yes, it was the first time for all of us. Most of us were only 16 at the time.

Q. - What do you recall from these recording season?

Gus - Well, we were all very excited and obviously had no experience of recording in a studio, so we did everything the engineer asked us to do.

Every song was recorded live, with us all playing at the same time, and I think the only thing we dubbed was some vocals.

Q. - Did you sell this demo at shows, send it to fanzines? What feedback did you receive from this demo?

Gus - We used the demo to try to get gigs, and even had interviews with the A&R department of a few record companies, obviously without success.

We did give one to Geoff Banks (RIP) as we knew him, and he did mention us in his fanzine Teenage Depression, although sadly, I do not have a copy.

Q. - Did you try to find a record deal to release an Lp at that time?

Gus - Yes, we approached a few record companies, but had no success. We didn’t have the finances to record an album ourselves.

Q. - What about shows, did you play live around London at that time? Did you share the stage with some other well-known bands?

Gus - We only ever played two gigs. Our debut in December 1979 was at the rock club Crackers, where we had been going since July that year and where we met our second drummer and singer who were on the demo.

Because we knew everyone at the club, it was packed to capacity, an unforgettable first gig.

The second and last gig was at a pub in Lewisham, South London, that I can’t recall the name of.

That wasn’t very well attended at all.

Q. - Do you remember the set list that you use to play with Savage at that time?

Gus - We played the three songs from the demo Decider, Guardian of Fate and Children of Tomorrow, plus other songs that we wrote that were never recorded, Demon Rider, Queen Destiny and The Goat Of Mendis. Plus we played the Strangers In The Night version of Rockbottom by UFO.

Q. - Do you have any special memories from the shows you played back then?

Gus - I remember the first gig quite well, because most of the audience were our friends, we went down really well. I was very happy that people finally had the chance to see us after we’d spent months ‘bigging ourselves up’ lol.

Personally, I was very pleased that people were impressed with my note for note rendition of the Michael Schenker solo on Rockbottom. I used to have an enormous ego!

Q. - When did Savage split up? What happened that lead to the break.

Gus - We split up in the summer of 1980, so we were only together a year or so. I’d basically fallen out with Russ. His ego was as big as mine and I decided to leave. Just before we split, we’d replaced Paul with a guy called Gary Pownall on drums. He asked me to join an old band of his that were reforming called Blind Wolf. Russ, Kev and Mark found a drummer in Dave Raeburn (later with Larry Miller) and they formed a band called Requiem and recorded a two song demo before disbanding.

Q. - Did you stay in touch with the other former members over the years?

Gus - I still see Kev every few months, he like me, is still playing. Mark gave up singing straight after and we have a beer every now and then. Gary I see a few times a year. He’s still playing, but bass now instead of drums. Paul I’ve only chatted to on social media. Alan and Dave I’ve not heard from since 1980. Finally, Russ and I briefly worked together in 1981 or 82 with Dave Raeburn but then lost touch for the most part. Last saw him about 20 years ago.

Q. - Looking back in time would you have changed things to keep the Savage alive?

Gus - The big mistake we made was letting an older guy we knew become our manager. We were so naive that we let him take charge, and he had absolutely no experience of managing a band, and we let him influence us to make poor decisions, so if I could, I’d go back and sack him lol.

Q. - Have you ever thought about doing a compilation with all the recordings made by Savage?

Gus - Not until recently. We have been approached by some social media groups into the NWOBHM scene and record companies to release something.

The problem is we only have the three songs from the demo that anywhere near releasable.

I have old cassette tapes of a few rehearsals but the quality is poor.

I have considered recording the songs we had but never recorded, but it’s finding the time.

Q. - Tell us a bit about Priesthood, how did it came up? Were you friends with Les?

Gus - I first met Les when I auditioned for Tytan I think around 1981. He was the drummer and I was introduced. The band was formed by Kevin Riddles from Angelwitch, but it was my first ever audition and I fluffed it.

Then about 15 years ago I went to see a friends cover band in a local pub and Les was drumming for them.

I chatted to him a bit, I told him about the Tytan audition, but off course he didn’t remember.

Then in 2016 my mate Smiffy who played bass with a few bands on the same rock covers circuit as my band Memento, asked me to dep for a gig, and Les was drumming with him. That went well so a year later he phoned and asked if I was free on Christmas Eve to play a one off gig with a singer neither of us had met. That tuned out to be Adam Shepperd.

This time Les had requested we play the song he’d written for Judas Priest called Beyond The Realms Of Death, which just so happened to be one of my favourite ever songs. Coincidentally, I’d actually first learned to play the song for a school concert in 1978 (with Russ and Kev pre Savage) and unbelievably I remembered how to play it.

So we played it at the gig and we played his song so well, I believe that’s what gave him the spark to form Priesthood, as I got a call from him a few weeks later asking to join.

Q. - Now that Les has been working with KK Priest, will Priesthood keep active?

Gus - Yes. There’s still an audience dying to hear all the older Priest material. KKs Priest will play songs right up till when he left, and they’re about to release an album of new material.

Q. - Do you still keep an eye to the heavy metal scene? Is there any band that you still like to listen?

Gus - I keep an eye out yes, but my tastes are now much more varied. I still love to listen to all the old bands I was brought up on.

Q. - How do you want to end up this interview? Anything more you want to say?

Gus - I’m currently writing this two months into the lockdown caused by Covid 19, and my whole existence as a live performer has disappeared.

I can only wait and hope that things return to normal very quickly, but I fear things will never be quite the same.

I wish everyone well and stay safe, and thank for the opportunity to recount my story.

Thank you for your time, and wish you all the best for the future!