Weapon UK

Interview done in may 2012.

Having been contemporaries of Def Leppard, Saxon and Iron Maiden, in the beginning of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, still got some notoriety with the release of single “It’s a Mad Mad World”, in 1980. Coming from London, England, Weapon reappeared in 2011 with the release of their single “Ready 4 U”. We had a conversation with singer Danny Hynes and guitar player Jeff Summers.

Q. - Hey guys, nice to meet you! Were you involved in some other bands before joined/form Weapon?

Danny: I played in a few cover bands in the Birmingham area alongside original Weapon bassist, Baz Downes, before we headed for the ‘bright lights’ of London were formed a Snatch, who’s line-up included former Iron Maiden guitarist, Bob Angelo.

Jeff: Hi Paulo, I just played in school bands which progressed to play the London pub/gig circuit. The bands had weird and wonderful names like: Flex, Legs Akimbo and Fast Relief and were playing a mixture of Covers and original material.

Q. - Who would you cite as major influences at that time?

Danny: Free, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, UFO & Aerosmith

Jeff: Similar for me, these were the great bands of the late 60’s and early 70’s. We also listened a lot to thin Lizzy and I particularly loved Queen and Uriah Heep. All the bands had such unique sounds then and helped shape the music of the NWoBHM era.

Q. - I presume that was an honor for you to take part of a movement as important as the NWOBHM, tell us a bit about those days and the impact that the single “It’s a Mad Mad World” has had?

Danny: It was, and is, an honor to be a part of it, although at the time we weren’t really aware of it. We were just 4 ‘young’ rockers trying to write and play great songs. ‘Mad Mad World’ got a great response as it was very ‘radio friendly’ but ‘Set The Stage Alight’ had more of an impact. And 32 years later it has stood the test of time! And has been a big influence on many newer bands, including Metallica! Check out opening their song ‘Hit The Lights’ and listen to the opening of Set The Stage Alight.. Something they have acknowledged in print and on TV!

Jeff: Yes, around “77” there just seemed to be a resurgence in the interest for Classic Rock in the UK after a 2 or 3 year obsession with Punk! Young guys who had learned to play listening to the early 70’s greats had trouble relating to the non-musical aspects of punk and continued with hard rock but perhaps borrowing the energy and attitude created by the punk bands. As Danny says, “It’s a mad, mad world” was considered to have a more radio friendly sound than “Set the stage alight” or some of the other tracks we had recorded. Both songs were released in 12” & 7” formats as a double A side, but it was Set the stage that has had a lasting impact!

Q. - Do you recall the songs you were playing at the beginning? Did you play any covers too?

Danny: We never played a cover in weapon. All the songs were original and most of them are included on the ‘Set The Stage Alight’ album

Jeff: That’s right, we also played some songs that never made it into the recording studio such as: “No peace for the wicked” and “this is the song that’s gonna help you along”. There may have been some more but I can.t remember them off-hand.

Q. - At this point with the edition of the single, you were the opening act for Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades” UK tour, how did that happened? How did it go? Any story you could share with us?

Danny: As documented elsewhere, we were seen by Motorhead’s Eddie Clarke playing a gig in London. He liked what he heard and put it to Lemmy, Phil and their manager that we should open for them. A hastily arranged gig was set up at the, infamous, Music Machine, Camden, with Motorhead and their management in attendance. We’d had a bit of problematic day within the day and were really pissed off with each other before we went on stage. This lead to ‘we couldn't give a fuck attitude’ towards the audience, resulting in a great gig. In the immortal words of Lemmy “Any band that has that much contempt their audience has to tour with us” So we were offered and, of course, accepted the 32 date tour. The tour was amazing. We were treated with great respect by Motorhead their crew and, more importantly, ‘their’ fans! The highlight for me was ending the tour with 4 sell out nights at the famous Hammersmith Odeon

Jeff: Yes, this was a fantastic opportunity for the band. The “Ace up yer sleeve” tour was the biggest one in the UK at the time and we were stunned to be offered it. Every day on that tour was a learning experience, the band had only played to audiences of around 200-300 prior to that and most nights were between 3 and 5 thousand!!

Q. - So, after the single you recorded a demo-tape in 1981, did you promote that demo quite heavily? Was it well received? Did you try to approach some labels?

Danny: The double a sided single ‘Mad Mad World’ / ‘Set The Stage Alight’ was released on our own Weapon label and distributed through Virgin records. We never released any demos which, although well received, never lead to a deal.

Jeff: We recorded “Midnight Satisfaction” “One night stand” “Take that bottle Away” “Olivia and “Bad Love” around the same time as “set the stage” and “MM World” these trackwere mastered and were planned to go on our first album which never happened. We later recorded four demo quality (unmastered songs) including: “Remote Control” “Light of the world” “Killer Instinct” and “the things you do” these songs were never release until 2003 when our “compilation album” was released by Zoom Club.

Q. - Shouldn’t an LP have been the next step?

Danny: The album was recorded but due to shit management they never secured us a deal.

Q. - What were the reasons that led to the end of Weapon, was at this time that Jeff and Bruce joined Wildfire?

Danny: Simply answer to that is with no deal, no tour support and still in contract to the management company we couldn’t actually do anything so the band imploded!

Jeff: Bruce and I were asked to join Wildfire towards the end of 1982. Weapon had already imploded by then…

Q. - Do you still keep in touch with some of the former members of the band?

Danny: We always were and still the best of friends. Actually Baz & Bruce came into the studio with us in March to re-recorded one of our old demos, Killer Instinct, which will be a bonus track on the new album.

Jeff: As Danny says, the end of the band at that time never encroached on the long lasting friendship that we all have. We still continue to jam and gig with each other whenever we get the chance.

Q. - In your opinion what are the main differences between the 1981 and the reality (landscape) of today?

Danny: The reality is, we’re 31 years older :) Joking aside, I think rock bands have more choices today. They don’t ‘have’ to bow down to record company executives, a dying breed in my humble opinion! All the bands of the nwobhm era started out releasing their stuff on their own labels but once they got signed by the majors they had hundreds of thousand spent on promotion. With the rise of the Internet we’ve come full circle and don’t ‘need’ huge budgets. A band can now get as much, if not more, exposure/promotion through the like of Myspace, Facebook and Youtube etc, etc.

Jeff: The main stay of the musician in those days was the release of the album. The band would then tour to promote the release and sell copies on the back of the tour. The album release would be the main financial income for the band. Generally the opposite could be said no, musicians survive on the live work income now…

Q. - So, what have you done in the nineties? What other projects were you involved with? Did you guys make a living off music or did you have to keep day jobs?

Danny: I’ve been lucky enough to have a made a living out of music. After Weapon, I formed a ‘fun’ covers band called Paddy Goes To Holyhead The line-up changed frequently , apart from me. Former members have included, Andy Scott & Mick Tucker (Sweet) Jeff, Bruce & Baz (Weapon) Mal McNulty & John Berry (Now with Slade) Phil Lanzon (Uriah Heep) to name but just a few! And the current line-up includes Tino & Chris Troy, Andy Burgess (Praying Mantis) and Weapon drummer, Ian Sweeting. We still gig on a regular basis. Full details on the web site www.paddygoestoholyhead.com

Jeff: I played with Danny in “The Paddies” and also recorded and released 2 albums with “Wildfire” and one album with “Statetrooper” during the rest of the 80’s. Both bands also gigged, toured and promoted heavily throughout this time. During the 90’s I have played with various pub bands including the Loudshirts.

Q. - Back in 2003, the compilation “Set The Stage Alight” came up, how that idea did start?

Danny: Zoom Club Records approached Jeff with the idea of releasing so it was re-mastered and released...

Jeff: We were surprised to find that there was still so much interest in the band, this was probably helped by the inclusion of “Set the stage alight” on the 79 revisited NWoBHM compilation put together by Lars Ulrich and Geoff Barton. We were approached by a few small record companies to provide the rights to release the material recorded in 80/81.

Q. - Was at this time that you thought about regroup Weapon? The positive reaction to the release of the compilation helped on that decision?

Danny: We didn’t actually regroup then. It wasn’t until 2005 when we were offered The Headbangers-Open-Air Ball in Germany and as it would have been the bands 25th anniversary we thought why the hell not!

Jeff: Yes, the original band got back together for tis one-off festival show and we were knocked out by the fact that the audience seemed to know the material so well. This led to Danny and I re-evaluating the potential to re-unite and maybe make a new record.

Q. - Have you thought about joining (reunite) the original line up or came up with the actual line up?

Danny: After the H.O.A. Ball we discussed the idea but with Bruce unavailable, he’s full time member of Andy Scott’s Sweet, and Baz, unfortunately, too ill to tour we decided against it. But as time passed Jeff and I discussed it again and decided if we could find a rhythm section as good, if not better, than Baz & Bruce then we would give it a go. I think we’ve been very fortunate to have found PJ & Ian who, in my opinion, are on a par with our original members..

Jeff: Yes, it’s a shame that Bruce n Baz were unable to join us…But the new guys are stunning players and have given us a new lease of life!

Q. - The newer single “Ready 4 U” is really notable, does this song means to show us Weapon’s direction from now on?

Danny: Weapon will continue what we started all those years ago and that is to write great rocks songs and perform them live to the best of our ability..

Jeff: We were always single orientated and Ready 4 U sits nicely with both old and new material. The new album will “raise a few eyebrows” As it has a brand new sound but still keeps the band very recognisable to those that remember us from the 80’s.

Q. - What are the projects for 2012? I’ve heard you are working on another release, do you also intend to play in summer festivals or touring supporting the new album?

Danny: We finished recording the new album last weekend and it’s now being mixed at Muse Studios, Atlanta, Georgia. Plan A was to try to get it released before the summer and play some European festivals but that wasn’t to be! Plan B is to get on a major tour towards the end of the year and to release it then..

Jeff: (Update) We have so far been offered and accepted festival dates in the UK (Denim and Leather festival) Italy (Diversemente II in Milan) A club date in Belgium and 2 or 3 more live shows in the UK.

Q. - How would you like to end this interview? I would like to wish you all the best for the future! Thanks! Cheers!

Danny: Many thanks to you Paulo and special thanks to all the fans who supported us, and nwobhm music, throughout the years.. We look forward to seeing you at a venue near you some time in the not too distant future.

Jeff: Yes, thanks for your interest Paulo and thanks also to everyone who has helped to keep the legacy of Weapon alive. We are very much re-invigorated and looking forward to bringing our music (new and old) to you all!!!