Snatch Back

Interview by Z.J.  from the page Nwobhm/ Hard Rock- RARE

KEY: : SteB =Ste Byatt guitar, JC=John Cowley, vocals. SP= Steve Platt drums, IW = Ian Wood Bass

1    1. How did your adventure with music start? Which bands influenced you in your youth and did they inspire you to form a band?

We had lots of influences. Music was aloud and shared by all age groups in the early 60s, not in earphones like today.Radios at home and work and variety TV shows all showcased music. The transistor radio and portable “Dancette” record players had us playing everything from 78rpm Bing Crosby records to to Beatles singles.

No one from Snatch-Back came from trained musician families. We learned our instruments by constantly playing by ear to snippets of vinyl over and over again.It drove our parents crazy! No video or DVD courses then.

We didn't all meet until the 70s but individualy, we all wanted to join bands, escape factory work and travel. TV shows like”Ready Steady Go”,“New musical express awards”, “ Top of the Pops” and later “The Old Grey Whistle Test” showed another world  where the Kinks, Rolling Stones and later Black Sabbath, Led Zep, Hendrix...and even... the Monkeys promoted lifestyles, not just songs.

The “do it yourself” Skiffle craze had passed but the Beatles merseybeat phenomena still preached  anyone could make the big time with a cheap instrument. Hell, “Lally Stott”, the writer of the hit single “Chirpy chirpy cheep cheap” had lived in SteBs street and moved to Italy after selling millions.

By late 60s SteB joined school with SP. SteB had dabbled in groups and even got paid for a couple of country and Western gigs. SP was recruited to drum and we played gigs doing Status Quo, Rolling Stones & Faces covers. We met John at school. He was a local legend strumming guitar at parties. He did a gig with us but didn't stay. We hadn't met Ian then. He'd just moved nearby and had formed a band playing Beatles, Rory Galagher and Mott the Hoople. We all got a buzz out of learning and playing live.

Snatch-Back was born the night SP took SteB to the cinema to see "Hendrix plays Berkley". We immediately planned a four piece group writting original rock stuff...but we had never written a song?? John was ready with his Ozzy Black Sabbath Vol 4 tassled jacket and long hair.He introduced Ian who brought a  WEM Dominator amp, Hofner bass AND a couple of original songs. We had all seen live bands like Ten Years After, Genesis, Quo and Sabbath at Liverpool Stadium and wanted to be a part of that scene.

2. Have you treated the band seriously from the beginning or was it just fun?

We had next to no gear or songs; no rehearsal space and no local rock venues to aim for.  We determined to create our own style rock songs. Ian is very Ian Hunter /Ten Years After, SP Genesis and SteB Sabbath /Hendrix inspired. Common ground was certainly the band Free.This makes our songs a little different. From playing the first note Snatch-Back was exciting and way ahead of our other attempts. It felt a very natural  flowing experience playing tand writing together.  We always believed in ourselves and somehow made things work. We were always aiming to achieve something special... whatever that was.

3. The first period of the band's activity is 1974-1983. Tell us a bit about the band's first steps.

John borrowed a van and negotiated rehearsal space in a farm barn where he worked a milk round.In a few  weeks we had written 5 songs and  sold out tickets for a youth club hall on the promise of delivering a Rock show....but we had no PA or band name (apart from Ian & John's mates).  A swift trip to Liverpoool saw the shopkeeper announcing “This is the Snatch-Back P.A.” It was a bargain, repossesed hire purchase and our new band name too (we liked the cryptic “Snatch” bit). We blagged into a short notice school disco as a warm up gig starting with and we were ready for our first ticket gig!Having the barn to rehearse meant we put lots of weekend time in writing and rehearsing.

Very soon SP got us a cinema gig playing between Status Quo and Rory Gallagher films where we had watched “Hendrix in Birkley”!

4. How was the metal scene in St Helens in the late 1970s?

Our town was Social Clubs for “Cabaret” singers and bingo. No rock venues, not even pubs. The only local rock/prog band was “Gravy Train”. They had LPs and played a local theatre. Personal LP collections were more ecclectic and termed “progressive”.This included Hendrix, Iron Butterfly,Purple, Genesis, ELP, Free, Sabbath, Humble Pie. Everyone shared Vinyl and traveled to  live gigs at Liverpool Stadium or Empire and Manchester Free Trade Hall. We saw a fantastic mix of top live bands. The only rock in St Helens was the occasional cinema film or a rock disco on a Tuesday evening. We had to create our own live venues.

5. Has Snatch Back played enough concerts? Have you had the chance to share the stage with larger bands? Some unforgettable anecdotes that you would like to share?

We promoted a lot of local youth club “pay on the door” gigs and started a regular live rock night in a social club with another local band booking others as headline and support. We built a loyal local following that way. Soon we were playing around two paid gigs a week all around North West England in pubs and clubs doing a few covers but mainly original material. We now had a huge PA and enjoyed Liverpool and Wirral a lot. We nearly got a recording contract when an A&R guy checked out our Birkenhead Empress gig, but we were far too heavy for him and he signed “The Rubettes” (Do the juke box jive) instead.We were double booked at Tower Club, Oldham the night Def Leppard I'm told they got their offer. Our top venues at the time included The Cherry Tree, Runcorn, The Lion, Warrington, Stairways and The Empress in the Wirral and Casino and Mr Ms in Wigan. These booked venues great bands like Alex Harvey,Strife, Nutz, Quo Vadis, Diamond Head, NightWing, Def Leppard and Judas Priest. Eventually we came back to St Helens. With the help of great local bands we sold out the 600 seat Theatre TWICE! This is where we saw “Gravy Train”in the early days. They realy were a great inspiration for us. Strangley though we still  had no LP recorded.

6. Your only official release from the first period of activity was the single "Eastern Lady / Cryin" to the Night. "But only a few days ago, 100 hand-numbered collection tapes from the sessions at Amazon Studios, Liverpool, United Kingdom 1982 were released on sale. Can you say more about these releases (where, when and with whom they were recorded.) Does the band have more unpublished recordings and are there plans to release them?

We thought we would celebrate the popularity of Eastern Lady by issuing at the end of the “Back in the Game” CD.

While finishing the album we thought we would entertain our fans by releasing our 1982 Amazon Liverpool recordings on limited edition cassette.  The cassette is certainly not a low cost option to CD as few manufacturers left. We've been rewarded by fans from a wide range of countries ordering it.

The Amazon session was in a state of ther art analogue studio used for professional albums. No digital corrections in those days. It shows how we played.We were very tight and recorded the songs in one day and mixed in another. Ste Kay was on bass as Ian had moved for his career. SteB was heavily influenced by the sparse Van Halen sound so maybe we left it a little too open in the production. It waas always intended as a demo though-but we did put the fun “Boogie Shoes” on there for a laugh-that's about condoms.We have never released this material before now.

There are plenty of good live recordings of other material and a “lost” very early studio session.

6. Unfortunately, for many years Snatch-Back was a very mysterious band. The single has left very little information to enlighten us about who you are and where you come from. I think that was not your intention. The single also did not give the band the great breakthrough that could have been expected. Don't you think that this lack of information could have contributed to the circumstances that prevented this?

What we needed was good management and marketing. Our biggest (strenght and enemy) was that we wanted to play live more and improve material. We did see recording as a way to promote the band until somebody decent could produce a good recording of us.Our own efforts never seemed good enough to us. We had always written a better song or seen the rushed recording mix as poor, so had lost interest and wanted to move on.We didn't know how to get management or recording company interest. Pre internet there was little information exchange and pre digital recording and vinyl pressing expensive. We should really have been producing and selling material at gigs at least but all our funds went on improving our gear and transport.We niavely thought the best way to get noticed was writting and playing as often as possible.

7. In 1983, Snatch Back falls apart. After the band was dissolved, were you all musically active or did you choose a different path? Do you also know what the members of Snatch Back have been doing over the years: Dave Taylor, Ste Kay and Geoff Banks.

Frankly it was a dark time with all the small to medium size venues closing or turning into discos. We did a cabaret club work for a while and got too good at it. The rot set in and the band slowly dissolved. SteP had a few breaks before we reformed and JC had quit due to work commitments. We've all played in various club, cover, tribute and blues bands. Ian joined Wayne Fontana and the Mind Benders for a while and then  recorded an album with “The Bamford Blues Band” and with SteB Trubshaws, Live at Liverpool Cavern. SteB recoded a “Reginald Trowel Experience” Album and wrote a backing track with Dave Taylor for BBC Liverpool Photographic Club show. Dave is playing in a great covers band now. Ste Kay enjoys filling in for various bands but wont commit to regular shows. Ste is a big supporter of Snatch-Backs revival. Geoff Banks still loves music and manages his sons punk band. (Geoff played early with another band called Bangkok. Currently supported by the Fallingfree https://www.facebook.com/fallingfreeuk/?ref=br_rs

- .  reminder: Z.J.)

8. How do you see the NWOBHM from the perspective of many years? What do you think about today's metal scene?

We were amazed that 30 years after we split, we saw a NWOBHM fan letter in our local paper from Israel trying to track us down.We really thought that local fans were the only ones that recalled us.

It was always a dream to play or be heard in other countries. We are so grateful to Malc MacMillon : Encyclopedia of NWOBHM and NWOBHM sites for mentioning us and opening our eyes to support and opportunities we never knew were possible. Its quite a priviledge to know that someone will be interested in a new release and that we are enjoyed internationally as well as locally.

We've promoted a couple of gigs with NWOBHM favourites Troyen and Robespeirre. Unfortunately support for NWOBHM seems very localised in UK. A lot of bands popular in Europe dont get the support they deserve here as yet, so it is still hard to sell.

We were a little concerned that Snatch-Back may not fit the current genre as it seems to have moved on from Def Leppard pop rock to a Godflesh meets Iron Maiden. Then again we have a skull or two in our videos and our next recording will be rockier..

9. How did the band re-unite in 2016. Who was the initiator?

SteB had been approached by a local fan who amazingly still recalled the words to our unrecorded songs. Good timing, as he fancied a change from bashing away in his AC/DC tribute band.SteB and Ian had played in recent bands together so we tracked down the others. We all met to chat.The pub meeting photo on facebook immediately got us a headline offer at a local festival. A quick rehearsal went well so we took the gig and promised ourselves to put an EP out to be available at the festival celebrate.We hate, but thrive on deadlines.

10.  The band returned to playing with the release of the EP under a very significant title: "Back In The Game". What was the reaction of fans to your music after many years of absence?

The festival venue was a sell out and we got a a fantastic local newspaper write up. We are very moved by the support and it was a good start for CD sales. With our website/ facebook shop we received more sales after the event and from more international.out NWOBHM fans. Thanks to a European producer we made contact with some international distributors. We are overwhealmed that we receive orders from as far away as USA, Japan, Scandinavia as well as Europe. It has certainly spurred us on to do more.

11. The Internet has opened up many opportunities to reach fans and record sellers. Many bands put their songs online to download. What do you think about it ? Or maybe you plan to take advantage of these opportunities?

Technology opportunities now is amazing. When we reformed we promised to make a historical record of Snatch-Back for us and our fans. We had no idea of the global interest this would create. I hear so many musicians whining about either not selling or only getting a fraction of a penny per download. The deals are transparent enough and if you dont get fans interested you wont sell it.Magazines like yours and internet radio helps us immensely. We certainly need to make our downloads more easy to find-but we are selling and plan to expand this. We look at downloads as a shop window introduction and expect to pay towards this promotion. Its a lot to ask someone overseas to pay postage for CDs and Vinyl that they have never heard. Its also a priceless buzz knowing someone has found us and is listening in Mexico, Belgium, India, Japan, or whereever. Maybe this will also create interest so we can tour overseas?

More great fun was to make a couple of videos with Amy. We've never had a film record of our “characters” so this is another ambition fulfilled and allows intrnational, as well as local, fans to see us. It also got us votes enough to become finalists in the “Stonedeaf 2018 Festival” openning act poll so a few people out there must be entertained.

12.   I heard that you are working on a new album. Can you reveal some details to us?

We had extra drums and guide tracks recorded from the  “Back in the Game” sessions. Our festival deadline didn't permit these to be finished for that CD. Unfortunately, SP needed shoulder sugery this year. Before he went under the knife he managed to lay enough extra drum tracks for an album. Ian has worked tirelessly combining our new recordings with these while SP is recovering. Our goal was to launch this at, the now unfortunately cancelled,Mearfest South in November 2018. We've looked at vinyl as well as CD options for staged release in late 2018 / early 2019. We are aiming for a more driving, Classic Rock vibe. We think the final mix would benefit from a good rock producer so we've been researching people. The album is self funded again, without pledge funding either. This is partly helped by our EP sales. Any advice on broadening sales or record company involvement is always welcomed though.

13. Plans for the future?

We think we have recaptured our original enthusiasm to give a great live show and create Rock with a unique edge.

We want to write and record more material and play live to our both our loyal and new fans.

It would be great to partner with other NWOBHM bands to put on a touring show so would welcome any ideas.

We are convinced that internet sales and promotion possibilities reach new audiences. It would be great to get better at that.

We never signed to any management or record labels. We are not arrogant about this. We've frankly not had the business sense but found a way to overcome difficulties and carry on Rocking. I dont think we would have got this far though without support of our fans and NWOBHM sites.

Snatch-Back will be playing Mearfest North in South Shields, UK on 13th October and at St Helens, UK on 24th November. We are pushing to get our new CD out by then.

Thanks for the interview.Z.J.