Mick Hare (After Dark, Ironheart)

After Dark is a NWOBHM band based in Reading, Berkshire, England, and got some notoriety with two singles recorded in the early 80's, "Evil Woman" and "Deathbringer". We had a chat with guitar player Mick Hare that also played with Dangerous Age and Ironheart.

Q. - Hello Mick! Tell us a bit about the beginning of After Dark, how did it all start? How did you get in touch with the other members?

Mick - It's a long time ago! (late 70's). But myself and vocalist Steve Annetts formed the band and used to rehearse in the cellar of my mum and dad's pub, 'The Chequers' in Woodley, Reading. We originally had a different drummer and bass player but they left and we eventually recruited John Metcalfe and Ian King (Inky) on drums and bass respectively, as well as Andy Harris on Keyboards and a guy called Jerry Christopher on guitar, who went on to become a guitar teacher.

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

Mick - Influences were Free, Zeppelin, Bad Company...that kinda stuff.

Q. - It surprises you that the EPs "Evil Woman" and "Deathbringer", still have so much acceptation these days?

Mick - Yes it does, unbelievable!..I once spoke to a guy with a stall at a record fair and he told me whenever he got a copy of 'Evil Woman' he could sell it 'easily' for over £100!

Q. - The "After Dark" adventure didn't last too much, what lead to the end?

Mick - After the tour with Diamond Head in '84, where we went down so well in some venue's, it was a massive downer going back to playing places like 'The Target' and back to pub gigs..this took it's toll and we eventually split up.

Q. - How did the idea of compiling "Masked by Midnight" came up? And will it be re-released, since is very rare to find nowadays?

Mick - Those were just our favorite tunes at the time..the good news is, thanks to Bart Gabrial at Skol Records the 'Masked By Midnight' album has been re-mastered, re-packaged and will be released worldwide on November 30th.

Q. - There's not much information about "Dangerous Age", what can you tell us about your days in this band?

Mick - Dangerous Age were a mega talented band and made a great album 'Troubled Times' which had 2 or 3 guitarists on it..I played on 3 tracks I think..but it was mainly Steve Annetts and drummer Ian Foster's band..Ian did all the production on the album. The best track we did was a version of a song Steve and Ian did years earlier in a band called Killer called 'Berlin'. This track wasn't on the 1st album, we recorded it for the 2nd. However the 2nd album was never released. I think the track is still on my Facebook page under video's..

Q. - Next step you joined Ironheart, how did that happen?

Mick - Iron Heart was actually my first band BEFORE After Dark, but we split, then we formed After Dark and when After Dark split we re-formed Iron Heart!

Q. - The EP "Running Away" was released in 1988, did it have air play on radio stations?

Mick - I think Alan Freeman may have played it and local DJ Brian Pithers played it all the time on his local rock show, but nothing major.

Q. - When did "Ironheart" split up exactly? Was it when Paul Wrightson leaved? What happened that lead to the split?

Mick - We did a big gig in Reading at Rivermead Leisure Center where about 1500 people showed up..28th October 1988..amazing turn out for 4 local bands..we headlined it and for one reason or another split up soon after that gig.

Q. - In your opinion, were the 90's hard times for heavy metal bands?

Mick - I don't think so, I think metal has always been there and is as big today as it ever was. Iused to be a huge Judas Priest fan in my 20's and I think they have just released their best album ever with 'Firepower'..incredible.

Q. - How did the idea for "Archives" came up?

Mick - I think cd's were the 'in thing' at the time so, as 'Running Away' hadn't been released on CD we chucked that on it with a couple of demo's we thought were pretty good.

Q. - What do you think that lacked to "After dark" and "Iron Heart" to have a successful career?

Mick - Wrong place in the wrong time in both situations..After Dark were around they same time as bands like Maiden and Def Leppard..they got the luck, we didn't..

Q. - Did you stay in touch with each other’s all over the years?

Mick - My new band 'The Dead Can Wait' has Paul Wrightson on vocals although I didn't speak to him for years..I've seen Steve Annetts recently with a view to maybe re-recording some After Dark stuff..but apart from that I've not really had much contact with any of them apart from occasionally on social media.

Q. - What do you think of this recent revival of the N.W.O.B.H.M., and all these bands reforming?

Mick - I think it's great..it's really good to see bands like Raven, Diamond Head and lots of others still touring..even if some of them are only with 1 original member!..people still want to hear this stuff in their masses..look at Maiden and Def Leppard..although they were the ones placed with big producers and managers early on..they couldn't go wrong really.

Q. - In your opinion what are the main differences between the eighties and the reality of today?

Mick - I think in the 80's bands would record and put out stuff that sounded like it had been recorded in their garage (like we did!)..these days recording and production techniques have advanced so much..I would love to be able to go back and re-record the After Dark album with a good producer and today's technology...and have more time over it..that album was recorded in a few days due to expense at the time.

Q. - So what are you doing these days? Do you still play in any band? Tell us a bit about it.

Mick - Yes my band is called 'The Dead Can Wait' and on November 24th we do our 2nd gig at The Facebar in Reading with a band called Predatur, who have been around since the early Iron Heart days..and have a huge following all over Europe..capacity is 300 and half the tickets are gone already..The Dead Can Wait line up is me on guitar..Paul Wrightson on vocals..Simon Baker on drums (best drummer I've ever played with)..Glen Potter (ex - Predatur) on bass and another amazing guitar player called Steve Mcloughlin who has also been around in various bands for years..really looking forward to the gig on the 24th..think it will be heaving!

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

Mick - Thank you for asking me!..YOU ROCK!

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