Sacrilege were active from 1982 to 1987, after 25 years of absent they
returned in 2012 and have been editing albums in a regular basis. We had a chat
with main man Bill Beadle, about this underrated band from Gillingham, England.
Q. - Hello Bill, tell us a bit about the origins of Sacrilege, how and
when did it all start? Who were the first members of the band?
Bill - I first thought about starting a band 1980 when the rumours Black
Sabbath had split and the thought of no Sabbath was terrible so wondered how
good I’d be at writing songs. It wasn’t until later 1981 that myself and best
friend Alex Cookson decided to see what we could do. My mother bought me a Bass
guitar and Alex got a lead Guitar, his next door neighbour was a lead guitarist
in a band so Alex learnt from him, I decided the Bass wasn’t for me soon after
and got a Guitar as well and stated writing songs with my limited guitar
playing skills but people like the stuff I wrote. Alex and myself advertised in
Melody maker for a Bass player and Drummer, Steve Barrs replied and wanted to
audition and a friend of my Flatmate Pater Tarling said he’d like to come along
his name was Rick Burgess. After a couple of months we recorded a demo to get
gigs, the Demo contained the songs Sacrilege, The Church (which is now known as
Lucifer) and The Ruler and we called it The Gates of Hell.
Q. - Sacrilege was a theatrical band in the early days with a very
interesting concept, who came up with the idea?
Bill - This was my idea as I thought if no one knows our music they may
take more notice if we had pyros going off and as much theatrics as possible, I
remember us getting in trouble at the green gate in London because we use to
have real long dead straw like grass I got from a theatre company all across
the front of the stage to look like a cemetery but it left such a mess after
haha we have 4x12 cabinets with crosses in them and red lights and of course
plenty of smoke, people loved it.
Neil Turnbull Eddie Webb
Q. - Who would you cite as your major influences at that time?
Bill - I was a fanatical Black Sabbath fan and went to every gig
possible I cling all 4 nights at Hammersmith Odeon In I think 1978, I also
loved Judas Priest actually nothing’s changed there I still love both bands.
You can hear my influences in the Sacrilege music that’s for sure.
Q. - And how did the band name came up?
Bill - I was going to call the band Blizzard then by coincidence Ozzy
started his own band calling it Blizzard of Oz which was amazing really but we
couldn’t then call ourselves Blizzard, then while I was watching a film on TV
called Demetrius and the Gladiators there was a scene where Demetrius (Victor
Mature) was seeing all these bodies being thrown into a pit and he says that’s
just Sacrilege!
That was it, I thought great we are gonna be Sacrilege.
Q. - The band had a TV appearance around 1983 on ITV, what memories do
you keep from that especial day?
Bill - A great day, it started when My father sent the demo off to ITV
as The David Jensen show was asking for band records and tapes to be sent in
where six bands of different Genres will be picked to play on his show, we got
a call out of the blue saying we had been picked as the best Metal Genre to
play on the show. We hadn’t even played a live gig at that stage and here we
are about to go on Television. I remember us being treat almost like big stars
haha there were calls for sacrilege to the make up room where Alex got a cross
painted on his face then it was down to the studio where we did three takes of
the song Sacrilege with cameras everywhere. Being Television though they
weren’t so bothered about the sound quality it seemed to be all about the
visuals so although I think it was great doing the show I wish the sound was a
little better but a fantastic day. The major bands on the show were U2 and the
Stranglers with us.
Q. - The 83 demo tape "Gates of Hell", had nine tracks, was it
made in order to record an LP? Did you try to find a record deal after that
demo?
Bill - We were going on the street tunes label of John Glover who’s was
putting a compilation album together to rival the Metal for Muthas album that
was out then. I believe he had tracks by Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Saxon, Angel
Witch etc and we went into Shepperton studios with a producer and recorded a
track called Ratrace but Street tunes also had a pop band called Go West on
their books and they got a number one hit so all monies where put into them and
the album was dropped. I did write to a few record companies and even got into
bronze records and left a tape but we didn’t get anything back so they either
didn’t like the track I gave them or didn’t listen to it who knows. I’ve no
idea where that version of Ratrace is either and that’s a shame as it was such
a good recording.
Q. - Did you play in other bands after Sacrilege called it a day?
Bill - I’ve never played in any other band and have no desires to. I not
even played another bands song live I’ve only played Sacrilege songs. When
retired I did record Breaking the law by priest as a bit of fun but that’s it.
Q. - In your opinion, were the 90's hard times for heavy metal bands?
Bill - I stopped playing in 1987 and didn’t play live again until 2012,
I sold all my gear and really didn’t take much notice of music apart from going
to see Priest and Sabbath whenever they played in the U.K.
Q. - What made you feel like reunite Sacrilege again, after 25 years?
Bill - One day I decided to build a recording studio in my garden and
re-record the Sacrilege songs again as technology had moved on so much it was
possible to get a great recording by playing at home. After recording a few of
the Sacrilege tracks I started writing again but never being the best guitarist
I needed a lead player so looked on the internet and found this guy called
Pekka Loikkenan who lives in Finland and sounded great so I asked if he would
put the solos I required to the songs, after he did a couple of tracks I wanted
more as they sounded superb so I was writing music everyday. He played on about
20 Sacrilege songs but was finding it hard to do my stuff and his own so asked
if I would find someone local to help. I put an advert out and got a guitarist
called Neil Abnett in, I never wanted to start Sacrilege again this was all for
me, a hobby really but he said the music was fab and to play live again, I was
reluctant but finally agreed but his business took off and he didn’t have time
to do it but now I had decided I will play live again so I put another advert
out and Damo Fawsett replied, he was playing in a covers band and said he would
get his covers band to learn the Sacrilege songs and on 25th Oct 2012 Sacrilege
we’re back playing to a full house with fans who remembered me from the 80s, it
was such a great night I wanted more but these guys were still playing in their
covers band so I had to get new people in.
Q. - Did you try to reunite the original line up at that time?
Bill - No that was never going to happen as I had never seen any of them
till I met Rick Burgess at Legends of Rock gig where he was just in the crowd,
he’d not been playing drums for years and I had a great band together by then.
Q. - You've been editing albums in a regular basis since the return, do
you feel the support of the fans on this new incarnation of Sacrilege?
Bill - Oh yes, they have been great. In fact our last album was 2015 and
I’ve had the new album ready for recording for over two years now just aren’t
had time with all the gigs we are doing but the fans are the ones that keep us
playing live.
Bill Beadle
Q. - Recently I've heard the song “Lies”, does this song show us the
direction of the new album? How do you describe the new recordings?
Bill - Yes I think so. I never want to write the same album but also
want to keep the Sacrilege sound and feel and I think this track has power and
is also quite catchy which to me is the perfect recipe for a metal single.
Q. - When will be ready, the new album? Will it be released by Pure
Steel Records?
Bill - It should have been out the last few years really but we have had
problems getting in a new lead guitarist so it’s continually been put back but
it should now be ready by the end of the year fingers crossed!
As for record label, yes I think it will be released by pure steel but
they will want to hear the whole album first I’m sure.
Q. - Do you have plans to record a live album in the near future?
Bill - This is something we were going to do while getting the new album
out to keep our fans happy, it hasn’t happen yet but we may we’ll release one
in the near future. We did a special single Lies with Pandemonium live as a
bonus on a cd we made especially for the Malta Metal festival we played in
2017.
Q. - Hard n’ Heavy music does not pay bills to many people, is it
difficult to make this kind of music today?
Bill - It’s not difficult as we are older musicians doing it for love
but it would certainly help if they didn’t keep closing venues and putting on
covers and tributes everywhere. It’s hard for originals bands these days when
everyone who’s an AC/DC or Sabbath or whoever tribute they are get paid 5 times
as much as originals but it’s what it is and the tributes are often very good
but it doesn’t help that’s for sure.
Q. - Anything more you want to say, to end up this interview?
Bill - Sacrilege are now. Bill Beadle, Neil Turnbull, Jeff Rolland and
Eddie Webb. We would like to thank everyone for their support over the years
and hope you spread the Sacrilege music far and wide. We hope to see you at a
gig near you very soon. Anyone that wants to book us please get in touch. Our
webpage is:
or Facebook:
We would love to play festivals such as keep it true headbangers open
air Bloodstock etc so hopefully it won’t be too long.
Thank you for your time, and wish you all the best for the future!
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