Neil Wilkinson (Spartan Warrior)

Spartan Warrior is back with the new album "Hell to Pay", we had a chat with guitar player Neil Wilkinson, about the new album and the early days.

Q. – Hello Neil, tell us a bit about your early days, how did Spartan Warrior start? Who were your major influences at that time?

Neil - Well I’ve always been into music for as long as I can remember and always had instruments as a kid. Actually when I was four or five I wanted be a drummer but drum kits were expensive and made a lot of noise. Instead I was given a guitar as a xmas present and it sort of went on from there with me playing on and off until I formed my first band and became more serious about it . As a kid I was probably most influenced by bands that were well known but were definitely on the rock side and at that time were glam bands like Slade and The Sweet. Then as we got older Dave would bring home albums by Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, UFO and Thin Lizzy and I also got into them and things progressed from there. In terms of guitar playing I would say Michael Schenker was my biggest influence in fact hes still my favourite guitarist.

How was Spartan Warrior formed? I suppose it formed slowly. Me and Dave were I’m a band together called Easy Prey that we formed while we were at school with friends. Dave was asked to join a local band called Deceiver. Hed been in them a little while when they asked me to play as stand in because one of their guitarists had broken his arm. Then shortly after their other guitarist left so I was asked to join and I accepted. I’d been in Deceiver a while and my friend John Stormont joined too. At that point it became obvious that the band was moving in a different direction and that’s when we decided to change the band’s name, to reflect that it had become something else, and that’s when Spartan Warrior came into existence .It was when we started to record the Steel n Chains album that John left and Paul swaddle came in to complete the line up that did the first two albums.

Q. - How did the band name came up?

Neil - Ha ha, well when we decided to change the bands name we all came up with different suggestions and they all went in a hat.Spartan Warrior got picked out, but I’m not sure that any other suggestions actually got put in there if you know what I mean ha.

Q. - Did you start writing your own songs since the beginning or were you most concentrated on covers?

Neil - If you’re talking about from when I joined then yes, we pretty much started writing songs straight away with my first contributions being Steel n Chains and Easy Prey from what I remember. We still played some covers at gigs but those songs became less and less as we wrote new material to the point that by the time we were recording Steel n Chains we only did one cover and that was because we just really enjoyed playing it.

Q. - By the time that "Steel n' Chains" was released the NWOBHM days were fading away, did you play regularly in the UK back then or was it hard for a heavy metal band to be booked at that time?

Neil - Around that time we only ever played locally in bars and nightclubs and yes it was difficult for us, but I think that that was just how it was for a metal band at the time.

Q. - Why did you call the second album "Spartan Warrior" and not the first one?

Neil - I think it was all down to lack of communication. We had just finished recording Steel n Chains when we signed to Roadrunner who of course wanted an album from us immediately. So we went in the studio pretty much straight away to record songs that we hadn’t used on Steel n Chains. Just before we started recording the owner of Guardian got the ok from roadrunner to release Steel n Chains but by the time we delivered the second album to them I think it just wasn’t on their radar and they thought that the Roadrunner album was our first. Either way we had wanted the album to be called Assassin and we had ideas for the cover but I don’t think those ideas were communicated to the label by the person who was acting as a go between for us and the label. The next thing we know we asked to go through to the studio and we get presented with the album just titled Spartan Warrior with the skull cover. Not what we had wanted, but it is a great cover!

Q. - Did you get support in the media back then? Radio, magazines, fanzines?

Neil - Yes there were some reviews and radio plays but I can’t remember exactly what or how much. I seem to remember that support was quite limited though because around then there was a change of direction in rock music with a lot of the American glam bands coming to the fore and focus shifted towards that. The label were also keen to move in a different direction, in fact they asked us to change our style and play “devil music” for the third album that didn’t happen. I think you can see that if you look at the bands Roadrunner had at the time.

Q. - Which other bands did you share the stage with during the eighties? Was it headline shows? Did you use pyro effects?

Neil - Back then we only did gigs on our own so I suppose it wasn’t headlining as such or supporting - just gigging. We would always try to put a show on by hiring lights and yes we did use pyros, mostly at the beginning of Stormer when everything kicks in as we used to open with that. I remember when we played Headbangers Open Air in 2011 we opened with it and I kind of missed the pyros even after 25 years ha ha. Id love to use them again, in fact we nearly did at Blast From The Past Festival in Belgium, but these days with health and safety you have to be careful I guess. Maybe one day ill sort it out, Id love that.

Q. - With a stable line up and two good albums, why did you split up in 85? What happened that lead to the break?

Neil - There were various reasons the biggest being Dave leaving. But previous to that there were some things that we weren’t happy with. First there was the issue with the second album title and cover. While it wasn’t a big thing in itself it was part of a few things that all added up. I know Paul wasn’t happy with the production and that led to some conflict between him and the producer and the producer would then try to involved the rest of us but mostly Dave, who would get phone calls at stupid o clock with problems. Mind none of us were happy with how the second album had turned out, not totally on sound but more the way it was recorded, with a massive amount of time being spent on bass and drums, less time on guitar and virtually no time on vocals with Dave having to sing all the songs in a day maybe just over a day. In fact he had to do so much in one go that at one point he lost his voice, listen to the vocal on Sentenced To Die. He sounds like hes got a sore throat and it was just before his voice went altogether. We all wanted to re do it but the producer insisted on keeping it. Also because so much time was spent recording bass and drums that we ran out of time and money. The result was we only had 9 songs recorded. We were keen to raise the extra and record a tenth song but again a decision was made and the result was we showed up at the studio to find that the producer had extended some of the songs by editing them. You can hear an example of this on Broken Promises with the guitar solo repeating and also Mercenary as well as some others. That was a big issue for us and we weren’t happy about it at all. Eventually Dave who had just got married and bought a house thought enough was enough. Shortly after Paul left after we had demoed some songs for a third album. As I said earlier the label wanted us to alter our style and play “devil music“, so we just said sorry that’s not what we do and asked to be released from our contract, which they very kindly agreed to. Me and the remaining members continued for quite some time but ultimately decided to call it a day. So splitting was an accumulation of things really.

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

Neil - Yes I’ve stayed in touch, John Stormont is one of my oldest friends and we still meet up regularly and I saw Paul at a recent gig which was really nice, but it's been a while since I’ve seen Tom or Gordon.

Q. - What made you feel like reunite Spartan Warrior again?

Neil - Well to be honest there hasn’t been a time when I haven’t wanted to do Spartan Warrior, it’s kind of in my blood if you get what I mean? Over the years it’s become part of who I am rather than just a band I happen to be in. I made the decision to try and reform Spartan Warrior just after I’d done a brief spell in Waysted. Obviously while I was with Waysted I was writing songs with them and sometimes I would listen to ideas that I’d had before joining. I would often think I’d love to do these with Spartan, so it was on my mind then .Then when my time with Waysted came to an end I gave it some thought and decided to try and get the band back together. I remember being encouraged by seeing stuff about us on the internet so I knew there was still interest in us although I admit I was surprised to see that after all those years! That was the deciding factor for me as I’ve always wanted to do Spartan anyway but didn’t think there was any point if there wasn’t any interest. Thankfully that wasn’t the case!

Q. - "Behind Closed Eyes" was your return, did you try to keep the 80's spirit alive?

Neil - Absolutely. The whole point of Behind Closed Eyes was just to pick up from where we left off and also right some of the wrongs we felt about the second album. That’s why the first song we did for it was Never Take Me Alive. Me and Dave wrote that in the 80s and it was originally recorded for the Steel n Chains album. In fact we were in the middle of putting the vocal down for it for steel n Chains when the producer announced he didn’t think the song worked and was dropping it from the album! We were shocked. We thought it was shaping up to be the best song we had recorded at that point and were gutted when it didn’t make it onto the album. So yes the intention was most definitely to keep that 80s spirit alive and that also carried over into the Hell To Pay album. I suppose it’s all just doing what comes naturally to us.

Q. - -"Hell To Pay" is out now, what expectations do you have for it? Are you happy with its final result? Will you try to tour Europe?

Neil - My expectations for Hell To Pay? Well I’d like to sell millions of albums and tour the world promoting it ha ha. Realistically though, I don’t really have any expectation these days. You never know how an album will be received but fortunately it’s been mostly very positive. But I do it because I enjoy playing and writing songs so my only real expectation is id like people to enjoy it for what it is although millions of sales would be great too ha ha.

In terms of am I happy with it? That’s a difficult question for me to answer because I wrote songs on it, played on it and also produced it and when you’re involved in so many ways its sometimes difficult to take a step back and just listen to it for what it is. I had a lot to learn to produce Hell To Pay and I can say that I’m happy overall with how it turned out, but anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m always striving to do better, and because of that I’m never totally content with anything I do. That’s just the way I am and sometimes it can be a pain.

As far as touring Europe goes, yes I’d love to do that and we do have some gigs coming up with British steel Fest in France, Trueheim in Germany and Firestorm up in Scotland. I'd like to get to other countries and other parts of the world too but it can be difficult factoring in people lives and commitments, that’s just how it is. But who knows? More stuff might happen and that would be great.

Q. - What gives you more strength to keep Spartan Warrior alive after all these years?

Neil - Well doing interviews like this and getting positive feedback keeps me motivated. I’ve said before that most people like to be liked and I’m no exception to that and its appreciated. I also stay motivated by keep trying to move forward and learn something new which for me at the moment is mostly on the recording and production side, but that’s great and it keeps me on my toes! I just enjoy doing what we do really.

Q. - Having you been part of it, what do you think about all the N.W.O.B.H.M. movement, and the repercussion it had around the world? How did you live those days?

Neil - Well it’s an honour being included as part of that movement. To be honest back then I didn’t give it much thought but over the years I’ve come to realise just how much of an impact it did have. I suppose the more successful bands of the genre speak for themselves and their influence is fairly obvious, but those less successful in a commercial sense have probably had just as much influence on the bands that followed them. You’ve only got to look at some very successful metal bands who’ll happily tell you that they were influenced by bands from the NWOBHM. In more recent times there’s a whole load of young bands who are playing and writing in that style and who are also listening to bands like Spartan Warrior, which is one of the reasons for the continued resurgence of NWOBHM. Happy days eh!

Q. - Are you still a heavy metal fan these days?

Neil - Always was, always will be, what’s not to like about heavy metal!

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

Neil - I suppose that any differences are mostly down to advances in technology the internet and the fact people are more connected these days. Everyone has a computer or phone so it’s very easy to get your music out there, and of course people like me are able to produce their music themselves form their home studios. In fact I know that people have said that back in the 80s the nwobhm movement was very diy. I personally think it’s more diy now than it was then. Back then I’d pay to go into a studio with a producer, now I do it myself and there are loads just like me doing exactly the same. I would say that on the whole things are easier now and they move a lot faster. I remember sending demos off to record companies using mail and you’d have to wait for weeks or months before hearing anything. Now you just email it over. Also interviews like this are so much easier. It's also easier to get gigs because people are more connected and it’s easier to travel to those gigs. So yep technology has made a big difference.

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

Neil - Thank you for asking me to do this interview! Also thanks to everyone who's supported Spartan Warrior over the years, I appreciate it very much. Hopefully I’ll get to see some of you at a gig soon, If you see me come and say hi. Cheers Neil.

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

Wayne Morgan (Scimitar)

Scimitar were formed in 1980, in Abergavenny, UK, ad recorded two demo tapes in 1981 and 1982. We had a chat with bass player Wayne Morgan about the early days of Scimitar and about future plans.

Q. - Hello Wayne, tell us a little bit about your beginnings in the heavy metal world, what lead you to be a bass player?

Wayne - Why bass? Simple answer is Jim Lea from Slade.  Early 70s Slade was quite heavy (listen to Slade Alive for proof) and Jim Lea played the bass like it was cross between a lead guitar and a chain saw.  He also looked as cool as fk!!! It just seemed to me that the bass changed the feel of songs completely…or the rhythm section did any way.  Working with Stubs over the years just confirmed that….. because when we are shit everything sounds shit LoL!

Q. - When did Scimitar start? How did you get in touch with the other members? Tell us a bit about the beginning of the band.

Wayne - Scimitar followed an earlier band called Heavy Weather (Stu S, John D, Craig Richards (guitar - later Monro) and Gary Stanbury (vox). 

I was in school bands with Craig, Gary was my mate who was always singing and looked like a rock star.

Around 1980 a mutual acquaintance told us about “a shit hot 17 year old lead guitarist” who liked Priest, Budgie, VH, Rush…. This was John D.  We had a blast and decided we’d take it further…somehow…..We were all 17-18 and lived about 30miles away from each other and none of us had any transport so had to blag lifts to pracco and then get train and bus home.  We’d knocked up a few songs and tried a few drummers. Then we found Stubs (another mutual acquaintance…no feken FaceBook in those days) and when he started playing we knew straight away that he was the right one even though he didn’t have long hair like the rest of us….yet

When HW split up (musical differences) John and Stu started another band which included Steve Colley (Traitor’s Gate).  I joined and then Gary joined too.  Before we got to gigging I think Gary kinda lost interest and Trev came in.  Trev had been vocalist with Traitor’s Gate and was a little bit older than us…..great voice and again just looked like a rock star.  So that was that for a while including the Loco demo and some mad gigs.

Q. - Did you start writing your own songs since the beginning or were you most concentrated on covers?

Wayne - Heavy Weather and Scimitar were originals bands from the start.  We did throw in 2 covers per gig - over time HW did  Wasted (Def Leppard), Hell Bent for Leather (Priest), Touch Too Much (AC/DC), Neon Nights (Sabbath).

Scimitar did a super fast version of Paranoid, Get Ya Rocks Off (Leppard), Aint Talkin About Love (VH).  HW was NWoBHM with spandex and leather.  Scimitar very quickly wasn’t.  We looked more like The Ramones or 4 blokes from the pub than metal bands were supposed to at the time.  Steve still looked like a rock star though.

Q. - A 4 song demo tape were recorded in 1981 (Burning Rubber, Wield The Axe, Heartless, See You Around (Next Time)). What do you recall from these recording season?

Wayne - This was the second time we had been to the Loco studio in South Wales (once as HW) but first time with Trev and Steve.

We scraped enough money for one day in studio and did 4 songs in a hurry.  If you looked at them graphically in Ableton you’d see how rough and rushed they were.  Not massively proud of those recordings as they contain a few obvious fk ups each 😊 but I think the “do it yourself” unpolished sound was what NWoBHM was about….a bit punkish in attitude.

Sadly nobody knows what happened to the master tape…..maybe not sadly….I have cassette version and like I said, it aint great 😉 But, the songs are of the NWoBHM genre without a doubt…..you can almost spot it from the song titles 😊

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

Wayne - By then we were still only 18-19 and not very savvy or organised. 

All our mates liked the songs but there was no real outlet for small bands in South Wales with very little organisation…and we were very disorganised/pissed a lot too

We did nothing really except use the tapes to get gigs and the interest from Ebony.

Q. - In 82, a two song demo tape were recorded, at Ebony Records Hull, what do you recall from these recordings?

Wayne - Ebony had heard the Loco demo and there was enough interest to talk to us.

By now Steve had got fed up with the lack of progress (disorganisation) and left so we stayed as a 4 piece.  Steve also had a good idea of what he wanted image wise and we weren’t it because as I said before by now we weren’t very NWoBHM anymore.  More like 4 noisy unpolished hooligans.

We travelled to Hull in a camper van which we slept in. 3 of us went out in Hull and got hammered until daft o’clock in the morning….recording was all about fighting the hangovers.

We tried out 3 songs “GFM”- (aka Good Fkn Mayhem) but recorded “That’s the way I want it” and a song called “Scimitar”.  The lyrics were written for both on the morning we recorded them as Trev had never really settled on what he sang live (kinda made it up as he went along). There are some photos floating about and we look rough as fek on them 😊

Q. - Also in 1982 comes the compilation “Metallic Storm”, by Ebony, with the track "That's the Way I Want It", how did that happen?

Wayne - When we did the album tracks we were literally still kids. Darryl Johnston (owner of Ebony) advised us to use “Scimitar” for the album as it was a good NWoBHM type song but we decided to use the other one as it was more representative of us live…..ie. noisy, punky and loud.  Possibly not one of our better ideas on reflection.

Its quite a bit different from the other tracks on the album (I think)…for starters it’s only 2:40 long. Listening to the lyrics now is quite funny…. There is a line “When I am an old grey man will life still get to me?”…..Err, yes.

We weren’t very happy with the production as it wasn’t punchy enough.  A review I read a while ago described us as “lightweight rowdies”….seems fair now but we were a bit pissed off when we read it.  I’d still like to do it properly as it should have sounded.

Q. - Was there any promotional tour after the release of this compilation? Did you get support from the media back then? Radio, magazines, fanzines?

Wayne - Nothing. Again, lack of organisation and ambition……beer might have had something to do with that too.  We didn’t really know what to do with the material. Ebony had promised a media blitz for Metallic Storm but I didn’t even see a review in Sounds which was the NWoBHM media back then.  Definitely felt a bit let down by Ebony but 1982 was a completely different planet to 2019 in terms of media outlets.

Q. - Did you try to find a record deal after these release?

Wayne - Hmmmm…youth, disorganisation, all had 40hrs/week jobs.  In fact around April 1983 we ripped up most of the songs and started again in an effort to make them more melodic (still noisy, fast and loud).  That took us out for many months but we did end up with some good songs.  We just left it a bit late and within 5 months Scimitar had gone.

Q. - Why did Scimitar split up in 1986? What happened that lead to the break?

Wayne - The Ebony line up split up in 1983. We had some nice gigs booked up and by then we were pretty tight with some good catchy punky metal songs.  We recorded three on an 8 track but it was pretty disastrous.  Sound was rubbish and we didn’t know what the hell we were doing. Within months of recording at Ebony, 3 of us were married and had kids.  Stubs was probably regretting sticking with the band instead of going to University (he was the clever band member).  I think John called it a day in September 1983 which was a shame really but once again disorganisation played a big part in it with not one of us really being massively driven.  We were that disorganised that after me and my pregnant wife had put posters all around Cardiff announcing we were playing at Bogies, we forgot to tell the venue Scimitar had split up.  I had a very angry call on the night saying “Where are you?  Bogies is full and you’re meant to be on in an hour!”  Felt bad about that for the last 36 years but I am getting over it…slowly 😉

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

Wayne - Me Stu and Trev were in a few bands together up to around 1986ish.  John by then was concentrating on his specialist building business which became very successful. Trev drifted off (and we haven’t seen him since), but Stubs and I stayed in intermittent contact over the years. After talking about it for eternity we put a cover band together around 2012 with my son on guitar and Gary Stanbury back on vocals. Sadly Gary got a bit disillusioned and left.  But with a few line up changes that cover band lasted for about 5 years and was quite popular in our corner of the UK.

Q. - What do you feel about the interest in Scimitar after all these years?

Wayne - Surprised!  Shocked….we were just a small unknown bunch of louts making a noise. I guess if it wasn’t for Metallic Storm we would be totally invisible in 2019. I think it’s more of a general interest in the whole NWoBHM scene.  It’s a shame Planet Rock doesn’t have a show dedicated to playing just the obscure independent tracks.

Q. - Have you ever thought about doing a compilation on cd with all the demos recorded by Scimitar in the early days?

Wayne - We have been asked but not being able to find the original recordings and the fact that we all agree they were a bit shit kinda killed the idea.  We couldn’t re-record them …not without Trev signing so that’s off the menu too.  We can’t even trace the second track from Ebony (Scimitar).  None of us has a copy so I guess that is lost forever…which is a bit shit.

Q. - What plans do you have for Scimitar future? Are you planning a comeback or new recordings?

Wayne - Stubsy and I have been working with John again for a few months just for fun.  We did some of the old songs but have also written some new stuff which we are in the process of recording.  Sadly no Trev so we’ll sort out the vox between us.  There are some of the old songs that I would love to revamp but I think something would be lost in the process.  The riffs, lyrics and overall sound was specific to that time and our age (ie kids).  Change anything and it just won’t really be NWoBHM…might be good though…I have heard a lot of the old bands banging out new stuff and it sounds great but not quite authentic NWoBHM. So, I don’t think you’ll be hearing anything released as “Scimitar”.  But, as soon as we finish recording (which might include a couple of oldies) we have a special mental note saying “Send To Paulo”  😉

Q. - How did you see the whole N.W.O.B.H.M. movement, back then, and how do you see the interest around those bands and recordings nowadays?

Wayne - NWoBHM was brilliant. Going to gigs was like being in a football hooligan firm. At the start bands like Maiden, Saxon, Leppard were thought of as “us”…it was like seeing your mates becoming successful. They were all just working class lads, like us. Quite quickly the “Glam” thing started to appear and it seemed to me that image became more important than the music…music started to become a bit “bubble gum” and I wasn’t too keen on all that.

Q. - Are you still a heavy metal fan these days?

Wayne - I am not the music fascist I used to be “If aint rock, it sux c**k” attitude has gone.  I still love the old metal and a lot of the new stuff of course.  Its just that much of the new metal sounds the same to me…I can’t even discern between bands.  But that might be because I am now 57 years old and that stuff is not aimed at me.  I would have been mortified if, back in 1983, someone 57 years old said they liked Scimitar 😊

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

Wayne - When John, Stu and I got back together, for several weeks before we picked up the instruments, we met in the pub and chatted for hours about the old days and each of us had stories the others had forgotten all about.  Before we started playing together it was important to see if the “old bond” was still there. It was / is.

Nearly 40 years on we can’t have the same spark and dreams of being rock stars that NWoBHM gave us as kids but the memories can just take you back in time and make you feel young just for a moment

Thanks for getting in touch Paulo.  Its been a blast reminiscing.

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

Pippa Lang

Pippa Lang was a music journalist for thirty years and had such a great work on countless magazines, including Mojo, Melody Maker and, in particular, Metal Hammer, where she was Reviews Editor from late 80s to mid-90s. Played the bass in the punk band 'Disturbed UK' in the 90's. We had a chat about the early days of the NWOBHM, the magazines and Disturbed UK.

Q. - Hello Pippa, how did your interest in hard rock and heavy metal music start?

Pippa - Well just to give you a bit of social background, I was a 70s teenager and, at that time, Britain was still rebuilding itself after World War II, so there was a lot of unrest, dissatisfied youth, feelings of alienation from our ‘War Generation’ parents and we needed an outlet. Luckily, there was this band from Birmingham called Black Sabbath… Metal was like a tool of survival, empathy, expression, catharsis. Still is, I guess, although it’s changed, evolved so much since then.

Q. - What memories do you keep from the Soundhouse in the late 70's? Do you think it was a mythical place?

Pippa - Ah! I don’t know about mythical…but I do remember some great nights with DJ Neal Kaye providing us with tracks from this exciting new NWOBHM ‘movement’. I still have my original copy of Iron Maiden’s Soundhouse Tapes.

Q. - How would you describe the enthusiasm of the fans? Do you remember the effort and dedication on the cardboard guitars contest?

Pippa - Oh yes – there was a particular guy called Rob Loonhouse who was really dedicated at air guitar, in fact I think was pioneer - he became a bit of a legend!

Q. - Do you know what ever happened to Rob Loonhouse?

Pippa - Ah I see you’re ahead of me! No…but I could probably find out…..

Q. - And what about the "Friday Rock Show"? Was, somehow, Tommy Vance an influence on you?

Pippa - I listened to Tommy’s show all the time. For sure he was an influence – a place on the airwaves that we could call home. Met him a coupla times, such a nice guy, very down to earth.

Q. - Did you try to play in some bands back then? Tell us a bit about it please.

Pippa - I nearly played bass when I was about 17 – I say ‘nearly’ because there was a missing bassist at a local gig, so I was all ready to wing it (after a five-minute crash course!), when he suddenly turned up! I learnt classical piano from age five till 16, stopped because I thought it was uncool and didn’t pick it up again until much later. After playing bass in hardcore punk band Disturbed UK in the 90s, I started a more melodic rock band called Red-Eyed Suburbanites (piano, vocals, songwriting). Still play and recently picked up bass again.

Q. - When did you start working at the Sounds magazine? How did that happen?

Pippa - 1980 – and I only really compiled the gig guide for Sounds (and Record Mirror), although I did write for Record Mirror. That happened because I was receptionist/advertising assistant at Smash Hits(!) magazine in Carnaby Street in 1979. I was the only hippie/metaller there amongst all these sharp-suited two-toners. I was this scruffy, long-haired chick of 20 who thought a crumpled second-hand velvet jacket and jeans was a smart look! Eugene Manzi, who worked for London Records, used to come in a lot and we’d chat, and he told me about the gig-guide job going at Spotlight Publications in Covent Garden (Sounds & RM’s publishers). Working there really set the ball rolling. Sounds of course came up with the ‘NWOBHM’ label in the first place, Garry ‘Oi!’ Bushell definitely gave metal a leg up.

Q. - And what do you think about all the N.W.O.B.H.M. movement, and the repercussion it had around the world?

Pippa - Well, really it was the commercialising of Metal – but at the same time a necessary evil in order to spread the word globally. It was a crazy time in the UK – both the punk movement and NWOBHM were so vivid – I remember looking down from Smash Hits’ offices above the shops in Carnaby Street and watching the colourful people traffic go by: the dichotomy between the bright coxcombs and mohicans of the punks and the wild uncut hair, black leather jackets and jeans of the metalheads. I was right in the middle of it all. But there was hardly any animosity between the two (contrary to what the media claimed) because BOTH punk and metal were creating an essential wall of expression for dissatisfied youth to throw themselves into, what with Maggie Thatcher’s Conservatives encouraging people to be selfish, buy a house, put yourself in debt for 25 years (I know, I did it, terrible idea). Then when Maiden first went to America, they faced the evangelical mentality of Ronald Reagan’s neo- conservative Republicans, although the ‘clean-up America’ campaign was just as rife with the Democrats. Bear in mind Senator Al Gore’s wife, Tipper Gore, founded the Parents’ Music Resource Center (sic) (PMRC) in 1985 (‘burn all metal albums!’) and you can see what Maiden – and metal – were facing. But, hey, even thirty years of demonization couldn’t keep metal down.

Q. - Having been a closer friends to Iron Maiden in their beginnings, did you think they would reach as high as they did?

Pippa - I first met Maiden at their groundbreaking gig supporting Judas Priest at The Rainbow in 1980…. In particular, I got to know Dave Murray very well. I remember distinctly traveling with them on their first headline UK tour playing places like Oxford Apollo, Bournemouth (can’t remember the other gigs), middle-weight gigs…but, even then, bursting out of the backstage door with them was exhilarating, such a rush of adoring fans! But still Dave, for one, was still living in a small house with his parents in Clapton, lovely people (both gone, sadly) – so small, Mrs Murray had to do the ironing in the hallway. So this tour, then, was the start of a different life, for ALL of Maiden, and was an indication of what they were about to achieve, that big step from middle to heavy weight – and then they were gone and, pretty soon, would be surrounded by the industry machine, I remember that sense of waving goodbye. That wasn’t the case, of course, because Maiden became very present, visible from then onwards for EVERYONE. I do still get to say ‘hi’ every few years when they come back and tour the UK. They always have these mad aftershow/album release parties! Well, not quite so mad these days – we’re all getting a bit long in the tooth…

Q. - Was there any other bands, besides Iron Maiden, that impressed you at the beginning of the N.W.O.B.H.M.?

Pippa - Definitely Samson – and not just because Bruce started with them. Paul was such a quality guitarist, I was so sad when he died, and then Chris Aylmer followed him, although I think Pete Jupp’s still around. (Nicky ‘Nippy’ Moore isn’t too well these days either…) I knew Paul very well and, although I don’t remember, I used to hang around with Bruce too. (A friend recently told me because my own memory is very bad – we must’ve spent some good times together I guess!). Sledgehammer was another excellent band, and Wildfire, comprising musicians who moved on to many other bands but, particularly, Weapon UK and (the new) Sweet, both of whom are still gigging, lovely guys. Wildfire’s vocalist was Paul Mario Day, of course, who sang for Maiden in 1975/76 and then More. He’s also still gigging. It’s so cool that most of the NWOBHM guys are still around.

Q. - Around 1988 you started to work for Metal Hammer as a freelancer, how would you resume so many years of work with them?

Pippa - It was a very privileged time, being so involved with Metal Hammer then, and I mean that in terms of access to the plethora of fantastic metal around that time, not just the perks of the job (which, as Reviews Ed, were pretty cool though haha!). The early 90s was that groundbreaking era when Nirvana and grunge blurred the edges of metal because, of course, prior to this, bands could pretty easily be regarded as either metal or rock (with ‘hard rock’ in the middle I guess). When Nirvana came along, suddenly sub-categories of metal really opened up. I remember when Kurt died: we’d just put the latest issue ‘to bed’ when I received a phone call telling us he’d gone. We worked through the night and out the other side to change the issue and try and do justice to his life and death in a very short space of time. I think one of the highlights of working at the Hammer was interviewing Nirvana just before Nevermind came out. Many great stories and anecdotes from those days, most of which I remember lol.

Q. - During the 90's you played the bass in the punk band Disturbed UK, for how long did you play in the band? Did you have some fun touring with Disturbed?

Pippa - Ah, that’s nice you know that! We were together for 10 years – we were only a small band but supported Sham 69 and the UK Subs a couple of times, and Kerrang’s Morat put us on his playlist, Garry Bushell liked us and we had a good review in Melody Maker’s demo page. It was a great feeling being up onstage thundering out the bass riffs and, being a girl, it was pretty empowering. I had more girl fans than boys – that made me proud.

Q. - Did you feel the 90's were hard times for heavy metal bands?

Pippa - If you mean that, because of grunge, metal bands had problems with identity, perhaps yes… Plus I think the whole Britpop thing put metal in the shade in the UK a bit, made fun of metal. And then of course The Darkness turned up and to my mind that prompted some of the older bands to either reform or, like Uriah Heep, reinforce themselves to show people what REAL metal is about…

Q. - Are you retired from the rock business nowadays? Do you miss it?

Pippa - I don’t miss the music industry at all. However, there is an amazing rock/metal community outside and on the periphery of the industry that thrives despite it. So I love going to pub gigs and most of these comprise members of the NWOBHM who are still gigging in this lively environment that, as long as they stop closing pubs in England, will never die. I do occasionally hang out with old industry/journalist friends at the legendary Crobar in London, plus on the rare occasions I can score a pass, I’ll bump into a few people from the old days. I’m going to Hellfest this year, just one day to see Kiss, Whitesnake, etc., can’t wait.

Q. - You are a PhD Student (Music Autoethnography) in the Kingston University, what can you say about this new experience?

Pippa - It’s insane that despite all attempts to escape metal (lol), I end up being rerouted back to this place that I cannot deny is Home. It was mostly the business itself I was trying to get away from I guess, but I really didn’t get on with black and death metal, my heavy tastes are more industrial or hardcore or dub-metal, not sludge or growling. So, latest attempt to escape was to go to Uni at 50, and suddenly found myself writing about music journalism and problem music subcultures (hip-hop and metal)….revisiting the past. When I finished my Music Masters, I started speaking at metal conferences – as Metal has become a respected academic discipline! I’ve been invited to speak at several I think mostly because of my metal journalism background – I’m like a relic, a source of curiosity, moving from metal journalism to academia. Most recently, I spoke at the first World Metal Congress in London, organised by the amazing Alexander Milas and metal academic Niall Thomas, very exciting. In June I’m going to France and speaking at one of the many conferences run by ISMMS (The nternational Society for Metal Music Studies, started by Niall), called Locating Metal, right before Hellfest. Point is the conferences led to the PhD, thanks to a metal professor called Karl Spracklen, who suggested it. An autoethnography is like an autobiography but in ultural context, so this is about my life in metal, all the different roles I’ve had (PR, roadie, promoter, manager too) but, in context, how metal basically saved mine and others’ lives, which I mentioned before. My life is like an example of what metal meant/means to young people (and adults of course), both the positives and negatives; I have to be objective. It’s brought up a lot of feminist issues, and I’ve realised how different metal (music and subculture) is these days, women are much more empowered, which is both good and bad because it can create too much of a division between men and women – but, and this is an important fact I’ve learnt recently - true feminism is about balance, not division. As both a tomboy and a woman, I’m kind of in the middle – all I’ve ever experienced is support within metal, but I know there are problems that women these days won’t tolerate (which we kinda did in the 70s, we were different people with no support networks) so, yes, I do need to be objective. Ah! There I go, ranting academically, sorry...

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

Pippa - I love it – it’s solid proof that metal is one of the most established popular music genres in the world and isn’t going anywhere! It’s becoming much more accepted globally. Whilst young metal bands are forging new territories for the genre, the older bands are still very much valued and respected and, I would say, needed to remind people of where metal originated, as both a form of music and a subculture. The Home of Metal exhibition in Birmingham this year is celebrating Sabbath’s 50 th anniversary and, by default, metal’s 50 years – and this in itself speaks volumes. I’m hoping to speak at the Home of Metal conference in September…cross fingers. Let’s not forget those other legendary Brummies, Judas Priest, played a major part in metal’s origins. I mean, let’s not forget Rob Halford was responsible for the leather jackets and studs!

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

Pippa - I think I’ve waffled enough, don’t you?! Just that the world has changed and so have attitudes and these are reflected in the world of metal. There are lessons to be learned both from the past and the state of the world today. We have to be better. As an established global community, we have to be an example of tolerance and inclusion. Let’s do it! Be careful out there…

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