Shader was formed in London at
the end of the 1970’s, and last till 1983/84, they did many tours all across
the UK and played to a variety of audiences. The single "Bad News
Blues" was recorded in 1981, and after the split George Whitter formed
Bloodshot Eyes releasing the LP "On My Knees".
Q. – Hello George! Tell us a bit
about the beginning of Shader, how did it all start? How did you get in touch
with the other members?
George - All local
friends/musicians who got together. I was already a local music celebrity. The
band just got together to jam and play gigs.
Q. - Who were your principal
influences at that time?
George - Jimi Hendrix and other
blues rock bands also prog and psychedelic rock.
Q. - How did the band name came
up?
George - Good question.......I
can’t remember.
Q. - What about shows? Did you
play regularly in the UK back then? Did you share stage with some well known
bands?
George - Yes, toured supporting
Budgie and spent three years travelling up and down the M1, mostly playing to
large rock audiences up the north of England.
Q. - Do you recall the songs you
were playing in the beginning? Did you play any covers too?
George - No covers. The Pimp and
another song called The Jungle also Bad News Blues, Don’t Treat Me Like a Fool,
Banging Like a Shit House Door and other songs that eventually ended up on the
Bloodshot Eyes album On My Knees.
Q. - How was the single "Bad
News Blues" received by the fans? Did it have airplay on radio stations?
George - Quite a few were sold
with a repressing needed. The fans loved it.
Q. - When did you release the
demo tape "Rock ‘n’ Roll ‘n’ Toast"? Did you try to find a record
deal after that demo?
George - Yes, there was interest
from Polydor Records who were keen to sign Shader. The A&R representative
that was about to sign Shader got the sack. His replacement didn’t want to sign
Shader and the rest is history as they say.
Q. - When did "Shader"
split up exactly? What happened that led to the split?
George – 1982. Too many
disagreements. Too many chiefs and not enough Indians. Dispute over direction
and band leadership.
Q. - What do you think that
lacked to "Shader" to have a successful career?
George - The A&R man at
Polydor Records keeping his job!!
Q. - Did you formed Bloodshot
Eyes right after the split of Shader? How did it all start?
George - Yes. It sort of
continued on with other friends who were musicians.
Q. - The Lp "On My
Knees" was released in 1984, what do you recall from these recording
sessions?
George - Not much. Memory is
vague but it was good to be back doing something.
Q. - The "Bloodshot
Eyes" adventure didn't last much, what lead to the end?
George - Instability, like
William said.
Q. - Did you stay in touch with
each others all over the years?
George - Yes with William but
lost touch with earlier members.
Q. - So what are you doing these
days? Do you still play in any band? Tell us a bit about it.
George - I play with Howlin’ Mojo
Bones which is blues based rock. We have had two CDs out. The second CD Voodoo
She Do has got a lot of good reaction from fans and press alike. We have also
played a number of gigs and festivals in the summer and a big one at Butlins in
Skegness in early 2020 which is a blues and rock festival.
Q. - Have you ever thought about
doing a compilation with all the recordings made by Shader or Bloodshot Eyes?
George - Not really because High
Roller Records in Germany are dealing with that as we speak.
Q. - How do you want to end up
this interview? Anything more you want to say?
George - It’s great to see after
all these years that there is still an interest in the songs that I wrote and
recorded. Rock n Roll n Toast n Coffee is still a very popular song and has
been cite s the one that got away.
Thank
you for your time, and wish you all the best for the future!
Francisco Dias have been in the
music business for a long time, started as a Hardcore singer, moving later to the
metal scene. Nowadays he manages the label Progaor, and sub label Dyamond Roxx,
based in the UK. Before Progaor, he managed the label Blood and Iron Records,
and was the lead singer for the Doom Metal band Dawnrider. We had a chat about
his past bands and current labels.
Q. - Hello Francisco, tell me a
little bit about you, how did your interest in hard rock and heavy metal music
start?
Francisco - Hi Paulo, i am from
Lisbon, Portugal but moved to the UK in 2014 and married last year living in
the beautiful countryside of Suffolk and expecting our first baby very soon. My
interest in Heavy Rock music started about 1985/86 when i saw on TV clips from
AC/DC and Iron Maiden plus my interest in going to the local record shop where
i lived (in the suburbs of Lisbon) the owner was friend of my parents and
eventually i saw the very first hard n heavy record covers in his shop. Live
After Death was the most striking since i saw it i felt extremely attracted to
it. An older guy who lived in my building (only 3 years older but when youre 11
its a big deal a guy with 14 years old it seems a big gap) he was a proper
headbanger and he taped me the first stuff...Maiden, WASP, Motorhead. I was
already turned on to Queen and AC/DC then came Europe with Final Countdown
album and as soon as i started to tune in the Metal/Hard Rock radio shows, it
opened me a door to a wonderful new world...Saxon, Priest, Warlock, Deep
Purple, Sabbath, Accept and a few more that was i was tuned in in my year zero
along with the ones i mentioned earlier. Maiden seemed to be my favourite band
of them all.
Q. - Did you start your activity
as singer with Subcaos? How did the band start?
Francisco - With the decadence of
Metal (death metal, black metal) i lost interest and started to tune into
Hardcore. This was 1990. I already was listening Crossover stuff and i was
skating. I was listening to a lot of Thrash, this was 88/89...then i started to
try to reach the Hardcore scene. Eventually i ended up singing (screaming) in
the first Portuguese Straight Edge Hardcore band. Then i moved on the band
finished and i started my own back in the spring of 91: Subcaos. It started as
a Punk/Crust type Hardcore band. For me it was like Thrash Metal but more
straightforward and with better lyrics (for my teenage mind at the times). Not
all thrash metal had silly lyrics Megadeth always had great lyrics. Anyway...those
were the days...trying to catch up with the Hardcore scene of the 80s mainly
U.S. and UK bands. Initially Subcaos live was quite an experience the first
times we played in Lisbon back in 1992: the punk rockers didnt like it. People
into Hardcore liked it and slam danced and thrashers were banging their heads
in the front row. It was a great feeling for a teenage kid!
Q. - When did you join
"Crise Total"? How did that happen?
Francisco - I had these biker
punk friends who were friends of the original Crise members. Some of them were
thinking in making a return and record in a studio the songs they were playing
in the 80s live. They were considered the Portuguese Discharge. As a fan of
Crise and Discharge i immediately said i had interest in sing for them and
another Subcaos member came with me to try the bass guitar. We got into the
band and we performed live in shows with Portuguese and foreign bands plus we
recorded in 96 the CD with all the 80s classic songs. A shame that some of our live recordings sounded powerful and better than the studio recording. Try to
put a guy who listens to Dream Theater and Steve Vai recording a Punk band and
shit comes out.
Q. - How did the idea to create a
label came up? Was Blood and Iron Records your first label?
Francisco - I had a label before
Blood & Iron but it was to promote my band at the time and a few friend’s
bands from the Lisbon area. The No-Counts D.O.M., Brainwashed by Amalia and We
were Wolves. I was a bit naive and eventually lost a lot of money and finished
the project after two years. But it was great fun...i did a few festivals for
the label and it was a great Rock brotherhood we had around the label bands.
Carlos from B.B.A. ended up with me in Dawnrider. When i started Blood &
Iron in 2005 i already had a bit more experience and some contacts to get the
ball rolling. But the label got more serious 3 years later when i started to
release a bunch of LPs. This idea of doing Blood and Iron came from the
frustration of having had a record shop for 6 years, that youre stuck in a
place 7 or 8 hours a day creating a routine that was not exciting anymore. So i
decided to start to envision editions for bands i liked that was lacking in the
market a reissue of their out of print album or a compilation of unreleased
recordings. I would also make on CD version albums that never came out on that
format before or the other way round. I tried to add bonus tracks and even some
had bonus DVD to make it better than the previous CD editions. This was very
exciting for me and was more rewarding for the soul as youre contributing to
the Heavy Metal scene with some releases that are going to cause an impact on
people. Some of my favourite releases were Place of Skulls, Dammaj, Taist of
Iron, Nitro, Tyrant (U.S.), Tytan, Force, and the Black Rose (UK) ones. 12
years, 47 editions. Two of these i repeated on Dyamond Roxx recently (Nitro and
the first Black Rose album) but the NITRO one i just envisioned a retro styled
cover design more suitable to the band and added the 83 demos that previously
had been included in the Lethal reissue made by Skol, but out of print for some
time.
Q. - Tell us a bit about the
early days of Dawnrider, was it hard to find the right people to play this kind
of music?
Francisco - Oh yes, but as i was
an underground rat and always meeting people and talking about music so i could
find the right people for the project. Not all were full on Doom Metal fans but
it didn’t matter as long as half the band was into it, we could do something.
We had many line-up changes. We could have done so much more but anyway im glad
the band is still going without me. With this recent line up i can say that the
band is finally stable and Hugo one of the former members deserves that
stability because hes a true underground crusader.
Q. - Dawnrider recorded three
albums with you as singer, did you feel support from radios or magazines?
Francisco - Honestly not much
from abroad. But we had support from the main Metal radio show in Portugal,
Hypertensao from Antonio Freitas. For the third album he made us an interview.
It was good fun in the studio with him. Also we had great support from Loud
magazine which is the main Metal mag in Portugal.
Q. - How did the idea to create
the traditional heavy metal band Leather Synn came up?
Francisco - Well, he had time on
our side...i envisioned that project with Ze Rockhard (Inquisitor) as we were
partying a lot together drinking and watching Priest shows on dvd and listening
to a lot of underground 80s U.S. Metal. Also in 2010 one year before Leather
Synn was formed i had a project with Hugo (Dawnrider) called simply Leather. We
were trying to emulate this U.S. Power Metal archaic sound of Ruthless, Omen
and a few more. It went nowhere so me, Hugo and Ze Rockhard started Leather
Synn then Faria (Non Nobis Prod) joined for the bass and finally on drums, the
original Dawnrider drummer Victor Silver joined the ranks because it was more
his thing because of the Priest influence. Unfortunately Rockhard left and i
was shattered because this project was our drunken fantasy we all dressed up
leather and studs onstage, swords, axes, fireworks...it was true U.S. Epic
Power Metal spirit.
Q. - Was it hard to move to the
UK and adapt to a different reality?
Francisco - It was hard in the
beginning. But whenever i was visiting London i was doing ok. I have several
Portuguese friends there and foreign too. Later, when i moved to the West
Midlands, it was rare to visit London i was in Nottingham for a year and it was
OK lots of music events to attend on weekends...but when i moved near
Birmingham for the biblical studies college that’s when i felt more isolated.
But it didn’t bother me that much i had already a different mentality and a
different purpose.
Q. - After you moved to the UK
did you try to continue as Dawnrider and Leather Synn singer? Do you miss both
bands?
Francisco - Before i left i quit
Leather Synn. I tried to continue with Dawnrider but it was like 1 gig or two a
year. Eventually we all agreed that it couldn’t continue like that. To be honest,
being in a band was not so important to me anymore. I’ve been doing it since
1990 and i gave my last gig in 2016: Dawnrider and Ironsword. Double bill in
Lisbon. Legendary night!
Q. - And have you tried to find
another band since you are in the UK?
Francisco - I did, right before i
married...but I’m glad i didn’t found the whole line up. We moved to Suffolk
after a year of being married. Now I’m settled here, but I’m busy with my
label, holiday rent management and personal life. I still don’t miss it and
probably wont miss for the next few years. I’ve been actively 25 years on stage
with several bands. That was a lot of shows and parties.
Q. - Blood and Iron Records was a
stable label, what made you feel like start a new label like Progaor, instead
of continue with Blood and Iron Records?
Francisco - I wanted a more CD
based label and was noticing that there was a lack in the market for a label
centered in Prog Rock, Pomp Rock and AOR in general (from melodic rock to
melodic metal). My initial aim was having a label with a smaller mailorder, no
vinyl and mostly based in wholesales and selling via my distributor. But the
bands i release are not Journey or Bon Jovi haha so i ended up with a big
mailorder, selling second hand again, doing trades with other labels...just
keeping busy shooting all directions from Melodic Rock to Prog Power Metal and
everything inbetween. On my mailorder i even go beyond that you can find bits
and pieces of thrash, hardcore , 60s psychedelia or blues rock.
Q. - Do you feel there's still
many "treasures" out there, to be found?
Francisco - Oh yes, definitely!
And honestly, sometimes it’s the band's fault the recordings keep in the dark.
The band members want money upfront or some kind of great deal that you cannot
offer. Its 500 copies editions...they don’t understand how low is the market
nowadays for underground music. Some of these bands i release i can’t even move
300 copies. It will take a few years more for me to sell out some releases. But
it’s not just the demo stuff that’s unheard of the underground public. There’s
many privately released albums that were forgotten in time and there’s a new
whole potential audience out there to discover them. I’m sorting deals now with
a few of these for the 2020 releases. Incredible bands!
Q. - -Do you use any special
standard to sign with a band?
Francisco - As long as i like...i
don’t need to be a big fan but most of the cases, i am. Sometimes i just
discover a musician or I’m going after someone from the band to propose a
release. Several years before the greeks released Medieval Steel and Emerald i
was on it, the first never replied me because they wanted to sell their self
released CD Dungeon Tapes and the second the drummer wanted to ask the band
members if they could record new stuff to make a comeback. I was on the race to
Glacier but they said they would not involve the 88 demo i wanted as bonus. Then
they licensed to No Remorse, but only the EP, I presume for a big sum of money. You can do a lot
of it selling the box sets but i don’t care about box sets for me they’re a bit
useless and a big investment. Another band i really was disappointed that they
put me on hold (like Emerald), was Child Saint. But i think they’re waiting for
a big bucks contract because of the Megadeth riff polemic. Anyway, i have great
stuff coming for 2020 in the area of Pomp Rock. And a great Southern Hard Rock
band too. I’ve been wanting to include Southern Rock and this will be the first
time after 2 years of PROGAOR/DYAMONDROXX. In the meantime just came out
LUST-Hollywood Roxx 1976-80: Studio Sessions CD...this is Keith Deen (RIP) from
Holy Terror on vocals waaayyy before his Thrash band. It’s a late 70s melodic
Metal band perfect if you like very early Dokken and 70s Riot. The drummer was
on Warrior (Fighting for the Earth classic album!) and Rhino Bucket.
Q. - Is there any band that you
saw a lot of potential to release, but in the end failed the agreement?
Francisco - Yes a few, Some
stories i already told in the question before and let me tell you that i was
also sad that i couldn’t proceed with the first SYRIS album (great U.S. Power
Metal from the 90s) because the band member in question was being lazy. On
PROGAOR i tried a few bands from Canada that gave different arguments. One of
them i was close to do..FIST/MYOFIST but their manager didn’t reply to me
confirming anything. I would love to do STREETHEART's Quicksand Shoes, an album
that doesn’t exist on CD (save for a dodgy cdr version) but the band doesn’t
have the rights of the album then you have to try to reach which label has the
rights its a bureaucratic process that i like to avoid and deal with the bands
directly. I don’t respect major labels. Only independent labels.
Q. - In your opinion what are the
main differences between the eighties and the reality of today?
Francisco – It’s all different!
The 80s were the times of the tribes on the streets, the times where you
proudly wear your outfits, the time of larger than life attitude, the times of
buying vinyl when a new hot release just came out, reading paper mags, it was
all about physical formats. It would take years in the 80s to learn about 40 or
50 different bands. Nowadays you can become a metal expert in 2 years on
youtube and have a huge collection of mp3 in your laptop...and its not
real...its just shallow. You dont absorb 50% of the 100% you absorb with the
physical objects. And the sound quality...lets not even talk about that, I like
to get a CD with photos of the band, a band history and maybe even the lyrics
if theyre not silly. We live in the age of information but nothing seems to be
deep. And its too much bombardment in a short time. Im glad i still enjoyed a
bit of the 80s, headbanging around a ghetto blaster outside school to Slayer,
being in a sweaty violent show around guys with patched jackets in the moshpit
like if their lives depended on it. It was crazy fun. Everybodys trying to
recreate these environments in the new millennium and the good thing now it’s
they’re much safer and there’s more civilised people nowadays in the Metal
scene than back in the 80s. There’s always pros and cons when we discuss the
then and now.
Q. - And are you still a heavy
metal fan these days?
Francisco - Oh yes! Heavy Metal
Forever! I do not consider myself a Metalhead i am not stereotypical in that
sense but i love my traditional Heavy Metal. Specially American Metal.
Q. - Anything more you want to
say, to end up this interview?
Francisco - I want to shout out a
huge blessing for those who took their precious time to read this interview,
God bless you brothers and sisters!
Thank you for your time, and wish
you all the best for the future!
All
the best my good friend and congrats for the great work with the webzine!
