Austin M. Carrino (Lust)

LUST was a late 70's Californian Melodic Metal Band, from The Hollywood Music Scene, That recently released their compilation Hollywood Roxx 1976-80. We had a chat with main man Austin M. Carrino, to know more about this underrated band.

Q. - Hello Austin, tell us a bit about the origins of Lust, how and when did it all start? How did you get in touch with the other members?

Austin - We started LUST in junior high school with my life long-time friend... Curtis W. Stewart, bassist. We went through different personal through the years. I was introduced to Liam Jason by Vernon Poole from high school... we jammed... I invited Curtis to play bass... Liam brought in Keith Deen (Greene). After a few years... Curtis got married and moved away. I found Richard Sanchez, the bass player in a newspaper ad... we jammed... I brought Liam and Keith back into LUST... This version was together about 5 years.

Q. - Do you remember how the name Lust came up?

Austin - 1973-74, During a break from rehearsing one day, we were all throwing out there possible band names... It was 100% Curtis W. Stewart's name idea from that point on.. When Curtis left the band, he gave it to me. I then registered the band name around 1976-77.

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

Austin - Keith Deen's all-time favourite band was The Who, as in Roger Daltrey... He also liked Robert Plant, Ian Gillan, Freddie Mercury and I'm sure others.

Liam Jason was into Queen, Grand Funk Railroad's drummer, Don Brewer and Deep Purple's drummer Ian Paice. And of course, the mighty John Bonham.

Richard Sanchez's influences were Deep Purple, Alice Cooper (and bassist Dennis Dunaway), Ten Years After (and bassist Leo Lyons) and of course, The Beatles.

For myself, I was a total Zeppelin, Jimmy Page fan. But many players influenced me.. Mark Farner, John Fogerty, Ritchie Blackmore, Ted Nugent, Ace Frehley to name a few.

Q. - In the early days, did you start writing your own songs or were you most concentrated on covers?

Austin - I started writing my own original music in junior high school. My 1st Copyright registered in 1974. But we mainly played covers until Keith and I started bringing in originals around 1976.

Q. - Do you have any special memories from the shows you played back then? Is there any funny moment that you can share with us?

Austin - The 1st biggie was playing at Buddy Ebsen's house for his daughter. There was over 1000 people there in and on the outside of their fenced in pool yard… it was like a giant Green House.. We played for 3 to 4 hours with helicopters flying over us. Finished our time, tore down and trucks loaded by time the police showed up... "Where's The Band".

2ndly… Being the headlining band at a outdoor concert in Simi Valley, California with several other bands.. Thus, the CD cover picture and 1 or 2 booklet pictures.

3rdly... Playing the same clubs and circuits with many of the bigger LA bands of the time... Van Halen, Wolfgang, Riot, etc.! On the same stages has some of our influences, like the Doors, Lee Michaels, Quiet Riot, early Motley Crue, etc!

Q. - Did you try to approach a label, to record an LP with Lust at that time?

Austin - This is a very touchy question that I legally can't say much about...

Yes! I was the one doing all the leg work contacting several labels. Atlantic, Capitol, Casablanca, CBS, Columbia, Fantasy and Warner Brothers, to name a few... I was either setting up face to face meetings with their reps or the old fashioned Snail Mailing many out of state labels, like their New York headquarters. I still have many typed return letters from the out of towners in my photo albums... I MUST stop there.

Q. - What do you think that went wrong at that time, so that Lust did not have continuity? What happened that lead to the break?

Austin - They kicked me out of my own band... or should I say Liam kicked me out because he wanted to run the band his way... so I left peacefully and Danny was brought in... They played a few gigs and then broke up due to Danny's drug problem. so I heard. It Failed...! I was asked to come back in and we played several gigs. Then Liam quit the band.

Keith, Richard and I found a new drummer (Craig) and played for like 6 months, recording 3 songs (Tracks 1, 2 & 3) and split up... the chemistry just didn't work....

We asked Liam to re-record 2 of the 3 drum tracks. 1 and 3 on the CD. He did it very well I might add. Great Drummer!

Our last show was at the Bla Bla Cafe on Ventura Blvd with Liam, late 1980.

Q. - Were you happy with the edition of "Hollywood Roxx 1976-80: Studio Sessions" by Dyamond Roxx in 2019? Was it like a dream come true?

Austin - Stoked... 99% Thrilled with the artwork, with the exception of 2 typo's on the actual CD print. Neither Francisco nor I caught it until after the fact. And there was a few other promo pictures I would have chosen for the artwork. Otherwise, I was Vibrating with excitement.

My only wish is that I could have remastered all the tracks from the original reel to reel tapes myself. Instead of using the mp3 files. No reflection or negativity towards Francisco himself whatsoever.. In the remastering process, the high end is nearly completely gone around 15 or 16k and up. And the bottom end was boosted too high in my opinion... So when I play the disc in my vehicle or home stereo, I have to boost the treble all the way up and drop the bass to zero or less than zero… with the loudness Off to get closer to the original recordings... So the high end of the cymbals and high end of Keith's voice and my 2 or 3 guitar parts are nearly non-existent. Janne's ear is different than mine… again, no hard feelings or resentments to anyone.

I am so vibrating with excitement to finally get the attention and CD release long-time coming… I wish Keith was here to see and hear the results of OUR years of hard work and creativity. We all miss our brother in arms.

Q. - Some years after the split Keith Deen joined Holy Terror, were you surprised by this new direction Keith was looking for?

Austin - Keith told me... he wasn't looking for it... It found him... but Yes and yet… No!

Q. - Did you follow his career in Holy Terror? What did you think of this band?

Austin - Yes... I have a few of their CD's. His bandmates and I are all friends on facebook and talk at least once a year.

Q. - Keith Deen left us in 2012, what's your thoughts about his passing?

Austin - In the last months, weeks and days we talked often on the phone... We were planning on writing new tunes, recording And doing a LUST reunion... If not do a small tour... We had already exchanged tape recordings of some new song ideas... Reunion was tentatively set for September 2012 in LA.

WE believed in each other...

I miss the man and real friend...

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

Austin - Yes. We talk frequently. Phone, text, email, online. We are fans of each other.

Q. - Tell us a bit about your solo project Awesome Austin, did you try to release a solo album?

Austin - Yes... Track 8 on the CD was the start of this adventure.. I was playing solo shows at the Radison hotel lounge and Holiday Inn lounge in Downtown Hollywood when I was asked to record in a recording studio in Santa Monica, California. While mixing down one track I was approached by the producer to record several single 45's for a major label. Again.... I MUST stop here.

Q. - How do you see the hard rock and heavy metal scenes nowadays? Do you keep an eye on what's going on?

Austin - To me, it all sounds the same... Every band seems to use the same song writing formula.

Yes, I keep one eye open and at least one ear to the radio and or TV. There are a few bands or songs I really, really like, but I'm not naming names here.

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

Austin - I'm retired... but YES! I still play in a band. It's more for fun then anything else. Lol... The Big Bucks... lol

I'm playing in a local band called "The Tony Faith Band". Covers and some original Rock. We are on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, etc.!

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

Austin - Hollywood Roxx 1976-1980; Studio Sessions (Remastered) (Import)

by LUST,

Keith Deen (Vocalist) (Holy Terror)

Austin M. Carrino (Guitarist) (True Form, Network, Detroit Miss, Rukkus, Man's Ruin)

Liam Jason (Drummer) (Warrior, Rhino Bucket)

Rich Sanchez (Bassist) (Julie Hawkins Band, Run Bambe Run, Northstar)

The band with Liam, Keith, Richard and I worked... The chemistry was right on.. except Liam wanted everything his way and I wasn't having it... it was my band, I wrote all the music and Keith wrote all the lyrics.... Liam should have been democratic or silent. Again it was really Keith and I. I have to admit... Liam is/was the best drummer I ever played with and I did respect most of his input and ideas... but it was Liam that destroyed the band... LUST.... not Keith, not Richard..... not me..., it was Liam... and he knows it too....

Keith & I still worked together for a while... and then we got too busy with life and lost touch... me, my wife, and kids.. I had to earn money now to help pay for those nearest me.... I believe LUST could have been the next BIG band, if WE didn't all FUCK it up.... I miss that part of my own life these days.... It is one of my fondest memories....

RIP Keith

Austin M. Carrino &

Richard Sanchez

2020

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

Rosanna's Raiders – Before & After The Fire 1985-2019 (We Are Raiders 35th Anniversary)

Rosanna's Raiders – Before & After The Fire 1985-2019 (We Are Raiders 35th Anniversary)

Rosanna's Raiders is a female fronted power trio from Australia, and Rosanna Palmer (lead vocalist, guitarist and composer) is the driving force behind the band.

David Palmer is the bass player (and Rosanna's husband) and the drummer is Johno Zaffarese.

Rosanna's Raiders – Before & After The Fire 1985-2019 (We Are Raiders 35th Anniversary) is a compilation CD.

The first CD compiles their best tracks recorded between 1996 and 2019. CD2 includes the 1985 debut cassette album "We Are Raiders", and the bonus track "One Man".

Being this year the 35th Anniversary of the album We Are Raiders.

Apart of being an excellent singer with high range, and great melodic lines, Rosanna proves to have great abilities as guitar player, as you can hear on both cds.

The band's sound can be described as Christian Melodic Heavy Metal, with Hard Rock touches.

It’s available at:  https://www.discogs.com/sell/item/1088671620

Tony Miles (Gibraltar)

Gibraltar was formed in early 1979 by drummer Jim Lassen and guitarist Tony Miles, and recorded a 3 song demo tape in 1980, these songs are featured in the V1/Gibraltar compilation "The Spaceward Super Sessions". We had a chat with Tony Miles, about his days in Gibraltar.

Q. - Hello Tony, so what can you tell us about your musical beginnings in Hard Rock particularly? Who were your principal influences and what bands did you play before Gibraltar?

Tony - Like mosy of my age I was brought up with the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Small Faces, Cream, Hendrix, etc  but soon after discovered Humble Pie, Rory Gallagher, Alex Harvey, Boston, ZZ Top and so on and so on. Basically, I had a classic rock education. Prior to Gibraltar my first ‘real band’ was TUSH, an East London-based band that played a mixture of originals and covers. One of our members at the time was Phil Collen who now plays with Def Leppard of course. I still see Phil from time to time.

Q. - Tell us a bit about the origins of Gibraltar, how and when did it all start? How did you get in touch with the other members?

Tony - After TUSH split, Gibraltar was a project started around 1978 by myself and an old drummer friend, Jim Lassen. We both loved hard rock and decided to form a new band together. We placed adverts in the music press to find other musicians. We eventually found a bass player Steve Parsons (brother of ex-Iron Maiden guitarist Tony Parsons) and a singer, one Dennis Willcock. Steve didn’t last long with us so I recruited my old bass player from TUSH, Mickey Tickton. So the finished line-up was myself, Jim, Dennis and Mickey. During the time we were auditioning and rehearsing we had Steve Parsons, Tony Parsons, Bob Sawyer, Ron Matthews (for a couple of gigs) all play with us for a time.

Q. - Do you remember who came up with the band's name, and why did you choose Gibraltar?

Tony - No is the quickest answer. I really don’t remember if it was Dennis or me. But the idea for the name came from the Rock of Gibraltar. We were a rock band so being called Gibraltar fitted well.

Q. - A 3 song demo tape were recorded in 1980. Was it your first experience in studio? What do you recall from these recording season?

Tony -Jim, Mickey and I all had previous experience in recording. Dennis also had recorded demos with his previous band V1 of course. The demo recording took place over 2 days in Spaceward Studios, Cambridge. It all went reasonably well, with no problems during recording. We were quite happy with the results at the time.

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

Tony - We used the demo to get gigs, such as the Ruskin Arms, etc. We did send the tape to a few music magazines but there was no real substantial feedback we could use. I think we weren’t ‘metal’ enough at the time. There was some interest from Derek Lawrence, a producer who had previously produced Deep Purple and others, but it never progressed from there. I think we were still in the process of working out what the band was supposed to be about, we weren’t ready for the next stage.

Q. - Did the demo tape have airplay on Neal Kay's Bandwagon? Or did you play there too?

Tony - The short answer is no. We never played there but the tape might have been played for all I know.

Q. - Do you remember the set list that you use to play with Gibraltar at that time? Did you play some covers too?

Tony - We played all original songs, obviously the songs on the demo and some other songs I’d either previously played in TUSH or Jim and I had written together. We did play the songs Tush and Hey Joe at a couple of gigs when Ron Matthews played with us though.

Q. - Did you try to find a record deal to release an Lp at that time?

Tony - We did send the demos out here and there and invited various music biz people to come to our shows but it never turned into anything positive enough. I also think the record companies had enough NWOBHM bands on their books at the time.

Q. - After a break, Gibraltar came back in 1984, what was the bands line up at that time?

Tony - We did a few gigs with myself, Dennis, Mickey and a drummer named Dave Manning. I still have a video of one of those gigs and a cassette tape too!

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

Tony - Yes, off and on. Mickey and I formed a band briefly in the late ‘80s. Jim, who is still an old friend, I speak to every week. I lost contact with Dennis in ’84 until he reappeared in 2014.

Q. - Were you happy with the edition of "The Spaceward Super Sessions" by HR Records in 2015? Was it like a dream come true?

Tony - I was pleased to have some recognition for what we did back in the day, it was completely unexpected. Obviously now I wish we had recorded more of our songs for release but I’m not complaining. It’s a matter of official record now so that’s good enough for me.

Q. - After a long hiatus Gibraltar reunited around 2015, did you guys feel some kind of unfinished business?

Tony - Yes, that would be a good way of putting it, unfinished business. It was the initial approach from HR Records that gave us the idea of putting something back together. But due to personal circumstances it was really only possible for Dennis and I to be involved with anything new, all the others were unable to contribute unfortunately.

Q. - But this new version of Gibraltar was short lived, what happened that lead to the break?

Tony - Another good question. From the start I think Dennis’s expectations and my expectations were very different. His involvement and enthusiasm with the reformed V1 were way much more than I’d been prepared for so it felt like Gibraltar was of less importance to him. The communication between us got worse over time and it was inevitable that it would fall apart. It’s a real shame because I strongly felt there was potential there for us to be doing something very different to what we’d done in Gibraltar, before. I also think Dennis’s desire to chase after Iron Maiden for money he felt they still owed him became a massive distraction for all of us. As you may know, that is still the subject of ongoing legal proceedings so I’m unable to say more about it at the moment.

Q. - How do you see the Hard Rock and Heavy Metal scenes nowadays? Do you keep an eye on what's going on?

Tony - Good question. The scene to me seems fairly saturated by sound-alike and look-alike bands and not much originality around these days. Having said that, there are still some very good bands around, like Alter Bridge for example. I also became a fan of Seattle grunge so like listening to Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Foo Fighters, etc. I also listen to a lot of stuff that’s not necessarily hard or heavy rock. For now, it’s only the mega bands like Iron Maiden that stick out as being exceptional and really continue to draw the big crowds. Their consistency and longevity has to be admired though. What happens next in rock music is anyone’s guess.

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

Tony - These days I’m playing with a small local blues band in Cambridgeshire called the Blackjack Blues Band. We play lot of blues songs that were originally performed by Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Robert Johnson, Freddie King, and so on. It’s fun and keeps me playing!

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

Tony - Covered most of it, I think. It’s cool that people like yourself still take an interest in the histories of bands from back in the day. When I saw Iron Maiden for the first time, they were just a pub rock band, not much different to my old band TUSH in many ways. But it’s an odd combination of talent, luck, timing and sheer determination that makes the difference between make or break. It’s the same for everyone.

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

You’re welcome and wish you well also! J

Chris Vye (Prowler)

Chris Vye was the lead guitarist from Prowler (Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire) in the early and mid-80's, having recorded two singles (Forgotten Angels in 1983, and Alcatraz in 1985) and two demo tapes (84 and 87). Later joined hard rock bands Bad Reputation and Passion xx. We has a chat with Chris about these matters and future plans.

Q. - Hello Chris! Tell us a bit about your background in heavy metal, what bands did you have before Prowler, and what your main influences?

Chris - Before Prowler I was in a band called Last Resort and we were actually semi New Wave at the time.

I was into a bands like Dr. Feelgood, Pink Floyd, definitely Pink Floyd were one of my first influences, and bands like AC/DC, UFO, Van Halen, and Thin Lizzy were obviously, a big influence on me.

Q. - When did you join Prowler? Were you a founding member? Tell us a bit about the beginning of the band.

Chris - I really can't remember the year, I wasn't a founding member, when the band was in its infancy, Steve Whetton was the other guitar player in the band at that time, he was a very good friend of mine and he ended up being the lighting guy, it just happen that way at that time, nothing was recorded with him or any live gigs, he was in the band only in the very early days. Obviously I enjoyed being the guitar player and I had known Steve Philpotts since school.

Q. - How did the band name came up?

Chris - When I joined they already had the name. The name came from the very first Iron Maiden album, one of the tracks on that album was called Prowler, the opening track, and so that's where the name came from.

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

Chris - Right from the beginning we wanted to write our own stuff, it was really important, you know, in the style of the NWOBHM and we wanted to do our own thing and tried to come up with our own sound. We did do one or two covers at the start but we replace them as we wrote more stuff.

Q. - How did the idea of record the single "Forgotten Angels" came up?

Chris - Forgotten Angels is a song that was written by Rob Philpotts, obviously we can rewrite our own parts to it, including solos and stuff, Rob wrote the song and it's one of the first things that we have got properly recorded.

It sounds a bit basic nowadays compared to what is possible now because the technology was just completely steam train back in those days. We just couldn't get the sounds the people can get now. We did our best and we did it honestly. Technology and gear is incredible now... we would have loved to have it back then!

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

Chris - To be honest we had a few things in the media more gig listings, we weren't a leading band, we were very much in the lower ranks so pretty much unless you were quite big, the media tend to ignore you a bit, so we didn't get a lot of assistance from the media to be honest.

Q. - At a certain point Prowler toured with Bernie Marsden as an opening act, how did that happen?

Chris - As to Bernie Marsden, I'm not sure how we came about. We did a gig, I think we were asked to do a gig, at the Trent Polytechnic, in Nottingham, with Bernie Marsden and we supported him there. Bernie liked us so much that they took us along and we went to the Marquee in London, which was a great experience, you know, the great and the good were there, Micky Moody, John Sykes, and all those kind of people it was an amazing experience and we really enjoyed to gig there at the old Marquee. Micky was a lovely guy and sent us some beer off his rider which was so nice of him... fantastic guy and player.

Q. - Why did Prowler split up in 1990? What happened that lead to the break?

Chris - We had been playing together quite a lot and the brothers start to not get along musically as well as they used to do, they got different ideas on things and I think just generally the atmosphere in the band was just gone a little bit. It's just one of those things, it just slowly died and that was it.

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

Chris - Yes, I know them all pretty much, they were all fairly close, I actually played in a band with the lead singer from Prowler, Ian Morrison, for a while, we didn't do much, we did just a couple of gigs and I went to join Bad Reputation and later Passion xx with whom I recorded another single.

Q. - When did you record your solo demo tape "Wild One"? Were you already in Prowler, or was prior to that? What reactions did you get from these recordings? Did you try to find a record deal to release it?

Chris - "Wild One" was actually recorded quite a long while after Prowler, and also after Bad Reputation, I would say it was probably about 1989/90, something like that.

Recording gear become a lot easier than it was in the old days, back then it was ridiculous expensive and I got an 8 track cassette recorder and it allowed me to record at home, "Wild One" was actually sessions I did on my own flat, the drum machine, some keyboards and just play my own stuff and it really started from there. I sold the tapes locally. I was quite happy about that, and that was a long time ago. They have ended up all over the world which completely amazed me!

Q. - After you leave Prowler you joined the hard rock band "Bad Reputation", how did that happen?

Chris - I knew the guys from Bad Reputation anyway cause we'd done gigs with them before, when I was in Prowler, so I knew them quite well, and had gone fantastically, Pete Brown was the bass player of Bad Reputation and he asked me to join, and it was great fun, we did a quite few gigs mostly in the Midlands area. It really went pretty well and I really enjoyed to be there, it was a fun time.

Q. - Did you record any songs with them?

Chris - We did do a recording but to be honest I don't have a copy of it, I’m sure someone might have it somewhere.

Q. - For how long were "Bad Reputation" active?

Chris - I think Bad Reputation ware active a couple of years, I would say. After that I ended up doing some stuff with bass player and lead singer from Prowler, like I said and then I go on to record my own songs so that started really about 10/15 years ago when I started really writing my own stuff which is mostly "Steve Vai'sh" solo instrumental music

Q. - Have you ever thought about doing a compilation on cd with the singles and demos recorded by Prowler in the 80's?

Chris - The answer to that is yes, why not? I'd love to, some of the tapes aren't in the best of conditions, and in fact all the songs were written by the Philpotts brothers they're not feeling like releasing the material. I've tried to persuade them to do it but you know they don't seem particularly keen on the idea at the moment, so didn't go any further than that. It is looking like some of the tracks may be re-recorded this year... not 100% yet but could happen!

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

Chris - You know what? It was a fantastic time back in the 80's, everyone was enjoying that kind of music, we live free back then, so it's really nice to see it back, it's good time music, people had a lot of fun and I think it's great that these bands are coming back.

Q. - So what are you doing these days? Do you still play in any band?

Chris - Right now I’m still writing and playing my own music, and to be honest I'd really like to form a new band on this area, Midlands, (and hopefully this virus that we are standing is soon over) to play some of my own stuff, maybe some covers, maybe even some Prowler stuff, but, you never know.

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

Chris - Absolutely! You can't beat this stuff from back on those days, I hate to sound old fashioned but I just think in a lot ways, it was just better than some other stuff now, some stuff now, it's a little bit too clinical and plus the fact I’m not keen on mega mega heavy music.

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

Chris - I Think that's it, hopefully this is enough and that will be everything you need to know, thanks!

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

Andy Sayers (Traitors Gate, Zenith)

Traitors Gate was a heavy rock band from Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, and were active from 1981 to 1983. We had a chat with Andy Sayers, about this obscure band. After leave Traitors Gate, Andy went on to form the band Zenith with whom recorded the Ep Heavy Heart.

Q. - Hello Andy, tell us a bit about the origins of Traitors Gate, how and when did it all start? Who were the first members of the band?

Andy - The band was started by me along with Martyn Dykes and Ian (Boris) Mereweather in Weston-super-Mare.

Q. - Was Traitors Gate your very first band? Or did you have any other band previously?

Andy - Martyn and me played in a band beforehand, but only played one gig.

Q. - How did the band name came up?

Andy - We made a shortlist of possible names and agreed on Traitors Gate.

Q. - Who were your main influences at the beginning of the band?

Andy - Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Rush, UFO.

Q. - What about shows? Did you play regularly in the UK back then? Did you share stage with some other well known bands?

Andy - We played about 30/40 shows in total between February 1981 and January 1984.  Support to Shiva who were signed to Heavy Metal Records and Dumpys Rusty Nuts.

Q. - Do you recall the songs you were playing in the beginning? Did you play any covers too?

Andy - Yeah at the beginning we stuck to original songs, such as:

Twice for your Sins

Haunted by the past

Twist of Fate

Warning Sign

Assassin

Q. - When did you record your demo tapes? What do you recall from these recording season at the studio?

Andy - The first demo was completely live with absolutely no overdubs. Recorded straight to 2 tracks in a farm house in Somerset.

Next we recorded three tracks at a studio in Taunton (Assassin, Warning Sign and Haunted by the Past).

The rest came from two sessions at Horizon Studios in Weston-super-Mare

Q. - Did you sell these demos at shows, send it to fanzines? What feedback did you receive from it?

Andy - No. Maybe we should have!

Q. - Did you try to approach a record deal at that time with Traitors Gate?

Andy - Yes, but we should have tried harder

Q. - When did "Traitors Gate" split up exactly? What happened that lead to the split?

Andy - January 1984.  Shelly left to join another local band called Shanghai and Ian basically retired and no one else wanted to carry on ☹

Q. - When did you form Zenith, how did that happen?

Andy - About August 1984 after a chance meeting with an old friend and fellow guitarist Cliff Evans.

Q. - A 10 track demo tape were recorded in 1984, were this songs recorded for an LP? Did you try to approach a record deal at that time?

Andy - We recorded all the tracks on a Tascam Portastudio. The drums at our rehearsal place and the rest at my home. Unfortunately the tape broke at the start of the track Trust no one so we had to fade that one in. We sold the album on Cassette at gigs and mail order.

Q. - How was the EP "Heavy Heart" received by the fans? Did it have airplay on radio stations?

Andy - Pretty good really and we sold a fair few. I remember we had the pressing (500 copies) done by a company in London. The sleeves were printed locally.

We had airplay on BBC Radio 1's John Peel Show and Red Dragon in Cardiff.

Q. - After a great EP such as Heavy Heart, what lead to the end of Zenith?

Andy - It fell apart in a similar way to Traitors Gate

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

Andy - Yes, not regularly, but we have and more so recently as there are albums being released by Onreleses in Athens.

Andy - I went on to form the band Outsider in 1998 with Andrew Jamieson and Keith Townshend who were both members of Zenith. Outsider released 3 albums between 1999 and 2009.

Q. - Have you ever thought about doing a compilation with all the recordings made by Traitors Gate and Zenith?

Andy - Well it looks as though that is about to happen (see above) and it will be good to meet up with the other guys in a few months to share out our copies of the CD's.

Keep in touch and I'll tell you more when we get nearer the time.

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

Andy - Outsider had a few line-up changes over the years. We got a new bass player in 2009 who told us that he had a friend who looked a bit like Ozzy Osbourne. So, cutting a long story short, Outsider morphed into the Black Sabbath Tribute Snowblind, which eventually took over completely. That band split in 2014 when I moved to Manchester. Almost straight away I formed a new Sabbath Tribute called Sabbotage which is still going strong today!

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? What memories do you keep from those days?

Andy - It was a massive part of my life, to say the least and I have lots of fond memories. Some sad too with the breakups but a great time. Its great to see how the NWOBHM is still with us.

Phil John (Nightime Flyer)

Nightime Flyer still gained some notoriety with the single "Out with a Vengeance", back in 1980, the b-side of this single, "Heavy Metal Rules", was covered by Slough Feg in the single Hail Brittania Volume One - a NWOBHM Tribute. We had a chat with drummer Phil John, about his times in Nightime Flyer .

Q. - Hello Phil, tell us a little bit about your beginnings in the hard rock and heavy metal world, what were you're main influences, what lead you to be a heavy metal drummer?

Phil - As a teenager in the 1970’s I was into all the chart stuff at the time, Slade, The Sweet, T Rex etc and it was a mate of mine who started to introduce me to bands like ELP, Rush, ZZ Top and Black Sabbath. When I first heard Electric Funeral by Sabbath I was blown away and it all started from there basically.

That was before I had my first drum kit at 16 and after around 6 months of practice I formed a band with mates of mine playing stuff like Status Quo, Wishbone Ash and various other rock bands around at that time. My interest in HM grew a lot back then and I became a massive Sabbath fan and also got into bands like Judas Priest and Deep Purple and of course taking an interest in the drummers especially. Carl Palmer of ELP fame was and still is my favourite player and inspiration and I’ve met him on numerous occasions.

Q. - When did you join Nightime Flyer?

Phil - After a few bands I teamed up with three other guys and we formed Nightime Flyer which at the time were a five piece band and because we had a keyboard player we had more of a prog rock sound rather than straight rock, we were very early Genesis influenced back then.

After a little while our keyboard player left and we became more of a hard rock band. This was around 1978. Not long after our singer called it a day and we recruited another vocalist who had more of a hard rock voice. The band then consisted of myself, Roger Davies on guitar, Neil Rogers on bass and Leighton John on vocals. (Sadly since those days Leighton and Neil have passed away RIP). Roger was quite a handy guy and we decided to build our own PA and lighting system in order for us to put on shows with a bit of professionalism. A guy named Kerry Williams teamed up with us and various people to help with sound and lights. We nicknamed Kerry ‘Gandalf’ as he was a bit of a wizard and loved using pyrotechnics and dry ice as part of the show. The band did numerous gigs locally and some further afield and we were a very popular band playing mostly original songs but also some covers (of which I can’t remember but definitely some Sabbath).

Q. - When did the idea of recording the single "Out with a Vengeance" came up?

Phil - We decided to record a self-financed single which if I remember correctly we recorded at Spaceward Studios in Hereford in the UK (the studio is still up and running as far as I am a aware). We only pressed 1000 copies of the single as it was self- financed and at that time a friend of Leightons sort of became our ‘manager’ and got us bigger gigs. We sold the single at gigs plus programmes, t-shirts, patches and badges to try and make some extra cash.

This was all around 1979/1980 when it took off big time (I’m not 100% sure about the dates as it was a LONG time ago).

Q. - Did the single have airplay on Neal Kay's Bandwagon? Or did you play there too?

Phil - Sounds magazine at the time were running features where Dj’s nationwide asked bands to send in their demos and they would play them at their rock clubs and would them list them in a ‘chart’ in the paper. That’s when Neal Kaye took an interest in us and he played the single/acetate at The Bandwagon. We went there to visit the club and meet him and we had a blast. We did eventually play there but it was just after Neal had left to do other things in the business (I think he sort of managed Iron Maiden for a while). Nightime Flyer also used to hire our PA system for various bands that came to play the clubs in our area and we provided PA and lights for bands like Demon, Vardis, Praying Mantis and Dark Star to name a few.

Q. - It surprises you that the single "Out with a Vengeance", still have so much acceptation these days? Do you think this single have stood the test of time?

Phil - The single has been bootlegged on numerous occasions with coloured vinyl and I’ve seen it sold on Ebay for around £60 a shot. The original cover never had the ‘Flyer Man’ logo on the front (which I designed) so if you see one of those it’s a bootleg! Little did we know then that our small band and single would be mentioned on dozens of music sites and site shops worldwide. The band Slough Feg from San Fransisco covered the B Side ‘Heavy Metal Rules’ on the Miskatonic label as part of the 25th anniversary of the NWOBHM some years back and I’ve never heard it. Last year Lars Ulrich from Metallica mentioned the single and HMR on a podcast he did in the USA , he said he thought it was great! The single was recorded in a 16 track studio and had was very crude with practically no production, but that’s how it was back then. It has really surprised me how our little song some see as an anthem for the NWOBHM movement, we had an ‘acetate’ pressing made for Neal Kaye who ran the Bandwagon in London (the man really who started the whole NWOBHM movement) and through him met Iron Maiden and various other bands who hit the big time.

As far as the single standing the test of time well it seems to have but its production was practically nil and could have been a lot better. But if it’s good enough for Lars Ulrich it’s good enough for me.

Phil John later joined Pathfinder, around 1983, and after he leaves Pathfinder, joined Preyer with whom he recorded the LP Terminator, in 1986, later formed Talan, having recorded the single Spellbinder in 1990. Also known for having designed some logos for Talan and Samurai.