This interview was originally published in Stay Heavy Fanzine back in 2014 and now we put it online for the first time ever (thanks to the guy who ran the fanzine!)
Hello Gary! Let’s start with positive news
about your album “The Slaughter Never Stops”. It has been finally released on
Rocksector Records but as far as I know it was recorded a few years ago. What
was the reason for such a delay?
Yeah we
originally recorded it in 2010 but when Ian left shortly after it was kind of shelved
with the intention of re-recording the vocals with Roddy who had by then
replaced Ian. Naturally this would require re-mixing too. When Ian returned in
late 2013 obviously we had an album almost ready to go , we re-recorded a few
bits had it remixed and here we are!!!
Its due out last week in October.
Ian Swift returned to the band recently. First
off, why did he leave the band in 2009? And why did you decide to split with
Roddy eventually?
Ian felt in
2010 that he did not want to continue in Avenger or any other band (although he
did end up playing locally) but the door was never firmly shut for him
returning though as he’s such a major part of Avenger. I talked to him about
releasing the album we had recorded back in the Autumn of 2013 even though he
was no longer in Avenger then and he confided he would like to return and see
the album released so the decision was made. It was hard on Roddy who had put a
lot into the band up to that point be even he now agrees it was the best move
(Ian’s return) for Avenger to move forward.
Jowita Kaminska of Metal On Metal Records did a
cover for this album. Can you explain your idea behind this picture and the
title “The Slaughter Never Stops”?
Jowita done
some artwork for us prior to the actual recording of the album, She also
designed our new logo and done a great job with both in my opinion. Sadly we
did not actually end up using the album artwork as we felt we needed a cover
that would give a more obvious connection to our earlier releases as Satan have
done with the cover of “Life Sentence”. We went for a different artwork with a
strong indication towards all our previous albums. You will see this soon when
the album comes out. The Title “The Slaughter Never Stops” is an indication of
Avenger to continue where we left off from “Killer Elite” and “Blood Sports”.
You did a cover of the Maiden’s song “Killers”.
Why was that? It’s a little bit strange because Avenger is quite the name for
metal fans and you don’t need to play covers to get some more recognition.
Nooo!!! We
just played the song because we liked it and added it live quite a bit. It
proved popular live maybe because of the NWOBHM connection?? We recorded it to
see how it worked and decided to add it to the album… It’s not a random filler
cover as some bands do, I really think it’s a great version, If I may be so
bold to say.
By the way, you also recorded cover of
Metallica’s “Ride The Lightning” and made a music video for this cover. Is it a
kind of your homage to Metallica or something else?
Hmmm yes maybe
a bit of a homage to them, we all certainly love that era of Metallica and it
was very popular live too.
What songs off the new record you would call as
your favorites and why?
My personal
favorites are “In Arcadia Go!” due to its real English NWOBHM feel , “Into the
Nexus” as it still firmly reminds me and I hope anyone else who knows us that
were always regarded as a proto speed metal/thrash metal band back in the day
and this displays that we still like to tear it up!! And I think “Fate” which
some people have mentioned sounds as if it come right off ”Killer Elite” which
is great to hear because this album was written with a very conscious ear to
keeping close to our original sound.
The last few years were very successful for
Avenger — you did a lot of tours including your first dates in Brazil. What are
your impressions from those shows?
It was
great both visiting and playing in Brazil. It’s hard to believe our music has a
following in such distant corners of the world, it would never have happened
without our loyal supporters sticking by the band. We have been very lucky to
enjoy this support not just in Brazil but all over the world and it kept
Avenger going despite it being so long since our last release. THANKS
everyone!!! We really appreciate it!!!
I can’t avoid some questions about Mick Moore.
He owns all the rights on original band’s name and the entire back catalogue of
Avenger but you still play songs from the old records. Did you sort out this
situation legally?
AHHHH Mick
says he owns the rights!!! He does not explain his legal obligations to us (the
other writers and members ) when he mentions this though. I can say we plan to
release a live album of all our popular material and re-release both “Killer
Elite” and “Blood Sports” in 2015. We also expect legal custody of our back
catalogue returned to us very soon because the current custodian (Mick Moore)
is in breach of his obligations to the other members. The legal process is
currently on going at this time.
Mick also said once that he was never satisfied
with Ian Swift because Ian was more a frontman and entertainer than a good
singer. Isn’t it strange? Can you comment on this situation?
All I can say is Ian is regarded by the
majority of people as a great and Legendary NWOBHM frontman and singer who has sung for Avenger, Satan, Atomkraft,
Tysondog. Mick’s opinion of Ian is his own and it’s a minority opinion.
Now let’s get back in time to the point when it
all started for you. Before Avenger you worked for Neat Records and then your
band signed a deal with them. So can you tell me about this label from inside
so to say? Were they interested in promotion of all their releases or did they
just support Venom, their best selling act, and don’t pay much attention to
others?
Neat were
ok I suppose, they were local and handy for us. It was natural the bigger bands
would receive the primary support financially although we did feel we didn’t
get the input we required, this is the main reason we split up in 1985. I think
if we had been older and not so naïve (I was 17/18 at the time) we would have
handled the situation better, and demanded the dedication we thought we
deserved or fucked off to another label, but hindsight’s a great thing, eh?
I guess Avenger was a kind of continuation of
Blitzkrieg for Brian Ross and Mick Moore. How did you get to know them? And why
Brian left the band after one demo and a couple of singles?
I joined a
local NWOBHM band called Unter Den Linden both Brian and Mick were both in that
band and this is where I first played with them although I did know them
casually from Blitzkrieg visiting Neat when I worked there. The Unter Den
Linden situation didn’t really work out and we formed Avenger, Brian was
offered the opportunity to join Satan and that’s how he left the ranks about
that time Ian had indicated he was interested in Avenger and the famous swap of
singer occurred!!
Although UK gave birth to a lot of bands during
the NWOBHM era, I guess the scene was pretty small. Avenger is a great example
of this – your line-up had connections to Blitzkrieg, Satan, Atomkraft, Fist,
Venom and Tysondog, so all those bands consisted of all the same people more or
less and everyone knew each other. But didn’t it cramp you to get more
recognition outside this circle of friends?
Hmmm I
don’t think it done us any harm, I couldn’t even start to list the help Venom
and their manager Eric Cook give us. It was still a situation of how much the
label was prepared to invest in a band and remember this is pre-internet days,
it was slow and expensive to get a band known back then, but by the way people
have stuck by and supported Avenger and all the other bands you mention above,
for 30 years now maybe indicates the job was done better than we thought at the
time, actually becoming known outside Newcastle I mean.
Did you get enough support from the press back
in the day? I remember Metal Forces Magazine called you the best British heavy
metal band but what about such magazines like Kerrang or Germany’s Metal Hammer
and Rock Hard?
The press
were pretty good to us, especially by the time “Killer Elite” come out.
Primarily the European press too. Without the European press and fans Avenger would
not have lasted this long I’m certain.
You put out two albums in the 80’s. What is
your favorite in terms of songwriting, production etc.? And what producer — Martin Smith or Keith Nichol — was better or
comfortable to work with, in your opinion?
“Blood Sports”
was Martin Smith’s first album production and everything else we done was with Keith
including our singles, demos ect. I think we preferred Keith as producer, he’s
a very good musician and his input to our approach to recording and general
guidance was terrific, he was older than us and a more mature musician, he
helped us avoid a lot of mistakes and was a great motivator too. He knew our
limits and how to get the best out of us I think.
What are your best memories about European
tours from the 80’s? I heard you were the main good-timer over those shows. Can
you share some stories from that time?
Hmmm one of
my own personal faves was being asked to come to Holland and play a super jam
session with Timi and Michael from Mercyful Fate, Steve Ramsey from Satan, John
Wiggins from Tokyo Blade and Brian Ross who was still in Avenger then. We went
across, spent a week drinking and learning cover songs and played a gig at the
old Dynamo in Eindhoven. It was really well received and we had a gloriously
drunken time and were really well paid for it, it was also the first time I had
ever visited a foreign country and flown in an airplane so quite a big deal for
a 17 year old back in the early 80’s this gig always stays in my mind. It’s the
only time in 32 years I have ever seen Brian Ross drunk too!!!!
By the time of your second album “Killer Elite”
Les Cheetham was replaced with Greg Reiter from the States. How did you find
him and did this replacement change chemistry within the band? By the way, you
had only one guitarist on both albums. Did you consider an opportunity to add a
second one to make your sound heavier?
We replied
to an advertisement Greg had put in Kerrang, he sent us some of his song ideas
and we decided to bring him over, I think the album we done with him was a
natural progression of what we had already done and as Greg was into UK metal
such as Raven and Jaguar he fitted comfortably in I thought. Avenger was always intended to be a two guitar
band curiously but we struggled to find two guitarists so we continued as a four piece apart from one tour where
Ginger from the Wildhearts filled in on second guitar, its only since we re-formed has the material been played to its
full potential in my opinion.
In 1986 the band went on American tour but
rumors say that you were unable to do it due to asthma attack and were replaced
with Darren Kurland. Is it correct? I hope now you conquered this disease!
Hehehe I
have worked for 30 years as a shipyard spray painter so don’t know where the
Asthma story comes from (although I have a good idea). No I was kicked out
because Mick Moore and Greg had lined Darren up because he could put the band
up for free in America and had a rehearsal room, that’s how I didn’t go on that
tour. It was just one of those things.
As far as I understand that tour became a real
disaster for Avenger and led the band to its end. What was wrong with those
shows? And is it true that Ian Swift fractured his leg during that tour and the
band tried to replace him with some singer from Texas?
It wasn’t a
disaster, they just couldn’t complete it because of Ian breaking his ankle
although he did try to carry on. Curiously Mike Portnoy from Dream Theatre mentioned
to me a few years ago that he had seen Avenger at La Amours in New York city on that very tour
and thought they were great so it couldn’t have been that bad. The whole
situation of trying to tour in the USA with very meager label support did cause
the band to break up after that tour though. I’m not too sure about the Texas
singer situation though you would need to ask Mick and Greg about that!!
When Avenger broke-up you went on to play with
Blitzkrieg but it didn’t last too long. Why was that? Did you have any personal
issues with Brian Ross?
I actually
played in Blitzkrieg for over two years 1989/91 and I had a great time, the
only reason I didn’t stick it out was
because I was injured in an accident during the construction of the channel
tunnel , my left foot was crushed and I couldn’t play drums for about 6 years
because I was so badly hurt. Brian Ross and I have been good friends since 1982
and continue to be so.
To round up this interview please say a few
words for Russian readers.
Hi Ivans of
Metal!!!!! Keep your eyes open for
Avengers new album “The Slaughter Never Stops” it comes out October on
Rocksector Records!!! Hope to see you in Mother Russia in 2015!!!
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