The only
thing I knew about Megaton for a very long time was that the band released a
single back in 1980. The news that they reunited in 2010, released an album and
that the singer Ross Torlak died in 2013 somehow leaked me. I didn’t remember
the band until I bumped the name somewhere in the web. And that was it! I was
hooked and wanted to listen to the album (it still sells through CD Baby in
digital format but hey — some label has to re-release it!) and study up their
history. The latter became possible thanks to the guitar player Jeremy
Nagle.
Tell us about the first steps of Megaton. How
did you get in touch with Ross Torlak? The legend says that you were one of the
150 guitarists who came to the audition and got the gig right after you started
to play. Do you remember that audition by the way?
I was
living in London in 1980 and I had been with an Irish band that broke up. I saw
this ad in the Melody Maker “ Band looking for guitarist to go and play CBGBэs in the US“. I went to the audition. It’s true, there were
150 guitarist or more. So I did the audition and got the job, there and then.
It was in Regent Sound Ltd. in Denmark street. It was a very well known studio
in London. The Beatles recorded there and Jimmy Hendrix too. The engineer was
Jim Spencly. He was a well known engineer in London. The band at that stage was
heavy funk and was called Kilo. It changed direction soon after I joined it. We
wrote a whole new album and shelved the previous material. The name of the band
changed too and some of the personnel.
Who else was in the original line-up when the
band first started?
Ross,
Charles Waldman, Les Cole, John Dawson and myself. John Gartland was the
lyricist.
Who came up with the name Megaton? Did you pick
it up as an epitome of heaviness?
It was
picked by the management and yes, that was the reason why they picked it.
Megaton was founded in London back in 1980, and
I believe that was the whirlwind of NWOBHM when major labels started to sign
metal bands right, left and center. So did you try to get a deal with EMI,
Chrysalis Records and the likes?
Capitol
Records in America did make an offer for us as far as I know, at the start, and
it was turned down by our then management as being not enough money. At least
that’s what we were told. Later EMI were very interested in us but in the end
nothing came of it. Sweet’s management financed the recording of “Tallahassee
Lassie” with Mick Tucker producing us and playing drums. Unfortunately, they didn’t know how to sell
it and it got shelved. Later we included
it on “Returning with Vengeance” as a tribute to Mick who was our good friend.
Were you regular visitors or performers in Neal
Kay’s Bandwagon? Did Neal play your tracks in his venue? Please share a story
or two about the venue and the events you witnessed there.
We used to
gig with Neal Kay regularly in London… places like the White Heart in Acton and
other places. Neal also produced a recording of one of our songs. I think by
the time we started gigging with Neal he had left the Bandwagon by then.
What was your typical live set at the time? Did
you have other original songs outside “Aluminium Lady” and “Die Hard”?
We had an
album of material which we used to play every night and most of it ended up on
“Returning With Vengeance”. I remember the set started with “Don’t Fall Out”
and “Aluminium Lady” and “Diehard” were also in the set.
Did you play enough shows at the time? Were
they all in London or did you have a chance to hit other cities?
We played a
lot of gigs in London as that was where you could get signed but we also played
all over the UK.
Tell us about the recording of the single
“Aluminium Lady”. Where was it recorded and who produced it? How did the whole
affair go in the studio? Were you well rehearsed?
We wrote
“Aluminium Lady” and also “Diehard” and recorded both on the same night in
Regent Sound Studio, we were quite prolific at the time. Yes we rehearsed all
of the time and we were very tight.
Can you comment on the situation with the
label? Was Hot Metal Music your own label or was it backed by someone else?
Hot Metal
Music was formed by John Gartland, the lyricist, and Ross and myself and we
released it ourselves.
How come that BBC 1 and BBC 2 played your
single on a regular basis? Were you friends with some of the staff or did they
just have a good taste in music?
Believe it
or not the three of us took boxes of records to the BBC and placed the records
in the DJs boxes. And they nearly all started to play it straight away! Then
Capitol Radio London followed suit and lots more. Tommy Vance was always
playing us and all the rest did too.
There were several line-up changes and mostly
there were the drummers who came and went. So when did John Gartland and John
Phillips join the band and why did they leave?
Yes we had
Bill Collie on drums and Rod Sturt on Bass. Then we had James Drury, an
American born bass player and John Phillips on drums. That was the killer
English version of Megaton.
How did you get in touch with Mick Tucker from
the Sweet? Was he a regular member of Megaton or did he just help you to record
the single “Talahassee Lassie”?
Mick heard
the record and came to one of our gigs in The Horseshoe Hotel on Tottenham
Court Road. I remember he came back stage and we were amazed. Mick was such a
rock star.
 |
| Ross Torlak, Mick Tucker, Jeremy Nagle |
What are your best memories about Mick? Is it
really true that he was a huge fan of Ian Pace and thought that there was a
rival between them?
He was
brilliant in the studio and he really knew how to use it. He was an awesome
drummer, very original and heavy. We recorded the backing tracks in Kingsway
Studio, Ian Gillan’s studio (the old Deep Purple studio… everything was
purple!) then we went to Ringo Star’s studio on his estate in Ascot. It was
winter and outside, it was minus twenty!
What happened to the single “Talahassee
Lassie”? Was it released officially at the time or was it put on the shelf?
It got
shelved and eventually Mick gave us the master to release ourselves when we
wanted.
Why did Ross decide to move to the USA? Did you
try to carry the band for a while after Ross’ departure? Did you try to record
a full-length album in the 80’s?
He had an
American girlfriend Julie and they went to California.
Did you stay in touch with each other or did
you go separate ways and reunite years later?
Yes we did.
We reformed a few times over the years there, for periods of time.
Ross had successful trucking business and
became involved with some ecological organization, but what about you? Tell us
a bit of your activities between 1982 and 2010.
I played in
Driveshaft. We played on many tours in Ireland, Saxon, Rory Gallagher, Michael
Schenker, and Phil Lynot’s Grand Slam. We recorded “Live Cutz” and had a huge
following. Later on, after I left
Driveshaft, I played in some bands in
Ireland, for a while, but nothing really outside of Cork.
How did the reunion come to the picture? Did
Ross return to the UK?
I had a CD
out at the time” Offworld”, which was a different style of music (more John
Lennon type of thing. It was a studio duo with keyboard player Sally O’Brien)
and people kept asking me to reform Megaton, as a lot of the other NWOBHM bands
were reforming too. I got on to Ross in the states and we decided to record the
album.
Did you try to get in touch with any original
members? How did you find Shawn Bossick and Mike Leasure? Did you work with
them in some other projects?
Luckily,
Ross knew Mike Leasure and Shawn Bossic so it was fairly seamless really. The
day I got to Cali I was recording in the studio! Jetlag… what’s that!
Was it easy for you to get back and write and
play that NWOBHM stuff on the new album? Did it take long to write the new
songs? Did you use any older ideas outside “Aluminium Lady” and “Die Hard”?
No, we had
the material in our heads and it just came out!
Tell us a bit about the recording of the album
“Returning With Vengeance”. Did it take
long to lay down all the tracks, for instance?
A few
months to do the backing tracks then I went out into the desert to clear my
head for two weeks and came back and did all the solos in about two days.
The album was released by the band and it’s a
real shame that no label showed an interest. Did you try to get a deal or was
it your concept to do everything yourselves?
We got
great reviews everywhere, and we were on the verge of a major management deal
when Ross got sick.
Don’t you want to re-issue the album these days
and keep the legacy alive?
If it were
rereleased, it would be nice ok.
Sorry for asking, but what happened to Ross? It
seems that he passed away pretty much unexpectedly. Was he ill for a while
before that?
He was
diagnosed with cancer and given a very short time to live. We used to talk on
skype, at the time as I was back in
Ireland. Ross couldn’t believe it and I couldn’t believe it either.
How do you remember Ross? Tell a bit about him
to those who (like me) never got a chance to meet him.
Ross was a
true rock star, larger than life and had a great sense of humor. He was a great
musician and a close friend. I still miss him. The world is a different place
without him.
What are you up to these days? Do you play
anything from Megaton with your current band?
I have a
band called the Bluez Crew. Check us out on Facebook. We play all the time.
Originally, I formed it to keep working between working with Megaton but it’s
very popular and kicks ass. It’s actually a rock band with blues influences,
every so often, but it really rocks out believe me!!!
If you want to say something to you fans — you
are welcome!
Keep the
faith and keep rocking!!
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