Will Philpot (ex-Omen): "We played faster than anyone else"

Middlesbrough’s  Omen is the band which was totally unknown for me (I guess I’m not alone) until recently. The band would have remained undiscovered if the label Obscure NWOBHM Releases hadn’t announced the re-issue of the band’s only demo which is expected by March—April, 2018. One of the selling points is in that the band was formed by Mark Thompson (later in Black Rose) and Will Philpot (currently with Millennium). I got in touch with the later to shed some light on the story of Omen.

RUSSIAN VERSION

Hi, Will! Let’s begin with a question about your passion to music. When did you start to listen to heavy music? What bands were your favourites?Hello! I was gripped by music at an early age. Early 70's bands are where it all started for me: Bowie, Sweet, Sabbath, Queen. The 70's was filled with awesome music:; Zeppelin, Tull, Yes, Genesis along with heavier stuff like Budgie and Priest. Judas Priest have to be my favourite band of all time.

What was the metal scene in Middlsebrough like back in the late 70’s? Was it boiling or was it pretty much steady? Were you friends with the guys from Hammer/Holland or with the singer Bruce Ruff of White Spirit?We had a fantastic venue in Middlesbrough Town Hall where I got to see (in the late 70's) UFO, Gillan, Iron Maiden, Praying Mantis, Magnum, Budgie and in the early 80's Manowar, Celtic  Frost, Slammer, White Spirit, Candlemass... Omen supported Black Rose a few times and Ken Nicholson (guitar) would let me use his gear. Our bass player Mark Thompson would eventually join Black Rose which led to the demise of Omen.

Tell me about the very first steps of the band. Who was in the original line-up? Were they any line-up changes?

Mark Thompson (bass) and Dave Moore (drums) were looking to form a band and had heard myself and Rod Jinks (vocals) rehearsing some songs and asked us if we would form a band with them. There were no line-up changes during the duration of the band.

Who came up with the idea of the name Omen? Were you influenced by the movie of the same name?I don't recall who came up with the name. Although a fan of horror movies I don't think this had any influence in naming the band Omen. 

Where and how often did you rehearse? Were you serious about the band?We rehearsed once or twice weekly in Dave’s house, school halls, community centers. We were very serious about the music. I felt at the time that we were offering something new in that we played faster than anyone else. Thrash/Speed had not been born yet. Ironically Metallica released their debut album in 1983 which was similar to the direction Omen was developing.

Did you play enough shows? Tell me everything you can recall about the gig you played? Did you have a chance to share the stage with some bigger bands or support band like Tygers Of Pan Tang, Raven etc.? We didn't support any major band but we played with Black Rose a few times and other local bands. We played weekly wherever we could.

Tell me about your approach to songwriting at the time. Who was the main songwriter? Did the band members write alone or was it a collective process?Myself and Mark Thompson wrote the songs together with occasional lyrics by Rod Jinks.

As I can judge by the demo you posted on Youtube, the band sounded like a mix between heavy metal and punk rock. Was it really like this?Yes, as I mentioned earlier we definatley had a thing about speed and our cover versions were always faster than the originals (“Ace of Spades”, “Starbreaker”, “Paranoid”, “Diamonds and Rust” etc.). We were definately influenced by Motorhead and Priest.

Do you remember how the songs from your only demo were written? Tell me a bit about them. What can people expect?

Myself and Mark Thompson rehearsed our ideas and then presented them at rehearsals to the rest of the band. Structures and arrangements were changed until everyone was happy. The music is Heavy Metal with those classic NWOBHM flavours, touches of speed, thrash and melody.

Tell me about the recording process of the demo. When and where was it recorded? Were you nervous before going to the studio? Did it take long to record the songs?The songs were recorded live in one take at Sarah Metcalfe School in Normandy, engineered by the music teacher Mr. Harrison. Rod Jinks was still at this school at the time of recording and Mark and Dave had previously attended there. A few guitar overdubs were added later. We were very nervous as this was our first recording experience. In hindsight it is raw and under produced but gives a fair representation of the sound and energy we could create.

Did you shop the demo to labels and sell it at gigs? How many of copies were pressed? Were you any close to signing a deal with any label?

We recorded the demo just for ourselves really. We were aware that we had started to develop a following locally but without any management or advice we had no idea how to take the next step. To my knowledge there was only one cassette recorded from the master. I presumed this had been lost but a friend of mine found it in his loft when he was moving house and gave it back to me.

What happened to the band after the demo was recorded? Why did you split-up eventually?We continued to gig locally for a while until Mark left, eventually turning up as the bass player in Black Rose. I think he may have been unhappy with the direction we were taking. We have lost touch over the years.

Did you play in any bands after that or did you retire from music until you got the job in Millennium? By the way, how did you get this job?I played in various local cover bands for a while (Twin Star, Crazy Cottage, Danger) introducing some of my own material occasionally. Sadly no recordings exist of these bands. In 1985 I joined a pop band (!!!) called The Screaming Silence in. We released one single (“Same Old Story”) which managed to crawl to number 93 in the UK charts. I have played guitar on CD's by local artist, Rojor. Most importantly I created a band called Serpents Kiss in 1999. I have produced three Serpents Kiss Demos (“Winters Eve” — 1999, “Distant Shores” — 2004, “Serpents Kiss” — 2006). At the moment I am looking for a record deal to release the new Serpents Kiss CD “Dragon Lord”. I joined Millennium three years ago when singer Mark Duffy was looking for a new guitarist to resurrect the band.

How did this re-issue become possible? How did George from ONR Records get in touch with you? It’s pretty much amazing that he even knew about the band!  Were you asked by other labels about the demo? A guy on Facebook called Zygmunt got put me in touch with George and things developed from there.  What a great feeling it was after all these years for someone to appreciate our music!

Do you still stay in touch with other ex-members of Omen? What they are doing now? Rod Jinks (vocals) sang on the first two Serpents Kiss demos (the third was recorded with two female singers). We have remained best friends although he moved away from the North East to pursue a career in TV presenting (Gems TV). Dave Moore had a career in the Police force and is now retired. I occasionally see him at concerts. Mike Thomson recorded albums with Black Rose but I'm not sure what he does now although I think he no longer plays in bands

Please say a few words to all who are concerned about the band.I hope everyone enjoys the album. It was a brief moment in time when four teenagers were captured creating some great heavy metal. It is a raw and powerful piece of long lost NWOBHM!

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