Dennis DeYoung

William Shatner

Interview by James Gaden

Although he is known the world over as an iconic actor who has appeared in Sci-Fi classic 'Star Trek', 80s cop show 'T.J. Hooker' and comedy 'Boston Legal', William Shatner also has an expansive recording career. His first steps into the world of music came in 1968 with 'The Transformed Man', which resulted in mockery, mostly due to misinterpretation. However, his dramatic, spoken word style has now become as iconic as the roles he has played. Since 2004 he has released a steady stream of star-studded records, with his latest one, 'The Blues', being no exception. Fireworks were delighted to have chance to hear from the man himself.




Back in Fireworks #85, William Shatner's 'Seeking Major Tom' record was highlighted in The Curiosity Shop feature. It was noted in that article that when he set out to make his first album, 'The Transformed Man', Shatner's aim was to take different pieces of work from plays and books, set them to music and enact them, in order to convey the opposing sides of varying human emotions. In a couple of cases he made selections from contemporary music, choosing to put his stamp on The Beatles' 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds' and Bob Dylan's 'Mr. Tambourine Man'. However, when 'Mr. Tambourine Man' was played on the radio without its opposing piece and without any context, people with no idea why he had chosen to cover the song in that style immediately began mocking it as if some deranged thespian had delusions of Pop star grandeur, missing the point entirely. The actor is absolutely delighted with the observation.

"Thank you for saying that, I feel like somebody has discovered me!" he laughs. "That's exactly right! The concept was to take great pieces of literature with music behind it and have it segue into a piece of music which had the opposite feeling or philosophy. For example, I took Hamlet's 'To be or not to be...' and had it segue into 'It Was A Very Good Year', a song that was popular during that time, to demonstrate the opposing view of how important it is to live life. The contrast was 'should I die or should I live', that's what I had in mind. For the same reason, I took the theme from Cyrano De Bergerac with the 'I may climb perhaps to no great heights, but I will climb alone' section, which segues into 'Mr Tambourine Man', which is a drug song all about how you can't live alone. So the two pieces are there to stand in contrast, but the problem was between the first piece and the second piece, it was over six minutes. Radio would only really play three minutes, so they took the second cut and that's all people heard."

It would be fair to assume that those wide misconceptions put Shatner off from returning to a recording studio for a while, but when he did come back literally decades later in 2004 with the superb 'Has Been' record, he returned with a vengeance. Shatner told Newsweek "The album 'The Transformed Man' is much more extensive than that song. But since people only heard that song, I went along with the joke." He achieved this with a tongue-in-cheek cover of Pulp's 'Common People', which was warmly received, alongside a series of excellent original pieces covering a gamut of emotions. From there, he has continued to cover famous songs and set his own words to music with great success. His latest effort sees him tackling the Blues as a genre. It seems reasonable to ask if he was a fan of the Blues initially.

"Yes, unbeknownst to me, because as many of us know, I later learned that from the Blues came Jazz, Rock N' Roll and these other musical forms. Until I graduated from University I had never left Montreal. When I came to the States I didn't know very much about the Blues, so when I had the opportunity to do this Blues album, I asked friends of mine who had other friends, actual Blues musicians, to help educate me. I read a lot of books, talked to a lot of people and even at one point, I had a great Jazz musician in my office to talk about the origins of the Blues," he says, referring to Arthur Adams, who actually performs on the version of 'As The Years Go Passing By'.



"He was about 75 years old and he said he had picked cotton and sang Blues songs as a kid," Shatner continues. "I said 'Show me', so he mimed picking cotton, putting it into an imaginary bag and singing a song to alleviate the heat and the menial work. I gradually educated myself and then, in conjunction with musicians, I collected a number of Blues songs which I thought would be appropriate."

While Shatner's style is synonymous with his dramatic, spoken word approach, when it comes to covering songs as well known as 'Sweet Home Chicago', 'Lets Work Together' or 'Born Under A Bad Sign', surely it must be a challenge to not subconsciously start following the original melody line?

"Well, that's very observant of you, I certainly experienced that with the B.B. King song 'The Thrill Is Gone'," he acknowledges. "I laid down my track and then I realized I was trying to imitate B.B. King. That was one of the first songs I did, so I went back and I did it again, trying to remember the origins of what I do – which is find the kernel of truth – why was the song written in the first place? Then I try to go toward that meaning. So I re-recorded it and found it was much more to my satisfaction, rather than following B.B. King's concept."

'The Thrill Is Gone' is augmented by the unmistakable guitar playing of Ritchie Blackmore, one of a plethora of great guest musicians taking part, like Sonny Landreth, James Burton, Pat Travers and Albert Lee, just to name a few. Shatner's last few albums have had a sprawling collection of legends appearing, and he is extremely humble when asked if he has a hand in who comes to play on the records.

"A perfect example is Ritchie Blackmore and his wife Candice, they appeared on one of my other records and as I've been working on a new album," he states, "we were in contact with one another and he wanted to play on that one too! I was so flattered and it's that honour, that compliment that these great musicians, who are virtuoso players and artists, unique in this world, are wanting to be in the same room or on the same record as me. I'm complimented beyond description."

There is a track at the end of the Blues record called 'Secrets And Sins' which turns out to be a Shatner original, the composition of which paved the way for the next album in the pipeline that he just mentioned.

"In the last several months I worked with two friends of mine. One is a lyricist and unbelievably talented poet and the other is a musician. We started working by means of Zoom and telephone and all those modern means of conveyance available. The poet is in New York City, the musician is in upstate New York and I'm in Los Angeles, but with this technology we connected and have fashioned a lovely album, which is autobiographical. I will tell a story from my life to the lyricist who will put it into words, I lay down my track and then send it to the musician who orchestrates them. Once they're ready, we send them to great musicians like Ritchie, who then lays down a guitar track to accompany me. So we've made a wonderful album in this pandemic, using modern communication means."

Shatner's original tracks always have excellent wording, so when it comes to choosing a song to cover, it seems fair to assume he's always on the lookout for a lyric which resonates with him and that he feels he can truly interpret.

"Yes, that's exactly right. I need to have a strong lyric in order to do what I do and trying to find the drama of a song is the reason I pick a song in the first place. Hysterically, years ago, I was asked to appear at the MTV Music Awards," he says, referring to his appearance in 1992. "I was asked to perform all five of the popular numbers that were being considered for the Best Song From A Movie award. That was the year one of the songs was 'I Wanna Sex You Up'! So the only instruments they gave me were a guy on a xylophone and a guy on bongo drums. Obviously it was meant to be amusing, and I guess it was, because there I was, accompanied by just those two instruments, singing 'I Wanna Sex You Up'!" He chuckles at the memory. "I've not fallen into that trap since then. With this album I tried to choose songs with lyrics that have real character to them!"

William Shatner's 'The Blues' is out now on Cleopatra Records. Click HERE to read the Rocktopia album review.

Romesh Dodangoda

Interview by Mike Newdeck

Many of the bands that we enjoy today owe a debt to the producers that they have worked with. Often the unsung heroes, it's their job to bring out the full potential of the band on a record, fine tuning elements of the songs and getting the right overall sonics that suit the band's music. Cardiff based Romesh Dodangoda is one such hero, whose expertise can be heard fleshing out anyone from Stone Broken and Witterquick through to Bring Me The Horizon and Motorhead. Fireworks caught up with him recently to talk about what it's like to be a producer.




Why choose production over becoming a musician?

I was more interested in being in the studio than being in a band. When I used to record with my band a long time ago, I was always fascinated with the recording process and how the song came together. That to me was more fun than being in an actual band! So I think it was these experiences which steered me more towards music production than just being a musician.

Take me through the process of how you get from meeting the band to getting the final recorded product?

Every situation is different but I'll try and meet up or speak with the band, find out a bit more about them and figure out what they are trying to go for. I'll usually have some rough demos sent to me so I can also get some ideas about the production and see if the songs need some work in regards to the arrangements. From there we will work in the studio, usually starting with everyone playing together as that's usually how everyone feels comfortable. Once we have the rhythm section down, we will start overdubbing other instruments. I try and work with each artists according to what will be suited for them so sometimes we may start from the demo and build around it until we have the track. Every session is different!

Once everything is recorded, it then needs to be mixed. This is putting all the parts together and getting them to work in a way where everything can be heard with a good balance, nothing is over powering and also giving the record it's sonic sound.

What's the number one quality you need as a producer?

Patience. When you are working with artists you can't always rush things so you need to allow time for the magic to happen. This can take a bit of time, or you may have to come back to something if it's not quite there. You know when it's right though!

What's the most difficult part of what you do?

I think most parts of my job always have a solution, even the trickier sides. There are times where maybe you see a song going in a different way to the artist so that can be a tricky situation. However, I always respect the artist and what they want to do, so I'll always try and make their vision happen as best as possible whilst giving my advice and helping them steer it into a better direction if it's not quite right. It's the artists' record at the end of the day so I want to make sure they will be proud of it!

What involvement do you have in the songwriting process?

I don't have a lot of involvement in the initial writing but as a producer I will get involved if the song needs work. Having me as an extra member on the team in the room can expose things that maybe the band hadn't noticed before, maybe the intro is far too long and it's not going to work if their goal is Spotify for example. The long intro may work if it's a band who doesn't care about that and has a vision artistically. I try and bring things to the table that will enhance their song.

Do you need to be dictatorial sometimes when you work with a band? Stick or carrot?

No, I definitely don't like to do that. Making records is a team work. There are a lot of people on the team, not just the band, but studio assistants and whoever else is on the session. Everyone has to work together and understand what their role is to get the best out of the record.

Does a band need to trust what you do in order to let the process work properly?

There certainly has to be trust, but I think that people usually trust me going into the studio otherwise they wouldn't have hired me...I don't think?!

I've heard some producers get artists, vocalists in particular, to do multiple takes until it's right. What's your approach?

I will usually see how the artist wants to do it. Everyone prefers to do vocals in different ways. Some like to do multiple takes of the whole song in one pass, others like to break it down into sections. In most cases I prefer to break the song down a bit so that we can make sure the vocal is the best it can be for each part of the song. If it's a bit more of a Punk Rock vibe though, maybe the honest delivery is more important. It changes depending on the song and artist really.



How experimental does it get in the studio and can the fine tuning be frustrating?

It can get experimental, especially with guitars! I have a lot of pedals and amps so guitarists seem to have a really fun time playing around with sounds. I like doing that, I find you can really get creative and find some new ideas that wouldn't have happened if you weren't in the studio with that equipment.

How long does it take to record an album with an artist? Or does it vary?

It varies. Budgets are usually where the time factor will vary. I have spent two weeks on albums and two months, it just depends

What's your pet hate when it comes to being in the studio?

People not being prepared. I always like the band to be as prepared as they can so we don't waste any time in the studio. The band should know the song well, so when I get involved we have a decent starting point. From there I can help with the arrangement if it needs to be better. Just knowing the song well is a great way to be prepared. If there are extra guitar parts that the band might want to try, it's great if they can get an idea of what they're trying to do. Some players like to write them in the studio but if you're working on a tight budget, the more prepared you are the better.

What band/artist would be on your bucket list to work with?

Aerosmith. I love how big their records sound, the songs are always great and the records always sound weighty.

Why do bands need a producer? Can't the just do it all themselves these days?

There are certainly a lot of bands doing things themselves which is fine. However, I believe that it's important still, if you are serious about the band, to make sure that your releases sound as good as they can be. They need to compete with albums people buy in the shops which have had producers work on them. Otherwise, I think people can subconsciously think it doesn't sound as good and may not treat you as a band on that same level....if that makes sense! I think great sounding records will always be here for a long time. Working with a producer also brings in an extra member who can help steer everyone and get the best out of the song. It's not always easy to do that when you're part of the band, it's hard to step back and look at it all sometimes.

How has recording/mixing changed from the 80s through to the present day? Do modern recordings sound better or worse in your opinion?

I think it's just changed and obviously become more modern. There are certainly still things we take from the 80s, big snare drums, reverbs, drum machines etc.

Which piece of kit has been a game changer for you?

There are too many things for me! I would find it hard to work without my Audient mixing console. It just sounds really good, it's got really flexible routing, everything I record goes through it. I've had mine for quite a long time now

Which band/artist has been the most fun to work with and why?

I've been very fortunate to work with so many great artists, I would find it really hard to pick one. I'm lucky when I get to work with bands who are already friends, that is just always a fun time. A lot of bands I work with end up being friends so when we work together again, it's seamless.

Do you market your own plug-ins? For the uninitiated, what are they and which specific ones have you used?

I have just developed my guitar plug-in with the American company STL Tones. It is called Tonehub and you can get my pack for it which then gives you a lot of guitar amp sounds exactly how I mic them up, except you can now use them in your computer. I love it, I'm really proud of how it sounds.

Which Motorhead album did you work on and what was it like working with them?

I worked on 'The World Is Yours' album. I recorded all the guitars to that record with Phil Campbell. I love that guy, he's so funny and has the best stories ever. It was a privilege to be in the studio each of those days as I'd get a new legendary story each day! He's an awesome
guitarist and I love working with him. It was great to be asked back to produce the Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons record too.

What was it like recording Bring Me The Horizon's album 'amo'?

It was a great time! We spent two months in North Hollywood recording it. It was nice to be able to take time to get sounds without rushing and I'm really proud of how it came out. Everyone worked hard on it.

Are you conscious of not over-producing an album so that it can be more easily replicated live?

Most of the time I'm not too bothered. My focus is on a great sounding album. 90% of the time the band will be able to play it live. If I want some extra guitars on the album, they're going to go on. My focus is to make the album sound the best it can and I think people like to hear something interesting sonically rather than something that's a bit stripped back, although sometimes, that can actually be the perfect approach.

www.romeshdodangoda.com

@longwaveromesh

www.control-room.net

THE INFECTION

Interview by Peter Arnett

Hailed by the many that have seen them perform around New York City, The Infection are starting to get noticed by the Hard Rock circuit. With the release of their debut album "Time To Heal" the quartet of vocalist Rick Dunn, guitarist Tommy Guarnieri, bassist Santiago Helman and drummer Vinnie LaRocca are hoping that The Infection will take over the world!




How did The Infection spread amongst you?

(VLR) It started like this, me, Rick and Santiago were playing with a previous band together and we decided that it was time to move on to something else and try some new avenues. We spent a longtime auditioning guitar players, probably more than we could count. Tommy came recommended to us through a mutual friend and when he came in, we knew he was the guy and we hit the ground running. Rick, myself and Santiago had some ideas down, nothing that I would say was complete, but Tommy came in and put his spin on them and we went from there. It's been really a lot of fun working together.

(RD) I think the key was when we started this new project, we just wanted to have fun doing it. We wanted to make songs that we wanted to make and that we thought were representative of us and our sound. We also like each other which helps ...

(TG)..Well that's questionable depending on what day of the week it is!

(RD) We also have a great time on stage, which translates well as I think that our stage show now has surpassed our album, which obviously means that the next one will have to be even better!

The Infection is one of those names that has great symmetry about, obviously there is the dark menacing side to it, but also happy infectious connotations. Who thought of the name and was there a meaning behind it?

(RD) We were talking about different names for the band and we had a few that came up such as 'Trophy For Trying', 'In My Defence' and a few others, but we couldn't get the songs we were doing out of our head and Vinnie was always saying "I hope they go viral" and we went "go viral .. like an infection" and so we went from therewith the name!

"Time To Heal" sounds like an album where you have really learnt to play with one another, studied each other's strengths and how to gel as a group. Was this a conscious decision by you before entering the studio, or did it just seem right to record from the off.

(VLR) Absolutely right, we spent a lot of time pre-studio just preparing with one another...

(TG) We didn't even play our first gig until after we had recorded the album.

(VLR) That's true, we spent a lot of time working out the album, working out the parts and we wanted everything to be perfect. We also know that when it comes to recording, time is money, so we don't want to waste it experimenting in the studio, so we made sure that everything was right and sounded like we wanted before we went in to record.

One thing that impresses is how well the album sounds, and it's definitely a case of all of the parts coming together to make the whole thing work. How important was the power of the sound that is heard by the listeners?

(TG) The songs are pretty much the way that we wrote them, the album is self-produced, so ultimately, we had the final decision on everything that you are hearing.Anthony is a great engineer and had a lot of great production suggestions and a lot of them we used and some of them we didn't, if we didn't feel it was right for the song. Everything you hear on the album was decided on by the four of us and if we didn't like it, it didn't go on there.

As far as the guitar tones, this is only going to sound trite and I apologise, but I really think that a guitar tone is really a big deciding factor on what a band sounds like. You're either going to go LedZepplin's route, a metal route, or somewhere in between. I was really happy with the way the guitars sounded on the album, it's what I envisaged the whole time we were writing the album and recording it.When I heard it back, I was like cool, this sounds good and it sounds like me and us. Everything on the album came out fantastic and to be honest, Rick and I took the longest to do our tracks, which is kind of the nature for guitarists and vocalists. Vinnie and Santiago did their tracks in one day, not one day each, one day! So, they went in prepared and they hammered it out, like it was minimal takes.

(VLR) That was the canvas

(TG) Yeah, that's what it gave us, but to go in and just bang it out, I was just like "Holy shit, they've done at the end of day one!" Meanwhile, when I went to record solos it was like 5 million and seventy-three takes of each solo and me screaming "Argh, I suck" in between each one. Finally, we got something that kinda of worked. Rick went in and hammered his vocals and it wasn't like sing one line here and then copy and paste that this modern bullshit way of doing an album, no he sang his ass off and there is harmony work and a couple of little production works, but it's him, it's not studio magic.

(RD) Rather than just doing this line and then this one and this one, I just sang the song multiple times and then we said this was the best take. It's what I think is a really organic album. Granted, its not all four of us playing with just one mike in the room and that's it, but regardless its really like old school playing, ability and talent meets new school with a couple of production tweaks here and there.

Sometimes the bass and drums can play second fiddle to the guitars and vocals. How determined were you that this wasn't going to happen on the album?

(VLR) Yes, excellent question. It was very important in the sense that we gotgood sounding drums on the album. Forget about all the fancy flash and dash, the average person that listens to music doesn't give a shit about what my talent level is as long as it sounds good and that was my goal personally. I know that some other drummers may disagree with that, but my goal was to make sure that the drums were driving the songs and weren't stepping on anybody, especially Rick's vocals or Tommy during his solos as I didn't want it to be the Vinnie drum show, it wasn't about that, it was about the songs.

(SH) I don't think that we purposefully went in to make everything equal, it's just how we are. This is how we work and I think it just happened naturally. There are times in the songs that call for different areas to take the lead, but we did what the song needed.

Reading from your album notes, you mention that you use Social Media to get your ideas and what with everything going on in America and The UK at the moment, you must have enough material for about twenty albums?

(VLR) (Laughing) Yeah you could say that, I think that we have to sit on the fence about a lot of it,there are certain things that we will take and certain things that we wont!

(RD) I'm very choosy about what I will write about. As a band, it's a very interesting dynamic, we have different political views that we don't really talk about. There are times when I might have a great idea for a song but I think "that's not a good representation of the whole band", so we might not use it or I might change it.

(VLR) I'm the grumpy cat of the band, I hate everything. Any ideas that these guys come in with, I tell them that it sucks, I mean literally. Tommy takes the brunt of everything, I tell him it sucks, it's a shitty idea, it sounds too metal or sounds too this and then I'll critique everybody and then they come back and critique me on something and I'll like "Yeah that's great, now help me make a great song" I always want to come out with a great sone at the end of it. I know that people have their opinions, but ...

(TG) ... mines always right!

(VLR) I'm the ultimate pessimist, I don't think anything is good until like the end of the day and we've finished it and then I'm like "Yeah, we've created a really good album." I've still got my one song on there that I'm not a fan of, but I have to say that Rick is a master at writing lyrics, he really has a gift for it.

(TG) Not only that, I don't think that I've heard him say that he has writers block or anything like that. I don't think that we've yet to write a song where we start with a lyric or a vocal line. The way we usually write is that Santiago will bring in an idea on the bass, sometimes it remains the bass riff, or sometimes it will become the guitar riff and just because of our schedules, it's the bass and drums that get worked out first and then I'll come on top of it and Rick will write afterwards, but as we are going through the songs, it can't just be the trio of us with Rick sitting on the couch going "oh this sucks", no, he's got the mike in his hand and the whole time he's just singing and the lyrics just come out constantly and it's coherent thoughts and melodies and maybe it won't wind up being on the final cut, but at the same time I'm think "Holy shit, he just spews this shit out like it's nothing!" There is no shortage of ideas with this guy.



(VLR) We can come up with a riff tonight and he will have a melody as we're going through it. He might not have the words, but the melody will be there to write the song around it. It's really something that when you have played with as many singers and artists as we have, you know the guys that have it. You might have a singer that has an incredible range but can't write a song, then you have Rick who's got the range and the gift to write, which is the hard part really. He can phrase words together that form in to a story and then a song.

(RD) I've never heard you guys say any of this shit before!

(VLR) To be fair it's credit well deserved and where it needs to be.

The lead track Consequences is a song that gets you right into the mind of a really conflicted protagonist,seeing and trying to understand his side of things and reasoning before doing something massive. What made you approach from this point of view?

(RD) It's funny really, in the news constantly there are things happening like Anthony Weiner (America politician who was caught in a sexting scandal) and all these different scandals where people are doing things and not really thinking about what might happen if they get caught. They're stuck in the moment and being selfish. At the beginning of the song the character is saying it's a selfish yearning and he's going to do something that he knows he shouldn't do it, it's morally wrong, but he's going to do it anyway. I kinda took that vibe and then thought about the vampire movies I've watched and thought "how cool would it be to be a vampire!" They go out at night and have super powers, but the only thing is that they've got to kill people which is the selfish yearning, the consequences being you can never go out into the sunlight or be with the ones you love in the light, so I sort of blended all these together to get that vibe!

So it's a serial killer crossed over with Twilight!

(RD) exactly (laughing)

(TG) Yeah, like a sparkly Jefferey Dalmier!! (20:52)

Looking at the video to the song "Consequences" it does come across that you look like you have been doing this kind of thing for ages. You looked so composed in front of the camera, rather then it being your first as a band.

(VLR) Yeah, I think that we were all quite comfortable. It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun and we had a good time doing it. The one thing that we seem to hear a lot is people coming up to us after a show and saying "You seem to be having a good time up there" and the answer is honestly "Yeah, we are. We're not just doing it for the sake of it, but we're really enjoying it as well..."

(TG) We have to cause we're sure as shit not making any money from it!

(VLR) That's true! We think that we might as well have a good time whilst doing it and also put on the best performances that we can, which is something we strive to do regardless of it's a live gig or a video for a song.

(TG) The other thing is that we had scoped out Eric De Carlo's (Director) work beforehand, so we were comfortable with what the outcome was most likely to be with regards to the quality of his work which really helped, but for me personally it was a lot easier to be on set as I'm really comfortable with the band. When I played gigs in the past with other bands I used to get paralysing stage fright, since being with these guys, I've not had one ounce of stage fright apart from a few weeks ago when I looked up and saw John Petrucci from Dream Theater in the audience and I lost my mind and my hands started shaking for a minute or two. Fortunately, I managed to get it back together!

The lyrics to a lot of your songs seem to be multi-layered, such as multiple lines from the track 'Vagrant' which goes "You all want forgiveness, not willing to give it", but along with this underlying critique on society, there also seems to be a touch of a personal nuance?

(RD) That song kinda wrote itself. As I put the lyrics together, I started with the homeless guy that you see on the streets all the time, but then decided to tell a story on how he became homeless in my mind. We see them all the time here in New Yorkand it's a really hard thing to see every day. A lot of the lyrics just fell out and when I looked back at them, they gave me chills. There is actually another verse to the song that we didn't record as it was getting too long that also goes into it.

(SH) I think that the sound of it helped the subject matter as well as its dark but brings it to life, which was important. It definitely relates to this city but also everywhere as well and the debate around the homeless is always there so we wanted to create something that brought it all together.

(VLR) I'm not going to give the video away, as I want people to see and make their own minds up, but when I saw it, it made me like the song even more and I got excited about it which can be difficult over your own body of work as you've written it and watched it grow and it can be a long process, but this kind of thing makes you feel it and if we feel it, then hopefully the audience will as well.

With the world in the various political states that it is, the title "Time To Heal" is one of those that transcends everything that is happening out there and sends a simple, yet powerful message, was this your intention?

(TG) Yeah, it is and it isn't. It's a diverse album subject wise and we try not to get political or religious as they are two topics that can really divide, but honesty there is a lot of shit in the world and within societies of all cultures, we all have our problems, you have yours with Brexit, so it's a gut check. Time to stop, look around and time to heal!

It's a message, without being over the top preachy, that it's time to put all our shit and differences aside and try and move on with our lives and humanity.

Is what the audience see on stage really you, or are there some personas that appear once the music kicks in?

(VLR): What you see is what you get. We go up there with no gimmicks. You always need good songs, no matter what gimmicks you may have and you can be easily found out if this isn't the case. We know we're not for everybody, but we are what you see and I hope that reaches people in the audience.

(RD) We're all nice guys and I hope we give off a fun vibe that people can relate to.

(VLR) You have to be natural, there is too much out there on social media to be fake, you always get caught out and that can be a problem. We keep it real in the band, we fight like family but we keep each other straight. I can honestly say that there are no other three guys that I would rather be with (cue eye rolls and affectionate noises from the other three). I have to say this as I'm in the doghouse with these guys (laughter) as I pissed over something that they have been working on as I wasn't in the mood and I sent a text out, which the guys ignored, apart from Tommy who fired back a three paragraph none repeatable response, which got us all going again. I really couldn't be without these three.

All bands can relate a story whilst on stage of that perfect moment where everything just went right, have you guys experienced this or do you believe it's still to come?

(SH) No I don't think that we have yet, we've been close, but if we can do a really big show to a lot of people, I think that we could get that. We've all played in previous bands so we know what you mean, but it's still out there for us. We're working hard to have that happen to us. In some respects, though I hope that we never peak and keep on going to try and get better.

(TG) We played a lot of good shows, even fantastic ones and the guys will point to different ones as being a favourite at the moment, but I think as a band we have yet to reach that perfect one. I'm sure it will be awesome however when it comes.

(VLR) I'm kinda with Santi on this one, I hope it doesn't happen, maybe when we have countless albums under our belts and about six live ones then it can happen but I just want to keep playing, keep learning and produce the best music that we can.

Pete Arnett

ROMEO'S DAUGHTER

Interview by Dave Bott

Back in 1989 Romeo's Daughter were expected to be the next big thing. A critically successful debut album produced by the world famous Mutt Lange, with a little help from John Parr, had lifted the bands profile and resulted in extensive media coverage. Then it all seemed to stall. After several years a move from the Jive label to Music For Nations eventually enabled the release of sophomore 'Delectable' (minus Lange's involvement), but then it all came to an end. A triumphant return in 2009, on the back of a winning Firefest performance, saw a resurgence in the Romeo's Daughter fortunes and kick-started a new era in their history. Fireworks caught up with lead-singer Leigh Matty for a half hour chat that covered the recently released 'Organik' acoustic EP and plans for the immediate future. First of all it was a trip down memory lane and the initial break-up.




Our guitarist Craig (Joiner) is much better at remembering all the things that happened back then. If memory serves we all just became disillusioned and frustrated with everything. We made our first record with Mutt and when he said he would be there for us to do our next record the record label (Jive) became incredibly excited, as the first had done so well. I think everyone was hoping we would be the next Heart or, due to Mutt's involvement, as successful as Def Leppard or whatever other band was in vogue at that time. It transpired that, for whatever reason, Mutt couldn't do the second record. We had waited so long and lost so many years waiting that the musical climate had changed and our type of musical style had lost its popularity. We moved to Music For Nations and did the 'Delectable' record on our own. We always seemed to be on the back foot, which was hard for us after the way the debut record had performed. Craig doesn't have the love for 'Delectable' that myself and many of the fans have, as he thinks the sound lets things down, despite the quality of the material. In a perfect world we'd re-record that album. I can't see that happening though, as the current focus is on working towards new songs and the next studio album.

Stepping back from the music business completely, Leigh's focus then centred on voice-over session work.

I was represented by an agency in London for session work. I started doing some work in the office and before long was running the company. 15 years ago I left and started my own business, a voice-over company called 'Just Voices'. I just stopped singing completely. When I was 34 I also got breast cancer, so music was secondary to health issues and a totally different career move. I was actually the only one from the band that stopped performing. Craig became a very successful writer and he also started a covers band with our drummer Andy and my husband Merv (Goldsworthy.....FM bass player).



After so long away I think it came as surprise to many people that Romeo's Daughter reformed in 2009, culminating in a Firefest (6) performance in Nottingham.

The Firefest gig was mind-blowing. I don't think any of us had an idea about the reception we'd receive. We had made only 2 records and had been away for so long, so playing in front of such a passionate crowd like that was quite daunting. We had to see where we could take it after such a fantastic response and here we are over 10 years later. When we first reformed it was such a steep learning curve. The music business had changed drastically and was reliant so much on social media, especially for a band operating at our level. When the band first started I was on the cover of Kerrang and other magazines several times. Now it is so important to have a website, and using Facebook and Twitter are essential in maintaining a profile and getting news to people about record releases and touring schedules. We still have work to do in that respect, but we have a dedicated fan-base already in place.

Original keyboard player Tony Mittman left the band several years ago, but rather than find a full-time replacement it has been possible to continue as a four-piece and utilise tapes to fill out the sound when playing live.

If we could find a permanent keyboard player it would be ideal. We did hold auditions when Tony left the band and had a guy from Germany who played with us for a while. Logistically it just wasn't practical because we had to fly him over every time we wanted to do something. A lot of the newer material isn't as reliant on keyboards as the older stuff, so using tapes to augment the sound makes a lot more sense. It may sound really corny but playing live makes all the hard work worthwhile. Craig and I were really lucky to meet up when we did. We clicked on so many levels and became really close friends. Then Andy came along shortly after and the 3 of us just seemed to have an understanding. Even when things go wrong we still love what we do and hopefully it shows when people come to see us.

Recently Romeo's Daughter have undertaken a brief UK tour, taking in several very different locations over the course of 3 consecutive weekends. Having seen the band in Blackpool (at the Waterloo venue) it was obvious how well loved they are and how even the severest of weather conditions failed to temper everyone's enjoyment.

We were made aware of the Waterloo venue about a year ago, when we were planning to go out on tour. It was then that Craig had a heart attack and was really ill. Any plans had to be shelved so we included Blackpool on this recent run of dates, despite the fact it's a considerable distance from home. We played in Nuneaton on the Friday night and then continued up to Blackpool on the Saturday, so were able to break the journey up like that. When we did the show in Bradford on one of the other weekends we ended up driving for nearly 6 hours to get to the venue. Financially we do OK. There are only 6 of us, including the 4 of us in the band, our sound guy, and his wife, who does our merchandise. Our merch tends to do really well, so if we lose out at one show we tend to make it up at the next. We tend to focus on playing Friday and Saturday nights as these are best for getting people out. We hadn't been out on tour since 2018, so it was almost like dipping our toe in the water again. We also managed to tie in the dates with the release of the EP, so they kind of went hand in hand. We've been able to play our longest ever sets and it is great to be able to play 17 or 18 songs that cover all our albums. A lot of planning and preparation is involved when it comes to touring, so we have to make sure it is financially viable. We are hoping to head out for some more dates in October 2020 and have already started making some arrangements.

The 6 track acoustic EP, 'Organik', sees a number of established Romeo's Daughter songs re-worked and re-arranged to a more stripped back format. The inclusion of a new song, 'Since You Went Away' also shows that the creative juices are still flowing.

Some of the songs have already benefited from an acoustic format when we have played live, so in that respect they were easy to choose. They just lend themselves naturally to that more 'organic' format, hence the title. We discussed which would be the best 5 we could strip back, without them losing their existing identity. 'Alive' was one of the first choices and the intimate nature of 'Talking Love' meant that was a no-brainer also. We have tried to do an EP like this before and even rehearsed a number of songs and tested some new arrangements. Even though we had what we thought were the strongest 5 songs we probably could have included 5 more. We just didn't have the time and were also a little unsure how much interest there would be in this sort of thing. We needn't have worried because the response has been fantastic and they have been selling really well, both at shows and through our on-line store. We recorded them at a studio in Baker Street over the course of 2 days and then spent another couple of days just tweaking a few things. We did 'Talking Love' and 'Since You Went Away' acoustically at the recent shows and they went down really well. Maybe we could do an extended acoustic section in the future; it's certainly something to think about.

And the immediate future and the rest of 2020...

We have a bunch of new songs that we intend to start demoing soon. We are thinking of going the record label route this time out, even though we do quite well when we have complete control. It just means we would have more support when it comes to things like videos and promotion. We will also be out on the road again later in the year for another run of dates, so it would be great if we had some new material to showcase.