SLYDER SMITH & THE OBLIVION KIDS, have announced the release of their debut album ‘Charm Offensive‘, to be out on 19th August 2022 through Ray Records on 12” black vinyl, digipak CD and digital, distributed worldwide via Cargo Records. Pre-order the album here

“This album has been a real labour of love for me, I’ve really put my heart & soul into it. Over the last year or so I’ve been working very hard developing my guitar playing, music & lyric writing pulling myself in all sorts of directions, really stretching myself. I feel I have accomplished what I set out to do, create songs from the heart in no specific genre & perform them to the best of my ability on the record. I guess for years I have been a frustrated lead singer so I have relished the opportunity to showcase what I can do vocally too.” – Slyder Smith –

Slyder Smith first swaggered onto the stage as lead guitarist with glam-tinged power popsters, Last Great Dreamers. After releasing four studio albums and one live album on Ray Records, & having toured extensively throughout the UK & Europe with LGD, Slyder now takes centre stage leading new power trio, Slyder Smith & The Oblivion Kids (Tim Emery, Bass and Rik Pratt, Drums) in an honest outpouring of grit, glamour and emotion.

Stepping out of the shadows and into the spotlight, the self-confessed ‘frustrated lead singer’ has been forced to delve deep into his own psyche, to carefully craft lyrics and melodies that speak from the heart. Slyder’s emotive vocals are powerful, yet melancholic, the perfect balance of light and shade sitting effortlessly within the sonic landscape of his varied rhythm guitar sounds and highly melodic & anthemic lead lines.

Stage left, Slyder is joined by Tim Emery, a towering enigma, whose stylish bass lines are the only thing to outshine his impeccable apparel and at the back sits the Oblivion Kids’ powerhouse and beat master, Welshman, Rik Pratt. A man of few words but whose presence is palpable in this rock steady rhythm section.

But this is no ordinary guitar-based rock album; together with producer Pete Brown (George Harrison, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Marc Almond, The Smiths and Sam Brown), Slyder has allowed the songs to dictate the direction they have gone in; discovering melodies and hook lines along the way. Making use of Hammond organ and piano with the help of Neil Scully (Richard Davies & the Dissidents), a 1950s Phillicord organ, lap steel guitar & even a bit of banjo.

A chocolate box of sonic sensations offering up a little something for everyone – from heavy riffage with walloping drums akin to the brothers Young to the anticipated sleaze rock shades of Hanoi Rocks. However, this band is not afraid to step away from their rock roots, instead, with nods to the likes of The Doors, Velvet Underground, The Stranglers and The Kinks from the past and the alternative rock sound of Manic Street Preachers, The Oblivion Kids have reimagined an 80s synth-pop classic and mastered singalong pop, gothic, dark Americana, and dare I say it, funk-rock?! There are a few firsts for Slyder on here too in the form of an instrumental track with a western feel to a duet featuring the ethereal vocals of Nina Courson (Healthy Junkies). The result is an idiosyncratic 14-track album of outstanding versatility.  A Charming debut, I’m sure you’ll agree.
 

On the strength of the new recordings, Slyder has also just signed a publishing deal with Cherry Red Songs… “I’m really hopeful that with Cherry Red’s help we will find plenty of opportunity for my new music to be used commercially.”

On May 2nd Slyder Smith & The Oblivion Kids played their live debut on the main stage at HRH Ibiza Road Trip and went down a storm in front of a packed house to opening the 5-day rock festival!

The band plan a string of single & video releases throughout the summer & will perform their UK debut show In London at Pump It Up Festival on Sat July 2nd.  followed by a demanding schedule of live dates including a 9 date UK tour as special guests to Swedish groove-rockers, The Electric Boys in Aug/Sept to coincide with the release of the debut album. Further headline & festival live dates are planned for the rest of the year in UK & Europe.

https://www.facebook.com/slydersmithandtheoblivionkids
https://www.instagram.com/slyder_smith
https://www.slydersmith.com

I loves a last-minute gig, so I does. And after banging on about Sweden’s finest exponents of post punk the Viagra Boys for the last 12 months, it would be a travesty if I didn’t put my money where my mouth is and actually catch them live wouldn’t it? My gigging buddy and I toyed with the idea of going to London, we ummed and aahed about going to Manchester, and of course the old adage of ‘you snooze, you lose’ happened yet again and those gigs came and went.

Then the text message came: “Viagra Boys playing Sheffield tomorrow”. A swift reply of “Shall we?” was all that was needed and we found ourselves off to Sheffield on a sunny Saturday evening for the last date of the UK tour.

After 3 attempts to find the right venue (it’s not The Forum and there is more than one Foundry in Sheffield!) we finally make it to The Foundry, a venue that is part of Sheffield Uni. A decent size venue that holds 500-600 maybe, it has a great vibe and is filling up quickly as we enter.

The Viagra Boys are back with a new album called ‘Cave World’ on July 8th and the first single ‘Aint No Thief’ is a banger of a tune. A hardcore dance mash-up that sits somewhere between The Beastie Boys and The Prodigy, and to me it makes Viagra Boys the most exciting proposition since Alabama 3 in their prime. I will put money on this tune being a highlight of tonight’s gig.

They open with ‘Research Chemicals’ and the place erupts, the whole dance floor bouncing as one. Singer Sebastian Murphy is the center of attention, and for good reason. He brings the punk rock attitude to a band that are the tightest live unit I have seen in a long time. Within a minute of the opening song, he has removed his white wifebeater to reveal his heavily tattooed torso. He swings from the mic stand like Iggy Pop meets Shane MacGowan as ‘Ain’t Nice’ takes the room to another level. A killer hook and a massive groove. Viagra Boys sure bring the party and the energy levels rarely dip below high octane all night.

New single ‘Troglodyte’ is sounding better with every listen, hell it’s only been out 3 days! Heading in a more dance-orientated direction than previous material seems to be a good move. This tune sounds like Devo, its killer and live it sounds fantastic. It may be surprising to some but a Viagra Boys show is a high energy dance show. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a punk rock attitude, but this is a live dance band, tight as fuck and designed to pop a pill and lose yourself in the moment. And it seems many around are doing just that. A good crowd, a mix of alternative students and the sort of seasoned, middle-aged gig goers we usually see at Alabama 3 and Primal Scream gigs.

It’s a packed room, everyone is into it and its not one of those ‘stand there with your arms folded’ gigs, those who venture near the front had better prepare to get a flailing limb in the face, as the crowd surfing is up to metal band proportions tonight. I’m loving this!

It’s all about the drums, the bass and the groove they create. The keyboards, electronica and bursts of sax give an edgy, alternative feel to the live sound and the tight band work well, while the singer brings the onstage destruction. He disappears from view on many occasions, lying on the stage floor singing his lines in a sweaty, fucked up mess.

There’s a couple of highlights tonight. As expected, ‘Ain’t No Thief’ is insane live. That bassline sounds awesome live and takes the Foundry crowd to yet another high. ‘Sports’ has become their signature tune and gets probably the biggest reception of the night. Many songs are extended and jammed out to control the ebb and flow of the crowd, just highlighting what a great live band they are.

With a charismatic frontman, a tight as fuck band and a catalogue of pure bangers, you have to ask yourself what the fuck do they put in the water in Helsinki? Viagra Boys are on the verge of greatness, make the most of seeing them in small venues while you can.

Author: Ben Hughes

Greg Norton, once the bassist for one of the most influential bands to come out of the American alternative punk scene, Hüsker Dü, alongside Finny McConnell, a name you’ll recognise from thirty years as the frontman of the Canadian Irish folk punks The Mahones. Holding it together in the engine room is one of the finest drummers and most in-demand sticksmiths the UK has thrown up in the last few decades is the drumming powerhouse that is Jamie Oliver.

There you go I’ve got your attention now and I’ll say this, leave any preconceived ideas of what you are about to listen to and drop the needle or press play with a clean pallet and ‘Time To Burn’ will reward you 100 times over. Take on board that this platter was written and recorded in just four day! Yup four fuckin’ days! Wow.

The title track gets things underway with Oliver revving up his Bass drum before the song breaks out into a widescreen slice of ultracool power pop like the sounds a Buffalo Tom used to play with the guitars turned up a little and a great melody from Finny McConnell. It’s got a great tempo and a real blast of energy a fantastic opener that’ll make you sit up and pay attention. It is indeed Time To Burn.

The band then heads down a route with a barroom riff that’s windmilling throwing it out there creating a sidestep from the opener with more menace and showing that this beast has teeth. ‘Star’ has single written all over it like a cross between the opener and early Goo Goo Dolls and American college radio running through its veins I might be wrong but Husker Du comes to the fore.

Now we’re getting warmed up as the sprightly ‘I Can Make It’ rolls into view. With some exceptional drumming throwing this one in all directions like a blender of their histories and this comes out. some great vocals (again) and one of the songs that I’ve kept going back to. Oh, and turn it up baby it sounds even better.

The album flip flops through tempos with ‘Feels’ veering into Dinosaur Jr territory with some loud guitars twisting and turning all over the track. Don’t be lulled into a false sense with the dreamy intro on ‘Stickman vs Hangman’ – hold in there it’s like a rocket getting launched as it peaks it burns most brightly. You also have some Rock with ‘Faded Way’ where the collaboration works really well from the groove they hit to the melodies and backing vocals – we all know these guys can play and the solo on this is exceptional with drama and tension being used to great effect.

As the album steams toward its conclusion there are no weak tracks at all and the chemistry the three clearly have is a gift that keeps giving, ‘Super Hero Shit’ is a stone-cold banger, plain and simple it rocks like fuck, and is simple in its construction but it just works. The penultimate offering is ‘Like The Wind’ with its calmer more measured tempo and delivery in the intro before being counted out and turbocharging towards the finale.

That’s ten tracks of the highest caliber and one that will make many friends and if there’s any justice will do extremely well for the trio. One of the finest albums I’ve heard all year and for a debut, it’s exceptionally good. I would however temper my enthusiasm with the cover of the Dead Boys classic ‘Sonic Reducer’. Although there’s nothing wrong with this interpretation of it, some songs are sacred and should be left well alone, and if I’m being picky it’s because I’d have preferred to hear another original tune rather than a decent cover. It’s a magical song that can’t be improved upon but as a tip of the hat, I get that, maybe a B side? but I’m not going to let one (very good version I might add) song take anything away from what should be in your top ten come the end of the year. Banger! Make no mistake about that. Absolutely buy it!

Instagram / Facebook / Twitter

Buy Here

Author: Dom Daley

ASH announce newly re-mastered splatter edition vinyl re-issues of ‘1977′ and ‘Free All Angels’ .

Band to celebrate 21st anniversary of ‘Free All Angels’ by playing the album in full with Charlotte Hatherley

 Photo credit: Sophie Howarth 

ASH are today announcing the upcoming re-issue on newly re-mastered splatter vinyl of two of their beloved albums, 1977 and Free All Angels.

1977, the band’s spectacular debut album, was a defining record for 90s guitar music, reaching No.1 in the Official UK Albums Chart, and going to achieve platinum status. Its singles ‘Girl From Mars’, ‘Kung Fu’, ‘Goldfinger’, ‘Angel Interceptor’ and ‘Oh Yeah’ remain staples of the band’s live show, as they still ring out at sold-out shows and in festival headline slots. This will be the first time the album has been re-issued since its 1996 release.

Free All Angels was the third smash hit album from Ash, and their second with guitarist Charlotte Hatherley. The album again reached No.1 in the UK and has since become a platinum record. It birthed the Ivor Novello-winning smash hit single ‘Shining Light’, the NME Single of The Year ‘Burn Baby Burn’, ‘Sometimes’, ‘There’s A Star’, ‘Candy’ and Walking Barefoot’.

1977 will be released on July 1st. Pre-order here.

Free All Angels will be released on Sept 16th. Pre-order 
here.

In addition to this exciting release news, Ash are also announcing a run of very special UK live dates to celebrate Free All Angels’ 21st anniversary, for which they will reunite with guitarist Charlotte Hatherley to perform the album in full. Drummer Rick McMurray had the following to say: “We’re delighted to announce that we will be commemorating the 21st anniversary of the release of our 2001 classic, Free All Angels. Not least because we will be joined by the fourth member of Ash, guitarist extraordinaire, all-round Shining Light, the one and only, Charlotte Hatherley. Can. Not. Wait.”

Live dates are below. Tickets will be on O2 pre-sale from Wednesday, May 25th at 10 am, and on general sale from Friday, May 27th at 10 am.

Thur 15 Sept – O2 Ritz, Manchester, UK – Tickets available here
Sat 17 Sept – O2 Institute, Birmingham, UK – Tickets available here
Sun 18 Sept – O2 Forum, Kentish Town, UK – Tickets available here

Ash: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

US rockers Drive-By Truckers roll into the summer of 2022 with the release of an impressive 14th studio album. ‘Welcome 2 Club XIII’ sees the band step away from the politically oriented releases of the last few years, and instead focus and what the band describes as “a reckoning with the dualities of the things that make you alive and how they sometimes can kill you. A life-affirming flashlight for the dark nights of one’s soul.”

Dark nights are certainly the appropriate setting to accompany this album. The trudging riff of album opener ‘The Driver’, where we go “driving sometimes late into the night”, are offset by some ghostly vocals, all wrapped up in a fully atmospheric 7 minutes. By the second song ‘Maria’s Awful Disclosure’, the album is already opening up, sitting comfortably in a breezy southern rock world of cool.

The record is a wonderful tour through many of the things that make Drive-By Truckers so well-loved – shades of light and dark folk, country and rock and roll, all with a gritty but delicate delivery. From the warm ‘Shake and Pine’ to the somewhat joyous title track and first single (“a tongue in cheek homage to a local dive that founding members Cooley and Hood played in their early days”), or the melancholy of ‘We will never wake you up in the morning’, the album travels various yet always complementary paths converging together in a glorious 9 sweet tracks.

Buy Here

Facebook / Website / Instagram / Twitter

Author: Craggy Collyde

Wicked Cool Records are proud to announce the release of ‘Wasted Times’ the debut single by Ginger Wildheart & The Sinners.


Wasted Times is pure rock n roll, peppered with country touches, while the lyrics have an honesty traditionally found in folk music and It’s just a good time song played by a killer band.” exclaims Ginger Widlheart.


Ginger Wildheart & The Sinners were formed in August 2019 when Ginger joined forces with Neil Ivison and Nick Lyndon from the band Stone Mountain Sinners. The line up was completed with drummer Shane Dixon (Tri-City Fanfare) and as Ginger explains “I actually met the band at the studio where we recorded the debut album. We hadn’t even rehearsed prior to setting up in the live room of the studio. Wasted Times was the first song we played together.”
Wasted Times is taken from their forthcoming album recorded at Mwnci studios in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with Dave Draper producing.


To celebrate the release Ginger Wildheart & The Sinners play 7 UK shows in June, starting Friday 3rd at Oran Mor in Glasgow and concluding at Esquires in Bedford on Sunday 19th.


Despite the turmoil in which we find ourselves, Ginger with his Sinners gives us all hope.  ‘Wasted Times’, backed with a live version of ‘The Words Are Gonna Have To Wait’, is available to stream/purchase here


Ginger Wildheart & The Sinners June UK shows 

Fri 3rd Glasgow Oran Mor

Sat 4th Sunderland  Pop Recs Ltd

Sun 5 Manchester  Night & Day Cafe 

Thu 16th Wolverhampton KK’s Steel Mill 

Fri 17th Newport  Le Pub – Tickets Here

Sat 18th Winchester  The Railway Inn

Sun19th Bedford  Esquires


Ginger Wildheart & The Sinners:Ginger Wildheart, Neil Ivison, Nick Lyndon, Shane Dixon

US punks Bad Religion head to the UK next week for a quick headline tour tickets are still available from badreligion.com

6/3/2022            Bad Religion      London O2 Forum Kentish Town   

6/4/2022            Bad Religion      Manchester       Academy One             

6/5/2022            Bad Religion      Newcastle          University             

6/7/2022            Bad Religion      Nottingham       Rock City             

6/8/2022            Bad Religion      Bristol   Marble Factory

SINGLE LAUNCH SHOW LONDON WATER RATS MAY 20TH THIS FRIDAY! TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE HERE: The Duel and Seven Days and Doesn’t Die are along for the ride!

Pic credit Per-Ake Warn

New Zealand born, London-based rockers Desperate Measures follow their mini-album ‘Rinsed’ on Easy Action Records and a full UK tour with Paul Cook’s post-Pistols rockers The Professionals at the end of last year, with a brand-new single today titled ‘Thinking Of England.’

Recorded once again with Andy Brook (who has produced, engineered, and toured with the like of Status Quo, Ginger Wildheart, Wonk Unit, Hayseed Dixie…) at The Brook Studios in Wallington, Surrey, ‘Thinking Of England’ is the first glimpse of Desperate Measures’ debut full-length album due early 2023.

‘Thinking Of England’ is a high-energy, charging power-pop eruption that guitarist Michael Gaffney says is “about leaving a bad situation, whether it be physically or mentally, trying to find light at the end of the tunnel and staying hopeful, realising that you might be fucked now, but it’s not always going to be that way.”

Having recently seen the band perform live supporting The Mission I spent a few days wondering where I’d seen them before (probably due to brain fog, age and the bands inactivity over the last few decades) and then it came flooding back. “Back in the day”, Salvation played that fateful evening of legend (in my house) supporting The Lords Of The New Church when Stiv wore that T Shirt and fired the band on stage. Anyway moving on some thirty years! (ah that brain fog) I find myself listening to this here live album and it sent memories flooding back from that fateful night. To be fair the songs sounded great when I saw them recently, even with the help of the rhythm section in a box it was a decent support on that Mission tour.

Songs like ‘Debris’ and ‘All And More’ sound great and sparked a flick through my record collection knowing I had at least one of their studio albums, and so it was, ‘Sass’ an album that is well represented here with ‘Paint It Rose’ having a great rolling Cult-like riff that leads this upbeat number.

This live recording captures a band that clearly loves the music they play, and to be fair, The songs have dated really well seeing as they’ve not been played for an age. From the opener ‘The Answer’, with it’s vibrant tempo. It’s something many bands, who to be fair, haven’t played a great deal over the past thirty years don’t quite capture. I’ve always liked that big overdriven guitar sound and having strong melodies always helps.

There are eleven tracks on this CD and a twelve-page booklet to accompany it. Sure fans of The Cult, Mission, and Sisters will be all over this and it’s a no-brainer if you caught any of the band’s recent shows some of these songs will be familiar anyway but Rock fans looking for a new “old band” who had a whole bunch of top tunes – dive in!

‘The Shining’ is a burst of energy before ‘Pearl Necklace’ then raises the bar. I’d love to hear what the band are currently creating studio-wise and see if they can still capture a sound that brings back such good memories. Finishing off with the vibrant ‘Why Lie?’ with its glugging bassline and rolling guitar lick it’s a great set ender.

Go seek Salvation in this live snapshot that contains some really good driven hard rock meets Goth that is delivered really well by a band who clearly still loves music.

Buy Here

Author: Dom Daley

Hi Geoff, welcome back to Wales.

“Thank you”

Have you got good memories of being in Wales?

“The first time we came to Wales was with Ronnie James Dio in 1984. I have a distinct memory of being in Cardiff on a day off, being in a nice hotel, and being in the bathtub. A fire alarm got set off by some of Dio’s crew members, this was a tour of pranksters. They thought it was great fun, I had to get out of the bath, go all the way downstairs in my bathrobe, go outside and stand in the street!”

Oh dear! Ha ha.

Queensryche played my favourite ever venue – Newport Centre a few times, I believe the last time was supporting Judas Priest on their Epitaph tour in 2011?

That’s right, that was our last tour together”.

Did you keep busy during lockdown? Is there any more to come from Sweet Oblivion or have you recorded any more solo material?

I’ve done all kinds of things, that’s all I did really was hang out in the studio, write stuff, yeah, primarily that’s all I did. I worked on the Sweet Oblivion album, the Avantasia album. I also wrote some music for two different projects of my own that will hopefully be launched sometime this year. Busy, busy y’know?”

Did you manage to keep your voice in shape?

Well, it’s one thing to sing in the studio, it’s a whole different thing to sing live y’know? Starting back out live I had to work for a couple of weeks to get myself back on form again. Singing’s one of those things, that you just have to do, there’s no way around it. You have to power through it and do it. You just have to keep working at it.”

Why did you decide to play ‘Rage For Order’ in it’s entirety rather than say, ‘The Warning’?

“I love the album, absolutely love it. It’s my second favourite Queensryche album. My favourite is the last album we did together, Dedicated to Chaos, that’s the one I listen to the most.

What are your favourite songs to perform live from ‘Rage for Order’ and ‘Empire’?

“I love playing the whole albums. I tell the audience every night that it’s been on my bucket list to play Rage for Order, we never got to play it back in the day. We only played a couple of songs off the album, that’s kind of the curse of most albums, you never get to play everything y’know? You just get to play a couple of tracks because people wanna hear what they know. They are really into hearing what they are familiar with (laughs), some people are not musically adventurous. The best response you have from an audience when you’re playing your album or your songs is, you come out with a new album, you only play a couple of songs, the rest you play are oldies. Next year when you come back, they are starting to like and get used to those songs, it’s a cool dynamic”.

What are your memories about the recording of ‘Rage For Order’?

“The Rage For Order album was a really fun album to make from my perspective. We were working with Neil Kernon as a producer, and he was a wild man that we got to hang out with. One of the greatest personalities to be in the studio with, he could run with your idea, and he had such a vast technical background. At the time, I didn’t have much technical experience in the studio. I would say ‘I want my voice to do this, or I want this sound I’m making to do this’, he’d go ‘ok, I’ll just turn this up here, and oh!, let me plug this box in’ (laughs). He would always have a workaround on how to make it happen. He just came in with a jovial, happy personality, he was glad to be there and contribute, a really good ‘idea guy’. I loved working with him.

On the ‘Rage For Order’ tour, Queensryche supported the likes of Ratt, Bon Jovi and Ozzy Osbourne. Did you ever feel pressured to play with other artists who were very different musically to you guys?

“We weren’t trying to sound like anybody, that whole idea of making bands conform to each other, that was later. We came in that great era when they put all kinds of different music together. We played with Jethro Tull (laughs), Roger Waters and the Psychedelic Furs. We also loved bands like Ratt, we had some great tours together, in fact we had a pretty intense bowling competition with those guys while on tour (laughs).

How do you juggle the touring and family life?

It is what it is, my wife and I raised our kids on and off the road. They just grew up like that, they are used to travelling, eating in restaurants, being able to order a French meal (laughs). They have high expectations; they won’t go to a concert if they don’t have backstage passes y’know? (Laughs).  

This week marks the 34th anniversary of your seminal album ‘Operation:Mindcrime’, how does that feel?

“It makes me feel old! (laughs) Most things make me feel old nowadays, it’s a strange time when you get into your sixties, you’re looking at all of this life that you’ve had. My grandkids are approaching their teenage years now. I’m doing shows, and everyone in the audience, has grey and white hair! (laughs) It’s just a really strange time, I don’t really see myself that way,as being an old fart, even though I am an old fart!”

Do you think that a concept album like Mindcrime would work in today’s environment with people’s poor attention spans?

“I don’t know..it was hard to get people to pay attention back in the eighties (laughs). That’s the thing about music, it’s a personal journey, music is a very personal thing for people. Some people are going to get it, some people aren’t. Some people hold music in a highly revenant regard in their lives, others don’t give a fuck”.

There’s a great line from the song Speak from the Mindcrime album: ‘The rich control the government, the media, the law’. Do you think that line is even more relevant in today’s society?

“I couldn’t even imagine the context of ‘rich’ in today’s situation with people being multi, multi billionaires y’know? (laughs) and then they don’t pay taxes, it seems incredibly wrong. A guy like Elon Musk, with a lot less that he paid for Twitter, he could eliminate hunger in the US for example. He could make a living wage for people, they could work and be paid a living wage which is enough to survive on, or at least live on. He could do so many wondrous things, but he buys a social media site, y’know? I can almost understand Jeff Bezos flying into space because they are looking for minerals and ways to mine that are not going to impact the earth”.

I must ask you about the Hear N Aid project back in 1984, how did you get involved?

“Ronnie James Dio called me, he said that was doing this thing and would I want to get involved in it. I absolutely said yes! I didn’t know what it was, or understand what it was, I just said yes, I’ll be there, just tell me what you want me to do. He sent me a cassette tape of the song Stars and a lyric sheet. A week later, I go down to LA and walked into A & M studios amidst this circus that was going on! There were so many people there, I was a very young man at the time, and I wasn’t used to that kind of situation where all of these very famous people that I looked up to and admired were all gathered together in this room. Many of them were sitting in the same room behind the glass listening to me sing my part which I didn’t know very well (laughs). It was very intimidating! It was a cool moment in time and Ronnie and Wendy (Dio) had great intentions and put their heart and soul into it. They brought together so many different people to participate, it was amazing. Especially as we didn’t have any social media or cell phones back then. I don’t know how they even got hold of all those people! (laughs).

You have a range of wine called Insania. Can we buy here in the UK?

“Normally yes, but everything is kinda messed up with the world transportation issues. If you’re in the UK you can order it from Germany, that’s where we make it, and they can send it to you. I need to find out if the Brexit thing will have an effect on the shipping too actually. Ironically, you can’t get it in the US (laughs) it’s because all of the ships are backloaded and delayed out a year. Thanks a lot Covid!”

You have another company called Backstage Travel, tell us about that. Is it back up and running? Fans can just book up and spend time with you eating and drinking?

“Yes, we just came on this tour from Tuscany, we did a weeklong trip with 32 people, and it was fun. If you like to travel, if you like to drink, if you like to eat great food, and if you like music, it’s a really fun trip to take y’know?”

What are your thoughts on the whole streaming debate?

As long as they pay people fairly, then I’m all about it y’know? It’s one thing to make music and another thing to sell it, if you have an outlet that’s selling your stuff and you are being compensated fairly, then you’re way ahead of the game. It’s funny, the whole vinyl comeback thing, they’ve been saying that since the eighties, ‘vinyl’s coming back’ (laughs) I dug out my old turntable a while ago, and it was very expensive back in the day. I put a record on and, yep, still got that crackly thing going on!”

I was wondering if you have seen any of the classically trained vocal coaches on YouTube who spend a lot of time analysing one performance of yours, the Tokyo concert from 1984, and specifically, the song Take Hold of the Flame?

“I’ve not seen any of them, but someone has mentioned them to me. Is it a good laugh or what?

Ha ha, on the contrary, the coaches are in awe of your voice. I think they are of the opinion that heavy metal is just noise. They certainly change their opinion after watching the video!

“Oh wow, I’ll have to check that out! Sounds interesting.”

On behalf of RPM Online, thanks so much for taking the time out to talk to me today, I’m looking forward to tonight’s show and I hope the rest of the tour goes well.

My pleasure, me too, so far so good. And on days like this, it doesn’t get any better”.

Author: Kenny Kendrick