|
 |
|
Interview with the Steve
Grimmett Band
January 2008 by Metal Mark |
|
|
The Steve Grimmett band of course features
former Grim Reaper, Lionsheart and Onslaught vocalist Steve Grimmett.
The band just released their debut album “Personal Crisis” this past
fall. It’s a killer solid heavy metal album very much in the
mid-1980’s style. I recently got to interview the band and find out
more about them and their future plans. The band answered the
questions as a group unless otherwise noted. The band members are
Steve Grimmett-vocals, Ian Nash-guitar, Richard Walker-bass and Pete
Newdeck-drums.
What has been the response to your album so far?
SGB-Very positive, the songs & production have been very well received
by the music press with some reporting that in their opinion 'Personal
Crisis' is the best album that Steve has ever done. Many reviewers
have stated that the album was much better than they had expected it
to be & that Steve's vocal's have, if anything, improved over the
years.
How and when did this band form?
SGB-The four of us initially got together in January 2006 to rehearse
a full Grim Reaper set which we played at several European metal
festivals during that year. The idea for the Steve Grimmett Band was
conceived in April 2006 We were enjoying performing & touring together
as a band so much, that we wanted a vehicle to enable us to write &
record brand new material & also to allow us to incorporate Lionsheart
and Reaper material in to our live sets.
Do you any tour dates set up for 2008? Any plans
to play in the United States?
SGB-We are confirmed for some festivals so far, Puerto Rico Metal
Thunder in March & Madrid Pounding metal in May, aswell as British
festivals. Along with this, we are exploring the chance of an
appearance at Rocklahoma for 2008. We are also in negotiations with
various promoters for appearances at several other UK & European metal
festivals & UK ,US and Japanese tours. We would love to get over to
the States & play some shows, but nothing is confirmed as yet.
Although there has been a huge amount of interest in getting us over
there, the logistics mean that is is that much more difficult to make
it happen. That doesn't mean that it won't happen of course..........
How is this band different from other bands that
you guys have been in?
SGB-Everyone is much older & much uglier. Seriously, we are all best
friends. There are no conflicts in this band even after almost two
years together. We all have different strengths & the music seems to
come together by all of us just doing what we do best. Personal Crisis
was not written & recorded under ideal circumstance by any means, we
were all under a huge amount of pressure with very tight timescales &
a limited budget but we all worked together & pulled the rabbit out of
the hat. That could never have been achieved if there had been any
conflicts or egos within the band.
Where do you get the inspiration for your song
topics?
Pete & Steve-Song topics have ranged in subject matter that
includes………..people we hate, people we care about, people who have
killed and other things that range from real life to fantasy. Reading
through the lyrics you will find that some are obvious and some are a
bit more hidden and obscure. Depending on Steve and Pete’s given moods
or aspirations. Karma being a good example stating to a person that
maybe they should keep looking over their shoulder….and I will leave
that one for you to consider who it might be about!!! |
| |
Question for Pete. What other
albums have you produced and is it easier producing
something when you are involved in the playing like with
this album?
Pete-Other albums I have unofficially had an input into
production, go back as far as ‘The Shock’ @Pinultimate@
album where a lot of the initial song writing structures
and parts etc were given to myself for scrutiny……since
then I have had much production experience with demos
and recording other bands on a private basis. This
however is my first official product and look forward to
meeting the challenges for SGB album 2.
Being involved with the playing and songwriting has
advantages but also can cloud issues when you can easily
become ‘too close to something’
Question for Steve. Grim Reaper
seemed to have had a strong following here in the states
back in the 1980’s while a number of other NWOBHM bands
really had trouble breaking in over here. Is that
accurate and if so then why do you think that was?
SG-It was all one giant piece of luck, the album got to
the States as an import to a store called Zig Zag
records who played it to a guy call Walter O'Brien who
was head of Combat records at the time he contacted
Ebony records who said they only wanted to deal with a
major label, he took it to Wendy Goldstine at RCA |
 |
| who
signed us and Walter became our manager. It is right that
most British bands couldn’t get a deal out there but I
guess it was down to luck in the end
You do a cover of Grim Reaper’s
Wrath of the Ripper. Will you be playing that one live and
will you play any other Grim Reaper songs live?
SGB-Hell yes!! Wrath of the Ripper is definitely one of
our live favourites. We also play other tracks taken from
all three Grim Reaper albums.
What do you think about the metal
scene these days? Is it getting better worse or about the
same as in recent years?
SGB-Difficult one to answer that, probably about the same
there has to be a lot more effort going into it but it’s
still a very limited response all round.
What’s the metal scene like in the
UK these days?
SGB-Same as always really, the support is there but it's
very difficult to generate much enthusiasm for our style
of music. Well organised & well supported metal festivals
are few & far between in this country.
Are there any younger bands that
have had influence on your music or do you generally have
the same influences that you have had for years?
SGB-Looking at the Myspace communications we have around
the world, it seems Steve’s voice has been inspirational
to many people. Grim Reaper as a band again have had the
same influence. It’s nice to know that you have been an
influence and have helped change some lives. Personally
our influences are pretty much the same as they were
twenty years ago. Although we are aware of what a lot of
the newer & younger bands are doing we still tend to refer
back to the music we grew up with. That's not to say that
we don't like what younger bands are doing, some of them
are awesome, we’d imagine that a lot of them have many of
the same influences as we do anyway.
Anything else you want to say about
your band or music?
SGB-Yesh, I really love you guysh.....*hic*...... you are
my besht friends.....*hic*...... oh shit.....*hic*.....I
think I'm gonna puke............. Blah Blah Blah and puke
in the bucket this time and don’t shit your trousers
again.
We would like to thank all the people who have offered the
large amounts of kind words and encouragement, to make us
believe in metal again!!!
www.stevegrimmett.co.uk/ |
|
|
|
|
