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Interview with Phil Grasso
and Mike Mooney of Steel Assassin
August 2008 by Metal Mark |
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Steel Assassin hail the Boston area and formed
back in 1980 as a cover band. They broke up in 1985, but reformed a
few years with a 4/5 original line-up and now have released a CD
called “War of the Eight Saints”. I recently got to interview bass
player Phil Grasso and guitarist Mike Mooney to find out more.
Who are your musical influences?
Mike: I have a lot of influences but if I had to just name a few and
say they're the reason I picked up a guitar in the first place it
would be in no particular order Ritchie Blackmore, Ace Frehley and
Brian May. I know that's diverse but in the 70's growing up, these
guys just made my hair stand on end and I decided THAT'S what I
wanna do. Musically my favorite band is still Rush for all their
diverse subject matter and the intelligence of the song writing. The
thing that makes SA work is that all 5 of us have completely
different listening preferences and it's that small portion where we
all overlap that creates our sound, whether it be unique or not, it
seems to work for us still.
So this band actually formed in 1980, but
didn’t officially become Steel Assassin until 1983. What kind of
covers were you playing? What brought about the name change and the
change in musical direction towards doing originals?
Mike: The progression towards writing our own songs was only
natural, that's what every musician aspires to I think. We were
playing just about every NWOBHM band you can think of: Saxon, Raven,
Accept, Priest, AC/DC, Maiden, Tygers of Pan Tang, etc. We were
originally called Assassin but we and others thought the name a bit
generic so we decided to add the Steel to sort of make sure there
was no mistake in what they were about to hear or see. |
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You
broke up in 1985. Why did you break up back then?
There were many reasons, some the same old stuff, but we were being
managed at the time by some folks that had major label contacts and
were really pushing us to write radio material. That didn't bode
well with us and though we were diluted and somewhat misdirected, it
eventually got the best of us. Once it was clear that we were going
to have trouble getting "signed" (the big term of the day back
then), a few members got frustrated and decided to move on. We've
all remained truly the best of friends all these years though.
Did you ever get much interest from any record
labels back during your first run?
Mike: The interest we got was minimal from major labels, we did have
some offers from indies, but our management at the time kept pushing
for something bigger....regrets? Maybe a few. ha ha
Did everyone stay in music or not? If so then
what did everyone go to?
Mike: Pretty much we all stayed playing in one way or another,
although we each branched out into other careers and families. Kevin
and I actually had a great Thin Lizzy tribute band going for a few
years in which we were able to play in Dublin, Ireland for the
annual Vibe for Philo, which we were very proud of.
Now you did a brief reunion in 1988. What that
just a show or did you work on any material at that time? |
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| Phil: "Don't
know anything about that. The band did get another singer and
bassist after Doni and I left. I think that lasted about a year.
Maybe in '86 the band and Doni got back together around '86. They
asked if I was interested in rejoining, and I declined. Our friend
Ed Keeke from Split Image joined on bass. It lasted one show, and
then it broke up for good, until our reformation in 2005.
The 1988 reunion was mentioned in the
paragraph on the back of your CD.
Phil-I think that reunion was in '86, because I used the "reunion
band" to do an instrumental tape of some S.A. songs that I put my
vocal on, and that was '86. '88 was when I was doing my Aquitaine
band, and Mike and Ed was in that band, so the reunion must have
been before then.
When and why did you guys decide to reform the
band?
Mike: It actually started at a cookout in my backyard, Phil asked me
and Kevin if he could get some label interest would we be interested
in giving it a try. We were so intrigued at the prospect of getting
together and writing all new metal that we truly just could not
resist.
Vocalist John Falzone is new to the band.
Where did you meet him and what does he add to your sound?
Phil: "We've known John for a while. He was in Triphammer back in
the day. It was Rich (Spillberg) who suggested John to the band. And
the rest is history... |
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Are
all the songs on “War of the Eight Saints” brand new? If so then how
do the new songs compare with the material you were playing back in
the 1980’s?
Phil: "All the songs with the exception of "Barabbas" were written
during the Reformation period in 2005
What has been the response to the album so
far?
Phil: " Great!"
Mike: Myself, I've been truly humbled at all the great responses
we've had to the album, it has totally exceeded my expectations and
become something we're all VERY proud of. By the way, wait until you
hear the next one.
Since Steel Assassin didn’t exist for like
twenty years, do you think that a lot of people outside of your home
area remember the band? |
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Phil: "It was
actually the people from our area that forgot about us. Everywhere
else they remembered us, which took us all by pleasant surprise!!"
What was the Boston metal scene like back in
1980’s? Who were some of the other top club bands back them?
Phil: "Better than it is now, but it still wasn't as good as RI, CT,
NY. The clubs we played with some sort of regularity back then was
Celebrations at The Kenmore Club, Paradise, Channel, Salem Theater.
What is the metal club scene like in your area
these days?
Phil: "Still better in RI, CT, and NY", at least for our style of
Trad. Power Metal. Death, Hardcore, and that type is doing well here
from what I hear."
What are some of your favorite albums of 2008
so far?
Phil: "I don't follow the Metal scene too closely to be honest. I
can tell you the newer bands that I really like are Dream Evil,
Firewind, Circle 2 Circle and Kamelot. I listen to more of the old
stuff, although I don't listen to too many other bands when I'm busy
writing for Steel Assassin."
www.myspace.com/steelassassin
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