Hello! “Crashdive” has been very well received since its release last year. Can you tell us about the inspiration behind the songs on the EP and what message you hope to convey through your music?
What’s up! It’s been killer to see the reaction to our debut EP throughout the underground.
Our aim is to make pure, uncompromising Heavy Metal – With zero apologies! Just the way we wanna hear it. We’d like to make people feel empowered through our music… Songs to take on the world to!
Shadows Of War is about life on the battlefield for British soldiers during WW1, with lyrics lifted directly from letters N’ journals.
Guns For Hire is about us, N’ being a Heavy Metal fan in the current world. A take ‘em on with backs to the wall song, a call to arms!
White Death is inspired by the legendary sniper of the same name! We were drinking, checking out history documentaries N’ we heard his story, it had to be told through a thrash Metal tune!
Revolution Scream is about the band N’ our fans, how together we are the Heavy Metal Revolution! Never let anyone tell you what to do, stand up for the music you love!
Crashdive is written about German U-Boat sailors during WW2. It’s directly inspired by the classic war movie ‘Das Boot.’ It’s such a killer subject, we wanted to tell their story.
About your cooperation with Fireflash Records. How has your experience been working with them, and what has the label brought to the table in terms of supporting the band’s music?
Incredible! Markus (the CEO) picked up on us right away – The man knows his Metal!
We know it’s a cliché sometimes for band to have a rough relationship with their labels over the course of history, but we couldn’t be happier. He has worked with so many incredible bands like Helloween, Accept N’ more, so to have his help virtually from day one is a huge helping hand. It’s crucial to us that we only work with people who understand what we’re trying to do, N’ the Tailgunner attitude.
“Shadows of War” is a powerful and emotive track, with lyrics taken from real journals and letters from soldiers during WWI. Can you talk about the process of researching and writing this song, and what it means to you as a band?
It’s a great way to honour fallen heroes.
The track was written by our bassist Thomas way back in late 2018, before the band came together, the first Metal track he had ever worked on. It stayed as an instrumental until he moved to London around Spring 2020, taking a trip just before the first lockdown hit to the Imperial War Museum here, to gather inspiration. Walking around the WW1 exhibit there were so many great quotes from the men that lived it, all that was left was to make it rhyme!
You’ve been described as “pure heavy metal at its finest” by Moshville Times. What sets your sound apart from other heavy metal bands, and how do you approach songwriting and musical composition?
Britain invented Heavy Metal with legends like Sabbath, Maiden N’ Priest coming from this island, but we’ve fallen by the wayside in years since… Now we need new heroes! We’re flying the flag high for British Steel N’ that gives us something important, a legacy, to carry forward.
The “Guns for Hire” headliner tour kicks off in October. What can fans expect from your live performances, and how do you prepare for a tour?
We’ve been watching N’ listening to all those classic shows N’ taking notes! Live after death, Maiden England, Dio on the Sacred Heart tour… No sleep ‘til Hammersmith, Live & Dangerous… there’s so many! We grew up on these films N’ records, it’s in our DNA to bring a show like that to the stage.
We’re bringing our debut album, in full… with a storm of laser guided riffs, plenty of beer N’ Heavy Metal Mäyhem!
You’re set to play your first German show at “Keep It True – Rising” festival in Würzburg, alongside Enforcer, Metal Church, Dirkschneider and more. How does it feel to be sharing a stage with such iconic bands, and what are you most looking forward to about the festival?
It’s a total dream to be lighting the fuse on the festival. It’s the best place in Europe for Heavy Metal, so to be invited to play less than a month after releasing our debut EP? Truly an honour. We’re looking forward to playing – right now – our first show outside of the U.K. N’ the party that will follow! We’re planning something very special for the festival… All will be revealed!
You’re active on social media and have a significant following on Facebook and Instagram. How important is social media for promoting your music and connecting with your fans?
Crazy important. Unlike the 80’s, we don’t have to strictly rely on press N’ media to get our message across, or connect with our fans. We can communicate with them, even face to face, whenever we choose. In the build up to our debut album, as well as releasing a remaster from our debut EP each month, we’re also bringing them merch drops, podcasts, playlists, weekly YouTube videos… N’ more!
We know what it’s like to discover a new band, spending hours diving through all there is to offer, so we give our fans as much as possible!
Your music videos, such as “Revolution Scream” and “Shadows of War”, are visually stunning and enhance the impact of your music. How do you approach music video production, and how important is it for you to visually represent your music?
Thanks! It’s definitely important to us, N’ we enjoy making videos. It’s crazy hard work, N’ very long days dragging walls of stacks around, breathing in dust N’ playing the songs one thousand times over – but we can put our music across in exactly the way we want to.
Filming the video for Revolution Scream felt like being on the set of an old school, MTV ‘more is more’ video. Guns For Hire was filmed at the same location they screen tested Hellraiser, which was a killer time.
As a band, how do you balance creative differences and work collaboratively to create your music?
It took a couple years to get the band together.
Time spent online, in metal bars, guitar shops… Up N’ down the UK, even in Western Europe. This was because it was crucial to have a band that were all on the same page. We want to build together the band we’ve all had in our heads since we were kids, the ultimate Heavy Metal group… That’s the aim! So there are no issues on creative differences. We each bring something slightly different, whether that’s a great love of Speed, Thrash, Power… but we all agree on the key bands like Maiden, Priest, Helloween, Dio, King Diamond or Motörhead. Our main songwriter N’ lyricist is our Bassist Thomas. He’ll bring something to the table, then it goes through the wringer whilst we all add our stamp!
You’ve achieved a lot of success in a short amount of time since your debut. What have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced as a band, and how have you overcome them?
We live all over England, spread across hundreds of miles. The pandemic N’ lockdowns started to hit just a couple months after we first played together. We completed the lineup, did all of the preproduction N’ recording for the debut album, as well as shooting the first couple music videos throughout covid. That was definitely a challenge. We had to study the law in the UK so we could keep on working together – There was no way we were gonna be slowed down!
Whilst rehearsing for the album, we even had the police outside trying to shut us down!
Your debut album is highly anticipated by your fans. Can you give us any hints about what we can expect from the album, and how it differs from your EP “Crashdive”?
The album will drop right at the heart of this Summer! We’re crazy excited to release our debut album, also engineered by Olof Wikstrand of Enforcer. The album is the journey of our band so far, the early days. Packed with ‘laser guided riffs N’ hooks that kill’ We can draw from Rainbow to Bathory, so expect speed, thrash, power… Of course there’s the epic closer too!
We aren’t here to let people down, we can’t wait for our fans to get their hands on this record… N’ let’s hope there’ll be plenty more by the time we’re through!
Thank you!
Thanks for having us! Heavy Metal for eternity!
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