Walking their own ground

Sometimes a band just blows you away: that happened last year with GLYDER and myself and they repeated it this year with their new one, the excellent "Playground For Life" - so here's an interview with Bat, the promo-press dude of the Irish group and overall nice guy:

Hey Bat, congratulations to the new album, what's going on in Ireland, I guess you are preparing for the soon to come tour with FISH?!?
Thanks Georg. Yes, making arrangements now and looking forward to it.


The album came out last year but your launch was in Dublin in January, where you did a special album release party, so did I get that right you played the new record complete and also everything from the first album?! (And in typical Spinal Tap fashion your amp blew off?!?)
The album came out in Europe late 07 and in UK and Ireland in late Jan. 08. We played the new album from start to finish at the launch and for the encore we played 4 tracks from the debut album. The wiring in the venue was dodgy and that caused my amp to blow. I fixed it the next day but it was very embarrassing up there when it happened!!

And I read you have (another ...) big fan in Germany who went to this and also to your more intimate home-gig in Ballyknockan? (and drinking session with you guys ...)
Yep Dirk from the website burnyourears.de and his friend George. They came over especially for the launch and we had a great time with them!!


I presume the limited edition with the DVD is available only in Ireland? Like I told you, I double checked last week, the album is not available here in the stores, at least not in display ... which is kinda sad ... Bad Reputation Records do not have much power here in Germany, I guess ... I know the promoter in Hamburg is doing a good job, she resent me the album, which was stolen first time around, that's why I'm being late here, so the groundwork is thru good reviews and word of mouth ...?
The DVD was available for all preorders in the UK and from Bad Reputation. I still have some copies of it left which I'm going to sell on tour next month. To be honest I'm not sure of the availability of the album in Germany but with the internet it's very easy to obtain. It can be bought direct from our website and from Bad Reputation's website as well as from amazon.de and I know there a lot of specialist stores in Germany stocking it. Our PR Christine from Dockyard1 is doing a great job and she has worked with us since the first album.

So, Bat I am sorry, you will have to tell us the developing process of "Playground For Life" one more time here ...
We started to write in late 06 and the first two songs were "Sweets" and "Over And Over". We continued to write in early 07 and then we went on tour with Thunder. We stopped off in France for a week between the two parts of the tour and we wrote some more. Two of the songs "Sleeping Gun" and "The Merrygoround" were demoed before we made the debut album. I think "Playground For Life" is a great album title and we had that title for the album for a while now.

For instance the explanation to the last song "The Merrygoround" I wouldn't understand with your hint: There's this bishop sitting on the carousel wearing a mask - a synonym for you as songwriters for things that went wrong within the church (hypocrisy and child molestation)?
Well the idea of him being on the merrygoround is that it spins so fast he cannot see what's going on very clearly in the world around him and that was the case with the church when they turned a blind eye to the needs of the people who were abused by them.

And there is one other song I would like to specifically ask: "Sleeping Gun" (is that an anti-drug song / the illustration with the boy in the soccer shirt reminds me on an Italian team).
That song is mainly about the high school massacres that seem to be common place in the USA. The fact that the kid in the cover is wearing a football shirt has no real relevance, Its actually a Newcastle T shirt. Maybe that picture has no real relevance to the song only for the fact that the kid looks a little deranged!!


The cover-artwork is outstanding (one more time something that should be on big Vinyl Cover!) - is it also a way to interpretate it, we are all more or less walking around with masks on our face in this playground called life ...?
Yes a suppose you could look at it that way but the masks are really there to make it look really sinister and freaky. I would like to do it on Vinyl someday.

You seem to be worried sometimes about bad reviews, you don't have to. Just because this one idiot posted crap about you on a forum; I see and read nothing but total positive reviews (well, okay one mediocre, but unlike other bands you even included that on your homepage!). I kinda like that, to include also this one, that's very rare bands do this.
No one likes negative reviews. It's something that you have to expect as not everyone is going to love you. I don't mind getting a bad review from people that I would expect to hate it but it does bother me when we get a bad review from someone who you would expect to like it. Overall I'm delighted the response has been great and the reviews have been 90 per cent positive. I find it very interesting to see how reviews contradict each other and that's why I post up the bad ones too and sometimes the reviewers get it so wrong it's funny and other times they hit the nail on the head.

Bat, you seem to be pretty much a total-promotional guy, I remember you writing me a mail if I come to Stuttgart last year (where you opened for THUNDER) even if we never met before. So how did that small tour went, could you learn something from Thunder, and were you satisfied with the shows?
I understand the importance of promotion and for bands like us who have no financial support from a label we really rely on journalists and DJs to help spread the word. As soon as we can get out playing live then we can convince people directly but you have to have a certain amount of profile first before any promoter will take a risk booking you. I know we are a killer live band and all we need to do now is tour as I feel we have had a lot of great press. The Thunder tour was great and we got a chance to play in Europe to decent sized audiences which not every band gets a chance to do. We learned a lot about putting on an entertaining and enjoyable show from Thunder. They also taught us to make time for the people that support you as they always have time to meet people after the shows and sign stuff.

Another person that is totally behind you is (your producer) Chris Tsangarides. He's @ Bang Your Head here in Germany every year, as of course he is in touch with a lot of bands, ANVIL, Y&T and so on. Last year he was here with a guy from the band MORE (remember them?). Chris seems to be the total down to earth nice guy in this business, had the impression he has no attitude at all. (For his history this is quite amazing, I heard some hard to believe stories about another producer - Roy Thomas Baker - that sound like the extreme opposite!)
Chris is a grounded chap alright. He has a great way with people and makes everyone feel special. He has helped spread our name about. He is a remarkable man and is very talented at the mixing desk as well as in the kitchen. He can cook some wonderful food! He is also a great story teller and I look forward to meeting him again sometime soon.

Okay Bat, be serious now, this is your second try to make it in the biz. A couple of years back you already released this other Glyder album with a couple (3) of your friends.

I can see you upper left there and Davy in the middle when he still had hair. And is that Pete front middle with a Bee Gees memorial hairdo!? So the album tanked, you get rid of three guys and now its your second coming!?
That's a funny one, someone showed us that after the first album came out. This guy sent us a mail a few weeks ago saying he saw us in the 70's and he was on our site etc. How could he be so stupid? If he looked at the photos on our site he would see we are not that old!!

Serious now, who came to the idea to call the band H*LLYW**D before you changed you name? And how funny was the gig at this children programme where you put this old video on the DVD?
Eamonn our old manager thought of Hollywood we all hated it but couldn't think of anything else. It seemed appropriate because we live near a village called Hollywood and it is the title of a Thin Lizzy song we used to cover. We put in the *'s just to make it different. I'm so glad we changed our name!!


It's no secret that you guys got a little help from the THIN LIZZY camp, giving you the chance to open for them. So how did you get in touch with Philomena Lynott, Phil's mother, who praises you very much?
Eamonn our old manager is a friend of Philomenas. He is still a good friend and so is Philomena. Philomena is great to us and Thin Lizzy let us open for them in Ireland in 05.

I am sure you will not say a bad word about the current incarnation of THIN LIZZY but could you at least understand that some people (or older fans who saw the band 83 and before) do not accept this reformation? (My own opinion is: I was sceptical before, saw it in 2001 and it was real good, but now after 7 years more playing more or less the same set, I think it's time to let it be ...)
Well I feel that they are entitled to play the music and make a living from it and they are giving people what they want and introducing new people to Phil's music. Let's face it they are not Thin Lizzy and without Phil there is no Thin Lizzy and everyone knows that. The fact that they call themselves Thin Lizzy is only to sell tickets and you can't blame them for wanting to do that. Also they haven't disgraced Phil's legacy in any way so long may they continue.

Speaking about Thin Lizzy, had a chance to interview Marco Mendoza last year who also helped me to set up an interview with (your fellow Irish) Dolores O'Riordan, where he plays Bass, which was very cool. I wonder if you heard her new album, which in my opinion is exceptional (Drumming by the way from ex-THERAPY?-Drummer Graham Hopkins, another Irish man.)
I haven't heard it and I like one or two of her songs but I wouldn't go out and buy it!

Let's get back to your first album for a second: You did a awesome video (well two actually, I see now, there is a uncensored version) for "PUP" short for "Pretty Usesless People" where you more or less ridicule a lot of things:
- Death Metal Bands / Fans who take themselves to serious
- Indie / Alternative Nerds who think they are the shit
- Casting Shows and their votings (I am sure you heard "The Pimp And The Whore" by THUNDER ...?!?)
(But by the end Tony is throwing the horns which is also ridiculous and overdone to death ...?!? Not only by Rock / Metal people now also by Pop and Nu Rave dumbfucks.)
That song is a piss take on reality TV and the Big Brother, Osbournes and the X factor, American Idol thing. We just took the piss out of everything really. Lordi had just won the eurovision and we had to have a go at that too although I was delighted that they won. It really us having a go at all the falseness that is out there. Can people remember back to when music was honest and real?

Everybody talks about THE ANSWER (who you played with also), Thin Lizzy and Rory Gallagher. I want to throw in another name, that most have forgotten. I hear in you music references to the brilliant MAMA's BOYS (from Northern Ireland), would you agree or do you guys don't know this band (who coincidentally supported THIN LIZZY on their farewell UK tour). Like you they combined power and harmony melodies in a wonderful way, which most of the hard rocking bands today forget. (At least on the 2nd and 3rd album 1982 and 1983.)
Yes they were a great band, recently I've got to know Pat Mc Manus and he is a really nice guy and one of the most underrated guitarists in the world. I put him in touch with Bad Reputation records and his album "In My Own Time" will be released through them this year. Check it out - it's amazing. Some great tracks and guitar playing, There is an amazing track called "Return Of The G Man" which is a moving tribute to the great Rory Gallagher.

As there was no time to ask Dolores this question maybe I can ask you: As an Irish man, can you tell us Germans how big or how small are the chances of a reunited Ireland (with Northern Ireland)? Until the last months in 1989 before the wall came down a lot of people would never imagine we would be having ONE Germany here and now its normal. Lots of people still have The Wall in their heads unfortunately and there are prejudices but anyway. Is it for example difficult for you to play in Northern Ireland?
There is very little chance of a united Ireland and just this week all is in place for devolution, they will run their own affairs up there now. I think that is the best scenario as the people up there have been through so much fighting that the two communities have more in common with each other than they do with us down south or the English. I love playing up the north we get such a great response up there and we have many great friends up there too. There is a much bigger following for Hard Rock and metal up there than there is in the south. Also some of the greatest guitarists come from there too, Gary Moore, Eric Bell, Pat Mc Manus and Vivian Campbell. There is also a new generation of guys in their teens and early twenties that have that same talent. I don't know what it is maybe it's in the water but some of the best musicians I know come from that neck of the woods.

Your biggest gig I suppose was the Gods Of Metal show in Italy last year, some videos from it are on youtube, how was that?
That was great experience, we have Sweden Rock this year and Raismes in France and we look forward to that. I would love to play a German festival, maybe you can put in a word for us!!

Wish I could, maybe I can together with Mr. Tsangarides talk to Horst about Bang Your Head 09 ...
Could you imagine to relocate to London like Gary Moore or Irish band NO SWEAT did to hope for better carrere chances?
It's something we thought about but I think back in the 70's and 80's there were no economy flights and transport in general was expensive. It's so easy now just to get the ferry and drive over or get a plane over. We do it all the time so for the times we live in it does not make sense for us to relocate there. Also there was no internet then and phone calls were expensive. You can now touch and communicate with the internet and achieve similar results.

Brian Robertson is playing a show next month here in my town with the Finnish band Five Fifteen and also a cover-band SIN LIZZY where he plays some songs also on guitar I guess. Most likely I will meet him - what would you ask him? (And in this context would you agree THIN LIZZY could have attained a long term mainstream popularity in the US also (where they are only known for "The Boys Are Back in Town") had they been able to keep the Gorham-Robertson line up together and weather the new-wave fad?)
I've met Robbo a few times but I doubt if he would remember me. He was really dead on and jovial one of the times and the other he was a little agitated, I suppose he was under pressure as he had to do a live performance and I know sometimes you can feel very tense before you go on stage. I would love to sit down someday and talk to him in a more relaxed environment.


So you are playing a long tour now opening for FISH. Just don't wear a Hearts Of Midlothian Football Jersey backstage, then the tour is over ha ha ... Fish is a Hibernian Edinburgh fan! I hope he gives you 45 minutes and it will be good! Great chance to cross-over to new audiences?
We are looking forward to it and I'm looking forward to meeting him as he is meant to be a great guy. I'm not sure how long our set will be but I would imagine you are right, 45mins. I don't like football it bores me so I won't be wearing any football jerseys!!

OK, the music business is a deep crisis, every week we hear cries like "Noone is buying CDs anymore". Actual check with the artist himself: How many CDs have you bought yourself in the last 4 months and what was it?
I've bought more than I have in a long time, the only difference is I've downloaded them all, I signed up to emusic and you get 25 free downloads and then every month they take 12 euro from your credit card and you get to download 2 albums. I think it's great and I would encourage everyone to do the same. I live in a rural area so it's hard to get into the shops and not all of them stock what I want. I downloaded a Michael Schenker double album because we were doing two gigs opening for him I wanted to be familiar with all his music. I also downloaded a Blackfoot live album and Dio's latest album. All of the SPV catalogue is on emusic. It's so important to try and give something back to the artists otherwise they will not be able to continue making music. It's a very strange time in the music industry and I hope more and more people start to pay for downloads. Our album has appeared on rapidshare many times now and I've been emailing them to take it down. It's time people high up in the music industry took rapidshare to court. It should not be up to the artist to police the web but up to the likes of Rapidshare to make sure copyrighted material does not end up on their servers. The laws have to change. We have all been guilty of copying stuff from our mates but real music fans will support and buy stuff as well. If this generation grows up thinking music is free then what hope have we got?

To finish this up, thank you for taking your time and if I can say that, without kissing your band's ass too much, for the wonderful music which brings joy in a rock-world too dominated by screaming-Emos and cookie monster vocals. Good luck for the future, hope next time we can meet!
Cheers Georg, look forward to meeting you sometime ... keep it lit!!

Some more Glyder photos from www.bitchinrockphotos.com:

    

    

    

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