Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

A stage is an AMAZING place, not only because you see some guys Rock and Roll on it. I believe a stage is an example of our life and the roles that we play. If we take the stage as the main point then we ‘ll have 3 parts, some people do Rock on stage, some play their roles back stage and some of us stand in front of the stage! There is no way to find out which part is the important one, because all play an equal part but in my opinion, the important one is the STAGE, by itself.

Well these days you can read a lot of interviews with those guys on stage and sometimes you see some interviews with guys back stage, but it’s really uncommon to find an interview with a guy from in front of the stage! That made me want to do something about it! Here you can read my interview with Dennis Jarman, a guy who has been standing in front of the stage for more than 31 years!

Please introduce yourself for our readers and let us know for how much you’re a Metalhead?

Hello and metal greetings from the UK,the home of heavy metal.My name is Dennis Jarman,born 1963 which makes me a 48yr old metalhead. Music is my life,always has been,always will be. Been going to concerts since i was 17.My 1st gig was Motorhead on the Ace Of Spades tour and i will be going to see them again in November for the 26th time. In my early teenage years i was brought up on bands like Sweet, Slade, TRex, Suzi Quatro etc but moved onto heavier music as i got older.

“Heavy Metal developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States” Wikipedia said and also it mentioned Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple as the first bands in this genre. Some of your friends call you the Heavy Metal encyclopedia, so what’s your opinion about what Wikipedia said? I meant if you  want to mention a band as the first heavy metal band, what would you say?

I would not really call Led Zep a heavy metal band musically but Robert Plant’s voice certainly tick all the right boxes but i would agree with the inclusion of Purple and Sabbath but the band that define heavy metal about that era would be Judas Priest.

 Do you play any instrument? If yes for how long and would you ever have plans to form a band?

I don’t play any instrument, i’ve always worked full time so never had the time to learn anything.

You recently start writing for a Metal webzine and you reviewed some albums, please tell me about that, how is it going?

The metal webzine I write for is Planet Mosh but they have recently changed their name to Planet Mosh. My writing came about after a friend of mine who is a photographer for Forellen asked me to write a review of an Anvil gig in Nottingham this June.The founder of Planet Mosh liked my style so asked me to join them and submit reviews of any cds he sends me.Its voluntary but I’m passionate about my music so i enjoy the reviewing.

Dennis with Legendary Accept

As I know you met many Rock and Metal legends and stars, but can you tell me which ones were the most awesome for you to meet’?

I’ve been lucky to meet band members over the years but the 2 that stand out the most were Angry Anderson of Rose Tattoo and Ted Nugent. I went to a Rose Tattoo in 2001 at Dudley JB’s here in the UK. I managed to get onstage,grab a setlist and waited for about an hour after the show whereupon Angry came out and wrote “To Den,stay young,grow strong” on it.He talked for a while as well. Very cool guy. I saw 2 Ted Nugent shows in 2 days in 1988. He came out to talk to fans before and after both gigs even tho he was heavily jet lagged before the first one.

Dennis with Gary Holt (EXODUS)

As a Metalhead  how do you define metal and what it means to you in your life? We are all united as metal fans despite our differences and backgrounds, I know this as the ‘Brotherhood of Metal’, what are your views on this? And if you want to mention a song such as Metal March, what it would be?

Define metal? Thats a hard one to answer. When I think of metal it would be a band with two guitarists and a vocalist who can sing all styles so the answer would be Judas Priest. I agree with the “Brotherhood/Sisterhood of metal.You go to a gig/rock club as we are there for the same reason.No matter what colour you are, age,length of hair etc we are there to rock out! It would have been an obvious choice for a Metal March song to say anything by Manowar but one that truly defines the term would be Denim And Leather by Saxon or a close second would be Rock Forever by Judas Priest off the Killing Machine album.

What are the important things you think bands need to deliver to their fans?

Dennis with Rob Reiner (ANVIL)

This could mean anything really Mohsen. Could mean the length of time between album releases, frequency of touring but I think the most important thing is reaction with the fans. Obviously the huge bands cannot spend hours after a gig by the backstage door as it would be impossible, especially at an arena gig as the fans have to respect this. Some bands think that as they have performed the gig then that is enough. I do not wish to disrespect Manowar but after they had played their 1st UK date in 17yrs this March they went straight offstage and onto the tour bus before we had chance to try and say hi but that’s just how it goes. But on the other end of the scale, we went to see Anvil here in June and the whole band came out into the crowd about 10mins after the gig. Not outside in the cold, but inside the venue signing whatever we wanted and having pictures taken.

I heard that you have an old metal Denim jacket and even you set up a profile for it on facebook! tell me about that and how old is it? I bet you have many memories with it, want to share some of them with us?

Den’s denim jacket a.k.a Old Scruffy? Yeah,I’ve lost times of comments made at gigs over it.Most metal fans have patches,no disrespect to them as they are showing devotion to their favourite bands but in the 70’s/80’s an embroidered jacket was the thing to have.All the embroidery on it I did myself late 70’s/early 80’s so its hard to remember when I did a particular design but the one I do remember is one of Bon Scott which I did like a cross with the letter O being in the middle as I did this piece of work on the day that he died in Feb.1980.There are also quite a few signatures on it as well the oldest being when all of Manowar signed it at 2 different gigs here in the UK in 1984 and they are still visible.My favourite tho is the autograph of Ted Nugent when I saw twice here in 88.One of my heroes and he also signed a 1977 tour programme and my live tape list of his material.I still wear it to concerts and was asked about it most recently at a Y&T show here last Sunday(Oct 2nd).

Tell me about the Metal festivals that you went and you want to go to this year and which of them was the best you’ve ever been to?

I have been to many festivals for over 30yrs Mohsen.The best ever were the Monsters Of Rock ones here at Castle Donington.It is now called Download and is nowhere as good now as in the 80’s.It has now turned into a 3 day fest and is a complete rip-off!In the 80’s it was a one day gig on a Saturday.You could go there on the Friday and camp outside the venue for free and also park your car for free.The 1st 1 I attended was i 1981,headlined by ACDC.Also on the bill were Whitesnake,Blue Oyster Cult,Slade,Blackfoot and More.The only true metal festival here in the UK now is one called Bloodstock,also a 3 day fest but a lot cheaper than Download and the bands are heavier.Download’s 3 headliners this year were Def Leppard,Linkin Park and System Of A Down.Bloodstock’s were WASP,Immortal and Motorhead.Bit of a no brainer really Mohsen! \m/

Some guys said that the age of Legends is finished and we will not have more legends in the future, what do you think about it?

I do think the days of legends are not finished but there are not as many on the music scene as there used to be.Obviously a lot of the older ones are still alive and deserve their status but my immediate reaction to modern day legends would be Slash and Dave Grohl.

Denn with Blaze Bayley

There are many elements to heavy metal history, such as bands, stars, journalists, record labels and fans. Which of them are important in your opinion?

 Well,you have left the most difficult question till last Mohsen,haha.Of the list you have made then I would say the bands.If we had no bands then there would be no need for journalists,record companies and there would be no stars and no fans. Thank you for your questions,it made me think long and hard about the music I love which is always a good thing.It has consumed my life for over 35yrs now and will continue to do so. \m/

Thanks for giving me your time Den, Wish you a wonderful and METAL year!

Interview by Mohsen Fayyazi