Paul Gregory

Interview By Alison Booth

Hot on the heels of their twenty first studio album “Battering Ram”, released in October 2015, NWOBHM legends SAXON announced recently that Demon Records will release of an extraordinary Saxon Box Set, containing vinyl LP’s of the band’s nine studio albums recorded between 1991 and 2009. “Eagles and Dragons” will be released on 18th March.

“Eagles and Dragons” features nine seminal NWOBHM albums which before today, were only released on vinyl in some regions including Germany, Italy and the UK, and in very limited amounts. These new luxury 180 gram vinyl versions, including inner sleeves with all the lyrics, are a must-have for fans and collectors, complete with artwork by Paul Gregory.

Saxon Eagles and Dragons

Senior Manager Alison Booth recently caught up with SAXON front man and vocalist Biff Byford to discuss the forthcoming release, as well as various other topics including touring. A few excerpts can be read below and the full interview can be heard on the audio player. The interview was also recorded for Blackdiamond’s Metal Mayhem show on http://www.totalrock.com and will be featured there next week, details will be announced soon on the official Facebook page.

Discussing “Eagles and Dragons” Biff stated:

“It goes through that dodgy early nineties period when the British bands were having a few problems with the grunge explosion happening around them. It goes through that and different member changes, different drummers on there, it’s just a great package really. There’s some absolute gems in there, you can here a band morphing from the late eighties to basically now really. Hopefully people can carry it, it weighs a ton! The artwork looks great on vinyl rather than CD, you see the depth of the painting.”

Moving on to legendary SAXON artist Paul Gregory, Biff enthused:

“The first album we did was Crusader in ’84. He’s done other album covers as well for other bands, but I think the ones he does for us probably connect to his style – more the mythical side and the whole Saxon image goes with what he does really. So from Crusader right up to Lionheart, which is a fantastic cover with the shield and everything. We work together me and Paul, so it’s good to keep a good team together.”

saxon_biff

Regarding “Battering Ram” and touring plans for this year, Biff revealed:

“We’re gonna go out and tour again, because obviously with Lemmy dying suddenly we couldn’t finish the Battering Ram tour we were doing with Motörhead and Girlschool. We’re gonna go out in October and finish that tour, I don’t like leaving it unfinished. We’re gonna try and take out Girlschool if they’re up for it, so the fans will have a little bit of the same package.

We’re probably going to go back to America if we can squeeze it in and gonna go to Japan maybe October. We’re touring October to December, so it could be Europe, UK, a bit of America in there. We’re putting it together now, so keep your eyes open!”

On being together for so long and the secret of keeping going, Biff said:

“If you listen to the albums you can see the secret, I mean we’re definitely members of the Never Surrender Club. So yeah, great songs, that’s the secret. And surround yourself with people that are great at doing their job. It hasn’t always been the case with our albums, with producers and things, but I think for at least eight of those albums production is great.”

Check out a trailer for “Eagles and Dragons”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Yt8pnceSuA

SAXON Eagles And Dragons exploded packshot (without print) copy

For more information on SAXON and “Eagles and Dragons”, visit the band’s official website at this location.

Source: eventindustrynews.co.uk

Organisers of the Bloodstock Festival in Derbyshire have spoken to Event Industry News about their continued growth following the granting of a new license that takes its capacity up to 15,000. The new figure allows for a 25% increase in attendance based on last year’s 12,000 capacity.

Speaking to Event Industry News ahead of the event, which takes place between 8th-11th August, Rachael Greenfield said that the festival has grown organically since first being held in 2001.

“I’ve been involved since the beginning when my father Paul Gregory started Bloodstock. What started as an indoor event for 700 people has consistently grown over the last 13 years in to the animal that it is today, giving us a rollercoaster ride along the way as we’ve learned the do’s and don’ts of running a music festival.”

“Last year our capacity was 12,000”, said Rachael. “Three years prior to that it was 8,000, so the figures speak for themselves. We estimate that 75% of customers return each year, and it is those customers that have helped to shape the festival and create the atmosphere and dynamic that it now has.”

Educating themselves on an ongoing basis since the start, in 2008 the organisers made a calculated decision to step up a level, employing the services of a new production company that, in Rachael’s words, were ‘first class’. Part of this decision to step up a level also included bringing security specialist Showsec onboard, a move that has had a positive effect on several aspects of the show, not just the security.

“Showsec’s experience in working on events that are considerably larger than ours has been invaluable. We work closely with Richard Church on our security plans and since beginning our relationship with them in 2008, Richard and his team have proved a major asset to Bloodstock. Their staff are extremely easy to work with and have a great understanding and appreciation for the type of crowd that attends the festival, which has huge benefits to maintaining a safe and friendly environment.”

As the festival has grown, so has the stature of the bands that the organisers have been able to book, which in turn has contributed to the positive effect on the attendance figures. Artist booking is the responsibility of Vicky Hungerford, who like Rachael has been involved from day one. People unfamiliar with the scene may be unaware of just how many genres fall in to the category of music called ‘Metal’, which she says can prove tricky when trying to programme the stages.

“Bloodstock started as a power metal festival, but over the years has grown to embrace all genres of metal such as thrash, death metal, black metal etc..”

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