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INTRODUCTION

About thirteen months ago I started to a run a series of exclusive interviews with writers on my website www.neildaniels.com. This section of my website has since expanded into an interesting albeit still relatively small archive. Most of the interviews are with music writers but there are also some interviews with respectable authors like Kim Newman and Ramsey Campbell. My ongoing aim with ‘Interviews With Writers’ is to understand the publishing industry (both books and magazines) as well as to take advice from published authors and experienced journalists of pop culture; it’s a learning tool for the aspiring writer more than anything else. More interestingly, there’s also a chance for the writers to digress and talk about some of the artists they’ve interviewed, books they’ve read, plus their favourite authors, musicians, gigs and albums, etc.
    I was flicking through an old issue of Kerrang! not too long ago and thought: wouldn’t it be great to get in touch with a lot of these scribes and interview them about working for the world’s most famous heavy metal magazine during the eighties?  Consequently, I began to build up a solid list of contacts and fortunately many of those writers agreed to be interviewed. The difference this time was that I didn’t want to just add them to my website but actually publish a collection of interviews dealing specifically with writers of heavy metal and hard rock. My list of interviews expanded day by day, from writers who began their careers working at Sounds and Melody Maker to contemporary writers who began their careers writing for webzines. Of course, Internet rock journalism is a contentious issue and has been criticised for the decline in the quality of rock journalism.  Long gone are the days when readers would buy every album positively reviewed by one journo or when readers could recall the entire list of staff writers on a particular rock magazine. I’ve personally bought albums by artists I’ve never heard of just because a favourite writer of mine reviewed their music positively. Star names like Charles Shaar Murray, Nick Kent, Mick Wall and David Fricke, et al, are no longer being born. There were also a number of writers back in the golden age of rock journalism who were not especially great wordsmiths but had an incredible knowledge of the music and their enthusiasm shone in every paragraph. Nevertheless, I didn’t want to be prejudiced so I decided to include writers from all eras and formats.
    Annoyingly, there was not a single publisher interested in this collection. I was (and still am, obviously) absolutely convinced that there is a reading group out there who will buy this book. What the hell, I thought, I’m going to spend my own pennies and self-publish it.
    The careers of some of the writers included in this book flourished during the eighties as they toured the world with mega-selling rock bands. However, like many of the bands they covered, their careers suffered at the hands of the grunge explosion in the nineties and so they sought employment elsewhere. This book is basically a forum for the writers to detail their experiences in the tumultuous world of heavy metal and hard rock writing. However, the idea behind my website archive – that of helping aspiring writers – still applies to this collection but it’s a lot more fun to read. Some of the writers go off on tangents and talk about books that have inspired them to other personal interests yet it always comes back to heavy metal and hard rock. More than anything else, I hope this collection will serve as an historical document and will fill in some gaps in your knowledge along the way.
    Some of the writers featured are not metal writers per se but have written bits and pieces on the genre and so their inclusion is justified; also, the book covers classic rock, alternative rock, Goth and grunge, so I have included some writers who have written significant amounts on those genres too. It presents a bigger picture, I think. In a way, All Pens Blazing gives a potted history of the rock and metal press.
    My main area of interest is with ex-Kerrang! writers, specifically dealing with the magazine’s first six years (1981-87). Kerrang! was initially a one-off supplement in Sounds but it quickly became evident that there was a large readership for writings on heavy metal and hard rock. Kerrang! was published on a monthly basis thereafter, then, rather boldly, fortnightly. In 1987, seven Kerrang! writers jumped ship to join the newly-published Metal Hammer (the magazine had first been published in the UK the previous year after the German owners decided to print an English language version). The departure of those seven writers was basically a protest at the decision to take Kerrang! to weekly publication as those writers felt the integrity of the magazine would decline. It soon became clear that working at Metal Hammer was not going to be an easy ride; it was due in part to a division between the British staff and the German owners. As a counter-attack, RAW magazine was founded in 1988 by former Kerrang! scribes Malcolm Dome and Dante Bonutto, Steve McTaggart and the late Mark Putterford (author of the excellent biography Phil Lynott: The Rocker). However, after a change in governorship in 1990 the magazine began its swift decline. Hard rock and heavy metal was no longer popular due mostly to the success of grunge.
    When RAW started to publish articles on Britpop it became clear that the magazine’s original intentions had been lost and so after a name change to Noisy Mothers, RAW ceased publication in 1995. Kerrang! and Metal Hammer were still defending the faith through the nineties but many of the writers from the previous decade had moved on, and as music changed so did the magazines readership. Fast-forward to 1998 and Classic Rock magazine was first published. It was basically a magazine for those rock fans who had read Kerrang! in the eighties and both magazines even share many of the same writers. Classic Rock is now one of the UK’s biggest-selling magazines, outselling both Kerrang! and the NME.
    I’m not just interested in those magazines but also defunct publications such as Metal Forces, Creem, Circus, RIP and more recently Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles, Metal Edge and Metal Maniacs. There’s also the UK’s Terrorizor and Powerplay and Sweden Rock in metal loving Scandinavia. One overlooked area is that of the fanzine. So in this book there are interviews with Brian Slegal on the first ever American metal fanzine The New Heavy Metal Revue, Matthias Mader on Iron Pages in Germany and Bruce Mee on Fireworks in the UK. There are also plenty of references to the likes of Frontiers, Hard Roxx, Rock Hard and Metal Zone. Remember those?
    The biggest problem I faced was when to stop. I could have easily contacted a hundred more writers but I decided to stop at just past sixty. Who knows, if this book is moderately successful – and I break even, financially – I may compile a second volume. (So please force your friends to buy a copy! Hell, buy two copies and give one away. Spread the word…)
    What I don’t want is for the book to be used as a battleground to reignite old feuds between certain writers, especially those who had worked on the same magazines. All Pens Blazing is about the music, the journalism and the books, nothing else. Some writers have decided to censor their interviews, some haven’t. What I mean by that is: some have named names, some have not.  All the interviews were done by e-mail because I felt that it would give the writer a chance to think about their answers and to vividly recall anecdotes from their past that could be included. I’ve only formatted the interviews to fit the book’s house style. This does not affect the writers’ answers in any way. I’ve also written a brief introduction for each interview. One thing I hope is that this book squashes the ignorant notion that heavy metal and rock writers are illiterate. Many of them are well-read and astute and have varying tastes outside of the music we all love. Most writers, in fact, state the deceased American writer Hunter S. Thompson as a literary hero. There are other literary influences too as you will find out.
    Anyway, that’s enough of my waffle. There’s a lot to read…

Neil Daniels
July, 2009
(www.neildaniels.com)

DEREK OLIVER

Derek Oliver is a former Kerrang! journalist who has work in the record business since 1989. During his years as a rock scribe he built up a reputation as a leading expert on AOR and melodic rock and along with the likes of Dave Ling, Dave Reynolds and Paul Suter, he still remains one of the most respected names in the field. He now works for Roadrunner Records and co-founded the fantastic reissue company Rock Candy Records.

Can you give me a brief history of your career in music journalism?
The compulsion to put pen to paper came about during the mid seventies as a result of reading the weekly music papers; Melody Maker, NME and Sounds were the main offenders but I soon discovered other more esoteric publications such as Zig-Zag, Trouser Press and Beat Instrumental. The school publication was a natural outlet for my initial ramblings but the world of fanzines seemed to offer more possibilities and I contributed to a few long since forgotten, but lovingly crafted, titles including Steve Hammonds’ White Lightning and Howard Johnson’s Phoenix. Stuff like that really hit the spot for me – they were well into the underground hard rock scene, especially American artists and the NWOBHM. Around this time I’d been hanging out around the Melody Maker’s office and got to know some of the writers. They were having trouble with their hard rock/metal coverage so the editor at the time Mike Oldfield (no, not that one) asked me to write some reviews but within a week he’d already asked to go on the road with Queen in Europe. I think those initial commissions came about more as a result of attrition than talent. Then in 1983 I moved over to Kerrang! which was a good thing as the magazine was about to rocket into the stratosphere with its brilliantly crafted and authoritative content. I stayed with the magazine until I left to work in the record business in 1989.

What was your first published piece?
I can’t remember to be precise. It was probably an album review for the school rag – I remember writing a Sensational Alex Harvey Band album review and a live review of Thin Lizzy at The Roundhouse. I was taking baby steps to something unfeasibly powerful.

Which article are you most proud of?
That’s a hard one. I guess two spring immediately to mind. I interviewed Boston main man Tom Scholz around the time of their Third Stage album. Getting the interview was a major hurdle. Tom had decided at this stage to dispense with interviews – or at least most interviews – preferring to let the music do the talking. I was on the phone with folks at MCA for hours at a time trying to coax them into persuading Tom to talk to me. Eventually word came through that he had conceded and a phoner was set up. Then I was told not to ask him about the switch from Epic Records to MCA as legally he wasn’t allowed to comment. I thought this was ludicrous so I got the name of his lawyer based in LA and called him – he was so flattered to be speaking to a UK ‘journalist’ that he spilled the beans on the entire situation. So I got the story without having to ask Tom himself. As it turned out Tom was a pleasant enough guy but I could tell he was not your average hard rock bonehead – his convoluted explanation of the Third Stage was a sort of pre Spinal Tap moment. I remember thinking, ‘Jeeze, what must it be like playing in this dudes band?’ When I handed the feature in to the magazine it was so long that they had to run it in two parts – in fact I remember Geoff Barton had cut and pasted the proofs in one long sheet which stretched the entire length of the Kerrang! office.
The other interview I’m most proud of was a Kingdom Come exclusive. I went to LA to interview Lenny Wolf prior to the album being released and was confronted with an ego the size of Manhattan. I’d been given a pre-release cassette (yes, that long ago!) of the album and although I thought it was a great creation, I also thought it was extremely amusing. The Led Zeppelin comparisons were undeniable but when I sat Lenny down in the rehearsal room and confronted him with the Zep comparison he went off like whirling-dervish denying that he’d ever listened to Zeppelin. It was a truly ridiculous moment and one that I caught on tape complete with copious huffing, puffing and the sound of a fist smashing down on the coffee table. At the time Kerrang! created a phone-in line where you could hear interviews and music – we put that one up straight away. If only Lenny had come clean – I don’t think he would have been be so vilified. Really, that denial was effectively the beginnings of the end of the project despite the fact that the album shipped gold and I think eventually went platinum.

Some of your articles caused controversy (Judas Priest/Jonathan Valen review), what do you have to say about those in hindsight?
Journalists are always looking for an angle and I was no different. What annoys me about rock music is the ridiculous pantomime that goes on behind the scenes. Having worked on the other side of the desk since 1989 I’ve been privy to an amazing amount of ludicrous goings on – if I had been a journalist during these years I would have had a field day – in fact there is a book to be written. The Priest thing was just one in a long line of bizarre tales that I’ve seen. I went to a show in LA at I think the Sports Arena (a very big, maybe eight thousand plus capacity venue) and whilst wandering around the back stage area before the show I bumped into Jonathan Valen – erstwhile drummer for one of my favourite all time bands Legs Diamond – and we got chatting. I asked him why he was so early at the venue and he said: “Well I’ve got to make sure my equipment is set up.” He told me he was a ghost drummer for Dave Holland and took me deep under the ‘Hellion’ stage set and lo and behold showed me his box of tricks – a mini drum kit with Syn Pads and some electronic gadgetry. This is where he sat during the performance. Of course it all fell into place; I’d wondered for ages about Dave Holland’s huge drum sound – for such a ‘light’ player his sound was enormous and I suddenly realised why. Do I regret that? In way I do. Priest are an incredible band and they were always great live with or without Dave Holland (I’d seen them very early on at The Roundhouse during the early seventies) so was it really necessary to ‘reveal’ that situation? Possibly not, but like I said as a journalist you’re always looking for a new spin on old tricks and Jonathan handed it to me on plate.

You co-wrote the book The International Encyclopaedia Of Hard Rock & Heavy Metal with Tony Jasper, Dave Reynolds and Steve Hammonds. What do you remember about writing it?
It was fraught with difficulties. I was originally introduced to Tony Jasper by my pen friend and fellow tape trader Steve Hammonds who in turn had hooked up with Dave Reynolds (another future Kerrang! writer) and they had been approached by Tony Jasper to supply information for a heavy metal encyclopaedia. Jasper was a jobbing music journalist and music author who didn’t really have anything but a rudimentary knowledge of hard rock yet had the connections to get the commission. He had written a biography of Cliff Richard which had sold well and I think he bamboozled the publishers with a raft of book ideas of which The International Encyclopaedia Of Hard Rock & Heavy Metal was one of several possibilities. Anyway, as I lived close by him, I got heavily involved in the project and, mainly by a process of geographical attrition, became the dominant contributor – Tony’s work was a shambles full of inaccuracy and meaningless twaddle – as you might expect from someone who wasn’t fully versed in the minutia of the subject. Dave and Steve were supplying lots of solid info but Tony was compiling it in a very poor fashion. I ended up having lots of quite heated arguments with him about the content and to be honest Dave and Steve were marginalised as I fought with Tony trying to knock the book into decent shape. It was eventually published, but in my opinion it’s a terrible piece of work marred by the constant battles with Tony and lots of inaccuracy. Despite this the book was updated two more times – and both occasions were equally stressful. If I had met Tony outside of this project I would have said that he was a thoroughly decent and engaging chap – I actually enjoyed his company when we weren’t working on the book but the bottom line is Dave, Steve and myself were essentially ghost writing a book about a topic that he really didn’t have a passion for. I’m glad it’s all behind me. I think if that situation had come up at another point in my life I would have taken a polite pass as I’m sure Steve and Dave would. Fortunately I still remain very good friends with Steve and Dave who both went on to achieve some great things.

What’s your opinion of modern music journalism, specifically writings on heavy metal?
I think the writing is good but the subject matter is boring. During the seventies and eighties we were writing about a musical movement that was fresh and exciting – it was a case of live fast and die young and that’s always good copy. By the time grunge came into view I was already out of journalism and working in a record company. That period was an awful time for music and, in turn, music journalism, as the fun, thrills and humour had been sucked out of the equation. I mean, they may have been great artists but could you write about Nirvana and Pearl Jam with a humorous slant? I remember being at the Grammy’s during the mid nineties and Pearl Jam won an award for some category or other and Eddie Vedder reluctantly ambled up on stage dressed like a tramp and the first thing he said was something along the lines of a thoroughly depressing “I really don’t wanna be here...” and then huffed and puffed his way through a meaningless and totally negative two minute speech. I mean, if Mötley Crüehad won they’d be doing double somersaults, screaming obscenities, drinking vodka and inviting all the ladies back to the hotel. The point is, there would definitely be something to write about.

How does the likes of Classic Rock and Metal Hammer compare to the eighties?
Well, it’s a totally different world we live in. Back in the eighties the only place you could find out about rock music was in the print media and it took MTV a good few years to actually get their medium into the majority of homes. Nowadays you can get any piece of information you want with the click of a mouse button in the blink of an eye. To be honest there is almost too much info available and it’s already beginning to feel like way too much effort to shift through all the stuff you can access. If you visit MySpace the sheer volume of music is overwhelming – it’s impossible to spend more than an hour on the site without becoming fatigued. This is where I think music magazines will ultimately come to the rescue – they will be a useful filtering tool by presenting in a tangible solid format all the info and insight that you really need. If they have the right editors in place they’ll survive and prosper of that I’m certain. Classic Rock is a great example of a magazine that caters for a completely disenfranchised readership but the inclusion of punk and new wave is a source of constant irritation amongst most of the readership. Classic rock music is a niche that is expanding and prospering whilst most mainstream pop or youth music continues to contract. Providing both magazines stick to their core values I see nothing but great things for them in the future.

Which writers did you most admire from the Kerrang! period of your career?
They all had different and very strong personalities with far reaching ambitions. I made some wonderful friends and got to understand their motives. I would say that Geoff Barton’s elder statesman hat was – and still is – extremely well fitting. Geoff has a knack for seeking out humour in even the driest of subject matter and he’s a wonderfully rounded human being – there is no pretence there whatsoever and he has the historical gravitas to really make his writing come alive. I can’t praise him enough. Xavier Russell was also a great asset and friend but, in many ways, he was under-utilised… a very knowledgeable and extremely passionate music guy. For me, encyclopaedic understanding of the subject was king and in that respect people like Malcolm Dome, Paul Suter, Dave Ling, Neil Jeffries, Dante Bonutto, Jerry Ewing, Dave Reynolds and Howard Johnson always made me feel like I was in very good company. Mick Wall is truly a great writer – arguably too great for the confines of publications such as Kerrang! – but his obsessional coverage of Iron Maiden and Guns N’ Roses became, in the end, something of an Achilles heel.

Which contemporary rock/metal magazines do you most admire?
Naturally, for an old Kerrang! devotee like myself, Classic Rock is right on top of the list, as it should be. I love WORD and Uncut as they cover a number of related topics – film, TV, comedy etc. Mojo used to excel but for some reason the content feels a little tired and somewhat unfocussed. I think Q, despite its relaunch, now feels decidedly mid-nineties; its broad base has been usurped by WORD and Uncut. There are a number of tremendous European classic rock/hard rock publications out there including Classix Rock, Rock Hard and Sweden Rock – all written in their native tongue – where the presentation, design and photo content is breathtakingly impressive.

Is there anything lacking in modern metal magazines?
Originality, sadly. But it’s not entirely their fault.

Who are your favourite metal scribes?
Right now, I’ll go with Paul Elliott and Mark Blake who are a cut above the competition on every level. Paul is a tremendous writer who knows all the reference points yet utilises an edgy, clever and witty style to maximum effect. Mark Blake is cut from the same cloth; his attention to detail is second to none.

What are your favourite books on rock and metal?
Unquestionably Hardcore Troubadour: The Life And Near Death Of Steve Earle, a biography written by Lauren St John. This has to be the most compulsive book I’ve ever read – every page is riveting. Talk about excess, Steve Earl takes all the honours for the most uncontrollable rock artist of all time. I happen to be a huge fan of Earl’s work and this tome goes someway to explaining his unique appeal. Makes Amy Winehouse seem like a nun. I’m amazed he’s still alive and functioning.

Can you name some of the best gigs you’ve been to?
Thin Lizzy at the London Roundhouse in 1975; UFO at the same venue in 1976; Status Quo supported by Montrose at the Empire Pool, Wembley in 1975; Sensational Alex Harvey Band and Rush at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1976; KISS and Aerosmith at the same half empty venue in 1976. Skynrd/Golden Earring at the Rainbow. I’ve got a box of tickets that I really ought to make into a book of great live gigs…

Which artists have you most enjoyed interviews with?
Without sounding blasé or one of those pretentious world weary media bores I have to say very few ‘rock stars’ have actually given me a great interview. Most are on a treadmill of promotion so what you get is what they think you should hear and it’s all much rehearsed. Two interviews stand out however and they weren’t from necessarily big artists at the top of their game.
Eddie Money was a total entertainer – he talked about himself in the third person, cracked a string of rib-cracking gags and then pestered me to take him on the town for the evening. The guy was so wired I had to make my excuses and leave early.
The other artist I enjoyed interviewing/being with the most was Leslie West. Leslie was a huge bear of a man with a penchant for humour and warmth. I hung out with him on tour in Europe when Mountain was supporting Deep Purple on their first comeback tour. He was totally mad but in a good way. His natural speaking voice is incredibly nasal and crackly so anything he said was hugely entertaining. Actually it was like being around a forty year-old school boy – his energy level is through the roof and he’d wind up long time drummer Corky Laing like a man on a mission. I’ll never forget driving along a German Autobahn in a people carrier at ninety mph when Leslie livened things up by flinging open the side door and attempted to climb onto the roof.

And the least enjoyable interviews?
Steve Clark, the guy out of Def Leppard who topped himself with drink. He was acting like a school kid, but unlike Leslie West instead of actually being naturally funny and warm came across as a total idiot. I remember thinking how someone this absurd have so much talent? And no, I don’t think he was particularly drunk that day either. Out of all the interviews I undertook, that one stood out as easily the most depressing. You could tell the writing was on the wall even at that stage.

What was the best thing about working at Kerrang! in the eighties?
For me it was the ability to express enthusiasm about new and developing artists. I was always far more interested in writing about new names on the scene – that’s what got me really fired up and it’s also the reason why I got into A&R. To be honest, although I like the popular bands of the day, what more could you possibly say about Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses and Aerosmith that hadn’t already been said a million times before? That’s when it becomes a job and not a cause.

What do you think of contemporary Kerrang!?
It’s a functional publication that covers the scene as well as it can given the nature of the market place. Like I said earlier, I think the role of Kerrang! and Metal Hammer will only strengthen as time marches on but the coverage and editorial focus needs to be sharpened to a fine point.

Can you name some entertaining anecdotes from the Kerrang! years?
Really, there are too many to write about – I have always been a keen observer of bizarre human behaviour and strange circumstantial phenomena and being a writer for Kerrang! provided ample case studies. Actually I went out of my way to meet a lot of behind the scenes music biz characters who, in a strange way, were more entertaining than the artists all armed with the kind of anecdotes that could only be repeated when they are dead and buried. Encounters with Don Arden and Ahmet Ertegun are a prime example – both blessed with tremendous theatrical flare, the sort of behaviour that only the rich and powerful can truly sustain. I definitely have a book’s worth of yarns as if anybody would even care about such twaddle.

What do you think of fanzines and ezines? Are you a fan of any of them?
Any communication and critique is always a good thing but there are so many blogs, websites, on line forums and twittery things that I find that it’s just so congested. The other day I was at a music convention and the word being preached in one of the seminars was that band websites and even MySpace are now old news – a redundant format. I find that quite remarkable.

What is your music (including books) collection like?
I’m an obsessive collector. I’ve got literally hundreds of music biographies and books which I pretend are invaluable to my work – of course they aren’t but any excuse is better than none. In addition I’ve got tens of thousands of vinyl albums – they are stored in three places as they wouldn’t all fit into one normal sized room. I’ve spent over thirty years collecting the most obscure rock records you can possibly imagine and I’ve still got a ‘want’ list as long as my arm. It’s an obsession that has drawn me down some incredibly dark alleys – flea markets and record shops that have long since passed into folk lore. For me, it’s all about collecting music and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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