With the imminent release of their second album 'Black Soul Vendetta' on the horizon, Mike Blackhart sits down with Birmingham Hard Rockers 'Devilfire', for a Q&A on the spark behind the flame...
Hi guys, hope all is well and thanks for giving us the time to sit down and chat, its greatly appreciated...
1-How is everyone doing in the Devilfire family?
Alex : All good thanks, just working away furiously to bring everyone a great record! :)
Baz : Fabulous, emphatic, & blonde.
Kieran : Excellent – laying the groundwork for another heavy-metal year in 2020.
Lars : We're doing great, pushing forward with the new album and preparing some exciting things all being documented in our members AAA forum on our website.
2-Congratulations on the new album 'Black Soul Vendetta'... the title infers we might be heading into a deep, dark sonic landscape... If this is the direction, how did the concept come about and how did the related themes inform the album as a whole and or specific tracks?
Alex : I think it’s fair to say this one is a little darker, it deals with some darker issues whilst keeping continuity with the first album. The title comes from an amalgamation on two track titles from the album. “Black Soul Bones” and "Vendetta".
The artwork has evolved from our previous work with tattooist Rob Steelen. Dan Goldsworthy breathes a classic look into the album cover incorporating all the things we love. The image of 'Marvin' as I’ve come to call him suits the title of the record perfectly.
3- Your debut album, 2017's ‘Dark Manoeuvres’, was a passion project that was the best part of four years in the making, it was extremely well received and struck all the right notes, resulting in gigs, festivals and a Eastern European tour. Given all these fantastic achievements and experiences what impact did these events have on your return to the studio and the writing /recording process? Was it a challenge or a lot easier? And what differences were apparent compared to the recording of the first album?
Alex : It’s fair to say for me it’s a double edged sword.
Easier because you have confidence that you didn’t have on the first record. People actually liked what you do and that’s incredible in itself.
Harder because now you have to move on, evolve and better your last work which can feel daunting to some. The reaction and what we achieved with DM was brilliant but yeah, Devilfire has become a different animal now and that can be difficult.
Writing wise I’m in a completely different headspace now so the song feel is bound to be different, it’s a new frontier in a lot of ways.
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4-And gearwise... What have you been using and have there been any changes in equipment for the new album?
Alex : Not massively, we’ve been able to use a few new people on this one. Most notably Greg Chandler at Priory Recording Studios and Dan Goldsworthy for the art. Apart from that it’s a pretty tight operation and the toys remain the same!
Baz : I'm always looking for tweaks and adjustments, we could do a whole interview on gear! To keep it simple though, the way we operate liberates us (mostly) from cost and time constraints so there's plenty of room to experiment with the technical side of things and I don't have a hard and fast rule around how a guitar sound should be achieved, suffice to say if it works for the song then it's the right thing.
Kieran: The tried and tested formula: Gibson, Marshall and mid-strength lager.
5-Some would argue... that the 'sound' of the band has to work with the 'right look', and with social media the 'optics' and or perception sometimes comes before the music is even heard. How did you decide on what style works best for you and what influences the choices you make?
Baz: I don't really think about it. I like what I like, and that fits with what the band's vision. I guess if it didn't, we wouldn't be together!
Kieran: Exactly - in the words of Arthur Brown, “you have to be just what you are”.
6- The more the music industry changes, the more it stays the same... Streams through Spotify show that the business model is working for the big labels, with varying levels of success the further down the ladder you go... So apart from offering an excellent product, what’s the 'Devilfire Strategy' for growing the fan base and increasing the revenue streams, in both the digital and real world? And could you elaborate on the 'Devilfire AAA package'?
Baz : 4-4-2. Diamond formation. Jumpers for goalposts. Lovely.
Kieran : I think your first point is pretty much spot-on; whilst the ‘classical’ order of things – demo, EP, album, tour, album, tour, repeat – has certainly changed with the times, it remains the case that ability to stand up and deliver a killer live set is what really carries at the end of the day. When music fans leave a venue at the end of the night wanting to see and hear more, that’s when they’ll tend to pick up a CD, stream the album, follow us online and – hopefully – catch us again at a show or festival someday. In terms of “strategy” I suppose it’s the same as anything else: you get out what you put in – work hard, drive hard, sleep little.
Lars : So as I mentioned earlier with the "AAA package" we are taking control of our own content offering subscription members the chance to connect with us directly online and get all the "behind the scenes" content and exclusive first look and listen at everything we have to offer. Rather the "Pledge" type system where we would be counting on others to help support us or else we may not achieve our next step's etc, this is not the case. We will always strive to bring our fans more without being put in the situation where we could have to let people down by not hitting "a target" like other platforms. With AAA you become a member because you truly love the band and we, in return of your support, give you all the exclusive insight into what's happening with the band and without question you get all the best offers from the band first and extras that will not be on offer anywhere else.
7-'Merch-wise', I'm all about Band T shirts, in fact a large part of my wardrobe comprises of what can only be described as a 'Sea of black tour tees'... When it comes to the 'final say' on Devilfire designs and artwork, who has the final say, or is it more of a group decision? Furthermore, how does it make you feel when you see your fans representing with your livery emblazoned across their chests?
Alex : I guess I get casting vote on the art although I do listen to the other guys. I always had a vision for Devilfire so the art is important to me!
I’m immensely proud of what we’ve achieved in a short space of time with Devilfire and it’s ridiculously heart-warming to see the logo out there on the T-shirts, it means a hell of a lot to me!
8. When and where will we be able to see you in 2020 and who would you like to have on the bill with you?
Alex : There’s a fair few shows I think, all will be revealed shortly.
We're looking forward to the already published shows at the Tivoli, Gravity and SOS Festival :)
Baz : Beth Blade and the Beautiful Disasters, the last time we shared a bill it was a fantastic laugh. If not them, then let's start a petition to get the Blacklist Saints back together.
9.Final question... I heard about the 'Taxi Driver' story... What exactly happened???
Alex : Well... we were on the Tarja tour in 2017.
From what I remember we’d arrived in Bucharest in the morning and settled into an apartment there. We had a small amount of gear that we needed to get to the show but we had a few hours to sleep before setting out to the venue.
We were travelling light so we could fit all the band members and gear in a couple of taxi’s.
We’d been using Uber as it was tracked and regulated and was the safest option in Romania.
We took all the gear downstairs and Davey (bass player at the time) summoned 2 Ubers.
Only one showed up...
Baz, Lars and Davey (along with some of the gear) went on ahead as we were running late and needed to have a representative at the venue.
The plan was to send another Uber back for myself, Rich (guitarist at the time) and the rest of the gear! This didn’t happen.
With the clock ticking and no taxi firm to hand Rich and I flagged down a taxi.
We got in and the guy seemed nice but didn’t say much.
About 2 minutes in he was asking the usual questions, 'are you a music group?' etc.
At this point he presented me with a leaflet with naked women all over it.
I kinda just laughed as it just seemed surreal that I could order a woman the same as a pizza in Romania.
I politely declined of course and the driver seemed jovial.
We pulled up outside the venue and things took a turn for the worse. He told us how much the ride was and Rich and I looked at each other as if to say... no way, not a chance! It was the equivalent of about £500!
After a heated discussion that was starting to get tense (especially trying to explain through the broken English that this guy was speaking to us) he revealed what I can only know from movies as a beretta (pistol) in the glove box. It was some sort of gun, no clue which to be honest.
With both of us in the back and covered in musical instruments we’d forced into the car there was no quick escape.
Rich took the card to the cash point and got the money out while I waited with the taxi driver.
I’m not afraid to say I feared for my life as well as Rich’s and the worst thing about it was looking at the incredibly massive venue out of the window and thinking 'I hope we get through this so I can play that!'
Luckily he accepted the £385 we had, virtually chucked our gear out of his cab and drove off.
Rich and I clambered the gear into the venue only to be met by a stalker the band had adopted by accident, but that’s another story...
Lars : Ah yes! as Alex mentioned the stalker or "the eccentric fan" as I like to call her as she was just somewhat of an obsessive fan of Tarja.
We met this girl on the flight to Bucharest and a couple of the band got speaking to her, found out she was following the tour around, back packing of sorts and some silly bugger in the band decided to invite her to stay with us, I've done way too many tours to know that inviting people to join the band is risky but I only found out that she was joining us when we were getting in the transport to the hotel in Bucharest and so I left her the responsibility of the others (that and the fact I was major hungover from the previous night).
After settling into the hotel and leaving for the venue a few hours later, Baz, Davey, myself and "the eccentric fan" get in the first taxi which was a simple ride to the venue unlike Alex and Rich's trip.
On entering the venue, saying hello to some of the touring crew and entering our dressing room with the girl in tow. there is a knock at the door and I was called out of the room by Tarja's pa, I have been dealing with her for the whole tour for guest list each night so I was expecting the usual conversation but this was not the case, She said "The girl in there needs to leave the venue now, I'm sure you're not aware and you are just thinking you're helping her out but she is not allowed near Tarja's touring company, she can come and watch the show but that's it, please inform her to leave, do not discuss with her why and make sure she is escorted from the building".
Well that left me in a bit of an awkward situation, I walked straight back into the room, looked straight at Baz and said "she must leave, she can come and see the show but right now please escort her out of the building". Baz utterly confused and assuming it was just a normal no public backstage starting saying "just tell them she's the merch girl or crew" and asking me why the more I said she had to leave. But over his shoulder i could see that she knew exactly why she shouldn't be there and once I managed to get Baz in the hallway to explain, when we came back in she already had her things and went with Baz with no fuss. Not a very Rock n Roll story but not what you need as a "new" band on your first tour support.
10. The real final question... Alex, Baz what hair products do you use?
Alex : Ha Ha Ha - John Frieda and always condition more than you need to :)
Baz : If I told you, I'm afraid I'd have to kill you.
Kieran : Wash & Go ‘sport’ flavour. Always brush violently downwards from the roots and never, ever, use a hairdryer.
Thank you for the interview guys it really helps!
look forward to seeing you in 2020.
Have a great Xmas!
Alex, Baz, Jay, Kieran and Lars :)
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The new album is available for Pre-order at www.devilfire.co.uk in our store!
CD is only £9.99! Vinyl is only £24.99!
Wanna hear new stuff now? Join Devilfire AAA and get to hear tracks from the album and see behind the scenes action as we make the record. Only £3 a month and once you've been with us for 3 months you get the CD!
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