Elixir - veliki NWOBHM povratniki ! (2008)

(for English version, please scroll down)

RockLine: Phil zdravo! Kako ste kaj pri Elixir?
Phil: Vsi smo zelo dobro, hvala!

RockLine: Nedolgo tega ste se vrnili iz Play It Loud! II. festivala 2008 iz Italije (RockLine reportaža TUKAJ). Kakšni so vaši vtisi?
Phil: Bilo je zabavno. Festival je bil zelo dobro organiziran, zelo dobro so skrbeli za nas, upam pa, da nismo organizatorju naredili prevelikega računa zaradi popite količine piva. Festival je bil dobro obiskan, publika nas je izvrstno sprejela, skandirala ime naše skupine medtem, ko smo se pripravljali na odru za sam nastop, kot tudi med celotnim koncertom. Imeli smo se odlično in zelo radi bi znova nastopali tam. Pravkar sem na našo uradno spletno stran naložil fotografije s festivala: www.coldtown.com/elixir

RockLine: Vaš koncertni nastop je bil res eksploziven. Res lepo, da ste znova skupaj. Ali menite, da se je z vašo vrnitvijo in vrnitvijo skupin, kot so Cloven Hoof, Diamond Head ali Tygers Of Pan Tang (slednji s koncertno turnejo v aprilu 2008), pričelo nekakšno ponovno oživljanje New Wave Of British Heavy Metala?
Phil: Vse tako kaže. Kar se mene tiče, sam organiziram v Angliji festival, ki se imenuje "British Steel Festival", ki promovira NWOBHM skupine iz osemdesetih let. Vedno povabimo štiri skupine, da nastopajo poleg Elixir. To pot so na zadnjem "British Steel" festivalu nastopile z nami skupine Cloven Hoof, Tygers of Pan Tang, Jaguar in Chariot. Danes je izredno težko dobiti dober špil, saj je veliko lokacij za nastopanje stalno zasedenih, posebej v Angliji, kjer trenutno na veliko forsirajo "tribute to" skupine, hkrati pa organizatorji sploh niso zainteresirani, da bi povabili skupine katere bi izvajale svoj lastni avtorski material. Kljub temu je v preostanku Evrope in po svetu na voljo vsako leto dovolj drugačnih festivalov, kamor pridemo z veseljem nastopat. Menim, da na tak način skušamo približati novi generaciji ljubiteljev rocka, kaj smo nekoč v osemdesetih Elixir pravzaprav bili.

RockLine: Leta 2002 ste izdali album, ki je vrnil Elixir nazaj na sceno. Imenuje se "The Idol". Katere okoliščine so vodile k temu, da se znova odpravite skupaj v studio in to po več kot desetih letih mirovanja skupine?
Phil: To se je pripetilo na Normanovi rojstnodnevni zabavi, ko je praznoval 40. let. Vsi člani Elixir smo bili tam. Na tej zabavi so igrale mlade skupine. Še pred pričetkom zabave je bilo domenjeno, da stopimo še enkrat na oder in odigramo le skladbo "Trachery". Pred tem te skladbe nisem tako dolgo igral, da sem moral istega dne v dopoldanskem času poslušati stare posnetke in vaditi pesem. Medtem, ko sem tako brskal po starih posnetkih in poslušal naše skladbe kot so "The Idol" ali "Devil Rider", se mi je zdela izjemna škoda, da teh skladb nikdar nismo ustrezno posneli ali uspeli izdati na albumu. Kasneje sem na zabavi omenil preostalim fantom v Elixir, da imamo kopico starega materiala, ki ga nismo nikdar uporabili na albumih. Doma imam nekatere pripomočke, ki omogočajo digitalno snemanje in v tistem času mi je pomagal tudi Mike Emson sicer možakar, ki je v tistem času sodeloval z menoj pri pisanju skladb. Na zabavi sem prepričal fante, da se odpravimo skupaj posneti te skladbe. Posneti smo nameravali te skladbe izključno le zase. No nekaj tednov po Normanovi zabavi, me je kontaktirala grška glasbena založba Cult Metal Classics, ker je želela izdati naš prvenec "The Son Of Odin" na CD-ju. Mislil sem, da ni več nikakršnega interesa, da bi nekdo znova izdal 15 let star album, vendar pa mi je Manos, poba, ki je takrat delal pri založbi, zagotovil, da je album postal v Grčiji kulten in da je povpraševanje po njem dejansko veliko. Strinjali smo se z namero založbe in v enem samem mesecu, po izidu albuma v Grčiji, prodali 1000 kopij ponatisa. Založba Cult Metal Classics nas je potem vprašala, če posedujemo kakršenkoli drug material in tako so vse te stare skladbe, ki smo jih hoteli posneti le zase pristale na novem albumu "The Idol", ki je izšel preko založbe Cult Metal Classics na vinilu, na CD-ju pa v naši samozaložbi. Zatem so nas povabili za nosilca festivala na Heavy Metal Assault Festival v Atene. To se je odvijalo tako hitro, da še zaznali nismo, da pravzaprav znova skupaj nastopamo na odrih in znova skupaj snemamo.

RockLine: Pa so občutki še vedno enaki, medtem ko ste v studiu ali na odru, kot so bili nekoč, denimo v osemdesetih?
Phil: Menim, da smo na odrih še vedno entuzijastični kot nekoč, a s to razliko, da smo sedaj bolj samozavestni in sproščeni. V osemdesetih smo občutili težo bremena po želji, da postanemo profesionalna skupina, bilo smo pod pritiskom, da se moramo dokazati. Danes gremo na oder izključno zato da se zabavamo, kar nam takrat nedvomno tudi piše na obrazih. To velja tudi v studiu. Mnogo bolj zaupamo samim sebi. Spominja se, da, ko smo pričeli s snemanjem albuma "The Son Of Odin", je bil za nas studio popolnoma novo okolje. V studiu vladajo določena načela obnašanja in če v času, ki ti je namenjen recimo ne veš kaj bi počel z vso opremo okoli sebe, te lahko to spravi vi zadrego. Danes nam je proces snemanja mnogo bolj poznan in jasen, zato smo v studiu mnogo bolj zanesljivi, uspešni in samozavestni pri svojem delu.

RockLine: Očitno vam je dal "The Idol" dobro brco in navdih za naprej. Tako ste v letu 2006 izdali novi studijski album "Mindcreeper". Lahko opišeš razlike v okoliščinah nastajanja obeh albumov. Kako je potekalo skladanje in pisanje materiala, od kod ste črpali ideje, itd…?
Phil: Največja razlika med albumoma "The Idol" in "Mindcreeper" je bila v tem, da smo se morali za album "The Idol" znova naučiti pesmi, medtem ko se nahajajo na albumu "Mindcreeper" resnično same nove skladbe, na katerih smo delali in jih razvijali. Odkar smo pisali skladbe za "The Idol", je minilo že toliko časa, da smo ves material povsem pozabili. K sreči smo imeli stare posnetke, s katerih smo se ponovno učili. Občutek je bil, kot da snemamo album priredb. Morali smo ugotoviti kaj pravzaprav igramo. Včasih se je pripetilo, da so naše roke že kar instinktivno odigrale nek del, ki smo se ga šele skušali naučiti odigrati in občutek ob tem je bil zelo čuden.
Za 'Mindcreeper' smo porabili veliko časa za delo na novih skladbah, zato smo bili zelo dobro pripravljeni, ko smo se odpravili v studio. To je veljalo za vse skladbe z izjemo "Guding Star". Za to skladbo nisem želel, da jo Kev in Nigel slišita preden gremo v studio in jo posnamemo. Je namreč tako preprosta, da me je skrbelo, da jo bosta predobro naštudirala in se z njo tako udomačila, da bi bila tehnično predobro odigrana in tako izgubila tisti dotik spontanosti. Tako sem za to skladbo posnel doma demo, takoj potem, ko sem skladbo napisal. Demo sem zavrtel članom skupine, da sem preveril, če jim je všeč skladba. Reakcija je bila pozitivna, vendar pa sem prišel na plano z namero šele, ko smo se nahajali v studiu. Takrat sem demo prinesel s seboj v žepu in fante postavil pred dejstvo. Na tak način smo ohranili v studiu dotik spontanosti tudi na tej skladbi. Menim, da sem napravil pravo potezo, saj se deli skladbe, ki sta jih prispevala Kev in Nigel v studiu, perfektno vpenjajo v končno podobo skladbe.
Proces snemanja obeh albumov je bil zelo podoben v tem da smo posneli vse bas kitare in bobne med vikendom, potem pa se kar nekajkrat vrnili v studio, da posnamemo vse kitare, vokale in preostale dodatke. Ko smo snemali album "The Son Of Odin" smo porabili devet polnih dni, album je nastajal po delih. Diskutirali smo o tej variantni rešitvi, da bi jo ponovili tudi za naš novi album. Snemanje v eni dolgi sekciji ali pa snemanje del za delom, ki se razteza preko nekaj mesecev, imata tako svoje prednosti, kot tudi slabosti.

RockLine: Po tem kar sem slišal na albumu "The Idol" prav gotovo niste rekli še zadnje. Žal nisem še slišal "Mindcreeper", a zaključujem da ste Elixir še polni energije in želje, da prinesete svetu čim več dobre glasbe. Kakšni so bili ustvarjalni cilji, ko ste se odločili spraviti skupaj album "Mindcreeper"?
Phil: Hvala. Rad slišim, da ti je "The Idol" všeč. "Mindcreeper" ravno potuje po avionski pošti proti tvojemu naslovu.
No, ko smo se nahajali znova v studiu v času snemanja "Mindcreeper" albuma, je bil naš prvi cilj, da uživamo stvarnost ob drugi priložnosti, ki nam je bila dana, da smo lahko spet znova združeni skupaj. Kreativni cilji ki smo si jih ob tem zastavili pa so bili:
1. Da spravimo skupaj naposled končno naš pravi drugi studijski album. Osebno menim, da je bila izdaja našega drugega studijskega albuma "Lethal Potion" grozljiva in popolnoma v ničemer podobna tistemu, kar smo si sami predstavljali, da želimo izdati kot naš drugi studijski album. Dokopal sem se do originalnih posnetkov in se lotil zadeve znova tako, da sem album z ustreznim miksom digitalno remasteriziral. Tako je izšel ta album znova z naslovom "Sovereign Remedy". Na njem je vseh 14. skladb posnetih v vrstnem redu, kakršnega smo si Elixir vselej želeli.
2. Da posnamemo album z vsemi preostalimi skladbami, ki so nastale v osemdesetih letih. Tako je nastal album "The Idol".
3. Da posnamemo povsem novi studijski album. Tako je nastal "Mindcreeper".
Ko smo se znova združili smo ustvarili vse te cilje!

RockLine: Kaj vas je zadrževalo, da ste potrebovali kar 4. leta, da izdate "Mindcreeper"?
Phil: Čas in denar. Vsi imamo družine in tako nimamo več veliko časa za vaje in snemanje kot smo ga imeli nekoč. Snemalni studio je tudi draga stvar in ko imaš enkrat družino, ti ostane malo denarja , ki ga privarčuješ in bi ga vložil v skupino. Zato, da lahko zastavimo naš naslednji Elixir projekt, moramo ta denar zaslužiti skozi prodajo naših albumov in z nastopi skupine. Da zaslužiš ta denar s katerim štartaš v nov projekt, zahteva daljši časovni razpon. Rad bi, da ljubitelji naše skupine vedo, da gre denar, ki ga skupina zasluži od prodaje majic in CD-jev, naravnost v naš naslednji Elixir projekt in da sebi tega denarja ne izplačujemo. Zato nam vsakdo, ki kupi naš CD ali našo majico, ali preprosto kupi karto, da nas lahko gleda nastopati v živo, neposredno pomaga, pri zbiranju denarja, za naše sledeče snemanje.

RockLine: Phil, nam lahko potrdiš, da je skupina v obdobju štirih let med "The Idol" in "Mindcreeper" naposled našla notranjo konsolidacijo in konsistenco in da lahko računamo v prihodnosti na še več glasbe od Elixir?
Phil: Menim, da smo sedaj, ko smo znova združeni, srečni bolj kot kdajkoli prej in da tudi delujemo bolje kot kdajkoli prej. Smo starejši in bolj izkušeni. Ne vemo kako dolgo bomo lahko nadaljevali, vendar pa nameravamo uživati sleherni trenutek. Ko boš slišal naš album, upam da se boš strinjal s tem, da je naš novi album najmanj tako dober, kot vse kar smo pred njim izdali.

RockLine: Lahko pričakujemo vaš novi album že čez eno leto ali največ dve leti?
Phil: Delamo na novem materialu. A ko smo se vrnili s Play It Loud! II. festivala 2008 in skušali stopiti v kontakt z našo založbo Majestic Rock, da nam posreduje še več materiala (CD-jev), ki so se lepo prodali na festivalu v Italiji, smo ugotovili, da je založba propadla. To je za nas zelo slaba novica, saj nam založba ni izplačala niti ficka od trženja naših albumov, hkrati pa to pomeni, da smo trenutno brez založbe. Nadalje to pomeni, da ne bomo imeli denarja, da bi posneli album v bližnji prihodnosti, razen v primeru, če se ne pojavi neka založba, ki trenutno prebira tale intervju in ki je zainteresirana , da nas spravi v studio. S tem smo se soočali že v osemdesetih, ko nismo dobili pogodbe z založbo in vedno smo preživeli. Bomo videli kaj se bo zgodilo sedaj. Očitno je težko danes, v časih masovnega "downloadanja", preživeti tudi večjim založbam, zato se bomo morali oprijeti verjetno nekaterih alternativnih rešitev, kako pristopiti k izdaji novega albuma. Če dobimo denar za snemanje, lahko izdamo album na način, ki bo na voljo za "download" in nič več. Na tak način oziroma s prodajo preko naše uradne internetne strani, se nam bo povrnil vsaj denar, ki ga bomo investirali v samo snemanje albuma . Nemara pa bomo iskali priložnost za izdajo videov. V tem trenutku težko karkoli rečem, ker ne vem kako se bodo stvari za nas zasukale, vendar pa je vredno raziskati vse opcije.

RockLine: Kaj natanko se je zgodilo v petek, 13. februarja, davnega leta 1987?
Phil: Bil je eden tistih dni, ko gre vse narobe. Imeli smo nastop v mestu Poole, na jugu Anglije. Vkrcali smo se v naš kombi in se odpravili v Poole, a brez našega basista Keva, ki tega dne ni mogel dobiti prostega dne v službi. Zato je bilo dogovorjeno, da Kev pripotuje posebej z vlakom in se nam priključi za špil kasneje istega dne. Na poti smo se ustavili ob avtocesti na kosilu in zgodilo se je, da smo pustili v restavraciji našega bobnarja Nigela in roadieja Simona. To smo ugotovili šele po nekaj krepkih miljah naše vožnje proti mestu Poole. Obrnili smo se nazaj do restavracije, kjer smo našli Nigela in Simona , kako štopata za Poole. To je bilo obdobje preden je svet poznal gsm-je.
Ko smo prispeli v Poole, smo se namestili in izvajali "soundcheck", a brez Keva, ki še vedno ni prispel z vlakom. Kev je prispel, a zelo pozno, saj je njegov vlak imel hujšo zamudo. Zelo nas je skrbelo, da ne bo zmogel priti.
Na začetku nastopa smo imeli nasneti uvodni del na klaviaturah, preden smo dejansko začeli igrati. Paul je pomotoma pritisnil narobno tipko, da bi sprožil vrtenje uvodnega dela in tako se je namesto prave uvodne glasbe, zelo glasno pričel razlegati skozi glavno ozvočenje vzorec bobnov v bossa nova ritmu. Bili smo priča kislim pogledom neodobravanja in splošne zmede, ko smo se uzrli proti množici, ha, ha!
V set listi je imel Nigel med skladbo "Trachery" svojo solažo na bobnih in medtem, ko jo je izvajal, je Kev brez pretiranega obotavljanja izkoristil ta trenutek, da odide do toaletnih prostorov in se olajša. Pred tem je še zavpil Nigelu, da naj, medtem ko ga ni, kar nadaljuje s solažo. Vendar pa se je pripetilo, da, ko se je Kev hotel vrniti na oder, so se vrata, ki vodijo na oder z zunanje strani samodejno zaklenila. Kev je razbijal po vratih, da bi ga kdo spustil na drugi strani noter, a ga ni nihče slišal. Po nekaj minutah bobnarske solaže, je Nigel izvedel zaključni prehod s katerim se je priključila ostala skupina v skladbo. K sreči je imel Kev radijski prenosnik in je glasbo slišal skozi vrata, tako da je lahko odigral preostanek skladbe "Trachery", zaklenjen zunaj, na nasprotni strani vrat, ki vodijo do odra. Ko se je skladba zaključila, smo ga slišali razbijati po vratih, jih odklenili, Kev se je vrnil na oder. Bil je seveda skrajno poparjen!
Poleg tega so se pojavljali tudi drugi pritiski na naš nastop tega večera. Kev je spoznal novo punco, kateri pa očitno ni bilo všeč, da Kev pohaja s skupino naokoli. V tem času so se nam ravno pričela odpirati vrata za preboj, imeli smo dogovorjen velik nastop v Belfastu (Severna Irska) in veliko časa in investicij je šlo za promocijo tega nastopa. No in ravno pred tem da Kevu njegova nova ženska ultimat, da če odide Kev z nami v Belfast, bo končala razmerje z njim. To je bil za Keva velik pritisk in četudi smo nastopili v Belfastu brez Keva in s človekom, ki je vskočil v skupino le zato, da izpeljemo nastop v Belfastu, to ni rešilo problema, ki je očitno ležal v Kevovi punci. To je bil dan razkola v skupini. In po koncertu v Poolu smo se o tem pogovarjali in Kev se je odločil, da skupino zapusti. Nigel, ki je Kevov brat, se je tudi kmalu zatem odločil, da zapusti skupino. Kljub temu, da smo našli zamenjavo v različnih basistih in bobnarjih, kemija ni bila več enaka in izgubili smo nekaj svojega čara. S spoštovanjem do vseh, ki so nasledili Keva in Nigela, moram poudariti, da smo le z njima bili tisti pravi bend, ki smo soustvarili in definirali Elixir zvok. K sreči pa, ko smo se srečali na Normanovi zabavi za njegovih 40. let te Kevove ženske že davno ni bilo več na sceni, tako da imamo sedaj vsi v skupini odlične žene in partnerke, ki nas podpirajo v tem kar delamo.

RockLine: "The Son Of Odin" je bil fantastičen začetek. Potem pa tega nekako niste uspeli dokapitalizirati. Kaj je vodilo k temu, kakšne so bile okoliščine, da Elixir niso uspeli postati večje in bolj prepoznavno ime na rock in metal sceni?
Phil: Največja ovira, ki je zadržala naš nadaljnji razvoj v tej smeri je bila v tem, da nismo uspeli podpisati pogodbe z založbo. Sami smo morali dvigniti prihranke na banki, da smo izdali lahko "The Son Of Odin" ter ga natisnili v 2.000 kopijah. Naš prvenec je prejel odlične ocene in recenzije, prodaja je bila odlična. Album se je izvrstno prodajal v legendarnih trgovinah kot so Rock record shop in Shades v Londonu. Odlične odzive smo prejeli tudi potem, ko smo nastopili v oddaji BBC Radio 1 Friday Rock Show istega leta in celo sam Ronnie James Dio je za naš single "Trachery" prispeval pohvalno oceno v glasbeni reviji Kerrang!. Zato so takrat stvari delovale za Elixir zelo obetavno. Menim da, če bi takrat uspeli podpisati pogodbo z založbo, ki bi nas distribuirala po svetu, bi doživeli mnogo večji uspeh. Vsi znaki splošnega odobravanja, ki so govorili nam v prid, da tisto kar delamo, delamo prav, so bil iz nami, potrebovali smo le še sredstva, da bi z našim imenom in glasbo dosegli več ljudi.

RockLine: Kaj se je dogajalo s skupino skozi devetdeseta? Ste bili člani vključeni v kakšne druge projekte?
Phil: Paul in Norms sta delovala skupaj v zasedbi Beggars, Thieves and Madmen. Kev in Nigel sta nadaljevala kariero tako, da sta ustanovila skupino Saratoga, sam pa sem se vrnil v svoje domače mesto, skupaj z ženo in sinom, kjer sem igral po pubih v blues rock skupini Rough Diamond, ki je igrala izključno priredbe. Med drugim smo igrali tudi priredbe zasedb Free in Bad Company. Hkrati sem pisal tudi svoj avtorski material skupaj z Mikeom Emsonom, ki je bil klaviaturist in kitarist pri Rough Diamond. Povabila sva Paula, da posname vokale za nekaj skladb. To sem počel vse dokler me založba Cult Metal Classics ni kontaktirala z željo po izdaji albuma "The Son Of Odin" na CD-ju.

RockLine: Katere so glavne fizične razlike med nastopom Elixir v osemdesetih in danes?
Phil: No, resnično pogrešam pirotehnične vložke, toda vsi zdravstveni zakoni in zakoni o varnosti nam preprečujejo, da bi jih uporabljali. Sicer pa menim, da se nismo mnogo spremenili. Če obiščeš našo spletno stran in klikneš na rubriko "media", boš lahko primerjal sedanje videoposnetke s posnetkoma iz leta 1986 med izvedbama skladb "Pandora's Box" in "Son Of Odin". Neki mlad oboževalec skupine je dejal, ko si je ogledal te posnetke, da kljub temu, da smo na videz starejši, še vedno na odru uporabljamo povsem enake kretnje, kot smo jih nekoč. Menim, da se v živo, z nekoč na danes, kaj dosti nismo spremenili, razen v tem, da imamo manj las in več kil.

RockLine: Ali Elixir v kratkem načrtujete kakšno evropsko turnejo?
Phil: Zelo radi bi igrali več po Evropi, vendar pa nimamo "tour" menedžerja, ki bi nam pomagal pri tem, premalo smo seznanjeni tudi z vsemi ugodnimi lokacijami, v katerih bi lahko igrali. Zanašati se moramo na kontakte in ljudi, ki jih srečujemo in nas priporočajo promotorjem koncertov v njihovih deželah. Radi nastopamo po festivalih, kot je bil npr. Play It Loud! (2008) in vselej smo zelo zainteresirani nastopati v deželah, kjer pred tem še nikdar nismo nastopali. In če kdorkoli izmed promotorjev v Sloveniji, ali kod drugje, prebira tele vrstice in želi pripeljati Elixir v svojo deželo, naj me prosim kontaktira preko naše uradne spletne strani.

RockLine: Kratkoročni načrti za prihodnost Elixir?
Phil: Trenutno si želimo igrati čim več po koncertih, prav tako pa posneti čim več glasbe, preden nas okoliščine prisilijo, da se ustavimo. Zavedamo se, da nam je bila dana druga priložnost, zato načrtujemo, da jo izkoristimo maksimalno in ob tem vseskozi uživamo v našem delu.

RockLine: Phil hvala, da si si vzel dragoceni čas za tale intervju in vprašanja. Imaš nemara še kakšno sporočilo za naše bralce?
Phil: Sporočilo vsem, ki poznate Elixir je to, da si za vas želimo nekega dne igrati tudi v Sloveniji. Sporočilo za vse tiste, ki Elixir ne poznajo, pa vas vabim, da obiščete in si ogledate našo spletno stran: www.coldtown.com/elixir ali se oglasite na naši myspace strani: www.myspace.com/officialelixir . Hvala tudi tebi za ta intervju!

RockLine: Hello Phil! How are you guys doing?
Phil: We are all very well, thank you!

RockLine: You've just returned from Play It Loud festival II. in Italy (RockLine report HERE)? What are your impressions?
Phil: We had a great time. The Festival was very well organised, and we were looked after extremely well – in fact I hope the beer bill didn't turn out too expensive for the organisers!! The Festival was well attended and the crowd gave us a fantastic reception, chanting our name while we were setting up and continuing throughout our set. We had such a great time that we would love to go back again someday. I have just uploaded pictures from the festival at our website: www.coldtown.com/elixir

RockLine: Your show in Italy was a blast! Great to have you back together. With bands like Elixir, Cloven Hoof, Diamond Head or Tygers Of Pan Tang (later kicking their tour off in April 2008), back on the scene, do you think we are dealing with a ressurection of NWOBHM nowdays?
Phil: It is looking that way. For my part, I organise a festival in England called the 'British Steel Festival' which promotes 80's NWOBHM bands. We invite four bands to play on the bill with us, and at the last one we had Cloven Hoof and Tygers of Pan Tang, as well as Jaguar and Chariot. It is harder to play good gigs these days, as a lot of live venues, especially in Britain, are geared up to having tribute acts on all the time, and they are not very interested in having bands playing original material. However, there are a lot of great festivals going on around Europe and the rest of the World, and bands like us love playing these. I think that we are all doing our little bit to try to show the new generation of rock fans what we were up to back in the 80's.

RockLine: In 2002 you released your comeback album "Idol". What circumstances led you to make the decision to finally enter the studio again, after more than 10 years of the band's hiatus? Do you think that the Norman's 40 birthday party back in 2001 opened a new chapter for Elixir, or let me put it that way: Elixir was born again?
Phil: Yes, it was Norman's birthday party that started our revival. We were all there and, as there were live bands playing, it was agreed before the party that we would get up on stage to play 'Treachery' one more time. I hadn't played the song for so long that I listened to an old live tape that afternoon to practice. I came across a lot of songs on the tape such as 'The Idol' and 'Devil Rider', and thought that it was a shame that we hadn't recorded those songs properly for an album. I mentioned to the boys at the party that we had an albums worth of old material that we had never recorded, and as I had a digital recording facility with my song-writing partner of the time, Mike Emson, I suggested that we could get together just to record those songs for ourselves. Then, a couple of weeks after Norman's party, the Greek label Cult Metal Classics, contacted me wanting to release 'The Son of Odin' album on CD. I thought that there would be no interest in a 15 year old album, but Manos at the label assured me that it had become a cult album and there would be a lot of interest. So we agreed to the release, and it sold out 1000 copies in a month! Cult Metal Classics then asked if we had any other material, and so all the old songs that we were recording for ourselves, suddenly got released as 'The Idol' album on vinyl by Cult Metal Classics, and by ourselves on CD. We were then invited to headline the Heavy Metal Assault Festival in Athens, and so, before we knew what was happening, we were back playing live and recording again!!

RockLine: Are the feelings still the same when you are in studio or on stage, as they were in NWOBHM golden era (eighties)?
Phil: I think that we are just as enthusiastic on stage, but more confident and relaxed now. In the 80's we really wanted to turn professional and felt that we had to prove ourselves. These days, we just go out to enjoy ourselves and I think that shows in our faces when we play. As for the studio, again I think we are more confident now. When we first started, and when we recorded 'The Son of Odin', we were new to the studio environment, and studios can be intimidating places when you do not know your way around the equipment. These days, we understand more about the recording process, and so we are more confident in what we do.

RockLine: "The Idol" obviousely gave you a nice kick and was an inspiration, so that in 2007 you released your latest studio achievement called "Mindcreeper". Can you describe the differences between both albums regarding the ideas (musically speaking) and the writing, recording process?
Phil: The biggest difference between 'The Idol' and 'Mindcreeper' was that we had to re-learn the songs for 'The Idol' while 'Mindcreeper' was all new songs that we had been working on and developing. It had been so long since we had played the songs on 'The Idol' that we couldn't remember them, but luckily we had the tapes to learn from. It was like recording a covers album, almost. We had to work out what we were playing. Sometimes though, our hands would just instinctively play a part that we had been trying to learn, which was weird.
For 'Mindcreeper' we had spent a fair bit of time working on the new songs, so we were well rehearsed when we went into the studio. Except for 'Guiding Star', which I didn't want Kev and Nigel to rehearse before we went to record it. It is such a simple song, and I was worried that if they rehearsed it too much, they might get too familiar with it and over-play their parts. I recorded a demo of it at home when I had written it, and had played it to the band to make sure that they liked it, but just kept it back to play spontaniously in the studio. I think I made the right decision, because the bass and drum parts that Kev and Nigel came up with in the studio fit perfectly with the song.
The recording process of both albums was similar, in that we laid down the bass and drums in a weekend, and then went back in numerous sessions to record the guitars, vocals and extras. When we recorded 'The Son of Odin' we went into the studio for 9 days solid and worked continuously on the album. We discussed that we might like to do that again for the next album. Recording in one big session, and recording bit by bit over several months, both have advantages and disadvantages.

RockLine: Unfortunatelly I haven't heard "Mindcreeper" yet, but what I experienced when listening to "The Idol", a brilliant album by the way, I think you still have a lot to offer to the musical world. The beast is still hungry. What can you tell us about your new creative goals?
Phil: Thanks, I'm glad you liked 'The Idol' and a copy of 'Mindcreeper' is on it's way to you.
When we did get back together, our first goal was to just enjoy having this second chance. Our creative goals were:
1. To put right our second album – I thought that the 'Lethal Potion' release was terrible, and nothing like our second album was supposed to have been. I got hold of the original tapes and took the proper mix to be digitally re-mastered. All 14 songs are back in the proper running order, with the proper mix and under the proper title 'Sovereign Remedy'.
2. To record all of the remaining songs from the 80's – this eventually became 'The Idol' album.
3. To record a brand new album – which eventually became 'Mindcreeper'.
So we have achieved our creative goals that we set when we got back working together again.

RockLine: What kept took you so long (5 years) to release a new studio album "Mindcreeper"?
Phil: Time and money. We have families and do not have as much time to write and rehearse together as we used to have. It also costs us a lot of money to go into the recording studio. As we have families and homes, we do not have a lot of personal money to put into the band. Therefore we have to earn our band money through album sales and live shows to put towards our next project. It took time to earn the money to invest in a new recording. I would like our fans to know that the money the band makes goes back into band projects, we do not pay ourselves money. Therefore, when someone buys a CD or one of our T-shirts, or pays to see us play live, they are directly helping us towards raising money for our next recording.

RockLine: Can you confirm that the band found  inner consolidation or consistency again in the 4 years between "The Idol" and "Mindcreeper"?
Phil: I think we are back together, happier than ever, and working as well as ever.
We are older and wiser, and do not know how long we can continue, but we intend to enjoy ourselves every step of the way! When you have heard 'Mindcreeper', I hope you agree that our new album is as good as anything that we have done before.

RockLine: Can we therefore expect a new album to be released already in a year or two?
Phil: We are working on new material. However, after we returned from Play It Loud we tried to contact our label, Majestic Rock, for more stock, as we sold out of some of our albums in Italy. We discovered that Majestic have collapsed, which is bad news for us as we haven't been paid any royalties for our albums and it also means that we do not have a label now. This means that we will not have the money to record a new album in the near future, unless there is a label reading this that is willing to put us into the studio! We faced adversity in the 80's when we couldn't get a label to sign us, and we always come through, so we shall see what happens this time. It seems that it is hard for even the major labels to survive in this day of downloading, so maybe we need to look at alternatives to making a new album. If we get the money to record new material, we could release it as download only, so that we will at least get our money back if we sell it ourselves through our website.
Or we could look at releasing videos. I do not know how things will turn out for us, but it is worth exploring all options.

RockLine: What exactly happended on Friday 13th of Febraury back in 1987?
Phil: It was one of those days when everything went wrong! We were playing a gig in Poole, which is in the South of England. We loaded up the van and set off, but without Kev, our bass player, who couldn't get the day off work, so he agreed to travel down by train and meet us there later. On the way, we stopped off for lunch at a motorway service station, and somehow managed to leave Nigel, our drummer, and Simon, our roadie behind! It wasn't until we were a good few miles down the road that we realised that they were not with us! We turned back and returned to the service station, where we found them trying to hitch hike down to Poole! It was the days before mobile phones, so they didn't know what had happened when they had returned to the van to find it gone!
When we got there, we had set up and had a soundcheck but without Kev, who had still not arrived by train. He eventually arrived really late as his train had been severely delayed. We were all very tense and worried by then, thinking that he wouldn't make it.
Then there was the intro music – we had a keyboard that we used for the intro before we started playing. Paul hit the key and accidently started the built in drum machine playing a loud bossa nova drum beat through the P.A.!! You could see the faces of the crowd looking very puzzled – ha ha!
During the set, Nigel was playing a drum solo in 'Treachery' and Kev was desperate to go to the toilet. He shouted to Nigel to keep going while he went to relieve himself, but as he left the stage, the internal door between the side of the stage and the toilet locked shut behind him! Kev was banging on the door to be let back in but no-one could hear him! Eventually, after several minutes of playing his drum solo, Nigel went in to the drum roll to take us back into the song. Luckily, Kev was using a radio transmitter and could hear through the door, so he played the rest of the song outside! When the song finished, we could hear him banging and shouting at the door, so we then unlocked it and he came back on stage looking sheepish!
There had also been a bit of simmering tension leading up to the gig, because Kev was with a new woman who didn't seem to like him going away with the band. We had just set up a big gig in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and a lot of promotion had gone into it, when Kev's new woman gave him an ultimatum, that if he went with us to Belfast, she would finish with him. That put a lot of pressure on him, and although we had agreed to go to Belfast with a stand-in bass player, it didn't solve the root of the problem, which was her. This had caused friction leading up to that day, and after the gig, we had a bit of an arguement over it, and Kev decided that he would leave the band. Nigel, our drummer, being his brother, eventually decided to go with him, and so that day was the day that the band fractured. Although we found replacement bass players and drummers, the chemistry just wasn't the same and we lost some of our magic. I mean no disrespect to those who came in, but we were the ones that created the Elixir sound, and we just work best with each other. Fortunately, Kev's woman was off the scene by the time we met again at Norman's birthday party, and we all have great wives and partners now, who support us in what we do.

RockLine: "The Son Of Odin" was a fantastic start for the band back in the eighties. It seemed a new heavy metal star was born with Elixir. But then the band failed to achieve better recognition and to establish a bigger name. How would you comment this? Were there any peculiar circumstances that prevented a bigger breakthrough for Elixir on the world's heavy metal scene?
Phil: I think that the biggest thing holding us back was that we couldn't get signed to a label. We had to get a loan from the bank to release 'The Son of Odin' on our own label and pressed two thousand copies. The debut album received great reviews, and the sales were great in the places where it was sold, such as the legendary Rock record shop, Shades, in London. We had also had a good response following our BBC Radio 1 Friday Rock Show session that same year, and even Ronnie James Dio himself had given our 'Treachery' single a good review in Kerrang! Magazine, so things were looking good for us. I think that if we had been signed with a label, that could get us distributed Worldwide, we would have had much better success. All the signs were there that what we were doing was being appreciated, we just needed the means to reach a lot more people.

RockLine: What was happening with the band during the nineties? Were you involved in other musical projects, too?
Phil: Paul and Norms worked together in an outfit called Beggars, Thieves and Madmen. Kev and Nigel went on to form a band called Saratoga, and I moved back to my home town with my wife and young son, and played pubs in a blues-rock covers band called Rough Diamond, playing songs by bands such as Free and Bad Company. I was also writing original songs in that same style with Mike Emson, who was the keyboard/guitar player in that band. We envited Paul to record some vocal tracks on some of those songs,and that was what I was doing up to the time when Cult Metal Classics contacted me to release 'The Son of Odin' CD.

RockLine: What are the main differences between your stage performances nowadays and those in the eighites.
Phil: Well, I really miss not having the pyrotechnics, but all the health and safety laws these days prevent us from using them!! Apart from that I think we haven't changed that much. If you visit the media page of our website: www.coldtown.com/elixir you will find recent videos and also the clips of 'Pandora's Box' and 'Son of Odin' from 1986. One young fan said that, although we look a bit older, we still make the same moves onstage now as we did back then! I don't think we are much different live now to then, except that we have less hair and more weight!!

RockLine: Are you planning a European tour in the near future?
Phil: We would love to tour more around Europe, but we do not have a tour manager to help us with that, and we do not know all the good venues to play. We have to rely on contacts and people we meet recommending us to promoters in their country. We love playing festivals, such as Play It Loud, and we are always interested in getting to play in new countries that we haven't played before. So if any promoters in Slovenia or elsewhere are reading this and wish to bring Elixir to their country, please contact me through our band website.

RockLine: What are the band's other future goals?
Phil: Now that we have achieved our objectives that we set when we got back together, we are now looking to play as many shows as we can, and record as much material as we can, before circumstances force us to stop. We know that we have been given a second chance, and plan to make the most of it, and enjoy ourselves along the way, before we have to stop.

RockLine: Thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions. Do you have any message for our readers?
Phil: For those of you who know us, we would love to come to Slovenia one day to play for you. For those who do not, please visit our website: www.coldtown.com/elixir or drop by on our myspace page: www.myspace.com/officialelixir
Thanks for the interview.