It isn't often that you get the chance to talk with a one of your metal heroes. And probably rarer still that he turns out to be one of the most open and nicest of people you could have the luck of meeting. I recently had the great pleasure of conducting an e-mail interview with Mr. Robb Weir, the amazingly talented lead guitarist and founding member of NWOBHM band Tygers Of Pan Tang. Robb Weir may not be a household name in all quarters, but it definitely should be! Not only is his guitar work with Tygers Of Pan Tang groundbreaking, it was (and still is) highly influential to myriad metal guitarists. Along with bands like Diamond Head, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest, Tygers Of Pan Tang helped redefine hard rock in the late 1970s and early 1980s and ushered in a whole new sound... heavy metal as we know it! Here is the interview... enjoy!!
1. How did you
originally get started in music?
Dare I say let’s go back 50 years or so! Geeze, is it that long since I
was listening to Elvis and Little Richard? Well I guess that was it for me,
good old rock’n’roll and the blues. There were so many fantastic artists around
in those days all writing original material and setting in stone musical foundations
for the modern music of today. I remember my dad coming in from work and
handing me a beat up old Spanish classical guitar he bought from a junk shop. I
loved it and after the initial bashing the strings I set out to teach myself
how to play. (I’m still trying to learn!) By the way I’ve still got that guitar
to this day!
2. What musicians have
influenced you most… both as a guitarist and as a songwriter?
I don’t have many musical heroes’ to be honest but, back in the
day, Jimi Hendrix, great song writer
and performer. Mick Box, (Uriah Heep) Nice player and songwriter, and Ted
Nugent the ultimate showman! I have so many memories of going to shows in the
early 70’s watching and learning! Gathering ideas for lighting effects, types
of guitars, stage moves and everything related.
3. How did you Jess Cox,
Rocky Laws, and Brian Dick originally meet and what inspired the 4 of you to
form Tygers of Pan Tang?
Back in 1978 I put an advert in our local press for a bass player and a
drummer. Within a few hours of posting Rocky contacted me and after a short
conversation we had a band! Rocky told me he had a friend on his course that
was a drummer and he was interested in joining. I organised a rehearsal and we
jammed for hours! Rocky actually came up with the name of the band. It was made
up of elements from a Michael Moorcock sci-fi novel, called “Stormbringer.” Our
first singer was a lad called Mark Butcher who performed 25 shows with us before
leaving to join a local covers band, who he said had more of a future than us!
We advertised again and Jess Cox joined. This time we were more determined than
ever to achieve world domination!
4. What can you tell us
about those early years of the band and the NWOBHM scene in England in the late
‘70s and early ‘80s?
Exciting, vibrant, joyous, adventurous, a truly fantastic time. The band
more or less lived in London between 1979 and 1982. We became part of the scene
down there, going out to see bands and generally hanging about! Everybody was
friends and everybody seemed to know each other. A lot of good friends were
made and still remain to this day. Musicians tend to be a friendly lot and I
have always found this to be the case.
5. How did John Sykes come
to join the band?
1980 saw a lot of Tygers touring action. We opened up for Magnum, Saxon,
Def Leppard, the Scorpions and Iron Maiden to name a few! We went into Morgan
studios in North London to record our first album, WILDCAT, and after the
recording we decided to expand our line up to a twin guitar attack for the up
and coming Wildcat tour of the UK. Some 35 shows which most, were all sold out!
So we advertised and guitar players from all over the world turned up to
audition. It came down to the final two Steve Mann and John Sykes, and John was
the chosen one! What a fantastic guitar player he turned out to be. No
disrespect to Steve who went on to become a big record producer in Germany,
whom I am still friends with now.
6. For me, Tygers of Pan
Tang (along with Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Diamond Head) are one of the
most important and influential bands of not just the NWOBHM, but metal in
general. What do you attribute to the initial success of the band and the
resurgence of interest in your music?
Wow! That’s a big question...I think we
were very lucky in so much as we were in the right place at the right time. The
term NWOBHM was being invented just as we were playing the circuit and Geoff
Barton started to write about us in the press. I very much consider us to be in
the first BIG four NWOBHM bands as we were the people that were being talked
about everywhere. Saxon, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and us.....
Has there been resurgence in the Tygers
music? I’m not sure it ever went away, whenever you tour of release another
album the name comes to the fore again for that period of time.
7. After 14 years, you
decided to put a new Tygers of Pan Tang band together and record 2001’s
“Mystical.” What was the impetus of reforming the band?
I was asked to play at Wacken Open Air festival in Germany in 1999 to
mark the 20th anniversary of the Tygers. After we did this I got
bitten by the rock ’n’ roll bug again and wanted to carry on and produce new
Tygers music and tour again. 14 years out is a very long time! So I set about
putting together another band and putting out some new product. Looking back,
Mystical was a bit under produced and there are things on it I would change
now, but hind sight is a wonderful thing and we don’t have that luxury
available to us!
8. In the early 2000s,
Tygers of Pan Tang collaborated with Girl School and Saxon to produce the split
album “The
Second Wave: 25 Years of NWOBHM”. Do you foresee another collaborative
album in the future?
There’s no talk of it at the moment but
you never quite know just what is around life’s corner! I have been asked to
guest on a couple of bands albums and am always open to offers! I keep waiting
for Metallica to ring me up and ask if I would come and help write their next
album with them, since they quoted the Tygers as being there biggest influences
when they first started! Trouble is they haven’t got my phone number so that
isn’t going to happen anytime soon!
9. What can you tell us
about the recording of the most recent Tyger’s album, “Ambush” (which is
absolutely brilliant by the way!)? What is your favourite track on the album
and/or the most meaningful to you?
We did about three months rehearsal, to
‘knock,’ all the tracks together and travelled down to Chris Tsganarides
studio, ‘The Ecology Rooms,’ in Deal, near Dover on the south coast on England.
It’s where Anvil made the feature film and recorded there album. The backing
track recording was done in 4 days, we work fast! Then Jack went in a few days
later to record all the vocals and Craig and I went back about a month later
for Craig to put on extra percussion and me to do my guitar solos and talk box
and a bit of Spanish guitar! A favourite track? ‘Keeping Me Alive,’ or ‘Mr
Indispensable?’ maybe?
10. Vocalist Jacopo
Meille (who joined the band in 2004) seems to vocally combine the range and
prowess of both Jess Cox and John Deverill, but in his own voice and personality.
How did he come about joining the band?
I always get this question wrong! I usually make Jack answer this as he
knows the story off by heart! Back in 2004 we approached an international
talent agency and told them we were looking for a vocalist, but they had to be
a bit ‘Special.’ They recommended Jack and we flew him over for an audition.
After 40 seconds of ‘Hellbound,’ I put up my hand, stopped the audition and
said to Jack, ‘Job’s yours if you want it?’ He is our secret weapon! Jack is
one of the nicest people you are likely to meet and what a set of pipes!
11. What is your favorite
song to perform live and why?
I like them all, of course, but if pressed it would have to be ‘Suzie
smiled.’ I wrote that song back in 1978 and it still sounds good to-day! I’ve
done a little re-write in the middle 8, adding some twin harmony guitars but it
still, ‘Rocks like a bitch!'
12. What’s next on the
agenda for Robb Weir and Tygers of Pan Tang? Are there upcoming shows you
can tell my readers about? Any chance we’ll see Tygers of Pan Tang
performing across the pond in the States any time soon? And please tell
me there are plans for a new album soon! J
Ok, we start our first European tour on the 11th of April in
Switzerland and finish up headlining the, ‘Very Eavy,’ festival in Holland 10
days later. There are various European festivals, the new, ‘Rock and Metal
Circus,’ festival at Sywell aerodrome, Northampton, UK, in September and then
off to Europe again for more ‘Roaring fun!’ at the end of the year. The USA?
We’d love to play there, no plans so far but you never know!
13. My blog Brews and
Tunes pair’s artisan beer with all styles of metal, hard rock, and progressive
rock. So, Mr. Robb Weir comes home from a long day at the studio or from a
show… what beer does he grab and what album does he spin to help decompress?
I’m a bit of a wine-a-holic! But I do enjoy a cold bottle of Michelob from
St Louis, MO. It has to be original and not brewed under licence as these beers
never taste like they should! As for wind down tunes, maybe some George Benson
or Larry Carlton! Thought that would shock you!!
Just want to thank you for letting me waffle on and warping your minds!
Music is the nicest disease you can come into contact with! And you can never
get rid of it, thank god!
All the very best to everyone, ‘See you on the road sometime!'
Oh Suzie,
Suzie, Suzie....This song has given me so much pleasure performing over the
years, and on the latest album, ‘AMBUSH,’ we have continued the story in the
song, ‘Hey Suzie.’ That’s all I’m going to say, listen to it and check it out.
 |
| Robb Weir at one of the bars in Manchester airport having an early morning pint of Peroni before flying out to Milan to do some Italian shows. December 2013 |
Cheers!!
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