One more Saxon show in Greece means another heavy metal party with the band firing all cylinders spreading the enthusiasm to the audience. We know it. What makes the upcoming show special though is that it’s going to be the first in the band’s history with Diamond Head’s leader, Brian Tatler, replacing Paul Quinn on stage. So, what they will be playing with their new lineup, who will be thrilled watching Brian playing with Saxon and what other surprises they have in store, are some of the stuff we discussed with Biff Byford. Plus, if they considered any ex-member joining, what are the themes on Saxon’s next studio album and last but not least the amazing idea he has of the band doing a mini-tour of Greece, playing 5, or 6 shows in different cities! Interview: Yiannis Dolas
Rockpages.gr: How did you hook up with Brian Tatler?
Biff Byford: I’ve known Brian for quite some time and Paul got Covid…. Last year, I think and Brian was set in case Paul couldn’t do the show. So, Brian was already up to speed on the music and he’s from the ‘80s, you know, and I think the fans want somebody in there to be excited. You know, Brian brings a lot to the live.
(Diamond Head) They’ve played with us a few times back in the day, mostly festivals and big concerts.. We’ve crossed paths with them. We knew them from, you know, from way back in 1981-82 I think, I’m maybe wrong!
I am sure the guys in Metallica are quite excited about it (Brian joining Saxon). Seeing Brian with the band! That would be great! I’m all up to it. We’ve worked together a little bit, already, you know. So we’re going to be rehearsing before the first show, so should everything should be good. By the time we get to Greece we would be firing on the six!
Rockpages.gr: Without spoiling the surprise and stuff like that, are you going to some songs that you haven’t played in a while because Brian is with you? Are you going to play more of a greatest hits kind of set? No new songs because Brian is in the band? Can you tell us anything about that?
Biff Byford: No, we’re going to be playing some “Carpe Diem” songs, definitely! You know, the thing with festivals is that when you got a lot of people… we’ve got fans who see us a lot. And then we have some fans who don’t see us very much at all. So, I think especially on festivals, people want to get the big hits as well. So we’re going to mix it up, like we always do. We will play some “Carpe Diem” songs and maybe, you know, a few songs from around… we haven’t made our minds just yet. I don’t really do the setlist until a lot nearer to the event.
Rockpages.gr: I have to ask you, though, did any former member of the band came to mind when Paul said that he’s going to retire from the road?
Biff Byford: No. Well, there’s not many people that can stand in for Paul then. Graham Oliver certainly can’t stand in for Paul. So that’s the only person you’re talking about, right? Graham is a great guitarist, but he is not Paul Quinn. Paul is a very fast, fluid player. Graham is more a blues, slowe type of player. So, I don’t think Graham could do Paul’s parts. So, now we have a guitarist that was capable of playing what Paul played.
Rockpages.gr: So, are you are you expecting a lot of mobile phones in the air? Recording the first show with Brian. Are you annoyed by that?
Biff Byford: There’s always a lot of mobile phones in the air. I mean, it’s crazy. People should put them down and watch the show live. But yeah, there’s always a lot of the mobile phones, it’s a bit like when we take the Eagle out, you know… when the Eagle comes down off the ceiling, then there’s thousands of cameras. I just think that’s the modern way people do things. I think that there will be a few videos, because it’s the first show and people want to get a lot of hits on Facebook and Instagram for the first bit of live footage of Brian…
Rockpages.gr: But still, Paul is a member of the band. How do you think this is going to work out? He will be for writing new songs in the studio recording, but not on the road.
Biff Byford: Well, that’s exactly how it will work out. You know, we’ve already written some songs anyway for the new album, so that will stay the same. But, Paul is still a member of the band, until he decides that he is not. If he doesn’t want to write any songs or, anything like that… you know, we’re not we haven’t fallen out, you know, there’s no bad vibes. Everything is pretty good.
Rockpages.gr: “Carpe Diem” was a very, very strong album. I don’t think that you did anything different than the previous two, but “Carpe Diem” was much better, stronger, more solid, with better songs. I liked it very much. How do you explain that?
Biff Byford: How do I explain how people think? Some people think “Thunderbolt” was a great album and some people think “Carpe Diem” was better. But, the collection of songs and the writing just started out and there was not a set format. l get a lot of music together and then I’ll write lyrics and write melodies on that music and sometimes it goes really great, and sometimes not so great.
It’s just how it is you know? At the moment we’re compiling ideas together, so we’ll see how that goes. It’s difficult not to repeat yourself with lyrics. That’s the thing with the song title. I’ve written a lot of lyrics, so I’m always looking for something interesting to sing about. It’s not just “blah, blah, blah… You need something that people can understand and like. I think that’s why “Carpe Diem” was such a great album.
Rockpages.gr: I know that you are usually inspired by historic themes, history, wars. So I’m going to ask you, what are you reading at the moment, if you’re reading any novels, what are you watching on Netflix? So maybe we can get an idea of what the new album is going to be about.
Biff Byford: Hahaha! Well, I just watched a film series, and I just read a book about Kublai Khan and Marco Polo. So, you know, so I don’t know, maybe a song will come from that. Maybe I’ll call it “Merchant of Venice”. It’s like what Marco Polo was, a merchant of Venice, so yeah, things like that.
Rockpages.gr: You also released “More Inspirations” lately with more covers from your favorite songs. I have to say that I was surprised that you included “Detroit Rock City”, by KISS. I wasn’t thinking that you were into that kind of stuff.
Biff Byford: Then, you got two surprises there, innit? You got surprised that we picked Brian and surprised we picked a KISS song! Hahah! Well, Nigel (Glokler, the drummer) was a big KISS fan when he was younger, and I think he was in the KISS Army, you know? So yeah, we put a song on for Nigel, and that is my favorite KISS song. I’m not a massive KISS fan, I do like them. I don’t dislike them, but I’m not like, a super fan of KISS, you know? But yeah, it’s a good song, right? So hopefully we did good. People like it, you know, it gets a lot of airplay in America that song, our version. But, KISS have so many versions of that song. So we had to make our own version. Yeah.
Rockpages.gr: Well, on the first “Inspirations” album I was listening to “Paperback Writer” and I was trying to think if the Beatles were into Saxon, or Saxon into Beatles, or what happened there? Because, the song sounds very much like Saxon, although it’s a Beatles song.
Biff Byford: Well, I mean, if you give some songs the Saxon treatment, then they will sound lie Saxon. “Paperback Writer” is basically a rock song. It’s just that the Beatles didn’t rocket it up instrumentally. They were more about the vocal arrangement. But it’s one of my favorite Beatles songs, actually, (singing “Paperback Writer”).
Rockpages.gr: Back in the ‘80s you released some albums that didn’t receive very good reviews back then, but through time, the fans –and not just the fans- as well as the press seemed to appreciate them. Would you consider to play a show, or even make a setlist featuring songs like “Rocking Again”, “Broken Heroes”, “Rock’n’Roll Gypsy”, “Waiting for the Night” again? Because I know that you did it back then, but it’s been like through the years ever since.
Biff Byford: We do things like “Broken Heroes” quite a lot and we have done “Rock’n’Roll Gypsy”. The trouble is that it needs to be a long show to put those songs in. And it’s very difficult, because at festivals we’re playing like 1 hour and 15 minutes or something? The thing is that we usually play for two hours, don’t we? So, you can get in many songs, you know? But, we were playing “Broken Heroes” on our last European tour. Different countries have different favourite songs. And so it is sometimes difficult to do a setlist for every different country. The “Rock’n’Roll Gypsy”, “Broken Heroes”, some of the “Power And The Glory” songs they’re all quite big in America. But sometimes in America we have to have a different setlist…
Rockpages.gr: That means that we have to move to America if we want to hear all of those songs together…
Biff Byfird: Or, we have to do a tour of Greece and play five or maybe six shows and then put a setlist together. Because, then we can play as long as we want. That’s the secret!
Rockpages.gr: The problem with Saxon, especially in Greece, is that no matter how long you play it’s still feels like it was half an hour…
Biff Byford: Hahaha!
Rockpages.gr: Before you know the time’s gone and the show is all over. And you’re like “what happened? When was it all over? I want some more!”
Biff Byford: Well, the thing is, you know, there must be more venues in Greece than just Athens and Thessaloniki. There must be some other cities who have some nice venues. We’ll talk to the promoters when we get there to do a proper tour of Greece!
Rockpages.gr: Please, do so! And then we can probably follow you around all over the country… that would be nice…
Biff Byford: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Rockpages.gr: Last question. Recently, Ozzy Osbourne said that, um, being a singer is very difficult because all you’ve got is your voice. You don’t have an instrument to play. So, when you have a bad day and you can’t really sing, then you’re fucked. But also he said that people, um, prefer to listen to a singer not performing very well or even being very bad, rather than cancel the show and go home and. What do you think?
Biff Byford: Yeah, I think he’s right. Wise man Ozzy! Well, if you just got the voice… and you don’t have a guitar… A mean a guitarist can have a bad day… I suppose if they hurt their fingers or something… but, generally you can play the guitar with a cold or sore throat, that’s not some things that might think that stopped guitar playing.
Then, I think generally, the singing, it’s very rare to sing every night, that’s the thing. Some nights are better than others. So, would you rather see Ozzy not 100% or would you rather cancel to the show? I think most people would say, that they’d prefer to watch the show.
