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Biff Byford – Saxon


Date: Jan 2022
Interviewed By: Jack Mangan

 




Jack Mangan: Hey everyone at MetalAsylum.net. It is a great honor to be talking today to one of the great pillars of the Metal community, someone who’s been with us for decades, who's been rocking us for decades, from an up and coming young new band called Saxon from England. Biff Byford, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us today.

Biff Byford: (laughs) Thank you very much. We've been up and coming for the last 42 years. I think maybe we might finally have made a bit of progress.

JM: So, well let's get right into it. I joke about you being an up and coming band, but you do have a really exciting new album out. Tell us about “Carpe Diem.”

BB: Yeah, yeah, we made it through lockdown, through the pandemic, so it came through with a lot of adversity and struggles, you know. I think the album is really positive, lots of energy, so yeah, I'm really liking it.

JM: Yeah, I agree. I think it's a really rock-solid Saxon album. My congratulations on it. I'm excited about "Remember the Fallen." I think you guys took maybe a bold stance or a bold chance with those lyrics. Can you talk a bit about that?

BB: Well yeah. . I didn't know whether to do that one or not, really. (Laughs) It was the last song I wrote. And I was like, "Should I do a song about COVID?" And I thought, "Yeah, I'll give it a go." Now, I don't want to be too specific with the verses, but I'd like to do a song about remembering the people that have died through COVID. Frontline people or just family and friends. I think we're able to do that in our genre, in Heavy Metal. People seem to like the song, so. . . I suppose it's very topical still around the planet. I tend not to write too topical lyrics, I tend to write more in history, but it's been around for 2 years now, so I suppose in a way, it is quite historic.

JM: Yeah, even though it's more current than your usual historic stuff, I think it fits.

BB: Yeah, and also, you gotta take a bit of a risk with music. It's not all about playing it safe all the time. So I thought I'd write the lyrics and see how it sounds. It sounded quite a bit like an early Saxon song, actually. It could have been on “Denim and Leather,” or something like that.

JM: Yeah, I agree. And that's something I would say about this album. It's a classic-sounding Saxon album. I mean, I don't think you guys have ever repeated yourselves, but that's what I love about it.

BB: Well, I suppose, it has a feel of the 80s, because I think when we wrote Rock songs in the 80s, there was an urgency about it, and I get that same sort of same urgency with this album. Although we were in a pandemic, there's still an urgency of "Are we ever gonna get it finished?" "Are we ever gonna go out on the road again?" "Is the music business ever gonna recover from this?" So there was a bit of urgency, and we do mean what we're singing about. And the guitar riffs that I picked to work on, they're all very classic guitar riffs. Every song starts with a guitar riff, and I wanted that to be important on this album. So I suppose in a way, that's a little bit like the 80s, you know; things starting out with the guitar riff.

JM: Yeah, and you set me up perfectly. I know that's a well-known quote of yours: "It all starts with the riff." I wanted to get your expansion on that. Tell us about how a Saxon song gets written, from start to finish.

BB: Well sometimes it starts from a title idea, and you just write the song around what I'm singing, you know, the melodies that I'm singing, and we don't have a guitar riff to start with, just a verse and a chorus. But on this album I wanted to start from really basics, which is a guitar riff for me. Because obviously I am a guitarist, and the guitar riff, and guitar sounds, and guitar playing to me are very important. And I spend a lot of time listening to guitar. And guitar riffs, they excite me. . . like the first time I heard "Moby Dick" from Led Zeppelin, you know, it was like, "What's going on there?!" And you know, I wanted that sort of thing on the album, starting with a great riff. I want people to go, "Whoa, that's a killer riff!" And then after that comes the killer song. So maybe we'll write some more albums like that. It got really fun. (laughs)

JM: So you guys have famously had some different eras of the band. Do you look back now on the different eras and have any comments, or favorites, or ones where you feel may have gone astray?

BB: Yeah, we had the early 80s and the late 80s, obviously, which were probably our biggest, trying to deal with things and using different producers and trying to expand a little bit. I don't think people really liked that about Saxon too much, after "Crusader" time. . . . '84. . . we moved around a little bit and tried different things. I think the next era that would be important would be the 1999-2000s, the Millennials basically. We really came back strong then with our writing, and the chemistry of the band as well. So I think that was important. We did have quite a good time in the 90s, through the Grunge period, we wrote a few things like "Solid Ball of Rock," and some quite big albums. But I think we've been very consistent since 1999.

JM: So along those lines, Saxon has always been one of the standard bearers for Heavy Metal. The song "Denim and Leather" is one of the first I can think of where you're singing directly about the Heavy Metal World and community.

BB: Yeah, I was singing about our feelings, and you know, we invited the audience on those original recordings into the studio. I think we were sort of trying different things, trying to involve our fanbase in recording and me writing lyrics about them, which is for me quite important, because for a band like ourselves, the audience is the most important thing, really. The audience are what buy the tickets and the audience are what buy the albums and listen to our music, so it's very important for me to get it right for our fans.

JM: One of the most fascinating scenes to me - - I missed out, I was a kid and in the US - - is the roots of the NWOBHM scene, and all of the great bands that grew out of that era. I know this is a very vague question, so please feel free to go wherever you feel comfortable with it (laughs).

BB: Well yeah, I know what you're saying. And different people will give different answers from their perspective, obviously. The Saxon perspective will be different to the Iron Maiden perspective. But generally, what was happening was, around 1979, bands like Motorhead, Judas Priest, that type of band - - not too many bands. . . maybe Whitesnake a little bit, were starting to become really popular, and by the time it got to 1980, there was a huge movement. And I think JP were the first ones to say this: although they weren't involved in the Maiden, Saxon, Leppard, Tygers of Pan Tang - - that sort of scene, they were around before we were, so I think, musically, we were sort of "the new guys," if not in age, definitely in music. We pulled in a lot younger audience into that movement I think, in 1980, and it grew from there. But I definitely think that bands of the late 70s opened those doors for us. Because you know, 1980 was a huge year for the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. Everybody was under that umbrella that they wrote about, whether it be Judas Priest, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, or Saxon, or any of those bands that were around.
You know, at that time for the NWOBHM, people started to write about us in the magazines, because it was all about magazines and radio play then. So people wrote about it in magazines, you know, the weekly music press, and we started to get airplay on mainstream radio, and it started to blossom from there, really. I mean, "Wheels of Steel'' came out in 1980, and went through the roof, really, and that's really what started Saxon's career. I think Maiden came out something shortly after that, and they had the first album that went through the roof. Judas Priest had British Steel, which, again, went through the roof. So there are a lot of great albums, actually, fantastic albums - - you know the Whitesnake album was massive.

JM: And it's great to see all of the bands that are persisting today, Diamond Head, Tygers. . .

BB: Yeah, Diamond Head were there, Blitzkrieg; man, it was endless bands. Not all bore bands into that big touring level, but they were still there and they still contributed to the music. Metallica took a lot of Diamond Head songs and put them on their first albums, and in that respect made them successful in another way, I suppose.

JM: Getting back to the present, we still do have this pandemic; what are you guys doing to promote "Carpe Diem?"

BB: Well the pandemic here, the lockdown's finishing actually quite soon, the next couple of days, ao all of the restrictions are ending in England. So we're doing two shows January 28th, 29th. Now as those are the first shows we're doing, they're big 40th anniversary shows that have been postponed 4 times from 2 years ago. And then we're touring this year on the "Carpe Diem" album. "Seize the Day World Tour" - - that will kick off some time this year, I don't know when.

JM: Great news. North American dates in the works, I hope?

BB: Yeah, we're waiting to put a package together with some other bands. We're talking about Uriah Heep, maybe, which obviously, musically, are from a little bit earlier era of rock music. But yeah, we're just looking for a good package, really, to put together. We were thinking of coming to America first on the Carpe Diem tour, so fingers crossed, yeah? I mean, it's all down to COVID, you know, and how easy we can get there, and whether people will let us come. It's always a problem.

JM: Yeah, we saw that last year with a couple of bands from Europe. Just be safe, we want to see you, but under the right circumstances.

BB: Exactly, yeah.

JM: So you set me up perfectly again. This isn't all scripted, everyone.

BB: It's just my 6th sense.

JM: This is something I always ask of the bands who've been around for a little while. How do you keep up your touring and recording shape?

BB: Well the thing is, we're a big touring band. We play a lot live, and 2 years ago that all stopped, so we had to do something else. I like to be busy and doing things. I don't like to just sit down and watch the flies go round the room. I like to get involved, so I wanted the band to do more recordings, and with the record company I set them up, so we've been recording, basically. We finished the new Saxon album, we did the covers album called "Inspirations," I did an album with my son with a band called Heavy Water. We just finished recording "Inspiration 2." At the moment we're recording "Heavy Water 2." We keep busy. If we're not gonna be touring, we're gonna be recording, and generally keeping the band together, and surviving.

JM: Yeah, that's a great answer. You know, I won't name any names, but there are some of these guys who sounded great 30 years ago, but don't sound so great today. But I saw you guys on the Priest tour; you guys sounded as fresh and invigorating as ever, so my hat is off to you for that.

BB: Yeah, my voice is good at the moment. I was singing today, actually, going through a few things . We have some shows coming up in a few days. I usually set up a microphone and play some songs through the PA and sing along to them. That's how I keep my voice. You know, it's a muscle, the voice, so you have to exercise it a lot. It's a shame I don't exercise everything else the same, but you have to keep the main muscle that forges your career. But yeah, generally just keep using it, and don't abuse it with too much hard liquor and drugs, really. I don't really do any of that. I suppose my worst would be a bit of red wine now and again and sometimes a rum or rum cocktail or something if we're out partying. But generally, I'm not sort of puking into the toilet bowl drunk. Much. (laughs)

JM: (Laughs) That'll be the title of this interview when we post it.

BB: Yeah, "Saying Hello to the Toilet Bowl."

JM: So the albums in the 80s have been reissued a couple of times. Is there any plan to reissue or remaster any of those?

BB: Yeah, we've just done a big deal with our back catalogue, so all that's being repackaged. We might do some remixing, I don't know. I don't think there's any songs around anywhere, I think all the ex-members of the band released all the demos, you know, the things that weren't suitable for albums, so there's nothing new for them. I'd like to talk to them maybe about rerecording a few things, that would be cool. There's a couple of albums that weren't great on the production, that could benefit from a Biff Byford/Andy Sneap production on them (laughs).

JM: Now that's exciting. I'll take a left turn a little bit. Tell us about some of your favorite bands - - from the old days or even bands that have followed in your wake.

BB: I don’t listen to a lot of new bands. If somebody has told me there's a new band and I should check them out, I sometimes check them out and see what all the fuss is about (laughs). And sometimes the fuss is good, and sometimes the fuss is just. . . fuss, know what I mean? The thing is with me, especially at the moment, I'm a bit of a song guy. I look past the image and the youth and I listen to the song. I'm not gonna walk out the room singing the song - - or is that guitar riff gonna go round and round in my head. That's the sort of things that I listen for. I mean, if I was managing a young band, I would get in a room with them and not let them out until they came out with at least 4 killer guitar riffs, and then start to write the song with that. For instance, a few years ago somebody said to me, "Oh, you should check out this band called Royal Blood." I was like, "Really?" So I checked them out, they're great. It sounded brilliant. So that sort of thing, every now and again and band does come out that sounds great, with memorable riffs and songs, really. So the answer to your question is: no, I've not listened to a lot, but my favorite bands, I would say, are everybody's favorite bands, really. I'm just a fan when it comes to other people's music. I'm a fan of all the 70s and 80s Rock. Whether it be Black Sabbath, Journey, Motorhead, Maiden, a good song to me is a good song. I'm not stuck in a Heavy Metal pigeonhole when it comes to me listening. I'll listen to the Sex Pistols and I'll listen to AC/DC. I don't really care, as long as I like the music.

JM: Yeah, I agree. Now obviously you must have heard countless bands who were definitely influenced by Saxon. How do you react to that, or even the bands who come up to you and tell you what an impact you had on their careers?

BB: Well we've had a lot of that going on, actually. Not so much in the 80s, I think it's later on these things come out. We've had lots of bands come up and say they were influenced by us or by the early 80s stuff. Metallica obviously said we influenced them a lot. . . Pantera. Dimebag came up to us a couple of times when he was alive said we were a massive influence on their music, and Phil, the singer. Different bands, really. The Megadeth guys. . . I think we influenced a lot of American bands that came out around 83, 84. . . Motley Crue used to come to see us when we played in L.A. Ratt. . . Poison. . . I think all of those bands were influenced by what was happening in the early 80s with Saxon, Motorhead, Iron Maiden, definitely.

JM: Yeah, if you want my two cents, it's the riff. Saxon was such a riff-heavy band, and you look at early Motley Crue, I think they learned a lot from you guys.

BB: Yeah, definitely, definitely. There's quite a few Saxon-style riffs on the first Motley Crue album. But that's cool, I like it. They're not ripoffs, they're influences, there's a difference. And just the way we played the guitar riffs, and the way the guitar sounds were recorded, you know, that was a big influence on people. It's quite raw, those early sounds. And you know, we were playing them to like 10-12,000 people a night, and so people were impressed. . . And people were like, "Whoa, what's going on there?" We've not got anything like that in America, so I thought a lot of young American musicians and singers were influenced. You know, Skid Row was another band that told us we influenced them a lot.

JM: And a really diverse array of bands; you've got Thrash bands, and Glam bands. . .

BB: Yeah, I just think the whole movement, the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal went round the world. Bands in Japan were into it; a band called Loudness were big fans of ours; it just goes round the planet. Maiden, Priest, all those bands influenced so many people. I mean, Whitesnake probably influenced the band, Europe a lot. I just think all those bands of the 80s were writing such incredible music, for whatever reason. Every band that came out had incredible songs. It was like, "Whoa, where's all this coming from?"

JM: You mentioned before thoughts on future albums, can you tell us about the near and distant future for Saxon?

BB: Well, we're obviously gonna do another Saxon album after this one. We're contracted to do one. Depending what's happening this year with America and Europe and the rest of the planet where we tour. If we can't tour too much, then we'll probably start writing the next Saxon album, because I want to keep that thing in motion, you know what I'm saying? I want to keep oiling the wheels and keep the band busy. IWe're really looking forward to playing live. We're gonna do some live filming of the 40th anniversary shows when we can, so that will be coming out next year, maybe.

JM: So everyone pay attention, Saxon is on fire right now. Great, great new album. History will look back on it as a classic Saxon album, and as you said, there's footage of the 40th anniversary, and a 20th album coming (of originals.)

BB: Yeah, definitely.

JM: Biff Byford, thank you so much, it's been an honor. If I catch up with you here in the States, I'll buy you a red wine.

BB: Yeah, definitely got to be a red wine. Yeah, French! (laughs) French wine is dearer in California than California wines. OK cool! It's good to talk to everybody. Keep the faith and. . . seize the day, as they say!



Saxon Official website: Saxon Official website: https://www.saxon747.com/

 

 
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