Saxon frontman Biff Byford spoke with Lords Of Metal. Highlights from the interview appear below.
LOM: You know, in the past few years so many legends have passed away, and of course it’s a part of life, as sad as it is. You have turned 67 a few weeks ago and fortunately you are still in a great shape and still going strong. But having had so many fellow musician friends passing away made you more aware of your own mortality, so to speak?
BB: I think it’s made me more nostalgic to look back at the old days, you know? I think it’s quite sad that all three original Motörheads have died in such a short period of time. And with Eddie it was definitely a shock, because he seemed alright. But you know, when your name’s on the bullet, there’s not much you can do about it really.
LOM: With so many bands retiring and so many legends passing away, do you think that the legacy of heavy metal will pass onto and still live on through a new generation of bands or will it slowly be the end of the story?
BB: I mean, let’s be honest, the majority of the big media had pretty much ignored a great deal of the newer generation and the main focus was on the bigger bands, until Ronnie James Dio died and gave everybody some sort of wake-up-call…I think at some point there is going to be – well, maybe not metal in general – but some sort of “rock explosion” again in the next four or five years. There are definitely some good bands out there.
LOM: So you don’t think that in ten years we’ll be only looking at holograms?
BB: Haha! Well, I really don’t like this hologram thing. I’d rather a watch a DVD instead. Fortunately there aren’t that many people interested in that kind of thing. So I don’t think they’d be doing arenas or anything. But, I don’t know, the technology has to improve a lot to make it interesting. I think it’s more a curiosity thing that people want to see it, and I’m not sure if they will continue to go and see it. I don’t know. Personally I don’t like it. There something a bit… wrong with it with me. I’m really not interested in it to be honest, and I don’t think it’s going to be a big thing. Maybe if they did that in Las Vegas and they’d put Elvis on, maybe that work. Though I’m not sure if Elvis would have liked that.
LOM: …Having released twenty-two studio records, many live albums and DVDs and having rocked the world for over forty years, and also with so many colleagues retiring, has it crossed your mind that you’d wish to call it a day in the next couple of years?
BB: Nope, not really, haha. At least not me, personally, maybe some of the other guys have, I don’t know. So hopefully we’ll have a couple of good years ahead of us still…
Read more at Lords Of Metal.
Saxon released their 22nd album, Thunderbolt, on February 2nd.
source: lordsofmetal.nl
5 Responses
Biff is absolutely correct that touring will a hologram is wrong. Aside from being creepy, I think the legacy of the deceased artist can be keep more alive by having a real singer perform the songs live and engage the audience. To have a ghost of sorts pretending to sing the songs does not promote the live concert experience nor enhance the legacy of the artist. Rather, it scares children…and me! :o)
I haven’t seen one of these holograms live so I can’t comment on what thats like but I would prefer to just see another live performer. Isn’t that the whole purpose of going to a live show. To see actual living people performing. Would you really want to see your favorite band performing on a Jumbotron? Sadly, too many people either stare at their phones or spend the entire show pointing their phones at the people performing on the stage. Technology has ruined the purity of these shows. Imagine going to a Black Sabbath show with Dio and then a holographic Ozzy comes out and performs the Ozzy era songs. Who is the frontman? Dio or a fake Ozzy? The whole thing is ridiculous. Biff is awesome by the way.
Totally agree with Biff about the hologram thing. The whole point of a live show is to see the band LIVE, not to see a projection of the band playing live. It’s like the difference between attending a live show, and watching a live show on DVD. The energy is completely different. And especially when you consider the ticket prices now, there is no way in hell I’d pay to see a hologram. For me, it’s all a money grab to milk the last bit of profit from the artist. It’s just sick!
Man this guy is a downer,lol.
Biff, everybody around you from your era is dying and retiring how do you feel about that,lol.
Jeez dude !
I thought the same thing when I read this, Ray! How do you think he feels about it! Stupid question!