|
 When Eddie Clarke left Motorhead and founded Fastway with Pete Way, they ended up on top of the world, with two hugely succesful albums under their belts, signed to CBS, with the world at their feet. Then the band fell apart, even the soundtrack to the movie Trick or Treat (in 1986) which numbered Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons among the cast couldn't stop the rot.
Fast forward 21 years to 2007, and the band made a triumphant return with former Little Angels frontman Toby Jepson fronting the band. They played Sweden Rock, the Hyde Park Calling Festival (alongside Aerosmith), and then onto the Hard Rock Hell festival, where Komodo Rock's Mike Elliott sat down with Eddie Clarke to find out more about the past and the future.
Mike Elliott: You got the band back together this year. What was the inspiration behind that?
Eddie Clarke: Well it wasn’t my inspiration
actually. It was a guy called Steve Strange. He’s the drummer. He
called me around Christmas time. Cos he’s an agent, he'd seen an
opening for Fastway doing a few shows, people were saying that we
should put Fastway back together. Me and him had done something in the
eighties together, when I was in one of my in-between periods with my
heavy drinking and all that, Steve and I were knocking about together
and we always said we should do something together and we never did. So
twenty years later he’s phoned me up and said how about doing it? And
I’ve said well look, honestly mate if you organize it all I’ll turn up
with my guitar. But that’s about as much as I could say cos I had so
much trouble over the years with you know, personalities and politics
and shit. It wore me out you know. I couldn’t fucking do it anymore.
So when he said no, no man it’s alright. I’ve got John McManus on bass
and I’ll be playing drums so we just have to find a singer. He knew
about Toby, so I said ok, so the next thing was to have a rehearsal.
The three of us had a rehearsal together and it worked out pretty well.
Steve hadn’t played for a while to be honest but he hadn’t lost the
feel. He obviously needed a little bit of stamina but the playing was
still there. So from the off it worked quite well.
So I said yeah lets see how far we can go with this. So he said alright
then and he got us the Sweden Rock tour. Then once he had booked that
they wanted to get the bomber over from Motorhead, cos they were doing
the same show, and they asked if I would appear with Motorhead and do
three tunes with them, which was fantastic I have to say. It was a real
fucking not to be missed moment, you know, for me. I got up and did
three songs with them and just the fucking sound on stage. I’d
forgotten how brilliant it is.
ME: I have to say that I’m gutted that I wasn’t there.
EC: I could lean into the sound. You know what I
mean. I could literally lean on it. It was fucking great, it was. So
yeah, and then of course we came back and did Donnington the following
day. Donnington was a bit strange. I don’t know. Just some gigs are
strange. At Donnington we had a few problems with amplifiers and things
going wrong, but then we went to Holland and did another one, another
festival, and that went very well. So Steve was organizing all these
things as we go. He’s taking care of all the hotels and everything. We
just go to the airport and get on the plane. Which was fucking great.
ME: Yeah you can enjoy yourself without stressing about it.
EC: Exactly. He made it so easy that it was a
breeze you know. Holland got us back in the saddle again after
Donnington was a bit of a blow. Then we did Belgium. Which was quite
good but we were on early and the weather was turning. We managed to
get away with it but we were opening the show on the main stage. So a
little hard, but we got a video of it and its quite enjoyable. We
enjoyed it and the playing was fine. it’s just sometimes how you feel
on the day you know.
 ME: Oh yeah completely. If you’re having a good day you get on stage and you have a great show.
EC: Yeah sometimes it’s the other way around.
Sometimes you aren’t having a good day and the show has to pull you out
of it. But then we got a call, just before we left for Belgium. That
was on a Thursday I think, and we played on the Friday or whatever. We
got a call asking if we would like to do Hyde Park on the second stage
there, cos someone had pulled out. I can’t remember who it was that had
pulled out but we said yeah.
So we flew home from Belgium and on the Sunday we did Hyde Park and it
was fucking awesome! It was really a great gig, and it was funny cos it
was the two closest gigs that we had done together, and we were in a
bit of trouble you know, with doing one then having a week off. We
could never really get into the groove, but when we did those two
together it really did pay off. It was fucking great and I was so proud
cos I never thought I would play in Hyde Park. Lemmy was there, I think
the year before, and I said to someone that I never thought I would be
there. I remember thinking, the lucky bastards playing in Hyde Park.
ME: And then this year there you are?
EC: Yeah. Then another thing that happened was
that Steve booked us a show in Japan. Well I’d never been to Japan. I’d
always just left Motorhead just before they went to Japan. Then Fastway
broke up before Japan. So the chance to go to Japan was fucking
brilliant.
It was quite an eye opener. I really enjoyed the place.
Japan is fucking great. I gotta say it. The place and everything you
know. It’s just a completely different thing. So that’s another thing I
can cross off my 'before I die list'. So I had Hyde Park and I crossed
of that you know. When Steve suggested doing this, cos he really wants
do to it and I said well Steve if you really want to do this I don’t
mind at all. So here we are. I think that the bill is fucking great cos
for me it’s all my old friends.
ME: How awesome is that?
EC: Yeah, Twisted Sister, UFO, Saxon you know. It’s too good to be
fucking true really. And I feel very comfortable on this bill cos some
of the other bills that we’ve been on, we’ve been on with a lot of
nu-metal and death metal and all that. It’s a little bit out of place
cos we’re a bit bluesy you know. We’re still playing the old Fastway
stuff which is like blues based. So on a couple of the bills we’ve been
a little bit out of place.
ME: Yeah I thought Download was a very odd place for you. It was really cool but….
EC: It was a bit weird. It felt a bit weird. The
audience was a little bit…They were good but I could see that there was
a little bit of confusion there. The same thing happened in Belgium a
bit we were on with these heavy people so you know. I felt a bit
woosey! They were all sort of, arghhhh fuck off and we are giving it a
nice light heated blues. So yeah I feel quite comfortable here. We are
probably the lightest band on here but at the same time you know.
That’s ok cos the others aren’t super heavy.
ME: Yeah especially on the stage that you are going on. Lots of good, I
hate using this phrase but, good old fashioned rock and roll.
EC: Well I’ve got no qualms about being old
fashioned cos I’m a bit long in the tooth for doing this and I must
admit I never thought I would do it again. I thought it was all over. I
never even considered it really. I got a little place in Spain and I
thought fuck it I’ll go down and sun myself until I’m dead. So when
Steve phoned it was kinda like, I can’t refuse a gig. I can’t. It’s
just one of those things. So when he asked me I couldn’t say no and I’m
fucking glad that I didn’t. It’s been a real fabulous year that I’ve
had.
ME: So it’s definitely something that you are going to carry on with the way that you are talking.
EC: Yeah hopefully, hopefully. Toby and I are
going to sit down and maybe do a few tunes over the winter. See if we
can write some tunes. Just maybe because it would be nice to have some
material that he could sing from the get go.
ME: Yeah that’s his. His Fastway rather than…
EC: Yeah cos he’s having to sing Dave’s stuff at
the moment and it’s not the easiest stuff to sing cos Dave was very
high register. You know we had to tune down a bit so that Toby could
reach the notes and stuff. So it will be nice for him to have a few of
his own tunes in there.
ME: Rather than a band that is just touring with their old material you will…
EC: Yeah we will have a couple of new ones then see how it develops. We’ll see how it goes sort of thing.
ME: That’s a very laid back approach.
EC: Well it has to be really. I’m so fucking old
now. It has to be a little bit; you know there’s not that urgency
anymore. You know it’s like, it’s funny how you slow down.
ME: Well I can’t really comment can I?
 EC: You’ll find out when you get there!
ME: From people I know you tend to appreciate things in life more.
EC: Yeah you tend not to be in such a hurry to
get where you are going. I’ve already been there you know with
Motorhead and Fastway. We did very well in America with Fastway and
Motorhead we were very successful. So all in all I haven’t got anything
to prove anymore. So for me it’s kinda nice. It’s kinda a relaxed
thing. Cos in those days I used to get very stressed about it all. I
was very into it and I wanted it to be great. I really gave it my heart
and soul but ya know it really took its toll on my health and
everything. With the drinking and you know.
ME: Yeah you can get too into it then it’s like the old proverb. You can’t see the forest for the trees.
EC: That’s it. That’s exactly right. I used to
come off stage freaking out at people and I’d be getting in a state
about nothing.
ME: So do you think at some point there maybe like an EP or something?
EC: Yeah. If it goes well. It all depends how the
song writing goes. I think we are looking to do some more festivals
next year so, I would have thought that there would be a good chance
that there will be something forthcoming.
ME: That would be cool.
EC: Yeah cos I’ve got some great riffs for you.
See I’ve always been writing at home. I’ve got my little set up there
you know. So I’ve got plenty of riffs and I know Toby has got plenty of
lyrics, so I’m quite confident that we can come out with something you
know.
ME: Taking you way back then. The Trick Or Treat soundtrack? How did that all come about?
EC: Well I’ll tell you the story. By the time we
had done the first two Fastway albums and then the band split up. Dave
went to Ireland. He took up with his old band that he was with before
he joined Fastway. My management suggested that I go over there and do
an album with them. And that was the Waiting For The Roar album. I
didn’t like the album. I thought it was rubbish but we had lost our
direction by then and it was out of my hands by then. We couldn’t get
arrested from that record even though it had cost more than all the
other albums put together and probably all the Motorhead records put
together as well! I’m still paying for it in fact. Well fuck it you
know. So it was over then. The career was really over.
Then the management phoned me and said how did I fancy doing this
soundtrack for Trick Or Treat? Ozzy was appearing in the film and so
was Gene Simmons. What do you think? I said fucking hell I’d love to
have a go at it. I’d never done it before but it was a great idea. I
told Dave about it and he said well I don’t really want to do heavy
metal anymore you know. He’d kind of had enough. I said well lets do
this man and make it our swansong. So he agreed reluctantly.
So I got to work with the director on the phone. Got some tunes
organized and Dave got some lyrics organized for the tunes that I was
writing. And we collaborated altogether. And that was really it. When
we finished recording that album in Windmill Lane. The day it was
finished, Dave went his way and I went mine. I went back to London and
he went his way. So that was literally the end of… so it was quite like
the swansong thing. But it came about purely; it was a management last
ditch attempt to sort of get us happening and get us working on
something together. Dave had already moved on. As you know he’s doing
Flogging Molly now. He always had a penchant for the Irish traditional
stuff. So I think he was always going to go that way.
ME: It was only a matter of time?
EC: Yeah. Plus his time in Fastway was, well it’s
just not easy being in a top rated band. When we’re all drinking. Jerry
the drummer was an old soldier from Humble Pie and I was from Motorhead
so we were two fucking animals. And Dave just wasn’t. Dave in those
days was a clean living lad. It was all a bit of a fucking shock for
him. So I think that he was thinking that he’d better get the fuck out
of there. I’d heard now that he was just as bad as we were! I’ve heard
that he’s caught up! That’s what I’ve heard. Whether it’s true or not
cos I haven’t seen him in years. But you know I have no animosity
toward him.
ME: Yeah I think that it’s quite a shame cos personally I think hat was your best album.
EC: Yeah the Trick Or Treat was a great album. In
Music Week it got in the top ten albums that year. We were quite
shocked cos of all the political shit once again, you can’t actually
see as you say the wood for the trees. I was quite surprised at how
well it did cos it sold a fucking lot of copies apparently. I had no
idea because by that time CBS had dumped me, my management had dumped
me, so I was sort of out in the fucking wilderness you know, of course
with my bottle of vodka getter iller and iller. Of course everybody was
playing this fucking Steve Vai stuff and of course I’m just an old
blues player really so I was having a few mental problems then, as well
as health problems.
Yeah it’s a shame really cos we don’t do Trick or treat and I was just
saying to the boys the other day that we should do Trick or Treat. I
heard it on this video that we were looking at and I thought fuck this
is a good song we gotta do this. We didn’t have time to do it this
time. I know it’s a fucking drag. We were both gutted, me and the bass
player we were both gutted that we didn’t have time. And unfortunately
we are not the sort of band, cos we ain’t been playing too much
together, we can’t just drop into something. We have to have a couple
of days of rehearsal.
ME: Yeah and Toby has to learn the song anyway.
EC: Yeah we need a couple of days. Apparently the
promoter wanted me to do Step Down tonight. Which I wouldn’t have
minded doing, but of course it’s a question of getting the other guys
on board, and we haven’t had a chance to do it. You know we’ve just
been to Japan and we’ve just come back and it’s all been a bit chaotic.
Nice though. Fucking great.
Oh next rehearsals we will be doing Trick or Treat. No Doubt. Without a doubt.
A big thank you to Eddie for sitting down and taking the time to talk with us.
All photos included here are copyrighted Les Linyard
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed