|
 Far
from sliding quietly into the night, the legendary New Wave of
British Heavy Metal titans Cynic have returned with a new album in
the form of Suburban Crisis and with more than a few stories to tell.
Drummer
Tim Batkin spoke with Komodo Rock's Mike Elliott about the new album,
and how, after more than a decade apart, they reformed due to "the
insistence of the internet and the publication of two books".
A
good reformation wouldn't be much without a whole host of good
stories, and first on the list would be this years case of mistaken
identity surrounding their booking - and then cancellation - at
this years Wacken Open Air Festival, and Batkin didn't spare us any
of the details of that situation!
Can you give us some
background on the band, and how you originally formed in 1979?
Shaun and I had been at
school together and worked in a band called Renegade, playing covers
of bands like Free. After we left school, (1978) Shaun started
working with Dom Heptinstall, (a local guitarist who had already
proven his guitar credentials with Health Warning - a band that had
Russell Simon on guitar who later formed Virgin Star, Mark Simon on
drums, who later played in Virgin Star, and Grim Reaper, and Benjamin
Brittain, again who played later in Virgin Star and Grim Reaper).
Shaun gave me the
call to try out with them, and that was it really, we were working on
Killroy, Eight Below and Do or Die, when we were joined by Barry
Pedlingham bass, (later Tyga Myra bassist), and Tony Eyres.
You officially
split during the early 90's. What brought about the dissolution of
the band?
When we called time on
Cynic (UK) we had been working without rest, rehearsing, recording,
playing, for ten years, we had gone through a singer and bassist, and
there is only so much more you can do. It was time to stop, and we
all carried on pursuing other projects, so we actually never stopped
playing.
The band
returned in 2003, due to "the insistence of the internet and the
publication of two books". Can you elaborate a little on what
made you decide to bring the band back?
In 2003 I was the only
band member to have a web address, so if you Googled the members of
Cynic (UK) you would only find me.
Consequently, I
received an email from Jim at OPM records in California, and another
from a guy in Holland, wanting to buy any stock of the Suicide vinyl
I had left. I had a few and sold them to Jim at £10 a pop. After we
had concluded the transaction I was curios why after 20 years there
had been this coincidental interest in our single - Jim just said
take a look at the Internet, and get Malc Macmillans book, "The
Encyclopaedia of British Heavy Metal".
I think it is fair to
say we were amazed about all this stuff going on about Cynic (UK) and
the Suicide single, and later Martin Poppoff author of many music
books, wrote "The NWoBHM Singles", again favourably
mentioning Suicide.
It was also amazing to
note that Suicide was apparently one of the top 50 most expensive
singles ever to buy, at £125 each on ebay at one time, (yeah
and I sold what I had for a Tenner A pop!).
Then the torrent sites
opened up with Do or Die EP., (minus the opening Killroy track? -
don`t know why this was, maybe the guy who ripped it did not like
it??)
Shawn Grant is now performing vocal duties alongside
his guitar. Did you ever consider searching for a vocalist when the
band returned?
Yes we did, and
naturally we looked to the former singers of Cynic (UK). Neil and I
had been in a rock covers band with John (Ridsdale) and knew in
conversations with him, that the spark for singing and working in
bands was waning for him, (which was a shame as I always felt Cynic
(UK) with John and Neil was the best version) so we approached Tony
(Eyres), especially as he was the singer on the material that
everyone was talking about.
Tony initially was
into it, and we rehearsed a few times, and he still had a great voice
- the trouble with Tony is he really only likes the glory side of
being in a band, the work (like learning the lyrics) he has always
avoided. So Tony tended to spend more time with his Porsches, BMW Z4
and Yamaha super bikes.
So we did what we
did years ago, between Tony leaving and John joining Cynic (UK),
Shaun picked up the challenge - and he has got a powerful voice, as
you have heard!
Your not only
back together, but you also have a new album in the form of Suburban
Crisis. Can you tell us a little about the album itself?
We went into Rockfield
studio in October 2006 to record some of our favourite Cynic (UK)
tracks, and really see what we could play like 23 years after we had
made Suicide.
The initial name of the
album was going to be "Biblical Flood", as during the vocal
recording at Yellow Shark, Shaun, Gary and I got caught in the
torrential floods around Tewkesbury in 2007 and drowned the car, (we
actually nearly lost one of the Protools drives with the whole
session on as well), and had to spend the night in a refuge with 400
other stranded drivers.
Anyway when talking to
Hugh about the title, he was not convinced that it worked, and spoke
to some of his friends, who agreed we should drop the "Biblical
Flood" title, (and when Hugh and his mates say drop the title
you should be wise enough to listen) - so we opted for Suburban
Crisis, and that worked well with the image design Hugh was thinking
about.
 The album was recorded at Rockfield in Wales. How
did it feel to be working where Rush had previously recorded, and
working with an engineer that had worked on their material as well?
I remember when Shaun
and I were in our teens going to band practice, (he would pick me up
in his Dads car as we were both so poor we could not afford one), and
we would listen to Hemishperes, and we both just loved the ambience
of the album, and that it had been recorded at Rockfield Monmouth.
And later listening to A Farewell to Kings album (also Rockfield)
which had the liner sleeve comment, "A farewell to Kingsley,
(Ward) owner of Rockfield.
Rockfield is
actually about a 40 minute drive from where we live, and Shaun and I
would dream of recording there.
Later in 2006 and with
the financing of Vergette Limited we had that opportunity of using
the studio, and during the booking arrangements I had said that
Shaun, and especially myself, had been huge fans of RUSH.
Lisa, (Ward) booked us
in and mentioned the engineer would be Matt, (Butler), a local
(Hereford) freelance producer and engineer, she said she thought
given we liked RUSH we would like Matt.
Matt, of course, we later
found out, was the former cheif engineer of Montserrat AIR studios,
(actually another studio I love, or more accurately loved - and
visited on my honeymoon in 1992), he had worked with RUSH on Power
Windows, and I think recorded the guitar solos for Hold Your Fire.
Apparently, RUSH would have him say Grace before dinner, and he would
thrash them at scrabble - from all accounts there were lots of
comments about Alex trying harder on his solos, (not from Matt I
hasten to add), and all in good humour.
Matt has an
enviable CV., and has worked with Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Phill
Collins, Paul McCartney, Gary Moore, Dire Straits, Mick Jagger etc
Rockfield studio
itself was just fantastic, beautiful residential accommodation, sat
in the most idylic of Welsh countryside - it is no wonder so many
bands go there.
The desk I think
was a huge SSL, there was a large separate drum room, with something
like 2.5 seconds of natural reverb, which you can hear on the
recording, which many say has a roomy live feel to it. I had £12k of
mics around the kit, and 18 tracks just for me, the guitar amps were
in closed off rooms with four mics aimed at them, and the whole
volume cranked up.
Matt instinctively got
the feel for us as a band, and created what has been described by
fans as the "Early Eighties killer heavy metal sound".
In the evening
Kinsgley would come in and listen to the days work, and tell us the
stories of Rockfield, absolutely great to hear about the antics of
the famous bands who have been through there., and Matt would tell us
about the stuff he had seen in all his years as a recording engineer.
Shawn Grant is credited with the majority of the writing
on the album. Was this intentional, or more a case of just how things
worked out?
I think we could have
picked any of the Cynic (UK) songs to record and Shaun would have
been the majority credit on the writing. He has a tremendous talent
for writing, both music and lyrics, and it is he who is the
production line. Dom has written quite a few, and John wrote some of
the stuff of the other older Cynic (UK) material.
Since it's
release, how has the album been received by the bands fans? Are they
happy with it?
We have received great
feedback, mostly from people saying we have somehow managed to
capture that early Eighties Heavy Metal sound, (from all accounts a
few have tried and failed), but to be honest I think that is what we
know, its what we have always played, and its probably all we know
how to do [laughs] and the instruments we use still have the factory
pre-sets from 1980!
Comments range from
roomy, live powerful sound - and actually it is all live, only the
guitar solos, bass, and vocals went on later, the basic drums and
rhythm guitar tracks are not overdubbed. We asked Matt should we do
any, and he said, "No it does not need it", again a mark of
his instinct and talent in producing - either that or he was keen to
get home that day! [laughs]
I read an
interview the other day and the guitarist was saying no-one records
the guitar and drums live, and if they say they do their lying, but
that is exactly what we did.
The albums cover art is very
post apocalyptic. How much direction did you give artist Hugh Syme
over what you were looking for?
When you work with
people as talented and experienced as Hugh and Matt, a wise person
shuts up and listens to their advice, and that was pretty much the
approach we had with Hugh. Although Hugh did push us to have a two
way street in the development, to be honest we were such huge fans of
his work, every time he sent an image over for comment we were
totally blown away, and loved it all. It was funny getting Matt`s
reaction to Hughs work, and he was as utterely gob smacked as us.
We got talking to
Tiles who had recently released "Fly Paper", and they were
commenting on the genius that is Hugh - I could not agree more, a
great bloke, amazing talent, and as he said, "It was good to
keep the RUSH alumnus together on this album", referring to
Rockfield and Matt - weird really, as we don`t sound a bit like them.
What I especially
like about Hugh`s work is the subliminal references captured within
the art - there are a few on Suburban Crisis - you have to look
closely!!
 You were involved in a case of mistaken identity
over this years Waken Open Air Festival. Can you explain a little
more about what happened?
We had been finishing
up Suburban Crisis, and a few web sites who have forums talking about
Cynic (UK) suggested we get involved with some summer concerts.
Wacken had been mentioned, so we approached them, told them we were
Cynic a New Wave of British Heavy Metal band from England who had
made Suicide, and could we get a slot. Thomas from Wacken came back
right away and said, he knew who we were and yes they would be
pleased for us to play, they would forward contracts later.
We spoke later on
the telephone to Thomas about next steps, (yes the English accent
might have given something away here! [laughs]), and he agreed to
email over the contracts. Actually the deal was pretty ropey, we
would be accommodated for one night somewhere, (no special riders on
food) and bussed from the local airport to Wacken, we had to fly into
(at our expense) the airport, all for the princely sum of 250
euros!!! I hope Cynic (USA) brokered a better deal [laughs], as it
would have been loss making!
After we got the
contracts we returned them and asked if we were free to promote the
gig, and were told we could not until Wacken had put it on their web
site, and could we release to them biographies, history, personnel
photos, logo etc to facilitate this.
Again you would think
alarm bells might be ringing now, about a UK Heavy Metal band who
released Suicide in 1983 - we did and they posted it up to their site
- and then Kaboom! Meltdown! - as the worlds fans of Cynic (USA)
wanted to know what the hell was going on.
Thomas sending us the
link to Wikipedia asking if the entry for Cynic (USA) was us, and
then the reply back - we wanted the Death Metal Cynic - and then the
Internet media meltdown.
It was an awful
distraction to us, as we were going about getting our album complete
and out, and I remain amazed to this day at the so called free
speech, of especially the US Internet sites, seemingly censoring out
that we were a band who had been around since 1979, and released
Suicide, (thought by Malc Macmillan to have been genre defining of
the NWoBHM scene) in 1983 - as though we had just popped up from no
where and decided to nick the name Cynic, much to the annoyance of
the Cynic (USA) fans.
Are you concerned that there is
going to confusion over the bands name again in the future?
We have taken steps to
ensure there is no recurrence, the Union Jack flag on the Suburban
Crisis album sleeve, and reference all our work now with the (UK)
prefix. I sometimes feel it would have been far easier just to adopt
another name, but then I think well, we played as band supporting
Grim Reaper and on the same circuit as Wrathchild since 1980, we
recorded and released Suicide in 1983, we appeared on BBC Radio with
the single then, and Kerrang ran a write up of us in 1988. There are
fans all over the world who love Suicide, and I know of one guy,
(Alex -Crazy Al) who had the Cynic logo tattooed on his bicep, and I
think how can we turn our backs on that history, and those people?
It should really be
unremarkable that two band in the Eighties decided Cynic was a great
name for a band, especially as one was from Florida, and one was from
the West Midlands of the UK - more surprising surely there are not
more, and from the same countries. Remember when we released Suicide
the fax machine was the latest hot communication device, replacing
the telex, the world had not been shrunk by mobile phones and the
Internet.
I suppose if we
were both UK or USA bands playing the same music, one of us would
have to take stock, but we are very different musically, and anyone
liking our brand of British Heavy Metal is unlikely to like Cynic
(USA) music, and vice versa. What is important is playing the music
we love, and reaching our audience, the only coincidence is the name.
I have said before
we met Sean and Paul in some London gig when they were Aeon Spoke,
(we had reformed Cynic (UK) by then) and they seemed genuine guys
interested and dedicated to their music. Lets leave it at that.
With regard to touring, do you have any plans to head out
on the road in support of the new album?
We
would love to show what we can do live, and have been toying with the
idea of a concert streamed out to the web, (that way you can control
the quality and not have some guy film you with a mobile phone BADLY,
and uplift it to You Tube).
We
are also talking to promoters - maybe Wacken would give us a slot,
[laughs] and we will see how we go.
There seems to
have been an upturn in the profile of many NWOBHM bands of late, the
Tygers of Pan Tang and Steve Grimmet being two examples. Now with
Cynic returning, do you think the musical climate is returning to one
where these bands will flourish?
I think there is
something to that - funny we supported Grim Reaper, (Steve Grimmet)
way back when, and I remember listening to Tygers of Pan Tang on the
Friday Night Rock Show when I worked in a garage serving petrol, John
Sykes blowing everyone away with his solo work!
We get played regularly
on the Old School Metal Show in the States, Grinder is the host, and
his show is deliberately timed to mimic the Friday Night Rock Show,
where so many of the great NWoBHM bands got airtime, and you see so
many of them coming back with new albums - great I say, it just shows
how wrong the A&R people were in the early Eighties and how you
cant keep a good band down, or their music!
It is however, very sad
to read of those who have passed on, gone but not forgotten.
 Do
you have a strong plan as to where you hope to take the band in the
future?
I would like to think
about a tour, maybe with one of our more successful NWoBHM peers, a
Live album and then another studio album, that is about as far as I
can see at the moment - but that would be good.
The musical
world has changed quite considerably since the band originally
formed. How has that effected you personally, and the way that the
band are able to operate now compared to, for example, when you
released the 'Do or Die' EP back in in 1982?
You are absolutely
right, we are an analogue band, who have managed to use the digital
age to our advantage.
When we recorded Do
or Die, (actually the engineer, Paul White, is now Editor in Chief of
Sound on Sound magazine), it was 8 track tape. Cassette duplication
or vinyl was the meduim, and a fortune to print even 2 colour
artwork, let alone full colour. With Suburban Crisis, files of art
were being uplifted to servers, as was the music, and Sony in Austria
were going to those files downloading them and turning them into the
album.
We sell literally to
the world through our Internet shop window, and receive
payments converted into Sterling via Paypal from any denomination. If
we stream this live concert we potentially reach all our audience
world wide, without leaving Worcestershire, it is all so quick and
far more profitable than appearing somewhere - remember the 250 euros
to play at Wacken! [laughs].
I receive music as a
WIP from Dom who has been working with Shaun on new Cynic (UK)
numbers, and can use the mighty Roland TD 20 digital drum kit to wack
on the rhythm, over EZ Drummer.
It is all so very
different, and yet I don`t think bands have fully explored the
opportunities, (and naturally threats) the Internet poses - I notice
for example the leak last week of Traced In Air. [The new album from
Cynic (USA) which is due for release in October]
You cite
the internet as one of the reasons behind your reformation. Is it a
tool you are finding is useful to you as a band?
Yes totally, but you
have to manage the threat this also creates, as I mentioned Traced in
Air all over YouTube, and I see sometimes with dismay that someone is
offering Do or Die as a pay to download, we don`t receive any of this
revenue.
I think you have to
use the Internet to reach out to an audience, but have a product
which is so good that people will want to purchase it and keep it,
and look at the images of the artwork etc.
There is no doubt
without the Internet we would have gone quietly into the night, with
good memories, and not know how many people we had reached out too
with our music.
Of course, when
the internet is mentioned in musical circles, talk always turns to
illegal downloading. Is this something that concerns you, or indeed
has already effected you?
Yes it has affected us,
as I mentioned Do or Die is a download, and when you consider the
hoops you have to jump through bureaucratically to release your own
material, MCPS, ISRC etc, and them giving you permission to produce
your own work.
I said to they guy at
MCPS about this and he said it was for our protection and they would
defend us from pirates - I said "Are you on the Internet at the
moment", he said "yes", I said, "Ok type in Cynic
UK NWoBHM and Suicide or Do or Die", I said "Can you
protect us from these sites?", he said, "No - I thought it
might be Itunes".
Though it is quite
cool to know that Suburban Crisis has an ISRC, (International
Standard Recording Code) embedded in it, which lets us know where it
is being played etc.
Musically, who
would you say has been the most influential to you over the course of
your career?
As a band we were
influenced by Thin Lizzy, RUSH, UFO, Led Zeppelin etc, and personally
by guitarists like Andy Timmons, Gary More, Steve Vai, Satriani etc,
for me it was Brain Downey, Ian Paice and Neil Peart, (actually got a
postcard off him back in 1992!).
A big thank you to Tim
for taking the time to talk with us.
Suburban Crisis is
available now. You can keep up to date on what Cynic (UK) are upto
via the bands official website at www.cynicuk.comor
via the bands MySpace profile at www.myspace.com/cynicuk.
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