Way back in September 2009 when Uber Rock was taking its first fledging steps onto the interweb, I rather boldly stated that without Diamond Head and the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal I’d probably not be doing what I do today.  Simple fact is that Diamond Head (along with the more obvious candidates of Maiden and Saxon etc) made me suddenly sit up and listen to new British bands and more importantly go out and buy their albums and see the bands live, something I’m very proud to still be doing to this day.

 

Why I connected more with Diamond Head than with any of their more household name contemporaries from the NWOBHM scene was most probably down to their DIY ethic, their youthful exuberance and “we can do anything” attitude.  Something that by the time Geoff Barton had got hold of it within the pages of Sounds made the lads from Stourbridge appear to be the band everyone with half a brain should be listening to, and who was I to argue with the mighty Geoff?

 

Thirty one years on and to finally get the chance to chat with the band’s guitarist Brian Tatler on the eve of the band’s debut album being re-released in a deluxe edition format via Universal was something of a dream interview for me. I really could have just pulled down the URHQ shutters and talked with him all night about his band, but I didn’t have such a luxury and I wanted to get as much of the inside story on Diamond Head then and now as I could.  Ultimately I didn’t get to ask every question I would have liked to, but I’d like to thank Brian for not ducking any questions and what follows is exactly what we discussed, totally unedited.

 

Hey Brian firstly many thanks for taking the time to talk with us at Uber Rock its really appreciated, I’ve personally been a fan of Diamond Head for many years so it’s actually a real privilege to get this change to talk with you.

 

You’re just about to re-release your classic debut  (‘White Album’/’Lightning To The Nations’) as a double disc set.  Why now? And what’s so different about this version of the album?

 

Brian Tatler; The last time this album was available was back in 2001 when Sanctuary Records released it.  That deal expired in 2006 so it has been unavailable since then. I thought it was about time this classic album was made available again and with the help of Steve Hammonds at Universal Records we made it happen. Also with our busy year opening for the Big 4 plus an American tour and dates in Canada we thought the timing was perfect.

 

Sticking with the early days just for now what would you say was the defining moment for you from those early DH days?

 

My favourite gig was playing the Reading Festival in August 1982. Everything seemed to be going right for Diamond Head, we had a record deal, we had a new album coming out and we were playing the biggest show of our lives, it did not get much better than that.

 

I’ve actually recorded at the Old Smithy Studios myself (where the ‘White Album’ was recorded) what are your memories of the place?  I seem to remember it being a great live room with a huge desk that really captured the vibe, but not a lot else…(laughing)

 

It was impressive at the time, we were only 19 or 20 years old when Diamond Head recorded our debut album ‘Lightning To The Nations’ there in 1980. It was hard to get a good drum sound because we used the tiny drum booth that was very ‘dead’ and we did not have much time, the whole album was recorded and mixed inside a week. It was 24 track though.

 

It must have been great times for you guys; you played with some pretty diverse headliners (Foreigner and Krokus spring to mind) where were you pitching yourselves in those early days? And what was in your heads regarding where you wanted to ultimately be music wise?

 

I’m not sure how to answer this? I guess we wanted to be successful and keep the band going but we also liked experimenting, trying different things and we did not like repeating ourselves. I don’t think we had a long-term plan just write the next song and play the next gig. Metal has become more of a business in the past 20 years, Diamond Head had no idea about the potential longevity of bands like AC/DC and Motorhead.

 

So were you taking influences from these bands or were you oblivious to what was going on around you?

 

No we took on board influences all the time, if we liked something by The Police we would have a go at incorporating it into a song. We did not like very much from the NWOBHM but listened to lots of things from the 70’s, I liked bands as diverse as Gentle Giant and Dr Feelgood. When we supported Foreigner we were fans of the band. Sean and I in particular admired Lou Gramm’s vocal prowess. Sean would later warm up by singing along to songs like Juke Box Hero and Urgent.

 

I remember you guys touring extensively with another great band Silverwing in the early Eighties what was that like?  Do you have any fond memories to share about Alistair Terry and his gang?

 

I saw the guitarist playing the riff from Van Halen’s ‘Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love’ in a sound check and I asked him to show me how to play it. We borrowed their leather jackets for a photo shoot for Sounds and I think we took the piss out of each other a lot, Rock and Roll are four letter words after all (laughing).

 

 

I’ve always wondered why you were so dedicated to the Flying V back in those early days.  What was the reason?

 

Because it looks fucking great. I would play it more if it sounded better and was little more road worthy, the neck on it has broken 5 times. I moved over to the Les Paul out of necessity.

 

Having also read and reviewed your excellent book I have to wonder how the hell did the rest of you put up with Sean Harris and your management?

 

I wonder that too sometimes? I guess we did not know any better. This was the only band any of us had ever been in or involved with and because Sean was so talented you start making allowances and eventually you have created a monster.

 

Even though you did some pretty entrepreneurial things like the ‘White Album’ under your management it seemed like there were cracks appearing in the band almost as soon as you signed for MCA? Is that a pretty good reading of things?

 

The fact is our manager had the money to get 1,000 copies of the album pressed and once they had all been sold he would have recouped his investment, so as long as you have some spare cash to throw at a band and the belief in them then anybody can do it. Once we signed to MCA I guess other people then held a position of power and it did not sit well with Sean. I think MCA soon realised that our management were not capable of controlling things and taking Diamond Head to the top.

 

 

I first saw you guys on the ‘Borrowed Time’ Tour in Bristol and it was a truly great night, you took time to meet the fans after the show and autographs were changing hands the next day in school for some pretty lofty amounts (laughing).  You have always seemed to value your audience Brian (you were doing the same thing only recently on the Europe tour) what is about meeting your public you like so much?

 

I think it’s necessary to meet the fans, they have invested a lot of time and money into the band and it’s only right to shake a few hands and sign a few autographs, why the hell not? I always like it when I meet someone I admire, you never forget it. Metallica have turned it into an art form with their meet & greet passes.

 

Ahh Metallica you must be a mind reader as of course one such fan also meeting you on that ‘Borrowed Time’ tour was a very young Lars Ulrich, and what Metallica has done in turn over the years to reinforce the reputation of Diamond Head is probably immeasurable (other than in £ signs) Do you ever listen to those early Metallica albums and think…”Bastards that’s my riff…should have been me that?”

 

Actually I did not meet Lars on the ‘Borrowed Time’ tour that was in 1982, I met Lars backstage at the Woolwich Odeon on July 10^th 1981. That was our ill-fated 19 date tour of huge venues before we were signed and none of them were even half full. Needless to say we lost a lot of money.

 

Metallica’s infamous ad/news item in Kerrang before they recorded ‘Ride The Lightning’ read, “Metallica need singer, must be like Sean Harris”.  What did you guys think of that at the time?

 

I have never heard that before, I did not know an ad existed like that. I certainly never saw it at the time. It’s obviously flattering for Sean but there are not many singers who sound like Sean around so no wonder they did not find anyone.

 

 

Of course you yourselves were a radically changing band by that time you had left Duncan and Colin behind and moved off in an altogether more “radical” direction.  What do you think of ‘Canterbury’ when you listen to it in 2011?

 

I have not listened to Canterbury for a few years now. As far as I remember, the production is good and I especially like the songs ‘To The Devil His Due’, ‘Makin’ Music’ and ‘Knight Of The Swords’ but a couple of the songs sound a bit too experimental for a rock audience. It’s a shame that we did not move on from there and record and release another album in 1984 or ’85 then we may have had some consistency but everything had folded by the beginning of 1985.

 

You still seem immensely proud of what you guys achieved back in the early eighties, however if you could go back and change anything from that early period of Diamond Head what would it be?

 

I think Diamond Head should have kept Duncan Scott and Colin Kimberley, fired the management and made simpler/easier albums not sweating over every little detail. Not many NWOBHM bands survived the mid 1980’s cull. Considering that there are 400 bands listed in Malc MacMillan’s book ‘The NWOBHM Encyclopaedia’ only about 4 or 5 were still going by 1988.

 

But to your credit you guys didn’t just give up there, but from the first reunion with the benefit of hindsight would you have stopped Sean wearing that Grim Reaper outfit when you played Milton Keynes Bowl?

 

That was Sean’s choice I could not stop him from wearing it, he thought he was making a statement. I said, “You will either grab the headlines or look like a pratt”.

 

Also did you ever see those Metal Mind CD reissues of the MCA albums that managed to somehow get a picture of Sammy Hagar on the CD booklet sleeve notes? That was pretty bloody bizarre, and could only have happened to you guys I guess?

 

Those Metal Mind CDs are bootlegs; Universal who owns those two recordings did not know anything about it (they said). The mix up with the pictures is because on the other side or the page with pictures of Sammy Hagar is an interview with Diamond Head, the artwork people must have got it upside down.

 

Moving on to the here and now I last witnessed you playing live at Hard Rock Hell 2010 where it was rumoured you would be performing the whole of the ‘White Album’ with your latest line up of Diamond Head (sadly it never happened).  Are there any plans to do this with the new reissue available?

 

We only a 40 minute set at Hard Rock Hell so did not think it was right to just do the album, we did do the whole album at many other dates around that time where we had a 1 hour plus set. It was great fun and I am glad we marked the occasion. I think because it’s now 31 years since ‘Lightning To The Nations’ was first released that time has now passed. We won’t be doing it again.

 

As you said at the start of the interview you’ve not long got back from a pretty extensive tour of the US and that followed the two huge Sonisphere shows you did.  How was this for you guys?

 

The two Sonisphere shows were fantastic; they felt like justification for all the hard work Diamond Head has put in over the last 7 years. Sometimes you have to do the shitty little gigs so you are ready when you get offered a huge one. I also got to ride in the Metallica crew plane over to France for the next show sat next to Big Mick, awesome. The American tour was fantastic 17 dates in 18 days, in a van with the gear in the back and 1 crew guy, hardcore! The tour started in Seattle and finished in New York City. Our singer Nick did a marvellous job of not losing his voice, very professional; we also squeezed in two festivals in Canada a first for Diamond Head.

 

And what about a new album from you guys? It’s been 4 years since the last one hasn’t it?

 

Yes the last album ‘What’s In Your Head?’ came out in 2007 and we were very pleased with it, although none of the bigger Indie labels like SPV, Roadrunner, Sanctuary or Eagle Rock would take it so it came out on Cargo like the ‘All Will Be Revealed’ album in 2005, therefore it sold about the same amount of copies and got us no further. So unless something changes I do not want to make another album that will only come out on Cargo Records and sell a few thousand copies, it’s not worth it for a year’s work, I have other things to do.

 

 

If we were to do the random five tracks on Brian Tatler’s I Pod/I Phone MP3 player right now what would come up? (No cheating OK !!!)

 

1 XTC- ‘Knuckle Down’

2 Steely Dan – ‘Home At Last’

3 Led Zeppelin – ‘Night Flight’

4 Bruce Springsteen – ‘If I Should Fall Behind’

5 It Bites – ‘Yellow Christian’

 

And just to finish things off as I do with most interviews I do these days are there any messages you would like to share with your fans worldwide right now?

 

Thank you all for keeping the faith. Diamond Head will endeavour to get around your way as soon as possible. Check out www.diamond-head.net for details.

 

And with that we’d like to thank you for taking the time to speak with us at Uber Rock, we’ll hopefully catch up with you guys some time soon on the road, thanks Brian.