Satan pour le Fall Of Summer

Hi Steve, how are you? First of all, I’d like to say I’m really grateful to have the opportunity to chat with you about Satan which is one of my favorite bands!

I'm fine thanks, and it's a pleasure to do this interview with you.


This interview is conducted as part of the promotion for the 2nd edition of the Fall Of Summer festival that will take place September 4 & 5 in Torcy near Paris, France. Did you know the festival before being contacted to play it?

No, I wasn't familiar with the festival beforehand.


Speaking of contact, when and how were you contacted by the Fall Of Summer organizer?

By email through our website. That's how we get most of our bookings.


Did you accept this invitation right away?

Yes, we were very pleased to get the opportunity to play in France again.


You have a new album called "Atom By Atom” that should come out in October. Will you play some new songs at Fall Of Summer?

No, we will be playing songs from the new album after its release.


Kevin Heybourne is featured on one of the song from "Atom By Atom”. Coincidentally Angel Witch will also play at Fall Of Summer. I guess you know where I’m getting at! So can we expect Kevin to be invited on stage with Satan?

No, not this time sorry!


Besides Angel Witch, do you know other bands that are part of Fall Of Summer line-up?

Yeah, we were band mates on the SPV label with Destruction in the eighties and also know the guys from Candlemass who I'm looking forward to seeing again too. We played with Nile in Brazil recently. I've heard of or seen a few of the other bands too, it's a good strong line up.


Fall Of Summer won’t be your first time in France as you played Hellfest last year. First Satan show ever on French soil if I’m not mistaken! I’m proud I was there! How come you haven’t crossed the Channel earlier? How was the show by the way?

We generally play anywhere we are invited to play all over the world. That was the first time we were asked to play in France. The show was fantastic, a great crowd and an honour to play on the same stage as Iron Maiden.


Let’s go back to the new album. What can you tell us about it? What can we expect? How does it differ from “Life Sentence”? Oh my God I’m so excited about that one!

Life Sentence was written as a follow up to Court In The Act had that line up stayed together. We imagined ourselves being the age we would have been when it was written and what our technical ability and writing skills would have been back then. There were some things that we decided we wouldn't have done like using odd time signatures in the music. By the time we would have made the third album with that line up we would have been in full swing as musicians so we haven't placed any restrictions during the writing process on the new album. It still has all the qualities of the first two albums but is a little more progressive musically.


“Life Sentence” received tremendous support from all around the globe, getting only incredibly positive reviews from the media and the fans alike. Did you expect such a big success?

We knew we had made a great album but we're still blown away by how well it was received by the worlds press and fans.


You just toured South America, did a North American tour and even went to Japan. Satan seems to have found a second youth, better even than the first one! Is it how you feel in the band?

It's like unfinished business. We're doing all the things we dreamed of when we made the first album back in the eighties and never got the chance to do.


Did you feel some pressure when writing the new album?

No, we enjoy the writing process so much together and recording the finished songs. We're not trying to make it big or impress anyone, we do it for the love of it so we don't feel like we have anything to prove.


Listenable Records released your comeback album and will take care of the new one as well. How did you end up on that label in the first place? I’m glad you’re part of Listenable roster anyway because they’re French!

When we sent around the first demo for Life Sentence they were the label that understood best what we wanted to achieve. We had a meeting with Laurent the label manager after a show in Belgium and we knew we'd found the right guy for the job. He was a fan of the band to start with and is a good friend now too.


How about a full European tour instead of a few festivals here and there?

Yeah, we're considering that for next year. We will be touring in North and South America again too so it's just a case of fitting it all in. It is also the case of finding the right people to work with as we have no contracted agency or management we sort things ourselves.


Why don’t you guys play songs from the Mickael Jackson era? Is it Brian’s Ross decision to skip “Suspended Sentence” ? Anyway I think it’s too bad because there are some great stuff from that time that would deserve to be exhumed and shown to the fans!

We did actually add The Iceman and Key to Oblivion to the encores for a couple of the USA east Coast shows. Brian loves the stuff we did with Mick. The problem is that we have enough material to perform that Brian has recorded now without adding old material. We will have to drop some favourites from CITA and Life Sentence when we introduce tracks from Atom By Atom to the live set!


Young bands playing 80s Heavy Metal have been keeping emerging for the past 8 years. What do you think about them? Is it cool to keep the flame alive or should they stop doing what was already done better and play more original and modern music?

That's not for me to judge. Musicians should play the music that inspires them no matter what the style or genre. Sometimes it's good to take a step back to learn the way to move forward too.


A lot of old bands from the NWOBHM or 80s Heavy Metal in general are reuniting as well. What’s your opinion on that?

Again, if they still love what they do and people want to listen then it's all good.


What are the differences between the 1980s and the 2000s, being fans, bands, recordings, atmosphere, conditions, etc.?

Lots of things have changed especially due to the Internet. Satan wouldn't exist again if it wasn't for that. Fans can choose for themselves what they listen to without being led by the press like they were in the eighties. It's cheaper to record now with digital recording platforms but then your music can be downloaded for free so the sales aren't there anymore for bands. Then because of that fans have more money to go to shows and buy merchandise which is better for everyone. It's a different way of working.


Thank you for your time Steve and see you at Fall Of Summer in September!

See you there!