Den 6. februar spillede Saxon i Amager Bio, hvor blandt andet hele albummet Wheels of Steel fra 1980 blev opført. RockZeit var til koncerten, og vi var også så heldige en uges tid før, at få et telefoninterview med Peter Rodney Byford som vi kender som Biff Byford.
Det selvbetitlede debutalbum udkom i maj 1979, og Saxons udgivelser har siden været en del af de fleste metalhoveders pladesamlinger rundt omkring i verden. Det er også blevet til omkring 23 millioner solgte plader siden 1979.
Vi har spurgt ind til hvordan Biff efterhånden arbejder i Saxon;
RZ: Hello Mr. Byford. How are you doing? Thanks for letting us have this interview.
BB: I’m fine, thanks. You’re welcome.
RZ: You must have passed the 45th anniversary of Saxon by now?
BB: Yeah I think 45th anniversary with the Wheels og Steel album.
RZ: Are you still enjoying life on the road. Is it still fun or is it hard after all these years?
BB: It can be tiring, but it’s not hard (laughs).
Writing songs
RZ: When you’re spending time on the road, do you sometimes compose songs?
BB: No, we don’t. We always compose in the studio. I’ll say, let’s make an album, and we get together. I have some ideas, and then we get together as a band in the studio and work with the ideas. That’s what we do, and that’s the best way for us to do it.
RZ: Do you jam some riff, or is it composed from each of you?
BB: Well, usually the boys send me ideas, and then I listen to them and decide what ever I like. And I put it on a list. There will be an A-list, B-list and C-list. But sometimes I write a whole song myself.
RZ: You play guitar and bass yourself. Do you sometimes record some riffs also?
BB: Sometimes I do, yeah. It depends of how complex they are. There’s no need for me to play it, if it’s too difficult. Maybe some of the short riffs I record myself. But usually I try to save these for the solo projects I might have.
Concepts
RZ: Do you think lyric-concepts first, or do you compose the riffs and rhythms first? What comes first; the lyrics or the music?
BB: It depends, really. Sometimes it’s the words, sometimes it’s the music. I arrange everything, and it depends, it really does. Sometimes I have the lyrics and put it into a song, and sometimes I make the lyrics when I hear the music. I don’t think that there are any “rules”.
RZ: So do you have some kind of visual thinking in the composition process, you know the lyrics of Saxon and the album covers are very visual in nature.
BB: Yeah, I do. A lot of stuff up with work with the album products, the artwork…the management working with the artists. Yeah, a lot comes from my idea of the title. You know, the title is very important for the imagery. So if you get the title right and the imagery right, 25% of the album concept is practically done.
RZ: I read something about film director Ridley Scott doing some work with Saxon in the old days on Power and the Glory. Was it a music video or album artwork?
BB: Oh yeah. He did the artwork.
RZ: For the album cover?
BB: Yeah, I think so. I didn’t know him, but I meet him a few times in London in the eighties. We sometimes went out, I can remember who was friends with (laughs).
Recording
RZ: Do you have gear at home to record, or do you record in traditional studios?
BB: Well, I have a studio at home. So I work in the studio a lot. I just have to walk across the garden, there is my studio.
RZ: So you record the hole thing, a hole Saxon album in your private studio.
BB: Yeah we do. Some guitars are recorded elsewhere. For the new album Hell, Fire and Damnation, we did a lot of stuff here, actually.
Style
RZ: Do you keep the Saxon style close to your heart, or are you inspired by other bands…you know, you hear stuff, and you think; I’ll try to make something sounding like this riff..?
BB: Elements and old school style, which is a great thing…yeah, I’m very aware of keeping it in Saxon style. I admit the early work of Saxon was inspired by early Iron Maiden, things that people like, but still going the Saxon way. So yeah, we try to keep it more or less on the rail.
RZ: You have made a lot of music, 24 full albums. Does it sometimes happen, that you forget that you have made it before…a melody, riff, and you think, oh, we have done this back in the days…something that almost sounds like this?
BB: Not very often. Sometimes, but not very often. We don’t try to rewrite Wheels of Steel or something. Maybe sometimes we get close to something we have done before, and then close the call. There is nothing that we have forgotten. We know all the songs, so we don’t forget, and if some of the boys comes up with a riff similar to some we already got, then; NO, this sounds like something we’ve done (laughs).
Setlist
RZ: Is it the whole band or management that works out the setlist, or is it your decision alone?
BB: It’s mostly my decision, but if anyone have something to talk about, then I can think about doing some other stuff, but usually I do the setlists, and in the specific order and so.
Singing technique
RZ: You’re still a great singer. Do you practice technique, or do you just warm up before a concert?
BB: I don’t usually warm, actually. I just walk on stage and sing. I don’t practice technique, I just sing a couple of songs every day. Make my voice muscles work, you know.
RZ: So you sing almost everyday?
BB: Maybe 4-5 times a week. So I know my voice……It’s my best friend….
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