Mike Alexander R.I.P.

Mike Alexander R.I.P.

I’d got an email from Lucy saying Evile were leaving the Amon Amarth tour whilst I was in the hotel in Kathmandu, Nepal. I thought to myself “Shit what bad luck have the guys got into now? I hope Ol’s been eating right and not breaking his jaw, I hope they’ve managed to get the ferry, I hope none of them have got ill” I was frustrated, thinking about Ol’s bad feeling about the tour before they started thinking “Come on guys whatever it is you’ve got to stick it out” So I wrote back to Lucy from Kathmandu saying “Tell me what’s going on”

I didn’t get a reply until I reached Tibet and my Blackberry started working. The first thing I read upon arrival. Mike’s dead.

Evile didn’t want to tell me, they didn’t want to spoil my holiday, but they were worried I would see it on Facebook and not hear it from them.

I’d just landed in a really surreal place and I was getting really surreal news.

I still don’t think it’s sunk in for me. I still don’t know what to write.

Mike was a very private person. I only found out that he had a daughter about 6 months ago. I’d been drinking with him enough, I’d laughed with him enough, but his private life was his private life, and in some ways Mike was the quiet one in Evile. Until you went out on the piss with him. Or until you had one of those natural moments of hilarity with Mike where his easy going sense of humour caught the room.

Mike was a giggler. He didn’t have a big booming laugh, he giggled. Please note this example when we were in the woods doing the Evile photoshoot for Infected Nations. I’d told the boys this story about Mad Bess. (Just like my guide leader had told me the story about Mad Bess when I was a girl guide) and whilst we were waiting to take photos (it was fucking pissing it down) we did this YouTube clip. Mike’s trying to hold himself together and not dissolve into laughter. I’m trying to hold it together and not dissolve in to laughter from looking at Mike (although you can still hear me giggle behind the camera)




Mike wasn’t the guy I would contact to get press done with Evile; he certainly wasn’t the guy who would respond to emails quickest if ever. He never had a facebook; he didn’t really like his mobile phone. He always wore headphones. He wasn’t really one to take the lead or to be confrontational. He was a King Diamond virgin until Louise and I initiated him to the King in the car from Bloodstock to a Supermarket one hungry morning at the festival. Louise and I tortured him without mercy by singing Madonna classics at him all the way home from Bloodstock. But he actually didn’t seem to mind, said it reminded him of his sisters. He was the guy everyone wanted to hang out with especially when press were in town, he was the guy everyone wanted to be around because he was so easy going. It was never any fuss or stress with him. Everything was done with no bother; anything you did for him was always received so gratefully and humbly. He was never one of those guys to be disappointed with a rider at a show, he was always grateful there was anything at all. He was never the one to be in bed early, he was the one who used to like to party, in his own understated hilarious way.

I feel bad I didn’t get to know him better, to make the most of his fun loving, no hassle personality. I always loved the way his eyes lit up mischievously when he would witness something cheeky. Those eyes gave away so much.

He was the first Evile member to dress up in stupid masks with me at Bloodstock. He danced Reggae with me outside some market stall. He was a really good guy. He was a really solid guy.

All that without even mentioning what a talented bass player he was.

I can’t imagine how hard it is for his brothers in Evile. Ben, I know you’ll make it through this ok, Ol you’re so brave, and Matt I’m glad you’ve all got each other. I know you’ll be back on stage soon enough, as I’m sure Mike would never have wanted you to stop, and I know that nothing and no one will be able to replace him, as he was so special, but I also know that everything Mike gave to the band will carry on with you, and his sound will carry on when you play the tracks he wrote with you and when you get on stage and see the fans that were fans of him too, and love you all still. The support Evile have from fans has always been huge because they are such genuine nice guys. Thankful and grateful and sweet, and enjoying every minute of their career with the band. And you guys will enjoy it again, even though Mike will be no longer with you physically, you know he’ll be there every time you play in your heads and hearts and in the minds and hearts of the fans too.

I’m writing this on the train, and we’re just going through Market Harborough near where Evile recorded the album Infected Nations. Near where this video happened where Mike pops through looking cheeky.
Near where he tasted a chilli in the Indian restaurant by the recording studio (on the Evile DVD)

Something about him was so magic, he had a self-awareness and comic timing in everything, whilst still in many ways being the “quiet one”. I hope that his work lives on in his music and his kids. Having met Tom at the weekend, I know his sense of humour lives on, and I see with Tom and Matt both that his love of metal will continue. My heart goes out to his family, to his Mum and Hayley and his Lumpy Georgie, I hope you can take solace in how much he was loved all over the world and that his memory will live on in his music and with his fans.

It’s still so hard to believe no one will hear his giggle ever again.

Bloodstock Open Air 2009 - Festival number 8

This was my first Bloodstock festival. I remember in previous years getting to the point of Bloodstock in August and being festivaled out and never going before. There's only so many festivals you can take right?
Wrong! Bring it on! I'm in swing of this now!!
So Tony Foresta (MW) flew into London for a Kerrang shoot and Ol Drake (Evile) was in London doing press so the 3 of us and Louise (Terrorizer) set off in the hire car Friday morning bright and early to get to Bloodstock.
I won't lie to you, i don't like driving hire cars. I don't like driving on the motorway, i don't like having such precious cargo or 3 rockstars, i don't like the fact that I'm personally and financially liable, i don't like the fact the car has only done 8 miles before (probably in rap lyrics)
AND i hate GPS. I'm meant to be looking at the road! And this pink road, red road, arrows going up and down etc is just annoying
Anyway, enough bitching about hire cars (this partially also stems from my first and only car i ever owned, my 1973 Fiat 126 which frequently fell apart at speeds over 60mph) after a smooth ride, picking up The Sun and The Metro on route (that had MW in) we arrive at Bloodstock, drive backstage and get everyone out. 3 hours before MW showtime. Press to do, booklets to sign, plans to make, records to break - plenty to do.
Because Municipal Waste had, onstage in Norway earlier that week at Oya festival, burnt a cardboard church onstage - http://www.dagbladet.no/2009/08/12/kultur/oyafestivalen/musikk/municipal_waste/7627076/
magazines had been asking what antics they would get up to at Bloodstock. The pressure was on. 20 mins before show time Tony decided. "Talita, you have a notepad, you're from the Guinness book of records we're gonna do a crowd surfing record attempt"
Ok win. No problem.
So the set looked like this:

Then after playing Black Ice, Tony tells the crowd how he has a special treat for them and introduces Gwendolyn... (that's me) i walk on stage with a little wave, sunglasses on, thinking "no one is gonna believe this crock of shit" Tony explains I'm there to record MW breaking the crowd surfing record attempt. I've seen record attempts before, they would have to define what crowd surfing is, explain what counts and doesn't count, and definitely have more than one person with a piece of paper and a pen to count the numbers properly.

As it is when the song kicks in, its impossible to count the numbers of legs, arms, flailing and waving and dumping themselves over the barriers. I try to keep up with ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ written all over my page on my clipboard with my marker pen. But the truth is like many of those crowd surfing attempts out there, I'm drowning! No worries. This isn't for real and my anxious, counting face is playing its part. Half way through the track Tony stops, the bass and drums keep going, he comes over to me and says "look like you're saying something to me" and i say "like what?!" and he says "SHE SAYS WE HAVE 75 MORE TO GO!!" and they kick back in. More rapid ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ scribbles.

At the end of the track when heaps of people, like lemmings, have gone over the barrier, more than the security staff could cope with, when injured, blooded Waste fans, hungry for more, had surfed their hearts out Tony comes up to me and says "How many we get?" i had been desperately trying to count my ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ and I'd got to 128. "428!!!!" Tony screams for the stage "We've broken the record!!" win. Hahahaha. Municipal Waste are fucking winners! I love them. Yes!

I scurry offstage.

Later on during the signing session Tony ended up signing kids injuries from the record attempt. One or two asked for the total crowd surfers, he pointed at me and said "Ask Gwendolyn".

I just nodded politely, and looked like i didn't speak english.

Later on mucho hanging out. All MW apart from Tony were staying the rest of the weekend too. I found a bottle of vodka courtesy of Seregon, which ended up with Louise and i coming across a game called Forkie Forkie near the fair ground rides.

With the help of my friend Dutch Frank, Louise fell in love with this game about a fork and started eulogising about how wonderful and socially aware this game was, and how she never was a team player until now. Forkie forkie convert.

The next day was mainly taken up with Evile press. Then cocktail o'clock.
I like to think I'm good at making cocktails. Even if Evile weren't so sure.

Later on we ended up in the fairground, trying to do a shoot for Terrorizer.

At some point after the Waltzers and Dodgems, Louise and Lucy Darkness passed out.

So the last day of Bloodstock.

Headbanging, more Evile press, Sabaton, and driving back to London with Mike and Ol from Evile - Louise and i entertained them all the way home by singing Madonna at the top of our voices.

Here's the Earache crew at the stall.

And one last look at Bloodstock during Turisas' set.

First Bloodstock, probably not the last! 8th Festival this summer DONE!!

Only Reading and Leeds to go!

Metal Hammer awards 2009

You always gotta raise your game to go straight from Donington into the Metal Hammer awards, but everyone is pretty much in the same state, which makes for a funny night.

I dont remember who won what.

I do remember that Lucy, Starlight and myself put in some effort - i even wore heels.

I took along Mike and Ol from Evile too - here's us with the lovely Sharon!

Lucy got to hang out with Iron Maiden at the aftershow party. I got drunk and partied too. I am not such a fan of award ceremonies. But i do like the parties.

Hammerfest day 2 and the return

Day 2 was gonna be busy. Although Evile played Friday night, their press was all Saturday afternoon, and Gama Bomb were due to arrive and play Saturday too, and do their press.

From previous experience, when Gama Bomb and Evile get together, or more to the point, Mike Evile and Gama Bomb, there's an uncontrollable chaotic love fest, where interviews will then go out the window... so one of the things i knew i would have to do, like when you have 2 naughty kids is keep them seperated until the work is done. Bless 'em.

So Lucy and i took a shift on the stall when we woke up. Here's the lovely Earache stall - stuck in the arcade where you couldn't bring alcohol in... (it moved later during the day - thanks security!)

I went to pick up Gama Bomb at the gate at 1pm. They mostly travel by public transport, even when on tour. Which i think is pretty awesome. And crazy.

Stupidly i'd arranged all the press for Gama Bomb and Evile to happen at the same time with the same change overs. Actually, i'm not sure if it was stupid or clever, cause i surely wasn't going to manage to do two seperate loads and better to get it all out the way. But it meant a lot of running about, which is... normal i spose.

I left Lucy on the stall with the dudes and took care of it. Both Evile and Gama Bomb are great to work with i'm really lucky to work with bands who (sometimes) listen to what i say, work hard, have great answers, and are a whole bunch of fun. Which is exactly what happened when i tried to get them to do interviews in a kids playground, multi storey ballpark. :-O Thrash bands all over the place, ball fights, obstacle course races in between BBC rock show interviews. Great stuff. Matt Drake decided that if Evile ever make it big he's going to build a ballpark in his house. Or alternatively make it a business if Evile don't work. Ballparks for adults.

Its such a shame we didn't get some of that Evile vs. Gama Bomb in a ballpark tomfoolery on tape.

Anyway, press done with 45mins to go before Evile and Gama Bomb's signing session, we headed to the canteen (bleugh), as i hadn't eaten all day, Gama Bomb needed to eat early because they were playing that night and all of us had been working press for nearly 4 hours. Also, strangely, the signing session was inside the canteen. I didn't realise this at first and thought that the queue outside was for the greasy fish n chips. But no! It was for Sepultura and our friend the amateur photographer Derrek (just kiddin he never took any photos and we were drunk and crazy and whatever anyway...-see Day 1 - Hey Derrek!). So anyway, we got some food and tried to eat quick in time for the signings. As Sepultura fans disappeared and Evile fans started arriving people wanted Matt to sign whilst he was eating so Lucy and i had to step in (Lucy was back with me now - yes guuurl!)

Then there was some mix up with Saxon's times for signing and they wanted Gama Bomb and Evile to wait, but i'd made them work all afternoon, and GB were due to play that evening, and they hadn't had a chance to enjoy the festival at all, so i made them sign on some tables down the side of the canteen to get it done, whilst Saxon were up the back. There weren't that many Saxon fans anyway, because the times had changed no one knew - people were there for Evile and GB - lots of them! Lovely job.

So after the signing i went back to the stall for a while, fully intending to stay on the stall until later on. By this point the stall had moved to by the main stage. After an hour of selling merch, Skindred came on and i just had to run and dance for a while. Lucy! This is what your poor arse needs, come down and shake it! We met Alice and girls in the pit and i bounced around for a while. I love Skindred. I always have maximum respect for 1) Someone who can start a good-time party 2) Frontmen that control the crowd like that 3) Frontmen who can spin a yarn

And i think Benji is fucking awesome.

We'd started drinking by now, and Skindred put me in a great mood. Benji came down to the stall to hang out for a while and we had a good chat, about the time i woke him up at 5am to do an interview for Totalrock (sorry Benji), Uxfest, music in the UK, and what he thinks about Earache, and how he kept saying to me that he has huge respect for Digby for investing so much money in his talent and spotting it early on. I like it when artists stay friends with Earache and appreciate what we do, heaven knows there's enough shit talking.

I also realise that with time opinions change, and with hindsight and perspective shows reasons and actions to be valid. So big up Benji, totally straight up and awesome. And i still owe him so much for sending Uxfest out with the bang it deserved at Islington Academy in '06.

So time for Gama Bomb! Second stage about 10pm. I love Gama Bomb's attitude. I love Philly's wit. And i love the fact those dudes are so cheeky. I think they're a really great band, and even though the sound was a bit shitty on the second stage, they played a storming set, and Philly is always worth while, oh and Joe's hair, because he's worth it too. Fuckin awesome.

I think i was a few drinks in by now, time to find Wolf, who i was REALLY looking forward to, having not seen them since the Municipal Waste / The Haunted tour 2 years ago. Axeman has been a regular contributor to my radio show on Monday nights and i love the new album Ravenous, so i was suitably excited.

We watched Saxon - with Doro.... (ok, not with her at all, but by her. But all hail Doro, we love you) Then Wolf (following Saxon!!!)

Lucy and i ended up on stage dancing our (injured in Lucy's case) butts off, and singing Voooodddooooooo as loud as we could.

The rest of the night was crazy, and Wolf lived up to their partying reputation. I was going between the Wolf party and the Gama Bomb party until about 5am. It was so funny. I believe i met an aeronautical engineer called Kevin would is responsable for the skin being scraped off the back of my knuckles whilst he was trying to give me £20 for some beers i had brought to the party. They weren't mine. I was giving out Matt's beer. The Aeronautical engineer didn't understand this.

At some point after that i headed to the beach for the sunrise with the remains of some booze.

All i know is that when i got in at 8am, Lucy was asleep. I out partied Lucy. Yes. Winner.

HAMMERFEST! What an awesome fucking weekend!!

And here's Lucy and i trying to be awake enough to get home, giggling all the way. (partly because i had ruined my sneakers and went home in sandals with socks. Yes. i did that. winner.)

1st Festival of the year. Result=awesome.

1 down, 8 to go.

oh my HAMMERFEST!!! - day 1

HAMMERFEST!

April 24-25th 2009

I woke up in the bunk that one of Mutant had so kindly deposited me in when i passed out at the foot of their tour bus steps and realised it was daylight. I didn't really know where i was or what time it was. All i could think about was Some like it Hot. Where was the bass playing Lucy? (she doesn't actually play bass, and it would be the inverse of Some like it Hot, but seeing as its one of my favourite movies and the bunks were just like those on the train, and we'd just got totally drunk, it made sense to me)

So thanks to Sam, who put me in (i believe his own) bunk after making Mike and Ben give me a piggy back round some service station at 3am...

Anyway, wakey wakey rise and shine... the sun is up (although it wasn't shining in Wales) and Lucy and i were probably late for work. But where was she? The whole bus was deathly quiet. I jumped down from the bunk and wandered down the aisle only to find her scrunched up on the front seat asleep. I woke her up, we got our things and snuck out leaving Evile, Trigger the Bloodshed and Mutant to sleep. We must have looked like the creatures from the Black lagoon wandering aimlessly in a Pontins carpark.

US =

And Pontins =

Pontins = a huge amount of brightly coloured canteen flavoured council estate planned holiday camp.

Magic.

I suppose its portrayed that getting into metal is like taking a journey to the dark side, and that its so grim and necro and heavy. Well, the mix of that idea with the happy joy of Pontins is a heady cocktail enough to blow anyone's mind. I love it.

Lucy and i, like everyone else were staying in a council estate flat like chalet. I didn't really know what to call it. I had been warned they were gross, but actually i thought they were pretty rad. I was feeling suprisingly upbeat for the amount of vodka i'd drunk, and pre-9am this is a really bad sign. It means i'm still drunk.

So i phoned Dan-the-man our Earache label manager to see how far away he was, he'd be half hour, so enough time for the swimming bath-like shower and to get my game head on.

By the time we started setting up the Earache stall with the dudes, and for the fact that we couldn't find a cuppa tea anywhere, the hangover started to set in. And oh lord what a doozy. I remember when i wasn't drinking (or not much) last year, and i used to think i didn't get hangovers and couldn't remember the last hangover i'd had... now i don't want to think about it.

It hit Noon and we went to the cateen. The food looked gross. I ordered fish and chips (i really wasn't thinking straight) and ate 5 chips and a bit off fish then stared into space. Lucy and i said we'd take the shift until 2pm so the guys could get some lunch.

I started to get the shakes. This was not good. I felt so sick. Ugh. I was the least inviting person you'd ever want to buy anything from. We must have looked like the walking dead. Sitting and shaking dead more like.

However, i'm never one to be defeated. It was clearly time to raise the game. After shaking and almost puking for 2 hours during our shift we went back to our pad to catch some Zzzz's and try and get it together. That was only round one, i wasn't about to stumble at the first party hurdle of the year.

So i put on Dolly Parton and fell asleep. There's nothing a subconcious Dolly-P can't cure.

Why d'you come in here looking like that? (Like you haven't had any sleep and you'd drunk a litre of vodka between you, pull it together Talita you have to party/work soon) Why d'you come in here looking like that?!

So suffice to say 5pm Friday, Lucy and i are back on our feet. I've back-combed Lucy's hair to epic proportions, she has her hotpants on, we've met up with Alice and the girls and we're ready for round 2.

Evile are awake and on point and i can't wait to see them play again. I'm keen to see Mutant too, and Blood Island Raiders.

We do another couple of hours on the stall - i actually had to miss Evile so that Dan and the others could see them (i'd seen them in London anyway). I saw Blood Island Raiders, by this point i was feeling good... so Lucy, me and the ladies were back on the wagon - after we'd packed the stall up it was time to dance. I love to dance. I don't care what you think. I love it. That dancefloor has my name on it. Yeh ok, i move like a geriatric. You want to judge my dancing? Fine, but you're not dancing and i am. So whatever!

Slayer always gets me going, you can't play Raining Blood and not expect a reaction. And that was it, us ladies were (in the words of Lucy) "throwing shapes" all over the place. So much so that Derek from Sepultura (Lucy's new friend) wanted to take photos of us. "You dirty perv!!" Lucy shouted at him apparently, before he explained that he meant of us dancing. Clothes on.

We were way too busy dancing anyway.

Sweet Savage - a NWOBHM original - added late to the Hammerfest line up. Came on about 1am. Even in a drunken sweaty state we all knew that they were all over the place.

Andreas (Tornado) of Wolf had come to hang out with us. Axeman of Wolf had been promising me that he was gonna get so crunk at Hammerfest with us - promising for the past 2 years - but he was in bed by 11pm! Shame!

It was at this point during Sweet Savage that some drunk guy threw a drink at us, which pissed me off as he'd soaked my White Wizzard tshirt, and i pushed him out the way, as he was bumping into us continuously in a "I'm pretending i'm bumping into you, but actually i'm feeling you up" way - which makes me mad. Anyway, he was wasted.

But at that point another drunk dude behinds me falls over and as i turn round to see what happened TIMMMBERRRR! Lucy slips up on the pool of drink on the floor curteousy of the first drunk dude, and takes a slam into the floor landing hard on her (gorgeous) bottom. Lucy has a long way to fall, she's very tall. And this bum injury gave her pain - indeed is still giving her pain!

So after Sweet Savage, us girls were roaming the venue looking for a party, when we bumped into James (Sikth) and Khaled (Raise the Dead ) who told us they knew where the party was at.

The venue was closing up, and we had to go on a bit of a wild goose chase maze race through the building trying to find it - it was meant to be in the media centre. But when we got up there it was deserted.

Khaled gets a text saying "The party is through the yellow hole."

What on earth does that mean?

Then Khaled got it and we all ran back upstairs to the media centre (which was infact the kids playground) and in the wall there was a yellow tube leading through to the ballpark - and we all crawled through to find The Architects and i don't know who else in there. Party!

Oh, then we got chucked out by security 3 minutes later

"I'm calling response"

Classic.

End of Hammerfest day 1.