Tygers Of Pan Tang
All You Want To Hear

30.10.2010

When we hear the term New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, the first bands that come to our minds are Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Saxon. But NWOBHM is not limited to these three bands, there have been many other bands in this style which often deserve no less attention than the front-runners. One of them is definitely Tygers Of Pan Tang, for whom the year 2010 marks the 30th anniversary of “Wild Cat”, one of their most famous releases. To join the celebration, we arranged an interview with guitarist and founding member Robb Weir, whom we got on the phone right in between discharging his duties as a motorman…

We all know that name of your band came from Michael Moorcock’s book. But how do you decide to choose that name for the band?

Richard ("Rocky" Laws, original bass player) at that time was fond of science fiction books. He was reading a Michael Moorcock book that was actually called “Stormbringer”. So he took elements out of this book and put them together. Pan Tang were cliffs on the sea front and the empire’s tigers guarded them. He put two names together: Tygers and Pan Tang and that’s how the band was called.

This year you have an anniversary of the “Wild Cat” album. I saw on your website an EP called “The Wild Cat Sessions”, which contains five re-recorded hits from the original album. How did you decide to do such a record?

The plan is to do an EP every year, so this was in 2010 celebrating anniversary of the “Wild Cat” album which was released 30 years ago. And probably we will be doing the same thing next year, in 2011, celebrating anniversary of the “Spellbound” album (1981) and so on. On the “Wild Cat” EP we’ve got the songs that we play live in our current set. So it was very easy to choose which songs we’re gonna record.

What did you feel when you were recording the songs that was very successful 30 years ago?

Very proud and hoping that we could do the same kind of atmosphere that we did in 1980. And in fact, to be quite honest, it sound better.

Ok, let’s back to 1980, when you started recording “Wild Cat”. How did you get a record deal?

It was a very exciting time when record companies were looking for an act to sign to be part of NWOBHM. And Iron Maiden were signed by EMI, Krokus were signed by Ariola, Saxon were signed by Carrere. We were signed at the same time by MCA.

How was the recording process like?

Very quick. (laughs) It was recorded and mixed in 11 days, which is very quick for an album. But that was not a problem, because we had been playing those songs for about a year on the road, so there was nothing new to learn, nothing new to figure out. The songs sound the same as we played them live. Chris Tsangarides as a producer captured the moment of this thing.

Are you still in touch with members of the “Wild Cat” lineup?

No, unfortunately not. Everybody now is doing different things.

In 1985 Tygers had a reunion but without you. Why did that happen?

Am… Well, I was doing a different musical project. And from what I know it didn’t last very long. I think they recorded two albums and then it all finished.

Did you hear their albums and what can you say about them?

No, I wasn’t aware. I was doing another thing at that time. I was not really involved in the music industry. I took a break from it.

And what did you do that time?

I went to work on a railway.

Around the same time you organized the band Tyger Tyger band with original Pan Tang singer Jess Cox. How did that band look like?

It was only Jess and I. We recorded about an hour of the material, but it was never released. Only one track was released on a compilation album called “First Kill” (1986). And the track was called “Small Town Float”. We fully intended to release the album but there were factors that didn’t allow us to do it. Jess was out because we wanted to do different things so the album was shelved. And it will never came out.

Also you got the band, called Sergeant that you formed with drummer Brian Dick, also of the Pan Tang Family. You recorded an album but didn’t release it. What happened with that stuff?

Yes, we recorded that album with Brian Dick on drums. We actually got a record deal with CBS. And I think CBS relocated to the States. It happened right after we got a deal with them. We got an agreement with them on the mouth, but we haven’t signed a contract. So it was like we didn’t get a deal.

You are big friends with the band Blitzkrieg. How did that friendship started?

Jess phoned me up early in 1999 and asked if I was interested in playing on a big German rock festival called Wacken. It was the 20th celebration of Tygers foundation, which was in 1979. So I said “yes” and we start to phone everybody else, but they all had commitments they couldn’t get out of. So Jess recruited a guitar player, a bass player and a drummer from the band called Blitzkrieg. They became Tygers for that day and we played a festival in 1999.

Why did Jess leave the band and chose a career as the head of Neat Records in the early 80s?

I think Jess had a big opportunity to rule a small record company. And he wanted to be very much involved in the music business (and he still does) and to be in Tygers wasn’t enough for him. So he decided to go that way.

The result of collaboration with Neat was release of “Don’t Touch Me There” single.  Why didn’t you work more with Neat?

Because we were looking for a major deal and Neat was a small independent record company. And “Don’t Touch Me There” was played to MCA. They said they like us and they wanted to sign Tygers. And basically MCA bought the band from Dave Woods who was head of Neat at that time.

In 2001 Tygers was reformed, but without any other members of the band but you. Why?

Again nobody could do it. I really wanted to start it all again and carry on.

How do you get new people in your band? I mean what is the crucial quality for a musician to become a Tygers member?

A good musician, nice person and… Difficult to qualify really, you just know about a man that he should be in your band. Brian (West), the bass player, played in a band called Tauros that actually supported the Tygers on the “Wild Cat” tour in 1980. The bass player was in our support band!

How did you find such vocalist as Jacopo Meille?

That was through an international agency when we started looking for a singer. A man from that agency contacted him and asked if he was interested in auditioning for the Tygers. He said “yes” and flew to the UK to audition for us. After about two or three minutes of his singing we took him in the band. We just knew he was absolutely perfect.

Tell me about other people in present lineup of Tygers.

Craig Ellis on drums. He was playing in a local band along with Brian the bass player, and with Dean ("Deano" Robertson) the guitar player. They were introduced to me when we were in the studio recording the “Mystical” album (2001). When I got together with the singer Tony (Liddell, ex-Sergeant) I said that we need a drummer, bass player and another guitar player. He said that he knew three guys and invited them along to the studio. And they were perfect. And we have been together for ten years!

How did the band manage to recreate your classic sound again, despite that you are the only original member of the band?

Because I was the author of most original ideas. I know how the band should sound. I come up with guitar riffs and original ideas, play them to everybody and develop them. You know, I wrote “Wild Cat” completely, a half of “Spellbound”, half of “Crazy Nights” (1982). I have a good idea of what the Tygers should sound like.

I read that you should have released a new album called “Ambush” this summer. What has happened with that release?

In fact, that album will be released next year.

How is work on that album progressing?

We are on the writing stage. We’ve got to get ideas together. We are going to go into my studio and record them, then listen to them and think if we could make them better. We’ve got about 30 songs so far, we’re gonna choose 12 from them.

Do you remember how NWOBHM started, how was it?

It probably started in America in 60s from the blues as I guess. And you also can hear it nowadays.

In your opinion, why do people still want to hear that music?

Because it’s exciting. You can loose yourself in it. It has a groove and a beat… It releases from normal life. It’s all you want to hear.

What do you think about a band called Roxxcalibur that released an album called “NWOBHM for Muthas” with classic heavy metal covers?

Well, we were actually on the same stage with them at a festival in Germany. They were very good. They are also keeping NWOBHM very much alive. I believe on their next album they will have a cover version of our band.

What do you think about the situation on the metal scene nowadays?

It’s very good but it’s nothing that it used to be. I think that people lost a lot of their jobs, there is not much money around.

Can you name any new bands that you enjoy?

Ehm, some new bands… Good question, I am trying to think… You know, nowadays bands play rock, like Bullet From My Valentine, Trivium, but they are not playing NWOBHM. They are just new English rock bands.

Do you like them?

They not really in my taste, if I was honest. I like all music but obviously everybody has a preference. So if you gave me the choice of AC/DC or Trivium I would choose AC/DC.

I would choose the same. What about touring? Do you have concerts regularly?

Yes, we do. We have done quite a lot of European festivals. Next Friday we will play in London, and next Saturday we will fly to Bologna, and there we will play the Rock Hard Festival. Thus, more and more work at the end of the year as well.

You had a tour with Scorpions over Japan in the early 80s. How was that tour?

Well, we didn’t tour with the Scorpions. We got to play in Osaka the same night. We were both playing different venues on the separate sides of the town: we were playing on the east, they were playing on the west. We didn’t know they were playing until we met them at the hotel afterwards. They were staying in the same hotel as we were. So we had a little party downstairs of course. Two years before, in 1980, we supported them on “Big City Hall Tour” in the UK. Two years later we were playing with them on the same night in the same town. It was quite remarkable. We actually sold more tickets than they did.

I saw on your MySpace page some pictures from a festival in Spain where you took part. How was it?

It was absolutely fantastic! We were in Spain about three weeks ago. We met really nice people, it was a fantastic location. The promoter wants us go back and do shows early next year.

What about a concert in Russia? We have some really mad NWOBHM fans!

We will absolutely love to come to Russia. We will try to organize it.

I know that in England everybody loves football. What about you?

I like football! Newcastle United!

Do you visit St. James Park (the home stadium of Newcastle Unaited) regularly?

No, you’ve got to have a season ticket. You have to spend hundreds and hundreds of pounds to buy a ticket to go. Regularly when they play at home 50,000 people go. It’s very difficult to have a ticket.

What are your plans for the future?

More touring, more records, more shows, more happy fans.

And a few final words to our readers, please.

I would like to thank them very much for their support. I would like to come and play in Russia, and we would love to see each and everyone of them and after the show we would like to say “hi!” to everyone of them. And possibly have a vodka with them.

Tygers Of Pan Tang on the Internet: http://www.tygersofpantang.com

Interview by Sergei “BoBr” Bobrik
Questions also compiled by Konstantin “Hirax” Chilikin
September 3, 2010
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