Retro is en vogue and bands that draw heavily from the revered New Wave Of British Heavy Metal are popping up at almost every corner – ironically, almost none of them actually originate in England. SKYRYDER from Newcastle is one of the rare exceptions as the band is actually British, which makes classic heavy metal nothing less than the five-piece’s birthright. Recently signed to High Roller Records the group has a new EP called „Vol. 2“ coming up, which is why we spoke to their drummer Andrew Macknight.
Two years have passed since the release of your debut EP „Vol. 1“. What have SKYRYDER been up to since?
An awful lot of gigging, mainly. We’ve been up and down the country over the last two years or so. We’ve played with some pretty astounding bands, the likes of Visigoth, Bewitcher and Saracen come to mind straight away. There’s been an awful lot of writing in there too. We’ve been busy boys as always.
„Vol. 2“ is about to be released. How would you describe the record and where do you see the biggest differences to the previous effort?
We’re really pleased with it. It’s a bit more technical than the first one, the song writing was mainly a combined effort of all five of us contributing little bits and pieces and bringing in influences from outside of metal.
How did songwriting and recording for „Vol. 2“ go down?
One or two of the tracks had existed since the release of the first EP and the other three were developed over time. It’s finishing off the concept that we started on Vol. 1.It was recorded in two different places, like it’s predecessor which made for some nice new work environments and allowed us to really take our time with it.
Also counting „Vol. 2“, SKYRYDER has put so far out two EPs, each containing five songs. Can we expect a full album in the near future?
Of course, we’re actually way ahead of you. Some of the basic skeletons of songs have already been written. We’re just waiting sorting out where to go with them next. It’s looking to be quite diverse and quite interesting. It’s going to be a totally different entity from the two EPs in terms of its structure and its sound.
Your video for „Midnight Ryder“ serves as a good example on how to work around budget constraints in a smart and
funny way. Tell us how it came to be!
It was actually Luke’s idea. The idea had floated around but I don’t think most of us were that interested until the concept actually came into being. One that we think really paid off. It was great fun to do, if not a bit messy. We recorded the whole thing over a weekend and had the help of a great production and FX team. We really like the very tounge-in-cheek style and it really suits us as people, we think.
„Midnight Ryder“ has this Terminator type of guy in the video clip. What inspires your lyrics?
We’re a bunch of nerds for the most part, to be honest. It’s mainly drawn from Science Fiction and Fantasy. The name of the band itself and one of the songs (we believe) is influenced by Silver Surfer so if that doesn’t set a precident then we don’t know what does. We all play loads of video games and some of us read an awful lot so lyrical ideas are always floating around somewhere.
SKYRYDER are still a comparatively young band and yet you’re signed to a label and getting international attention. What advice do you have for other underground bands that are just starting out?
Have patience! Take your time and don’t be in a rush to do bigger things and compromise quality in the process. Its important to enjoy your early days as a band because its where you find your footing and start to evolve. You tend to find loads of other cool stuff when you take your time to develop properly and you get to meet some cool and interesting characters too and that’s half the battle in our eyes.
What about your upcoming live activities? Any chance to see SKYRYDER in Germany this year?
So far we don’t have much planned. We’re playing Brofest in February which is guaranteed to be great. We have one or two things planned later in the year too, however we are sad to say Luke Mills will be leaving the band after Brofest. We are currently on the hunt for a new singer! We’d love to do something over in Germany this year or as soon as we can. It’s a place most of us have wanted to see. As Helloween and Blind Guardian fans, it would be rude not to.
England was once ground zero for heavy metal. From the perspective of an underground band such as SKYRYDER: What’s the state of the British metal scene in 2020?
It’s diverse, unusual in places too but still great to be part of. This little island still has a lot to offer, musically at least. I think we’re lucky to have such a history behind us as there’s that direct connection with things like NWOBHM and the likes of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath. It’s not unusual to run into faces you’ve seen on Neat or Ebony Records inserts every now and again.
Thank you for the interview! Please let us do a short brainstorming in the end of this interview. What comes in your mind first reading the following terms:
Bruce Dickinson: Wasted Years
Pay To Play: Scam
NWOBHM: Neat Records
Pale Ale: Gamma Ray
Brexit: Stupidity
Iron Maiden in 10 years: Most likely, still touring.
Once again thanks for your time. The last words are yours – is there anything left you want to tell our readers?
Firstly we’d like thank you for the great questions and thank everyone who has supported us this far! It means a hell of a lot to us and the best is yet to come from us! Volume 2 is out on the 27th of March.
10. April 2020 Thomas Meyns
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