Leading the charge in the N.W.O.T.H.M. (New Wave Of Traditional Heavy Metal) movement, the UK’s Tailgunner encapsulate all that’s great about heavy metal. Loud, proud and unapologetic, they’re a band for everyone who likes their music played with vim, vigour, unbridled enthusiasm, and the volume cranked up to 11. We spoke with the band’s bassist, Thomas Hewson, just after the band stormed the stage at this year’s Firevolt Festival.
For those who are unfamiliar with Tailgunner, please give us a brief history of the band.
“We’ve been around for about three years, we’re old school British heavy metal, no compromises, no apologies, we play heavy metal the way it was always meant to be. That’s all we want to be.”
What about discography-wise?
“We’ve got one album out, and we put out an EP before that. There’s tracks on the EP that are basically half the album and the idea with that was because we were so new, it was to gain some publicity and press before the album was released. We’ve got one album that came out a couple of years ago, and we’ve toured it all over Europe, covering 14 countries and nearly 100 shows. We’ve been in the studio recording a second album; we finished that early spring, so we thought that rather than sitting around on our arses, we’d do festival season and play some shows. We’ve been out on the road with W.A.S.P. and Steel Panther, and a lot of festivals, and today was the last date, so we’ll disappear into the bunker for five or six months, then return with the new album.”
You’ve been out on the road living the high life; how will you readjust to everyday drudgery?
“It’s a good opportunity to write. I like to stay ahead of the game, so although we’ve finished album number two, I’m writing songs for the third. I shall throw myself into that creatively, and we always try to improve everything that we possibly can musically, so we’ll focus on that.”
You wear your musical influences proudly on your sleeves. Today you played a kick ass version of Metallica’s ‘Hit The Lights’, is there one band that draws you all together?
“For us, the main influences have always been Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. They are, as far as I’m concerned, the best British heavy metal bands. There are a lot of bands who are influenced by one of those bands, but we draw from both in equal measure. We love Helloween, they’re a big influence, Megadeth, King Diamond, Motörhead, Saxon, Sabbath, all the obvious ones really, all the ones you’d expect.”
Tailgunner all look young and fresh-faced, and a lot of your influences were probably established before you were born. So what made you look back to the golden age of metal rather than contemporary influences?
“For us, when we were growing up, we weren’t interested in anything that was going on in rock and metal at that time. When we came up, it would have been around the time of pop punk and emo, and for us, that didn’t hold any interest. We didn’t sit down one day and say, “We’re going to be a classic heavy metal band” It was always so natural, as if it was the way it was always meant to sound. From the ages of 10 and 11, it was always Dio, Priest, that was all we were interested in and all we wanted to play.”
Those are some big influences to live up to. Do you hope to get to a level where you could be mentioned in the same breath as such illustrious names?
“Absolutely, that would be an honour, and that is the aim. I’m into football, so if you are a Premier League team, even if you’ve just been promoted, it may not be realistic, but your aim should be to finish top of the table, and as a band, that’s what we should aim for: to be the best heavy metal band in the world. People might think that’s a bit bold or we’re taking the piss, but that’s seriously what the aim should be, so if we get somewhere close to that, then fantastic.”
And are you all on the same page in the band? Are you all hungry and driven?
“Yes. We wouldn’t have survived to this point if that wasn’t the case. We did a tour of Eastern Europe last year with Udo from Accept. They were great shows, but they involved a lot of 14-hour drives through the mountains of Romania, so if we didn’t want it, we would have fallen to pieces.”
What’s so resilient about the genre of heavy metal, which has made it survive whilst other musical forms have fallen out of favour?
“Metal doesn’t try to be cool, and it doesn’t try to impress anyone who doesn’t already get it. If you understand, you need no explanation, and if you don’t, then you’ll never find out. It doesn’t apologise for itself, and for me, heavy metal is a broad spectrum: Praying Mantis don’t sound like Venom, but they’re both metal bands. But the whole point is it’s not about being cool, it’s boneheaded, and we love loud music, drinking beer, getting on stage and having a good time. People will always want to see that; genres will come and go, but people will always want to have a good time, and that’s what heavy metal is for.”
We discussed your musical influences, but where do you draw lyrical inspiration from?
“Everything, really, the first record revolved around themes of war and history. The second album is moving away from that, not too much, but I don’t want to give the game away. I never really know what’s going to influence me as a lyricist, and that’s good because you can’t really plan it, but just see what comes to you. It’s also living your life and gaining experiences. I think if you do that, then things will find you naturally, and that makes for the best songs.”
What I like most about metal is getting into other cool stuff through the band’s lyrics. Would you hope your band is a gateway to other worlds through your lyricism?
“Absolutely. The thing is, there’s a huge movement globally of the New Wave Of Traditional Heavy Metal bands, and there are so many bands in that scene who all they want to do is sound like an obscure EP from 1984, which is perfectly fine, but that’s not what we are trying to do. What I would like us to be is a gateway for young kids getting into metal. I think that to enjoy us, you don’t need to be familiar with Grim Reaper, Demon, or the more obscure metal bands. I would like kids to get into us and then go and discover other bands. I mean, there are not many bands doing what we are doing these days, especially in the UK, and we are carrying the flag, so if we can be a gateway to get people into that whole world, then that would be fantastic.”
You are fresh off stage at Firevolt. What other British festivals would you like to play?
“We’ve played Download this year and Bloodstock last, but we’d like to return to both of course, higher up the bill, keep building and building, Stonedead we’ve played, that was fantastic, Call Of The Wild we headlined this year, which was really, really great. Steelhouse, we played a few weeks ago, a great festival as well, the dream would be to one day headline somewhere like Bloodstock.”
It sounds like you’ve ticked off a lot of your bucket list, so how are you going to keep finding things to strive for?
“We’ll just keep aiming higher. The tours we’ve played this year are next level, and it just keeps growing and growing. The first support show we ever did was with Warbringer, a thrash band from America, along with Hellripper in a club, then our next show was with KK’s Priest, last year we toured with Armored Saint, Riot V, Udo, and KK’s Priest and this year we went out with W.A.S.P. and Steel Panther, so it just keeps gaining momentum, eventually, maybe in a couple of years, we’d love to open for bands like Judas Priest, Maiden, Metallica, the really big names.”
So, if I had a magic wand and could make one wish come true for Tailgunner, what’d it be?
“Just to keep flying the flag for British heavy metal. Obviously, we want to play the biggest shows and sell as many records and be as popular as possible, but the goal is to write the best heavy metal possible, and no matter how many people we play in front of, it’s the quality of the songs that matters. We love playing live, that’s the thrill, but the artistic side is important, too. If you could wave a magic wand, help me write the best ever heavy metal album!”
Finally, to finish it’s time for my “Quick Fire Five”.
Work or play?
“Play.”
Spring or Autumn?
“Autumn.”
Morning or evening?
“Evening.”
Physical or mental strength?
“Mental.”
Sabbath or Zeppelin?
“Sabbath.”
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Interview & Photos By Peter Dennis