Paul Logue (Cry Havoc)

Good to see Cry Havoc back! They relesase their 'Fuel' album with some extras via Majestic Rock in September with tour dates to come.

1. What are you currently up to?

We are currently putting the finishing touches to the demos for our second album, which will be called "Caught In A Lie". Stevie (A. Durrand - Lead Vocals) just finished vocals on "Crying In The Rain", an acoustic ballad in the studio yesterday. We have around 14-15 songs to choose from. We have been offered a tour for the tail end of Autumn 2005, with a name band. We are currently negotiating the terms and what dates we can do, as we all have full time jobs. The 19th of September will see the re-release of our debut album on Majestic Rock in Europe and for the first time in Japan on 28th September - repackaged, re-mastered and re-titled "Refuel".

2. How did Cry Havoc hook-up with Majestic Rock? What tracks will make up `Refuel'?

We sent a bunch of emails out to labels regarding our new record, which we are demoing, and Majestic came back. They were really keen from the outset to re-issue "Fuel That Feeds The Fire" and give it the promotion that they felt it badly deserved. Who am I to argue ? Both the European and Japanese versions will consist of a double CD - the first disc will be the re-mastered version of "Fuel That Feeds The Fire", with the Japanese release containing an unreleased bonus track "All Too Much At Once". The second disc will feature our live set from The Cathouse (Glasgow) when we supported Brit Rockers SKIN in 1997. Some of the live versions are different to the ones on the album, as we didn't start recording the record until later that summer. There is also an unreleased track in the set called "Heartland" which never made the album.This was arguably our best ever gig in Glasgow, due to the fact SKIN pulled great crowds and we went down a storm. We tried to build on the success of the show by booking our own gig their with Lost Weekend and The Promise for later that year, but it fell through due to the venues insistence that each band pays £75 and they wanted an unknown Indie band on the bill - some mob called TRAVIS! We told em' where to go!

3. Cry Havoc were signed with Chavis but they went under. Did you ever consider releasing the album independently given the label hassles the band have had down the years?

Yes we did! In fact, our debut was actually always intended to be an independent release. We recorded it out of our own pocket, so when reviewers talk about the production or the budget we've always said "What budget"! Now & Then had nothing to do with financing the record, only the mixing of it, which was done at Spellbound Studios. After five years on the label and Mark Ashton's reluctance to release the album we asked to be released from our contract, and with some persuasion Mark eventualy gave us his blessing to go with our album. We contemplated an independent release but we could never afford the promotion required - enter Bill Chavis! Now a lot of negative press has been banded around about this guy, but the truth is - he promised and he delivered on all fronts for this band! No complaints! OK, granted things could have been done better, but Bill and I talk to this day, and we both know we could have done things differently! Glad to see he's back! He's a good guy and I hope he enjoys a little more luck.

4. What direction will the new material take and any tour plans in the pipeline?

The new material is very much Cry Havoc! It's even bigger riffs, soaring vocals, multi-layered harmonies, pumping bass, big drums and a guitar sound that pins you to the wall!!! I'd like to think we've taken the key elements from the debut and moved it up a gear or two. In fact Brian McGowan of Hard Roxx heard them years ago, some songs exist from the five year period on N&T where Mark told us to write a new album and combine these songs with the ones on "Fuel ...", and he said "The first album sounds like you're new kids on the block trying to sound like seasoned pro's. The new songs sound like you've succeeded!". We are also producing the record ourselves in Stevie's home studio. We are sick of trying to tell people how we want our music to sound, so we've pretty much went out and learned how to do it. None moreso than Stevie who is a fabulous Rock producer and on the rise as one of Glasgow's finest sound engineers! He has a real thirst for knowledge in the field of sound technology! Tour plans will depend on the success of "Caught In a Lie" and to a lesser extent "Refuel".

5. Do you think the past few years have seen a change in the rock scene with there being more venues to play and more people coming along to gigs? Or is it only really viable to tour the UK if you are a `name' band like the US bands from the 80's?

There's been a change in the sense that more bands have toured over the last couple of years than I can remember for a long time! It was great to evetually get see bands like Europe, Styx and The Scorpions back on these shores! However, in terms of gigs for ourselves, there was no scene in the late 90's in Glasgow for our music and it is even worse now. Despite having a reputation for having one of the finest live circuits in the UK, Glasgow just isn't interested in Rock Music - full stop! This also covers the local radio stations and newspapers. Sure, you can get gigs if you are prepared to pay the venue! Hence the reasons why some of Cry Havoc moved into the tribute scene. You need to be able to pull crowds if you want to gig and you need a following to be able to tour. How can a band like Cry Havoc sustain either when venues won't book us, or labels we've been signed to in the past don't promote us. I never did a single interview for a magazine after "Fuel That Feeds The Fire" was released, I mean come on, where is the logic in that! I can't see this band gigging unless it was supporting someone big or at something like Firefest - if the terms were right for us!

6. Where do you get your songwriting ideas from and who musically is an influence on you?

Either just by sitting down with a guitar or bass, singing a melody, a beat in my head or hearing a song that I'd to write something like! Lyrically I write about things from my own perspective - mainly feelings, observations, true stories or in some cases about books I have read. Musical influences - Queensryche, Pink Cream 69, Dokken / Lynch Mob / George Lynch, Scorpions, Tesla, Winger, Dan Huff, Mark Spiro, Mitch Malloy, Journey.

7. What have been the most memorable gigs and why?

Supporting SKIN at The Cathouse in Glasgow - I was a huge fan of them and to support them at the tip of their career was awesome. It was packed and we went down so well with their audience! The Gods 1999 - under our temporary monicker of AGE OF REASON. We didn't play too badly and opened the two day event, but it wasn't really busy at that time. No-one knew us! I remember Bruce Mee asking who operated our sampled backing vocals - "we sung live we told him" - he said "You're kidding ?". We took that as a big compliment! We later appeared further up the bill the next night as Johnny Lima's band and were part of something truly special - a great gig! One for all the wrong reason, but it's funny now ... Stonehaven - In the late 90's we signed to a Glasgow based Management agency and they booked us a "sold out show" at a huge place just outside Aberdeen. We got the royal treatment - hotel, 4 course meal and were well paid. We went onstage and not one single person came to the gig. We played a two hour set in front of two bar people, took the dough and sacked the manager. Our roadies also lifted a leather settee from the hotel foyer, which we only discovered about two hours after leaving the North East. We had to stop the van and dump it on the hard shoulder in the middle of nowhere!

8. Why did Van Hielan call it a day and any chance the band may reappear in the future?

The band had run it's course after 2.5 years! It was too much hard work for little return and the audiences were unpredictable. One week pulling 100 then 300 the next! It was great fun and the last line up was superb! Never say never, but I doubt it! Time to move on ... Stevie is singing for an awesome Iron Maiden tribute MAIDEN SCOTLAND (http://www.maidenscotland.com) who have just completed a five date tour of Scotland as support and backing band to Paul Dianno.

9. What do you do in your spare time outside of music?

Interviews for you :-) Apart from being a husband and spending time with my family - a little web design, but mostly writing and recording!

10. Message to your fans...

Have we got any ??? If so, visit our website (http://www.cry-havoc.co.uk) and email us at info@cry-havoc.co.uk We are keen to talk to fans and have no qualms about sending them MP3s of new songs.Oh and don't forget to buy REFUEL in September - sensational artwork, tons of new photos - You won't be disappointed! Take care, peace! Paul Logue

Rising Stars

Band website