Post by Edward Baggett on Sept 25, 2009 22:43:00 GMT -6
Whats your full name?
James Andrew Mallender
When/Where was you born?
Sheffield, England 2.2.1972
What bands were your favorite growing up?
Queen, Beatles, T Rex, The Sweet, Van Halen, Living Colour, Mr Big, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Rainbow, Michael Jackson, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, David Bowie and of course - Black Sabbath.
Anyone special inspire you to play music?
I saw a live Queen concert and went wow! I have to do that! Queen always were pretty special and I dont believe there has ever been a band to touch them, before or since. They were the most consistently brilliant song writers and performers Ive ever seen.
What was the first instrument you learned to play?
I learned a bit of keyboard, a little drums, some guitar and joined a band as the singer!
What all instruments do you know how to play?
Bass is the only instrument I consider myself to be competent at, though I still have a lot to learn in my opinion. I do play guitar reasonably well, and keyboards. Im fairly good on a penny whistle and I love playing the stylophone but I suck at it.
Why did you pick the bass to play as a job?
Good question. I knew I wanted to be in a band, but I didnt particularly excel at anything. So I joined a band with some school mates as singer and 2nd guitarist, because thats what they needed. Then one day the bass player had something better to do than attend rehearsal but his gear was all in the practice room so I just picked up his bass and played it and it all just fell into place. Id never played one before because Im a little guy and the bass just looked so big, but I knew right then what I really wanted to do with my life. The bass is a wonderful instrument to play and I dont regret my choice one bit. Its still big on me though, I never did grow any.
Could you give us a quick rundown of what all bands you played with up to the point you joined Tony Martin?
I played for a band with some lads at school and we called ourselves Aviator. We wrote our own tunes and did covers of Rainbow, Sabbath, Yngwie Malmsteen and stuff like that. We fell apart when we failed to take over the world, and then I was in one of the best bands Ive ever played with, The Brown Bottle Blues Band, but they just didnt take it seriously and I didnt want to be in a hobby band. They are still going though and are well worth seeing. I left to join Faith of Merchants who were a local band serious about writing and recording their own material. They were good and I really liked the music, but the music scene changed to all that grunge crap and we were seriously out of fashion in our cowboy boots and big shirts, playing keyboard laden big chorus tunes with widdly solos. It seemed to become a dead loss overnight. I went on to set up my own band called Temple Of Groove which was musically great. It was like Hendrix meets T Rex on a psychedelic afternoon trip. But money became a big problem for me at that point as I was in the middle of a divorce and had a kid to support, so I moved on to play in a lot of local club bands like Gillam, Touch and Go, The Outrageous Frite Nite Freakshow Experience, Strange Frontier (my own band - named after a Roger Taylor album) Guns n Oatcakes and Glamtastik. Then, I got a call from a friend of mine called Dez Bailey of the Bailey Brothers who were from the same village as me and had become famous/notorious for their MTV heavy rock show. Dez, although known as a rock journalist and DJ, had learned to play guitar and had secured a deal to release an album under the name Baileys Comet. He had been asking me to join his band for a while, but I couldnt afford to be in an original band making no money. He called me to ask one last time as Fasker, the bass player from Saxon had left Baileys Comet and Tony Martin had just joined on vocals, I had to say yes! It was great getting to know Tony one of my heroes, but unfortunately the tour was very problematic financially and afterwards we just sort of disbanded without speaking. No bad feeling was meant, but I just sort of waited to hear from Dez, but he never called with any more gigs. Id always wanted to play music for a living, but up to this point I had always had a day job and played semi-pro. Then I got an offer from Heroes. A local band who did the holiday camp and club land circuits for a living. I really enjoyed it and gave it my all. But after a year they fired me. The reason given was that I was too rock. This wasnt the real reason, but whilst I reeled from the disappointment of the sacking and the financial difficulties it caused me, I got a call from Tony Martin. Scream was about to be released and he needed a bass player for his touring band.
Any interesting stories that stand out from those bands?
Yeah, erm. ok. There are many. Heres one. The most fun I ever had in a band was when I was in The Outrageous Frite Nite Freak Show Experience Ltd. We were a fully live rock covers band that dressed as comedy horror characters and did a lot of comedy routines. We carried our own dungeon stage set with us complete with coffin, kennel, massive drum riser, skeletons, rotating risers, stage extensions, etc. etc. and consistently packed out local venues. They had people lining up outside to see us well before they opened the doors and they took unheard of amounts over the bar, night after night. One night, I was dressed as the queerwolf in my cross-dressing pink wolf outfit (the singer (Lee) was dressed as Alice Cooper, the drummer (Jason) was sid skeleton, the keyboard player (Carl) was a 65 bride of frankenstien in a wedding dress and the guitarist (Dave) was count rockula) and we were doing our Alice Cooper medley, which usually ended with a big pyro explosion as the singer left the stage to change into a different costume. I used to stand over the pyro machine and step back at the last second it looked reckless, but it was cleverly timed. However, on this particular night in question, the roadie with the pyro button was drunk. He got confused and pressed it early. I was on fire!!!! The pyro ripped my costume to pieces there was hardly anything left and what was left, was on fire. Count Rockula ran over to me and started slapping me really hard all over to try to put out the flames. The rest of them kept playing!!!! So I was all singed and burned with hardly any costume left covering my now very pink body and Lee comes back on stage dressed as an evil clown and just looks at me and falls about laughing. The audience were sat there wondering how we managed to pull that stunt off every night.
Can you give us a brief idea of what its like to tour and play has an unsigned band in Europe?
Not really. Tony Martin was signed by MTM when we first played Europe. Though I cant say that they were very supportive whilst we did so, even though they were happy with the sales of Scream. MTM eventually collapsed and left Tony with an album no-one could buy. Later on, when we played in Europe again without a record deal, it was just like before, no support and no-one to depend on but ourselves.
What was the first song with Tony Martin singing you ever heard?
The Shining.
What did you think of that song and in general how big of a Martin fan were you when you joined his band?
It blew me away. I thought it was awesome, and I became a big fan right away. I dont usually mention that, because it sounds a bit like Im sucking up to the boss. I continued to be a big fan of Tonys output. I played his first solo album to death, I liked all the stuff he did with Sabbath, the Rondinelli album was cool, the Empire albums are awesome and I think The Cage albums are possibly his best, certainly lyrically.
How did you meet Martin and how did you join his band?
I already answered that one in part by accident! The tour with Tony in Baileys Comet was brief. But I connected well with him, and he made a point of getting my number. He kept in touch quite a bit, which is kind of weird. I mean can you imagine? Youre out for a few drinks with the lads and Tony Martin calls you to tell you a joke he just heard! Not everyone believed me at first.
What song of his are your favorite to play?
From our current live set my favourites are When Death Calls, Black Moon, The Shining and Headless Cross.
Any Martin song you havent played that you would love to?
Yeah, the problem of course is that not everything would work with the live set we are doing. A set has to be constructed carefully to fit in with demand for the most popular songs and the set has to flow. The demand is for a Sabbath heavy set, particularly tracks from Headless Cross and Eternal Idol. But that aside, Id love to play everything Tony recorded with Empire. I have a lot of respect for Rolf Munkes material. Jerusalem would be cool to play, Kill In The Spirit World, Faith In Madness, Bitter Sweet, Evil Eye, Anno Mundi, Overload, Life Love And Everything, Poison Roses, the list goes on and on.
Whats Martin like off stage and give us an idea of how the Tony Martin band is off stage?
Tony has a very quirky, silly sense of humour, and hes very young at heart. Hes always got a new gadget or gizmo and hes always making everyone laugh. Hes a very creative and talented man, but hes not a pompous rock star. Hes a regular and genuine guy, with a lot of time for those around him. His memory however, is nothing short of rubbish! In the band everyone is very different, but the guys are all very nice, honest, positive people. Geoff looks after everyone. He always has a story to tell and he never ever stops being funny. Rolf is a thoughtful type of guy. He has a twisted but hilarious sense of humour and always speaks sense. Danny is the loudest member of the band, always full of energy. He can be up all night and is always ready on time to travel to the gig the next morning. Hes one of my best friends and I owe him my sanity. Im not sure what I bring to the table, but Im the one who communicates the most with roadies and sound guys and makes sure everyone has what they need. If Rolf has asked for a particular amp and it doesnt get provided, Im the one who makes them find one for him! Despite everything we have been through together, we are all still very good friends.
Whats the funniest thing you ever seen Martin do or say?
There have been many funny moments, but I think that when he bought me a blow-up sheep in an airport to thank me for my hard work was when he made me laugh the most. I still have it, and no it hasnt been used. Honest!
2009 the 20th Ann of HC tour was going to be the biggest thing in Martins solo career. What was the setlist going to be and how much rehearsal time went into it?
The setlist was to be the best of what we had already done on previous tours, plus most of Headless Cross. We rehearsed hard, until it was just the tightest most powerful sounding band you can imagine.
Can you shed any light on why it was stopped, or if you cant for any reason its ok?
I cant. Tony asked me not to say anything for legal reasons. Im dying to spill the beans though because it was 100% not our fault and I dont want the fans to think badly of us.
How disappointed was you and the band?
We were all extremely hurt by it. We were very, very excited to take the show to the USA and Canada. It was a crushing blow. Personally I had given up all my other work to go. I am over £2000 down financially, and that doesnt include the money I should have earned for the tour. I have 2 kids to support and a wonderful supportive partner. We will cope, but its not nice when your family gets hurt by something like this. I also felt terrible because I had new endorsements with Musicman, Rotosound and Hartke, and I felt that they had been good enough to support me, but that I had let them down. Larry Hartke in particular, had gone to a lot of trouble for me. He was providing 2 enormous Hartke bass rigs and he was going to come out to meet me at a show and do some publicity.
For Brazil Martin had to hire local guys because he couldnt afford you and Rolf. And thats just business and all us rock music fans know business sometimes gets in the way of music. Does it ever get to you or do you just move on to the next gig?
It gets to me all the time, it hurts like hell. But what can I do? It doesnt really matter whether Im there or not. The names Tony Martin and Geoff Nicholls sell the tickets, not mine. Actually, if the USA tour had not been cancelled, it would have been financially viable for me to go to Brazil, a place I have never had chance to play. Just another way in which the USA disaster caused me financial hardship.
Whats your future with Tony Martin?
Tony is currently looking at tour possibilities for various territories. We hope to get out and play a lot of shows in the near future.
And what message do you have for the great members we have on the site?
I really appreciate the loyal hard core support of the Tony Martin fans. It is always heart warming and moving to meet them and hear from them. Please feel free to contact me at the e-mail address on my website www.jamiemallender.co.uk with any questions, or just drop me a message to say hi on my guestbook. Im busy recording some of my own material, but it may not be everyones cup of tea. Its bass oriented instrumental crossover fusion stuff. Check it out at my website if you dare.
Well, thats enough rambling from me. To anyone reading this, I hope we can play a venue near you in the not too distant future. If you do, then come up and say hi! We dont bite. And if youre on Facebook or MySpace look me up!
James Andrew Mallender
When/Where was you born?
Sheffield, England 2.2.1972
What bands were your favorite growing up?
Queen, Beatles, T Rex, The Sweet, Van Halen, Living Colour, Mr Big, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Rainbow, Michael Jackson, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, David Bowie and of course - Black Sabbath.
Anyone special inspire you to play music?
I saw a live Queen concert and went wow! I have to do that! Queen always were pretty special and I dont believe there has ever been a band to touch them, before or since. They were the most consistently brilliant song writers and performers Ive ever seen.
What was the first instrument you learned to play?
I learned a bit of keyboard, a little drums, some guitar and joined a band as the singer!
What all instruments do you know how to play?
Bass is the only instrument I consider myself to be competent at, though I still have a lot to learn in my opinion. I do play guitar reasonably well, and keyboards. Im fairly good on a penny whistle and I love playing the stylophone but I suck at it.
Why did you pick the bass to play as a job?
Good question. I knew I wanted to be in a band, but I didnt particularly excel at anything. So I joined a band with some school mates as singer and 2nd guitarist, because thats what they needed. Then one day the bass player had something better to do than attend rehearsal but his gear was all in the practice room so I just picked up his bass and played it and it all just fell into place. Id never played one before because Im a little guy and the bass just looked so big, but I knew right then what I really wanted to do with my life. The bass is a wonderful instrument to play and I dont regret my choice one bit. Its still big on me though, I never did grow any.
Could you give us a quick rundown of what all bands you played with up to the point you joined Tony Martin?
I played for a band with some lads at school and we called ourselves Aviator. We wrote our own tunes and did covers of Rainbow, Sabbath, Yngwie Malmsteen and stuff like that. We fell apart when we failed to take over the world, and then I was in one of the best bands Ive ever played with, The Brown Bottle Blues Band, but they just didnt take it seriously and I didnt want to be in a hobby band. They are still going though and are well worth seeing. I left to join Faith of Merchants who were a local band serious about writing and recording their own material. They were good and I really liked the music, but the music scene changed to all that grunge crap and we were seriously out of fashion in our cowboy boots and big shirts, playing keyboard laden big chorus tunes with widdly solos. It seemed to become a dead loss overnight. I went on to set up my own band called Temple Of Groove which was musically great. It was like Hendrix meets T Rex on a psychedelic afternoon trip. But money became a big problem for me at that point as I was in the middle of a divorce and had a kid to support, so I moved on to play in a lot of local club bands like Gillam, Touch and Go, The Outrageous Frite Nite Freakshow Experience, Strange Frontier (my own band - named after a Roger Taylor album) Guns n Oatcakes and Glamtastik. Then, I got a call from a friend of mine called Dez Bailey of the Bailey Brothers who were from the same village as me and had become famous/notorious for their MTV heavy rock show. Dez, although known as a rock journalist and DJ, had learned to play guitar and had secured a deal to release an album under the name Baileys Comet. He had been asking me to join his band for a while, but I couldnt afford to be in an original band making no money. He called me to ask one last time as Fasker, the bass player from Saxon had left Baileys Comet and Tony Martin had just joined on vocals, I had to say yes! It was great getting to know Tony one of my heroes, but unfortunately the tour was very problematic financially and afterwards we just sort of disbanded without speaking. No bad feeling was meant, but I just sort of waited to hear from Dez, but he never called with any more gigs. Id always wanted to play music for a living, but up to this point I had always had a day job and played semi-pro. Then I got an offer from Heroes. A local band who did the holiday camp and club land circuits for a living. I really enjoyed it and gave it my all. But after a year they fired me. The reason given was that I was too rock. This wasnt the real reason, but whilst I reeled from the disappointment of the sacking and the financial difficulties it caused me, I got a call from Tony Martin. Scream was about to be released and he needed a bass player for his touring band.
Any interesting stories that stand out from those bands?
Yeah, erm. ok. There are many. Heres one. The most fun I ever had in a band was when I was in The Outrageous Frite Nite Freak Show Experience Ltd. We were a fully live rock covers band that dressed as comedy horror characters and did a lot of comedy routines. We carried our own dungeon stage set with us complete with coffin, kennel, massive drum riser, skeletons, rotating risers, stage extensions, etc. etc. and consistently packed out local venues. They had people lining up outside to see us well before they opened the doors and they took unheard of amounts over the bar, night after night. One night, I was dressed as the queerwolf in my cross-dressing pink wolf outfit (the singer (Lee) was dressed as Alice Cooper, the drummer (Jason) was sid skeleton, the keyboard player (Carl) was a 65 bride of frankenstien in a wedding dress and the guitarist (Dave) was count rockula) and we were doing our Alice Cooper medley, which usually ended with a big pyro explosion as the singer left the stage to change into a different costume. I used to stand over the pyro machine and step back at the last second it looked reckless, but it was cleverly timed. However, on this particular night in question, the roadie with the pyro button was drunk. He got confused and pressed it early. I was on fire!!!! The pyro ripped my costume to pieces there was hardly anything left and what was left, was on fire. Count Rockula ran over to me and started slapping me really hard all over to try to put out the flames. The rest of them kept playing!!!! So I was all singed and burned with hardly any costume left covering my now very pink body and Lee comes back on stage dressed as an evil clown and just looks at me and falls about laughing. The audience were sat there wondering how we managed to pull that stunt off every night.
Can you give us a brief idea of what its like to tour and play has an unsigned band in Europe?
Not really. Tony Martin was signed by MTM when we first played Europe. Though I cant say that they were very supportive whilst we did so, even though they were happy with the sales of Scream. MTM eventually collapsed and left Tony with an album no-one could buy. Later on, when we played in Europe again without a record deal, it was just like before, no support and no-one to depend on but ourselves.
What was the first song with Tony Martin singing you ever heard?
The Shining.
What did you think of that song and in general how big of a Martin fan were you when you joined his band?
It blew me away. I thought it was awesome, and I became a big fan right away. I dont usually mention that, because it sounds a bit like Im sucking up to the boss. I continued to be a big fan of Tonys output. I played his first solo album to death, I liked all the stuff he did with Sabbath, the Rondinelli album was cool, the Empire albums are awesome and I think The Cage albums are possibly his best, certainly lyrically.
How did you meet Martin and how did you join his band?
I already answered that one in part by accident! The tour with Tony in Baileys Comet was brief. But I connected well with him, and he made a point of getting my number. He kept in touch quite a bit, which is kind of weird. I mean can you imagine? Youre out for a few drinks with the lads and Tony Martin calls you to tell you a joke he just heard! Not everyone believed me at first.
What song of his are your favorite to play?
From our current live set my favourites are When Death Calls, Black Moon, The Shining and Headless Cross.
Any Martin song you havent played that you would love to?
Yeah, the problem of course is that not everything would work with the live set we are doing. A set has to be constructed carefully to fit in with demand for the most popular songs and the set has to flow. The demand is for a Sabbath heavy set, particularly tracks from Headless Cross and Eternal Idol. But that aside, Id love to play everything Tony recorded with Empire. I have a lot of respect for Rolf Munkes material. Jerusalem would be cool to play, Kill In The Spirit World, Faith In Madness, Bitter Sweet, Evil Eye, Anno Mundi, Overload, Life Love And Everything, Poison Roses, the list goes on and on.
Whats Martin like off stage and give us an idea of how the Tony Martin band is off stage?
Tony has a very quirky, silly sense of humour, and hes very young at heart. Hes always got a new gadget or gizmo and hes always making everyone laugh. Hes a very creative and talented man, but hes not a pompous rock star. Hes a regular and genuine guy, with a lot of time for those around him. His memory however, is nothing short of rubbish! In the band everyone is very different, but the guys are all very nice, honest, positive people. Geoff looks after everyone. He always has a story to tell and he never ever stops being funny. Rolf is a thoughtful type of guy. He has a twisted but hilarious sense of humour and always speaks sense. Danny is the loudest member of the band, always full of energy. He can be up all night and is always ready on time to travel to the gig the next morning. Hes one of my best friends and I owe him my sanity. Im not sure what I bring to the table, but Im the one who communicates the most with roadies and sound guys and makes sure everyone has what they need. If Rolf has asked for a particular amp and it doesnt get provided, Im the one who makes them find one for him! Despite everything we have been through together, we are all still very good friends.
Whats the funniest thing you ever seen Martin do or say?
There have been many funny moments, but I think that when he bought me a blow-up sheep in an airport to thank me for my hard work was when he made me laugh the most. I still have it, and no it hasnt been used. Honest!
2009 the 20th Ann of HC tour was going to be the biggest thing in Martins solo career. What was the setlist going to be and how much rehearsal time went into it?
The setlist was to be the best of what we had already done on previous tours, plus most of Headless Cross. We rehearsed hard, until it was just the tightest most powerful sounding band you can imagine.
Can you shed any light on why it was stopped, or if you cant for any reason its ok?
I cant. Tony asked me not to say anything for legal reasons. Im dying to spill the beans though because it was 100% not our fault and I dont want the fans to think badly of us.
How disappointed was you and the band?
We were all extremely hurt by it. We were very, very excited to take the show to the USA and Canada. It was a crushing blow. Personally I had given up all my other work to go. I am over £2000 down financially, and that doesnt include the money I should have earned for the tour. I have 2 kids to support and a wonderful supportive partner. We will cope, but its not nice when your family gets hurt by something like this. I also felt terrible because I had new endorsements with Musicman, Rotosound and Hartke, and I felt that they had been good enough to support me, but that I had let them down. Larry Hartke in particular, had gone to a lot of trouble for me. He was providing 2 enormous Hartke bass rigs and he was going to come out to meet me at a show and do some publicity.
For Brazil Martin had to hire local guys because he couldnt afford you and Rolf. And thats just business and all us rock music fans know business sometimes gets in the way of music. Does it ever get to you or do you just move on to the next gig?
It gets to me all the time, it hurts like hell. But what can I do? It doesnt really matter whether Im there or not. The names Tony Martin and Geoff Nicholls sell the tickets, not mine. Actually, if the USA tour had not been cancelled, it would have been financially viable for me to go to Brazil, a place I have never had chance to play. Just another way in which the USA disaster caused me financial hardship.
Whats your future with Tony Martin?
Tony is currently looking at tour possibilities for various territories. We hope to get out and play a lot of shows in the near future.
And what message do you have for the great members we have on the site?
I really appreciate the loyal hard core support of the Tony Martin fans. It is always heart warming and moving to meet them and hear from them. Please feel free to contact me at the e-mail address on my website www.jamiemallender.co.uk with any questions, or just drop me a message to say hi on my guestbook. Im busy recording some of my own material, but it may not be everyones cup of tea. Its bass oriented instrumental crossover fusion stuff. Check it out at my website if you dare.
Well, thats enough rambling from me. To anyone reading this, I hope we can play a venue near you in the not too distant future. If you do, then come up and say hi! We dont bite. And if youre on Facebook or MySpace look me up!
