Saxon’s wheels of steel keep on rolling

Saxon celebrate 35 years together as a band this year. How did you last this long?
You take it day by day in a band situation because it just creeps up on you. We had a few anniversaries, 20, 25, 30 . . . and now 35 which is a good anniversary to get to.

Your most recent album, Sacrifice, was very well received. How have you resisted the temptation to trade on old glories?
I don't think there's much fun in that resting on the big hits of the 1980s. You have to move on. Not everybody does it, but, I think most successful bands who were successful in the 1980s are still writing new albums and new songs – not as much as we are, mind you.

I try to keep the flow of the lyrics going so that it is interesting. It’s alright doing straightforward rock and roll. There’s no harm in that. It keeps people interest up to know what I’m writing about next.

We don’t write noises. We try to write songs. Sometimes we’re a bit proggy, sometimes we’re dark metal, sometimes we are really melodic. We do spend time trying to write and craft our music properly. It is very important for band that when their careers get longer, they make a decision whether they are going to live on the hits or they are going to make new music. We had to make that decision too.

You are best known for the trinity of 1980s albums Wheels of Steel, Denim and Leather and Strong Arm of the Law. You seem to have been on fire during that period.
We were, yeah. A lot of bands were. Iron Maiden put out some great stuff. A lot of bands were writing great songs – Motorhead, Whitesnake and Judas Priest. While Def Leppard were getting around to writing that big album of theirs. That era had a big melting pot of talent.

And you still play the big hits like Wheels of Steel, Strong Arm of the Law, Princess of the Night, 747 (Strangers in the Night) . . .
Of course. This year we are featuring songs from the early albums such as Suzie Hold On. We're going to play a couple of songs off the first album which we haven't played for years and years. We're also playing stuff off the latest albums like Lionheart, Inner Sanctum and Sacrifice. It's quite a long set.

Saxon are originally from the coal mining area of south Yorkshire. Why do so many metal bands come out of working-class communities?
We are a working class band. We learned on the streets and we taught ourselves to play. We wanted to get out of the grime and the daily routines of working every day for your bread and butter. We wanted more than that out of life.

Music is a vocation. Sometimes you have to be prepared to give up some of the luxuries that others would have had as young lad. If you want to be a proper musician, you have to give up part of your life. It’s the same as anything really if you want to be good at things.

What do you think of the contemporary music scene?
Young people pick their own bands. The scene seems to be getting a bit more rocky again. There are a few bands that are doing really well. I'm very impressed with Royal Blood.

Gene Simmons says rock is dead. What do you think?
I understand what he is saying. I don't think it is possible to make zillions of dollars anymore. Those days are gone.

You’re not going to make millions off records unless you are very, very lucky. It seems to be pop bands nowadays only that are successful.

I don’t think it is dead. I think it will just rework itself to survive. It always had done. People said that CDs would kill music.

Do you think metal gets the exposure it should in mainstream media?
Metal had its day in the 1980s. We were on the radio and television all the time. You have your rock stations now in different parts of the world, and they are the ones that fly the flag and many of them are massively popular. Metallica did a great job for the genre at Glastonbury.

Would Saxon like to play Glastonbury.
Absolutely, but I won't hold my breath. There is a rock stage happening there next year, so let's see.

What’s the future for Saxon?

We’re bringing out a new album next year and we’ll see where it goes from there.

[ Academy, Dublin ]