CHRIS MITCHELL - STORMCHILD

Stormchild - CHRIS MITCHELL 💿 Hi, it’s a pleasure for us to have on Hardrockheavymetal CHRIS MITCHELL of STORMCHILD !! Welcome!! Hi Giovanni and thanks for inviting me for an interview. 💿 On Nov 22nd will be out your debut album..after 40 years….LIGHTNING NEVER STRIKES TWICE (our thoughts about on line in the following days). Can you tell us something about it? Produced by CHRIS TSANGARIDES..I said all.. Well, it’s a long story, but Chris Tsangarides first approached us in 1981. We had just won a national rock talent contest and had signed to Kilo records. Our promo single Rockin steady had come to his attention and he wanted to produce the band. There were a lot of issues at the time and we never got to record with Chris. However Chris tracked us down 35 years on and the band reunited to record the album that was written between 1979 and 1981. 💿 Can you tell us somethin’about the birth and the name of your band? Which artists or bands impressed you the most as musician? Well the band started out as a group of mates who rehearsed in an attic. This was around 1978. I am the founder member and came up with the name and logo design I remember. The sound we have is a very eclectic mix from a very diverse range of bands that include, UFO, Rainbow, The Sweet, Genesis, Scorpions Deep Purple etc etc even elements of punk from our bassist Joe. Our use of keyboards gave us a very different sound to other bands at the time 💿 ROCKIN’STEADY/LAST NIGHT, your first 7’, is one of the holy grail for all NWOBHM collectors; there's a great return of format such as vinyl and cassette. What's your thinking about these classic format..love for vintage or is it impossible a future for music outside digital? Not at all, I am a huge fan of vinyl and it is a known fact that it sounds better on the right equipment than any other format because it isn’t compressed. The human ear cannot hear the sounds that have been taken off in digital media, but because they exist on vinyl there is a depth and warmth to the sound. Digital is convenient for sure, but there is something special about holding a piece of vinyl. The writing is bigger on the sleeve also which is something you appreciate as you get older! I don’t understand the cassette craze though, that is one that should die with the 8 track. 💿 Inside your songs what’s the role of lyrics in the composition process? Words follow music or vice versa? A bit of both really. Neil writes most of the songs, but all the band has artistic input and it is either based on a musical hook or melody or built around a lyrical theme which dictates the mood of the track. There isn’t just one way of writing a song for us and there are many twists and turns before we finish a song. 💿 Can you tell us somethin’ about your live plans ? Firstly your reunion concert at BROFEST! Well, firstly we cannot wait for Brofest!! We haven’t played live for 35 years but when we went into the studio with Chris, the magic is still there. There has been interest from the USA also and we just aim to play as many festivals as we can….we have a lot of time to make up for !!! 💿 We love the cover of LIGHTNING NEVER STRIKES TWICE!! Can you tell us somethin'about? Another good job by ROBERTO TODERICO! Thanks, we were honoured to have Roberto design the cover for us and he has done a great job. The title f the album is based on an old song and we had an idea for the cover, but Roberto has brought it to life! Bart is the guy responsible for commissioning the work and we are very happy with the result. 💿 LNST is out via SKOL RECORDS of a true metal defender such as BART GABRIEL? Can you tell us somethin'about relationship with him? Yes, Bart and I have a friend in Chris Tsangarides and Chris was going to be involved with the band in promoting the album as he believed in us and the songs. However he tragically died before he could do anything with the work. I was having a meal with Chris just a few months before his sad passing and discussing the future with him! When I spoke to Bart and he realized this was one of his last pieces of work, and unreleased, he wanted to get involved and let Chris’s legacy live on through this work. It is perhaps fate that he got to release this as Bart told me that he viewed Chris as his “Jedi master” and was a huge fan of his work as we all are. 💿 Thank you so much for your time! See you soon on Hardrockheavymetal! Thanks everyone and see you at a gig sometime!! #pics Band’s Fb Skol Records #nwobhm Brofest - UK 

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