Radio Metal : SAXON is a Heavy Metal band, but you also play a few Rock N’ Roll songs, after the fashion of AC/DC at the time of Bon Scott. What were you influences and your heroes when you started?

Paul : I think there are bands like LED ZEPPELIN, you know early bands, and a lot American bands like GAND FUNK RAILROAD and things like this you’ve probably never heard of. But I was into AC/DC on their first album. I used to go and see AC/DC in clubs in England in the 70’s. So I think when we started writing music ourselves we were quite influenced by them. For instance Wheels Of Steel is a very AC/DC issue.


What’s your relationship with JUDAS PRIEST and IRON MAIDEN? Was there some kind of competition between you in the past? What about now?

I think in the past, all the bands were in competition, but I don’t think there was any nasty competition. I mean, we toured with JUDAS PRIEST in 1980 in Europe, we toured to France with JUDAS PRIEST. And then we toured in America with IRON MAIDEN later on. So we were quite good friends with them. But obviously we were a threat. We are a threat to bands because this album is a very good album and it’s getting fantastic reviews. So you see it’s a very friendly competition.


You seem to have Punk influences and it’s particularly obvious in « Motorcycle Man », where the rhythm is very Punky

In the 1970’s and the 1980’s, when we were writing music, the Punk scene was very big. THE SEX PISTOLS and CLASH, the SHAM 69 and GENERATION X were very heavy influence on the band. We just wrote very short, aggressive songs. We didn’t write long solos and Progressive Rock, although we quite like Prog’ Rock, we like the Punk as well. So I think SAXON in the early days was a miw between Punk, Prog’ Rock and Heavy Metal really.



What do you think about the evolution of Metal, Thrash Metal, Black Metal and Death Metal?

The evolution? I quite like the way Metal have gone. I think Metal went through a very strange period of Thrash and Death, it went through a really hard period. But I think a lot of Sandinavian stuff, you know like NIGHTWISH, and even the CRADLE OF FILTH’s guys, is quite good actually. Some of the music is very good. Some of the new stuff’s really good, you know like LACUNA COIL or WITHIN TEMPTATION : it’s all very interesting Metal music.


What do you think about the new wave of Heavy music, and in particular bands like BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE. Many of them use the same kind of riffs as you in the 1980’s. Do you think it’s a good opportunity for you?

Yes I think it’s good. Some people use the influences of SAXON, there’s nothing wrong with that. BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE is pretty good at the moment, they’re doing good. I quite like some of the American bands like MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE.



Your last album sounds more Rock & Roll – and the expression “Rock & Roll” is repeated several times.

Yes, there’s « I've Got To Rock (To Stay Alive) ». So the new album is a mixture, and I think it’s one of the reasons why our album is so popular: it’s a mixture of Heavy Metal and Rock & Roll. It’s really split into the album. We have a lot of young fans now, and a bit there like Rock & Roll as well though. I think this album is pretty perfect really for musical tests. Because it’s like classic SAXON, and it’s like the new SAXON as well. There are some very dark songs on it, and some very Rock & Roll songs, so it’s cool.


Do you think it’s a good album to introduce SAXON’s work?

I definitely think it’s a good album. We’re obviously picking up a lot of fans on this album, who were not SAXON’s fans before. Because I think we’ve written some good songs. There are some gothic songs on there like « State Of Grace », and then there’s some fall on Metal songs. And it’s a good time to SAXON because there aren’t so many bands left from the 1980’s: IRON MAIDEN, MOTORHEAD, DEF LEPPARD maybe. So I think younger fans are interested in the 1980’s. And it’s just great to our first generation fans who are like fourty now, and the second generation fans who are basically teenagers, so we’re very lucky.


The Inner Sanctum is in my opinion a pure Heavy Metal album. Is it a concept album? What does Inner Sanctum mean?

No, it’s not a concept album, but I’ve just written an autobiography on my life basically from my young boy to my SAXON years and we got this TV documentary in England that we’ve just finished. So I just felt that The Inner Sanctum was a great title because we keep inviting people to a secret place. We used a Russian guy for the artwork, which is a change for us. Because we usually use our own guy, who did some work on the album, but the cover, you know the quite dark gothic cover, is from the Russian guy. So we did a few changes on this album, and I think it all worked.



I read that you live in France, in Normandy more precisely. Why? I like France, and rural France is very quiet. My children go to a French school. My wife likes France. It’s nice and quiet in France you know, and the Normans are nice people. I can have a much bigger house in France than in England really: I have a Château in Normandy for the price of a flat in London, so it’s nice! And my wife and my children have got poneys.


Do you speak a little French?

A little French, but my wife speaks good French and my children are fluent. There’s been an assistant for five years. So my daughter does all the translating for me.


Do you know some French bands and what do you think about them?

I don’t know any French bands. I never hear any really Heavy Metal on radio in France really. Rock bands yes, or Punk Rock music.


Have you never heard of NIGHTMARE?

Yes obviously I know NIGHTMARE, and I know the guys from TRUST and all of them, but I don’t know any new Metal bands, you know what I’m saying. I know there’s a vibrant music scene in France cause my children go to a musical school and they have jam sessions and groove sessions there. And there’s quite a lot of bands in France who play AC/DC, but they don’t write thei own music. I think France has a bit of a problem actually with just playing music. In the French system, you have to learn everything about music, and I think sometimes it stifles the excitement of music, you understand? So you have to go to a music school to play drums, you have to sing, you have to learn the technique of singing, and a lot of young people get bored: they just want to go in there and bashing the drums. But in the school my children go to, the teacher’s very good: they get to play other things rather than learning classical things only.


Do you have success in France?

You know, our new album is doing really well, the band is on the good road at the moment, we’re going up. I think last time we played in Lyon, we had about eighty people, so it’s a lot better now with nearly 700 people. So it’s really good.So We’re quite pleased with that actually. And tomorrow night in Paris, we’ll be sold out, so we’re good. It’s very difficult to play in France.


Why that?

Well, because I think a lot of people have their favourite bands like AC/DC, or SCORPIONS, or IRON MAIDEN. And I think it’s very difficult to break into the French market because there’s so much French music on the radio. Our album is in the French charts I think. We do very well in France, but I think it’s very hard to get on the radio in France, which is where we need to be really to make the difference between like 800 people and 3000 people: you need to be on radio, which is why you’re coming!


Internet Website SAXON : www.saxon747.com