Interview: Paul Di'Anno & Steve Hopgood, Killers

The raw edge of British rock returns as KILLERS are released to wreak havoc and blow a few eardrums. Peter Grant investigates...

KILLING FOR PLEASURE

Murder One by KILLERS through RCA/BMG, is an apt title for a no-bullshit, heavy-as-fuck record that has captured the heart of British rock at its best, and sees the return of ex-IRON MAIDEN vocalist Paul Di'Anno with some serious musical muscle behind him, namely drummer Steve Hopgood (ex-BATTLEZONE/ PASSION/ JAGGED EDGE), bassist Gavin Cooper (ex-PASSION), and guitarists Cliff Evans (ex-TANK/ FASTWAY), and Graham Bath (ex-PERSIAN RISK).

I met up with Paul and drummer Steve Hopgood in a London rehearsal studio where they were preparing to go out on tour. We perched ourselves on a selection of chairs and flight cases and got straight into the first question, the name... Killers.

"The old manager in New York, he thought of it because of the old Iron Maiden connection basically, and because it sounds heavy and it fitted quite well," says Steve. "Paul was a big part of that initial thing with Iron Maiden and the name Killers is perfect for heavy metal. Iron Maiden connexion or not, it's a great metal name."

Getting on to the outstanding sales figures in Germany (the album had already knocked up a staggering 7000 copies prior to its release in the UK)...

"The thing is," comments Steve, "the record company said, 'if we hit a certain sales target we'll be really happy.' Now the sales target's almost already been met and we're going to go on to a lot more once we've toured, and it's going to be great. Germany is going to be a great market for us, the records company is going to be over the moon with us which means we'll get to do our next album."

Paul and Steve 

"It doesn't matter what the band is. If you are not with the right label, at the end of the day, your history," continues Steve. "But we started on a decent label from day one. We went to America and were out in New York for months and months, doing stuff and showcasing, and we got the deal. We wouldn't have got the deal through being here. But it's great because we have a full deal, we've got BMG right behind us."

Paul admits it's the only album he's played and actually kept...

"Since Maiden you do the thing, you write it, you rehearse it, obviously you record it, then tour it, and I'm sick to death of the bloody things. [But] I've actually kept a copy of this, I've actually got it on tape, and it's the first thing I've kept. Everything else I've ever done, I've got rid of. I've got no gold albums, they've all gone. They've gone to charities and certain things."

The appearance of two covers on the album, namely the old maiden number "Remember Tomorrow" and T REX's "Children of the Revolution" are there because (A) they love "Children..." and there's a good chance it will get daytime radio play, and (B) because Paul considers "Remember..." to be his song anyway, and he really wanted to re-record it, and he considers his performance to be ten times better than the original.



Paul also puts the point across about "Children.." that he doesn't want the band to get into the "MR BIG syndrome."

"I was up in Manchester recently, and there was some little kid with his mum and dad, and he was like, I want that album, I want that album, Mr Big, Mr Big. And I thought if only he'd heard it, it's nothing like that single. It's like us. 'Children...' is not a true directive of what the rest of the album is about, because the rest of the album is completely different. It's quite heavy. It's just that that is a great song to play as a single because not only could new kids identify with it because they've seen some Levi ads with some T Rex stuff going on, but also the older generation can identify with it."

The next step is to get out on the road. They consider themselves to be real road hogs.

"That's the main thing, getting on the road and concentrating on playing because we can deliver the goods live, there's no question about that. We did that in New York," enthuses Steve.

"Yeah that was funny, though," interrupts Paul, "because we were making the album at the time, and we took a break and played this place. Alright. We'd been rehearsing before we went into pre-production and we thought let's see if it works live, and we were three quarters of the way through the album, and we went out and did it and it went down great. I think, natural aggression and edge did that, but we actually played quite well that night..."

Considering that it was the first gig ever, Steve gets his own back and interrupts Paul:

"I mean none of us had played live for months and months, getting on for a year each - we'd all been off the road doing other things. I was shocked, I was like, 'Oh my God it's going to be terrible,' but we actually played everything really well, and it went down great, the crowd were amazing."

Paul feels that vocally he's progressed a lot more since he left Maiden...

"I seem to have acquired a few more octaves because I've probably really concentrated on it. When I was in Maiden I was like a shit scared kid, didn't know what the fuck I was doing. But now I feel so much better in myself. I actually feel confident, which is good in some ways, but as long as you don't get too confident because there's always someone who can kick you on your arse."

The plan for the future is to get some decent support slots so the band can do their groundwork and build from there. Killers will be out on the road soon with a couple of dates around the country and some in-store promotional appearances coming up, and believe me, these guys are firing on all four cylinders so take a crash helmet!

Peter Grant
Riff Raff
July 1992

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