Babylon A.D. was always one of my favourite bands from the late 80’s / early 90’s. They were a band that had the songs and the talents to put so many much bigger bands in their wake. Their first two albums the self-titled release from 1989 and ‘Nothing Sacred’ from 1992 have been albums that have stayed with me since they were released and both are full of real quality and more than their fair share of songs you’ll never forget. I’m such a fan of the band that before their latter-day reformation I managed to track down both Derek and Ron over the years and we’ve kept in touch ever since. Of course one of the questions I always had to ask them both was “when is the new album coming out?” Well ‘Revelation Highway’ is finally here, out on November 10th via Frontiers Records and it is amazing. I caught up with Derek this week to talk all about it…
Derek: How you going Mark?
Mark: I’m great thanks Derek how are you?
Derek: I’m pretty good
Mark: You’ve been pretty busy since we last spoke, what with the solo album, Festival dates overseas and finishing up the new Babylon A.D. I just have to say though first of all as a fan of the band’s music thank you, you’ve done just what you said you would on ‘Revelation Highway’ recaptured the sound of those first wo albums and brought it up to date. You must all be really happy with the sound?
Derek: That’s awesome, thank you. Yeah we’re really happy, everyone is really happy with the sound in the band and we’re getting awesome feedback, I really don’t think there’s a bad track on there it’s a really good album. No fillers!
Mark: the second single came out the other day ad if I could have chosen a song to put out next it would definitely have been ‘Rags to Riches’ it’s just one of those songs that every time you hear it, it grows on you a little bit more. Where did that one come from, because that’s one of the new ones, was that one that you brought to the table?
Derek: well we had that one in our pocket for a long time we just never really played it which can happen a lot of times. We had an older recording of it and we listened to the demos and thought, “That’s a really good song, we should re-do it” and everyone was like “absolutely” we had a lot of songs to choose from, but that’s a really cool song.
Mark: How did the recording of the album go? I remember you told me that way back when you recorded the first album recording that was a bit of a nightmare, you went through a bit of a Def Leppard-like experience working with (producer) Simon Hanhart. What was it like getting back in the studio with the whole team again?
Derek: well what we did was take it to a friend or ours recording studio and recorded all the drums live there and we recorded some bass tracks too, then we took it back to my house and we finished it up in my studio with all the guitar track and the vocal tracks and everything else. But it was fun working with the guys again, and I think the biggest surprise and the best part of making the record was that John Matthew the original guitar player is back in the band. And his contribution to the sound of the band with the way he plays guitar, not taking anything away from Dan, because Dan is a great guitar player, but it just gave the band an extra shot in the arm you know. Like we wanted to prove something because John was our original guitarist when we got the record deal.
Mark: John was on that collection ‘In the Beginning’ from a few years back wasn’t he?
Derek: Yes he was, and that’s where we got some of the songs that we re-did you know. ‘Cause we’ve been asked that over the years, “Why can’t you do these songs and bring them up to date?” but we always put it off, saying, man we already did those. But when John got back in the band and we played those songs again we were like “Holy fuck, these songs have got so much more power than they used to have they sound so much bigger and fatter and more powerful than they ever did.”, way better than we remembered them, know what I mean?
Mark: I think it’s great for the album to do that, you’re right those songs, having heard the originals do have a lot richer sound, ‘Tears’ I think is the one for me that really comes across as far bigger than it was on ‘In the Beginning’
Derek: Oh yeah, and that song was a surprise to me too, because I always saw ‘Tears’ as like a pretty good song but when we recorded it now, with all the things technology lets you do with it, it just sounds a whole lot better. A lot of the songs that were on that demo compilation were just that, they were demos, the first songs that we’d ever written you know what I mean? We didn’t really know what we were doing back then, we were just a bunch of stupid kids.
Mark: It’s a coo song and I love the way it’s extended out to about five minutes too it really gives it room to breathe.
Derek: The next single to come out is going to be ‘I’m No Good For You’ we just shot a video for that and that’s gonna be out in another couple of weeks and then when the record comes out we just shot a video for ‘One Million Miles’ it’s beautiful man, we did it down at the beach in San Francisco and it just came out stunning with the waves and the beach and the way it just fits with the lyrical content. It’s a really cool video man, I can’t wait to put that one out.
Mark: I think ‘One Million Miles’ is one of my favourites on there. When we last spoke I know you mentioned those first three songs that open the album ‘Crash and Burn’, ‘Fool on fire’ and ‘One Million Miles’ and what a great opening to an album, then you get ‘Tears’ and it just doesn’t stop from there. It’s great from start to finish.
Derek: I feel the same way we played it to a lot of people who I respect the opinions of even before the mixing just to see if we were on the right track and we were spurred on by the feedback. It gave us a lot of positive energy to keep moving on with the record knowing that we had ten solid tracks.
Mark: It’s a great payback for the fans. You’re just back from Europe too, I think when you were over there you played the ‘Hair Metal Heaven’ Festival in Hull and few other dates. Did you play any of the new songs on that tour?
Derek: Yeah we played that and a few other dates over there. Yeah we did, we actually used the audiences over there to test all the songs out – we played six songs every single night off the new album. Everyone was expecting the classics – ‘Bang Go the Bells’, ‘Hammer Swings Down’ you know, but we wanted to play all the new songs to see how they went over. And you know what man, it was just so much positive energy and the fans right after the show were coming up to us and saying “that song was great, we can’t wait for the new album” and they knew the titles of the songs even though they’d only heard it one time and we’d look out into the audience and every time the chorus came by they were just chanting “Saturday Night” you know what I mean! You could just tell they loved it. You know sometimes you see a band and they start playing the new stuff and there’s a lull, well it was not like that at all. People just gravitated to the new songs just like the ones from our first album. Even though they’d heard it for the first time it was like they knew the song already. It was so cool.
Mark: I think that might be a good sign!
Derek: (laughs)
Mark: You’ve got the launch coming up I think before the release. The release at least in our part of the world is the 10th of November but the launch is on 21st October and there’s a couple of dates already with Y&T later on in November.
Derek: Yeah we’re playing the Mystic Theatre in Petaluma with Y&T (November 17th and 18th) we played with them a couple of years ago out there, it’s one of the gigs they play every year. So Dave’s wife Jill called me up and asked if we’d play again and of course I said yes, we love to play with those guys, they’re like our home town heroes.
Mark: A great fit too, perfect for their audience. You mentioned earlier it was great getting back in the studio and I know you brought a few new songs in to go with the re-worked older tunes, did any of the other guys bring in their ideas?
Derek: Well Ron wrote the main lyric on ‘Crash and Burn’ and of course he got credit on a few of the other songs, but a lot of the songs everyone had a hand in, but of the songs I didn’t write there were four songs that were older songs that we all had a hand in. we actually recorded six more songs when we were in the recording studio, three or four that the band wrote and a couple more that I wrote so we already have those in our pocket for our next record and we’ve just got to write, four maybe, seven more and we’re string to work on that already so we keep on moving forward you know.
Mark: You’re signed with Frontiers who put out a lot of albums but you also get the benefit of that publicity machine…
Derek: Yeah it’s a lot better doing it with Frontiers than doing it ourselves, it’s always so much harder doing it yourselves.
Mark: Are you signed for a multi-album deal?
Derek: Yes, it’s a couple of albums deal, then we’ll see what happens.
Mark: That of course opens up the possibility to go back to Italy net year to maybe play the Frontiers Festival?
Derek: Yeah we want to play that Festival. They’ve worked with us so well, they’ve been really great to us and everything’s worked out exactly like they said it would. They really have their act together unlike some record companies who say one thing and do another, these guys are pretty ‘up and up’. So we’re talking about playing that Italian Festival, also about playing a Festival in Belgium but we’re trying to time it so we can do a run at the same time rather than keep going back and forth, you know. It’s different over the pond than playing back in the States. Plus we’d like to get to Australia some day!
Mark: I’d love to get you over! Maybe film it all a huge big Aussie road trip!
Derek: We’d be just like Spinal tap (laughs)
Mark: If we had to put you on the spot and ask you to name one single song that really exemplified your feelings about music, it’s power and emotion what would that be today?
Derek: Well that’s kind of a difficult question for me because as you know I listen to so any different types of music. I listen to so much different stuff and to be honest with you I don’t really listen to too much Hard Rock except for my band and maybe a couple of others. I just listen to Son House and old Blues stuff and then there’s stuff like Sade, that’s the kind of stuff I listen to, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, stuff like that, stuff that has a lot of soul to it.
Mark: What about on the album then? Which song means the most to you?
Derek: Well the song that means the most to me is ‘One Million Miles’ because I wrote that song probably seven years ago and I had it all this time, and everyone who ever heard it said “Man this song is great, it could be a hit” And I always just said, well you know I wrote it a few years back and I just didn’t know where it would fit. You know I just made that solo record and I thought, well it’s not gonna fit on this one, so as soon as we got together as Babylon I thought here you go it’s great for this record. So that’s the one for me that means the most to me, maybe most because of the lyrical content, I’m always trying to write lyrics that are like a mini movie you know what I mean? And I like ‘Crash and Burn’ a lot too. Those two songs for me are my standouts.
Mark: ‘One Million Miles’ I think you’re right, and it’s a really uplifting song as well…
Derek: Yeah, it paints a really cool picture you know.
Mark: I actually think that had your best vocal as well, you’re sounding great on the album, but particularly on that song.
Derek: The next one (album) is gonna be really great too and we actually held off on a few because we thought, wow, these are really great songs. We had 14 great songs that we could have put on there, but we thought you know what? Let’s just go with ten for now and we have another six in our pocket and those six are really good too. If you like this record it’s almost exactly the same stuff, same style, same kinda groove you know what I mean?
Mark: I wondered also if the reason you’d chosen just ten songs was because of vinyl? I know a lot of bands are releasing vinyl and I know Frontiers have been putting out a lot of vinyl recently, are you putting out ‘Revelation Highway’ on vinyl?
Derek: They’re licenced to a label in Japan and another in Germany who are doing all the vinyl, so yeah we’ll be on vinyl for the first time in 23 years!
Mark: I’ve still got the vinyl of the first album, so this will be a nice addition to the collection. The other question I have to ask due to how col the last solo album was is are you looking at recording other solo material at the moment? Or is the next year or so very much devoted to Babylon A.D.?
Derek: You know I never take a break from my solo stuff. I always write whatever comes out, it might be a Rock and Roll song, it might be a Soul song, or it might be a Blues song. I just write whatever comes and if it sound like Babylon A.D. then that’s where I’ll put it.
Mark: So what are the plans for the rest of the year and next you mentioned a few Festivals I guess in the Northern Summer, is there anything else on the cards?
Derek: We’ll see what happens. You never know what’s coming up, I mean Frontiers snuck up on us, you know. We didn’t know that was gonna happen and offers come in at any time. We don’t have any concrete plans, it’s not as if we re-planning to go on the road for three months we’re just winging it and we’ll see what happens. And hopefully enough people will like the record to generate enough interest to play bigger and better shows so we can have some more fun. That’s what we’re looking for.
Mark: That’s what it’s all about. Well thanks so much for chatting to us today Derek it’s always great to talk with you. Thank you for such a wonderful album, you always exceed my expectations and that I guess is the best compliment I can pay anyone. Creatively you seem like you’re in the form of your life?
Derek: Creatively when I think back to where I was when the first couple of albums came out, and I kind of knew what I was doing back then and there was some great stuff, you know. But it seems a little bit easier to write now and I have a better vocabulary and I play better, and that all makes it a little easier than it used to be but I still have a lot to give. I have a lot of fun doing it and as long as I’m still having fun I’ll keep on doing it.
Mark: That’s the main thing mate, you take care of yourself and thanks so much for taking the time.
Derek: OK brother, talk soon. Bye.
Revelation Highway is released on Frontiers Records on November 10th 2017
