.. . . . ..

One of the longest serving - and arguably the last – of the 80’s English grind / death metal bands, Bolt Thrower (who are named after a medieval siege weapon)are still out there, churning out their uncompromising material and playing the odd gig here and there – Battlehelm talks to Amazonian Bassist Jo on how to survive the war (and life after 40!)..

-Shan Siva

Bolt Thrower is a very special band to me cos I think you’re one of the few bands still playing genuine 80s grindcore and death metal – when I remember the Grindcrusher tour you guys are still out there, have you ever thought of packing it in or changing?
Jo: Well, never really considered changing, but yeah, sure i've thought of packing it in from time to time. It's hard work being in a band, probably more mentally than physically! But Bolt Thrower has been part of my life for 20 years and that's pretty hard to give up..

You’ve all been together for yonks (I guessing you guys must be as old as I am – just turned 40 – reading thru all my old zines I feel I’ve almost grown up with you) even Willets came back so what’s the secret to your longevity as a band (besides paying the bills!)?
Jo: Thanks for reminding me! Well most of the band are over 40, but me and Kiddie are still hanging in the under-40 club. Don't think there's any secret to our longevity, it's more of a survival thing. We haven't really changed our music or philosophy and the years just fly by, it's not something we really think about. And if we were playing music to pay bills we'd be in a pop band, not playing death metal!!

What is with this fixation with war?! I mean, have any of the band members served in the Forces? I’m not sure whether to take some of the album covers as tongue in cheek or a Young Conservatives recruitment poster (picturing the five of you watching Euan Lloyd’s cringe worthy 80s movie “Who Dares Wins”)!
Jo: Well, I guess you can take it however you like. A few of the band members have an interest in the subject of war, from a historical and tactical point of view. None have served, but there are relatives that have. It became the lyrical theme of the band which we have stuck to, there's no geekiness or fixation to it, it's just part of the whole concept of the band.

You don’t tour very often (my friend in the US is still upset) and there’s only one European date this year. What’s the deal, is it some highly planned business move to make you more marketable, or does your label suck when it comes to tour support?
Jo: Highly planned business move? Duh. Don't you think it would be more marketable to sell ourselves all over the world? The main reason we're not touring the US is because Metal Blade don't think it's in their financial interests to give us tour support. We'd love to tour the US, we've never done a decent tour there. We could try to finance it ourselves, but some of us have jobs/kids/houses and also, why should we? Well, we'll see how it goes, never say never.. There's only one German date planned this year because we want to focus on writing, and that could take months so we don't want to commit to anything we may have to cancel later on.

Whoa, I’ve just realised you’ve been on the other label that bands love to moan about - Earache – which is the worst? (I can still hear Matt Pike of High on Fire moaning in my ears about them ha ha)
Jo: Earache - and I think everyone knows the story by now..

I heard that you also don’t like open-air festivals – is that true? That’s pretty unusual again for an extreme metal band but why not play Bloodstock cos that’s just up the road from you – and its indoor!
Jo: We're not fans of festivals in general, although yeah we do prefer indoors. It's the whole festival mentality we don't like, the ticket/merch prices, the amount of bands, the onstage sound, the business-side, etc. We did play the Inferno Festival in Norway last year though and that was really great. I guess we're just more comfortable in a club environment.

Do you guys have day jobs, families i.e. a normal life besides Bolt Thrower? Hey, you’re not mercenaries are you (would explain the problems with touring, lack of cover when on stage at a festival)?
Jo: Yeah, believe it or not, we have normal lives besides Bolt Thrower.

I’m also surprised that the band never had a foto taken with a Bolt Thrower – granted you don’t find them down at B&Q (but there’s plenty of timber to make one) but there’s one in Caerphilly Castle in Wales – after all these years do people actually understand what the band name means?
Jo: I think it would be too obvious, and probably too cheesy! I think some people know what a Bolt Thrower is, but it doesn't bother me if they don't.

Death and black metal are still seriously devoid of female hormones (I can only think of Dana Duffy (Demonic Christ), and more recently Angela Gossow from Arch Enemy) but no one has been out there for as long as you, so why do you think this is so or are you just the Suzy Quatro of Grindcore?!
Jo: No idea why there's so few females in metal, who knows? I'm just a musician who happens to be female, my gender has nothing to do with the length of time i've been around.

How do you hold your own up there onstage?! Do you ever think “F%&k, what am I doing here?!”, cos the rest of the band aren’t exactly dwarfs are they – I mean Baz and Gav are lunks so is it the case of keep outta their way or does your BC Rich have its uses (like, they get too close and get side swiped!!)?
Jo: I can honestly say i've never thought about it. Maybe only when doing photos! And on stage i'm in more danger from the divers than the other musicians..

How and why did you get into playing bass?
Jo: I basically started when I found out BT needed a bass player. I learnt the whole set ready to gig in a week. I'm not the greatest bassist around, and to be honest I don't aspire to be, but I get by..

Do you ever hear from Martin Van Drunen, he played with you guys for a while and then got ill and then…..?
Jo: No, haven't heard from him since he left. I heard he's doing another couple of bands now, so I guess he's doing ok. There’s no bad feeling and I wish him well..

You played last year at the Underworld in London and I was amazed that you only charged £7 (well, I got in for that) – its almost unheard of these days – it reminded me of old punk gigs so is there a socially conscious side to the band (or do you blame it on the label)…?
Jo: Nothing to do with the label at all, we choose how much the tickets should be. It's important to us to offer our tickets and merchandise at fair prices, and yeah, it's probably something we took from our punk days. There's no reason to charge rip-off prices, and we don't want to be part of that.

14. On a final note, how significant for a band at time was being invited to do a session with John Peel (RIP) and do you think you would be where you are if it hadn’t happened?
Jo: It was extremely significant for the band, and we were truly honoured to be part of that legacy. We initially got signed on the back of our first John Peel session, so who knows what would've happened if we hadn't done it? Might've been a completely different story.. RIP John, you are very sadly missed, by Bolt Thrower and i'm sure by new bands today..

You are a true amazon Jo, thanks for your time!
Jo: No problem at all. Thanks a lot for the interview.

Jo

"IN A WORLD OF COMPROMISE.... SOME DON'T"