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Adrian Smith int. by
electricbasement.com
23.SEP.2000
ADRIAN SMITH (IRON MAIDEN, PSYCHO
MOTEL)
August 2000
By Brian Coles
ADRIAN SMITH may be one of metal's
most underrated guitarists. Not only did he help reinvent the
power metal of Deep Purple and Rainbow via IRON MAIDEN, but has
also had a major hand in the success of BRUCE Dickinson's modern
metal masterpieces Accidental Birth and A Chemical Wedding. In
between all this metalworking mastery, he eeked out yet another
unique heavy rock outfit, yet one that never really got a chance
to get its feet on the ground. PSYCHO Motel's two albums,
originally released in Europe circa 1996 and 1997, are being
reissued by Sanctuary Records, thus giving U.S. audiences a first
glance at this little band with a big and unique sound.
I recently spoke with Adrian on
the phone. One of the first things I inquired about was Maiden band mate
Janick Gers, who took a tumble off the stage in Europe earlier
this Summer. "He's alright. Still a bit sore. It was quite
a fall." Overall, Adrian was really up about the tour. He
noted a few things along the way. Where a European audience had
a lot of teenagers, U.S. fans seemed to be more of the nostalgic
crowd. Regardless, with the IRON MAIDEN/HALFORD/QUEENSRYCHE tour
de force, Adrian is proud to bring a show to America "that
is about music. It's not about playing tapes and dancing to
it." He likes the idea of people coming to see a band sweat
on stage.
Amidst all this, he is fielding
interviews for his Psycho Motel re-releases. Psycho Motel is a
unique sounding band, almost a cross between Pantera and Led
Zeppelin. And to top it all off, it was born from Adrian's
early 90s outfit, the Untouchables, a band that sounded very
little like Psycho Motel! Adrian explained it all, "The
Untouchables never released an album. We were kind of a heavy
blues rock band. We did do a live album which might get
released. What happened with the Untouchables was that our
other guitar player Huwey Lucas left the band. So we were left
as a three piece. I started writing songs and one of the first
songs we did was "Psycho Motel". And then we heard
this guy Solli. He was actually a friend of the
drummer's...they had played together. So when we got Solli we
became Psycho Motel." And Solli proved a formidable
vocalist, gaining references to the mighty Robert Plant.
Therefore, the band was quite
a departure from anything Adrian's ever done. In fact, the
man rarely repeats himself when starting new projects. He
gives a nod to the fact that he likes to "go with the
energy" of the band he is working with. He noted that
Maiden's Steve Harris was more of a hardline writer, opting
for a more straight ahead style, which Adrian also admires.
Yet Adrian enjoys injecting influences that he grew up with,
which are in major part 70s based. While he is clear about
his joy in Maiden, he admits that "Yeah, [ with Psycho
Motel] there's a lot of stuff on there I never got a chance
to do with Maiden. Like the guitars...kind of like a Hendrix
sound."
Another key element of
Psycho Motel's overall package is the dark, neo realistic
lyrics. "Yeah, I think it suited the music well. The
two albums, musically, weren't too different, but vocally
they were." True, Andy Makin was more of a brooder
along the grunge lines of deep throated musings. So why
did Adrian go with a such a different vocalist on Welcome
to the World, the band's sophomore effort? "After
Solli left and went back to Norway, we were just looking
for a good singer, not necessarily the same type of
singer. And Andy [Makin] came in. Not only did he sing the
old stuff real well, but he could really jam the new stuff
quite well." Adrian was also impressed with Andy's
abilities as a lyricist. One glance at "Into the
Black", and lines like "Love is a dark place
where you run away from me, blinded by your face I can't
run away from you" it is clear this band was pushing
a different envelope than Maiden.
Yet Psycho Motel was
constantly sidetracked, whether it be original the
vocalist Solli leaving soon after the album's release or
the fact that Adrian got a chance to join Bruce
Dickinson's solo project which was "too good to
pass up!" Yet the band did achieve a following in
Europe and even shot a video for the music stations.
When pointing to the
future, Adrian leaves the door of possibilities wide
open. He wouldn't rule out more work with Psycho Motel
if the records were well received stateside. He also
confirms that Maiden will work at a pace that is good
for all the members of the band. Needless to say, fans
of Adrian and his passion to "go with the
energy" have a lot more to look forward too.
To find out more about
PSYCHO MOTEL's reissues, visit http://www.sanctuarygroup.com/
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