Warlord Makes US Live Debut 46 Years Later - Hell's Heroes VIII 2026 Interview

0:04 Hy you love, dont bear censure w f SE Wow, where you young Roman? The bombing has come for the dawn of the Sun. This is to Pipeman here on the Adventures pipe Man W four cy Radio, and we're here at Hell's Heroes and I'm. Here with Giles Lavery of Warlord, m Mark Xander of Warlord. Nice. So I gotta tell you a story just to start off. To begin with, I grew up in Jersey and my dad came home one day in nineteen eighty and said, in three days we're moving to California. And then I found this cool record store in the valley off a tapanga and met this dude that was a record store clerk in there, and he used to show me albums that I should listen to and bands that I should listen to. And he mentioned this band Warlord And it was before Medical Metal Massacre two came out.

1:20 Would that happened to be Brian Slagel at Last Records? That's who was? That's who was? You know, It's funny. A few years ago I saw him. I'm like, man, what a brilliant way to market yourself. He goes, man, oh, it's just a record store. Clerk, But I think about it, Like me and all my friends, we used to go there all the time, and like every band I knew was because of Brian Slagel. That's about right, yep. So here we are, twenty twenty six. What like when this all first happened, When you first started this, did you ever think that in twenty twenty six you would be playing a fest in Houston, Texas?

2:01 I actually thought it should have been a bigger festival. There you go. I mean, I mean, I know that sounds funny, but back then it was. It's a different kind of deal than what's happening now. We were a band, you know, we were a gang. We were a team, and we were going to go and go and go, and we believed in it. We loved it, and we played all day long and all we did was practice and write and all that kind of stuff. And we had, you know the difference between now and then. Back then, there was like the slightest little bit of hope, right because you saw bands getting signed. You saw Motley Crue, you saw this band, that band whatever. You know, we were in La So you see these bands and all of a sudden, you know, the whole thing exploded, and so there was hope. So there was everybody was like totally into it. You know, we knew we had the songs, and I know, I'm very grateful where we are right now.

2:46 But we had big hopes. This wasn't just like a casual. Fancy back then. We had the dreams just like everybody else, but no, very happy to be here in one piece, you know, and in playing you know the Warlord music. Yeah, and tell you what like back then, You're right, there was hope, but there was also that cultish underground thing going on, which you guys were a big part of. Well, actually, the way the underground came about back then is because we weren't on the mainstream right We were forced in it. You know. Yeah, we could have got to deal with Atlantic Records or Geffen. We would have left the underground in about two seconds. We would have packed our bags just like. You did, as I'm sure anybody would exactly. But it was also hard because LA started getting split up and then you had like Crew. I saw them before they became clam They were actually kind of cool when I saw that. Was the first club show I ever went to was Crew at the Roxy before they had an album and they tried to burn the place down to bring Satan in. I'm like, I'm never going to a real concert ever again. So how about you? How do you feel about being in Warlord now?

3:54 Well, it's been a while, I mean, you know, I my first work with Warlold was back in twenty thirteen. I sang a track on the Holy Holy Empire record and the subsequent tour for that. I love the music. I've always been a fan. I've always loved the songs. I love to sing the songs, and I love playing the songs with Mark and the rest of the band. So there's really no downside to any of it. So how do I feel? I feel great and I'm looking forward to the show. Yeah. That and you know what, that's what I love to hear most. If you're not having fun in the music industry, it's the wrong in this world. Well, there's too much, there's too much, too many parts of it that aren't fun. Right. There's got to be an up somewhere, right, And if you're going on stage and you're still not finding that up, then you probably shouldn't be doing it, because that really is the salvation, that's that moment where you can, you know, all the other bad stuff, it's all worth it for this, you know, sixty minutes or ninety minutes, depending on what you're doing, is on stage.

4:49 And you know, I find too that back then, even back in twenty thirteen a bands were like experimenting, making something new. And I find a lot of the new bands now like they plug in this formula and metal was never a formula. Well that's why I always kind of and I understand it, but I do find it kind of interesting and funny where it happens like every ten, fifteen, twenty years, where like all of a sudden bands are coming out that are basically just copying the eighties. New wave of British British heavy metal. And I always think, yeah, they got this and they got that, but it always seems like they're missing two things.

5:29 It's the songs and the virtuoso style players that came out of that era. Because there were guys that came out of that era that are just monster musicians. You know, whether it's. Heavy metal or whatever, it didn't matter, they're just monster musicians. I don't see that. I just see kind of that thing of like just trying to reinvent that eighties new wave heavy metal kind of thing and trying to be whether it's the next def Leppard or the next Maiden or. Whatever the case may be. Which is what's fun about that to me is the bands that those were their influences. They didn't try to play like them, you know, like you take a band like Slayer that was obviously their influences, because that was the only influences back then. And maybe they started a little that way and playing the covers, but then you developed your own sound and your own and you take all the bands from that time, and they all sounded different, even within the same genre.

6:29 I got a little bit of a theory for that, let's hear it. I think that the back, you know, people's influences are getting narrow, you know, for them generally speaking, getting narrow or narrower. You take Pantera there, their influences were Van Heylend, kiss Is, easy Top, Metallica, the heavy, heavy stuff, Southern rock, all kinds of stuff that's what made Pantera. But then you had a whole cluster of bands that were just influenced by Pantera. Right, So if the if the influencers started this wide as we're going along and they're getting narrow and narrow, and you meet people like what's your influence dream Data? Whereas you if you ask someone twenty thirty years ago, what's your influence, he'd be like, well, you know Jeff Rotaal, and you know a Stray and and and you know a number of different things that preps would not be so identifiable as heavy metal right these days. So I mean me and myself, I love all kinds of different music. I love Foreigner, Journey and Survivor as much as I love Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and Sabotage and stuff like that. So my influences are a mini.

7:27 I think that is the difference between us old school people because we had so many things. Like I started listening to music as my brother, who was eleven years older, I was stealing his record albums, you know, of bands like the Rascals and the grassroots, earth Wind and Fire like, you know, and it's like nowadays, I could only listen to this, you know, and it's you know, all that stuff was all you listened to. Like I loved listening to Possessed as much as Warlord, as much as Earth Wind and Fire. Well, for me, it's a little bit like eating food. You don't want to if you eat the same meal every day, I guess kind of boring. No doubt. That's a good analogy right there. So you guys, each one of you, if you were to tell one story, good, bad, crazy that really sticks in your mind of your whole career in music, what would it be?

8:23 Oh boy, you put me on the spot. I know you have a few. I'm just gonna kind of write sense of them as I'm running through. It's well, we'll keep it in the Warlord vein. So everybody, not everybody, but most people know the whole story. And how you know, for forty years, ups and downs and comings and goings and Bill getting sick and ill. One of my best stories is, I mean, I have all the great memories of Bill and I by ourselves for eight months jamming in a you know, a stone garage, you know, louder than I'll get out, and playing everything really fast, and just him and I jamming, which developed the Warlord's sund right. But the one, the one that always comes to mind is we're sitting there at keep It No the Gagaron in Greece and the opening bands playing.

9:10 Me and Bill are like warming up backstage and all you hear is. War Lord, war Lord, war Lord over the top. And we both looked at each other and it was a two thing. It was one like, whoa, this is what Iron Maiden feels like every night. You know, It's like, damn, this is easy to play. And then the other one was that kind of cock die with the weird smile, going what the fuck took so long? Because I was thirty five, forty years in and like, you know why why did it take so long? So, I mean, we know why it took so long, But it was a great moment between the two of us. I love it. I love it, and I love that you stuck it out because it has been a kind of a turbulent ride all along the way, and the fact that you're here playing this festival this year, to me, is a testament of your dedication to music.

9:57 It also has a lot to do. This comes about because you have guys that are totally into it. Yeah, the band is great. The band has never sounded better, and it's the guy. There's a no hassle band. The guys are like, just it's great, it's easy and it's fun. That's the way it should be. Did you figure out which one you're gonna do? I mean, like Mark said, keeping it in the wal old thing. You know, I can't, I can quite. You know a lot of people say, you know, this band changed my life, that but that album changed my life. But I can actually say one hundred percent Warlord changed my life. Nice. You know I bought you know, I bought the record. I knew who Mark's onder was when I was nine years old, you know, I bought the records. Not many people get to join the band that they grew up loving, right, and I've been fortunate to work with a couple of bands that I grew up loving, and and and and you know, Warlord. I was asked to join to sing to do the to sing, to do the tour, the Holy Empire tour, which actually led to me moving to Germany, which led to my whole life changing and me getting involved with you know, artist management and and singing for other bands and and doing you know, running a record label and doing all all the other stuff I'm in I'm interested, interested in and involved in all started because of Warlord.

11:06 Nice. You know, So how's that you know that is word changed my life? That is bad. This wasn't as me. You know, this is like some people say that because they you know, they had a bad month and they kind of felt kind of depressed, and well that album really got me through. I say, Warlord changed my life, turned the whole thing matter right down, literally absolutely. So why do you think in your mind they picked you to sing? I was really really cheap? No, I'm kidding, No, I mean Bill, Bill heard my other band, Dragon's Claw, which was a band I had in Australia, and I, you know, I guess he liked what I did, and he liked my voice, and he you know, he wrote me and tell him the real story.

11:47 It was one we were set up to do the tour and there was someone else singing, and me and Bill decided that as this other person was singing. As it got closer to the date, hey every week, send us a song. Make sure that you. Got it, you know, and everything's cool. Well, it was getting very evident that this wasn't gonna happen. And Bill knew Giles and was it like three weeks ahead, Yeah, that's right, three weeks before the tour. And if we didn't if Giles didn't come into play, there would have been no tour, and god only knows where the whole thing could have wound up. But he basically walked in, you know three weeks. Notice good thing that he liked the music and knew the music. Yeah, but right, that's crazy, that's that's how it. And then the whole thing started rolling from there. Yeah. So it was really a testament to him stepping in because I'm not sure if I would do something like that.

12:29 That's that's a lot. Well, that's good, kudos to you. Then, huh, yeah, I mean, you know, and Bill reached out to me as I said, he'd heard my voice on the Dragons little stuff, and all of a sudden it kind of escalated kind of quickly, and you know, going going to Greece, going to Germany, we did the tour for the Holy Empire, and again it changed my life because then I subsequently moved to Germany and started my whole life there. So nice, Well, in a little while, we're gonna hear your voice here at Hell's Heroes, yep, and the rest of the guys too, exactly. And if they make it, do. You have any other final words you want to give the listeners. Thank you for we got both, Thank you for listening, Thank you for supporting Warlord, and we hope to see on this tour because we've got twenty one shows in the United States. Tonight's the first night of the tour and it's the very first American show that Warlord has ever played in its career.

13:22 That is fucking wild, you know what the first one. The first one was Vuking in Germany in two thousand and two. But Mark will tell you about that. Nice. Yeah, it's no, it's it's great. We're really looking forward to it and always wanted to play America. I know we're going to meet a lot of the Warlord fans that have been very, very dedicated to the band that are here in the States. So really looking forward to it. Well I'm looking forward to it too. Thanks for being here, and thanks for being on the Adventures of Payment right on. Thank you very much. This is Charles Lavery from Warlord and you're listening to pipe Man on W four cy dot com. Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Papmin onwfur CUI Radio.