THE EVIL LIGHT OF THE POSSESSED CANDLE...

Bryan Martin

Martin is mostly famous in the underground metal scene cause of his first band WITCH MEADOW. Now after forming or participating is so many bands he decided to follow a solo carreer as a guitarist playing hard 'n' heavy music. During the interview, however, I discovered that he is not only a very talented musician, but an incredibly creative person that doesn't tires you a bit. On the contrary you want to talk with him for so many things. Hope that this interview will help you discover Bryan and try to find out his music which is really great...

1.BEFORE GETTING INTO THE MUSICAL QUESTIONS I WOULD
LIKE YOU TO TELL US WHO IS BRYAN MARTIN, AS A MUSICIAN AND AS A PERSONALITY? WHAT KIND OF STUDIES HAVE YOU DONE ON THE GUITAR?

As a musician I would say that I am one who strives to create the

music that I would love to see another band playing onstage. I always try to give my audience the same energy level. I love heavy metal music and I love the songs I create. They are like children to me. I never get tired of playing songs I wrote, even if they were written many years ago. My offstage personality is reserved and quiet. I usually let others do the talking. I tend to have a rather funny sense of humor. I am also a history buff. Onstage I am an outlet for the music. I run around, jump offstage, the music

just brings me to a higher level of being. I have studied guitar for

over 15 years and have studied some classical. My love is metal but I also enjoy blues and classic rock.

2.OK, YOU STARTED YOUR CAREER IN THE METAL MUSIC WITH THE BAND WITCH MEADOW. CAN YOU GIVE US A FEW INFO ABOUT THE BAND? HOW CAN SOMEBODY FIND THE 2 ALBUMS YOU'VE RELEASED AND UNDER WHICH LABEL WERE THEY RELEASED?

Both Witch Meadow albums ,"When Midnight Calls", And " Down

Eternity's Hall." were self produced under our own label, "black cat productions". The only way to get the cds now is through myself.(contact me thru email) or to go to www.cdbaby.com Witch meadow was a 4 piece metal band modelled after iron maiden, wasp, and Saxon. From the start the band took on a life of its own. We did have some label interest and sold some units in germany and

japan but the band broke up internally before anything major happened. If you search the web you might come across some old reviews and even people who have the original demo tapes. but I do have cds for sale from them.

3.WHICH WERE THE REASONS THAT LED WITCH MEADOW TO DISBAND? ARE YOU STILL IN CONTACT WITH THE OTHER
MEMBERS?

I would say that the band broke up because the metal scene in rhode island is very sparse and the partying of certain memebers got out of hand. The singers voice became an issue.He couldnt hit the high notes anymore. I am still in contact with the bassist but the rest of the members ...no.

4.DARK ALLEY, THE NEXT BAND YOU JOINED, WAS A COVER
80'S METAL BAND AND I AM CURIOUS TO LEARN WHICH BANDS AND SONGS YOU USED TO COVER? HAVE YOU RELEASED ANY DEMO OR ALBUM WITH COVER SONGS?

In dark alley we did motley crue to whitesnake, skid row, kiss,

tesla, fastway,ozzy. Of course we would always get people who wanted to hear witch meadow songs so i would play one or two and sing them. I have a few cover songs recorded but nothing worth releasing. " monkey business" by skid row and"say what you will" by fastway were my two favorites to play.

5.FINALLY THE LAST BAND YOU FORMED TILL NOW WERE METAL RISING AND NOW YOU PLAY AS A SOLO GUITARIST. CAN YOU EXPLAIN TO ME WHY YOU CHOSE THE PATH OF A SOLO CAREER AFTER ALL? WHICH WERE THE DIFFICULTIES THAT YOU HAVE CONFRONTED WHEN YOU COOPERATED WITH OTHER PEOPLE?

working with other people who do not share your vision is very

hard. Many musicians I have worked with dont like the history I had with witch meadow because they dont like themselves being compared to them. I still would like to use metal rising and may do so, but the choice to do a solo project was one of personal freedom.

6.NOW FROM THE SONG THAT I'VE LISTENED FROM THE NET, I FOUND OUT THAT YOUR MUSIC CARRIES INFLUENCES FROM BOTH 70'S HARD ROCK AND EARLY 80'S METAL MUSIC. DO YOU AGREE? IS THIS THE MUSIC THAT YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO PLAY?

I grew up on zeppelin,queen and then discovered saxon, wasp,

sabbath. Sabbath was a primary influence. I would listen and play along to their records for hours. Later I got into hendrix and page...and then rhoads and steve vai. I was never a big van halen fan, oddly enough. Saxon and manowar were also two other major influneces. So yes I agree that I am influneced by both 70's hard rock and early 80's metal. I'm proud to say that. My playing

just comes out naturally and my influences just flow that way.

7.DO YOU COOPERATE WITH OTHER MUSICIANS IN ORDER TO DELIVER IN PUBLIC THE MUSIC YOU COMPOSE AS A SOLO GUITARIST? ARE THESE SESSIONISTS OR WILL THEY BE STABLE MEMBERS?

yes. I am currently finalizing a line up for a working band to

perform the material onstage as well as cover songs. But in my area of the united states there is not really a call for metal. often times people want to hear pop music. We had one club in rhode island which was called "the station". it was a great club, saxon played there, wasp, quiet riot, black label society,tesla, but it burned and killed 100 people during a great white show. that killed the whole metal scene in my area. I knew people. everyone is still in shock...i have a song about it called.."empty skies"..you can't imagine how

small my stae is so when this happened everyone knew someone who was there. parents went out and never came home..just incredibly sad and horrific. i was at the club all the time. witch meadow played and won 2 battle of the bands there.

8.I HAVE THE SENSE THAT THOUGH YOU ARE A VERY TALENTED ARTIST, IT WAS VERY HARD FOR YOU AND YOUR GROUPS TO FIND A DESCENT DEAL WITH METAL LABELS. WHY DO YOU THINK THIS HAS HAPPENED?

metal has changed a lot in the states. The american attention span

is very short. Most of friends don't even know iron maiden is still

together, never mind get them out to support an original metal band. The kids(those who go to shows) they seem to not like old style metal. they perfer hardcore. So it is very hard to get a label to notice you. I give credit to those bands that do get signed. it takes a lot of work.

9.NOW, DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR RELEASING A FULL
LENGTH ALBUM AS A SOLO MUSICIAN AND WHEN DO YOU PLAN TO DO IT? DID YOU HAVE ANY OFFER FROM A LABEL?

I am working on my full length release. it may include reworked

versions of older witch meadow songs...maybe...I do not have any offers from labels. I would welcome any help.it is very expensive to record and release a good album.

10.HOW DID THE FANS AND ZINES RECEIVE YOUR MUSIC? DO
YOU STILL BELIEVE THAT EXISTS AN AUDIENCE OUT THERE
THAT WANTS TO LISTEN TO OLD SCHOOL HARD ROCK / METAL STUFF?

there is a huge market and audience for metal all around the world. witch meadow was very well recieved throughout the world. we got reviews in mags from russia to japan as well as airplay there. it was amazing. we did a lot of interviews like this one. Support for metal by people like yourself is such a boost for struggling bands. I respect the time it takes to put these things together. All I can say is keep the metal alive by spreading the word whenever and wherever you can.

11.BRYAN, YOUR HOBBY REALLY IMPRESSED ME. YOU SAY IN YOUR BIO THAT IN YOUR FREE TIME YOU WRITE SHORT
STORIES AND MOVIE SCRIPTS. WHAT KIND OF THEMATOLOGY DO YOU LIKE TO WRITE THE MOST? HAVE YOU MANAGED TO PUBLISH ANY OF YOUR STORIES OR TO GET THE INTEREST OF A MOVIE PRODUCER WITH YOUR SCRIPTS? DO YOU WRITE ANYTHING NEW LATELY?

I wrote a book of poems that got published when i was 19. most of

my stories revolve around horror or sci-fi themes. "the gift" which i used as a basis for the witch meadow song of the same name, is about a candle that when lit, emits evil. you know when you run to

turn on the lights to protect you from the dark...what if the light

was evil?. another story is about vampires who love metal music and travel back in time to keep metal on top of the music industry.

My main movie script is about a war between two covens of witches in a nearby new england town. One cop who is caught up in between when he realizes his dead wife was killed by the bad coven who use a local church as a recruitment center for evil.Then he finds out that his wife was a witch and he never knew. the whole thing unravels as he exposes what is going on. I use a nearby town as a backdrop. I also have several "conan" type sword and sorcery stories. I am a big fan of that. as well as some marvel comic heroe character ideas. And to top it all off i am working on some children's stories.plus i work,go to school, and raise a family....

12.YOUR INFLUENCES INCLUDE: RANDY RHOADS, ZAKK WYLDE, STEVE VAI, IOMMI, SAMY HAGAR, ZEPPELIN,WASP,> HELLOWEEN, MANOWAR, IRON MAIDEN AND SAXON, SO IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO RELEASE AN ALBUM COVERING ONE SONG FROM EACH OF THE ABOVE MENTIONED ARTISTS WHICH WOULD THE SONGS BE AND WHY?

o.k. cover songs :
1. saxon....crusader( my fave)

2. randy rhoads...over the mountain( awesome guitar solo)

3. zeppelin...dazed and confused or in the evening( i want to use a

violin

bow...)

4. helloween......i want out

5. manowar......metal daze...carry on...blow your speakers....anything

manowar is just incredible

6. wasp......i wanna be somebody....( reminds me of being a kid again)

7. iron maiden....flight of icarus....infinite dreams....the angel and

the

gambler...."angel" is my fave maiden tune...)

8. sammy hagar.........high hopes...stand up and shout

9. iommi.........any black sabbath..maybe "born again"

10. steve vai.....yankee rose

13.TAKING THIS QUESTION A BIT FURTHER I'D LIKE YOU TO
NAME 1 OR AT LEAST 2 OF THE ABOVE MENTIONED INFLUENCES OF YOURS THAT YOU'D LIKE TO COOPERATE WITH, MORE AND WHY?

i would love to record a song with biff from saxon..my first band

that i actually got into..i think i could write some killer tunes for his

voice...blackie from wasp is another one whom i could write an album worth of tunes.....what a dream that would be....makes me want to go and start writing now.....but seriously these two guys have been a great influence and have provided some great tunes over the years. it would be an honor just to talk with them. what incredible insight they could share.

14.IN OUR WORLD EXIST SO MANY RELIGIONS AND I WANT TO ASK YOU, IF SOMEDAY WE WOULD HAVE THE CHANCE TO KNOW WHICH ONE IS THE REAL FAITH, WHICH WOULD YOU PREFER AND WHY?

wow. that's a really great question. ive seen a lot of things in my

life. some good some bad..ive looked death in the eye once.wrote some songs about that.. Here is what i believe: there is a soul and we will all answer for what we do to that soul on a higher frequency of being. I don't believe in organized religion. and when I die I would like to belive that there is a place where i could go and see hendrix and randy rhoads jamming onstage somewhere.

16.THE LAST LINES ALWAYS BELONG TO THE ARTIST, SO FEEL FREE TO WRITE WHATEVER YOU WANT. MANY THANKS FOR THE INTERVIEW...

I just want to say thanks for the time to answer this. keep up the

good work. to all the readers please give unknown metal bands a listen. there is a lot of good stuff out there.keep spreading the word and keep a candle lit for metal...just make sure your candle isn't possessed.

Nikos "William_Kidd" Parastatidis

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