Do you remember Warrior from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal heydays? The band reformed to play Brofest in 2014 and are now thankfully active again with a new album imminent.
Thanks to an interview with Warrior mainstay Dave Dawson which you can read below, you can catch up with the band’s history, reformation and future plans.
NWOBHM: Great to see Warrior back and active. Casting you mind back to the “old days” would you like to give the readers a brief history of the band from the NWOBHM days up to splitting in 1984.
DD: Warrior started in September 1979. Tony Watson the other guitarist lived on a farm and we used to get together in one of the outbuildings we called the barn (really an old cottage) and jam along to the metal songs of the time. Scorpions, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, UFO and ACDC etc.
The Band was Dave Dawson lead guitar. Tony Watson guitar. Rob Mills drums. Baz Smith Bass and his brother Eddy Smith vocals. In the beginning I was really ill with Crohns Disease, after a couple of operations I started to feel much better and we all started taking things more seriously. This was March 1980. I was eager to write our own stuff rather than just doing covers and pushed this with the rest of the band. Flying High was the first song I wrote.
We did lots of local gigs and started to build up a fan base. This line up stayed together until late 1982 when some of the members decided they wanted to go in a different musical direction. Despite this we all remained friends. At this stage we had released Flying High on a Neat compilation album Lead Weight. The Dead When it Comes to Love EP and a live cassette tape called Live in a Dive. (This tape was released by the band).
As Tony and I were the only members left Ken Booth our manager arranged a jam with drummer Sean Taylor (now of Satan), bass player Steve Telford and singer Ed Halliday and hence the new line up was formed. We recorded a mini album For Europe Only (this was not on Neat Records). We continued playing gigs venturing further afield in the UK. This line up didn’t last long. The bass player and singer left and were replaced by Paul Irwin and Martin Clerkin.
Eventually Sean Taylor left to join Satan and in came Mick Simpson on drums. He didn’t last long, however we were ready to record the Breakout EP so Martin Dick from the Toy Dolls stepped in for the recording. Gigs after this were covered by Sean Taylor. This was great for a while but by 1984 things were falling apart and the band split.
NWOBHM: I’d imagine you must have some great stories from back then. What’s the most memorable that you’d care to share.
DD: Not long after the Dead When it Comes to Love EP was released I received a fan letter from a guy in the Netherlands saying how much he loved the band and EP. I was totally amazed as I hadn’t realised our music had reached Europe.
We used to play some great gigs in the Lake District on Bank Holiday Weekends, travelling on the Warrior tour bus. There was a particular pub called the Salutation Inn (now an Edinburgh Woollen Mill how rock ‘n’ roll!!) where all the bikers from around the country would congregate.
The Manager always told us to turn up as loud as we wanted so the place was always shaking with the volume. It was always a brilliant gig full of bikers and metal heads. The sweat would be running down the walls.
Baz Smith (original bass player) would always put a lucky snot on the stage before we played the gig.
One gig in 1984 with Sean Taylor stands out in my memory when we were supporting Satan and he played drums for both bands.
NWOBHM: Warrior was on Neat Records. As I recall the label was something of a NWOBHM stronghold with acts such as Fist and others on the books. Was it hard to get a deal and how much support was an independent like Neat able to give.
DD: We booked Impulse Studios to record our first demo and Dave Wood who was the owner of the studios and also the Neat record label rang me a home a few weeks later as he liked the song Flying High and asked if he could use it for the Lead Weight compilation album. I of course said yes even though I liked the song Force It better.
So this is how we came to be on Neat Records for a while. They released the Dead When it Comes to Love (completely live in the studio no overdubs) EP. They didn’t really do anything for the band, however they were able to reach a market we wouldn’t have been able to reach at the time.
NWOBHM: What led to Warrior disbanding in the mid-80s.
DD: The continuous line-up changes took its toll in 1984. I got fed up with having to go over the old songs for new people to learn when all I wanted to do was write and record new stuff so I left and the band ceased to exist about 2 weeks later.
NWOBHM: How did the reformation come about for Brofest in 2014. What were the circumstances behind that.
DD: I think that after a night on the beer Sean Taylor had promised Stuart Bartlett that he would get Warrior to reform for Brofest 2014. He’d searched for me on Facebook (which I wasn’t on at that time) and got chatting to one of my old mates Kev Gray who I hadn’t seen for years. Kev thought he could remember where I lived and turned up at my house one Sunday afternoon in May 2013.
He passed on my telephone number to Sean, who rang me and I agreed to meet him for a chat. At first I was having none of it as I had never played a gig for 27 years but had always carried on playing the guitar. I was totally unaware as to how popular the NWOBHM still was. Sean using all of his persuasive talents convinced me to get together for a jam. He got all the other musicians together. Nothing much happened at first then we replaced the bass player and guitarist. It was a bit manic as we didn’t all come together until December 2013 and had to be ready for February 2014.
It was great that they were quick learners and the Brofest 2014 line up was formed. It was my first gig in 27 year and it was a brilliant success. I was overwhelmed with the reaction to the band.
NWOBHM: I understand a new album is not far away. When can we look forward to the release.
DD: Our new album is well on the way and we are hoping to release it this year as soon as possible. Back in 1984 before we split we had a title for a new album called Invasion Imminent. So for nostalgic reasons I am calling the new album that. Hopefully in August this year High Roller are releasing a lot of our old stuff which has all been re-mastered. This will be called Resurrected.
NWOBHM: What’s Warrior’s internet presence – web site, social media etc.
Warrior have an official band website and we are also on Facebook under Warrior NWOBHM Newcastle.
NWOBHM: Staying with that topic, how do you find Facebook, Twitter and the like as outlets to connect with the fans.
DD: I’m a dinosaur when it comes to modern technology (living in my cave) however I have learned to use Facebook and I’m amazed at how easy it is to connect with the rest of the world and how many fans we have worldwide. It’s great being able to keep in touch with fans we’ve met at gigs and share our news. It’s also great for gaining new fans and getting your stuff out there, making it more personal.
NWOBHM: Anything else you’d like to add.
DD: I feel the current line-up is really growing now as a band and everyone is so enthusiastic at keeping the Warrior music alive and creating new songs that we hope you’ll all love.
My thanks to Dave for taking the time to give such detailed replies to my questions. Do keep an eye out for the new album and of course buy it! I’ll be doing that and will post up a review at the earliest opportunity.