Interview with Ron Warrion
Interview conducted by Michel Renaud
Date online: August 29, 2003
When and how did you guys meet and decide to form Steel Glory?
Hi Michel, first of all I would like to thank you for interviewing Steel Glory. It all started when I met Calvin in the army. In Singapore every male who is 20 years of age has to serve the army. We started playing covers. Two years after we had done our service, I asked him about the idea and we formed the band in late 1999.
Why a classic heavy metal band?
Nothing beats the ecstatic feeling of heavy metal, I,ve been listening to it since I was 10. No other music I know has got such pure passion and madness in it.
ou did a 3-song demo before releasing your MCD. Is that demo still available, or can the 3 songs be found on the MCD?
I no longer have any more copies of the demo. Two of the songs can be found in the MCD. Baptism In Steel was not featured in the MCD due to the bad recording.
Have you approached any labels with your material?
Not yet. I'm currently distributing to webzines, magazines, online distributors etc.
I'm aware of a couple of black and death metal bands from
Singapore, but it's the first time I hear of a heavy metal band from that area.
Are you guys the only one playing this music over there, or is the
"scene" more populated than that?
As far as I know we are the only band playing heavy metal in our country. The scene is getting bigger. The majority of the bands are mostly black and death metal.
What bands influence the most the way you write your music?
Leatherwolf, Stormwitch, Fifth Angel, Riot, Iron Maiden, Warlock etc.
What musical experience do the band members have? Has anyone played in another band before, and/or have a current side-project?
Everyone in the band are involved in other bands. Calvin (lead guitars) and Fadzly (drums) play in Raspatul which is a death/thrash band. Kai (bass) is in Vrykolakas and Eyain (vocals) plays in a cover band in a pub. Even S.Skylord who helped on two songs on lead guitars is playing for Dethmute. I'm the only guy who is not involved in other bands except Steel Glory.
Have you guys played live yet? Any interesting stories?
Not yet. We are not ruling out anything yet. We have been asked numerous times by our local organizers who have done all the death and extreme metal shows but we have turned them down due to work and family commitments.
How's the overall metal scene in Singapore? I heard it is a very strict country and that metal music is frowned upon by the authorities. Any truth to that?
I was very lucky enough to see bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Europe, Yngwie Malmsteen and Uriah Heep. We even had Dark Funeral come to our country but I did not see them cause they are not my cup of tea. The scene needs a lot of pushing. We only have a handful of local gigs per year. I don't really think it's a strict country but it sure as hell has a lot of silly fucking rules. The people here don't know how to relax and have a good time. It's work work and work. Sometimes I wonder if these losers are actually captured by the government and programmed. Down here if you have long hair and tattoos, chances of you getting a decent office job is minimal. Trust me I'm speaking from experience. Metal to the authorities is something very bad.
Is the Asian metal market strong enough to support the genre of metal you play, or do you think you'll have to try to get to Europe at some point?
I don't think the Asian market is strong enough, the people who have bought our CDs are from America, Greece, Germany, Brazil, etc... We definitely need the the European market.
Where did you record "Wayward Sons of the Beast"? Did you use a professional studio with a producer, or did you do everything yourself?
We recorded it in one of our local studios called TNT. It's one of the best we have got. We did it with a producer.
Have you had a lot of media feedback for "Wayward Sons..."? What kind of reviews did you get?
There is this great online distro in California called Stormspell who are
currently selling our cds and their doing our website as we speak. Webzines like Adrenaline,
Chronicles of Chaos, Strutter, Primal Agony, etc... have given Steel Glory good reviews. We have
yet to get bad reviews. Snakepit's issue 13 will have our review and so will on the March zine from
Greece. In Singapore not one person I contacted replied. I bet all these info will give you a
very bad impression of my country.
Are you guys working on a full-length album? The MCD is pretty good but is a little on the short side.
Yes indeed. We are currently working on the new songs. The next CD is a full length. It will be released sometime toward the end of next year. I do agree that the MCD was short but it was high time to release something after our demo. So we decided to do the Wayward CD to see the response and the support we would get and boy was I surprised with all the great support fom overseas.
That's all I have for now, thanks for your time! The last words are yours...
Thank you for your time Michel. I have a sister who has been living in Toronto for the past ten years or so. If I go there what do you say we head down for a couple of beers ok? I would also like to thank all the webzines, magazines, distributors, and all the people who have bought our CDs, and also Michael Vaucher and all the rest at Emerald. Great band check them out.
Other information about Steel Glory on this site |
Review: Wayward Sons of the Beast |
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