BREAK DOWN THE WALLS… AGAIN!
Interview with SHY bassist Roy Davis
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Ironically, and hypothetically of course, none of the above was true of the band. In fact, what may come as a surprise to many, Shy first entered the picture right about the time when the NWOBHM movement was first beginning to get its feet wet. But this band was not of the same caliber as any of those studs and leather carriers, nor were they characteristic of their chosen name. Let's face it, when you invest that much time and energy on the "look," you're not exactly planning to hit the stage with your backs to everyone-you're going to get noticed! And "caliber" should not in any way be associated with talent in this case because beneath the glammed up exterior, it simply wasn't true. They were England's answer to America's Bon Jovi types… They were Def Leppard before the pop sweetness set in and became worldwide favorites… only it wasn't them! The Motley Crues… the Dokkens… the Poisons… Shy was all about that and yet they never hit their stride here in the states until their breakthrough album "Excess All Areas" broke down the walls and allowed the glossy image of the platinum blonde singer with the big hair to shine through, if only momentarily. Something happened afterwards that's not too hard to understand once you've had enough experience at how bizarre and predictably ridiculous things can get in this sorely overrated thing we call the "Music Industry." The fact is, Shy was a band on a roll in the mid to late '80s and then, having just "Broken Down the Walls," there was one they didn't notice lying closely around the bend that they just struck head on… and that was it. That "stride" was immediately broken and so too was their developmental progress. Their forward momentum stopped, and Shy's disintegration was about to begin. Right in line with the fading glory of hard rock's past, Shy stuck around a while longer but seemed to have little impact. But not too long ago an interesting thing happened. People started getting back into the great melodic rock bands of the past. They grew tired of the seriousness of today's lackluster musical climate, and with the aid of some crafty media outlets, finally understood that because times change, that doesn't have to mean icing a perceptibly lost generation. So the forum's been cleared once again for many old favorites of the past-and even those of the little known ilk… those who didn't quite have the necessary time to grow into a favorite… And then there's Shy… someone's favorite-probably with enough potential to become a lot of people's favorites! For a long time they were obscured from the public view and in truth, they never really went anywhere-but in terms of media service, like many of their time, they seemed to no longer matter. Shy's "Braved the Storm" quite well and whether they're returning from somewhere or just redefining their place in the rock world, they've been making a steady impression this past year and a half. The "regenerated" and reissued moments of some of their earlier recordings can be found in the latest catalog of releases by the famed Neat Metal label while the band themselves, the "classic" lineup, gear up for a brand new album and tour. Bassist Roy Davis picks up the last ten or twelve years of slack regarding the band and uncovers what actually happened, where they've been, why, and what led them all back to where they're at now… Vinnie: When did the band reform? Roy: Well the band never "deformed" really. Basically after the "Madhouse" (when?) album we just started doing our own things and seeing each other less and less. We all kept in touch, but only on a personal level, never for business. Vinnie: What were the circumstances surrounding Shy's return? Roy: It was more a case of falling back together really. I had gone to meet Jess Cox (founder) at Neat concerning a band that I was managing. After chatting about the band we started talking about music in general and about the '80s specifically. Of course this led onto Tygers (of Pan Tang) and Shy. He was very interested in re-releasing the "Once Bitten" album and it sort of moved on from there. Vinnie: It seems as though Shy's come back on the scene in a pretty big way, with three "new" releases ("Let the Hammer Fall," "Live," and "Regeneration.") Can you go into the background a little for each and from which period the songs were originally done? Roy: Obviously, over the years we had recorded a whole bunch of songs that had, for various reasons, never seen the light of day. Mainly, they were from the sessions that led up to the "Misspent Youth" record, with a couple from earlier days. Jess thought that the timing might have been just right to release them now, and luckily he seems to have been right! The live album was taken mainly from a European tour that we did with Gary Moore. The second half of the album was from some dodgy English gigs, which we don't think sound too great to be honest. Vinnie: ...And so what of the latest reissue of the first Shy album, "Once Bitten, Twice Shy." Roy: This was originally the first release by Neat. Because of the success of the other three records we thought it might be a good idea to test the waters again. Vinnie: Shy was always a strong band musically but did of course present an equally strong image much like many of the glam/rock groups back then. I've always put Shy ahead of the pack when it comes to playing-similar to a Dokken type where there's strength in the overall musicianship rather than the simplicity of a Poison. In fact I even wrote in one of my reviews that your Steve Harris on the guitar is close to an equivalent of Maiden's Steve Harris in terms of talent and presence… Roy: I think you're pretty much near the mark. Image wise it was quite strange. We never considered ourselves a "glam" band but obviously we were bracketed with those bands. We dressed like that anyway-you know the spiky hair, leopard skin jackets, etc. We would go to the local pub dressed like that for a beer on a normal night out! Musically we did consider ourselves like Dokken, UFO, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, etc. In terms of Steve's guitar playing I really believe that he is still one of the world's great talents... its just that not enough people know it yet! Vinnie: So what led to the band's eventual dissolution after what looked to be a promising beginning? Roy: If you mean why did Tony (Mills, singer) leave, it was the result of several factors. At the end of 1990 we lost the deal with MCA and so had to have a drastic rethinking. Tony had moved house and lived about 120 miles away from the rest of the band and so rehearsal was becoming increasingly difficult, also our influences were changing. Tony was becoming increasingly interested in harder music whilst the rest of us were moving more towards a more bluesy Aerosmith kind of thing. It seemed that as we'd lost the major deal it was a good time to move on… Vinnie: Was there dissatisfaction within the band with the direction of rock music or were you concerned that the band wasn't getting enough respect for what it achieved up to that point? Roy: We certainly weren't concerned with "critical acclaim." We always had total belief in our own ability, even if others didn't. When you're in a band with the likes of Tony Mills and Steve Harris you feel that in a live environment you can hold your own with anybody. Me: What would you say is the band's defining moment? Roy: That's a very difficult question. There were so many. On a personal level I would have to say that playing the Cat Club in New York and having Ian Hunter as our own personal guest takes some beating. Me: U.S. fans may not be all that familiar with Shy after '87s "Excess All Areas," and that album's hit, "Breakdown the Walls." What happened after that to slow the momentum-or was it slowed? It seemed like we hadn't heard much of the band afterwards… Roy: It was weird really. The first RCA album, "Brave the Storm," (When?) attracted a lot more interest in the States than 'Excess. What happened was that we were signed to RCA worldwide but were A&R'd out of London. Consequently they were always arguing between themselves about who should foot the bill for us to come to the States- London saying that it should be the Americans because it was for their promotion and the Americans' saying that it was London's' responsibility because we were signed in England. At the end of the day, we were the ones that suffered… Vinnie: What's the association to Shy England? Same band? If so, why the brief name change? Roy: What happened was that when we signed to MCA (when?) and came out to America, a band from Milwaukee claimed that they had been using the name for years. They had only recorded a couple of demos and never had a deal, but the powers that be thought that "Shy England" would be a good idea anyway. We thought it was a load of bollocks, but there you go! Me: Tony Mills is one of my favorite vocalists. I'd place him right there at the top with many of the best rock/metal singers I've heard. Now I know for a while you weren't working together and he had his own project going called Siam-which I haven't heard much but sounded a bit heavier or technical than what Shy had done. What led to him reentering the picture? Roy: I agree with you totally about Tony, he is a brilliant singer. After my meetings with Jess I contacted Tony and told him what was going on. We all got together over a few beers and it was just like when we first got together in the beginning, all the enthusiasm was there. Vinnie: What's the attitude within the band now? Are you looking at this as a brand new start… or as a continuation from a particularly successful place where you feel you left off before? What direction do you take today? Roy: It's quite strange really. It is a new beginning but we're taking it very slowly. As for direction we're definitely in the "Excess All Areas" domain. Without a doubt this is where we were most comfortable… we were playing the type of music we always listened to. Me: Is there any pressure within the band-or now, within the context of revisiting the "Excess All Areas" era-to maybe adopt a more "serious" edge even though the whole pop/metal genre is slowly building in popularity again? Do you stick with the tried and true formula-your strengths, and take your chances? Roy: There is definitely no pressure to be "serious" as it were. We are much more interested in the music now than we were before. It used to be that the music was the means to an end… a way of having a great time without having to work for it and someone else footing the bill. Now we're doing it because we want to and with no ulterior motive! Vinnie: Interesting. So why then, does this make is Shy better than it was before? What will happen now to make things work that didn't in the past? Roy: Shy is almost definitely better than before. You must remember that we are all quite a lot older and more mature. Steve and Tony's songwriting has obviously developed, and apart from that we have different things that are important to us now. In terms of why it could happen now and not before is not really the question. What we want to happen now is totally different to what we wanted 10 years ago. If people get to hear our records now and think that they're worth listening to, well that's a result. Before we needed to sell hundreds of thousands… if they were crap or not didn't really matter. Vinnie: Have you been influenced by any of today's modern music? What do the band members listen to these days that may indirectly affect the way Shy approaches their own writing/recording? Roy: I can safely say that we're not influenced by anything new. This is probably unfortunate, but we still listen to the same type of stuff as before. The fact that it's all selling again is fantastic! Me: When should we expect new material and what might it sound like? Roy: New material is being written as we speak and a new album will have been recorded by the end of the year! Vinnie: What's the status of your current record contract? I know these last few releases are from Neat, but I also remember seeing somewhere that the band was close to signing with another label and might finally see a state side release. Roy: Our contract with Neat did run out and we're now signed to Z Records. They're a fairly new label but they deal only with bands from our genre. Enuff Z' Nuff have recently signed to them as well. Vinnie: Are you still in it for the long haul? Or do you each individually, have other musical endeavors to fall back on or pursue above or beyond Shy? Roy: We are definitely in it for good. We have decided that we will release an album every year for the next twenty years if we have to! We do have other interests that we have to pursue but at the end of the day Shy is in our blood! Vinnie: What's the future plan? Will there be a tour in the works-and if so, can you elaborate a little on where the band might play and with whom? Roy: The immediate future is the album. We will record until December and it finally comes out in April. It is very AOR and so probably very American. Tony is back to his very best. Touring wise we're still not sure about. We are planning to play our first gig with Tony (in over 10 years!!) next May… Enuff 'Z Nuff will be on the same bill. We will then be going to play some summer festivals in Europe. If the possibility to come back over to America arises we will be over in a flash. It all depends on demand. On a personal level I will be coming over in the New Year to promote my record label. Vinnie: Is there a way for fans to either contact the band or a means for them to stay on top of what's going on and keep track-maybe a website? Roy: Well I'm in the process of putting up my own label and website and Shy have got a page within that. At the moment the site is only being constructed and still does not load properly with some navigators. I have put a Shy page up but it's pretty much a rip off of the information that I gave to Neat, however it will be developed. Have a look at www.phoenixmusicuk.com and let me know what you think. Anyone who wants any information can always contact me via the website. Interview by Vinnie Apicella
[va85@columbia.edu] |