Johnny Thrash Interview for Trashed Metal.com
1)What’s either your full name or band name(stage name):
Damon: Damon Maddison
Dan: Dan Ranger
Nathan: Nathan Maddison
Stephen: Stephen Davis
2) When did Hydra vein start; when did you join?
Damon: I started to put the band together in early 1987.
Dan: 1988
Nathan: I was there from the start. Damon had some tunes he wanted to demo and asked me to play on the session. The rest is ill-fated history.
Stephen: Joined in 88, I think
3) What was it like being a part of the band?
Damon: It was a fun, exciting, chaotic and – especially – penniless time. There was – quite often – a reasonably fierce dynamic tension in Hydra Vein that fired a lot of the band’s aggression and kept the creative juices flowing. At the same time, we were a bunch of mates who were as happy to kill an afternoon sitting in the pub as anything else (including, occasionally, rehearsing). We were all young (all aged between 18 and 21 or so except for Danny, our hoary old six-stringer), naïve and optimistic. None of the band – certainly at that time – were ever what you’d term particularly driven by burning ambition and we were all fairly content to just play and have a laugh. None of us was a hustler in the way that, say, Lars Ulrich has been for Metallica, so we were never really in the faces of the magazines and A&R departments pushing and promoting ourselves. Pretty-much everything we did needed to be retrieved or saved at the very last minute, just as it looked as if everything was going to descend into chaos or farce and quite a lot seemed to happen almost accidentally. What was important to all of us, though, was to constantly try to progress and stretch ourselves as musicians and I recall many a late-night conversation with Nat and Paul, especially, where we’d throw out tons of creative ideas (many of which ended up forgotten by the next time we were in the rehearsal studio). Musical integrity was certainly more important to us than success… which as things turned out was just as well, really.
Dan: At the time is was great fun to be playing/recording some great songs.I had been on the metal gig circuit with my brother 5 years previous.But this was special.
Nathan: I can’t think of much more to add to Damon’s answer, here. At times, it bordered on a tragi-comic farce that had the lot: blood, sweat, tears. The occasional triumph; a couple of tragedies. But we also had a lot of laughs while playing, rehearsing, recording. And drinking.
Stephen: Great, some of the best times I’ve had.
4)Do you have any memorable shows?
Damon: They were all memorable for different reasons – not that there were very many of them. Headlining the Level festival in Brighton stands out, partly because we very nearly kicked off a full-scale riot and partly because Danny decided he’d had enough of (some of) our antics and walked out on us. The first gig after Danny had left (in Sheffield, supporting Sodom and – ostensibly – Destruction) was also one to remember. Not just because Steve had to cover both guitar parts on short-notice as we played as a quartet but also because we somehow missed our transport up there, then managed to arrive in the nick of time in the back of dirty old van to find we were playing in front of a … let’s call it “sparse” crowd and Destruction hadn’t made it through customs, whilst we still had no idea where we’d be sleeping or how we were going to get all of our gear back down to London for the next night’s show. Then there was “the gig that never was”, supporting Candlemass in Bradford where a huge tail-back on the motorway saw us forced to stop half-way up the country. So we went to the pub, instead. Nothing was ever plain sailing with us. Ever.
Dan: Yes, my last was very memorable probably because I was the only sober one,as a small riot started! Funny now.
Nathan: Yeah, we only did a handful of shows all told, so each was memorable in its own way, as Damon says. From a personal perspective, I’d say the gig at the Fulham Greyhound with Sodom and Toranaga was the most memorable, cos it was a miracle we got there at all! Straight out of two taxis (paid for by Stephen’s dad, I think, as we didn’t have a single coin between the for of us) from Golder’s Green bus station (which is a whole other story), onto the stage for a five minute soundcheck and then away we went. Overall, we’d played better at other gigs, I think, but I really enjoyed that one. As did Metal Forces, if I recall correctly. I felt it was a triumph, albeit tinged with a touch of sadness about the MKI line-up effectively ending: Dan had quit a month before, and I think Stephen had intimated that he was ready to leave. Needless to say, we went to the bar and got a bit ‘poignant’. There was also a real die-hard HV fan there who’d bought along the 1st record, and insisted we sign it. And him. Over and over again.
Stephen: Yeah, all of them, but, in particular: for, ‘look back on and laugh’ – Brighton peace festival; can’t beat that!!!
5)Who was the biggest influence on you, and on the band?
Damon: For me, Black Sabbath and Geezer Butler, most probably. Certainly the NWOBHM was another major influence (the usual suspects cited by bands of our generation – Diamond Head, Holocaust, Venom, Angelwitch, early Iron Maiden, etc.). Mercyful Fate. Our Bay Area contemporaries. The Sweet. And several dozen negative ones who became grist for the creative mill.
Dan: On me,Eddie Van Halen, James Hetfield and George Lynch.
Nathan: Back when I first started playing, it was John Bonham, Alex Van Halen, Leonard Haze, Rob Hunter. I was very much into the Classic Rock and NWOBHM thing, and I lifted something from just about every drummer I heard. When Thrash happened, I got into Kirk Arrington, Gar Samuelson, Dave Lombardo and Mike Sus. Hydra Vein was influenced by that first wave of Thrash: Megadeth, Metal Church, Metallica, Exodus, Slayer etc., as well as the old school and NWOBHM.
Stephen: Gary Moore was an inspiration to me as a guitarist. For the band; I guess Slayer would have to be mentioned!
6)Did the band ever experience any tough times?
Damon: Plenty. Not only did work have to fit around the band but we were active during a major recession in the UK, so plenty of people were struggling, let alone thrash metal bands. Money was always tight to non-existent and I think most of us were still paying off the loans for our gear for the whole time we were together. Mike and I spent a couple of months living in a squat when there was simply no other alternative. Luckily, there were enough small oases and windfalls scattered along the way to prevent it all getting thoroughly depressing and we were young and resilient enough for it not to get to us. At least, not at that time. What subsequently happened to Mike and Jon, of course, is as tough as it gets.
Nathan: Jesus, that band was cursed from the off. The night me and Damon met up with Stephen and Dan for the first time was at the Hammersmith Odeon for the Metal Church/Anthrax/Metallica gig. Great gig, great night out… and less than a week later Cliff Burton was dead. Not that I’m saying we were in anyway responsible, you understand! As omens go, that was a f*cking big one. The delay of the release of the first record by several months, the sleeve (loved and loathed in equal measure, it would seem, these days), the pressing quality, the internal friction,…the whole f*cking business, frankly. It was all this, plus the inevitable ‘musical differences’ which lead to me jumping ship shortly after the 2nd record, even though on personal, personnel and record company levels, things seemed relatively stable at that point. I’d just had enough. Then Jon and then Mike taking their leave…. Yeah, some tough times, alright.
Stephen: All the time was a tough time. Don’t think we could have expected anything else.
7)When did the band end, and why?
Damon: Hydra Vein finally shuddered to a halt early in 1990 due to a combination of factors: Nat left the band and it was proving difficult to properly replace him. We did find a drummer who was with us for a couple of months but it never truly clicked. In addition, Mike was already starting to become unreliable and would miss rehearsals or turn up late and frazzled. Jon was rapidly losing interest and neither Paul nor I really had the necessary energy left to resurrect the band. Basically, it seemed as if it had just come to the end of the road and it was time to move on to something new.
Stephen: I left largely due to wanting a change in musical direction, wanted to move away from the thrash metal and more into mainstream.
8)If there’s anything you wanna add about yourself or about the band, please tell me, I’d be real interested
to hear anything else you might have to say.
Damon: All I’d add is to say the years with Hydra Vein added up to a formative experience I wouldn’t want to swap for anything. I learned and grew as a man, as well as a musician and have nothing but warm feelings for all the guys who passed through. I also think the albums have stood the test of time pretty well … but I may be slightly biased. I’d therefore recommend your readers pick them up to give them a listen themselves and let me know whether I’m right.
Dan: I thought the band had bags of potential but the timing was wrong as the 80’s were just ending.
Nathan: I’ve got some great memories of those times, and I’m just glad that I had the opportunity to play along side some talented players and good, good people. I think the music still stands up, and it’s a real blast that people, bands and writers are getting in touch to say how much they dig it, all these years later. So to all those who might be checking in: Thank you very, very much for your support. Over to you, Stephen….
Stephen: Working 9 to 5 sucks; In younger days I had a belief that to succeed in music you needed 100% dedication, you’d either do it or die trying – guess I didn’t try hard enough.
Thanks for your time bro, and keep it metal!
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