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ZTORMTROOPER

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Demo, 1980

1. Before The Storm
2. In Search Of Forever
3. Black Stallion
4. Flames Of Oblivion
5. After The Ztorm

Members:


Dave "Ryka" Howard – Vocals
Paul Snoxell - Guitar
Alan Newell - Guitar
Kevin Kershaw - Bass
Mick Simkins - Drums


 

This is as obscure as it gets.  One demo, no image of the demo, scarce information on the internet, the whole nine yards.   What we do know, however, is that Ztormtrooper was from Luton (UK), and this sucker absolutely rocks!  

Here's some info Robscurities was able to dig up about the band by the guitarist himself, Paul Snoxell.

No, it's been quite some time since I've had much contact with the band. Michael and I did some recording subsequent to the Ztomtrooper/Ztorm/Valhalla split and remained on good terms. We caught up with each other again for the first time a few years ago and went to a couple of gigs but I've since moved away and we've lost touch again. I'll e-mail him and see if he has anything he'd like to contribute here.

There is, of course, the story of "the split" still to come, so it would be good to get the various views on what happened and why.

Back to the demo, I can give quite a lot of information so I'll be brief and follow up with more later.

The demo was recorded at Don Larkin's "Piper Studios" at 33 Guildford Street, in Luton. Alan Newell had quit, if I remember rightly, pretty much on the day of the first session. I think we went to pick him up and his mum said he'd gone out and wasn't coming! So, all the guitar work was by me.

John Baccini was the engineer and we basically produced it by ourselves with his help.

At that point I think my guitar was still a cherry sunburst Les Paul copy, and it developed a v annoying earth buzz so I ended up using Baccini's white Telecaster, but it had really heavy gauge strings and a high action, and I was playing on Extra Slinkies with a low action so it was a struggle to do any bends. Pedal-wise, I was at that time using a Cry Baby wah, Electro Harmonix Phaser, Electro Harmonix Linear Power Booster, Electric Mistress Flanger and Carlsboro digital echo and what I seem to remember was a Colorsound Overdrive distortion pedal, but I remember it being grey and looking at pictures online right now I don't see anything similar, so maybe I'm not getting that right. [Edit - I've found it now - it was a Colorsound Tone Bender] On "After the Ztorm" I also borrowed the studio's E-bow. My amp was an old Selmer valve combo with reverb, that used to belong to The Bachelors. Dave and I had cut it down in his dad's garage, taken the middle out and put it back together as a head unit. I was using an Orange 4x12 cab.

Kevin, I think, by then had a beautiful red Rickenbacker bass but I don't recall his amplification. I think he also had a distortion pedal of some sort.

Michael was using a huge Tama kit, with double bass drums and full concert toms, the whole nine yards. I can't remember what cymbals. He'd written off his car and used the insurance money to buy the kit! That's when David and I first met him, filling up his new car outside Luton Music Centre. We just had to have him in the band! Most of the morning session was basically Mike setting up his kit.

The keyboard parts were played by Ursula Morris, my girlfriend at that time, who will be mentioned later in the Ztorm recollections. The piano was an old box standard upright in the studio and the string synthesizer was an Elka Rhapsody, which we subsequently bought from the studio when we started up Ztorm.

Writing credits:

"Before the Storm" music Paul Snoxell
"In Search of Forever" music Alan Newell, lyrics Paul Snoxell
"Black Stallion" music Kevin Kershaw & Paul Snoxell, lyrics Kevin Kershaw
"Flames of Oblivion" music & lyrics Kevin Kershaw
"After the Ztorm" music Paul Snoxell

I'll try and recall some details of the sessions but after we had the final mix tape I telephoned and somehow blagged a meeting with a guy at Island Records, and Mike and I went to see him with the tape. He very graciously listened to the whole thing before politely telling us that it wasn't really Island's thing. However, he made a call and arranged for us to go and see Bronze Records, where we went with a bit more hope and anticipation. This guy told us he'd just signed Hawkwind from United Artists, so we thought we were in the right place. Unfortunately, all we came away with were some kind words and the buzz of just having been to see some real life A&R men at a record company.


 

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