Friday, March 29, 2024

Baz from Massive Wagons “I love winning people over, I love a challenge, I love supporting bands and playing to new fans”

Massive Wagons new album Full Nelson, which made his debut last August via Earache Records, has gained a lot of success so far and even reached number 1 in the UK Rock Album Chart. The five rockers from Lancaster are unstoppable, in fact after selling out most of their own shows and rocking significant stages such as Download and Camden Rocks, tonight they are opening for the mighty Dead Daisies. Massive Wagons, whose members are Baz Mills on vocals, Adam ‘Bowz’ Bouskill on bass, Alex Thistlethwaite on drums, Adam Thistlethwaite and Stephen Holl on guitars, are one of those bands that particularly distinguish themselves for their live performances. Tonight is no different. They kick off the stage with the popular Rick Parfitt tribute single ‘Back To The Stack’ and continue with the banger ‘Billy Balloon Head’. These guys certainly know how to deliver fine riffs, humour, energy and headbanging, all at once. After this formidable show, we get to talk to them about Full Nelson, their tour and future plans.
RAMzine: Hi guys and thanks for your time today. That was a powerful performance out there, what part of playing live do you enjoy the most?
Baz: I like all of it honestly, I think you can really make a statement playing live if you can truly excel at it. I love winning people over, I love a challenge, I love supporting bands and playing to new fans. Just being there and having people to come and see us it’s a good feeling.
RAMzine: You are especially known for your expertise to put on a live show, why do you think is that?
Baz: Probably because we ripped off whatever (laughs). When we started out in 2009 we were at the back of an Airbourne show, I know we don’t sound anything like their music but those guys blew me away. The high energy they bring on stage is on another level. You know, some guy can stand still and just move a bit, I probably don’t have the confidence to do that. I like being around people, involving them and most probably even making a spectacle of myself (laughs).
RAMzine: You are on the road opening for the Dead Daisies, what can you tell us about this tour so far?
Baz: It’s absolutely fantastic, these guys are brilliant. Any chance to go out with a band like them and play in such great venues is something we really value. A band like us we are coming up and I think we are doing well, last year has been amazing. We are getting to sell out certain size venues and then we get to support in bigger venues like this one tonight. It’s nice when these opportunities come along and it’s a real honour to get to play big stages for big crowds. Tonight was amazing and last night was incredible. We’ve played with The Dead Daisies before as we were on the same festivals but never really had a chance to talk to them. I’ve met Marco before and even if he never met you, he’s like he’s known you for ten years. Just great guys!
RAMzine: You have also announced an headline tour for next April, what do you expect from it?
Baz: It’s selling well at the moment, Manchester is sold out, Glasgow is nearly sold out and London is doing pretty well too. That’s what it’s all about, you want people to turn up.
RAMzine: Let’s talk about your new album Full Nelson.
Baz: We had some songs written but we didn’t have a label so we were stuck in a sort of crossroads really. When Earache came along that was exactly the right timing for us. We had never worked with such a great team before, they have so much expertise and knowledge. The initial plan was trying to get in the top 40’s albums but in the end we got at number 16, I never dreamed we would do that. That in itself has opened so many doors and people have started to focus more attention on us. It went so well and now we have already half written the next album. We just keep going, I don’t think a band like us on the coming up can rest on our laurels, we have to keep in the eye and keep putting something out there.

RAMzine: How did you feel when you signed with Earache Records?

Baz: We released a song called ‘Back To The Stack‘ and Planet Rock picked it up and played it. Digby, who owns Earache Records, messaged us on Instagram of all things and one day while I was running our page I saw his message. He said he loved ‘Back To The Stack’ and asked how we would feel to release the next album with them. I genuinely thought it was a joke but then we contacted him and found out that it was all real and that very song caught his attention. I didn’t know what to expect but I think they are great guys and we made the right decision.
RAMzine: What’s your opinion about the rock ‘n roll scene in the UK at the moment and is there a band you are fond of?
Baz: I feel there’s a movement, we played with a lot of outstanding new bands. Radios like Planet Rock and Primordial are starting to play these bands too. A few years ago there was a lack of new music getting played on important radio stations but now things are changing. I suppose it was due. There’a a band we played with the other night, they are also signed with Earache and they are called Those Damn Crows, those guys are amazing! Stone Broken are fantastic boys too, I loved seeing them in Kerrang, I think it was a proper statement.
RAMzine: You played Download this year, what other festival is on your bucket list?
Baz: One of those big cruise ships. We did one a few years ago up in Sweden called Silja, it was great fun. I’d love to do Monsters Of Rock or The KISS Kruise. Also I’d love to play Wacken. We are going to Germany with Thunder next year, apparently our album did really well over there and I wanna give a even better impression on our German fans.
RAMzine: What’s gonna happen next year for Massive Wagons?
Baz: More of the same really. We’ll carry on and hopefully things will go even further. Now that we’ve already worked with Earache through an album we know what’s gonna happen with the next one, so we got the confidence and that feels good as it sort of relieves pressure. We know we have a great team behind us and we’ll keep doing what we are doing.

Headline dates just announced for April 2019 are below:

Sat 06 Apr 2019        Bristol, Thekla headline
Fri 12 Apr 2019        Birmingham, Asylum headline
Sat 13 Apr 2019        London, The Dome headline
Fri 19 Apr 2019        Glasgow, Garage headline
Sat 20 Apr 2019        Manchester, Academy 3 headline
Claudia Mancino
Claudia Mancino
Rock 'n roll has always played a big role in my life. I’m a music addict and a freelance writer since 2015. Driven by a consistent passion and an assiduous hard working ethic, I’ve been lucky enough to meet and interview some of my favourite artists. Animals and girly stuff lover. For those about to rock, we salute you!

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