S
till led by guitarist Andy
Scott from the line-up that
had a string of Top 10 singles
in the 70s, the bubblegum hard
rockers introduce a fresh line-up
for their latest festive shows.These are busy times for Sweet,
with long-serving vocalist Pete
Lincoln replaced by former
Cats In Space frontman Paul
Manzi, and now a whole raft of
other changes.
Pete Lincoln was never going to be
an easy fix, but we wanted to go
down the route of hardening up
the band’s sound again. Incidentally,
we didn’t nick Paul from the Cats.
Paul tells me that he had gone as far
as he could with them was going to
leave anyway.Lee Small, from Lionheart, takes
over from Lincoln on bass. That
role was f illed by Tony O’Hora
until he quit.
Yeah. And although that
permutation played some great gigs,
it didn’t always work out so well. It’s
great to have Lee on board because
he has an incredible voice, and
harmonies are Sweet’s trademark.
Our old friend Steve Mann is going
to fill in on second guitar/keyboards
for the rest of the year, though
he probably won’t rejoin Sweet
permanently due to commitments
with Michael Schenker.That Sweet are going to rock
again is wonderful news.
We will still play the hits, of course,
but by this UK tour I’m hoping
that some harder rock songs will
also be integrated into the set. It’s
where I’d like to see the band going
in the future.Steve Priest, Sweet’s
co-founding bass player, is
playing some shows in America
with his own line-up using the
name Sweet. Has there been any
thawing of the ice between you
and him?We keep in touch more than we
used to, and I’m glad that he’s
realised he enjoys playing again.
But the trouble Steve has is standing
upright for an hour any more. I’ve
seen some photos of him having to
sit when he’s on stage.Priest said recently that he
would consider playing with
you again “if the timing was
right”, but only with two
guitarists “because I ain’tplaying without Mitch [Perry,
of his current band] .”
All I can say in response to that
statement is that if there was
to be a reunion, surely it would
have happened for the fiftieth
anniversary, which was last year?How about this for
a conundrum. You’re on a glam-
rock cruise with Mud, Slade,
The Rubettes and the Bay City
Rollers. The ship hits an iceberg,
and the captain reveals that one
of the lifeboats is leaky. Which
band goes down with the ship?
Maybe we should pick one member
to save from the each band. Or keep
a lifeboat for the originals [laughs].Back in 2018 you hinted to
Classic Rock that, following
the success of the Sweet
catalogue re-issue campaign
by Sony Germany, there was
a possibility of a new studio
album from Sweet. Are there
any developments on that?
I do have some new Sweet material,
and without having had to steer
a path through these line-up
problems we might already have
begun the recording process. It’ll
probably happen early next year. DLThe last date of Sweet’s tour is in
Bexhill on December 21. Support on
all dates comes from Novatines.“I’m hoping some
harder rock songs
will be integrated
into the set.”
Sweet
Andy Scott and co. go Ballroom Blitzing and Blockbusting again.
100 CLASSICROCKMAGAZINE.COM
L
ead singer Noora Louhimo grabs an
oar as the melodic power-metal band
from Finland launch the longboat
to head to gigs in Birmingham, Dublin,
Manchester, Glasgow and London.After five albums in a little over a decade,
Battle Beast’s popularity is rising nicely,
with the new single, Eden, having just
passed five million views on YouTube.
Yeah, things are growing for Battle Beast,
and we are incredibly proud that people
enjoy what we do.You must be inspired by the success of
fellow Finns Nightwish, who are now
established as arena-level headliners?
Yeah. Nightwish is the biggest band from
Finland, and the things they have achieved
around the world are very motivating.Two of Battle Beast’s main musical heroes
are ABBA and Manowar. That’s quite
a bizarre combination.
Everybody in this band has listened to
Manowar since they were kids, but we also
love others like Iron Maiden, Dio and Judas
Priest. What I love most about Manowar is
the sense of heroism they bring. That’s what
I want to represent – that I am a strong
example of a female vocalist.The ABBA influence manifests itself in the
stirring choruses of a track like No More
Hollywood Endings.
Yeah. Instead of sticking to the same old
formula, we try to do things differently to
a lot of the other power metal bands. It’s
still heavy metal but we take things from
different genres. We love surprising people.The band found you when they saw you
singing Janis Joplin songs on YouTube.
Until they asked me to join I had never even
thought of singing heavy metal. But the
more I thought about their offer, I realised
that this was some kind of fate. I accepted it
as a challenge and I haven’t regretted it for
one single moment.Who designs your flamboyant outfits?
I make the drafts, and they are created for
me. I usually have the idea, but the people
I work with also have artistic freedom.The one with the devil horns is fantastic.
[Laughs] Thanks. A beast should always
have horns. DLThe tour commences in Birmingham on
November 25.The fast-rising Finns play
dates in November.Battle Beast