Tony Newton from Voodoo Six Speaks

Voodoo Six are a band with plenty of pedigree, and most of the band members have worked with some of the biggest names is rock and metal around. For all that, bassist - and a founding member - Tony Newton (TN) is not one to rest on his laurels, instead creating a fresh and unexpected sound that should prove a hit with the Download crowd. Room Thirteen caught up him on a sunny Sunday afternoon to chew the fat about the debut album, playing Download and what we can expect from their new record.

R13: First of all, how's the recording of the album going?
TN: It's all done now, it was finished about two months ago recording and then I went to mix it in Los Angeles and it was finally mastered Thursday of this week. So it's been completed.
R13: Excellent, and what was it like recording at Barnyard studios?
TN: Well I'd been there before. Y'know I recorded three albums there before so I know the place and as sort of engineered it myself, I know the desk and everything there. It's an old Nees desk, and it can be very temperamental - it's got like a personality of its own. So some days it works, some days it doesn't but it's a brilliant room for recording like drums especially, it's an old barn, but the sound is fantastic in there. So, that was good. And the rest was recorded at my studio, because I've got a studio too. So everything like the vocals, guitars and everything were recorded at my place.
R13: Excellent, but did you find it was a bit of a struggle to do that or did it make it easier?
TN: No, it was because it gave me a bit more control over it and it's easier on the editing side and putting stuff together, it's easier for me to do it at home. I get all the performances together and then I come back and start playing it up and doing rough mix of it and yeah, it just made it easier. It's attached to my house so I don't have to go anywhere.
R13: And because most of the rest of the band have played in various different bands, how much of an influence would you say those previous bands have been on Voodoo Six?
TN: Well, obviously, I'd say you always bring a part of that with you and there's obviously your influences when you're growing up when you first play. So you know, it all comes together every influence you've got whether it be recording in the past with other bands, and sometimes it might be where it didn't quite work in the past and you learn other techniques and ways of getting over things.
So, yeah, I'd say it definitely influenced all of us what we done before. Musically, I wouldn't say because it's very different to anything we've done before but I've recorded with Grav the drummer a number of times and we've got an understanding and we've obviously brought that in with this. That's the main thing, us two having experience together, that base was what everything else was putting on top of.
R13: Do you find that because you've got quite a lot of history behind you, that you get a lot of interest because of that?
TN: Well, to be honest with you, it's only in recent months that it's really come as our past. I deliberately didn't want people knowing that because I didn't want anyone, before they heard Voodoo Six, to have any preconceived ideas of previous band - 'oh he's from so and so, so it's gonna sound like that' - didn't want that. I just wanted it to be a fresh product coming out and people judging it on what it is. Y'know, obviously, I knew that people would know - and it's not that I'm not proud of the past - but I didn't want it to cloud what we're doing now.

R13: OK, that's cool. And how much are you looking forward to playing Download?
TN: Ah, it's fantastic. I mean for everyone it's like the premier thing, innit, to say you've played Donnington - it's everyone's dream, I think. Yeah, I can't wait.
R13: What can we expect from your stage show?
TN: Well, we're unsure of the details at the moment. Y'know, obviously the venue, what the staging layout and stuff like that. As it's a festival it'll just be very raw, just the band playing live as we do. We can't do much more because it's normally a rush to get on at festivals. We've done a number of festivals in the past and you don't get much time to set up and you sort of have to hit the ground running. So you just have to choose the songs that you think are going to gonna be the most up-tempo ones, I guess, for a festival to get everyone going.
R13: What sort of reaction do you expect from the crowd?
TN: Well, I'd expect a good one. The biggest show that Voodoo Six have done was obviously the Hammersmith Apollo and the reaction we got there was absolutely incredible, it really was. And it was the biggest show that Henry's ever done and to see that reaction and their excitement from it, was absolutely priceless. So, I'd say more of the same - when we play we're always getting good reactions. From talking to everyone who's heard it, they're quite excited about what we're doing - and it is different, quite modern musically with the low tunings but that classic vocal and guitar playing on it. I think it's quite refreshing for people, so hopefully, the people there will appreciate it.
R13: What's the best thing about playing a festival like Download?
TN: Whether it be any festival or major support, it's obviously you're trying to win people over and that's really exciting when you achieve that. I've done big shows in the past, where the people knew the band and you start off and they're going for it straight away; then there's other shows where you have to work it, have to fight for it and both are exciting, both have got their plusses. But just to get it out to new people, and at a festival, it's a fantastic opportunity.
R13: I also wanted to ask, what are you looking forward to most about playing Download?
TN: Well, yeah, we just love playing. It's just what I've always done and to play live in front of a crowd is what you do it for. You do a recording and everything else, and put an album out but that's really the thing that enables you to be able to play out into the big places. That is it, looking forward to playing to a mass crowd, drives you on.
R13: I wanted to ask, as well, obviously you're sharing a bill with Metallica and Guns n Roses, what will it feel like to share that bill?
TN: Well, I'm a big fan of both of those names you mentioned so just to watch them'll be exciting and just to have our name below their's, at this stage, is incredible. As a live band, we've only done stuff around London, and then suddenly we get our name on the bill at Donnington with Guns n Roses - and in Germany too on the Metallica day - what can I say? It's a dream come true.
R13: Did you expect it?
TN: In an arrogant sort of way, yeah. Maybe not this soon but obviously when I started this project, I wanted it to be something where there was no compromise. Whereas in band I've been in, in the past, there always seems to be a compromise that you have to make. But I just knew from the first two or three songs that we put together that we had something that was going to be good and that's why we couldn't – we could've had a deal a year or so ago, I was offered some stuff - it just didn't feel right, and I just thought we should wait. I just knew it was good enough to stand up on its own and it did.
Obviously, we're in no rush to get a deal. Y'know, the last album I did I thought was a really good album but it didn't get us signed deals and never got out there really. I just didn't want after all the work that had gone into this, I just had to make sure that I wasn't signing over to someone where I had no control and it could never be heard. There's nothing worse than spending all that time on recording, getting as happy with it as you can, only to find out no-one can buy it. We can't do anything about it. But in answer to your question, yes I always believed we'd get somewhere - I mean this is just the first small step.
Everyone who's heard has come back to me, and the great thing is that it's never the same song it's always a different song off the album, which makes it for me great, it makes it strong. If everyone was coming back with the same song as being their favourite, obviously that would be a bit worrying, but as everyone's got a different favourite it's great. Well worth the wait in putting it together.

R13: Moving on, how would you best describe your music?
TN: Well, that's a tough one really, 'cause I would say like definitely seventies influenced also with bands from the early nineties that influenced me like Alice in Chains, Soundgarden – but obviously they were influenced from the 70s type of sound. But that sort of thing, sort of seventies based but with different tunings. Even vocally it's 70s based, in terms of the classic bands like Zeppelin, Aerosmith type of vibe about it. Y'know, we just tried to make the music as modern sounding as we could but with the classic vocal.
Basically, when I was looking for a singer, I was looking more in the type of Cornell range because it just seemed that that was the sort of vocal that fitted. I saw so many demos, but I auditioned 50 singers and those were just the ones that I quite liked their demo. But I was recommended to go and see Henry by a friend of mine who manages a band, and he was blew me away. I saw him, and I knew he was a star, but I still thought maybe he wouldn't quite fit what we were doing. And then he came in and sang I am the sun, which was the first one he done, and that was it – I just knew it was right. With the opening riffs, people expect a low register vocal, and it's refreshing when you hear that range.

R13: And finally, what next for Voodoo Six?
TN: June is going to be quite busy for us, and then obviously the agent will be looking for other avenues for touring after that.
R13: Anyway, thanks a lot and good luck with Download.
TN: It was my pleasure.

So there, you have it, is with the explosion of bands like Voodoo Six and Wolfmother, is 70s style rock making a comeback? Only time will tell...