Martin Popoff Interview
Undoubtedly Canada’s most famous (and respected) metal scribe, Martin Popoff is one of the chief editor’s at Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles and the author of a number of highly-respectable tomes on heavy metal and hard rock. He’s penned books on Blue Oyster Cult, UFO, Rainbow, Dio and most recently Judas Priest. His latest book is Ye Olde Metal: 1977.
Visit www.martinpopoff.com for info on his 23 books.
Why did you decide to write a book on Judas Priest?
My usual two reasons for a book were staring me in the face. There wasn’t much on the band except the thin book from back in 1984, and I had interviewed the guys, I don’t know, 20, 25 times? As well, this is a band I grew up with and followed the whole time, starting with Sad Wings Of Destiny as a new release in 1976. It’s also a band that I wanted to say my piece on. I have very strong opinions on every aspect of Priest’s career. The frustrating part is that I really didn’t think the sum total of my interviews were all that good. Priest is a very frustrating band to interview because it’s hard to get interesting stuff out of them. They’re either consciously very guarded or it’s just that polite British vibe they all seem to share that has a natural tendency of decorum and staying away from controversy.
What is your favourite and least favourite Priest album?
Favourite, hands down, is Killing Machine/Hell Bent For Leather. I consider that a “cusp” album, where the band was in-between two very exciting sounds and drawing the best from both of those sounds. The intellectual, fast, scientific, technical material from the previous two, 2 1/2 albums, and then the commercial acumen of British Steel. Plus I think it’s the best produced album they ever made. It soars and swoops, is sequenced beautifully, variety everywhere, and definitely it’s got my favourite Priest songs, things like ‘Delivering The Goods,’ ‘Rock Forever,’ the title track, ‘Burnin’ Up.’ Plus Halford looks like a drunken pirate on the back cover - my favourite shot of him ever. Least favourite would have to be Jugulator, and it’s not really the fault of Ripper at all. I just find the songwriting juvenile, tough to love from a melodic standpoint, just brash and out of date, trying too hard.
What was your favourite Priest gig?
The very first one, Spokane, Washington, Coney Hatch backing up, Screaming For Vengeance tour. Born and raised in Trail, B.C., so didn’t get to see a lot of big shows, all of them being in Spokane or Vancouver. Went with a buddy from second-year university, drove home after the show, the border back into Canada was closed. Figured we’d just sit there in the front seats and try get some sleep. But this was the fall, up in the mountains, and it got cold really fast, like in ten minutes. We looked at each other and said, right, we are meekly driving through this border and going home. We did, no one came out with shotguns, but for the next week we figured we were going to get a knock on our doors, which never happened.
Do you have high expectations for their next album?
Ha ha, when you sent me these questions, Nostradamus wasn’t out, so I’m going to answer it in a more interesting way. I have a feeling that after this big, expensive bloated album, they’ll come back with a real fast rocker. At least I hope so. That’s what we all wanted in the first place. Obviously, the best Priest album of the last while was Resurrection from Halford, and that’s the kind of album that would be heartily embraced by Priest fans, although let’s not make it too safe, guys! In fact, Resurrection was a little bit too safe.
How many books have you written and is it hard trying to get your ideas commissioned?
I’ve done 23 books, and they’ve come out all sorts of bizarre ways. I self-published the first one and have self published the first four now in my Ye Olde Metal series, but everything else has been through a publisher, or we even created a new publisher for my books, like over at Metal Blade Records, or I’ve been commissioned and they’ve come out quasi-self-published. And then the rest have been through four different publishers. You can make some pretty interesting strange deals to get books out. Fact is, the book business sometimes feels more broken than the CD business. For no good reason whatsoever, the variety of stock on bookshelves is drying up. Well, maybe there is a good reason... maybe no one knows how to read anymore. Or it’s more abstract things like the variety of entertainment products competing for your dollar. I know in Canada the big problem cited has been the monopoly of the Chapter/Indigo chain. America has had a similar thing going on, but I would suspect there are a larger percentage of independent bookstores there. I may be wrong. But yes, self-publishing almost makes more sense. If you can sell direct to your fanbase mail order, obviously, you need to sell just a fraction of what you would have to going through a publisher. And when I walk into all manner of bookstore and can’t find my books on the shelves, it just makes me shake my head and think, just take the whole damn thing in the house.
How big is your record/memorabilia collection?
It’s about 15,000 CDs, 10,000 records, 2000 45s, 1000 backstage passes, all manner of memorabilia, promo items, 300 or 400 music books, 3000 fiction and nonfiction books, 2900 of the CDs and records now autographed. Pretty insane. I just bought a condo loft office to put it all in and it actually fits pretty well. But I might be looking to do a big cull. It’s simply weighing on my soul. There is so much stuff, with more coming all the time. I really have no plans to retire, but I’ve been weighing my options in selling everything, and I mean everything, if the price is right. I’m even in talks with a few universities about donating it all for a tax credit. But I’m looking to sell everything, including the rights to all my interviews, and including the brand-new condo, for $2 million. Basically, I’m looking for someone with deep pockets who is a closet crazy hard rock, classic rock, heavy metal fan, who wants to buy a huge instant collection, already nicely on shelves in a gorgeous new condo in Toronto, and who either wants to have a new life or career selling all this stuff piecemeal, or wants to do something with my interview footage, either in print or the audio. Long story, I’ll stop there. But yes, I don’t expect anybody to call my bluff, so I don’t want it to look like I’m retiring. If it did happen, however, I would paint.
Who are your music and non-music influences?
Interesting question. Musical influences would have to be any time I play something and it makes me want to achieve, which means, quite pointedly, making my own art and not just blabbing to people about their art, which is what music journalism is. That happens quite often. I just love that moment of yearning where you hear something and go man, I wish I would’ve created that, to the point where you even daydream about doing so, like you’d won the lottery or something. Anyway, what I want to do is paint full-time, be a gallery artist, sure, but I would love to have more things show up on album covers. So if I think of myself as a painter, I guess I have painting influences, first and foremost being a friend of mine, Drew Harris. Other influences, on what… writing? I don’t have any writing influences. And even if I did, it just seems pathetic. I suppose I was inspired to do the original book which is now spread over three books, The Collectors Guide To Heavy Metal, volumes 1, 2 and 3, which covers the ‘70s, the ‘80s, and the ‘90s, 6800 reviews or something like that... I suppose I was influenced to do that book by a similar idea of Robert Christgau’s anthologized reviews. And I suppose an author who inspires me to just say, God, I got so many years left, I better get out and start creating art, would be Nick Tosches. Great, great writer, but then again, I read all the time and there’s all sorts of great stuff out there. Huge reader. In fact, I went through a phase where I would actually read biographies on authors even before I read that author. I’m not even a big film guy and I read two biographies of Orson Welles in a row! But yes, I suppose I really have no influences in any field that I consider important, the only field but I do feel important being painting, so yeah, handful of painters, perhaps? The rest of it doesn’t matter.
Who are your favourite artists to interview?
Roger Glover, Ian Gillan, Bill Ward, Joe Lynn Turner, Ronnie James Dio... the list goes on and on. I’ve had so many absolutely amazing, delightful chats, where even there… you talk about influence, some of those chats, I come away with inspiration, hilarious little life lessons (Ian Gillan, who had a fear of flying, once told me, a good cure for is looking out the window - I use that!). I remember another funny one, and I don’t even remember the guy’s name, but one of the guys in Ross The Boss’ obscure alternative rock band The Spinatras, told me in a typical New York accent, ‘Deadlines, deadlines, everybody’s got deadlines. But they’re all self-imposed deadlines!’ Think about it. That’s a pretty cool life lesson right there. What else? There’s been a ton of them. I remember Sammy Hagar complaining to me about how long it took to lock up his house just to go anywhere, all the people he has to tell where he’s going, etc. and man, that guy, very inspirational, as is Ted Nugent – you just want to go for a jog after talking to him - and funniest, hands down, would be Zakk Wylde. The times on the bus with him where you are just losing your mind, so much that you couldn’t even remember to turn the tape recorder on, and then you come away saying, man, if that tape was rolling, that would have been hands down, the very best interview I’ve ever had with anybody, or whatever you want to call it, a bunch of old ladies complaining for two hours. Absolutely priceless.
Do you write full-time? And can you take us through your daily routine?
Yes, I write full time. I bike down to my office, it’s about 2 1/2 minutes downhill, 10 minutes going home uphill, get here at eight in the morning or nine, always leave by six, to be home for dinner at 6:15. There is all manner of magazine stuff to do, with our magazine, Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles, editing, writing, discussing, sorting the reviews, there are liner notes, bios, writing for various websites, and in-between, the mortar in all those bricks is working on the books, and also, more time than I care to think of, signing books, packing them up and standing in line at the post office. For lunch, I turn on YouTube and watch right wing political guys from the states, or 9/11 stuff or tidal waves or those two girls singing Rehab’s Bump. Damn, who knows? A lot of time alphabetizing CDs! Man, when I moved in here, I tried to keep everything straight in dozens of boxes, but even still, I spent hours and hours and hours just getting the CDs alphabetized. You have no idea. Devil, blood, black, brown, 7, lost… little veins or sections that start with those can be 30 CDs long.
Do you have any more music/non-music writing ambitions?
Sadly, I think my time to make music has passed. I did have a lousy little bar band in the ‘80s. I was a drummer, played quite regularly, practiced a lot, did all that put on the headphones and played along with all the Rush albums. It was definitely fun, but, come to think of it, I really didn’t like performing on demand. You play little games with yourself, like, how sweaty are my hands? How easy would it be for these drumsticks to fly right out of my hands? Our set list was pretty funny… can still remember it: ‘New Year’s Day’ by U2, ‘Rock Bottom,’ Max Webster’s ‘Hangover,’ Blue Oyster Cult’s ‘The Vigil’ – who the hell plays ‘The Vigil’?!, Budgie’s ‘Can’t See My Feelings,’ ‘You Got Another Thing Comin’,’ ‘Immigrant Song,’ ‘The Ocean,’ Thin Lizzy’s ‘Bad Habits’ – weird, huh?, ‘Jailbreak,’ Marseille and ‘After The Rain’ by Angel City, ‘Tommy Gun’ by The Clash, ‘Metal Health’/’Bang Your Head,’ ZZ Top’s ‘She Loves My Automobile.’ Ha ha… speaking of ZZ Top, we refused to play any of the hits off of the big record at the time, Eliminator, and only played the two heaviest songs, ‘Bad Girl’ and ‘I Got The Six.’ Still, I do harbour some thought of finding some guys my age with equipment, and know their recording, a good place to put my loud drums which are just in storage, and making some albums. I can hack around on bass guitar and guitar a little bit, and it’s really weird, I mean, for an indie band in Toronto here a little while ago I did some lyric writing, but basically, even though I’ve never written a song or never written lyrics, I swear to God, if someone told me write a whole album of material, music and lyrics, I bet I could do it in two days. I bet if I was an Executive Producer for an album, the ideas we just explode out of me. Anyway, probably won’t get around any of that. Definitely want to paint, and definitely will be doing lots of painting in the future, if I don’t die.
What is your next book?
Working on a Deep Purple book. Those guys, if it wasn’t for my near obsession with ZZ Top over the last three years, Deep Purple would be my favourite band of all time now. Reason being, I just love it when an old band like that is making the best music of their career now. Which I think they are doing in the Steve Morse era. And swear to God, when I look at the albums in total, with a real critical eye as to songs that I really don’t like, like ‘Child In Time,’ ‘Lazy,’ ‘Woman From Tokyo,’ ‘Strange Kind Of Woman,’ I arrive at the weird conclusion that the last four Deep Purple albums are pretty much my four favourite Deep Purple albums. What an idiot, eh? Also, I’m working on Ye Olde Metal: 1978. The first four in the series were 1968 To 1972, 1973 To 1975, 1976, and 1977. 1977 just came out a couple weeks ago, and it’s got on the cover, Frank Dimino from Angel. I’m having a blast doing this. Each has essentially 13 to 18 chapters, and it is the story of one old classic album from that era, with interview footage from the bands. There are all manner of untold stories in there. I’m limiting each of them to a thousand copies, they are number on the back, and I’m signing them. They are only sold through mail order, although two or three buddies with stores, I’ve given them some to sell in their stores, but that’s it. Full descriptions of which bands and albums are included in each one can be found at my site, martinpopoff.com, but yeah, this is a load of fun. Some are famous albums, many are total obscurities, but I don’t care. It doesn’t matter how much they sold one way or the other. My only criterion is that I am interested in the story, interested in having questions answered that I’ve wondered about for probably like 30 years. So I will soldier on with that. Each of the next five or six from this series will cover one year only. It’s all mapped out, and a lot of those essays are already written.
Interview by Neil Daniels 2008
