It all started when Kevin Cox guitarist of Xcel dropped me an email to thank me for the review that I have done some years ago, on the band's one and only album "Deliver This Dream" on the online edition of my Forgotten Scroll Zine. Well that means luck. You see I have been trying for ages to track down some members of this magnificent Power Metal band from Southeast Texas and now a member of them is dropping an email to say hello and thanks! Of course I could not let the chance to go away and I replied faster than the speed of light requesting an interview. My good luck went even further cause Kevin is one of the most friendly musicians someone would ever meet. Not only he accepted to answer on my questions but he even set up a massive answering of my interview by the ENTIRE band! It was a matter of days until my printed question-paper was in the band's rehearsal room. Yes you have read correctly. Rehearsal room, cause the band has returned in full action again. They are composing new stuff, getting ready to re arrange the older
one, they are uploading some rare video footage on youtube and they are
preparing some t shirts for all of us the die hards. So the original plan that was a feature of this great interview into the next printed issue of Forgotten Scroll changed a little: I thought that bands in the high level of Xcel should spread their word in as many people as possible especially when they are active. So here is the expanded plan: an online publication of the whole interview into the online edition of Forgotten Scroll together with the printed edition that would come on the next issue of the Forgotten Scroll Zine (no. 5) that would feature Xcel in the front cover as well! Well here it is, one of the most interesting interviews I have done, with some really friendly guys that totally express their passion about their band and their music! Go ahead, read and discover all the adventures of a Metal band that hunted the dream during the 80s, returning now in full glory to deliver some more inspired Steel the way it deserves to be released. This is the story of Xcel my friend, the story of the dream deliverers! Enjoy!
Hello guys and thanks very much for
taking the time to answer to my question. This interview is really
important for me and I want it to be a real special one. Long live
Xcel!
Kevin C.: Thank YOU Chris. We were
flattered at the review you gave us on the Forgotten Scroll. It
meant a lot to all of the guys in the band.
First of all let's start with your
hometown. Where are Xcel from? please confirm that Xcel were from?
Kevin C.: We are all from the same Southeast Texas area originally. I’d have to say Port Neches, TX was our base/hometown. Our rehearsal studio was there. It used to be at an old bank in the downtown area and we rented it out for cheap, carpeted the walls, blacked out the windows,etc. It still had a vault in there too. We would frequently have the local police stop in to see what we were doing, but they got to know us and would just drop by every now and then and say hi. We invited them in and showed them around. They would patrol because they knew we had a ton of gear in the back room for shows. So it worked out great.
Ok lets take a long and big flash back in time. When and where was Xcel formed? Who were the founding members?
Barry: Peter and I were playing in a band called Wizzard, along with drummer Rob Duplantis. I decided to leave Wizzard and play with another band. I felt Wizzard was getting stagnant and wouldn’t go anywhere. Rob, who was the leader of the band, asked who he could get to replace me, I suggested Kevin Cox. Kevin Cox was an “up-and-coming” guitarist with a lot of drive and good work ethic and the band he was playing in couldn’t get off the ground due to personnel issues. I left, Kevin took my place, and everything was okay for a while. However, the band I went to play with couldn’t seem to get any traction and I was quickly getting disenchanted with them.
The guys from Wizzard invited me to
come watch them play at a local bowling alley one weekend. That
sounded fun, I was curious, so I went. I was blown away! Kevin Cox
had injected a whole new vibe and energy into the band! Not to
mention, they were writing some really good original material.
I called Rob (drummer) a few days after the Wizzard gig and told him if they ever lost their other guitarist, I‘d love to take his place. Two days after that phone call, I had the job. Apparently, it wasn’t a popular decision and the singer left too!
We all sat down and discussed a new direction and a new look for Wizzard, that’s how the new name came about. Everyone says I threw the name “Xcel” out, but I didn’t really like that name, so I’m not entirely convinced it was me. Everyone else liked it so it stuck.
Now, we need a singer. Peter knew a guy from a neighbouring town that he had met through school choir functions and suggested him. Kevin Luke auditioned and floored everyone! He was in! Now we’re ready to roll, th line-up is complete...right?
Within 2-3 months of getting Kevin Luke, Rob, the original drummer who had weathered all these personnel changes, and affected some of the personnel changes, announces that he’s leaving the band because he and his girlfriend are going to marry soon. Now, we’re back to searching for a replacement drummer.
Kevin Luke knows a drummer who’s not playing with anyone at the moment and suggests him. Once again, we are treated to a great new member in Dag Gabourel. He’s got the look, he’s got the chops, he’s got a nice set of drums (I’m sure he’ll disagree) and he can flat out pound the drums. One of the hardest hitting drummers I’ve ever played with, bar none!
Now the line-up is complete.
Kevin L.: Xcel formed in 1985 and everyone considers me the first real singer for the band.
 | |||||
| First XCEL picture ever taken. |
Kevin C.: In my opinion, this line up
always was and always will be Xcel. They’re like brothers to me.
Barry: The only other member was a
bass player, David Parent that replaced Peter when he left after a
couple of years.
Kevin L.: The only lineup change was
made towards the end of Xcel when Peter left. He was replaced for a
short time, maybe 2-3 months, by David Parent.
How did you guys met each other and
decided to form Xcel? Tell me some behind the scenes stories?
Kevin C.: Peter, and Barry were in
another band called Wizzard at the time, and I used to go and watch
them whenever they played. I really looked up to Barry, and Peter
was a friend of mine. Funny thing is, one of the shows Wizzard was
about to do, Barry had trouble with his distortion pedal and I ran up
to him and said I could get him one and I ran home and brought mine
up there just in time for their show. I ended up sort of a
roadie/guitar tech for them for a while. Barry and I hit it off
immediately. I was asked to join Wizzard, but shortly after, we
decided to break out on our own and do original material mostly and
this morphed into Xcel.
Peter: I knew Kevin Cox from school and
we played for the Port Neches-Groves Indians High School Football
team together and knew that each other played music. I think Barry
left Wizzard and Kevin was the first person we thought of to replace
him. Wizzard was a cover band. Kevin and I wanted to do original
songs and get with some guys who wanted to do the same thing. This
kind of started the foundation of Xcel. I cannot remember if Barry
came back into Wizzard or if we got him to come into Xcel after we
left Wizzard? I knew who Kevin Luke was because he was in his High
School’s pop group and I had seen him perform at a competition.
The first time we approached him about singing with us he was working
at the local skating rink. Kevin Luke knew Dag from school and also
from playing in the High School’s pop group together.
Kevin L.: The band was originally
Wizzard and really started with Barry coming back to the band and
then I came in and then Dag replaced Rob Duplantis. You could almost
say the two original core members were Peter and Kevin C.
Dag: I received a call from Kevin Cox
to come over to his house because he wanted me to listen to some
songs that he had written and to see if I would be interested in
joining the band. I walked into his bedroom and was immediately
curious. With a Marshall stack staring me in the face and Kevin
strapping on his Randy Rhoads Jackson guitar, he definitely got my
attention. He is an incredible musician. It was an instant yes in my
mind. He was serious, enthusiastic and he simply shred!
I knew Kevin L. from the high school
show choir and had heard first hand that he could sing like only the
best can. He is a very powerful singer with tremendous voice
control. All you have to do is listen to The Vision, as an example.
I didn’t know Peter or Barry. But it
only took a few notes with Peter to realize we could find a steady
pocket. He was a solid bass player with a knack for providing a good
foundation for our music.
Barry is a phenomenal musician and I
was very fortunate to be exposed to someone with such God-given
ability. He didn’t have all of the best gear, didn’t need it, he
could flat out play.
Were any of the band members in any
band before Xcel? Have you got any information to share?
Kevin C: Other than briefly filling in
for Barry in Wizzard, I really wasn’t in anything worth mentioning.
I played with a couple of bands before Wizzard who never wanted to
do anything but smoke pot and hang out. I didn’t do drugs and
wasn’t into all that crap. I wanted to get out and do shows, not
sit around and waste away.
Barry: I played in Wizzard which
morphed into Xcel. And Court Jester which was the band I left before
rejoining Wizzard.
Peter: Yes I was asked to come play
bass for a band called Wizzard. Barry Duncan was one of the guitar
players in that band and that’s how we first met.
Kevin L.: Nothing official for me, but
I've sang my whole life, probably since I was 13 years old.
Dag: I was in five bands that were
nothing compared to XCEL.
How did the name Xcel come up? Is it
something like a game with words or letters? Is there any special
meaning behind your name?
Kevin C.: *laughing* No not at all.
Nothing really special about the name whatsoever. We wanted
something positive and we were very energetic about succeeding with
the band. I think at one point if I recall, there was talk of naming
the band “Mako” after the shark. Now, I get sick of the response
when they hear it was Xcel, “You mean like the spreadsheet?!”
There wasn’t a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet back then.
Barry: There’s nothing cryptic in
the letters, just a positive, forward-looking name.
Taken from http://www.dictionary.com:
ex·cel
–verb (used
without object)
1. to surpass others
or be superior in some respect or area; do extremely well: to excel
in math.
Or, in our case: Music. Even though I
didn’t initially like the name, it came to mean a great deal to me
and the other guys as well.
Peter: *laughing* I remember that at
one point Kevin C. suggested the name of Wicked Bitch for the band.
Not the most positive name we came up with. At that point we were
listening to a lot of W.A.S.P. Xcel was short, simple, positive, and
to the point. We dropped the E and Barry designed the logo.
Kevin L.: I thought Kevin C. came up
with the name? I remember Kevin C. bringing in pieces of paper with
the definition of "excel" written on them. Maybe I'm just
dreaming that, but that's what I thought I remember. To do
better...to be the best...that's what we wanted to do, be the best!
Kevin C.: *laughing* Wicked Bitch?! I
don’t remember that at all nor do I have any explanation as to why
I would want to name the band that. I think Peter dreamed that up.
Dag: We did want to be the best at
the music we were playing.
 |
| Xcel Promotional Photo – Accent Records - Palm Springs, CA, USA |
How did the band started to roll? Did
you do any covers or began straight with original tunes? What was the
first original Xcel song you have composed?
Kevin C.: Well I think from the start,
we wanted to build up a mystique about the band and be something
different. So we went underground for a long time and rehearsed
relentlessly and didn’t tell anyone anything about us. We kept it
quiet. You have to understand that in Southeast Texas where we all
grew up, everyone assumed you played blues or sounded like ZZ Top.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but we wanted to be the
next big band and come out heavy. We immediately started with
originals, because that’s what we wanted be known for. It’s hard
to say what the first Xcel song was, we were writing so many at the
time and we would show up to rehearsal sometimes with 2-3 new ones.
I think it was “Out To Maim” but I can’t recall for sure.
Barry: I believe we set straight about
writing original music. We threw covers in only as filler. We
didn’t particularly enjoy doing other peoples music. I think the
first original Xcel song was “Out to Maim” written by Rob
Duplantis. Kevin Cox wrote the music for it.
Kevin L.: The first original Xcel song
was "Teaser", it carried over from the original band
Wizzard and everyone loved it (laughing)! We always did covers, not
a lot, just our favorite metal covers, you know, Maiden, Queensryche,
Whitesnake. People loved the Whitesnake arrangement we did. Ten
minute long medley of "Still of the Night", "Slide It
In" and "Here I go" (I'm trying to remember how it
goes)...and then finished out with the end of "Still of the
Night" again. |
|
Xcel
with Andy Owen (sound engineer- bottom) and Dana Miller (guitar/stage
tech – 2nd from right)
|
 |
|
Dag and Barry in rehearsal studio
|
How would you describe your music in
your own words? Which were the band’s main influences? There was a
Heavy Metal explotion in the scene of Texas back in the mid 80w, were
you influenced by this situation somehow?
Kevin C.: I struggle to say how I would
label us musically. Our influences were the early Queensryche and
anything Iron Maiden. So we were a power metal hybrid of that I
guess. I don’t know of any metal explosion in the Texas music
scene at all. If there was, no one told us when or where!. That was
part of the problem, you had this band that sounded like we did, and
everyone wants you to play Lynyrd Skynyrd or ZZ Top type music, and
that wasn’t us at all.
Barry: I’m not sure how to describe
our music. I don’t remember any of us saying we wanted it to be a
particular style, or mode of writing or subject. It just came about
on its own somehow. If we didn’t like a song, we scrapped it, if
it turned out good, we kept it. We wanted our music to hold your
interest either through the lyric content, or the tempo changes or
both. We wanted the song to tell a story and captivate the listener.
I think you can hear a lot of Iron Maiden and Queensryche in our
stuff, although, we tried to not emulate anyone. I personally made a
conscious effort to not purchase any music during that time so I
could avoid being influenced. And, I was poor...so that helped. No,
I don’t think we were influenced by any Texas Metal...I’m not
sure we were aware of that because of our location. We were quite
isolated from the rest of Texas and the rest of the world.
Peter: I would say Queensryche, Iron
Maiden, and King's X . For my personal main influences I would have
to add Kiss, Rush, and Stryper to the list.
Kevin L.: Tasteful metal. Well, I
think anyone that liked heavy music could appreciate what we did,
whether they liked metal music or not. My influences were my
favorite vocalists: Steve Perry, Geoff Tate, Bruce Dickinson, Jeff
Scott Soto, those were probably my favorite guys back then. I don't
think we were influenced at all. We did what we wanted to do, or we
played what we wanted to play.
Dag: Sophisticated metal, as I liked
to call it. I was a huge Neil Peart, Alex Van Halen, Peter Criss,
Nicko McBrain, and Scott Rockenfield fan. I was definitely influenced
by those guys.
It sound strange to me that I have not
noticed Xcel mentioned on the glory days of Texas Metal Underground
along with bands like Militia, Watchtower, SA Slayer and similar
ones. Perhaps you were too far away –distance speaking- to take
part in all this?
Kevin C.: Possibly, but I haven’t
heard of any of those bands either, or the Texas Metal Underground
for that matter. I’m sure we would have hit that up if we’d
known about it, or if they had known about us.
Barry: You are correct! Logistically,
we were not in a good location to play out and get noticed. The
economy in the area was down and there weren’t many places to play,
especially for our style of music. The closest place was Houston,
Texas, we managed to play there once and it was the last night the
club was open. I think I’ve heard of Watchtower, but I’ve never
heard of the other bands. The only other band that I can recall that
did make it was Pantera from Dallas, Texas.
Kevin L.: (Laughing) I think we were
looking at the bigger picture, we were reaching for the spots that
Iron Maiden had, or Queensryche. You know, we weren't looking for
the local area, we looking for national, or bigger, attention.
Dag: We were way too far away to get
any real attention.
Back on the
first steps of formation, well can you recall the very first Xcel
live show?
Kevin C.: Jan 3. 1986 – Port Arthur
Civic Center. That was our very first Xcel show. It was something
we had been planning for quite some time. We wanted to come off that
we were the ‘big boys’ coming into town. We bought radio air
time, everyone was already wondering what we were up to. We grabbed
another unknown local band at the time and had them open for us. But
didn’t tell them much about it until right before, because we
didn’t want the word to get out too soon There were commercials,
ticket give-aways – just like the major groups did – and that’s
how we wanted to position ourselves. We used to listen to the radio
in our rehearsal studio and hear these people calling in to win
tickets. It was really cool. We sold that place out, it was packed.
Someone had said that a big band had played there a week or so
before we did and they didn’t have as many people as we did. And
we promoted this whole thing ourselves. I remember pulling up
outside this civic center and seeing long lines trying to get in.
They had run out of tickets and started stamping hands. The radio
station DJs even showed up and introduced us. No one had ever done
that before. I’ve always loved the way Gene Simmons and Paul
Stanley made themselves larger than life, so you can say we took a
page from their playbook. We built amp risers, stairs, drum risers,
made our own flash bombs (that’s another story) – and it worked!
 | |
| Jan 3, 1986, First Xcel Show |
Barry: Absolutely! We wanted to turn
the world upside-down, so we decided to go as big as we could afford.
We rented out the floor of a local convention center, about 800
seats, I think, at least, that’s how many tickets we had printed
up. We paid for promo spots on the local rock radio station and it
started generating a bunch of interest. Partly because no one knew
who we were, we stayed to ourselves and did our thing and didn’t
make any big announcements. We had the radio station in a buzz
because they couldn’t figure out who we were! We kept ticket
prices cheap, like $3.00, so everyone could afford to go and Kevin
Cox and Peter sold a bunch of tickets! We made the date a Friday
night too so all the high school kids could go as well. We were
hoping 100 or 200 people would show up. We would be ecstatic if that
many came to see us. The night of the show (I’ll never forget –
January 3, 1986) one of the girls that volunteered to take tickets,
came backstage about 30 minutes before we were to go onstage and
announced that they had run out of tickets and there was a line
waiting to purchase more! We all about fainted! One of the rock
station DJ’s was backstage with us and said just start taking $3.00
apiece from them and stamp their hands. We ended up selling 1100
tickets! It was a sold out show (I still get goose bumps talking
about this)! We had pulled it off, and pulled it off in a major
way.
There has been no one, before or since,
pull off that big of a show with local talent. Even the radio
station we had fooled tried to put on a show like we did and they
failed miserably. They even invited us to play! They gave us a
terrible slot, there was no onstage coordination, and they had their
favourite bands in the time slots they wanted. They only had about
100 people show up and most of them left after we got through
playing!
 |
| Jan, 3, 1986, First Xcel Show |
 |
| Jan, 3, 1986, First Xcel Show |
Kevin L.: January 3rd, 1986. Played
at the local civic center for 1000+ people.
 |
| Jan, 3, 1986, First Xcel Show |
 |
| Jan, 3, 1986, First Xcel Show |
Peter: I don't know if the rest of the
guys remember, but about 3 hours before the Jan 3rd show we blew our
PA power heads during sound check. We were freaking out and under so
much stress; it was a good thing that we had a great reputation with
our local music store (A&S Music) they let us borrow some PA
power heads free of charge so we could do the show. The thing I
remember most about the Jan 3rd show was that we played for over 2
hours and it seemed like only 10 minutes. It was a dream come true
to play in front of that many people in our home town.
My information says that there was not
any Xcel demo release prior to the debut full length. Can you confirm
this? In the case that there was a demo release can you give some
info about it? Perhaps you have some demo recordings that remained
unreleased –prior to the album- any possible light on them –if
they are in existence-?
Kevin C.: The very first thing I would
label as “demo-like” we ever did was a song called “Out To
Maim”. We never released it though, but we still have the
recording of it. It was pretty heavy even by today’s standards and
Kevin’s vocals were spot on. We also have live video footage of us
playing some of these songs, including “Out To Maim”, and it’s
a trip to see. We may publish that out on YouTube or something,
we’ll see.
Barry: Again, you are correct. There
wasn’t any demo in the beginning. We set about doing the album
once we had enough good songs to produce a full length album. It was
still a very short album, right about 30 minutes in length.
Kevin L.: Nothing before the album.
But, we do have a bunch of practice tapes we've been going over.
How the hell you decided to straight
forward record an album form the start without making a demo first?
Kevin C.: Well that’s just it, if
putting out a demo got people interested, we thought, “hey let’s
put out an album to show them we mean business and that we’re
capable of doing it on our own.” At least that was the plan back
then. We did all the legwork to have it sold in record stores on
consignment and there we were front and center in these record
stores. It was pretty cool seeing your album sitting there out front
with all the big groups of the time. It was a feeling of
accomplishment to say the least.
Barry: Again, we wanted to turn the
world upside-down. Queensryche had done it with their self-produced
demo, why not us? We felt we were every bit as good as they were and
we were willing to show anyone with any interest in us (like a record
label) that we would work hard for them.
Kevin L.: (Laughs) We didn't have to
ask anybody's permission. We paid for it ourselves, with gig money.
We sold it ourselves, we didn't have a record company until Accent
(out in California) picked us up.
Dag: We wanted to try and prove we
could do it ourselves and set our goals for the band extremely high.
Have you got an offer by a Record Label
or did you do the whole thing yourselves? Can you give us any
information about Tri Records? Was it a Record label or just a
Moniker that you have used to get out your own private release?
Kevin C.: We totally did it ourselves.
But here’s the deal, what you hear on that album is all we could
afford. And I think I’m pretty safe in saying that the whole band
HATES that album or the recording anyway. It did NOT do us justice
at all. Those are the weakest sounding guitars ever, Kevin Luke
sounds like he’s at choir practice, you can’t hear Peter at all,
and the drums sound like they’re in a wet paper sack. We hated it.
But it’s all we had. People would come see us live and see that
these songs had WAY more balls than the album shows. Hell, we had
full blown Marshall cabinets blasting up there and Dag would flat
demolish a drum head, so in order to hear what we really sounded
like, you would have had to see us play live. Our practice tapes are
way heavier than the album. Tri Records was just a couple of guys
that had some recording equipment and it was the only thing around at
the time. Accent Records was an independent label in Rancho
Mirage/Palm Springs, CA who picked us up for our single, but it
turned out they weren’t much better anyway. Nothing ever came of
that. Same old story, we were made a ton of promises but nothing
ever came of any of them, other than what we would go and do no our
own by ourselves.
Barry: No, there was no record deal.
Tri Records was just a couple of local guys with decent bit of
recording equipment and a pretty nice recording facility. They were
kind enough to “place” us on their “label” for the album.
Unfortunately, they had only recorded country and western acts, not
any rock-n-roll or metal. They really had no idea what to do with
us. They squashed the guitars so much with their compressors that
they sound thin and weak. A great example is “Hold Your Faith”.
Listen to the very first strike of the pick on the strings and the
guitar sounds full and whole, in a split second, the compressor kicks
in and squashes it into oblivion. Rest assured, Kevin Cox was
pushing an easy 100 watts through his Marshalls and we did not skimp
on the volume!
The other terrible faux pas they made
was putting Dag’s cymbals and toms on the same microphones instead
of their own separate mics. So, if you needed more cymbals, you
automatically got more toms too. They had some terrible recording
techniques, and the album’s production quality suffered for it.
Maybe that’s the way they record C&W, but it’s not how you
record hard rock and heavy metal!
Kevin L.: Tri Records was actually
"Triplex Recording".
In how many days have you recorded
“Deliver This Dream”, can you recall anything interesting from
the recording sessions?? In which studio was it recorded?
Kevin C.: I honestly can’t recall,
I want to say it was a couple of weeks or so. We were exhausted when
we would leave there, or at least I was. It was record at Tri
Records and mastered in Nashville, TN. Recording is a whole
different animal. I can honestly say that I had much rather play
live any day.
Something interesting from the recording sessions? Well, the most interesting thing to me was
watching Dag. He was phenomenal to watch. He never had to do
anything twice, unless HE wanted to. He nailed it every single time
and he was just as flashy in the studio as he was on stage. I loved
watching him play. I’ve always had a bit of drummer envy
*laughing*.
Barry: It only took about 3-4 weeks to
record if I remember correctly. We had picked the 8 songs we liked
the most, and the ones we felt the public would enjoy the most too,
and rehearsed them over and over for weeks so we could minimize the
cost of our studio time.
From the recording sessions, yeah, I remember one incident: One of
Kevin Cox’s friends was hanging out with us at the recording
studio. Mind you, this was the same guy that I witnessed dropping
Kevin’s Randy Rhoads Jackson “V” and chipping the paint at the
bowling alley gig they invited me to come see. He, the friend,
decides he’s going to sit in the recording room where Kevin is
about to lay his guitar tracks. I told him he had to leave. He
protested that he wouldn’t make a sound while Kevin was recording.
Yeah right, I told him when he wanted to help pay for the studio
time, then he could stay while we recorded. He left. Needless to
say, we were very serious about how our money was spent and we
couldn’t afford any slip ups. “Deliver This Dream” was
recorded at “Triplex Studios” in Port Arthur, Texas.
Peter: I remember that almost all of
the recording was done late at night. Some of us were in school or
working during the day so we would get into the studio around 7:00
p.m. We would stay just about all night most nights. I remember that
Kevin C. would always have a bag of gummy worms and a chocolate
soldier drink with him. Sugar rush to get him through the night. This
was before energy drinks.
Kevin L.: We blocked the studio for
two weeks, it was our studio for two weeks. We recorded and mixed in
that amount of time, final product. As mediocre as the quality was.
At the time we thought it was good, but, we weren't engineers, we
were musicians.
Dag: I remember finishing and then
impatiently waiting for everyone else to do the same. I didn’t like
sitting in the control room without the finished product. I also
recall thinking that the engineers didn’t have a clue how to
produce a heavy sound when they tried to mic my snare drum from the
bottom.
This record is simply one of the top 10
US Metal Records ever. When did it face the light of the day? In how
many copies was it pressed? If you could change something to this
album what would it be?
Kevin C.: *laughing* I don’t know
what to say to it being a top 10 US metal record. It’s flattering
that someone would think so, but I’m sure all the guys would say
“You’re kidding right?!” We know we are better than that
without question, so if we were given the right equipment and
engineer, then I guess I’d say if you liked that crap, then the new
stuff would knock you over!
What would I change?? Everything! And
I do mean everything. I would completely re-record it. I’m not so
sure I would have kept “Teaser” on there either. Peter and I
wrote that song just kind of goofing around. Funny part was, people
would always ask us to play that one and Accent Record’s AR guy
wanted it on the single. Go figure.
Barry: I wish Capitol Records believed
it was a “Top 10 Metal record”! That’s very kind of you to
say...we thought it was too! I honestly don’t remember when the
album was released...and, I’m not sure how many copies got pressed
either, a couple thousand, maybe? Maybe if I could change how the
album was recorded, or maybe where it was recorded. The content was
there, the song structure was there, the guys in the recording booth
couldn’t translate it from us to the tape correctly.
Kevin L.: I can't remember, 3 months
maybe, after we finished recording...not sure. (Laughs) I would
definitely change the quality of the recording. Point of
information: The single used the original drums from the album, but
we re-recorded everything else. You can see that the quality is much
better.
Peter: It’s very flattering to hear
that. I wish we could have got the attention of some major labels
back in 1986. I am very proud of what the album has done and at the
same time almost embarrassed of how it sounds. I think the songs are
excellent but the quality of the sound is not what any of us would
like to hear on our album. I think the songs rerecorded today could
still bring in new fans.
Dag: You’re too kind. I wish more
people would have thought the same as you. I’d change everything
sound-wise. I think we pressed 1200 copies.
Which is your favourite song of the
album?
Kevin L.: Ichabod! The crowd loved
it!
Kevin C. : For me, I would have to say
“Deliver This Dream” and “The Vision.” We would open the
show with DTD and nothing gets your attention like a hard hitting
drummer and Marshalls sliding into that intro riff. Barry wrote “The
Vision” and I felt like it showed some maturity on our part
musically. It had the breaks, intros, dual leads, and of course
Kevin’s vocals.
Barry: I would have to say “The
Vision”.
Peter: My favorite song would be
“Deliver This Dream.” Dag has a really cool drum beat going on
throughout the whole song which helps it to really stand out. I also
like Ichabod. It's just a straight forward in your face kind of song.
The Vision is really cool too. I like how the song tempo changes.
I guess it would be easier to answer which song I like the least on
the album.
Dag: Deliver This Dream, of course. It
starts with DRUMS!
Who should deliver the dream and from
what?
Kevin L.: It was a metaphor for what
we wanted. That was to play music.
Barry: You’ll have to ask Kevin Cox
about that, I couldn’t ever figure out what he was talking about.
Kevin C.: That song is about
standing up to any kind of oppression really and not letting anyone
keep you down. I wrote that in a geography class one day when I was
enrolled in college briefly before the band got going (laughing)
shows you how much I was paying attention eh? But Kevin L. is
correct.
Any small or bigger comment about the
album lyrics or perhaps the lyrics of a chosen song?
Kevin C.: I wouldn’t say that we were
really focused on any one thing in particular. I mean we would talk
about mythology, hypothetical situations, historical events and
society, to girls and cartoon characters. I’d have to say that the
stuff I’m writing now is more related to society. I have a lot
more experience with life than I did back then.
Barry: The strange thing about me is
that as soon as I’d hand Kevin Luke the lyrics, I’d forget what
I’d wrote. So, in some respects, it’s hard for me to comment.
On a general note, we wrote based on experiences, something that had
happened to one of us, or, maybe it was just a movie we had watched
or a book that we had read. We did want to inspire with our lyrics,
kind of like Triumph’s “Fight the Good Fight” song. It’s
very inspirational and a lot of our stuff follows those same lines.
Don’t let people get you down; don’t let someone tell you that
you can’t do something. If anything, that should be the very thing
that drives you to prove them wrong!
Kevin L.: Laughs)
Uh...no. I'll answer it in the next question.
Was “I’ll Make It Someway”
written for a real person or it was just the usual tactic for a
ballad that should appear on a Metal record (perhaps the answer
catches both of the cases)?
Kevin C.: Kevin Luke wrote that, so
I’ll let him answer.
Barry: I’m not sure. Kevin Luke
wrote that one and it went over in a big way, especially with the
girls! But, I don’t know if he wrote it for someone or not. Kevin
Luke’s singing and Kevin Cox’s lead work was awesome, especially
when they played/sang in unison.
Kevin L.: That was the only writing
that I did in the band. And, it WAS about a ex-girlfriend.
Dag: I know who it was about.
Who was “Ichabod Crane”?
Kevin L.: Google "Headless
Horseman" and you'll find out!
Kevin C.: Ichabod Crane – The Legend
of Sleepy Hollow about the headless horseman. What I remember most
about this one was, Barry was coming over to my place on Halloween
one year and the story of Ichabod Crane was on the TV. I came back
in the room and Barry had sat down with one of my guitars and was
just playing something and watching that show. Long story short, we
never left to go out, we stayed in and wrote “The Last Ride of
Ichabod Crane” and it turned out to be one of the crowd favorites
and was fun to play.
Barry: It’s a story based on
Washington Irving’s book “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. I
tried to make the song only about Ichabod Crane being chased by the
Headless Horseman. There’s a lot more to the story than just the
chase, but for my purposes, I only wanted the frantic, chasing part.
The slow, acoustic part in the middle of the song was supposed to be
where Ichabod is on horseback going through the forest right before
the Headless Horseman sets upon him. We were trying to convey a
creepy, dark, forest with the guitar swells and wind. You can read a synopsis here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichabod_Crane
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichabod_Crane
Where have you took the photo of the back cover of the album? It is very unique and obscure...
Kevin L.: (Laughs) It was a place we thought looked good.
Kevin C.: *laughing* In a field across the street from where our rehearsal studio was, behind a 7-11 store or something. No kidding! So when we walked across the street looking like that, heads turned. The picture on the single was in the exact same place.
Barry: That’s funny, but I guess the photo worked! It does almost look like the creepy forest that Ichabod was going through! It’s actually behind a convenience store across the street from where we practiced. There was a small patch of trees and we just walked behind the store and I believe it was Dag’s older brother that snapped the photo.
And then what? You got this diamond on your hands, so? Did you hit the road to promote it? What was the feedback from fans and press?
Kevin C.: Well that was the plan, yes. But it turned out much harder than we had hoped. In hindsight, it’s probably because of where we were located. We made it to Houston, TX (again on our own) and were signed with a management company who had seen the show. We blew that place apart and there were police reports about it from several businesses down the street. *laughs* We were really excited about having a manager now, but he got us nowhere. He spent all his time working for this pop band outfit he also managed and did nothing for us. We dumped our manager and hooked up with LD Promotions in California and we thought it would take off after that, but this bunch turned out to be nothing as well. All promises, no action. The feedback we got locally was encouraging, but it needed broader exposure. Ironically, the same radio station that was so supportive of us initially wouldn’t play our material and there were a lot of requests for it on the radio I was told. We got more airplay in California and the Northeastern US than our own hometown. I guess their program director felt Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynrd was what everyone wanted to hear, so it died on the vine I guess you could say.
Barry: We tried to promote it, but we
were not in a good location to do any of that. Sure, we shopped it
to the local music stores, and I guess we may have sold a few, but by
and large, there wasn’t an outlet for us to promote it. The local
radio stations wouldn’t promote it, we didn’t fit their mold, and
they didn’t much care for us any way. We did do some interviews
with a couple of the local newspapers, but again, they didn’t
really know what to make of us. The press was nice though. There
was a girl that wrote for her high school newspaper, we probably got
more good press and more positive results from her writing about us
than any other source!
Our fans liked it. We had a lot of the
same people show up for every gig, so that was always appreciated.
And, I think our fan base was growing. We had some very dedicated
fans!
Kevin L.: Then we played as much as we
could. Most of the feedback was good. When we finally got on Accent
Records we got distributed (the single) to 17 states.
A year after the album, there was a 7’’
single release. Can you confirm that this was out on 1987?
Kevin C.: Yeah, this single release was
the new manager’s attempt at getting us more exposure. He claimed
he was shopping us to major labels at the time and setting us up for
a nationwide club circuit tour and we were extremely pumped up about
that. But in hindsight, I don’t think he did anything.
Barry: Yes, I think 1987 is correct.
Kevin L.: Yes.
There is a new label behind the “Last
Ride Of Ichabod Crane” single. Can you give us any information
about Accent Records? How did you get in touch with them? Why did you
left Tri Records? Was it a record label or a new moniker simply
behind the band?
Kevin C.: Accent Records was that tiny
indie label in California.
Barry: How in the world did you get a
copy of the single? It’s amazing to me how our stuff has migrated
all over the world! The single was actually produced to give out to
radio stations across the United States; we never made them to sell
to the public. Accent Records was a small, independent label in
California that, again, they just stuck us on for the purposes of
producing the single, just the same as Tri Records did for the album.
Were the versions of the two songs
included in the single -Last Ride Of Ichabod Crane, Teaser- the same
versions as the ones included in the LP?
Barry: Mostly, they were. The guy
that did the engineering was pretty good, much better than the guys
that did the album. He played rock-n-roll, so he better understood
how to mix our stuff. Unfortunately, we were told by our then
manager that we only needed to bring our guitars, everything else
would be provided. That was not the case. We had a tiny practice
amp to play through and no drums! Dag was not happy, understandably.
So, the single still had his crummy sounding drums. The guy did the
best he could to bring the drums out better, but it’s hard when you
don’t have anything to work with.
Kevin C.: Yes, pretty much. Some stuff
was re-recorded, but, for the most part it’s the same. It sounds a
little better, but not much.
Kevin L.: Other than the solos, they
should be 99.9% the same.
Dag: No, I wasn’t pleased. I was
shafted! The cymbals on the original recording were too hot. I was
looking forward to recording the drum tracks again.
Why have you chosen those two tracks
for the single?
Kevin C.: We didn’t. The AR guy at
Accent Records chose those tracks. His thinking was, those would get
the most airplay and funny thing was, “Teaser” was one of them.
I couldn’t believe it.
Kevin L.: I think it was a combination
of what the band wanted and what the fans wanted. We liked
"Ichabod", but we always got asked to play "Teaser".
Barry: Those two songs were garnering
the most attention. We also felt that they showcased both a
straight-forward rock-n-roll song like “Teaser” and one that was
more complex in “...Ichabod Crane”. The hope was that one or the
other would get a record label’s attention.
Dag: They are from opposite ends of
the spectrum. Teaser was in your face and Ichabod was more textured.
In how many copies was the single pressed?
Kevin C.: I think there were only like
500 copies of that pressed. We kept a couple for ourselves, but all
the rest were mailed out to radio stations, or so we were told.
Barry: There were only 500 singles
produced, there wasn’t enough to sell to the public. As far as I
know, virtually all 500 copies were sent to radio stations.
Kevin L.: 500.
You have re-recorded all the stuff
except the drums, right?
Kevin C.: As best as I can recall, we
re-recorded and or remixed the bass, guitar tracks, and vocals. I
remember having our guitars with us because one of the airlines
damaged one of my cases and I remember Dag being unhappy about not
being able to re-do his tracks. I think some of it may have been done
off the original tape too. So there wasn’t a whole lot to work
with.
Barry: Correct, the drums were not
re-recorded at the studio near Palm Springs, CA. We were told, by
management, to just bring our guitars, that everything else would be
provided (drums, amplifiers, etc.)…and, unfortunately, that was not
the case.
Where have you re-recorded the stuff, I
guess it was not the Triple / Tri Records studio, right? So where was
that place / studio?
Kevin C.: I can’t remember the name
of the studio. But I remember it was in Rancho Mirage, California. It
is close to Palm Springs, California.
Barry: Correct again. I don’t recall
the name of the studio near Palm Springs, CA where we recorded the
single. Triplex Studios, where the album was recorded, was located in
Port Arthur, TX.
And in how many days have you completed
those recordings?
Kevin C.: I believe we were only
there for one or two days. It was in and out pretty quick.
Barry: The single was recorded in about
2 days if I remember correctly. I believe that’s all the time we
could afford.
Do you think that the guys or guy that
did the re-recording of the single -on the other studio- had a better
knowlegue in Heavy Music? Do you think that the sound of the single
is better than the album?
Kevin C.: Most definitely. The engineer
that worked with us was a guy named Nick Mandola. If I’m not
mistaken, he is still around and does some work with Accent Records.
He had a much better understanding and I think if we had all the gear
we needed and more time, he could have had us sounding much better.
We didn’t have a lot to work with in a short amount of time, so I
think he did the best he could with us. I think LD Promotions wanted
us in and out just so we could have something to throw at radio
stations.
Barry: Yes, the engineer on the single
was a rock-n-roll guitar player so it was easy for him to understand
the mood and grit we were looking for on the two cuts. It’s
unfortunate we didn’t have access to him, but again, we didn’t
have access to the better engineers and studios because of where we
were located in Texas. I do feel the single sounds better than the
album, but not by much, simply because we weren’t able to re-record
the drums. Dag’s drums were a huge part and played a huge role in
our music and we wanted them up front and in your face, it just
didn’t translate on the album.
If you have recorded the album on that
specific studio can we say that the result would be better than the
one it ended in the album -which you have stated that sound weak in
your ears-...
Kevin C.: Yes, without a doubt. I can’t
recall what gear they had in that studio it has been too long.
However, engineer wise, Nick would have done a much better job with
us. As Barry stated, the guys that recorded us the first time didn’t
know how to translate what Xcel was to tape. If we were to have spent
the time originally with Nick, our own gear, some time, and some
guidance, I am confident that it would have been a much different
outcome.
Barry: I whole-heartedly believe the
engineer on the single would have done a WAY better job on the album!
I would have loved to work with him. I think we all liked him, he was
easy-going and understood what we were trying to accomplish and did a
great job given what we he had to work with.
Lets meet the band on stage. Describe
an Xcel show, recall some shows, have you ever played outside Texas?
With which bands?
Kevin L.: Full out! High energy
metal, NO down time! No, I dont' think we played outside of Texas.
Kevin C: *laughing* Loud, hot, sweaty,
and lots of hairspray. I don’t know what kind of look we were
going for back then. It was a cross between the Ratt torn spandex
thing and the Queensryche “Rage for Order” look. We played shows
with several different bands. None of which went on to do anything
big that I know of. Again, I think it was just the scene we were in.
Barry: We tried to follow the same
idea as Kiss: Give them the best, most over-the-top show you can!
Iron Maiden was doing the same thing. We tried to give our audience
lots of theatrics, lots of movement onstage and lighting to
complement the mood of the song. We even had band colors: Black,
white and red. So, that’s pretty much all we wore onstage.
Since Kevin Cox, Peter and I didn’t
have matching equipment, we built stage risers to cover our
equipment. The risers extended out eight feet on either side of the
drums with stairs to go up and down the risers. They were sturdy
enough to stand on top of and were modular so we could break them
down, transport and store them easily. Only one other local band
followed our lead on this, but we were the first in our area.
We also covered the fronts of the
risers with cloth and painted the front with our logo, like the logo
on the album. It worked great...no one else in the area had the size
of stage show we did.
Peter: *laughing* Let’s not forget
the black eye liner and black finger nail polish. I can say no
matter how many people would come to see us if it was 30 or 1500 we
would put on the best show your money could buy. We were known as
being a great live band.
Kevin C.: Aside from our very first
show and all the hype around it, ironically, it was one of the shows
we played at a club at a teen night of all things. We went from this
huge show down to playing teen nights over the years and it was a
massive let down for all of us. But we all loved playing, and at
this one show in particular, all these kids were really getting into
us. It was packed and we put on one hell of a show. The flip side
of that was somewhere in Leesville, Louisiana at some biker hangout.
It wasn’t big enough to hold all of our gear, and yes, all you
heard was “Play Freebird” or “Play some Skynyrd man!”. We
finished the set and got out of there. If it weren’t for all the
loyal fans following us over there, it would have been really awkward
to say the least. Barry also recently reminded me of one place where
we kept blowing the circuit breakers due to all of the amplifier load
we were carrying.
Barry: Our best live show was
definitely our first gig, the January 3rd gig. Next would probably
be the show we played in Houston at the club that was shutting down
after we got through. We hired a guy to provide his equipment and
our guys ran the show. It was, by far, our best sounding gig. We
actually signed with a manager after that gig. That was a proud
moment for all of us!
Peter: I think it would be the January
3rd show at the Port Arthur Civic Center. In part due to the amount
of people we were playing in front of. I can remember being told
just before we went out on stage that the show was a sell out and the
fire marshal was not allowing any more people into the Civic Center.
I also remember playing at a club in Houston, Texas called
Phydeaux's. We were playing really tight that night and the sound
mix was great. It was our first time playing in Houston and at the
end of the show we had a lot of people stay after and tell us how
good it was. We also ended up spending the whole weekend in Houston
being treated like Rock N Roll Royalty. We had some promoter take us
to a number of different clubs to see a lot of the Houston bands
play. It was a lot of fun.
Kevin L.: It's really between our
first show, January 3rd, and our show in Houston, Texas at
Phideaux's.
Dag: I have to agree with Kevin L.
Nothing will ever replace the feeling we shared at the first show.
But Phideaux’s was a great show.
After 1987 and the single release what
was your next steps? It seems like you have been lost in time or
something…
Kevin C.: We tried to keep it going.
But since we had set a high bar for ourselves, it was costing us too
much of our own money to keep pulling off these shows. And one break
after the other didn’t pan out. It got to the point where we
couldn’t even afford a place to practice anymore and with bills
piling up, we had to look elsewhere to survive.
Barry: We waited to hear something,
anything, from any record labels or radio stations. We did do an
interview with a local rock station in Palm Springs, California and
it generated a little buzz, but nothing came of it. The singles
distributed to the radio stations didn’t do much of anything. I
think there was some interest, but nothing materialized from it.
From what we were told, we did receive a good bit of airplay from
California and all along the Northeast coast.
One positive thing that happened was a
local guy that Dag’s brother had met was interested in us and
possibly investing in us. We spoke to our manager about him and got
a meeting set up between the two. They met and shortly afterwards
our manager told us that the deal had fallen through. We were
crushed. Why had it fallen through? What happened? I can’t
remember exactly what our manager told us other than it “fell
through”.
A couple of years (maybe not even that
long), after Xcel had broken up, I happened to meet the investor guy
through the job I had at the time. I introduced myself and explained
that I was the guitarist in Xcel and asked what had happened in the
meeting between him and our manager. He said that our manager wanted
to distribute the money he wanted to give us to the other bands he
was managing. The investor said “no”, that he didn’t know
anything about the other bands, but that he did know Xcel and the
money was to go to them only. Apparently, our manager wouldn’t
agree to that so the investor withdrew the offer.
The man told me straight to my face, “I
was prepared to write him a forty-thousand dollar check.” After
learning that, I was furious! Wasn’t our manager supposed to help
us?!? Why would he turn down that amount of money?!? Even if he
couldn’t use it for the other bands, why would you turn it down?!?
Once again, we had trusted someone to “take care of us” and we
had gotten burned.
When and for what reasons did the band
split?
Kevin C.: Money, or lack thereof,
Period. We had investors who were supposed to get the band back off
the ground and we were pretty excited about that. However, shortly
after, the stock market crashed in the US in 1987, all of them left
us high and dry. Who’s going to front a rock band during all that?
Barry: Even after learning that the
investor deal fallen through, we had managed to catch the interest of
several other people for investment purposes. Then came October
1987: Black Monday. The American stock market fell in a major way
and all our potential investors pulled the money they were saying
they would invest in us. That was a major hit. And, for me, I was
exhausted from trying to make something happen with the band and
tired of being poor. My whole life for the past couple of years had
been poured into the band. I hadn’t had a steady job in two years.
I was just scraping to get by and was ready to make something else
happen.
Peter: I could not tell you why the
band split. I can tell you why I left. I only had a year left to
graduate from college. I was about 21 or 22 years old and at that
time it seemed to me Xcel had done all we could do and we were kind
of just standing still and not moving forward anymore. I had to
start thinking what I was going to do with my life because music was
not working at that point. Here in the States in the late 80's Metal
was not as popular as it once was in the early 80's. The Seattle
Sound (Grunge) had taken over. I just could not see any of us doing
that kind of music. Besides I don't look good wearing plaid and it's
too hot in Texas to even consider it.
Kevin L.: The stock market crash of
1987, really led to us losing funding to go on a tour, and losing our
bass player led to the band going their separate ways.
After Xcel have any of the band members
participated in other bands?
Kevin C.: None for me. Barry, Kevin
and Dag have done some other projects.
Kevin L.: I've played almost
consistently in other bands until 2003.
Barry: Yes, I have. I played in
several other bands over the years. The last one was in early 2000
with Kevin Luke and his younger brother Keith. I started out on
bass, Kevin Luke played guitar and sang backup, and Keith was the
lead singer. It was a good band, not like Xcel, but a lot of the
same work ethic and great song writing. Keith was an excellent
lyricist and I helped out on the music. He and I clicked really well
and we were fairly prolific song writers. I just spoke with Keith
recently and he’s still playing and recording in Sienna Blu, the
band he formed after we broke up.
Peter: No, after I left Xcel I quit
playing. I knew that if I started playing again with other bands it
would never be the same as it was with Xcel. I would compare
everything we did to Xcel. (When I was in Xcel we did it like this.)
Do you know how annoying that would be for the new band? *laughs*
The guys in Xcel were like an extension of my own family. We were
like brothers.
Dag: I played in a couple of bands
with Kevin L. after Xcel. It NEVER had the same intensity as XCEL. That was our true calling. It was
completely different being with the Xcel guys. We were all going in
the same direction until ended. It was like one unit, a well-oiled
machine.
There is a wave of re united bands that
came from the 80s, they appear active again, playing in Festivals
around Europe –yes in Europe we love the good old bands, especially
the US ones- and releasing new albums, what is your opinion about all
those re unions?
Kevin L.: (Laughs) The good bands need
to come back and the bad ones need to stay at home! The funny thing
is I've owned a sound company since 1997 and have run sound for a lot
of the "come back" bands!
Kevin C. : Honestly, this is the part
that blows me away. We have had more interest in Xcel now from
Europe than we ever have. When we heard they were selling albums out
on E-bay, we couldn’t believe it. At one point they were going for
$1000+ each! Then we see that you can buy our album released by some
record label in Italy or Germany? What?! We bought one of those
just to see what it was and it’s our OWN stuff but it has been
modified by someone, it is not original stuff. I think it’s
fantastic that all this resurgence of metal is going on in Europe.
Hell, look at the total crap we have to listen to in the US. Nothing
but rap and hiphop junk.
Barry: I think that’s great. If
they can pull it off, more power to them.
Dag: I wish it was us.
It seems that US Metal is more popular
and beloved around Europe and never made it to its original country
(USA) do you agree with this for what reasons do you think this is
happening?
Kevin C.: Well I’ll take your word
for it. It’s great to hear. I would absolutely love for Xcel to
play at festivals over in Europe. That way, you could hear and see
for yourself what I’m talking about. I personally love the
European metal. One of my favourite bands is Primal Fear. I also
listen to Brainstorm and like their stuff as well. I’m not into
the growling death/satan/thrash metal stuff at all. When it is so
fast that it’s hard to tell what is even happening musically, I
turn it off. I’d rather have that drum, bass and guitar punching
you steadily in the gut. Take Primal Fear’s “The Final Embrace”
or “Rollercoaster”..... I flat out love that stuff man. I had
the pleasure of meeting them in Austin, TX last year and I have the
utmost respect for them. I took my wife and stood there the whole
time just smiling and saying, “that should have been Xcel right
there.” The nicest guys you could meet but they kicked your
ass....I loved ‘em. Matt Sinner is a metal icon in Europe and I
see that Ralf Scheepers is consulting with bands, vocals, recording,
etc. That would be a dream come true for me to have him sit down
with Xcel and help guide us. I think that would refine the talent we
have and I’m not against constructive criticism on my playing at
all. No ego here! I’ll tell you this, getting to travel and open
for someone like that would be the ultimate for me. Europe, the US,
or even on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean, doesn’t matter to me.
Barry: I’m not sure why the U.S.
hasn’t embraced their own metal bands like Europe has, but maybe it
has something to do with the fact that Europe doesn’t glom onto the
latest flash-in-the-pan? To me, it seems the U.S. is only concerned
with the latest trend and a lot of bands put out one song that gets a
couple of months of airplay and they’re done. But, they’re the
latest rage and that’s the “in” thing to do in America. Maybe
Europeans gravitate more towards something that has more lasting
qualities? I mean, the U.S. is not producing the quality of metal
bands like Europe has been, especially in the last decade, not that
they’re not out there, but in sheer quantity of good heavy bands,
the U.S. is lagging. I may be wrong, but that’s what it looks like
from my vantage point “across the pond”.
Kevin L.: I do agree! I think
Europeans like music more than Americans. I think they're more
EXCITED about music.
…And ok I wanted to get you into this
question: Are you in contact with other members? Have you ever
thought to bring the band in action again?
Kevin C.: Absolutely! We have all been
in contact. And it’s this resurgence of activity around the band
that has us all excited again. Someone created an Xcel Facebook fan
page about us, and it’s a thrill to see the people in Europe saying
nice things about us. We humbly appreciate it more than you know.
We are talking about completely re-recording 3 songs off the DTD
album and putting new songs that no one has ever heard before. But
we’re going to do this on our own time and make it sound good. If
a label wants to pick that up, that’s great, but we are still going
to do it for ourselves and those that liked the band no matter what.
Not sure yet, but we will probably release it on Itunes when we feel
it’s ready. I would like to see us do a kickoff show at South By
Southwest (SXSW) that brings bands from all over the world. We could
play on the main rock stage. Now what comes after that?..., I’m
open.
Barry: Yes, I’m in contact with the
other band members. I’ve always stayed in touch with both Kevin
Cox and Kevin Luke. We are in the process of talking about doing
something again, maybe doing some recording, re-releasing, nothing
very serious, just see what happens. Everyone has so much going on
in their lives, with kids, careers, mortgages, braces, college
tuition, etc., etc., we didn’t want to over commit ourselves on
anything. Not to mention, there are some logistic issues with Kevin
Cox located in Austin, Texas and Dag on the far side of Houston,
Texas and Kevin Luke, Peter and myself located in Beaumont...it makes
it a bit more difficult to coordinate things.
Kevin L.: Yes, I'm in contact with the
other members, although some of the time between meetings was sparse,
we could always get in touch with the other guys if we wanted. Yes,
but I think metal has passed me by.
Dag: We are in contact and would love
to bring the band back together. We’re just at another stage in our
lives. We should have done it sooner. The band break up was very
traumatic for me, personally. We poured our hearts and souls into the
band and didn’t get anything of substance in return. Unfortunately,
there comes a time when you have to move on and make a real living.
Have you got any unreleased material?
In which format? Audio or Video?
Kevin C.: Yes, quite a bit actually. We
have recordings burned to CD of many rehearsals with the new
material, as well as VCR and DVD footage of some shows we did. Some
of our best ones disappeared with the investors though, a lesson
learned. Make copies next time.
Barry: Yes, we recently
recovered/discovered a video that was made in one of the clubs we
performed in. And, as it turns out, Kevin Luke had recorded several
of our practices on cassette tapes. I’m in the process of getting
them burned to CD.
Kevin L.: Old practice tapes.
Have you got any composed but not
recorded Xcel songs?
Kevin C.: You bet. We’re really
excited about the new stuff no one has ever heard before. When we
got together and listened to it, we all sat there with our mouths
open. With some polishing, it will be that diamond you mention.
Barry: Oh yes, they’re on cassette
tape, thankfully, because I don’t have any of the lyrics.
Kevin L.: See previous question...I
can barely remember some of the songs on the practice tapes!
Have you ever thought of re-releasing
the “Deliver This Dream” masterpiece? Have you ever been asked by
a label for this?
Kevin C.: Yes. We think about it all
the time. Like I said, we hated it. It didn’t capture what we
really sounded like. No label has asked us for it. There have been
some that have illegally re-pressed it though. We’ve been
contacted a few times about doing metal festivals here in the US.
But again, I was like ‘show me the proof’. I’m older and wiser
than I used to be.
Barry: Thank you for the “masterpiece”
comment. Yes, that’s what we’ve all been talking about doing.
If we can overcome the logistics problems with the distances and
everyone can stay energetic and excited enough to see it through, I
think we might just pull it off. No, no record label has approached
us about re-releasing the album. This project was born simply out of
us wanting to redo the album in a manner befitting how good our music
was. At least now the recording equipment is way better than it used
to be and with the Internet it’s far easier to share stuff.
Kevin L.: I hope that we can record
another album and just put it on YouTube. I think that would be
cool.
Dag: It would be cool to put something
out with the same quality that was put into the music. Do you have a
label that will pick us up?
And yes… which was the best and the
worst moment on Xcel saga in general?
Kevin L.: Many "best"
moments: First show. Worst moment: The last practice.
Kevin C.: There were tons of great
moments. I’ve never worked so hard at something and loved every
minute of it. The worst moment by far was when the band split up, it
was like a divorce to me. I moved away, simply because it was too
depressing. But there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t
think about it and miss it, and that’s no joke. I was happy to see
that the others feel the same way, so we’re going to see where it
takes us.
Barry: The best moment would have to
have been the January 3rd gig at the Port Arthur Civic Center. We
had pulled off the biggest coup of any local band, before or since.
The worst moment for me, and ultimately Xcel, was speaking to our
first potential investor and learning that he was prepared to give us
a $40,000 check and our manager turned it down. I know that’s
after Xcel broke up, but it was heartbreaking to think that money
could have gotten us to California and possibly a record contract.
Peter: Way too many great moments to
mention. We were young and had a great time together as a band. The
worst thing would have been the breakup of the band and not seeing
the guys daily. It was almost like losing a loved one. We were and
have always been friends. Being friends and having the same goal in
mind for the band kept us going for as long as it did.
Dag: Anytime we would write a new song
it was a great moment. The experience of that part of our lives with
each other was special. We are brothers and will always have a bond
that not many will ever understand. The worst moment was learning
that the band, as we knew it, was over.
For what reason do you think that Xcel
was not gone in a big career despite the fact that the band got ALL
the talent and ability for something like this?
Kevin L.: Talent and ability is just
one piece of the puzzle. We didn't have all the other pieces.
Kevin C.: Lack of exposure to the right
people, the onset of the whole grunge sound, money,
luck/breaks, and location. That pretty much sums it up.
luck/breaks, and location. That pretty much sums it up.
Barry: We simply were not in a good
area of the country where we could successfully promote the band or
material. That’s very kind of you to say we had “...all the
talent and ability”. We never felt like any one member was
extraordinary, but that it was the combination of people, Kevin Luke,
Kevin Cox, Dag Gabourel, Peter Voight and I, which made Xcel
extraordinary. We all shared the same work ethic and we considered
what we were doing as the utmost important thing in our lives. That
combination was reflected in our music.
Are you stuck into Metal today? Do you
listen to any Metal if not what other kinds of music?
Kevin C.: I’d have to say I probably
listen to more of the whole European power metal thing than anyone
else at this point. I like some of all kinds of music, but I always
go back to that guitar, drums, and PUNCH. Here are the CDs I have in
my car now: Primal Fear 16.6, Primal Fear Live in USA, Iron Maiden
Live After Death, Disturbed, and UDO Mastercutor Live.
Barry: Yes, I still listen to a lot of
hard rock and metal. I’ve recently picked up Black Country
Communion and think it’s an awesome CD! I love Glenn Hughes voice,
what a huge voice he has! Kevin Cox recently turned me on to Primal
Fear and those guys sound great. They are more akin to what we were
doing back then, great musicianship and great vocal work. I like
what Evergrey is doing as well, their sound is awesome and what great
musicians! I still love Iron Maiden, Rainbow, Deep Purple, Kansas,
Rush and Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio. What a giant man and
great front man and voice. There’s a huge hole in the rock-n-roll
community since his loss.
Kevin L.: I listen to everything but
country and rap...put that together and we call it "crap".
Peter: I still love metal today. At
this time you would find I am listening to Breaking Benjamin,
Sevendust, Creed, Iron Maiden, and Fly Leaf. I guess that is a mix
of all kinds of music.
Dag: I listen to Rush, Steve Vai, Iron
Maiden, Pre- Promised Land Queensryche and Dream Theater.
Is there anything more you want to add
that I might have forgotten to ask or to mention?
Kevin C.: I can’t think of anything
off the top of my head. It was our pleasure to give you a brief
insight on the band and what is in the works. I’m ready to do it
again!
Barry: I can’t think of anything.
You’ve asked a lot of great questions, a lot of things I haven’t
thought about in years and you’ve brought back a lot great memories
as well! Thank you for that!
Peter: I think you have covered it
all. I do have a question for you. When, where, and how did you
find our album?
Chris: I first have heard the album through CD-r trading with a friend of mine. I was shocked from the very first listening. I could not believe that a band delivered such melodic and inspired Steel! I remember clearly that it was somewhere around 2001. From that specific time point the music of Xcel was stuck in my mind. The next big goal was to find an original copy of the record. I succeed getting one on a private sale some years later. Of course I always wanted to be able to track down some members of the band or the entire band for an interview. Well finally you have found me!
Kevin L.: Wish we'd have gotten back
together 20 years ago! Would have considered touring then.
Dag: Nothing else for me. I’m
curious like Peter, though. The single too.
Closing I want to mention that it was a
dream for me to find and interview Xcel, I was searching the band for
ages and finally you tracked me down. I do not know how to thank you
for this. Close the interview as you like.
Kevin C.: Chris, we were happy that we
could do this for you. I initially tracked you down to thank you.
Your write-up was very complimentary, we appreciate it and you did it
before anyone else. We’re thankful that the people over in Europe
are keeping this type of music alive. And my hope is that when we
are able to release new Xcel material that it will be viewed the same
way we view it and maybe someday we can play at one of those
festivals and all get together for a long awaited and overdue
European Xcel family reunion – you’re invited!
Barry: You can’t imagine how much fun
this has been for me! I can’t thank you enough for you taking the
time to even develop all these questions and getting to the “heart
of the matter” on what made the band tick!
I’m still amazed and humbled by the
fact that our music is still out there and still being enjoyed. I
find our album, now CD, on eBay all the time...how did it get there?
It seems our music has travelled a lot farther than we ever did! I
would like to think our stuff is that timeless...that lets me know we
were headed in the right direction with our music. Chris, thank you
again for taking the time to arrange all this and we wish you all the
best for you and yours!
Peter: Thank you for taking the time
to put this all together. It's been a blast to go back in time with
someone who seems to appreciate what we did 20 (+) years ago. You
are making this old man seem cool in the eyes of his kids. That's a
hard thing to do now days. I hope we can do another interview with
you when we release some new material. I can promise that it will
sound 100% better than the DTD album. Who knows we might just see
you in person one day on an Xcel European Tour.
Kevin L.: Thanks for your undying
support! It's a long shot, but we might end up playing again!
Dag: Thank you for your dedication to
Xcel. We really appreciate it! Maybe your interview will create some
interest. We would love to give it another shot under the right
circumstances.
Chris Papadakis
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