Heaven's Metal Exclusive: Holy 5oldier Interview
As you may have seen from the excellent interview by Chris Beck in the new issue of Heaven's Metal Fanzine, the interview with Andy Robbins offered so much great material. Here is the unused/cut material that was too good to throw away or let rot into some un-intelligible digit between zero and one (that's what happens to unused digital information, it turns into fractional digital info). So, here you go...
Chris Beck: Going back to Promise Man, were you worried that such a major change in sound would alienate your fans? Was Promise Man received like you thought it would be?
Andy Robbins: No. We were happy with the cd. Again there were some "fillers" that I do not care much for. I think that is where the album lacked as we never really had "album fillers". Eric is not as good of a lyricist as Steven. We were all disillusioned so we ran out of positive ideas as the inspiration was not there it seemed. Maybe Michael, Scott and I could have been more proactive with the lyrics. But I really stand behind the songs I signed off on to be on the record. It still won two Dove Awards and charted 3 #1 singles and a #3 single. The press loved the release. The reviews were strong. Many fans liked the departure from our earlier style and we picked up a lot of new fans as well. But there were fans who wished we did not change and that the original line up could have stayed in tact.
David Zaffiro produced your first three albums. As a producer, what did he get out of the band that you chose to use him each time?
Continuity. He is good balancing out all our ideas, desires and influences. David is also great songwriter. He has a great sense of melody, which was a plus in working the lyrics to our music. It always paid of to work with him – a great partnership. So we felt good about that decision.
Your final release was the live album, Encore. It’s great that you were able to have both Steven and Eric on the same stage for the album. Whose idea was this and was it difficult to arrange?
I came up with the idea. I thought to myself, "What could we do one step further than a greatest hits album or a live album. Some loved Eric, some missed Steven, and they had met a few times before when we were recording or touring in Seattle and always hit it off. So why not?" The release is truly one of a kind. To this day you do not see many like it. It was difficult to arrange. My appendix ruptured three weeks before the time we were supposed to play the live concert that we wanted to taped. I was hospitalized for three weeks and spent three months in outpatient recovery. We eventually rescheduled. Terry during that time, opted out to do the show and I could not justify having Jamie included unless it was a full scale reunion. But originally it would have featured Terry and Jamie as well. The whole project taught me so much about every aspect of the recording industry. I am glad I released that project.
What was the mood on stage during the concert? It’s hard to tell while listening to the album.
We were really focused on playing accurately. Also, making sure Steven and Eric were both feeling ok in that setting. Steven really felt back at home it seemed. Eric really supported, that was ok by him as he always had great admiration for Steven. Michael and Scott and I held everything down. And our drummer at the time, Jason, that was his first record! Kind of weird for him, he had never even put out a studio release before.
Though you obviously played the concert last year that will be on the live DVD, have you kept in close contact with the guys from the band over the years? Is anyone still actively playing in other bands?
Yes, Jamie and Michael mostly. Terry is still actively involved as drummer of Neon Cross and worship leader at church Bay Cities Christian Fellowship and he also has a side project called D.O.G. (Disciples of God). Michael has a band called Death and Taxes with Dave Starkey of Neon Cross on bass. Michael and I have a Pink Floyd tribute band called In the Flesh (inthefleshtribute.com). We just finished mixing our debut cd. We posted the tunes on our website. This was a nice project to get us both singing more and has inspired our songwriting more and placed new challenges on our guitar playing and bass playing abilities! I also play bass for a fantastic up coming artist named Brandon Reid (www.brandonreidallen.com). The project also features Troy Luccketta (Tesla) on drums. His debut record also features Damon Johnson (Alice Cooper, Brother Cain) and Mark Bonilla (Sheryl Crow). I expect great thing for Brandon. He is a very talented singer/songwriter. I am also recording a solo project at present (www.andyrobbins.com). Michael Cutting will be collaborating on some of my future tracks. I hired him to produce and engineer our In the Flesh CD.
What does everyone do for a living these days?
Jamie actually is locomotive engineer for Union Pacific. Michael operates sales for his families business. Terry works in real estate. I work within mortgage lending, investing and real estate.
Holy Soldier may actually own the record for the most lead singers for a single Christian heavy metal band.
I would not doubt it. I guess we can put that feather in our hat too!
Looking back, what are your greatest memories with Holy Soldier?
The early years when we were developing the LA Christian Metal scene with Neon Cross, Barron Cross, Deliverance, Guardian, and all the others was a cool time. There was tons of fellowship and mutual support for each other. I loved touring abroad. Japan was great. Both times we were there we were treated like royalty. I met my wife while we toured in Central America. She is from Brazil, but we met in Guatemala when she was visiting her sister who was living there. That is a wonderful memory for me. I also loved it when we played Red Rocks in Colorado with Petra and DC Talk on the Last Train tour. That had to be a touring highlight for the amount of people and enthusiasm from the show. The stage manager denied us an Encore and the fans were chanting Holy Soldier for about 5 minutes after our set ended. Receiving the Dove Awards was a nice experience too. In 1991 was great because we were new to the CCM industry. 1996 for Promise Man just was an affirmation that we still had it.
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Comments
this guys are rocks.
Holy Soldier, of course is not a just rock, is a great christian rock/metal banda that, play the Jesus rock for scene...
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why you guy have to make a pink floyd tribute,i´m worried,are you still christians? don´t get wrong i just want to know ,im not judging you in anyway.
sounds like judging to me.
or more accurately, passive aggressive loaded questions, passing judgment with a question (and an "i'm worried" statement.
