We spoke to Neil Starr, the singer of Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons, who told us what it’s like being the only non-Campbell in the band, what it’s like touring with G N R, and why he’ll play his ukelele again.
MV: First of all can I just say the album is superb – so congratulations on that! You were in Phil’s all-star band, so I guess this was a natural progression for you, or did it not work like that?
Neil: Thanks for the great comment about the album 😀
This band is exactly the same as the all-star band – we literally just changed the band name. We announced the name change at Wacken Festival, which was amazing, and things have been on the up ever since!
How does it feel being the only non-Campbell in the group?!
Haha. Honestly, it’s great! We are all friends first and foremost so it feels like one big family, anyway. I’ve always been made to feel an equal part of the band. They are all really nice guys and a pleasure to tour the world with.
One thing I’ve noticed is the songs on the album didn’t feature on the EP, which is quite unusual. It seems to indicate a band that is brimming with ideas at this stage?
Yeah, it didn’t even cross our minds to use the EP songs on the album to be truthful. Even though they are great songs, we just felt like writing and creating as much new material as possible. We intend to play some EP songs live, of course, so they won’t be forgotten about.
The album doesn’t – and I mean this in the best possible way – sound like I thought it would. Was the hard rock sound a natural thing or something you guys discussed?
All we set out to do was to write the best songs we could. There were no discussions about styles or genres, really, as long as the riff sounded good we worked on it, as long as the melody fitted the song we went with it. There were no rules with the song writing… we were free to create whatever we wanted which is liberating and has helped us create an album we are really proud of.
And finally on the album: does it feel like we are in an “Age Of Absurdity” to you?
We live in crazy times… the world is becoming more and more insane with each year that passes. Don’t get me wrong, I am optimistic about loads of things but living on this Earth blows my mind on a regular basis!
Moving on to touring, you’ve completed shows with Airbourne who are always brilliant, that must have been fun?
What a tour that was! It was a pleasure to share the stage with them and The Wild. Both bands were lovely guys and hopefully it was a great night for the fans, too. Suffice to say we had a blast!
Playing stadiums with GnR too in Europe? How was that?
GnR are an incredible band, as you have said. Getting to watch them every night was a treat in itself! Actually playing with them was some of the most fun I have ever had. There were no nerves, just an overwhelming sense of feeling like one of the luckiest guys in the world. I would say a dream come true, but it was beyond my wildest dreams to play shows like that.
You have just been added to what looks like an incredible Steelhouse bill, but can we look forward to headline shows, what’s the plan there?
Yeah, that’s gonna be a lot of fun! Headline-wise, we are looking at doing UK dates at the end of 2018. We will have some UK support shows to announce very soon so watch this space.
And to finish just a couple of general ones.The album coming out early in the year means you have the whole of 2018 to look forward to, you must be excited at the prospect, what do you hope to have achieved by the end of it all?
Overall, we just can’t wait to play these songs live, play as many countries and continents as we can in 2018, and have a lot of fun along the way. It is certainly an exciting time for us and looks set to be a great year.
And, and as you were such a Youtube hit with your alternate versions a couple of years back, finally…. will you be getting your ukulele out on stage and what’s the next cover?!
Hahahaha. Not sure if the Campbell’s will ever let me do that 😀 . It is a fun instrument to play, though, and I need to make more time to do it. I have written an albums’ worth of songs on the ukulele, so at some point I might actually get to release those!
“The Age Of Absurdity” is released on Friday via Nuclear Blast.
Order the EP here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/phil-campbell-and-the-bastard-sons-ep/id1156839428?app=itunes&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
Line-up:
Phil Campbell – Guitar
Todd Campbell – Guitar
Dane Campbell – Drums
Tyla Campbell – Bass
Neil Starr – Vocals
www.philcampbell.net | www.facebook.com/philcampbellatbs |www.nuclearblast.de/philcampbellandthebastardsons
