LIZZY BORDEN INTERVIEW

THE MAN WITH THE AXE IS BACK !!!
Yup - Lizzy Borden, the crazy dude from the eighties US-metal scene with the curly blond hair, clad in blood dripping clothes and wailing an axe, has resurrected after 10+ years of silence. Lizzy Borden had his great moments in the mid eighties with such classic metal albums as "Give 'Em The Axe", "Terror Rising", "Love You To Pieces" and my personal favorite, "Menace To Society". Unfortunately it all came to a stop at the end of that decade, when Lizzy's solo album "Master Of Disguise" didn't find it's place amongst many other people than the loyal fans although it was aimed at commercial success and accompanied by video singles, and the master of high-pitch screaming decided to call it a day … now 10 years later he is back with another awesome release, "Deal With The Devil", and in order to find out what made the band get together again, we made our own deal with the devil…;

Interview by Claus Jensen

"Hi there, this is Lizzy Borden. How are you doing?"

Fine thanks, and you … ehhhh … Lizzy ?

"Really good … damn, it's nice being back again!"

Please start by telling me a bit about the reason for the band to stop playing, why you're back together and how that feels…

"Well, to start with your last question first, then it feels exactly like we never left. You see, when we released the "Master of Disguise" album in '90 we did a lot of promotion for it, which also involved a lot of touring, and actually we didn't stopped touring that album until '92. When we got to the point that the tours were over, it also felt as there was no burning desire to keep this thing going, and we just ended it right there."

Which was a sad thing for a lot of the fans (like myself), who thought "Master Of Disguise" was one of the best albums you did. So, what made you decide to get the guys back together?

"Up through the 90's Brian Slagel of Metal Blade kept on asking me to reform Lizzy Borden, and at one point I just got so tired of him pushing me that I thought it was best to just do it, hahaha. No seriously, I knew there were a lot of fans out there who missed the band, and from Brian Slagel I also knew that there was label interest, so when I felt for it myself, I decided to give it another shot, and here I am."

You are probably well aware of the fact that the metal scene has changed a lot over the last decade, so I guess you don't really need any kind of warning, but you know that even though Lizzy Borden was a huge act in the "old" days, you can't expect to sell that kind of amount of albums nowadays…?

"Sure, I know what you mean … the market has changed drastically since then, and I am well aware of that. However I am here because I am enjoying myself and I am having a lot of fun. If I didn't enjoy it I wouldn't be doing it. I am making records that I like myself, and that's the most important thing … the reaction from the fans matter to me as well, but the money/business side of things I really don't care for."

…well, from what I have heard the "Master Of Disguise" album (recorded back in '89, released in '90) was a shot at getting the band to be a commercial hit, with it's very melodic, pop-like songs and it's huge production. Actually, "Master…" was meant as your solo album, (although with the Lizzy Borden band playing on it..) which was shown through the cover artwork and the logo… any reference to the new CD and it's cover-artwork/logo..?

"The "Master…" album had a painted cover which was the first time I ever did that, whereas all the "band" releases had photographs used for cover. Besides I decided to ignore the typical "Lizzy Borden" logotypes for that CD release, and instead just go with a simple type of logo. On the all new CD, "Deal With The Devil", we've once again used the old logo, but we are also featuring a painted artwork. This is symbolizing that the new album is a "band" thing, but that I have a lot of my personal input in it as well."

The artwork has been done by the great artist Todd McFarlane (a/o. Iced Earth, Korn, "Spawn"-comics, "Spiderman"-comics)…

"Yes, apparently Todd was a longtime Lizzy Borden fan, and he actually discussed doing the artwork with Metal Blade before I even knew about it. So, I passed onto him all my ideas and the title of the album, and he came up with the art you see on the album. At first I wasn't really into it, 'cause I thought it was only a preliminary sketch of the final cover, but when Todd explained the whole idea behind it I more and more liked it. I think it's highly original."

What is the idea behind it ..?

"Hehe, I'm not gonna tell you. Everybody will have to make up their own minds about it. If you see something in it, then the next guy might see something else. Basically, I'll say that it's an artistic view on the "Deal with the Devil"" title…"

Which of the new songs is your favorite ?

"That's really difficult to say, as I of course love 'em all, but I'd go with "There Will Be Blood Tonight" as it's the one song that we finished writing the last - it's brand new. "We Only Come Out At Night" and "Lovin' You Is Murder" is actually songs all the way back from the eighties."

Is there some sort of concept to the album - lyric wise..?

"Sort of, yeah… Using the Devil as an icon, I've tried to portrait the human nature - the good and especially the bad sides to humans. Some of the songs are really personal, such as "Zanzibar" which is my own personal Sodom and Gomorrah."

I, (Claus), couldn't help but ask Lizzy about the song "Hell Is For Heroes" which in my opinion sounds like a TOTAL rip-off from Twisted Sister's "Love Is For Suckers" … we discussed this subject heavily, and Lizzy of course stood his ground and claimed that he never had stolen that song - well, that might be true, but I wouldn't count on it *S*

Okay, moving on … I heard a story about you getting held up in the German customs last year…?

"Yes, that's a funny story … we played our reunion gig at BANG YOUR HEAD FESTIVAL in Germany, and after the concert we went out for a wild night on town … huge party, lots of beers and all! So, the next day we had to go home to USA and of course I had a huge hangover. I had to pack my stuff really quick, which meant that I just threw all of my stage outfit into the suitcases. When we got to the airport and I walked through the customs, they noticed on the X-Ray that there was an axe in my suitcase. When the young girl opened up the suitcase she saw all the raw bodyparts covered in blood and the axe which was bloody as well, and she started screaming. They interrogated me for hours until they finally realized that I was only a musician with a lot of stage props with me."

Wow, what a cool story *S* When can we expect to see your show on tour over here?

"I really don't know. We've never toured Europe - only played a couple of festivals. But we're currently trying to set up a huge tour for the US, a "package tour" with a couple of other great bands. We don't care if we are headliners or support act - as long as we are out there having fun. We are going to play ½ of the old material and ½ of the new stuff, so to satisfy all the fans. And we are definitely hoping to bring the tour over to Europe as soon as it's possible."

Great! Well, before we finish off this interview I just want to thank you for something pretty special .. you have had a huge impact on my life in more than one sense - actually you've given me A LOT of sex!!!! You see, I had this girlfriend once who really loved your albums as well, and we've been listening to "Menace To Society" countless times while having sex - especially songs like "Ursa Minor" and "Love Kills" are perfect songs to have sex to. So, thank you !!!

"Haha haha haha haha haha, that is by far the biggest compliment you could ever give me, haha."

And so my little chat with the devil ended - perhaps I'm ready to make another deal with him…