Interview with Nige Rockett of Onslaught

I recently interviewed guitarist Nige Rockett of Onslaught. UK thrash act Onslaught released three albums in the 1980's and then broke up in 1990. They reformed two years ago and released a reunion album earlier this year. So I got to check in with Nige and find out how the reunion came about and everything is progressing.



MM-What has been the response to your “Killing Peace” album?

NR-THE RESPONSE TO ‘KILLING PEACE’ HAS BEEN TOTALLY AWESOME, WE COULDN’T HAVE DREAMED FOR A BETTER REACTION… THE FANS AND PRESS ALIKE HAVE REALLY WELCOMED US BACK AND WE CAN’T THANK EVERYONE ENOUGH FOR THAT.

MM-How did the idea for a reunion come about and how has the tour gone so far?

NR-STEVE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REFORMATION OF THE BAND, HE CO-ORDINATED THE WHOLE THING AFTER INDIVIDUAL DISCUSSIONS WITH ALL THE BAND MEMBERS. HE HAD SEEN THAT THE FIRST 2 ALBUMS ‘POWER FROM HELL’ AND ‘THE FORCE’ HAD BEEN RE-RELEASED AND THEY WERE DOING WELL, SO IT WAS CLEAR THERE WAS STILL INTEREST AND A DEMAND FOR ONSLAUGHT IN 2007.. WE FELT WE HAD SOME UNFINISHED BUSINESS TO TAKE CARE OF, SO HERE WE ARE….
THE LIVE SIDE OF THINGS IS UNBELIEVABLE, THE SHOWS ARE REALLY KICKING, GREAT CROWDS, GREAT REACTIONS AND WE’RE ENJOYING IT MORE THAN EVER…

MM-In the 1980’s you did three albums and had three different singers. Why did you pick Sy Keeler as the singer for the reunion album?

NR-BECAUSE SY IS 'THE’ ONSLAUGHT’ VOCALIST… EVERYONE CONSIDERS IT THAT WAY… THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO ONSLAUGHT IN 2007 IF SY WASN’T IN THE BAND, IT WOULD NEVER HAVE WORKED…. MO MAHONEY WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO DELIVER THE WHOLE ONSLAUGHT CATALOGUE AND NEITHER WOULD STEVE GRIMMETT… WE WANTED THE BEST MAN BACK AT THE FRONT OF THE BAND..



MM-The band broke up in 1990 and reformed not long ago. Did any of you see each other or keep in touch during that time?

NR-WE WERE IN TOUCH WITH EACH OTHER ON DIFFERENT LEVELS AFTER WE SPLIT, I KEPT IN TOUCH WITH STEVE SOCIALLY, WHEREAS STEVE WAS IN TOUCH WITH SY ON A BUSINESS BASIS AND JIM AS A FRIEND, SO WE ALL KINDA KNEW WHAT EACH OTHER WAS STILL DOING…




MM-What was the British metal scene like in the mid to late 1980’s as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal was fading away?

NR-CRAZY… THRASH METAL KICKED IN IN A BIG WAY, THE SCENE WAS ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE AT THE TIME AND THE GIGS WERE JUST INSANE… WE’RE REAL PROUD TO BE A PART OF ALL THAT… AND NOW I SEE IT ALL COMING BACK AROUND AGAIN… THERE’S A LOT OF SIMILAR ATTITUDES GOING ON BETWEEN THE FANS AND THE BANDS..


MM-There were a lot of speed metal bands in the United States and in Germany in the mid to late 1980’s, but there didn’t seem to be as many in England. Is that accurate and if so why do you think that was?

NR-YEAH, THAT’S FAIR TO SAY… EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS A HUGE SCENE HERE FAN-WISE, THERE WASN’T MANY GOOD BANDS.. I REALLY DON’T KNOW THE ANSWER TO WHY THAT WAS , BUT THE KIDS AT THE TIME DIDN’T SEEM TO WANNA PLAY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, EVERYONE JUST WANTED TO WATCH BANDS, STAGE DIVE AND GET DRUNK…



MM-In say 1985-1986 there was just speed metal or thrash. Now we have so many more sub-genres like doom metal, black metal, death metal and others. What do you about the different sounds that exist in today’s metal scene and have any newer treands had an influence on your new music?

NR-I DON’T REALLY LIKE THE GENRE / SUB GENRE THING, IF ITS HEAVY AND AGGRESSIVE THEN ITS COOL, WHETHER IT BE ‘THRASH, DEATH, BLACK OR WHATEVER METAL, THE ORIGIN IS STILL THE SAME ITS ALL DERIVED FROM ‘THRASH METAL’..!!!! NONE OF THE NEWER STUFF REALLY DOES IT FOR ME, I TRY TO STAY CLEAR OF MODERN INFLUENCES, I WOULDN’T WANT IT TO SUBCONSCIOUSLY CHANGE THE STYLE OF ONSLAUGHT IN ANY WAY….

MM-What does the future hold for Onslaught?

NR-WE’RE GONNA BE TOURING RIGHT THROUGH UNTIL NEXT SUMMER IN SUPPORT OF THE ‘KILLING PEACE’ ALBUM….. WE HAVE MANY MANY SHOWS IN THE PIPELINE, WHICH IS AWESOME…ALSO, WE ARE WORKING ON NEW SONGS RIGHT NOW FOR THE NEXT ALBUM, WHICH WE’RE GONNA BE LOOKING TO RECORD SOMETIME AFTER THE FESTIVALS NEXT YEAR….. ITS SOUNDING REAL HEAVY AND FUCKIN AGGRESSIVE…

Thanks to Nige for doing this interview and providing me with the photos.
Check out the link below for more information on Onslaught.
Myspace