Interview with Anthony Nichols of Meliah Rage

Boston based Meliah Rage formed back in 1987 and quickly ended up on Epic records. They released their debut “Kill to survive” in 1988 and stayed on Epic for a few years. In the 1990’s the band went through several line-up changes, but eventually got back to recording. Their latest effort “The deep and dreamless sleep” was released in late 2006. I recently got to check in with guitarist Anthony Nichols and see what they were up to.

MM-Who are your influences?

AN- AC/DC, Metallica, Exodus, Blue Oyster Cult, The original Alice Cooper band, Riot and many others.

MM-This band formed in 1987 and was signed to a major label (CBS/Epic) and released the debut “Kill to survive” the very next year. How is it that Meliah Rage was able to get a major label deal so quickly?

AN-What I was told by our A&R label rep at the time was, he thought we wrote excellent tunes besides playing heavy and fast which was the buzz at the time.

MM-You released “The deep and dreamless sleep” last year. What was the response like to the album?

AN-Most of it was positive. It seems to be our most commercial sounding record which was un-intentional and that turned a few people off.

MM-How did your tour with Metal Church go?

AN-Besides the mid-winter cold in the Rockies it was great. We've toured with them before and they are great guys. I think musicaly the're a perfect fit for us to tour with. We're both not quite speed metal but close.

MM-Any good stories from the road?

AN-I would get people in trouble if I told the good stories!

MM-I have heard you band labeled as speed metal, power metal and just plain metal. Do you label yourselves as being a certain style or does it matter?

AN-Nope....when we came out it was the speed metal craze days.. Metallica, Anthrax, Nuclear Assult, Slayer, Megadeth, Testamnet ect. We had some some speed stuff but most has been mid paced with some thrash thrown in. I would say we're more like Metallica nad Megadeth as far as style goes. Mid to fast!!

MM-What is the biggest crowd you have ever played in front of?

AN-We've had some big shows. Small arena in Germany in 1990, Small arena in Maine in 1996 and we played to a big crowd at The Tweeter Center this past summer as part of the Heaven and Hell show. Mostly club tours over the years though.

MM-Since the band has been around for a while, how old is most of your audience now? Are they the same people who were coming 18 years ago or is it a mix of ages?

AN- A bit of everything. I realized we're getting a bit older when a fan in Cleveland brought his kids wearing Meliah Rage shirts. He had seen us 15 years ealier on another Metal Church tour.

MM-How do you think the metal scene has changed in the last 20 years?

AN-Well the vocals have gotten more aggressive than I think anyone could have imagined 20 years ago!!

MM-How do you think this band has evolved over the years?

AN- Personally I don't think much has changed. We don't go out of our way to do much differently.

MM-Meliah Rage have been around for twenty years now. Where do you see this band being five years from now?

AN-NO IDEA!!

MM-What are you currently working on?

AN-We're working on a new record. It is certainly the fastest record we've ever done. Rich Spillberg (former Wargasm guitarist) is producing it. That is a change from the last 3 records which were produced by Joe Moody. It should be out in the summer of 2008.

MM-Anything else you want to say about your band or your music?

AN-As Joe Perry says...Let the music do the talking!

Thanks to Anthony for doing the interview.

http://www.myspace.com/meliahrage