“It’s been great, really well,” gushed Saxon vocalist and founding member Biff Byford on the response to their latest and 22nd album Thunderbolt. “It’s always a surprise when albums take off. Number Five in Germany, Top 40 in England and in the Top 10 around Europe… It’s our biggest selling album since 1986 somebody said.”
After more than two dozen albums Saxon have pretty much nailed the process, with Biff agreeing that in order to create a body of work that appeals to your fans, you first have to be true to your own beliefs.
“We always make music for ourselves first,” he nodded. “I think that’s the key, to make music that you like and hope other people do as well. I think when you’ve got 22 albums you know what to do if you know what I mean (laughs). We’re always looking for something that’s not predictable and pushing the envelope a little bit.”
With such a prolific output over a 40 year plus career, Biff says the biggest challenge when coming up with new music comes more from within rather than sheer output and believes a band is restricted only by the limitations they place on themselves.
“It’s always hard to come up with things that are not… it’s really easy for old bands to lay back and do a few blues tracks and sort of sit back on their hips,” he said, “but Saxon aren’t one of those bands. We try very hard and I’m always looking for ideas to write about.”
Tune in to the audio for his expanded replies to these questions and find out about Saxon’s first ever tour with Motorhead, Biff’s thoughts on the music world that Saxon entered and created, as well as the bands secret to over 40 years of survival plus a potential Australian tour and the truth behind why the band became Saxon, not the original Son of a Bitch.
