Steeltrooper interview

So earlier this evenig I got the chance to call up Owen Hill and talk to him about his band Steeltrooper and the stuff they've been doing lately. 

Be sure to check out their facebook HERE

And help get them on Total Biker FM radio by voting HERE

So what's been going on in the world of Steeltrooper?

Its been crazy man! It's been busy then quiet busy then quiet back and forth. The highlight for this summer was O2 Academy and the Scott's Presents gig that was kind of our highlight right there. We've been writing a lot of new stuff as well so we've been really heavy on that. I think the main thing is what we're doing at the moment this Total Biker FM this battle of the bands voting system after we got played their on Sunday. It's really intense at the moment we keep going from first to second, first to second and we've got until midnight. It's been crazy. Otherwise we've been getting the newer stuff done we've got some charity gigs to do as well. So thats pretty much it!

About the O2 gig, what was it like to play on the same stage as Black Sabbath?

(Laughs) It wasn't the exact same stage but the same venue. It was the O2 Academy 3, whereas they played the bigger one. But the fact that it was the O2 academy in general, it always attracts certain clientele and a lot of good bands have even played the O2 Academy 3, the smaller stage. But it kind of felt exclusive it was like “Wow” with the backstage pass scenario and the dress rehearsal. It was like “Wow we actually feel really cool right now”. Also because the crowd was so good as well. It was such a good turn out. We had a few issues here and there technically, but the fans didn't seem to care. We just put on the best gig we had ever played, it was just so unreal! The gig of our lives that one!

Excellent, what's the future looking like right now for Steeltrooper? When can we expect new stuff?

Well, we're working on it right now. We're doing them as a series of singles for now and we're trying to materialise an album in the near future. We just want to get the full publicity on all the songs really. Some of them are completed and where in the setlists for the O2 Academy and also Stafford Castle. We started putting in Reaper Ride and Eyes of Destruction they're the ones that we've completed. We've still got three more which you'll find out about soon. First we've got our cover of Don't You want Me Baby, we put that in sets as well, like at RockAid. Expect stuff pretty soon 2 of which are complete 3 of which are still to come. So watch this space guys!

When you say the songs are done, are they properly mixed?

Actually no, we're up to the recording stage but it going to be quite quick. It won't take so long because they're already done. We've put them in the live sets. So it shouldn't be too long before they're completed. In terms of recording them it will be quite quick. The other three we haven't finished righting yet. I'm getting my tracks down for Reaper Ride and Eyes of Destruction. So the recording process will start pretty soon I would suspect.

So Steeltrooper kind of hit a milestone with all the new Facebook fans. First of all how did you get 100 likes in 24 hours, and how did it feel to hit 1000 after so long?

That was impressive, like we went from 900 to 1000 in a day! What it was, because we've been doing well with merch and gigs and everything we finally had enough money to do Facebook advertisements. So, any bands listening right now, when contemplating Facebook adverts GO FOR IT seriously. Thats what it was, we gathered enough money to put an advert out through Facebook and my god I didn't realize it was going to be that good! I think the plugging the songs and working with other bands and rock and metal groups on Facebook. I think the RockAid show helped as well. But with the combination of those two, if other bands are looking at that, definitely do that!

The other Birmingham band that did that is Piston, they went from 500 to 3000 fans in 3 weeks!

Yeah, we are in contact with them. They suggested it to us and I can see why it works! They're pretty good guys to listen too, pretty good people in general. For those guys it worked just as well, I hope they tickle your fancy!

Thats all I have for today, I hope its enough for the final push.

Yeah, we don't have long now, only until midnight. I'm going to be online all night until the last few hours as much as I can trying to get the votes up. Its really intense right now. Unfortunately they won back the lead which is crazy because at one point we were in the lead. Its going back and forth, we need to close that gap!