Meet the people who make Rockfiend 

Hi Everyone

I'm Colin, the man responsible for the creation of Rockfiend all the way back in 86.My own musical journey began in 1984 when I also went to my first gig, 'Adam and the Ants"....don't judge me!

I've always loved Hair and Glam metal, a personal low point was when

Grunge became a scene and did much to destroy a genre so close to my heart, little did we know that all it would do would be to force 

It underground for a time.

I'm happily married to Suzy 'Mrs Rockfiend", she's been the driving

force that's taken Rockfiend from it's humble beginnings with the black and white fanzine to what it is today... a fully multimedia celebration of all things rock and metal.

Oh yes, by the way, Suzy is responsible for expanding my tastes to the heavier darker side of rock.

So, you'll always find me busy doing interviews, shooting live gigs etc, generally I'm working for the one cause which is

'KEEPING ROCK ALIVE'

There you go, I stake my case.

See you all out there soon no doubt.

Now Meet Our Team

Michael is a lover of rock music and has been playing in bands for over 30 years, during which time he toured with Dare, Thunder & Ian Gillan.

Main passions are 80's style Hair Metal and cites his favourite band as Iron Maiden. Favourite guitarists from a long list start with Michael Schenker who was his first guitar hero. Other notable heroes are Adrian Smith and 

Vivian Campbell...both outstanding

guitarists, songwriters and always good to go and watch play. He's met Vivian a few times but still has to catch the elusive Adrian Smith and the Teutonic God.Band photography is his passion and he has recently done shoots with Mason Hill, The King Lot, Anchor Lane & Concrete Kingdoms as well as numerous live gigs.  

You could say that he's into music.

The man behind the lens

Andrew has worked for one of the country’s largest photo agencies covering sport for national newspapers. Since buying Number of the Beast too many years ago he has been a rock and metal fiend and loves nothing more than being in a pit capturing bands on stage.

I had my musical epiphany in the front row of a UFO gig at the Edinburgh Odeon, so 80s rock will always be in my heart; to this day, my wife is disturbed by my enduring man-crush for David Coverdale. I also hitch-hiked my way to the first Monsters of Rock at Donington in 1980.

Now that I’m old and mellow, I’m partial to a bit of yacht rock but AOR / melodic rock is my ’thing’, although you’ll also find me at blues and metal gigs and pretty much anything with long hair and guitars – no acoustic though (worse than drum solos).

I love being part of the Rockfiend team and reviewing CDs and gigs, especially epic weekenders like Winterstorm and Wildfire. My favourite on-the-job interviews so far have been with Jim Peterik, Pete Way and Jeff Scott Soto – all big favourites of mine.

Away from music, I write for Football Weekends magazine and my first book “The Baseball stadium Guide” should be published in 2023.

For me, it all started with Ozzy Osbourne; hearing Crazy Train for the first time (as recommended by my mum) was revelatory and sparked my first real music obsession. From there, I spent my years at secondary school immersed in classic rock. I was the teenager with the band logos plastered over my homework planner and the Iron Maiden badges on my bag, enjoying the feeling of being a bit of an outsider! Over the years my taste has diversified; I love the beautiful vocal harmonies of Fleetwood Mac and Crosby, Stills & Nash, the overblown progressive rock of Marillion and Genesis and the heavy grooves of Clutch and Queens of the Stone Age. 

When I was 15, I went to see Uriah Heep at a small venue in Broadstairs. It was my first experience of live music and the thrill of seeing a band right in front of me at full volume has never diminished. More than 120 shows have followed (I know because I’m the sort of person who keeps a list!) from the mad spectacle of Rammstein at the O2 to the emotionally charged Pearl Jam at Hyde Park. But it’s the gigs spent on the barrier that hold my favourite memories; from watching Gary Moore deal with hecklers, to catching a flying plectrum from Justin Hawkins’ hand or doing my best to catch Rick Parfitt’s eye - these are the moments that stick. 

On the rare occasion I’m not listening to music, I’m probably reading about it, talking about it or playing my guitar (badly!). After telling everyone for years that I’d really like to be a music journalist, I’m so grateful to Rockfiend for welcoming me into the team and giving me the opportunity.

I love all types of music and have adored live performance since I saw Marillion on the Fugazi tour in 1984. Since then, I have seen some great bands in some fantastic places. The stick outs for me have been The Ramones, life changing. Rammstein, the best live band I have ever seen and Stiff Little Fingers, who still bring a 1980’s punk vibe to any show.

I love to support up and coming bands – She Burns Red, Empyre and The Scarlett Rebels being my favourites of the current group of new rock acts making music.

I love a bit of vinyl. Ramones, It's Alive is always a top listen, Rage Against the Machine’s debut still absolutely cuts through and Dookie remains a great listen.

Festivals are a happy place. Download and Ramblin’ Man and Wildfire were top summer tours and Winterstorm and Butlins have kept me going in the colder months.

Supporting grass roots venues are essential to keeping live music going, so I’d rather go to 10 gigs in Bannerman’s, or the like, than one gig with a £100 price tag.

I love a bit of punk as well as quality Scottish pop and soul like Danny Wilson and The Blue Nile.

It's great to be part of the Rockfiend team and have the opportunity to let others know, beyond my close group of mates who are bored hearing from me, what I think of gigs.

See you at a gig real soon!

I had my family to thank for the music introductions, my mother was always spinning Supertramp, Fleetwood Mac & Dire Straits, my Brother brought me in to the Realms of Queen & Genesis.

In the early 80’s as a disillusioned 12-year-old, worrying about their teenage years ahead hearing the opening Riff to Iron Maidens’ ‘The Trooper’ was a pivotal moment, that gallop fuelled, frenzied guitar onslaught had me hooked, I needed and wanted more. I grew my hair, wore the obligatory Biker Jacket, bought Kerrang and listened to the Friday Rock Show and the record collection started to grow.

January 1986 saw my first gig at the Playhouse in Edinburgh, Marillion on the ‘Misplaced Childhood’ Tour, with gigs in abundance throughout the rest of the 80’s in the Playhouse it was a haven for me : Motley Crue, Iron Maiden, Magnum, Scorpions, Kiss and a whole lot more.

Gig going has been a big passion of mine since that first time back in 1986 and have amassed a fair few gigs since then, taking me up and down the UK & Ireland and over to Europe a number of times. There is just something special about Rock/Metal gigs, a lot of it has to do with the people that you meet along the way all sharing a common ground and I still get a buzz before a show no matter how big or small.

I could go on about my Favourite Bands, Guitar Players, Singers. Me playing my first ever gig at the tender age of 40, that’s all for another time over a beer or two.

Delighted to be part of the Rockfiend crew and to be contributing to Keeping Rock Alive. 

Graeme is a lifelong music fan and collector

 who lives and loves music. Of an age to have lived through and savoured the NWOBHM, 80’s hair rock, funk rock and post-grunge, he has a particular love of sleaze rock, classic rock and power pop and describes his musical interests as “any guitar-based music with a melody,

 good lyrics and great vocals”. With diverse

 tastes ranging from The Faces to Hanoi Rocks,

 The Ramones, Tyketto, Dan Reed Network, the classic singer-songwriting of 

Bruce Springsteen, outlaw country and a passion for discovering 

new and emerging rock music, he combines

 this with his love of attending gigs and writing. 

My name is Sam and I was born and live in Derby. I’ve always had a keen passion for writing, literature and journalism. I studied Creative Media Studies at Derby College after leaving school, which is when I also first discovered the underground live music scene. I have played in numerous bands over the years, including Venomous Rose and Molly Karloff. My favourite bands include (but are not limited to) Stop Stop, Avenged Sevenfold, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Crashdïet, Iron Maiden and Slayer.

'From that first time I heard 'Pictured Life' by The Scorpions and 'Whole Lotta Rosie' from ACDC in late 1979, I've been totally engrossed in rock music. Went to my first theatre rock gig at the Apollo in November 1980 to see ACDC and regularly attended that great venue until the last rock gig , Uriah Heep, in June 1985.

So I've over 40 years of going to classic rock and metal gigs, not just in the theatres/arenas/festivals but also pubs/clubs and small iconic rock venues that we all love to go to. I've been lucky enough to see Whitesnake in the Californian desert, Metallica at Metlife stadium in New Jersey at one end of the scale, but equally enjoyed going to see local or emerging bands at the now defunct 'Ochil Hills' in Tillicoultry, 'The Venues' in both Edinburgh and Glasgow, pubs and clubs all over the UK and supporting bands of all types and stature where I can. 

I've been organising and promoting gigs in my home town of Alva since 2014, bringing to our community members from some of the UK’s biggest rock bands such as  Whitesnake, Bad Co, SAHB, Wishbone Ash, Thunder etc and from the US Dan Baird and Warner E Hodges. I also also work closely with local band Stormchaser who are well known on the Scottish rock scene.

All through the 1980's to 2022 I've been buying the vinyl, cassettes,cds and some vinyl again. I'm always on the lookout for that great new band that catches your ear the first time you hear them and it draws you in to follow their careers such as current favs Dirty Honey,The Dust Coda, Heavy Feather.

I've also been doing a weekly two hour rock show on radio for the last couple of years, playing the family favourites, the new material and everything else in between. As part of the show I've interviewed live on air: Bernie Marsden,Jim Kirkpatrick, Joel Hoekstra, Micky Moody, Robb Weir and many others.

Writing reviews of a bands new material or reviewing a recent live gig is something new to me over the last year or so and love doing it. I always think back to patiently waiting at home in the mid 80's every Thursday for 'Sounds' or 'Kerrang' to drop through the door to read what Malcolm Dome, Geoff Barton were saying about what was coming my way.

Rockfiend has given me the chance to share my views on new music or gigs with you and I'm grateful for the chance.

In summary fiends, 'Kevin McCallum=Rock Fan' so keep on rocking!!

Kev

I grew up in a home full of music. It was 60s and there was a heady brew of genres and artists reaching my young ears. My mum was a pop fan. She loved the Beatles, Gene Pitney, Tommy Steele, anything she could dance too. My dad’s taste ran more to the cabaret end of things, his favourite singer being Shirley Bassey.

For much of my early years I would be looked after by my gran at my god mother’s house. Whilst there I heard an even more eclectic mix. There was classical music and James Last from my Godmother. My gran would listen to the home service, brass bands, religious music.

More importantly my god mum had a son. Nine years older than me he introduced me to the joys of trying to hear Radio Luxemburg at night, the top 20 on the radio and his own tastes in music as a teenager in the crossover between the 60s and the 70s. He listened to the Moody Blues, Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, Melanie, Deep Purple, the Stones, and others.

By the time glam had hit the scene and this was where I first started to pick out the bands that I liked for myself. First among them were Mud, Slade, then Queen. By the late 70s I was deeply into both prog rock and punk. I wasn’t ready to kill of Johnny Rotten’s dinosaurs just yet. New bands were emerging at this time that would become lifelong cornerstones of my musical pyramid. Kate Bush emerged; Rush broke through, I loved then, and now, the Stranglers, Pretenders, Boomtown Rats, Ramones, Talking Heads, Blondie, the Clash. It’s one of my musical regrets that I never got to a gig at CBGB’s.

Then along came the NWOBHM.

My leanings have always been towards good melodies and lyrics so Saxon, Def Leppard, Whitesnake, UFO and others entered the mix.

I also started going to gigs at this time. I saw Fleetwood Mac out of their heads on the Tusk tour, Paul McCartney and Wings, 10CC, Mike Oldfield, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath (with Dio), Marillion, Status Quo (again and again), The Pretenders, Simple Minds, Ultravox, UFO, Saxon several times, Iron Maiden, the Police, Sad Café, Magnum and more that I can’t remember. I even saw Duran Duran at the height of their fame. In my defence I was working that as I was a steward at Wembley.

As hair metal came and went, I found myself loving some of those bands too, Jovi, Poison, Cinderella, Winger, Europe all added to the pyramid of sound. I started to branch out too at this time. Investing time in finding out the roots of things I liked and began to listen to blues and country music.

The 90s did very little to excite me, the odd track by Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden made the mix. Classic bands still came through the Black Crowes, Thunder, Little Angels leap to mind.

That’s the foundation. I love music. It would be remiss not to say that there are many non-rock artists among my favourites from way back and right now; ABBA, Barenaked Ladies, Squeeze, Donna Summer. I love classic 60s and 70s R&B, Soul, Northern Soul, Ska, Americana, Roots.

I’m excited by the wealth of talented new bands coming up now too; Larkin Poe, When Rivers Meet, Collateral, Halestorm, Dorothy, Elles Bailey, Rival Sons, Austin Gold, Massive Wagons, The Blackheart Orchestra, Goodbye June, and Tyler Bryant & the Shakedown to name a few.

This is the tip of my musical pyramid. It keeps adding bricks. A lot of the bands mentioned in the last paragraph I’ve discovered through my time with Rockfiend through other people’s reviews and / or endorsements. It’s exciting to be part of it. I never thought I would write music reviews let alone

interview a band. Now I’ve done both and enjoyed every minute because Rockfiend gave me that chance. Hopefully they’ll be many more to come.

Like I said, it’s eclectic. If there’s a song out there that says it all more succinctly than I have here, it’s John Miles Music:

Music was my first love

And it will be my last

Music of the future

And music of the past

To live without my music

Would be impossible to do

In this world of troubles

My music pulls me through

My first love of music came as a a toddler during the Glam Rock era.  I was immediately drawn to Slade, T.Rex,  The Sweet,  Queen, Mott The Hoople, etc.   The combination of amazing music,  colourful presentation and charismatic performances had me mesmerised.  I still love them all now, and over the years have added many other artists of differing styles along the way.  I never confine my tastes; if the music moves me, then that's enough.   My gig-going started during the early 1980's, and I have now attended over 2,000 concerts.   I have had the good fortune to meet most of the musicians I admire.  It means a lot simply to say "Thanks."

I've always lived in Kent (Gateway to Sussex), not always the most chosen county for rock gigs.   We have had a fair few over the years, though.  On the other hand, the weather in this part of the country is near-tropical, and The Rolling Stones come from here.   Game, set and match.

It's often said that music is a healing force.  I echo that sentiment thoroughly.  

I'd like to sincerely thank Colin and Laura for introducing me to the publication.  It's a kindness that won't be forgotten.    

PS:- Kent is only "near-Tropical" due to the fact that it rains a lo

Hey y'all.

I'm Todd.. Family man, bicycle mechanic, lead guitarist in Collateral & now a FIEEEEEEND!!!! I love meeting new people on & off stage, digging in & getting the job done, whatever it may be!

I've been a Rock lover from an early age spinning my dad's Deep Purple & Thin Lizzy records as a nipper. Started playing guitar around 10 years old trying to follow in my brother (best guitarist in the family) Buster's footsteps! Big 80s Rock fan but the last 5 years I've been all over the heavy southern sounds of Black Stone Cherry, Cadillac 3 & Blackberry Smoke!

You will find me driving up & down the country and beyond with Collateral, (playing at a venue near you sooooon) at my little bicycle shop in Maidstone or on a late night video call with Mr Rockfiend himself.

Be humble, Be happy & Rock Steady!

I’ve been a music lover since a young age, being into a few different genres before discovering rock in the early eighties. My first gig was a cracker,  Donington 1984, and I’ve been an avid gig goer ever since. Influenced by early favourites like Cozy Powell, Iain Paice, Neil Peart, Tommy Lee and Alex Van Halen, I taught myself to drum. I’ve been lucky to play in bands of various styles, pretty much continually since my teens, and to visit lots of places I otherwise wouldn’t have seen. Loving that rock has made a real comeback, with lots of exciting new bands to check out. I’m delighted to become part of the  Rockfiend team.

The first single I bought was 'Can I Play With Madness' by Iron Maiden in 1988, its been downhill ever since. Then i was introduced to Slayer, and that was it... I NEEDED HEAVIER & FASTER!

So now I listen to everything from rock, hair, glam and Disney rock (it just disnae rock) to heavy metal, thrash metal, death metal, black metal and grind core, the heavier and faster the better. 

My first ever gig was Metallica in 1990 at the S.E.C.C and I was hooked, going to gigs all the time, meeting bands such as Pantera and of course my all time favourite SLAYER.

I have a love for music from mellow to face melting metal.

I'm the newest member of the Rockfiend family, I'm looking forward to knocking you out in the pit.

KEEP IT METAL 🤘

Writer