[Quazi Washboard]

Originally Posted by shakermaker

best of luck to your own band and i only hope that you are doing the mighty sabbath justice!
just one question, wouldnt you ever like to play some of your own material?
i know if i was in a tribute band i would be extremely agitated at not playing my own stuff!

I've played in loads of bands that do original material including Pickaxe (1983-1986) Filth Patrol (1986-1990) Russia (1990- 1992) Clockwork Zombie (1994-1997) and Darkside (1998-2001) I've even written, recorded and released two original solo albums under the name of Mr Phix.
Slack Babbath was originaly just ment as a bit of a laugh among old friends but it took off and we ended up playing every week all over the country and gained the reputation of being the most authentic sounding Sabbath tribute in the UK. Last year we decided to have a break for a while and the first thing I did then was put an original band together with our bass player called Phi.
Our drummer is currently playing for an original punk band called The Monday Club and our bass player is in an original metal band called Endometrium (who are supporting us at The Carlton in Burnley on Thurs. 29th Dec.) We all have our little side projects that satisfies our desires to create new music but I think the main reason any of us in Slack Babbath play in a tribute band is because it's quite simply the most fun any of us have ever had in a band.
Playing in a Sabbath tribute is actually musicaly very rewarding because a hell of a lot of the material is quite challenging, but the best bit for me is the audiences we get. Most of them are die hard Sabbath fans and believe me, if you screw it up in front of them, they'll let you know about it. (Y'see, it's not just as easy as playing a bunch of cover versions of someone's songs, most bands that do cover songs will do them in their own style, that they find naturally easy to play and everyone says that it's "artistic licence" but you don't get that luxury with a tribute band. It HAS to sound as close to the original as possible which is a lot harder than you'd think.) Occasionally we get someone saying to us "Y'know, I've never really been into Sabbath that much before, but I think I might go and buy a couple of their albums now." or even "I haven't heard some of those songs for years, I think I'll go and dig some Sabbath albums out of my collection and give 'em a good listening to" (That last one was a quote from Andy Turner who does the Rock Show on 2BR Radio on Sunday nights) but the one that makes it all worthwhile for me is when someone says "Thanks! that was one of the best nights out I've had in ages."