Interview by Mark Lacey
2024 proved to be a landmark year for Sons of Liberty. They celebrated their 10th anniversary, their 250th show, and also cemented their third singer, Russ Grimmett into the fold. The changing of the vocal guard finally concluded a period of uncertainty for the band – and enabled the finish, and release of an album that came with an extended gestation period. ‘The Devil is in the Detail’ may now be almost a year old, but it continues to turn heads, bringing a renewed sound and energy to the group. Sons of Liberty return to the stage in March, with dates throughout the UK, and fans are embracing the opportunity to get up close and personal.
GM: It seems like only a short while ago we were talking about Rob Walker, who had stepped in to replace your original singer, but just as he was catching his stride, he’d moved on. You were in the throes of preparing a new album at that time, so what prompted that change?
Andy: Rob Walker saved our arse when Rob Cooksley left. We had so much in the diary, and had a new album under preparation. Rob Walker was in his own band ‘Yesterday’s Gone’. So, there was always the thought of, what’s going to happen? He saved our bacon, really, and got us to a point where we could fulfil the gig commitments that we had. But it became clear that it was never going to be the perfect long-term solution. Rob lived in Sheffield and we’re in Bristol. So, actually working on the new songs was when it became clear that it was going to be hard to move forward. The odd rehearsal the night before a run of three gigs or something like that, that was no problem. But the new songs just stagnated. We’d been in the studio. Freddie, God bless him, had really kept us ticking over from a songwriting perspective. Almost 100 % of the last album is down to Freddie’s songwriting contributions. We kept on banging stuff in, things that he’d recorded and sang himself at home, with melodies and lyrics. But we were still stuck. We didn’t really know how it was ever going to get finished. And then Pete Newdeck came to the rescue. He’d driven us on the Molly Hatchet tour that we did with Rob. We had a couple of discussions, and he said I’ve got a couple of ideas of people who might be interested in helping you move forward, and Russ was one of those. We’d already properly recorded. Everything was ready, just lacking vocals. So, we pinged Russ over a couple of tracks on email one afternoon, and a couple of hours later, a return email comes back, and here’s these two songs with this amazing singing on it. So, it was clearly going to work.
Russ’ first gig was an amazing show. We played Show Bike Aquitaine, which is like the French Hell’s Angels rock festival get-together down in South West France. We had a 90-minute slot on a stage, probably as big as you’ll see at Download, with huge screens either side and a massive walkway going out into the crowd with landing lights on it and all sorts of stuff. We were super nervous because it was Russ’s first gig. We managed to do a couple of rehearsals, but having to learn 90 minutes for the very first gig was a massive challenge. But we eased into it quite easily. I think Russ worked out what we did live, and it was like the Red Arrows sometimes with Mark and myself and Freddie running around this massive stage. And from there it’s gone gangbusters, really. We got to finish the album. By then we’d missed our production window for the vinyl and it just turned into a series of further delays. I think it was about this time last year, boxes of our CD and vinyl started arriving from our production company in Plymouth, and we were ready to launch the release and go out and do the first gigs with the product to sell at the same time. And that was the ‘Detail is in the devil’ album.
MGM: It sounds like you started writing the songs for that new album whilst Rob Walker was still in the band?
Andy: Actually, we started writing those songs when Rob Cooksley was still in the band. Some of those songs were already nearly three years old by the time we even got into the studio. The music, the vocal melody, the lyric contributions that Rob had made to a few of the songs by then; all that got completely parked. I think Rob in his own band, Grey Fox Conspiracy, has re-used a couple of those things himself. I certainly recognise a couple of the song titles anyway, but we went back to the start. The riffs and the guitar parts, generally speaking, stayed the same on a couple. But yeah, it did feel as though this time last year, when we eventually got the album out, it was such a relief because we’d been working on it for such a long time. There were a few times along the way when we thought it’s just never going to make it. We’d invested massively in pulling a few things together, and the plans for gigging in support of the release to generate a few quid to pay for the next bit of the recording. All that all got kicked into touch. It was an interesting time, and Freddie really kept us on point during that time, doing a massive amount on his own to get stuff finished. We had about 20 songs in the end and we went into pre-production with Josiah and narrowed it down to 13 that actually got recorded. The tracks that didn’t make the album, were put out on an EP at the end of last year for what was our 10-year anniversary.
MGM: Russ is your third singer in 10 years. You had an established thing going with Rob Cooksley, and then it came to an end after your Aces & Eights album. There must have been a time after that where you thought, what’s going to happen next? And is the band going to continue? You’d built quite a lot of momentum at that point.
Andy: Yeah, I think it would have been really easy to walk away at that point, and we’d have wasted all that time and effort. But actually, Rob Walker stepping in and learning the set and coming out and helping us gig and fulfil diary commitments was a godsend, really. And that energised us into thinking about finishing the songs. It was only the fact that we never really managed to progress the songwriting side of things with Rob Walker, and that left us a bit stuck and not really knowing what to do next. So, there was probably more than one occasion where we sat in the hotel room in the evening and thought the plan that we had has now gone out of the window. What the hell do we do now?
MGM: The band has obviously morphed as it transitioned between singers. You’ve still got that central spine of your playing and Fred’s writing, but how have you had to adapt the band through those changes?
Andy: If you look at the progression from the first EP, second EP, first album, second album, there were steps along the way with each of those recordings in style and a bit of confidence in terms of what we were doing. But what we’d written for the latest album was already sounding different. So, it was never going to be the same. I don’t think we were ever going to do “Aces & Eights 2” and just come out with something very similar. But, Russ galvanized that massively. He’s got a different set of influences. He’s obviously a bit younger than the rest of us, and so he draws on some different rock backgrounds to bring to the table. And his actual singing style is a bit smoother, a little bit more melodic, maybe. Straight away, that opened up some doors in terms of things that we were thinking about. Some of the demo recordings for the album started off with Fred singing, and maybe half of them with me singing on them as well. With the final version, you can really see the evolution of how that come together. Pete Newdeck contributed massively to that as well because he’s a producer and mixer in his own right, too, and did a lot of work with Russ on the demos before we went in to do the final sessions. It was quite an interesting journey, getting to the point of having the album together. Obviously, it’s a massive change from ‘Animism’ to the latest album.
MGM: It’s great to see that the songs from ‘Animism’ still play an important part in your love shows though.
Andy: Yeah, there’s still a couple of tracks off of Animism. We’re gigging over the next few months, for the next leg of the 10-year celebration tour. There are still two songs from that album in the set; they’re cool songs that have stood the test of time, if you like.
MGM: You mentioned that one of the challenges working with Rob Walker was that he lived so far away from the rest of you in Sheffield. Presumably Russ is a local boy to you?
Andy: He’s from Tewkesbury, just 40 miles up the M5. It’s still not ideal because we were used to being predominantly Bristol-based and being within easy striking distance. A few of the sessions and stuff take a little bit more thinking about. But, Russ has got access to some good studio facilities and a rehearsal facility that he’s helping to run in Tewkesbury. So, there’s a whole load of things which really contributed to trying to pull things together that had previously been really difficult to manage.
MGM: Are you a band that likes to write together? Fred is the main songwriter, and he’s held that element together throughout. But are you a band that spark off each other in that live environment?
Andy: We’re quite old-school in pretty much everything we do. Even now, Freddie still does a whole load of work on guitar parts and riffs and chord structures, and he’ll ping over downloads on WhatsApp. That’s normally where everything starts. But from there, it’s definitely more of a collaboration. There’s new stuff that Freddie’s worked on more recently. Russ has done some work on that, too, and that was a face to face get together. But, I don’t think any of it really comes alive until the four of us are in my living room and bash it out. Once we’ve got some ideas, we can go with the drums to the rehearsal studio and actually work something up together. That’s when you start to find out if things are working or not, when you actually put it in a room with all of us playing it at the same time.
MGM: It seems like the old school way is quite rare these days, and that also seems to be translating into the live environment, with bands increasingly reliant on the technology to write, record, and even perform on stage.
Andy: We just played Planet Rock’s Winters End a couple of weekends ago, which was really cool. But so many bands are turning up with no backline of any kind. Literally all you’ve got is a computer and a bunch of kit in a rack, and they’re plugging in, and they’re getting their monitors from that, too. Maybe it helps with flying to a gig, like the guys from H.E.A.T coming over. They played on the Sunday night. But even the White Raven Down who were on the same day as us had no backline on stage. It’s just drums acoustically. So, it’s all in your ears. I haven’t even got to the point where I can do the in-ear monitor thing. I actually like the air moving behind the sound of the guitar coming out of the amplification.
MGM: You and Freddie have a great dynamic between you as the two guitarists in the band. You’re both accomplished lead players, so how did you manage those responsibilities between you?
Andy: Freddie is definitely the lead man. In the set now, I don’t play any lead parts at all anymore. For the Winter’s End set, I didn’t even need to bring any pedals. It was literally just my guitar and amp, and we only had a 30-minute set. For those songs, pretty much the one sound from the amp and what I can do from the guitar was enough. Me, Mark, and Steve, bass and drums, it was definitely the foundation of the band, then anything a bit more complicated; Freddie’s pulling that off for sure.
MGM: Sons of Liberty will be touring throughout the next few months, based on that tried and tested model of doing three or four dates in a row to catch the weekend audiences. You’re playing in some interesting places, and I see you’re doing an acoustic thing in Glasgow’s HMV whilst you’re there too. That looks different.
Andy: We did that on the last run in Scotland too. I think that would have been in Spring last year. HMV Glasgow have got the most incredible setup in the basement with a really lovely stage, cool PA, a few little lights and stuff. And they seem to try and do something every Saturday. Steve can do a small drum kit. Mark can play electric bass. Me and Freddie will play acoustic, and Russ plays acoustic on one song as well. It works really cool. The gigging situation in Glasgow at the weekends became very difficult. The Hard Rock Cafe used to put shows on for original bands on a Saturday, so we used to go there. But when that closed down, the rest of the venues in the town were already locked into the whole tribute band thing at weekends. It’s really hard to find a weekend gig in Glasgow. We ended up doing the acoustic thing. It went really well and they invited us back. We’re looking forward to that.
MGM: You’re being joined on these dates by Thieves of Liberty. They’re playing everywhere with you apart from that Glasgow show, and Swansea.
Andy: We’ve played a couple of gigs with those guys before, and they’re making the right buzz at the moment as well. We always try and find somebody that makes it value for money. Come to the show, and you’re going to see two cool bands. Obviously, the whole Liberty-Liberty thing all goes together as well, doesn’t it?
MGM: The forthcoming shows will be a bit of a departure for you from last year. As well as Winter Storm, you played quite a lot of the regional festivals. These shows will bring a more up close and personal feel for the fans.
Andy: That’s nice in itself. We’ll also be playing the New Day Festival, which has quite an eclectic mix of bands over the three days. I think it’s quite big as well, with 3,000 – 4,000 people. We’ve got a bit of a break during the summer, which would be quite good for recharging batteries, because the run of gigs between now and mid-May is pretty solid. That helps with the work-life balance stuff as well as for the guys who’ve got family commitments.
MGM: You mentioned that Russ’ first gig with you was in France. Pretty much all of the shows you’ve played as a band have been in the UK, apart from a handful around that time. Why haven’t you ventured further afield, given that places like Germany and Spain are really embracing your style of music?
Andy: We have tried. Honestly, we have. Breaking in with a promoter that’s willing to put something on that’s a bit more joined up, is the biggest problem for bands like us. We’ve been over to France, I think, four times now. We’ve played Bouillon Rocks twice, RenFest once, and the Show Bike, Aquitaine, and that’s all come through the same little production hookup. We played the small one, then we got the medium gig, then we played a celebration small gig, and then the massive one. But it’s only ever been a one-off gig, and to be able to make it pay, it either needs to pay damn good money or you need some other gigs to surround it. For Germany, Belgium, Holland, we’ve got feelers out for what we might be able to do there, but so far nothing has dropped into place that either works for the promoters over there or works for us. Florence Black went over there and did some amazing things. The Hot Damn have gone there recently and started playing in Europe. Jack J Hutchinson has done some stuff in Spain. So, there are opportunities there. It’s just whether it dovetails with what you’re looking to do.
MGM: You’ve been playing together for 10 years. Breaking out to the next level is really hard, even though your albums are doing well and your audiences are growing. Does that step up still feel a bit of a way away for you?
Andy: Definitely. We’re still at the 150 to 250 capacity venues, and some of those are a tough sell. We came out around the same time as Massive Wagons, Those Damn Crows and Stone Broken. Those are the ones that have gone on and gone beyond. But even Stone Broken have gone on to a hiatus for a bit to do a bit of rethinking about what’s going on. They’re lovely guys. We did some gigs with them in the very early days, and they actually supported us at Evesham on one occasion. The Iron Road up there was a killer venue, but it’s long gone, unfortunately. That was just as their first single was being played on Planet Rock for the first time. So, it was quite unusual for them to be opening for us when they seemed to have a higher profile. But obviously, we keep in touch with those guys since; Robin and Rich, especially. We’ve seen others; Wicked Rivers have made the step up, from the smaller venues to the next size up, they’re now headlining at the smaller festivals. So, that’s the aspiration, I guess, for bands at our level, but it is damn hard and you’re fighting with a whole bunch of other similar bands at similar levels.
MGM: What will happen next after these shows? This tour continues until the end of May, and then you’ve got the summer festival date. What else is on the horizon?
Andy: Yeah, I don’t really know at the moment. Obviously, the whole financial model of playing and recovering your cost of recording and stuff is much harder now than it was even a year ago, and definitely that was harder the year before that. So, I think that gap in the summer will give us a chance to reset the plan, look at the things that we’ve achieved, look at the things that we haven’t achieved yet, and see where we go from there. I know Freddie’s got a whole load of guitar ideas that he’s chomping at the bit to get working on. So, we’ll probably be in a better position to face that question in the summer.
Sons of Liberty are performing live throughout 2025:
27th March – Nightrain, Bradford
28th March – Bannerman’s, Edinburgh
29th March – HMV Glasgow (Acoustic in-store)
30th March – Trillians, Newcastle
25th April – The Bullingdon, Oxford
26th April – Hangar 18, Swansea
27th April – Exchange, Bristol
9th May – The Tivoli, Buckley
10th May – Musician 2, Leicester
For more information:
https://sonsoflibertyband.com/
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialSonsofLiberty
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Adrian Hextall
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