Florida has seen its share of great metal bands. Iron Cross are no exception to this observation. Blending speed, power, old-school, and a good kick in the ass, Iron Cross are pure heavy metal. Their live show is breath taking, and I had the honor of seein them at Classic Metalfest III. This interview was completed in March, and was sent to me by mail on a cassette tape. It is an in depth interview with the ENTIRE BAND! Read on, and get aquainted with Florida's Iron Cross!!
Interview by Anthony
1. I’d like to start out by thanking you for taking the time to do this interview. How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it before?
REX: I always say a cross between Black Sabbath and Slayer, but…
DAN: It’s just different….
MIKE: It’s melodic metal…power, melodic metal. Some people call us old-school and it’s double harmony guitars with four part harmony vocals; it’s in your face instead of being wimpy…how else are you going to describe that??!?! …It’s real slow crunchy beats, then the speeder parts just rip your brains out.
2. Please introduce each member of the band, and tell a little about yourselves.
MIKE: Mike Skelton: Guitar and Vocals;
DAN: Dan Bippes: Bass and Vocals
REX: Rex Alan: Guitar and Vocals…thinking on matters……
MIKE: [laughing] the only brain, the only one who uses his brain…morphine, alcohol……
REX: There really isn’t much to know about any of us….
MIKE: We’ve been together so long, we pretty much tell the same story…We’ve been bustin’ our nuts to get this band going forever and ever. We believe in each other, and we’re a family…if you know one of us, you know we’re a family, and that’s the way it works.
REX: The band’s been together so long, we’ve forgotten what we did before. That’s called old timers, or altimeters…
MIKE: [Laughing] Assholers…
3. When writing a song, do you write lyrics first or music first?
MIKE: It depends…
TONY: It depends on who’s writing.
MIKE: I keep a book of lyrics.
TONY: I usually come up with a melody, power chords, and stuff like that, and sometimes the vocals fall in.
MIKE: I try to write story lines with lyrics it, and then if I can find the right setting or tone, like in a movie…kind of like trying to play out a play in my head or something, where that kind of music would go there. But then again, Tony can hit a certain beat, and it’ll go back to some old lyrics I wrote five years ago that are in one of my books, and there it is…it’s done.
REX: I always write the music…I’m not a lyric writer.
MIKE: I like to write the hooks, the other parts, but I have a real hard time doing that first because I like to set a mood. So, we all write different, but it all comes together in the long run; we all write the songs together anyway.
TONY: Sometimes at practice, we’ll just start jamming on a riff, I hit a drum beat, Mike will hit power chords, and before you know it, you’ve got most of a song written.
4. Why?
REX: Basically, there’s no reason why; it just happens the way it happens. There’s never any reason why, it’s just how that song’s come about. I don’t think that much in advance to know why I wrote the lyrics first or the song first.
TONY: Well, I someone…I used to work at an old bingo hall, sitting there looking at all the old ladies [laughs]
MIKE: [laughs] Watch all the decrepit old battleaxes…
TONY: …most anything would come to mind.
MIKE: …look like tales from the crypt.
DAN: Dark dreams of evil….demons.
MIKE: Demons man…the people who saw Demons would say, ‘Ugh…I saw the demons come out of the screen…aahhh!!’
TONY: Mostly, the old ladies at the bingo hall…[laughs]
MIKE: Mostly, tributes…Bloodlust is pretty much like a tribute to Alice Cooper for me…I pretty much wrote that as a tribute to Alice Cooper.
5. From where do you draw your writing techniques?
REX: Mine, I have no idea.
MIKE: I think it’s a conglomeration of all of us really getting together and putting our own two cents in on everything. We all have a basic idea of when we walk in there with a song of what we might want it to be and it never ends up that way.
REX: The best songs we’ve done…the best songs we do always end up being everyone chipping in for the song…[laughs] except for (Dan) Bipp.
DAN: I don’t do anything…
MIKE: [Laughs] Bipp goes and gets a beer…
REX: Bipp’s a beer boy.
MIKE: [Laughs] Bipp is the outlet of all our bad jokes, so if it weren’t for him, we’d be picking on each other.
6. Who writes the majority of the lyrics?
REX: Basically that’s Mike, mainly.
7. Music?
REX: The music is actually a combination of Mike a lot and Tony…I’ve done just a little bit…
MIKE: What you do is important…what you do is you put in a lot of hooks, and we get back to the basic melody lines and shit like that together; but you put all the quick little hooks and breaks and shit that knock it off center and keep it Iron Cross too…that’s important man.
REX: It goes back to all of us again.
8. IRON CROSS was formed in 1979…How was the band formed?
TONY: I met in high school, I guess…
MIKE: All the bands were lame…they were all playing Foreigner and shit.
TONY: Mike was kind of the rocker that used to walk around dressed in black and all that kind of stuff…like the only metal head; and I was playing with some regular guys playing radio rock and stuff, and I just wanted to get heavier.
MIKE: I went over to jam with him one day, and whipped out a bunch of Black Sabbath and shit; Tony said “I quit…I’m playing with that guy”, and we played from then on.
9. What made you decide on the name?
MIKE: It was just the whole band…a way of being. We were all wearing crosses and we weren’t something that was a religious overtone, but that’s pretty heavy; religion’s fucking heavy shit, and what’s heavier than…heavy weight is iron and we were all wearing crosses…great big crosses from the old Kiss days when Peter Criss used to wear crosses and shit…it pretty much just fell into place. It wasn’t a set out scheme of wearing…we were wearing crosses & it was an easy stage prop to build crosses and at that time everyone had props and all that…it was a real quick easy thing. We didn’t think twice about it…when the name came up, it was just there.
TONY: It’s got a power all of its own…
MIKE: Yeah…its just got its own…life.
10. Has the band always incorporated vocal duties between Mike (drums) and Tony (guitar)? What inspired this rare arrangement of performance and song execution?
MIKE: You’re right…we’re both vicious lovers of Uriah Heep’s vocals and harmonies.
11. Directed to Mike and Tony: Do you find it difficult to play drums/play guitar AND sing at the same time? How long did it take you to learn how to do this?
TONY: It seems to come natural for me…the drumming and vocals.
MIKE: I think it was…we couldn’t find a vocalist to do what we wanted him to do, and it was pretty much like…well if we can’t find him to do it, then we had to do it & it wasn’t even a thought. It was like everything else in the band…it just builds up to the way it was; it was never a thought. Now it IS second nature…I feel funny singing without a guitar.
REX: Yes…strange. I could never walk up there and just sing.
MIKE: I mean…when my guitar breaks and I’ve got to put a guitar down and you fill in or something, I handle it BUT I feel naked out there without a guitar. And, if I had one hanging on me not playing it, I’d feel just stupid then.
12. Was the line up always the same, or has it changed over the years? How would you compare the metal scene back then to the way it is now?
REX: We know the line up has changed over the years...
MIKE: It hasn’t changed in ten or fifteen years…
REX: No…it hasn’t changed in eight…well, Bipp’s was in ’88?
MIKE: Yeah, so we’ve been the same way for fifteen years so…
REX: THIS line up has been around for fifteen years.
REX: The metal scene sucks now.
MIKE: Back then, no one took it so freaking serious…the bands were happier to be bands and to be able to play. It seems like there’s a lot of politics and a lot of crap going on & it has NOTHING to do with music. There should be a brotherhood…that’s why we like going to Germany and playing these big festivals because those are the bands that have this brotherhood…
REX: October 31
MIKE October 31 are a great band, the guys in Nasty Savage were great; we played with them and had a great time, Exciter…those guys were awesome to us. Bands that have been around for a long time understand that it’s a brotherhood, and the newer bands right now are fighting their way up, clawing through so many little territories that they think they have to fight with everything to get it their way.
REX: They’re burning their bridges behind them.
MIKE: Yeah…it’s easier than that. Smile, enjoy yourself and this…you never know when someone or thing is going to take it from you.
REX: Try to learn from someone and work with people…it seems to help out.
MIKE: It used to be a metal family. If you played metal, it was “All right…you play metal, I support you…I’ll go see them”, and now its “Oh, I play metal over here…I play this metal or that metal…”. Who gives a shit??
TONY: It’s all the same…
MIKE: You’re playing music, and you’ve got the balls to get on stage, and somebody used to say “Thanks for getting on stage and entertain us”.
REX: There’s too much competition…too much cut throat.
MIKE: Too much cutthroat…too much bull shit back-stabbing now, and it’s not like it used to be. It used to be a brotherhood; it still should be; it still is in a lot of places…
13. Your first album was released independently in 1986. Is this album still available today? What songs were on this album? Please tell a little about it.
REX: No, they’re not.
REX: Demon’s Deciapal, Angel of Death, Demons, Bloodlust, Dark Dreams of Evil, Fantasy World, Mistress of the Dark, and S&M Medley.
MIKE: And that’s about it…
MIKE: We pretty much saved up our money playing little hole-in-the-wall dives, doing all we could and put it out ourselves.
REX: Well, actually, that one was financed. The first album my brother paid for. Our money was in to do the demos, building up, and promotion of it.
MIKE: It was all done within the family of the band. We didn’t get anybody to back us; we didn’t get anybody to help us.
REX: It was family members and we put quit a bit of, like I said, our own money into the promotion and giving it out.
MIKE: And Tony’s family went out and got our first t-shirts. It’s all been supported by family and friends.
14. Seeing how the band had been around for a while, what was your first big tour like, in support of the first album?
REX: There probably wasn’t a big tour…we supported ourselves. We were independent; we played wherever and when ever we could.
REX: We played with a lot of people…WrathChild America…
MIKE: Death, Noucturnus…There were a lot of big bands we played with.
REX: Saint Vitus, The Mentors, Intruder…
MIKE: So, we played with everybody, and pretty much just sold our albums, sold what we could, and kept ourselves going. It was…
TONY: A party…
MIKE: Well…it’s been a twenty-five year blow out.
15. Yet another Iron Cross album is released some time from 1988 –1992 called “Pieces”. Why did the band release an EP? Why not a full-length album? By this time, was the band receiving any financial help? How did the band promote itself, and was your following growing outside the underground?
REX: Actually, it WAS full length, and it was a cassette. It was half live, half studio and at that point we were not receiving financial help, so we were promoting ourselves.
MIKE: We were making cassettes and selling them at the shows, and then going back home and making cassettes, then taking whatever we made and made more. We were chrome altered…we ARE chrome alter; that record company was US. Whatever money we got, we put back into making those and we couldn’t afford to do a whole lot.
MIKE: We packed everywhere we went…
REX: We were on the radio…Z Rock.
MIKE: We were invited to the big Z Rock opening in Tampa when they came over to Florida and won the huge battle of the bands. We were too ugly to win because it was the MTV days & they paid us to shut up and let the pretty guys play.
16. Was there a tour in support of the EP? If so, where did IRON CROSS tour, and who was the stage shared with (any special memories or stories that might come to mind)?
REX: Not really…it’s basically the same: just played all the shows we could and did what we could…
MIKE: We kept our noses to the street.
17. Who wrote the creative direction of your videos “Die Like That” and “P.S.F.”? Why did the band only make two videos? Were they ever aired on television? What does PSF stand for?
REX: I really don’t remember…I think his name was Pete. We all had a hand in it, but it was done through a school of recording arts.
MIKE: Pretty much the students…we told them what the song was about, and they bought us different ideas. It came to that’s not going to work, or that will work. The PSF video was done in a bar that we play at all the time. The owner is on the video; we told him he could be in the video if we could trash his bar that night.
REX: We only made two videos because that’s all we could afford. They were aired on the Canadian Metal Show back then & on Much Music, but not in the United States; they said the videos were too violent. PFS stands for…
ALL: Paying For Sins
18. After making videos and going thru all that hard work, why did the band call it quits in the early 90’s? While the band was dormant, were there any other musical endeavors pursued by yourself or the other band mates?
REX: The drummer quit…
MIKE: We really didn’t want to put on flannel t-shirts and sing about sweaty teenagers.
TONY: It’s really because we had become a house band, playing the same old bar all the time, and we had to get serious and make some money.
MIKE: We were starving…we had to do something for food.
REX: Yeah, the metal scene pretty much just stopped in our area, so there was nowhere for us to go, nowhere for us to play at that point; there was no way for us to grow, and we just took the time to do that…
MIKE: And we’re happy to be back!!
REX: Everybody played in different bands….we all had different bands; none of them really did anything. We had a few bands locally; some cover-tune bands, a couple original bands. Mike was in SKELETON CREW, I was in WRAITH, Bipp was in…
BIPP: VANISHING POINT
REX: ..and Tony was driving a truck, having babies.
TONY: Ha ha!
MIKE: Well, HE wasn’t having babies.
TONY: DOUGH!!!!
REX: Our secret’s out!
TONY: I only had one baby.
MIKE: DAMN…now they know you’re a woman, Tony. That’s why he doesn’t wear a seat on his stool.
19. What made the band decide to reform after all these years? Did things pick up right where you left them, or was there a different feeling/chemistry to the band?
REX: Well, what happened was..
MIKE: OPM Records.
REX: OPM Records contacted our old, old bass player, Jody Cold “My Little Pony” Jr. and…
ALL: [Laughter]
REX: …he contacted me, thinking it was a joke and said “You need to call this guy…somebody says they actually want to sign you.” So, I called him up, he said do we all want to do a record; so I contacted Mike, Bipp, and Tony and the rest is history.
MIKE: I had already moved away.
REX: Yeah, Mike was in West Palm Beach.
TONY: Let’s not say it’s history yet…
REX: That was the way we did it. We picked things up exactly the way we left them.
MIKE: I think we picked it up better than the way we left it, to tell you the truth.
REX: We had a great compliment, because we did the two new songs for the OPM album, and someone actually asked us if we took the same old ratty equipment back into the studio to record with. It actually sounded like the old album.
MIKE: You can’t change us.
REX: We have another story…we’ll tell you about the drums later…
MIKE: [Laughs]…at a later date.
20. What new songs were written after the band reformed? Were they part of the double vinyl album released? How did the band maintain a distribution thru OPM Records? Were they of any help financially, or just distribution?
REX: We did “Rest In Piece”, which was written by everyone. Mike had this song started and we all contributed to it. The version on the vinyl, you have to know, is a demo. It was recorded very quickly, thrown together, and it was not full. We’re hopefully going to redo that on the new CD.
TONY: It took us maybe an hour or two…
MIKE: We walked in, hadn’t even seen each other and we had studio time to go to. We had time let over, so we said let’s do this then.
REX: OPM contacted us…
MIKE: Yeah…they were good…they were very good to us.
REX: They were basically just distribution.
MIKE: They actually did try to push us and they gave us the incentive to believe that we can do this again.
TONY: They gave us a new product…
MIKE: We owe them a big debt of gratitude.
REX: Definitely…OPM rocks! John and MGM are great.
21. Iron Glory Records picked up the band afterwards. What the band contacted by Iron Glory, or did you try shopping the double vinyl? How has Iron Glory helped since you’ve been with them?
REX: They contacted us…They heard that, and when they realized we were still around, they wanted a chunk of it.
MIKE: They got the chunk too.
REX: We put the CD out, a re-release, but really other than that…
MIKE: We headlined the HeadBanger’s open air, which helped us out a lot.
REX: They definitely got us back on the map again.
MIKE: They spoke to people and got us to go to Hamburg and play the open-air festival and headline.
REX: Andy is a great dude…no one can say anything about Andy! He’s a super guy with Iron Glory, and he’s a great dude.
22. Since the re-release of the first recordings, has the band considered re-releasing the old artwork as well? What about releasing the videos on multi-media CD or CDR?
MIKE: If someone offers something, we’ve got a wide open ears and eyes.
REX: I have thought…if we could get a very good live show recorded, we could do a DVD with the two videos stuck on the end of it, which would be really cool.
MIKE: …And right now, we’re working on a live…we have a lot of things going on right now that are extremely happening!
23. What new songs or materials (if any) are in the works for the band? Is there a working album title or tour plans? I noticed a new song on MP3.com…is this a hint of what’s to come?
MIKE: Yeah, there’s definitely a new album coming out. The new album is called Skeletal Remains.
REX: Hello, Hello is one of the new songs, but it’s not the whole way we’re going; that’s just one song. It’s something that we did really well, and it’s a working progress. It was a demo, and we put it out so people can get an idea & know that we’re doing something new.
MIKE: What we’re doing new is going to be in the vein of what we’ve always done. We’re not going to change up for a radio station or for a record label. We’re gonna be Iron Cross, no matter where we go or what we do…we’re gonna sound like Iron Cross; we’re gonna be Iron Cross.
TONY: We’re still going to sing about blood and guts…
MIKE: And ripping shit out of people…
TONY: Chopping people up, and stuff like that.
24. What was your impression with Classic Metalfest I? How did the band manage to get to play? Did the crowd accept the band warmly? Which band did you enjoy the most from CMF I?
MIKE: We had a BLAST!! Kalamazoo was awesome. We had a blast! That was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever played in my life.
REX: The people were great, and that was their first one. They’ve learned…every time, it’s gotten better.
MIKE: It was great for us; it wasn’t as good for the people who ran it, but it was awesome for us…
REX: …And they treated us like gold…
MIKE: …As a matter of fact, Linette and Brad are coming to stay at my house for Christmas.
MIKE: How did we get to play CMF…that’s a fluke.
REX: We got an email…a correspondence from them, and from that, it went from them talking to us, and they asked us if we wanted to play. That’s how it happened.
TONY: We’re very glad they called an awesome metal band.
REX: We had all the guys from Germany and Turkey there that were singing the songs back to us.
MIKE: That was probably one of the biggest new shows we did after we had reformed.
TONY: …And the videos we did live from that were great too.
MIKE: …And it really put our hearts into everything to let us know that people appreciate it, what we had done in the years that passed & that they had remembered it. It really recharged ourselves, to where we were ready to redo this.
MIKE: Bands we liked…I liked Exciter..
REX: Halloween was good. Premonition…
REX: There was a bunch of great bands.
MIKE: October 31…they rocked. You can never have a bad time with those guys.
TONY: They always rock.
MIKE: Anvil were super…and this is what we were talking about earlier. All those guys were really, really nice to each other, backstage. You do the local festival thing with all these local bands and local people that gauge and back-stab you. You get to a big festival like CMF, and you’re hanging with the guys in Exciter, Anvil, and Omen and they’re just the nicest guys in the whole damn world. We’d like to put in a thank you and hello. It made us feel very happy to be there; very welcomed to be there, and that was a good thing after being apart for so many years.
BIPP: They would have given us the shirt off their back.
25. What was your impression with Classic Metalfest III? Seeing the band for the first time, I was CRUSHED! IRON CROSS was one of THE highlights of that weekend!!! THANK YOU!!!! How would you compare CMF III to the past CMFs?
MIKE: I thought we had a blast!!
TONY: I don’t remember that one…[Laughs]
REX: This here is from Anthony…this was the first time he had seen us, and he was crushed…we appreciate that, thank you.
REX: Each CMF has been different…
MIKE: They’ve all been so much different from each other…every one has been awesome, but each one has been different…totally different.
BIPP: They’re all great!
MIKE: The one in Cleveland was in a different area…they’re not comparable, really. The only thing you can really compare with is that there’s three or four bands that you can count on being there: us, October 31, and Premonition. There are always two or three bands that you can almost guarantee are going to be there because the people that run this thing have been so good to us, no matter what & not only that, it’s Classic Metalfest. They’re there for a good cause; they’re there for a good reason. They want to keep metal alive & if anyone wants t to do that, we will be there.
TONY: It’s always a little bit of a struggle, because I always got to play a good drum set, and I’m not used to that. [Laughs]
MIKE: They always treat us like gold; they’re always extremely good to us and the people there have always made it better and better every year…the crowd, the people…we’re already set for #4.
26. Why did the band back out of the Keep it True 2003 in Germany? Was IRON CROSS asked to play, or did you get booked yourselves?
REX: We’re working on a new CD deal with another record label which is yet unnamed at the moment. We can actually say who it is…Mausoleum Records. They’re willing to sign us…we’re working on it. They asked us not to do it because they want us to go over with the new material. It was kind of hard on us to fly to Germany and play with nothing to promote. We did get asked to play.
MIKE: And we will probably be there next year.
REX: We did get asked to play there this year, so maybe we’ll play there is year; we’re hoping to, we just don’t know for sure.
27. Will the band tour the East Coast? Ever consider playing the Metal Meltdown in New Jersey? What about Wacken Open Air in Germany? (Opt for Jersey!!!!!!!!!)
REX: We tried to get on Wacken…we’re hoping to this year.
MIKE: Jurgen might help…we have a good idea that we might be able to do Wacken this year…we were invited last year. The problem is, at the time, we had no record label, we had no backing, and…
REX: No new material…Iron Glory at that point was having some financial problems…
MIKE: They were having major financial problems, so they couldn’t help us get there. Plus, you’re talking one thousand dollars a piece to get there and back…
REX: Now, with the New Jersey Metal Meltdown: the problem is, a lot of them are run by a gentleman who wants the bands to pay to play, and we’re just not going to do that.
MIKE: No…we’re not going to pay to play anywhere.
REX: We might play for nothing, but we won’t pay to play.
BIPP: We wind up paying to play wherever we go play because we wind up spending all our money.
MIKE: We wind up spending a lot of money because we like having a good time. We pay to play pretty much because we’re spending our money, but that’s not because we’re paying to promote someone to let us play there.
TONY: Every road trip is a party, so we’re always up for that.
REX: Now, Anthony is in New Jersey…
[a phone rings in the background]
MIKE: HEY…There’s the record company calling!! [Laughs]
REX: Anthony, if you can get us any gigs in New Jersey, please let us know & we’ll come play.
28. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time, outside of IRON CROSS? What do you think of MTV’s “Head-Banger’s Ball” returning?
REX: Let’s see…well, Tony…
MIKE: Tony sits in his closet and plays piano all night long.
TONY: I like to write ballads on piano…
MIKE: We play music…
TONY: I like to stay away from these guys whenever I can…
MIKE: I do artwork…I sit and draw and write music; I do huge murals.
REX: That’s Mike. Bipp works on cars…
BIPP: Cars…I water-ski…
REX: Rex goes and watches NASCAR races.
TONY: It’s always music for me…
MIKE: Yeah yeah…sure.
TONY: I like to surf.
MIKE: Tony’s got a thing for blondes and surf-boards.
REX: …And chase married women in Daytona…
BIPP: Is he trying to be a beach boy? …I don’t know.
MIKE: [laughs] Tony thinks he’s a surfer.
TONY: I like to eat pussy.
MIKE: I just like to get laid…I don’t really care where.
REX: I think MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball return sucks. The music is terrible.
MIKE: I think the problem is everyone on there is trying to sound like Death and tryingto look like fucking Mudvain.
TONY: There’s a few good ones.
MIKE: The problem is I liked…I’m glad it’s back, but I wish they’d play some classic Headbanger’s Ball in the middle of it.
REX: Watch VH1 Metal Mania for decent metal…it rocks.
MIKE: If you could mix the metal mania into the headbanger’s ball in the middle of it; like classic headbanger’s ball with new headbanger’s ball…that would be awesome. It would be a great show.
29. Thank you Rex and IRON CROSS for the opportunity to do this interview. Please come to New Jersey & we’ll have a beer or three!!! Any last words, final comments, or something you’d like to add??
REX: Like we said: You book a gig, and we’ll be there.
MIKE: Rock on…we appreciate it!!
TONY: If you think we suck, let us know.
MIKE: [laughs] If we blow, don’t tell anybody.
TONY: We just enjoy every trip we get to take. Kalamazoo was excellent, Cleveland was excellent, Chicago was excellent, Jersey would be great. New York…we’d love to go there.
MIKE: Keep in touch with us, and any time you come down this way, let us know. Maybe we can hook something up down here.
BIPP: Let’s party.
Thank you!!! -Anthony
DISCOGRAPHY
Debut LP (1986)
LINKS
TONY: Tony Blair: Drums and Vocals;
REX: This one goes to Mike and Tony, definitely…
MIKE & TONY: Yeah
BIPP: Yeah…
TONY: We had an old battlewagon; we used to travel the state of Florida, play everywhere we could with anybody we could.
MIKE: We never really wanted to go apart.
REX: I enjoyed it…
Die Like That (1987)
Pieces (1988)
Iron Cross (2001)