Lucifer’s Friend are back for good and that’s great news, no matter if it took them almost 35 years to release a new studio album! The band never got the recognition it deserved back in the day and probably the younger prog fans are not aware with them, but it’s never late to get to know one of the most underrated prog rock bands that never stayed on safe waters and always changed their music style from album to album. The legendary vocalist John Lawton talked to Grande Rock told us many interesting things about Lucifer’s Friend and not only…
Hi John… I’m overwhelmed that we have the chance to talk about the new Lucifer’s Friend studio album. I have to tell you that the new album, “Too Late to Hate”, is wonderful and I revel in it…
J: Well thank you… it’s nice to know… the album has been receiving good reviews…
I do not mean to flatter you, but all your performances on the album are amazing! What’s your secret?!
J: Flatter me all you like… no seriously, I don’t have a secret, I wish I had. I think it comes down to loving the songs and I do love all the songs on this album. Of course, I do my “homework” on everything I sing and just hope it works out that way in the studio…
First of all, do tell us how this “reunion” came about taking as granted that 3 out of 5 original members are participating in the album. Well, why Peter Hecht (keys) didn’t participate in the new album?
J: Really it all came about a couple of years ago. We were approached by an American promoter to do a short USA tour, I asked the guys how they felt about this (although we haven’t performed together for quite a few years, we have still been in touch) the decision was…. “Yeah why not”, quite a few bands have covered LF songs through the years, why don’t we show them the real thing”. Okay the tour never happened but it did give us the kick to do something together again. I asked Peter Hecht but he told me he is very happy living in Gothenburg /Sweden painting and leading a very relaxed life… we really wanted him, but he had made his decision…
How did you come up with the new members, drummer Stephan Eggart and keyboardist Jogi Wichmann? I do think that Jogi is an old-acquaintance of yours, right?
J: Yeah Jogi played keyboards on “Sumo Grip” and he is a very talented musician. Stephan is a good friend of Peter Hesslein… they played together in the James Last Orchestra… he is also very talented. The combination works really well…
And we come to the first album under the Lucifer’s Friend name in 35 years! That’s so great on the whole. If I may ask, why did you leave all those years go by?
J: We all had other things going on over this period in time. I had been busy recording a solo album and working with my own band John Lawton Band. I have also spent a lot of time in Bulgaria presenting and directing Travel Documentary’s, as well as solo concerts. I went back to Uriah Heep a couple of times when their current singer Bernie Shaw was ill. Peter Hesslein was touring a lot with James Last, Dieter Horns was also playing and recording with other bands and playing in the Orchestra for the musical “CATS”… so all in all we were busy.
Before you started writing tracks for the new album, did you talk about the music orientation or did you have in mind to blend all the music styles that LF have presented on their albums over the years?
J: Do you know, we never discuss styles or direction before recording an album. I think the only time we did that was before we recorded the “Banquet” album. The songs are presented by each member and we go from there. “Too Late to Hate” consists of a collection of material that Peter H. sent to me with his ideas, which we discussed and after a lot of “fine tuning” and Peter sending me the final arrangements, I could put the lyrics together and record the vocals…
Which was the driving force that urged you to release a new studio album full of new tracks with Lucifer’s Friend again after so many years? What is that you want to express with this album?
J: The driving force as you put it was that we had recorded 4 new tracks for the “Awakening” album, which worked out really well; I think and that gave us the kick to record some more new stuff. The only thing that we really want to express, is that we are still capable of writing some new songs and that we still exist…
Is this album made to satisfy the old-time & loyal fans of the band mostly?
J: That was never the intention… we make the music that we like and if the fans like the fact that we are giving them something new, then that’s great. When we do live gigs, the fans come along with all the albums that we have recorded for signing and hopefully they will be bringing along copies of “Too Late to Hate” to be signed as well.
Given the chance, do you think that now is the time for the young fans to learn about Lucifer’s Friend… or do you believe that it is hard to do so in today’s music where modern extreme genres rule the TV, internet & radio and there are thousands of new releases out each week?
J: I would like to think that younger rock music fans have the possibility to acquaint themselves with the back catalogue of Lucifer’s Friend as well as the new album, but you are right. These days it’s very difficult to release a “rock album” hoping to get the exposure that is needed to reach a wider market… not only for us, but for most of the rock bands that are still bringing out new albums, but hey that’s the way the music scene goes, but rock will never die, it just takes a different form with younger bands coming through…
Why is it “Too Late to Hate”? And how is the album title related with the cover art – if it does so?
J: No relation at all! Peter H. came up with the album title before we even discussed the cover. He also designed the cover (he is quite talented), which he had lying around at home. A few changes were made and that’s how it came about.
Please give us a hint about each track:
J: A lot of the lyrics relate to things I have seen on news reports especially about the Middle East situation and the sight of so many children dying or being mutilated by the bombing
“Demolition Man”: Bit of a comic book hero…
“Jokers & Fools”: Based on biker gangs…
“When Children Cry”: Says it all I think in the lyrics…
“Straight for the Heart”: Based around UK TV presenters who turned out to be Pedophiles.
“Tell Me Why”: Drug related about musicians I have known…
“Don’t Talk to Strangers”: Really about young kids coming to the city.
“I Will Be There”: Just a pop song…
“This Time”: A bit autographical I think…
“Tears”: Again just a pop song about lost love and breaking up.
“Sea of Promises”: Based on news reports, migrants trying to find a new life.
“Brothers Without A Name”: Again about migrants trying to find a new life.
“When You’re Gone (Live)”: We just had this idea to finish a gig a different way in Japan…
Where did the recording take place and who produced, mixed and mastered the album? You avoided making the album sound “modern” and that’s something that I do fancy about it. What do you think about the production in general?
J: The backing tracks were recorded in Hamburg; a lot of the guitar work was done at Peter Hesslein’s home. The keyboards and drums were recorded at GAGA studio in Hamburg and I recorded all the vocals at Liscombe Park studio here in England. The album was mixed by Tommy Eggert in Germany and mastered by Simon Hesslein (Peter’s son who lives in New York). I don’t think we wanted to make the album sound “modern” that would have been a mistake… personally speaking, we just wanted it to sound as much like Lucifer’s Friend as possible. I do like the final production; it does capture everything we recorded.
How easy was finding a label to support the band and how do you see things today with music labels and the CD/digital releases?
J: Not easy… in fact taking advice from people we know in the business, we decided to release it under Lucifer’s Friend Records and distribute via Cherry Red. That worked well with the “Awakwning” album and “Live at Sweden Rock”, so we decided to go the same way with “Too Late to Hate”. The music scene is very different today… if you don’t have success with your latest release, the label will drop you.
Do you plan to release any concept or lyric video anytime soon?
J: Unfortunately not at the moment. We did record “Live at Sweden Rock” for a DVD, but the filming turned out to be very bad, we had to turn it down…
Do you have any touring plans? Would you like to tour around Europe at some point? What shall we wait from Lucifer’s Friend now in the 21st century and how have you envisioned this “reunion”?
J: We did do a few festivals in 2016 which was good and we are currently planning for 2017. There are also plans to record another studio album early in 2017… Peter and I are currently working on new songs…
What are the expectations from “Too Late to Hate”?
J: I (we) don’t really have any expectations, we want the fans to know that we are still around and making music and if they like it, well that’s a bonus for us…
Which are the main reasons, according to you, that Lucifer’s Friend never got the recognition they deserved back in the day?
J: I think firstly because we never got out there and played live. LF became more of a hobby because we had so many other things going on which was a big mistake, I think. Although we did have a cult following in the USA, we never took it further plus the fact we were a German band and you only really got recognition if you were from the UK or an American rock band. I might be wrong, but that’s what I think. (i.n.: I kinda agree with you John!)
Why did you and Peter decide to release “Sumo Grip” in 1994 under the name Lucifer’s Friend II? Can this album be regarded as a genuine Lucifer’s Friend release regardless of the “II” in the name?
J: At that time, Peter Hecht and Dieter Horns decided not to take part on the new songs and we felt without them it wouldn’t really be Lucifer’s Friend like the original line up and there was a bit of an argument about the name, so we put a 2 behind it…
Why did you call it quits with Lucifer’s Friend in 1981?
J: Hey I never called it quits with LF… we just took a long vacation… again there were other things to be done musically. It wasn’t until “Too Late to Hate” came around that one of us (Peter Hecht) decided to quit the band. We have remained friends throughout the years and never really said “okay its over”, maybe sometime in the future we might say “the end”… but not yet.
Why did you leave back in 1976 to join Uriah Heep? Did you believe that this was a chance that you had to take no matter the cost? What can you say about your years with Uriah Heep and what were the benefits from joining them in general?
J: Joining Uriah Heep was a chance I had to take musically. I had been working with a Gospel group (The Les Humphries Singers), who were very successful in Europe and LF was still kind of a hobby band at that time, so it seemed like a move I had to make. My time with Heep was good and I learnt a lot from it and touring with them to places I had only dreamed about. As a musician, you never stop learning… even from today’s music, I am still learning.
You have served rock music for over 45 years. You’ve seen the ups & downs. Any regrets? What’s your advice to the young ones?
J: No regrets really; I have achieved most things that I set out to do when I first started. To give advice would be wrong of me, because every singer / musician is different, just remember those you meet on the way up are never there on the way down. I learnt that from experience… just get out there and play live.
Time for our “weird questions”!!! How did you come up with the name Lucifer’s Friend initially?
J: The guys had this name from a track they had recorded and it seemed to fit into the concept of the band…
Has the internet changed the ways music should be played and released or not? Is it a “divine gift” or a curse?
J: I would say sometimes it’s a gift but a lot of times especially for the more “mature” musicians like myself it can be a curse! However, I do feel for the younger generation that it’s a way of getting your music across to thousands of people who would probably never get to hear it… a perfect example are the Arctic Monkeys, who got their original recognition via the internet.
What are those things that you do not like in the music industry nowadays?
J: Basically that it’s just a money making machine… new artists are not really given the time to develop… as I said before, if you don’t make it immediately, you are dropped.
Best 3 rock albums of all time?
J: Deep Purple – “In Rock”, Led Zeppelin – “1V”, ZZ Top – “Tejas” (it’s not rock I know but I love it)…
Were you obliged to give just one album to extraterrestrials that would represent the whole human music, which album would it be and from which band/artist?
J: The Beatles – “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”…
Fill in the phrase… “Rock music wouldn’t have evolved the way it did, if it hadn’t been for…”
J: Elvis…
Which is the most overrated musician/band of all time?
J: That’s hard, I really don’t know…
Put together the best rock line-up of all time. Who plays what?
J: Jeff Beck (guitar), Jon Lord (keyboards), John Bonham (drums), Trevor Boulder (bass) & Paul Rogers (vocals)…
Who is the sexiest female Rock Star of all time?
J: Don’t have one…
Which do you consider to be the best vocalist in rock history?
J: Paul Rogers, Glenn Hughes or David Coverdale…
If you had the chance to travel in time… where would you choose to go? To the past or the future and why?
J: Definitely the past, to see Elvis before he hit the big time and guys like Buddy Holly…
Imagine that your wife is selling your whole album-collection just to buy an expensive ring for herself. How would you react?
J: Ain’t gonna happen, I’ll buy my wife the ring anyway…
I’m grateful you took the time to talk to Grande Rock John. Wish you the best for the future. Thx for the music all these years… take care!
J: Thanos, thank you my friend, take care, hope to meet up one day, John. (i.n.: Hope to see you soon John!)
J: Well thank you… it’s nice to know… the album has been receiving good reviews…
I do not mean to flatter you, but all your performances on the album are amazing! What’s your secret?!
J: Flatter me all you like… no seriously, I don’t have a secret, I wish I had. I think it comes down to loving the songs and I do love all the songs on this album. Of course, I do my “homework” on everything I sing and just hope it works out that way in the studio…
First of all, do tell us how this “reunion” came about taking as granted that 3 out of 5 original members are participating in the album. Well, why Peter Hecht (keys) didn’t participate in the new album?
J: Really it all came about a couple of years ago. We were approached by an American promoter to do a short USA tour, I asked the guys how they felt about this (although we haven’t performed together for quite a few years, we have still been in touch) the decision was…. “Yeah why not”, quite a few bands have covered LF songs through the years, why don’t we show them the real thing”. Okay the tour never happened but it did give us the kick to do something together again. I asked Peter Hecht but he told me he is very happy living in Gothenburg /Sweden painting and leading a very relaxed life… we really wanted him, but he had made his decision…
How did you come up with the new members, drummer Stephan Eggart and keyboardist Jogi Wichmann? I do think that Jogi is an old-acquaintance of yours, right?
J: Yeah Jogi played keyboards on “Sumo Grip” and he is a very talented musician. Stephan is a good friend of Peter Hesslein… they played together in the James Last Orchestra… he is also very talented. The combination works really well…
And we come to the first album under the Lucifer’s Friend name in 35 years! That’s so great on the whole. If I may ask, why did you leave all those years go by?
J: We all had other things going on over this period in time. I had been busy recording a solo album and working with my own band John Lawton Band. I have also spent a lot of time in Bulgaria presenting and directing Travel Documentary’s, as well as solo concerts. I went back to Uriah Heep a couple of times when their current singer Bernie Shaw was ill. Peter Hesslein was touring a lot with James Last, Dieter Horns was also playing and recording with other bands and playing in the Orchestra for the musical “CATS”… so all in all we were busy.
Before you started writing tracks for the new album, did you talk about the music orientation or did you have in mind to blend all the music styles that LF have presented on their albums over the years?
J: Do you know, we never discuss styles or direction before recording an album. I think the only time we did that was before we recorded the “Banquet” album. The songs are presented by each member and we go from there. “Too Late to Hate” consists of a collection of material that Peter H. sent to me with his ideas, which we discussed and after a lot of “fine tuning” and Peter sending me the final arrangements, I could put the lyrics together and record the vocals…
Which was the driving force that urged you to release a new studio album full of new tracks with Lucifer’s Friend again after so many years? What is that you want to express with this album?
J: The driving force as you put it was that we had recorded 4 new tracks for the “Awakening” album, which worked out really well; I think and that gave us the kick to record some more new stuff. The only thing that we really want to express, is that we are still capable of writing some new songs and that we still exist…
Is this album made to satisfy the old-time & loyal fans of the band mostly?
J: That was never the intention… we make the music that we like and if the fans like the fact that we are giving them something new, then that’s great. When we do live gigs, the fans come along with all the albums that we have recorded for signing and hopefully they will be bringing along copies of “Too Late to Hate” to be signed as well.
Given the chance, do you think that now is the time for the young fans to learn about Lucifer’s Friend… or do you believe that it is hard to do so in today’s music where modern extreme genres rule the TV, internet & radio and there are thousands of new releases out each week?
J: I would like to think that younger rock music fans have the possibility to acquaint themselves with the back catalogue of Lucifer’s Friend as well as the new album, but you are right. These days it’s very difficult to release a “rock album” hoping to get the exposure that is needed to reach a wider market… not only for us, but for most of the rock bands that are still bringing out new albums, but hey that’s the way the music scene goes, but rock will never die, it just takes a different form with younger bands coming through…
Why is it “Too Late to Hate”? And how is the album title related with the cover art – if it does so?
J: No relation at all! Peter H. came up with the album title before we even discussed the cover. He also designed the cover (he is quite talented), which he had lying around at home. A few changes were made and that’s how it came about.
Please give us a hint about each track:
J: A lot of the lyrics relate to things I have seen on news reports especially about the Middle East situation and the sight of so many children dying or being mutilated by the bombing
“Demolition Man”: Bit of a comic book hero…
“Jokers & Fools”: Based on biker gangs…
“When Children Cry”: Says it all I think in the lyrics…
“Straight for the Heart”: Based around UK TV presenters who turned out to be Pedophiles.
“Tell Me Why”: Drug related about musicians I have known…
“Don’t Talk to Strangers”: Really about young kids coming to the city.
“I Will Be There”: Just a pop song…
“This Time”: A bit autographical I think…
“Tears”: Again just a pop song about lost love and breaking up.
“Sea of Promises”: Based on news reports, migrants trying to find a new life.
“Brothers Without A Name”: Again about migrants trying to find a new life.
“When You’re Gone (Live)”: We just had this idea to finish a gig a different way in Japan…
Where did the recording take place and who produced, mixed and mastered the album? You avoided making the album sound “modern” and that’s something that I do fancy about it. What do you think about the production in general?
J: The backing tracks were recorded in Hamburg; a lot of the guitar work was done at Peter Hesslein’s home. The keyboards and drums were recorded at GAGA studio in Hamburg and I recorded all the vocals at Liscombe Park studio here in England. The album was mixed by Tommy Eggert in Germany and mastered by Simon Hesslein (Peter’s son who lives in New York). I don’t think we wanted to make the album sound “modern” that would have been a mistake… personally speaking, we just wanted it to sound as much like Lucifer’s Friend as possible. I do like the final production; it does capture everything we recorded.
How easy was finding a label to support the band and how do you see things today with music labels and the CD/digital releases?
J: Not easy… in fact taking advice from people we know in the business, we decided to release it under Lucifer’s Friend Records and distribute via Cherry Red. That worked well with the “Awakwning” album and “Live at Sweden Rock”, so we decided to go the same way with “Too Late to Hate”. The music scene is very different today… if you don’t have success with your latest release, the label will drop you.
Do you plan to release any concept or lyric video anytime soon?
J: Unfortunately not at the moment. We did record “Live at Sweden Rock” for a DVD, but the filming turned out to be very bad, we had to turn it down…
Do you have any touring plans? Would you like to tour around Europe at some point? What shall we wait from Lucifer’s Friend now in the 21st century and how have you envisioned this “reunion”?
J: We did do a few festivals in 2016 which was good and we are currently planning for 2017. There are also plans to record another studio album early in 2017… Peter and I are currently working on new songs…
What are the expectations from “Too Late to Hate”?
J: I (we) don’t really have any expectations, we want the fans to know that we are still around and making music and if they like it, well that’s a bonus for us…
Which are the main reasons, according to you, that Lucifer’s Friend never got the recognition they deserved back in the day?
J: I think firstly because we never got out there and played live. LF became more of a hobby because we had so many other things going on which was a big mistake, I think. Although we did have a cult following in the USA, we never took it further plus the fact we were a German band and you only really got recognition if you were from the UK or an American rock band. I might be wrong, but that’s what I think. (i.n.: I kinda agree with you John!)
Why did you and Peter decide to release “Sumo Grip” in 1994 under the name Lucifer’s Friend II? Can this album be regarded as a genuine Lucifer’s Friend release regardless of the “II” in the name?
J: At that time, Peter Hecht and Dieter Horns decided not to take part on the new songs and we felt without them it wouldn’t really be Lucifer’s Friend like the original line up and there was a bit of an argument about the name, so we put a 2 behind it…
Why did you call it quits with Lucifer’s Friend in 1981?
J: Hey I never called it quits with LF… we just took a long vacation… again there were other things to be done musically. It wasn’t until “Too Late to Hate” came around that one of us (Peter Hecht) decided to quit the band. We have remained friends throughout the years and never really said “okay its over”, maybe sometime in the future we might say “the end”… but not yet.
Why did you leave back in 1976 to join Uriah Heep? Did you believe that this was a chance that you had to take no matter the cost? What can you say about your years with Uriah Heep and what were the benefits from joining them in general?
J: Joining Uriah Heep was a chance I had to take musically. I had been working with a Gospel group (The Les Humphries Singers), who were very successful in Europe and LF was still kind of a hobby band at that time, so it seemed like a move I had to make. My time with Heep was good and I learnt a lot from it and touring with them to places I had only dreamed about. As a musician, you never stop learning… even from today’s music, I am still learning.
You have served rock music for over 45 years. You’ve seen the ups & downs. Any regrets? What’s your advice to the young ones?
J: No regrets really; I have achieved most things that I set out to do when I first started. To give advice would be wrong of me, because every singer / musician is different, just remember those you meet on the way up are never there on the way down. I learnt that from experience… just get out there and play live.
Time for our “weird questions”!!! How did you come up with the name Lucifer’s Friend initially?
J: The guys had this name from a track they had recorded and it seemed to fit into the concept of the band…
Has the internet changed the ways music should be played and released or not? Is it a “divine gift” or a curse?
J: I would say sometimes it’s a gift but a lot of times especially for the more “mature” musicians like myself it can be a curse! However, I do feel for the younger generation that it’s a way of getting your music across to thousands of people who would probably never get to hear it… a perfect example are the Arctic Monkeys, who got their original recognition via the internet.
What are those things that you do not like in the music industry nowadays?
J: Basically that it’s just a money making machine… new artists are not really given the time to develop… as I said before, if you don’t make it immediately, you are dropped.
Best 3 rock albums of all time?
J: Deep Purple – “In Rock”, Led Zeppelin – “1V”, ZZ Top – “Tejas” (it’s not rock I know but I love it)…
Were you obliged to give just one album to extraterrestrials that would represent the whole human music, which album would it be and from which band/artist?
J: The Beatles – “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”…
Fill in the phrase… “Rock music wouldn’t have evolved the way it did, if it hadn’t been for…”
J: Elvis…
Which is the most overrated musician/band of all time?
J: That’s hard, I really don’t know…
Put together the best rock line-up of all time. Who plays what?
J: Jeff Beck (guitar), Jon Lord (keyboards), John Bonham (drums), Trevor Boulder (bass) & Paul Rogers (vocals)…
Who is the sexiest female Rock Star of all time?
J: Don’t have one…
Which do you consider to be the best vocalist in rock history?
J: Paul Rogers, Glenn Hughes or David Coverdale…
If you had the chance to travel in time… where would you choose to go? To the past or the future and why?
J: Definitely the past, to see Elvis before he hit the big time and guys like Buddy Holly…
Imagine that your wife is selling your whole album-collection just to buy an expensive ring for herself. How would you react?
J: Ain’t gonna happen, I’ll buy my wife the ring anyway…
I’m grateful you took the time to talk to Grande Rock John. Wish you the best for the future. Thx for the music all these years… take care!
J: Thanos, thank you my friend, take care, hope to meet up one day, John. (i.n.: Hope to see you soon John!)