LIZZY BORDEN Remembers Late Guitarist ALEX NELSON

Lucem Fero recently published an exclusive interview with Lizzy Borden, conducted by Welsh interviewer Anthony Morgan. Topics of discussion included "Appointment With Death", late guitarist Alex Nelson, STARWOOD's second album and LIZZY BORDEN's twenty-fifth anniversary. Several excerpts from the interview follow:

On "Appointment With Death":

Lizzy: "'Appointment With Death' is a record about facing a reality; at some point in our lives, the reality is that we will all be having a conversation with the Angel of Death.

"For the first time since 1987, I invited the whole band to contribute to the music on this record. Any one of us may have brought in the majority of the music to one or more songs, but then the whole band would implement their input and put their mark musically on any given song.

"We have a new guitarist, Ira Black, and we wrote the music all together. For those reasons, we had to spend a little bit more time in the studio getting to know each other on that level. Everyone has a different style, and a different way of working. Getting in touch with that is the tough part for any band."

On how "death has struck fear" into him, and "infected" him in many different ways:

Lizzy: "At the age of fifteen, I was in a motorcycle accident. I could have died at that point, and there have been a few more brushes with death since then. Some of my best friends have died too early; some by their own hands, and some by an accident. If you know someone who's passed on, then that means death was very close to you. Instead of you though, death decided to take your friend. When you know death is in the next room, you may end up walking out still breathing. It just means that you get another day, though it doesn't mean that death won't come to visit you soon. You just never know when."

On late guitarist Alex Nelson:

Lizzy: "He had a connection to everybody. I'm usually very business like, and don't like to screw around too much when we're working. He felt it was his job to break that down, and try to have more fun. He was the only one that could break down the wall; for some reason, he had that ability with everyone. Even though I always told him he was the most talented musician I've ever worked with in every way, He never really thought he was all that talented. People would ask him who his influences are, and he would say 'everything I've ever seen or heard.' I used to love that quote as it was so true of all of us.

"His personality was everything; if you had met Alex, then you would've best friends inside of five minutes. Due to the fact he was a people person, he was the most likable person on the planet. He was the life of the party, and most people always wanted to be around him. As far as music goes, he took a break from playing. Alex put his guitar in the closet for five years, though we coaxed him back in the band. he took his guitar out, and rehearsed with us the next day after not touching it for five years. He played perfectly, and that's a true musician. He was a great singer, and a great keyboardist. He had it all."

On the video shoot for "Tomorrow Never Comes":

Lizzy: "The video shoot was filmed in an abandoned hospital in downtown Los Angeles. It's about a girl trying to escape the mental ward, though there are lots of unanswered questions about this girl. If we continue with the storyline in the next video, then those questions may be answered. Or again, we may leave it to your own imagination. The girl in the video represents one of the characters on the record."

On how LIZZY BORDEN differs to when the group began in 1983:

Lizzy: "In some ways, it hasn't changed from when Joey (Scott, drums) and I put out an advert saying 'looking for musicians to form a theatrical metal band.' We've learned so much along the way, and all those things are evident in our most recent releases. The studio is our friend now instead of the dread, whilst the live show is just as vicious as ever."

"Things come and go, and you have to role with the punches. We still have to deal with people saying one thing, and doing another. That alters the course that you set out for yourself, and there is almost nothing you can do to change that. That's the tough part. Those problems been there from the very beginning, and I imagine it's never going to go away. The one thing I've learned from Alex though is try to have fun along the way, even with the obstacles."

On personal highlights from the group's history:

Lizzy: "My own personal highlights include playing the Reading Festival with ALICE COOPER in front of fifty-thousand people, and playing the Bang Your Head!!! and Wacken festivals. Also, another personal highlight is putting out what people are saying is our best record after twenty-five years as a group."

Read the entire interview at www.lucemfero.com.