He is young and ambitious, we first listened to him in Fury UK, one of the most higly rated British bands but a few months ago, he became a member of his favorite Iced Earth, he wrote music history with the live recorded live In Cyprus, in Ancient Kourion and now he is ready for Iced Earth's December attack in Europe for the final leg of Dystopia tour that started last October!
The bass player of giants Iced Earth talks to the Greek based webzine Rock Overdose in an exclusive interview with the zine's editor Jim Maiden about Iced Earth, Cyprus live, his past, present and future.
Ladies and Gents,please welcome...Mr Luke Appleton!
Rock Overdose: Hello from Greece Luke,i'm Jim and i'm glad to have the opportunity to welcome you to Rock Overdose.How are you?
Luke: Hello Jim, I am very well thank you and i am very happy to be answering your questions.
Rock Overdose: The long awaited Cyprus show belongs to the past and it was a huge success!
Since you joined the band you already played a lot of shows with them and with a few left ahead to close the Dystopia tour this December.Did these shows helped you to blend in better with the band as you are a new member and how would you describe the chemistry in the band at this period of time?
Luke: Yes, we played about 30 shows before the Cyprus event and i think that was a very good thing as it gave me time to get to know the band members and crew alot more and also to get used to playing with the band. It was an amazing tour and a terrific introduction to the band. The chemistry with the band so far I think is very good, we havnt yet worked on songwriting together, but playing live is going very well and it can only get better.
Rock Overdose: As a member of Iced Earth,you are having a lot of time with Jon,Brent,Stuart and Troy.You actually live with them when you are touring.Could you describe the personality of each one of them?
Luke: Yer the guys are all quite similar in places but very different in others. Jon is the main man so he has much more of the business head on him and hes definetely the busiest man when we are on tour however, after a show he does like to kick back and have an after show drink or two as we all do. Brent is more the quiet one of the band, during the day he usually does his own thing and looks around the different cities that we are in however, when he is on stage playing his drums he comes alive and has this pure energy on stage! Stu is a great guy to hang around with, hes really funny, he knows how to party and hes very entertaining on stage, he loves to keep busy! And as for Troy, he is definietely the joker of the group, he always knows how to have a laugh and to have some fun, hes a great guitarist and its great to play on stage with him!
Rock Overdose: What about you Luke?Would you like to talk to us about your hobbies?Can you describe your profile to the Greek fans?
Luke: I started playing bass when i was about 11 years old, before Iced Earth i played in a band called Fury UK who did a numerous amount of tours with the likes of Saxon, Y&T, Blaze Bayley and Iced Earth. I like working out at the gym and playing guitar, bass and drums. I joined Iced Earth at around Summer 2012.
Rock Overdose: Last year,in November,we saw you with Fury UK in Greece supporting Iced Earth in their Dystopia world tour.You came back with Michael Schenker in February this year.After a few months we read that Freddie is leaving the band and everyone surprised when you took his place because Fury UK considered one the frontrunners in British metal scene with growing reputation and many successful shows with some of the biggest bands in the rock/metal music!
Would you like to share with us your thoughts and your feelings when you asked to join Iced Earth?Did you hesitate even for a while 'cause you had to leave a band in which you were playing along with your brother?
Luke: When I first got the call off Iced Earth asking me if I wanted to join the band in my head I knew I wanted to do it however, Ireally wanted to know what my brother and father thought about the offer, so we all sat down and i talked to themabout it they had no hesitation what so ever and they wanted me to do it as this is an opportunity of a life a time. There were many mixed feelings around such as happiness as Iwould be going to be joining one of my favourite bands of all time and sadness as Iwould have to go on tour without my brother and father which I have never done before. I am so lucky to have a family that want the best for me and Ican not thank them enough for the love and support they have given me in the past 6 months!
Rock Overdose: Luke,you know that here in Greece words like passion,craziness,devotion,religion...are looking worthless to describe our love for this band.
We the fans can't even explain this....we just feel,very strong emotions come over our whole body,mind,spirit and soul when we are listening to this band.
In 19th of August you played in Cyprus.It wasn't a common show as it was recorded for a future live cd and dvd release.
Compares are going to happen for sure with the legendary Alive In Athens!Two historic and unique performances that are only comparable to the greatest given in Athens back in 1999,on January 23th&24th!
I know that you were a huge Iced Earth fan before you join them.As fan of this band,from your point of view Luke,how would you describe the Alive In Athens show?
Luke: When I first heard of Iced Earth I was majorly hooked on the band, Icould not stop listening to them, I love the raw heavy sound that they have and the energetic stage show they have also. When I saw that the Alive in Athens DVD on sale i immediately bought it and it was worth every penny! It was a great DVD and an incredible set! Brent told me they rehearsed non-stop for about 10 days before that show and it certaintly shows! I have watched Alive in Athens many times and it is a great DVD! The Cyprus show was magical so Ihope that DVD will live up to expectation.
Rock Overdose: How did you experienced the Cyprus show?Can you describe the feelings/emotions between the band,before and after the end of the historic show in Ancient Kourion?
Luke: Before the show I personally was feeling very nervous which doesnt happen that often. The only times I seem to get nervous is when its before the first show of the tour, but the Cyprus show was much different as we were going to be playing for about 3 hours and also have pyro on stage. This is something I have never done on stage before so Iwas a little worried, but in the end all went well and nobodies hair caught on fire haha! The rest of the boys seemed relatively calm, we all did our group huddle as usually before a show and Jon wished us luck and told us to have fun! As we approached the stage and the lights went down we were deafened by the crowds roar. When we played our first note in Dystopia the crowd were amazing and it was all just a magical feeling, it really is very hard to describe the emotions that were going through my head at the time.
Rock Overdose: Luke there isn't much time since you joined the band and the fans already loves you.You are a skillful player and you look commanding on stage.Would you like to tell me who was your idol,who was the artist that made you/inspired you to buy a bass and start to play?
What are your all time favorite bands and musicians?
Luke: I have many idols as a bassplayer but if I had to say my first one I think it would be Steve Harris, as I am a huge Iron Maiden fan and I love watching that guy play, he is one of the wildest bass players out there and his stage prescence is just incredible, he just wont stop moving! Some other of my main influences as a bass player are, Geddy Lee, Geezer Butler, James Lomenzo, Dave Ellefson and Cliff Burton.
I have a variety of favourite bands actually, I have a slightly mixed taste in music such as progressive rock and metal bands such as RUSH and Dream Theater, NWOBHM bands such as Iron Maiden and Saxon and classic rock bands such as Black Stone Cherry and Thin Lizzy!
Rock Overdose: What's your Iced Earth favorite album and why?
Luke: I dont think I can pick a favourite album actually, I love them all too much! Some of my top favourite albums would be Dystopia, Horror Show, Something Wicked This Way Comes and Framing Armageddon. I have a big soft spot for Framing Armageddon as this was the first Iced Earth album I ever listening to so this was the first sound I heard of them and I was very impressed! I know not many Iced Earth fans are fans of Tim Ripper Owens but I must say that I am and I really like the Glorious Burden album aswell. However, I do love the old school Iced Earth sound like the Burnt Offerings album and Something Wicked This Way Comes album, these two are just balls out heavy and have some amazing songs on them!
Rock Overdose: How did your parents influenced you about music since your childhood?
Luke: My father is a huge RUSH fan and my mother is a huge Led Zepplin fan so I was definetely raised well haha! They have been a huge part of my music life and have been very supportive in my decisions that I have made in the last year. I cannot ask for better parents.
Rock Overdose: How would you describe the rock/metal scene nowadays?Are you listening to the new bands and if yes what's you favorite?
Luke: Yer i think the rock/metal scene is very good these days, there are alot of new bands coming to the surface especially in Manchester, I have a local venue that I go to every week and I see alot of good bands play there including, Babylon Fire, Exit State and Triaxis. These bands are very energetic and have some great songs, they are definetely worth a listen!
Other more established new bands to the scene that I like at the moment are Black Stone Cherry, Shinedown and Bullet For My Valentine. These bands suite me very well as they have alot of catchy songs and i have seen their live shows and I love a band that keeps you entertained on your feet and these bands certaintly do, much better than silly parody bands which is what you see alot of these days also.
Rock Overdose: Could you give us Luke any infromation about what's next with the band after the European Tour with Evergrey?Do you have any new material already written?
Luke: We have not yet worked on any material together yet, we are still working on the DVD but after we have finished mixing and mastering that we will be starting the writing sessions for the next album which should be out for next year so keep your eyes and ears open people!
Rock Overdose: The end is yours Luke,thank you very much for the interview.Take care,i truly hope the best for you and your family and i'm wishing you a very successful career in Iced Earth.
Send a message to the Greek fans and close this interview as you like.
Luke: I would just like to finish this interview by saying a big hello and thank you to all the Greek fans out there, its been a pleasure to play for you guys before and I cannot wait to do it again! We shall hopefully see you very soon and thank you very much for the love and support! Stay Metal!
Iced Earth Greece fb fan page here
For Rock Overdose,
Dimitris"Maiden"Bakoulas
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