‘I knew we had created something special and our finest work to date.’, says Slyder about Last Great Dreamers’ latest release 13th Floor Renegades.

‘Intelligent Power Pop from former Glam Punkers’, writes Vive Le Rock! magazine.

Go check it out, you will find yourself singing along very easily after the first listen.

At what point, during writing, rehearsing, recording, did you knew you were on to something special?

I think throughout the process right from the first writing session we were aware we had some gems of songs in the making. As we arranged the songs with the full band it was exciting to see the songs develop and take shape, so from then into the recording studio was all a special time. For me personally, I got a huge buzz out of adding my lead guitar parts and harmony vocals as a lot of those bits were written and developed at the time, but I guess the ultimate moment was after we had mixed everything and we had a bit of a listening party with a few close friends of the band; that was very emotional for me, I knew we had created something special and our finest work to date.

Which is the song you wish you had written every time you hear it? And why? 

I am a huge music fan and of the emotions music and songs can provoke. With artists I love like Manic Street Preachers and Morrissey, they are both very passionate in their writing. I find it easy to get inside the lyrics and mold them to what could be my situation or emotions at the time. One song that means a lot to me that kind of sums up the whole reason why we do this is ‘Ballad of Mott the Hoople’ by Mott The Hoople. There are a few lines that in particular that I love…

I changed my name in search of fame
To find the Midas touch
Oh I wish I’d never wanted then
What I want now twice as much

So rock’n’roll’s a loser’s game
It mesmerizes and I can’t explain
The reasons for the sights and for the sounds
The greasepaint still sticks to my face
So what the hell, I can’t erase
The rock’n’roll feeling from my mind

Magic can happen when you are playing in front of a crowd. Can you recall such a moment?

Yes, I can, it was very vivid and a real moment. LGD was on UK tour with The Quireboys and playing at Holmfirth Picturedrome which is a lovely old theatre in the north of England. We were playing ‘White Light, Black Heart’ from our last album and during an audience participation bit, the lighting engineer put the spotlight on a huge glitterball. The stage was an old-fashioned built-in wooden one and the fantastic crowd was illuminated by the stars from the glitterball. It’s hard to explain the feeling but at that moment I was transported back in time to when I was a young teenager at gigs, at the front looking up at my idols. I think it was a combination of the old theatre, wooden stage, the lighting, but I suddenly had a realization of what I was doing but from the teenage me as if I was looking up at myself from the audience. I guess you could say it was an out of body experience.

What would change if Disney would call and tell you they are going to use your song in their next movie?

Income! The biggest drawback of being in an independent band is the restrictions on budget, so more time for recording, bigger budget for PR and marketing, the budget for touring and ultimately more time to spend being a musician for 100% of the time rather than having to find additional sources of income.

What’s up for the rest of the year?

We have some shows in December, first, we are playing at Planet Rock Radio’s Planet Rockstock Festival in Wales on the 2^nd followed by 5 UK headline dates, 7^th Birmingham, 8^th Glasgow, 9^th Sheffield, 15^th  London & 16^th Southampton.