It’s been a long time since we’ve heard the name Balance of Power. 2024 sees their return to the spotlight with their new album Fresh From The Abyss. A collection of songs well worthy of your attention. They couldn’t do it alone. They come armed with a new band and a whole new energy. I got to sit down with the core members Tony Ritchie and Lionel Hicks to talk about the new record and their years spent in the music industry. We discuss working with the legend that is Toby Jepson on the new record, finding their new members and their process of working on music. I also talk to them about their influences and surprisingly the name Dio appears more than a few times.
Mick: Fresh From The Abyss will be the first album with the Balance of Power name on it in nearly 20 years. How does it feel to have new music with that band's name on it again?
Anthony: We started work on it, quite a long way back anyway. We had written some songs that were originally supposed to be on the next Balance of Power record. However, Lionel got taken away while working on his films. We spoke to Biff Byford (Saxon) and Andy Sneap about putting some new music together as a soundtrack for Lionel’s film.
Lionel: Originally yeah, that was it. We’re pretty good friends with Biff and we didn’t have a vocalist for Balance of Power at the time, since at the time we had parted ways with John K. Biff listened to the songs and although he liked them, it didn’t sit right with Saxon from that point of view. Since there are so many loyal fans of Saxon, we had the idea of changing some of the lyrics, taking the name Balance of Power out of it and working it as a project for the film that I had produced. That was the way that Biff and Andy justified working on it. That was originally supposed to be a Balance of Power album but that ended up being The Scintilla Project.
That all went down really well. So, we thought we would make another album under that name but Biff didn’t really feel that, so I said “Well, let’s do it as Balance of Power because that’s what it is anyway”. It all took a long time for it to come around. As far as Tony and I are concerned, The Scintilla Project album is really a Balance of Power album. To the rest of the world, it’s something a little different. Yet, the writing was the same, and the recording process was the same. So it was Balance of Power by a different name. This album is essentially The Scintilla Project but with Hazel, instead of Biff Byford.
Mick: Saying that then, how did you meet Hazel Jade, Chris Young and Adam Wardle and how did they become involved in the new project?
Tony: Well, Toby Jepson is a big part of that. Being involved in all of it. We told him that we were looking for a singer. So, Toby was the one who introduced us to Hazel. We sent her the demo of Never Be Here Again and we asked her to take the material and perform it how she would like. So we really gave her the freedom to do her own thing with the song. She recorded it, I think she only had a small place at the time, so she had a small space set up for recording in the kitchen. She recorded the vocals there. When she sent the recordings back to us, we absolutely loved it. So much so that we included those vocal tracks on the actual finished album. Purely because we couldn’t match the sheer energy and emotion in the studio that she brought to that original recording. So with that song, you actually are hearing the first thing we ever heard after we contacted her. So that’s really cool to keep that on the album.
The actual recording of the album was really complicated with our partner musicians, Chris Masimore & Stoney Wagner, working out of Minneapolis. They recorded the guitars for this album and The Scintilla Project album. We kinda knew there was no way that touring was going to be viable with the musicians that worked on the album itself. We told them that we were looking for musicians to play live with and they mutually understood that it was necessary to do that. So, Chris Young was brought on board because he was actually in a band with Hazel called Elevation Falls.
Lionel: Adam Wardle was brought in via a suggestion from Toby. We needed another guitarist to rehearse with and also another body for the music videos. Which are all out now. So we really wanted a concrete lineup for playing live and for the complete band that would be seen in the videos. So, when Adam actually came in, we got on really well with him, he has a similar vision for the band as we do.
Again we should say that Chris and Stoney in the USA are all fine with this, there’s no bad blood or anything. They’re just happy to see their work get pushed and they can’t come to the UK every week to rehearse since they have their own commitments in America.
Mick: It really sounds like Toby Jepson came in as a great assistance for this record. What was it like working with Toby on this album and how did his work affect the overall product?
Lionel: He was really great. Just an awesome sounding board to bounce ideas off of. He worked really well with Hazel and worked with her to get the best vocal performance possible. Obviously, both Toby and I have strong ideas when it comes to producing records, as we both come from the same place. Toby was in there and really guided the project along. I mean Toby and I go way back. We grew up together in Scarborough and we were in our first bands together. Before he was in Little Angels, we worked together in a small band. So since we have such a history, it just made sense that we would come together on this.
Mick: Also, Toby directed the music videos for Never Be Here Again, Abyss and One More Time Around The Sun. Is there any difference between sound engineer Toby and Music video director Toby?
Tony: He has so many hats it really is unbelievable. Yet, I wouldn’t say he’s a jack of all trades as it were. When Toby sets his mind to a task he really gives it his all and does an absolute top job in everything he’s assigned to. It's just really nice to have him around and have him be a part of everything we’re doing.
Lionel: He just had such a vision for how the videos were going to turn out and for how each one should look. Of course, I had a hand in it as my day job is film production. But with his vision, he managed to pull off something quite special. It’s hard to tell at the time of making it. However, now that they’ve all been released and out in the world, they all look really great. It’s amazing really because they look so good yet they weren’t expensive videos to make at all.
Mick: Yeah you can tell a lot of heart went into it. I was into the gothic aesthetic. I appreciated the work that went into the production.
Tony: That whole building that Toby found was great. We were there for three days while we filmed all three of the music videos. We tried to make each of the videos look different but used as much of that building as possible.
Mick: Have your influences for writing music changed at all over the years, or are they still more or less the same?
Tony: I think so. I suppose you can’t really help but soak up what’s going on around you. There are certain elements that I don’t want to use although it’s new, it’s just not for me. We’ve been doing this for a long time now and we’ve never really changed how we approach making music as it’s always worked for us. This time around, we used some different techniques with Lionel coming up with some drum parts and drum tracks. Actually manufacturing the songs, working from the drums upwards. That was a different approach that we had never tried before. I think this album feels a lot fresher than anything we’ve done before. However, at the end of the day, it comes down to Lionel and me coming up with ideas.
I come up with more of the musical and lyrical ideas and Lionel comes up with arrangements. Maybe this goes here and this tightens up there. However, as far as inspiration goes it’s still the usual suspects with Dio, Black Sabbath, U.F.O. and Queensryche even. As far as more modern stuff goes, one of my all-time favourite albums is Audioslave's first album. I just think it’s so simple but so effective. It’s stuff like that, you just soak it up. As we do love a good chorus.
Lionel: The thing is with any team or whatever, being in a band, you just roll with it and you don’t force it. This album, Fresh From The Abyss, has continuity with the past albums. We were surprised reading the reviews, we’ve been blown away by them. However, for the most part, they’re all saying that if you liked the past Balance of Power albums you’re still going to like this album. We were really chuffed about that because it’s just what we naturally do when Tony and I work together. It’s not so much a conscious choice of choosing a style or forcing anything. We just go with our instinct.
Mick: It’s funny that you bring up Dio as an influence. In my opinion, certain moments on this album are very Dio-like. Just in the tone or the way Hazel inflects her words. It all feels very reminiscent of that classic Dio style.
Lionel: We’ll buy some pints when we see you as that’s music to our ears! Dio has been our biggest influence since we were kids until now. There have been reviews already that have likened it to Holy Diver and we were like wow! I mean we’re not trying to be Dio, we just love Dio.
Tony: It kinda keeps it interesting as well. I can’t think of many other bands that do this sort of thing. It’s either trying to be modern or in with other influences. You don’t really hear, “Wow, that’s really Dio-y”, so thank you for that.
Mick: I think my personal favourite track on the album is Rage of Ages, what’s your personal favourite from the new record and why?
Tony: So we’re heavily rehearsing songs at the moment ready to go out on the road. So there are some of the songs that we’re putting in the setlist from the new record. Yet, there are some that we’re not. At the moment, I’m really enjoying the songs that we’re not rehearsing all the time. I really enjoy Velocity. I think that there’s quite a lot of depth in that, it’s quite heavy leaning more into the Sabbath-y side of our sound. The riffs are great. There’s just a lot of different textures going on in Velocity. I think that’s my favourite right now, though that will probably change next week.
Lionel: I’m going through stages because you can really love them and also be really sick of the songs you write as you have to keep putting them on repeat and we’re rehearsing them a lot too. At the moment I love Deadlands because we’re doing it in rehearsals. I think it’s going to be a good one live as we’re thinking of a way of starting the set with it because it’s so powerful and fast, I think it’s a good one to maybe open the set with. I think it could be cool in the same way that Dio would start his shows with We Rock. This is funny because I read in a review that Deadlands had the same feel as We Rock, so the fact that we had the thought of starting the set with Deadlands, it’s almost kind of perfect. It’s so much fun to play live.
Mick: Where did your passion for music begin, as in what was the first musical experience be it an album or a gig that first ignited that love of music?
Tony: I can remember the first band I got into properly was Sweet. Although, I think of the albums Caress of Steel and All The World’s A Stage by Rush. I used to play along to All The World’s A Stage. That was my first album where I would learn to play along to the music. I originally only wanted to learn a few songs, but since I had too much time on my hands in those days. I played along to the whole album. That would change over the years. Then when I discovered Dio, I backtracked to listening to all of Black Sabbath and Rainbow. It was a massive explosion of everything all at once.
Lionel: For me, it was an obvious moment that I’ve never forgotten. My Dad was a big music fan and a musician himself. When I was a really young kid, he brought home the album Deep Purple In Rock by Deep Purple when it came out. I remember hearing it and when he went out, I remember sneaking into his room and playing that record. I was so amazed by that album, it was so dark, weird and powerful, and it just captured me. Not just the music but this whole world of crazy, mental men with long hair and the darkness of it all. I just loved it and from that day on, I’ve never looked back. I thought to myself, “Where does this stuff come from I need more". So I just built more and more into it. I ended up owning the album from my Dad and I still have it today in my vinyl collection. It’s my first-ever rock record.
Mick: From your years in the industry do you have any particular “Holy Shit, I can’t believe that happened” moments?
Lionel: One that always springs to mind is working with Biff Byford. I never thought we would ever work with Biff. I’ve always loved Saxon, I remember the first time seeing them perform live. It was at Leeds University and they were supporting Motorhead in the 70s. I almost pinched myself years later working in the studio with Biff and Andy Sneap. I went to bed one night and thought to myself, “Hang on a minute. I’m making an album with Biff Byford and Andy Sneap”. It just took me back to being 15 and being at the back of the crowd at Leeds University. I never thought I would actually get to work with them. Let alone being in a band with them.
Tony: Just to continue that. I mean that’s gotta be the one right? After so many years of writing and producing music, then to have someone like Biff Byford singing the lyrics that you wrote. It’s like a stamp of approval. It’s almost like this does make sense and this does actually work. It’s gotta be right because Biff said, right?
Mick: What’s the hardest thing you’ve had to overcome and how did you overcome it?
Tony: I started out as a bass guitarist and then had my bass guitar stolen which was a blow. However, then I was asked by another local band to sing for them. I had to change into being a lead singer, the frontman of a band. This wasn’t really what I had planned on doing. This led to joining Balance of Power and meeting Lionel. We recorded the first album, so my world was turned upside down as I was a singer, then the label stepped in and said “Actually we need a singer with a higher range than Tony” because the market demanded it. So I got the sack as the singer, but I stayed in the band as it was my baby as well. There was a short time after that when I thought “Damn, that’s a really hard knock to take”. I worked hard to get a record deal, as you do when you're a striving musician, and then all of a sudden it was taken away. That was a hard one to come back from. But I took it in my stride and it was a good life lesson to learn from. It worked out as I focussed more on my writing and I discovered that I’m a better songwriter than I am a singer. It’s all about learning your place and learning where you can best be used.
Lionel: I think mine is a bit more recent. I remember we flew to San Francisco to play at The Bay Festival, which turned out to be our last gig for a long, long time. We were flying back and I had just started work in the film industry and that’s what kept me away from music as film is all-consuming. Tony and I sat on the plane back and said to each other that we thought this would be our last gig. For some reason, it really felt that way. At that moment there was that feeling of “awe shit, is it really the last one”. As the months followed, I got more into my film work and it started to feel like it was the last one, like that was our moment and we’d moved on. We did manage to do The Scintilla Project, but that made me feel even more that Balance of Power was over. Now this new album is coming out, it’s got me really stoked that Balance of Power is back. I’m 60 this year and we’ve made an album that we love. Everyone we’ve spoken to seems to love it. We’re going back out on the road, I keep wanting to pinch myself. I thought wouldn’t happen again so I’m really happy.
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