Music Style rock

Artist History Baz Warne started playing guitar at age of ten (1974) when living in Vancouver, Canada with an acoustic guitar which was actually given to younger brother Chris as a birthday present. Moved back to England and got first electric guitar at age of 13 with money saved up from a paper round. Messed around with pals from school in various scratch bands. Did first gig at 16 at The New Crown in South Shields in the summer of 1980 with mates Tony Watson (vocals), Tony Murray (bass), Bob Tyler (guitar) and Kevin Cooper (drums). Got bitten big style…….. Played one gig with metal band Spartan Warrior at the now flattened Old 29 pub in Sunderland after two years messing about, and finally joined Sunderland punks Toy Dolls in May 1983, playing bass. First 'Dolls gig was Feltham Football Club, Middlesex in June 1983. Played endless U.K toilet tours, two German/ Dutch tours and two great U.S. tours before quitting in Sept 1984. Also made recording debut with the 'Dolls with Cheerio Toodle Pip ( which he co-wrote ) Alfie from the Bronx and We're Mad singles ( all on Tyneside based label Volume Records). Immediately formed what would become Smalltown Heroes the same September after a chance meeting with bass player Tony Roffe in a Sunderland pub.Tony was a mate from another Sunderland group Zulu and the Heartaches (with now T.V. chef Pete Zulu as Front man). Started rehearsing with Tone in girlfriend's bed sit playing Ramones and Undertones covers and messing with half-formed original ideas. Recruited original Toy Dolls drummer Colin (Mr ) Scott on drums and Became known as The Troubleshooters. Rehearsed the music end of things for months as a three piece getting tight and concentrating on two and a half minute pop/punk ditties ( which in 1985 were deeply unfashionable……). Finally decided a singer was needed and younger brother Chris was drafted in, although not immediately……… Brothers being what they are, Chris was given a list of songs to learn. Being Baz's younger brother, he thought he wouldn't have to learn the stuff, but would get the gig anyway. He didn't. There was much mud slinging in the Warne household until the following week's rehearsal when somehow, without his big brother knowing, Chris learned the songs perfectly and got the gig on merit. " I knew he could sing really well 'cos he had his own band" Baz remembers, " but I did'nt want him just thinking he could get in anyway 'cos we were brothers, I wanted him to get in properly y'know, and he did". Began gigging in earnest in the summer of 1985 with their debut at Annabel's Nightclub in Sunderland. Gigged constantly for five months before recording their first demo ( and Chris's recording debut ) at The Studio recording studios in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne in October of that year. Got various reactions from record companies varying from enthusiastic to lukewarm, but continued to gig, building up a large local following and specialising in noisy, sweaty packed pub gigs. Kept it up for another year before packing in due to lack of interest from London ( the times being what they were). Joined a local covers group for a year to keep going ( and earning…..) before getting Troubleshooters back together again for another bash. This time the group wrote like mad and recorded several demos before changing drummers in 1988 to the much admired local lad Kevin Scott. This line up lasted for ten years ………… Early in 1989 the band recruited Mancunian manager Harvey Lee, who'd been a fan since running into the band at a gig in late 1988. With his help and enthusiasm a team was formed which secured a publishing deal with Global, London in 1990.The band slogged their guts up and down the U.K. for FOUR more years before signing their management and record deals within months of each other. Management came in the shape of E.G. Management ( Killing Joke, King Crimson, Roxy Music) and recording wise the band signed to Global,Munich. During this time the name was changed to Smalltown Heroes ( actually in 1992) and Baz and Kevin played in another band, The Picture Show with Southend born musician Jon Palmer. This group recorded, as well as playing 40 odd shows in and around the North East. 1993 was a gigging year also, and was most notable for the bands gig at Newcastle City Hall supporting Little Angels. Angels' ask for bands to send in demos to support them on select dates in the U.K. and pick Smalltown Heroes as best tape of all from 950 entries………An accolade which sees them voted by Kerrang readers as one of the top 5 unsigned bands in their end of year polls. April 1995 saw the 'Heroes head out on their first major tour supporting Canadian guitarist Jeff Healy on a ten date British jaunt. Band win many friends and release debut single ' Moral Judgement' on 1st May. Kerrang magazine votes it single of the week, and it's also the world's first ever interactive C.D. Rom single, featuring a band history, video for ' moral', and gig footage etc. It gets a gold award for the most innovative release of it's time……….. Band enter Battery Studios, London, to record debut album 'Human Soup ' on August 1st. It takes a month to do and receives critical acclaim on it's release. The rest of the year is spent gigging and another U.K. tour is undertaken in the winter this time with The Stranglers………. 1996 is another gigging year, with the group headlining their first ever ' proper' U.K. tour. They play Chelmsford, Leicester, Basildon, Stockton, Newcastle, Manchester, Leeds, Cambridge, Norwich, Northampton, London, Canterbury, Southampton and finish in Portsmouth, playing the Heineken Big Top Festival to 5,000 people with The Damned. 1997 starts with their first foreign gigs, in Germany and Holland, playing with…….The Stranglers. A German t.v. cop show theme is recorded during a 4 day session at Arco Studios in Munich in April. A short 8 date U.K. tour is done, and then the band head back to Germany to support German singer/ songwriter Stoppok on a 10 date tour playing 3,000 capacity venues. The band encore for 8 of these gigs, unheard of for a support band…… 1998 sees the band relocate to Munich for two months in Jan/ Feb with Wildhearts/ Paradise Lost/ Pantera producer Simon Efemy and respected engineer Rusty Russell. They record what they consider to be their best music ever, in a brilliant atmosphere, and exploit Munich's nightlife to the full……… A regular haunt is the Atomic Caf� nightclub, a scruffy vinyl only club, and the band love it so much they name their album after it! They also meet up with old mates The Stereophonics here and get shitfaced with a fledgling Travis. They return home triumphant and are convinced this is the one. This is when it all turns to shit for Smalltown Heroes……. During mixing at Jacobs' Farm in Surrey, they part company with Harvey. The new manager Rudy Reed is a feisty southerner who doesn't suffer fools gladly. Together with the band, a more aggressive approach is taken, Record company policies and management company plans dictate an altogether softer tack, and things quickly fall to pieces. The album never comes out, and after (altogether) 14 years, and very nearly 1,000 gigs, the band is over. Getting Baz to talk about this is still difficult………………. It takes until Summer 1998 before another group is even contemplated, and not wishing to go through all that nonsense again, a covers band. Sun Devils is formed purely for their own enjoyment. 300+ gigs and a massive live following later, they've just recorded their first original song demos. Watch this space……….. Also Baz's love for acoustic music ( first started with his old pal Dave Taggart years ago, great fun if you ever saw them………) came back to the fore, and acoustic gigs form a very big part of what he does, playing well over 250 solo shows up to now. April this year (2000) saw old mates The Stranglers call, and after auditioning in London on Wednesday April 5TH , found himself in Kosovo 10 days later playing for the troops of the peace keeping force, one of the highlights of his career so far. Stepping on stage with a band he's long admired was a thrill, and hopes will continue for years to come………

Group Members Baz Warne, Baz Crosby, Ted Hunter, Willis

Albums Sun Devils

Press Reviews I've seen the Sun Devils only at the fans convention in 2001 and that was just once. If you only listened to the sound samples on the website, I have to say: they’re just a very small fragment of what you’ll get on the CD. Seven songs, 2 covers. I have to admit I don’t know the originals to Powder finger (Neil Young) and Ride on (AC/DC), and frankly I really don’t care how they sound somewhere else, with the Sun Devils they kick ass. The CD is an alternation of power guitar and gentle ballad like songs. My favourites would be: A million stars, where’ve u been? and closing down the world. I seriously think all the above are good top 40 material, and could get the Sun Devils the media attention they deserve. The catching chorus on a million stars will get you to sing along, no matter how you try not to, where’ve u been? to me is a very emotional song, you can feel the desperation in Baz’s voice. I hope it’s not autobiographical… Closing down the world has “funny” lyrics. Maybe not the content, but I smile at the way Baz sings them…sorry. In last month's web chat, with Baz himself, he explained what the song was all about: how people try to just go about their daily lives and how there’s always something or someone trying to ruin your day…bit of paranoia can be detected in the lyrics in phrases like: "I’m the only one I trust when it comes to making money, not a crime is it?" The guitar solos on the CD are all a power loving creature like me wants…not too long, not too short, very loud and overwhelming. What a talented guy you must be if you can play like that. It’s, at this point, no surprise, because I heard Baz perform for the first time with the Stranglers at a festival in Belgium two years ago. He’d just joined and he played a note perfect solo to Golden Brown, in fact all of his guitar bits were perfect, note to note as they are on the records…stunning, unbelievable and very impressive. (I'm not biased, am I? hehe) This CD is a showcase for all the musicians in the band, in "Consider this" the Bass player sings. I know there are two guitar players and I’m not sure which one plays which part. As far as I remember Pontins’ convention Baz plays most of the solo’s, sings most of it too. Just take the start of the CD rambling drums, raw guitars, and that’s just the intro to “you threw it all away”. Baz’s crude and almost “gin drenched blues” vocals complement the band and one of the more faster and energetic songs, the lyrics take you to fitting guitar solos, and “mutes” in the song… You know how some songs are only solo, only chorus or just vocals… somehow I find there’s a bit of it all, and in the right proportions…it doesn’t bore you. A Million Stars is the second one on the CD and definitely my favourite. Nice and rocky, kinda sing along, I wished there was one more chorus to sing along to tho…I’m impressed by the long notes, that man must have huge lungs! Then Closing down the world, the funny one: well you’ll just have to buy the CD to “get it”. Almost immediately goes into a guitar solo, but is not overwhelming, just nice short and to the point, kind of a warming up to the one that’s coming up… As said before Powder finger is a Neil Young cover and I don’t have a clue how the original sounds, but frankly I don’t care…I’m not sure what to think of this song…I remember the bass player wearing a Neil Young t-shirt at Pontins, is it a tribute? I don’t know and, except for the guitar solo, I don’t really like it, sorry. Consider this: perfectly placed on the CD, nice resting point, calm song to “recover” from what you’ve heard/experienced until now. Ride on: another cover…AC/DC this time. Again don’t know the original, but I like this one, well if it’s not, does it have to be a perfect copy of the original or can it be a “new and improved” interpretation?. I always thought AC/DC to be a heavy metal kinda band…which makes me wonder about this song... Well maybe I’ll drop into a record shop soon and have a listen… Where’ve u been? Oh my God!… it grabs you and doesn’t let go! It starts of with an acoustic bit. Vocals and guitar only, heart tearing! Baz’s desperations seeps through with every note, gives me goose bumps time after time. Turn up the volume, for the first bit, then…the rest of the band jump right in…well I can’t describe it! Takes the song to another level…wow what power, turn down the volume quickly, before the upstairs neighbour comes down. Wow. Makes me cry, every time…it simply takes over. I think I can’t do the CD any justice, but if you love guitars, rock and good music: buy the CD, you won’t be disappointed!

Location Sunderland, north east - United Kingdom

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