{"id":1123,"date":"1984-03-01T00:00:15","date_gmt":"1984-03-01T00:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=1123"},"modified":"2012-02-18T02:16:15","modified_gmt":"2012-02-18T02:16:15","slug":"feature-exciter-mf4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-exciter-mf4\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCITER – Stand Up And Fight (MF4, 1984) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

EXCITER – Stand Up And Fight<\/strong><\/span>
\nBernard Doe<\/span>
\nMetal Forces, Issue 4 (1984)<\/span><\/p>\n

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John Ricci and Allan Johnson<\/em><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Pic: Wayne Archibald<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Together with Metallica, Ottawa\u2019s Exciter have been one of the bands responsible for the current trend of power metal now sweeping the headbanging globe. So, it seemed fitting that both bands would make their debut live UK appearance together on the same bill with The Rods on the Hell On Earth tour. However, as you are all no doubt aware, that entire British tour together with numerous dates throughout Europe were cancelled due to poor advance ticket sales.<\/p>\n

The three members of Exciter – Dan Beehler (lead vocals \/ drums), John Ricci (guitar) and Allan Johnson (bass) – had arrived in London the very day the UK dates had been scrapped. So, when I met up with the band a few days later the first thing I asked them was if the disappointment of having the tour cancelled had changed their attitude towards their British audience? Dan: \u201cNo, not really because we are well aware of the present economical situation in Britain, and there\u2019s currently a lot of tours going on with bigger bands. So when a band like Exciter come over with only one album (Violence And Force<\/em> on the Music For Nations label) that is domestic in Britain, it\u2019s very hard for a band like us to sell tickets. The kids just don\u2019t have the money to go to every show that\u2019s coming through. So it doesn\u2019t change our attitude as far as Britain goes, because we know we have a following here and if the kids had the money we know they would be out there headbanging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Were the band happy with the latest album Violence And Force<\/em>? Allan: \u201cYeah. Although the first album opened everything up for us, Violence And Force is so much better. Better produced, better writing\u2026 everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

What was it like working with The Rods drummer Carl Canedy, who produced the album? Dan: \u201cGreat! Carl\u2019s very easy to work with and he\u2019s a great producer. If the band had any suggestions then he was very open minded. In the past, we\u2019ve had real asshole producers that say \u2018Oh no man, it\u2019s done like this, you don\u2019t play your guitar like that and tune your drums like this\u2019. But Carl knew that we knew our music better than anyone else, so he let us do whatever we wanted to do, and we\u2019ve come up with a product that we are all really pleased with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exciter\u2019s first album, Heavy Metal Maniac<\/em>, was actually a demo tape which had found its way into many a tape traders collection long before the album was officially released in 1983. Had this worried the band? Dan: \u201cYeah, we freaked out! At first we were really mad that our tape was getting around and we didn\u2019t think anyone would buy the album, but in the end I think it helped us in a way. Let\u2019s face it, the underground metal world is what made Exciter what it is today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heavy Metal Maniac<\/em> was released in the US on Shrapnel Records, but then Exciter split from the label after being offered a better deal from Jonny Z\u2019s Megaforce Records in New York. So what is the situation like in Canada at the moment in terms of getting record deals? John: \u201cWell, our music has always been extremely hard to market in Canada. Initially, when we got our demo tapes together, we did go knocking on Canadian doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dan: \u201cYeah, and they slammed them in our faces with comments like \u2018You\u2019re too fucking heavy – get lost\u2019, \u2018You guys suck\u2019, or \u2018Anvil\u2019s the greatest man, so forget it\u2019. But we kept forging on and said we would go and get signed in the States\u2026 which we did. And, now we\u2019re getting recognition over here and our second album\u2019s doing well, these Canadian companies are starting to turn their heads and say \u2018Exciter! Yeah, we like those guys\u2019. But I say to them, \u2018Fuck you! Where the hell were you two years ago?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThe club scene in Canada at the moment is full of new heavy metal bands, but there\u2019s no band there who have really reached the stature that we have. We\u2019re not big and we\u2019re not small, but in that in-between stage where we\u2019re treading on Anvil\u2019s heels. But it\u2019s great that we\u2019ve got all these other bands coming up, like Rapid Tears and Kraken, because maybe it will click in the heads of Canadian record companies that heavy metal is getting better and they should start pushing some of our acts.\u201d<\/p>\n

How about the heavy metal audiences in Canada? Dan: \u201cWhen we played L\u2019amour in Brooklyn, New York the place was sold out with crazy headbangers who just love our material. Canadians are almost there, but we don\u2019t get the same reception as we do in the US. They\u2019re just too laid back and don\u2019t wanna move in case someone sees them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dan Beehler<\/b><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Pic: Wayne Archibald<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Well, Exciter did manage to play one gig during their short stay in the UK. That was at a packed Royal Standard in London, promoted by Shades record store. Unfortunately, the PA system the band used that night was one of the worst ever used at the venue. But despite the appalling sound, all Exciter fans present, including myself, obviously enjoyed the Canadian trio\u2019s set of pounding metal. As usual there were the \u2018slag off\u2019 comments from the liggers at the bar, when instead they should have been praising the band for carrying on despite the sound problems and playing a full set. Lesser bands would surely have cut it short rather than risk their credibility. So, full marks to Exciter.<\/p>\n

Live, Exciter certainly give 100% effort and demand the same from their audience. John: \u201cWe get the audience involved in every tune we are playing. It\u2019s not like, \u2018we are the band, you are the audience\u2019.We don\u2019t have that kind of communication. We mingle right with the audience and they like the personal attention. A lot of bands neglect that, they play their tunes and that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dan: \u201cThey\u2019re there to make noise and scream, and we give them their chance. We want to see the audience perform as much as they want to see us perform.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that the band\u2019s albums contain a lot of overdubs, especially from guitarist John Ricci. But as a three-piece they certainly don\u2019t suffer live. John: \u201cNo, we\u2019re one band that doesn\u2019t miss the rhythm guitar that much. I think it\u2019s just the chemistry of the band. The rhythm section\u2019s very good and they fill in a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also, there\u2019s the incredible vocals of Dan Beehler. But doesn\u2019t he find it difficult playing drums and singing at the same time? Dan: \u201cI find it difficult, sure, and I find it a challenge, but it\u2019s just something I\u2019ve developed. What you hear on the album is what you hear live. I write to what I can do on the kit, not just in the studio.\u201d<\/p>\n

As I said earlier, with Metallica they have certainly set a trend in fast-paced metal. But how will Exciter\u2019s sound develop from here? Dan: \u201cSure, it\u2019s good to play fast, but the rhythm section has got to play together. In a lot of up-and-coming bands, all the drummer does is play as fuckin\u2019 fast as he can with the bass player following him\u2026 and there\u2019s no rhythm section. Well, that\u2019s where we draw the line. We like to play with a heavy beat and<\/em> a heavy rhythm section.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well they certainly don\u2019t come much heavier than Exciter and hopefully it won\u2019t be too long before they return to these shores and give the rest of Britain, and indeed the whole of Europe, a taste of the Violent Force.<\/p>\n

Interview taken from Metal Forces, Issue 4 (1984)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EXCITER – Stand Up And Fight Bernard Doe Metal Forces, Issue 4 (1984) John Ricci and Allan Johnson Pic: Wayne Archibald Together with Metallica, Ottawa\u2019s Exciter have been one of the bands responsible for the current trend of power metal now sweeping the headbanging globe. So, it seemed fitting that both bands would make their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exciter","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1123"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4249,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1123\/revisions\/4249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}