Biff Byford, lead singer of Saxon, is never bored. He uses the time of the pandemic to produce album after album. His latest band, Heavy Water, is a project with his son, which encounters a musical fusion. What exactly the fusion looks like and why it becomes so special in the world of music, the wise man explains in the interview. And all those who believe that the band would exist only sporadically, were wrong. Album number 2 will be in process at the end of the year. But read for yourself!

Sarah-Jane: What should the band name "Heavy Water" represent and how far does it fit to you?

Biff: Well it’s not heavy metal, is it? So I thought Heavy Water was good because it’s a little bit softer, you know? So, not quite as hard. I just like the word Heavy Water, it sounds cool. You know, it’s water that you find in hydro-electric power plants, when they’re making electricity. And because the things are spinning so quickly, it makes this stuff called Heavy Water that’s a byproduct…so it’s all to do with power and generating power. So Heavy Water sort of rolls off the tongue. T-shirts look great as well.

Sarah-Jane: I start with the song "Turn To Black". There, for example, you rhymed, brought in a lot of stylistic devices and also paid attention to the form vocally. Can you explain a little bit how the song was created and why you paid attention to all the details?

Biff: I would say Seb wrote 80% of that song. The song is actually about mental issues, really. That’s where he’s coming from with that song. How your thoughts can turn dark quite sudden. And he’s only 22, so he has all those things going on in his mind. But I think from a recording point of view, I think we wanted it to be sort of heavy. You know, the emphasis on that dark riff. I mean, I think it’s a really cool song and I’m surprised you picked up on that because a lot of people don’t really notice that song. But I think that’s a great connection, that song, between the heavy side, the more metal side, of my style of music and Seb’s more bluesy, groove style of music. So that song sort of gets both our styles together. It was a very easy song to do. Seb’s a great riff guitarist. He’s not such a virtuoso guitarist, but he’s a great riff guitarist. And I think he nailed that riff, it’s really a great riff actually. I wish I had written it. In fact, I wanted that riff for Saxon when I first heard that riff. I thought that was a great riff for Saxon but he was like “no, no…I want that for myself”, so he kept it. But it is a great guitar riff and it would’ve suited us very well, but it ended up on this album which is great.

Sarah-Jane: I really like "Tree In The Wind." What does this strong song mean to you? Why do you see yourselves as a ship that has to fight against stormy seas?

Biff: Yeah I’m glad you like “Tree In The Wind” because that’s one of my favorite tracks. We wrote that track together. It’s really a lockdown song. It’s really about coming through. It’s really about a tree bending in the wind, surviving in the wind. That’s really where the analogy is there. So it’s about trying to feel good about something that’s pretty bad, really…and surviving. It’s a surviving song. And you know, like a tree in the wind standing tall and proud. It’s about all of us really, coming through this pandemic. And coming through it. And not being put down by it really. So that’s really what the song is about. It’s a song of hope, I think.

Sarah-Jane: So is that an idea you had during the pandemic?

Biff: This one was, yeah. A lot of the songs are pandemic-related, like “Red Brick City”, the title track. That’s about being stuck in a house and you can’t leave. When it was really bad here in the UK and I’m sure it was the same everywhere else. So yeah, I think a lot of the songs come from the dark side of it, and the hope side of it.

Sarah-Jane: I can’t wait to see that live. Do you wanna move on with the band?

Biff: Yeah, we’re gonna do another album I think. We have another album planned, maybe. Maybe we’re gonna start it this year because we’re not really busy yet. I mean, Seb’s off surfing in his camper van. So he’s sort of out there with his girlfriend at the moment. So we’re coming back together around October/November and that’s when we’re gonna put together some new songs and maybe record a new album, you know?

Sarah-Jane: I guess you’ll be busy with your tours next year!

Biff: I will be busy, yeah. And also, I think the album has to find an audience as well. Because it’s not a metal album. So I think the album has to find an audience. Like yourself, you like certain songs. You only really have to like one song to get into a band, and I think we want it to be a band if you know what I mean, rather than a project that we did. I think if we did another album then people would probably get into it more, as an entity. As an entity of a separate band, called Heavy Water, you know?

Sarah-Jane: Personally, I wondered why you rarely used the saxophone. Why did it get so much in the background? Can you imagine using it more often?

Biff: I’ve used the saxophone on my solo album a bit. And Seb used it on the Naked Six album, his album. Yeah we like the saxophone. It makes a change from guitar sometimes. In a metal band, every song has a guitar solo and depending on what band you are, they can be quite long. I think sometimes it maybe takes away from the song. Not every song but some songs the guitar solo can be too long so using a sax, sort of brings your ear to the song a little bit more. Cause people are really used to hearing guitars on rock songs and not so much used to hearing saxophone.

Sarah-Jane: Yeah that’s true but you had a really good combination and it was so good that I thought maybe you could do some more songs with the sax…

Biff: Yeah you could! The sax is a solo instrument like guitar. We’ve got a Hammond Organ solo on there as well on the bluesiest song, which worked pretty well really. Just to be a bit different really, and to make the album interesting. And I think when you listen to an album it has to be entertaining. Especially something like Heavy Water. Aside from me being in Saxon and Seb being in Naked Six, there’s no real rules. We don’t have any rules we have to follow if you know what I mean. So we can really do what we want, which is really liberating musically, I think.

Sarah-Jane: Of course I would also like to hear something about the collaboration. Did you learn anything from working with your son?

Biff: Yeah actually I’ve learned that he’s a great songwriter. And he can play guitar really well. I didn’t really realize how well he could play guitar. And he sings. He’s got a great tone to his voice. Because I recorded his vocals and he recorded mine. I was able to listen to his style and I learned a little bit actually. His phrasing is different to mine. So I learned a little bit from his phrasing. And obviously he learned from all my experience of pushing yourself. Not just taking the very first thing that you think is good. Always try to do it better. I think that’s what he took away from me.

Sarah-Jane: What was the best situation during your recording or the making of the album?

Biff: I think rehearsing on the album and doing the drum tracks we’re pretty good because we were all playing together as a band. I don’t know if you’ve seen the “making of” video but we’re all together with Tom, the drummer, in a studio just rehearsing and recording drums. So that was great fun. Just having a laugh and playing live, really. In a room.

Sarah-Jane: Is there an experience in the music business that you would not want your son to go through and which experience is that?

Biff: I didn’t really want Sebastian to be a musician because I think it’s really rough to be able to make it in the business. Especially a new band, it’s really hard. But he’s really talented so he would’ve been a musician anyway. Regardless of whether I was his father or not, I suppose. It’s actually in him to write songs and play an instrument. And he used to play drums when he was little. We lived in France and he wanted to play drums so he went for drum lessons. So he’s a really great drummer as well actually. He’s a bit of an all-around musician. It’s great now because he doesn’t just have to sing. He can play guitar, he can play keyboards, he can play drums, and he can sing. So he’s a lot luckier than I was when I was younger cause I played bass guitar and sang. I played a little bit of guitar but I wasn’t as good as he is now, at his age. So I think he’s doing really well. You know, as far as bands go, he wants to do it on his own anyway. He wants to do it on the strength of his music. Not on the strength of, he’s my son, if you know what I mean. I suppose the Heavy Water thing digresses from that a little bit because it connects him more with me. But even so, most of the songs are written by him, especially the music. So it’s a good showcase for his songwriting anyway. So when his next project comes out, which won’t be Naked Six by the way, I think people will know him and they’ll know pretty much the style of his music. Because his songwriting on this album is quite strong. I mean I wrote lyrics with him and did a few melodies but most of the stuff, the guitar riffs, arrangement-wise, is his really. He produced the album. So I think it’s a good experience for him and he’s learned a lot from doing this album.

Sarah-Jane: And by the special sound, which target group do you address with the music?

Biff: I’ve got no idea. I have no idea who the target people are. I suppose metal fans, rock fans, grunge fans. Rock fans generally, I think. I think it’s a rocky album, it’s a rock n’ roll album and I just think its fans of music really, not just a specific genre is what I think we’re looking for.

Sarah-Jane: Yeah, I’m excited about the two different generations because your son is still young and has the newer influence, and you have your influence from 60s, 70s, 80s. So I like the combination of that. That’s something I guess most of the bands are missing today.

Biff: Yeah I think because we’re doing a different style of music than Saxon or Naked Six. I think on the one side it’s really interesting. But I think it can be a bit confusing as well because people don’t really know where we’re coming from. We’re coming from me and Seb writing songs together. So they’re two different styles mixed together and that’s the sound we have now. And that is the sound of Heavy Water. So hopefully people will buy into that. We are going to do another album. We already have a couple of songs that we didn’t put on this album that are ready to go. We were talking about it the other day, we may have five songs ready to go. And again, it’s a mixture of rock music and more personal songs. Like “Faith”, the song about meeting his girlfriend. It’s a really cool song. Real fun song, great lyrics. And there are a couple of songs that are in that style as well. I think sometimes, I think we’re more into the blues really, with this music…than say Saxon are now. In the early days Saxon were quite a lot bluesier than we are now. The band has moved on, we’re a lot heavier now. But I think everbody, “Solution”, “Medicine Man”, “Red Brick City”, that style…it’s a little bit Sabbath-y as well I suppose, because it’s slow and grooving. I think people love that style. And then you’ve got my singing on it, and Seb’s singing on it and it makes it a little bit different than everybody else. The first song “Solution” is probably one of my favorite songs, it’s a pretty cool song.

 Sarah-Jane: Thank you Biff. That was an exciting interview! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the next album!