I was really looking forward to this one. Not only I love Hobbs’ Angel of Death eponymous crusher debut, but also considered this Aussie Thrshers somewhat of a mystery over the years. Deifnitely a cult band it had this little ting of obscurity, making my interest growing over time. Finally I had an opportunity to see the murderous show in my home city of Kraków and after that it was clear that I cannot mss the opportunity and a few weeks later I was sitting in fron t of my PC conducting an interview with none other than the legendary Peter Hobbs – namesake and the mastermind behind Angel of Death’s violent force. As the discussion went on for over an hour and sometimes we switched roles on who’s interviewing whom I guess the below chat with suit your tastes and feed your hunger fo news from Hobbs’ camp. Special thank yous, hails and respects to Krzysztof Mazur and Karolina Górska for helping me getting this intie into written form. Ladies and gentlemen, straight off the Satan’s Crusade – Peter “The Angel of Death” Hobbs!!!!!

Peter Hobbs: Hello, how are you?

Being absolutely fine. Any upcoming big things coming from the The Hobbs' Angel Of Death in the recent times

PH: Tomorrow I fly to the United States for a just under thirty dates, from the East Coast to the West Coast. It's a very exciting thing for The Hobbs'... at the moment. Of course „Blaspheme Killing for Christmas Tour” was a success, and I thought it was that good when we came to Poland that I'll come back in the summer tour as well, so I did. Of course another success – Hobbs' is really starting to earn the line back which has been lying a little dormant for a while. So, big things coming up!

You mentioned the European tour and coming over to Poland. How do you remember the tour itself, I mean, was there any, let's say, special, or crazy stories you can share with our readers?

PH: Well, say, the first thing I must say is that Uappa from Terrordome, he really made a special night for us! Very well organized, great venue, great people we met there – it was a great night! I think that night there must have been some festival going out in the city, because it was very hard to park the car, but when we finally established where we were going and everything, that was a really, REALLY good night. Crowd went crazy, I nearly lost a few more teeth again...

Hahaha, yeah, I feel you, because, you know, I'm sporting a scar I got on the back on this gig!

PH: Allright. Well, you didn't go to the gig?

Of course I did! Actually I was moshpitting so hard that I got injured in the back and I got this proud, nice scar!

PH: Aaah! Yea, I think it was a really cool night, it was really good! The crowd participation was fantastic. I was really lucky that Robert bought a guitar for me, it's a really nice one-off piece that is made in Poland, great guitar,. Really lucky that gift, because a couple of days later we got all our stuff stolen from, in Sweden. So I got a guitar there to complete the tour. My hat is off to you Robert, thank you very much for supplying it on that night!

Hahaha! Oh, by the way, some rumors got to me that whole tour was a bang and you eclipsed with your performace most of the bands you shared the stage with. Even Vomitor, which I can personally say, it could be quite a piece of tough stuff to top. Do you remember anything from interacting with the Vomitor guys?

PH: We played with Vomitor on the 2013, the Summer tour, on Hell's Pleasure – we played together there. Portal was there also. It's good when you bump into Australian bands on the tour, because it's good to talk, it's great to find out how their travel is going also, and you can tell some stories and whatever.

I see, by the way, you mentioned the Australian metal scene. I always thought that Australia in this particular point was pretty much unique with stuff like Slaughter Lord, like Sadistik Exekution, Hobbs' Angel Of Death obviously, Bestial Warlust, Nazxul and all them guys. What is your viewpoint on the specifics of the Australian scene, and by the way, I've heard you participated in an Australian metal scene movie in recent years. Can you show us a little bit about that?

PH: I really believe that Australia has some great talent, I really do. Australia produced some awesome bands. I think that the best way to actually put it – it's the same old stories everything – you need to be more than a musician, you need to be more than a band. You have the right line up that is all willing to see the same dream. Otherwise you end up playing in the garage. Or the rehearsal room. It costs money, and it doesn't come on a silver platter. It takes a lot of organizing, and also, I guess, shares the men from the boys, because what I've witnessed in the past six months or twelve months every mine line up is... is that a lot of people can't sing or can't handle being on the road. Again, it's about playing in the band - you have commitments, and some commitments, even though they're very important in life, have to be put aside to make some form of success, you know? But definitely Australia has some great talent here. And, you know, I've always, in my career I've always wished everybody the best to succeed and try to follow or, you know, even open up doors for others as well. What I can say is that bands that have toured Europe and have toured America, they don't fuck around, they believe in what they are doing and I really do, they're not these people that are dreaming. They're like myself. They made the dream the reality.

Yeah I definitely agree with that, and by the way, I also wanted to know, because you recently had a participation in this Australian scene movie that is coming up - can you share a little bit of detail on this project?

PH: Yes, I was asked to be in it. It's three parts. It shows from the 80s. My personal opinion I think Nicko's done a pretty good job on the documentary, he has done really well to, I guess, gather the material for the movie, because these bands scattered all over Europe, some are over in Europe as well, some are in Australia you know. But my personal opinion about the movie too is that is I felt that there were bands that went on it, you know, that really shouldn't have been.You know, I saw some comment the other day on it we are „cool kids” now. We class as the „cool kids”. For me personally I was asked to take part, participate in it, I thought it was a good thing for Australia, and that these bands they have done well on it, and bands they did continue to do things. But I really must add that there are names that are missing from that documentary, that really, really should have been on there. But otherwise – great job! You know, Nick really did a good job with it. I'm sure it's hitting on it's way to Europe, and it's a must-see. I think maybe Europeans and Americans still think we ride on kangaroos here to get to work, hahaha, unfortunately we drive cars and motorbikes, and kangaroos don't let us ride'em anymore hahaha. In the end of all now, I think it was pretty good and it's a must work for Europe and America to see the documentary, I think it's very well done.

I'm looking forward to it.  This year passes ten years from the Hobbs' Angel Of Death, let's say, reemerging out of the abyss, nothenless we still cannot wait for the follow-up to the 2003 release Hobbs' „Satans Crusade”, which was more of a compilation. When would be any plans for the premiere material?

PH: I've already recorded a new album.

Yay!

PH: I've recorded it back in Italy a month and half ago [mid September -ed.]. So, it's at the stage now that I'm doing different versions of the mixes of the songs. I'm very happy with the recording. There has been a lot great musicians on there to help me out with this new project. Good production. The material is… well, I guess it's Hobbs' material, I mean, I've gone back to the roots of what I was doing back in the 80s, and we've got songs from the 80s that we never actually put on to any album, they've been revamped and I came up with a very old school feel. I've got new material on it, it's something that I'm writing at the moment. I write... I've always written what comes out of my heart., and I don't try to be anybody else. Of course I have influences, Slayer was one of my big influences from the 80s, I've always loved Slayer. A lot of people actually called me „The Australian Slayer”. Fortunately I've had the opportunity to play with Slayer in 2013 in Finland at Jalometalli and it was really good, because the promoter Marco gave me something that my own country never could, and that was the opportunity to play with Slayer, and the opportunity also to prove that Hobbs' isn't a Slayer coverband, because the guys form Slayer admitted it themselves that Hobbs' is Hobbs'. And they, as we played right before them, and they actually heard exactly what was going on from downstairs, and it was an honor for me to hear from Kerry King that he actually heard and appreciated what Hobbs' was doing. That are little sort of things in life that mean a great deal to me. And again, that tour was a successful tour, and I've been very fortunate to where we have toured, it's accepted, that the younger generation is also accepting Hobbs'. I'm getting older you know, I'm 53, but even the younger generation we've been playing to is just blown away by the music that I write and have written in the past. That also made me think about the new album as „OK, do right from my heart what I'm doing now”, but also revamp the old things, and go back to the old way, because, I don't know, sometimes I feel I was 25 years before my actual time. 25 years later today now my album is cult. It's become cult, it's been said it's up there with the top 6 of it's time with „Reign In Blood” and everything. It’s pretty overwhelming to see things like that and it might be in another 25 years, haha, that this new album become cult too, you know?

Hahaha, I guess it's going to deliver the goods even earlier. Actually I'm really looking forward to it. By the way, you mentioned it, that many performers, they like, come back, return after years and release new material, fall into the trap of fitting themselves into the new trends and style. They don't really follow the paths they take previously and their years of hard work to get hot and, say, get to the top. Why do you think they do this, why do you think there are some disappointments coming from the classic bands?

PH: Well, look, I can actually understand how this happens, because I like to move forward with the time  as well There are many of bands I've heard and I'm thinking „fuck, this sounds really, really cool!”, you know, so you probably find these at bits and pieces  and then add them, but at the end of the day, I really think as a musician, what you written in the past, you have to know your own mind and your own heart. And trying to be something that isn't yourself just doesn't work. It's like I was writing stuff back through the early 2000s and I was plunking a keyboard as well, you know, and I thought „this sounds really cool”, but at the end of the day it's not really me. It's not me, you know? So of course I just kept on striding along what I do in arragements and everything, because I think that actually when you try and do something you are, even your arragements change drastically also. The chemisty changes. And you don't have the same feel. Like all bands that have been successful... um, I mean, you hear a song from AC/DC and you know who are they straight away You know, there are so many bands you can say they play in vain. Guitars sound like everyone, so generic that you don’t know who it is. But at the end of a day everybody has a right to try and like what they want to do, and it becomes I guess now down to personal opinions of fans now. Whether they like it, they accept the change, but me, I wanna stay the old way. I think it's a Catch 22 position now. But I just try to write what comes out of my heart and my head. If the fans like what I'm doing it would... I think this new album... so I just got back to the album... is our try to encompass things for a lot of people. I don't want to be labeled as a Thrash band. I like to think that even people not even that much into metal can also appreciate and admire my music. From the past I've heard from people that never been into metal, that “some of these songs he writes is amazing”. So hopefully the new album would brush off down the same way and people won't be too shied away by... I don't know, I ask opinion of the younger generation and they say the releases are some form of black metal, and I'm thinking „to be honest I've heard so much black metal from '94 and it doesn't even sound like it sounds today”. And even from '86 I've heard black metal. And it's not like it is today. So, it's gonna be very interesting. Personally I feel that the new songs, without trying to do something very much different, I really feel it's got the same chemistry as the debut album. And again, we will have to wait to see how it is accepted.

Wow, you really had me looking forward to the album. OK, let's get back in time. Your first band, if I'm correct, was Tyrus.
PH: Correct, yes.

It was formed in I guess 1984…

PH: We were sort of, I think... I try to remember the best that I can, I think it was '83. Could it be '83? Or it might be '84. It must have been late '83. Because I can't remember... I'm pretty sure it was '83.

And under this moniker you released two demos and a 7”EP „He's A Liar”, and despite the pretty well response you decided anyways to bury Tyrus...

PH: Well, I think, to clarify the story about Tyrus, it was a very well accepted band in Australia, and the then I grew very very quickly. I was writing 99% of the songs back then also. And the line up was... I did ask them, I said: „look, I really want to build up my career and I wanna go overseas”. So I gave them the opportunity to follow me over. And they just... well, they didn't see the same picture that I saw. So I had to make a decision, I tought: „I have so much material that if I'm gonna go on my own, I might as well go on my own completely”. They had commitments and I accepted that and we have parted our ways. We've stayed friendly about that because there was nothing in it, everybody was cool. The songs that were mine I took, and the songs that the other guys maybe had some little parts of composing, I've left it all behind. I just took my riffs, and took everything that was mine and started off with Hobbs' Angel Of Death.

Also in Tyrus your first ever live performance took place. How do you remember that, because when I remember mine, I wasn't sleeping the night before it, even if though it was a little small pub gig, hahaha,

PH: Oh, I can... actually I can remember it. We were asked to do a support for another local band, that was playing around at that time, they were called Dirty Rats, had some good musicians, good frontman, good bass player and were a really cool band, but they weren't actually metal, you know, I guess probably heavy rock'n'roll band, good Australian rock band. And, they asked to support them, and yeah, we said OK, so we supported them on a Tuesday night, and then the same week we were asked to play as a headline. And you know, I can remember it, it was very intense, it really was very intense on stage, I don't pull punches, I'm very serious, as I believe in what I do. The aggression and the violence, and all that energy, it's not fake, it's real, I always try to give the best to the fans, my best ability, and it's good place to take out my anger and release. I can remember it and it was really good, I enjoyed it, everybody enjoyed it... of course we made blunders, we made mistakes and still make them today, but otherwise there was no night of nerves, I think from day one it was a pretty professional outfit, since it kicked off... because we had the oppportunity to rehearse a lot in Australia.

By the way, Tyrus' afterglow was a little bit, apart from of course the tracks, the songs, also present in Hobbs' Angel Of Death, in person of Dave „Rampage” Frew. Do you keep any contact with him, because at couple of points he kept returning as the bassist for the Hobbs' Angel Of Death? Do you keep any contact with him, or any other Tyrus' members?

PH: I had Dave play bass for a while, yeah. Dave and I get along pretty well. very rarely do I see any Tyrus' members now and all, very rarely do I see the original Hobbs’ Angel of Deathmembers. But Dave, yeah, he did came along with Hobbs' for a while, he had his band Rampage that I was trying as well. Also drummer from Rampage came into Hobbs' too... you know, Hobbs' had a lot of line up changes. That's true that the people aren't wanting to go often and do things, and I wish them all the best to do so, but I don't see them all the time... Occasionally I might see some people here and there.
I see, but the current line-up which consists of mainly Italian guys who are there since like 2013... does it seem to stay like that for a longer period?

PH: Yeah, I got two Italians in the line up now, that are coming on the tour with me to America. So I got Alessio, I got Iago on drums. Idda is not in the unit, I'm bringing Australian guy with me and we're gonna see how it goes. I don't hold a gun at anybody's head forcing him to stay. If people wanna leave, they can go, you know? There's no a major commitment, because I prove that the tour, since I came back in 2012, it's been a lot of line-up changes, really. It's an old story, that nobody is irreplaceable, there's no such thing. I haven't got time to fuck around and bullshit around. I'm there to give the people what they pay for and what they come to see. If I find it, if I feel it in any way that the unit is not working as a team and there is something in the unit that's making friction, I remove it, I replace it, because I can't afford to have that sort of thing going on, you know? I feel that the line-up we have now I take to America, and if it works well, I can't see the reason why I can't keep continuing, but I know for fact, the members that are with me they also got their bands  that they try to make things happen as well. It's one of those things. All of a sudden their band takes off, they're too busy to be with me now. So if it does work both ways. That's just life, we can't have everything. I know there are many bands out there now, and they're playing in four bands at the time. And I actually asked that question myself many of times: „so why do you want to play in so many bands? Are you just waiting for the right one to kick off?”. For me, I can't see the sense, I can't see the focus, being fully focused on one thing. And then all of a sudden their both bands start taking off, and now everybody's too busy – you have to choose on or the other.

I guess I got this point because right now I've cut my bands from five to two.

PH: Yeah! I ask you on your opinion, you've cut from five bands to two bands... I mean, what do you think of being in five bands?

Actually, the multiple bands... The advantage that I see is actually the wider way of expression. The important thing is to keep them bands anyways different, because when you have, like, billions of bands, they all do the same thing, this is utterly nonsense. So as long as you truly divide those two bands, because right now my bands range from death metal to black/thrash metal. I'm a vocalist, therefore I use completely different set of voices, set of screams, and also the mindset. Therefore I can express certain parts of things that wouldn't find its way in one band, I can take it to the other.

PH: OK, I can appreciate that. I understand the logic. It is that I see the other bands around and I'm thinking, they're so much that the same as the other, and I just can't see the sense. But the way that you put it, I understand that.

This is basically how it works in my case, but of course obviously everybody has his own reasons. I know the black metal guys who have like a shitload of one man black metal projects, and the nuances and the difference in the music is so tiny that I just cannot see the sense, but I ain't one to tell them.

PH: Exactly, neither am I. I like to hear your opinion on it all.

OK, let's dwell into the subject of history again. In 1987, when Tyrus is dead and gone, you found Hobbs' Angel Of Death, and that's how the history is written. At first you describe yourself as „Virgin Metal” - do you still like that description of your music, because that metal in your way being the purest form?

PH: Yeah, I think that whole idea with this slogan was untouched, it wasn’t fucked up. Hobbs' was refreshing to the scene, and I had something special, and it was new. The purest part of it all. The lyrical content was the total opposite, hahaha.There was no virgin there, I tell you that.

Other than a sacrificial one, hahaha.

Yeah! Yeah! It was a slogan that was used. I think that I wouldn't even probably put myself in a category. I'm lucky enough to feel Hobbs' established „this is what you write, and this is what you write about”. Whatever comes out of my head, I think it sounds cool! There were stages when I had this mental blockage as I was trying so hard to come up with things... and you probably understand also yourself, that the more you try, it just doesn't come, the black clouds are getting thicker and thicker. There were times like that, and „Inheritance” was a part of that. You know, there were many good songs on there, on „Inheritance” album, but there was many that they were on it, because they were. I don't even have „Ingeritance” myself.

That's shocking.

PH: I've seen it on eBay going for extreme prices.

You've pretty much surprised me with not having it yourself. After releasing two demos in 1987, you kicked off strong, then finally came the time to release the full lenght debut, the eponymous „Hobbs' Angel Of Death”, nowadays definitely a classic. How do you remember the tension before the releasing, and whole work on this album? And how do you remember your deal with SPV/Steamhammer?

PH: I remember doing the second demo, the second demo was actually a clinch on the deal, as they were really impressed with the first demo and because I wanted to get signed there and then on a first meeting that I went to meet everybody at Steamhammer in Germany. I wanted to do another demo, I've had a lot of songs that was written and we went on a promotional tour to support the first demo, so I came back and we recorded the second demo, sent it off to them, and that was the actual clinch of the deal. Signed me up right away [37:14]. Everything was running good, I remember being in the studio, we had our songs, there was a great engineer – many people said he was a producer as well, but it's not correct, because Hobbs is a producer as he produces all the music, he writes the material, he knows what he wants.. But it was really good to have Harris there working on the knobs, and also giving some advice. So it worked very well. But I remember after recording that album sitting and listening to it so many times on and on I wanted to open the door. I didn't wanna hear the album ever again in my life, hahaha. And I think I didn't listen to it for probably... I just heard it when it first came out on the vinyl, just to hear how it sounded, and I think I probably haven't heard it again for years. But now I've been rehearsing it, because we're still rehearsing, playing along a few licks live and then of course we have another line-up change coming again. So we had this great product there and another line-up change... Hobbs' was continuously line-up changing, because I really believed that at the end of a day if the first line-up was there to stay with me, we could have been as big as Slayer, big as Metallica, big as Exodus. That's my biased opinion, because it was a good line-up. It was working really, really well. You know, the whole idea was to release that album and go back to Europe and start touring with it. And start touring the world with it. Unfortunately it didn't happen.

I was just going to ask, because you mentioned when I asked about Tyrus, that one of your goals was going beyond Australia...

PH:Oh, for sure!

Do you think the goal, at least album-wise, when the debut came out, was accomplished in any way? The goal of going beyond Australia and being recognized in the rest of the world apart from Australia, which was one of the goals when forming Hobbs' Angel Of Death...

PH: Definitely my goal to go beyond Australia, but sometimes it's not everybody's goal, as Hobbs' Angel Of Death is my baby, they're a part of my dream, they're treated equally the same as myself... Every musician that has played with me. I'm not any better, and they're not better than me, we have to be a team to succeed in something. But unfortunately some individuals don't want to be as a team, they want to be as themselves. And some feel, they are better than others. And it just creates bullshit, you know. You don't get anywhere. I think, through the line-up changes that I've had people wanted to go on and try their own things, and I wish them all the very best.

I would also like to ask about the debut album cover, because  I really like it, I mean it's so classic. It was created by Sebastian Krueger. Do you keep any contact with him, and how has this cooperation started? What do you think about it?

PH: The concept that I had, that's what I want, C.D. Harlingan came to the office, he came to the music lab, and because Tankard and his works are really thought Sebastian Krueger works back then were just amazing... and I thought - who can I have to do the cover? And C.D. Harligan from the Steamhammer said to me that Sebastian Krueger is interested to do it. And I thought – OK, cool. And he goes: „what do you want?” And I said I wanna picture of myself on the front of the cover, doing that mean „pineapple crusher”, hahaha. I mean, that's how it was back then. So he said, „yeah, good idea” and we took a Polaroid, the one that actually... you know, not digital, you take a picture and it slides out of the camera at the bottom, you know – that's how old school I am, haha, yeah, and we looked at the picture and he goes „I think it looks good!” and I „yeah, let's get that painted!”. Within one week he came back and shown me the proof and I said – yeah, it's really cool! A lot of people may not like it, but I think a lot of people will! And it worked. I would love Sebastian Krueger do my new album. I know he's pretty busy and he actually... His other works really took off. I did run into somebody in Germany that actually knows him and he said „I can put a word out at it if you wanna, I think it could be him to do it”. So who knows? There's a lot of things, I've got a work already set up for the cover, but I tell you what, bringing back theme of Krueger, is that it always brings back reminiscing memories. It would be a great idea [44:04] also. He did Hobbs', he did Tankard…

I guess „Eternal Devastation” of Destruction was also his work.

PH: Yes, correct, that was really cool. And then he went on to do bigger, bigger, bigger – Rolling Stones. I actually try to find the Sebastian Krueger's book because was hoping it would have my cover in it and I didn't seem to find it. But it’s not the end of the world.

But still it's iconic. Speaking of the cover artworks what would be you opinin on today’s overuse of the digitalized graphics? For me the classic ways of painting sometimes went on to kitsch, but the spirit was definitely stronger in those…

PH: Oh, definitely! Anything that’s painted by hand, oil painting is like saying Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and all still go strong today. All done by hand is an old-school way. But I think that mindful use of the digital graphics can bring some amazing things. Still using a brush can show so much depth a whole spectrum…

I see. Ok, again back to the debut album, it was recorded in Music Lab studio in Berlin, Germany. How do you remember Germany in that time?

PH: I remember we did it in the West and it was very cold. I remember we used to visit the East as well and it was very different. Also when we came to Poland I could feel the same coldness in some areas we drove through. The hardness of the cold war. Same as recent trips to Serbia, talking and meeting some of the people. Of course the evolution’s passed on and the years changed the world, but I still remember that Germany at that time had some parts really, really cool and some parts very, very cold. I think the whole surround and the Metal coming from that era and that area, especially Germany, it had an edge. American Metal has the posh side, but the European Metal has the rawer edge. I’m European. I’m English, I’m not born Australian anyway. But I always had to me the rawness, the raw edge. Still I guess it depends on what bands we are listening to. But back to the Germany of the ‘80s, I still remember this coldness. Not so much in the people, but the surroundings. Everything was grey. Would I be saying the right word, “communist”? Living in Australia and all of the sudden coming to a country like that I believe this would be the word, with no disrespect. Everythng was communist, I.e. it was like forced. Everyone were like “yes sir, no sir”, no actual freedom of speech. To me it felt like everyone was continuously looking over the shoulder. Very gray looking. On the last tour we went there we took a little drive off, as I like fishing too, and we went down to this beautiful lake in the countryside and it was really cool, but as I’m driving and I see those houses and there are bullet holes everywhere and we’re in Serbia, near the Bosnia border it is actually astonishing to think that only a few years ago the tanks are driving up that road. And it had the same depressed feeling about it. But at the same time it would lift. I can remember talking to some Polish people and especially the older people have this hard and stern faces. The Serbians had the same, but of course the younger generation is different. Still the scars remain. I know, as I am really big fan of history, I enjoy learning about history. One thing I don’t understand is that the Germans are still so much embarrassed by war. You can’t walk around Berlin with anything nazi-related or whatever. I remember seeing military stuff under the counter, as it is all banned. I like a lot to meet different people around the world, so I have asked if the Italians are still sorry for what Nero or Caligula did? I mean time passes on and everything. But going back to initial question I could feel the greyness and oppression. Still sometimes it was cool. Today I can say it was a good fun.

On the debut the promo videoclip to “The Brotherhood” was made. What do you think of the clips as a form of promotion and art and can we expect any new music movie from Hobbs’ in the future?

PH: I’d like to, but I’d like more to concentrate on the music and recently it became very costly to shoot a good videoclip. Otherwise first I like to see the live stuff and the more tours I’m going there is more good quality live footage coming up anyway. I think the expense of doing the video clip today is out of mind. I’d like to go on more tours and of course to release the new album. I wanna see it circulating and see how it goes, but as for the clip, I cannot see it coming in the near future, unless some cool record company picks me up and wants to do it. Everything I do is self-financed. My tours, recordings…

Between the debut and the “Inheritance” there was a 7 year rift. The second album was released by Def Records. What happened with your romance with SPV, why did it end so fast and what did you do in the meantime?

PH: Heard a lot of stories of SPV and what they were going through and it was not really for me to talk about it. I was there, I supplied material, I think SPV would support money to different directinos, I don’t really know. Unfortunately it didn’t seem to go any further than the debut album. I think there was a lot of companies back then that were trying to get an Australian artist on their rosters. There was Mortal Sin that was signed, there was me that was signed and then I supplied the material to them, also they had a PR people shuffles and they could have been a part of that and I just think we simply lost an interest in each other. Unfortunately I was still stuck with them and they wouldn’t let me go. I guess I could say the same thing as John Fogerty cause he was locked up in the company for 10 years. The time passes and the career runs very quickly, so I just said “ah, fuck it! I’m going fishing” (laughs). And so I went fishing.
Haha, the fishing seem to be pretty populat among the Aussie Metal scene. For example Rok of Sadistik Exekution does it and even runs a column about it from what I know…

PH: Oh, I love it! I’m into anything extreme, so I love all kinds of wild sports, but you mentioned it and I know a lot of Metalheads are into that. I think it is a part of relaxation too. When you sit up there in the boat, out there in the wild you actually just get a “Viking mind”…Other than that haven’t seen Rok for years!

By the way, what is your opnion on “Inheritance” nowadays? I think that some of this material is great, other things not so much…

PH: The production let it down. Also the company. They could have done so much more with it. Even myself. The company that released my debut album after years gave me the rights back and I probably sold more copies in last 18 months than they have in past 10 years! Just touring around! And that actually makes me think if the record companies are that vital these days. They run the distribution and probably can get you a spot on a bigger festival, but at the end of the day on one would make it better than the band itself.

And the distribution also sucked here in Eurpoe. In Poland it was impossible to find!

PH: If you find one, let me know! (laughs)

Now you’re back in full force in the eve of releasing a new album and looking at the bigger picture the last few years seem a renaissance of the classic forms of metal, especially Thrash and a lot of bands reunite trying to re-live the golden age of the ’80s. What do you think of this huge wave of classic bands’ reunions? Do you think it is history coming full-circle, or yet another trend?

PH:  Back in 2002-2003 I could see it coming full-circle. And now? Uh.. There is so many bands around,  thet this definitely came back a full one again. Sometimes I think to myself what would be the next trend after this is gone around. Death Metal again. If this is really going to be like 20 something years ago than it was Death Metal which pushed Thrash out. I really don’t think anything dies anymore because there is so many kids out there and there’s so many instrument shops and I guess in every household out there one of the kids has an instrument in it. I often think to myself  that there are so many bands out that there that it is now probably cooler not to be in one, heheh! I just see so many and I’m thankful that I am established already, cause I don’t know how the younger generation is competing with the immense and the amount. Plus the recording too. You don’t need to go to the recording studio anymore cause you can do it all with pro-tools. It is great to have the majority of bands for the people to get into, but at the end of the day the amount of these kills the industry also.Technology is killing the industry. The mp3 players, the free downloading… That’s why I’m very weary with this new album, I kep it all to myself, I don’t walk around handing copies because of the leaks that unfortunately happen more often before the album officially comes out. It’s already up in the net before being out. You got to keep it careful these days.

I remember times when the CDs were more of a matter of luxury and now it seem practically dead…

PH: Yeah! There are for example in Australia the companies, big, big companies that don’t want to make the CDs anymore. Massive outlets that made all their money years ago from CDs. Now it’s getting to the stage when we don’t want them anymore. So I think everything should be now done back on vinyl, as vinyl is becoming again very popular and it’s not that downloadable and they never made a blank vinyl, as fa as I know, for you to copy one from another, haha. I think it’s a perfect opportunity plus I remember going to actual store to buy me some stuff  and the 12”! The cover was big and you could see everything. You had it by sides and there were gatefolds! You opened that up and you had a poster in there too. And it was something good to enjoy. Listening to the album you look at the cover and everything was bigger. Now it is all those digipacks and everything, we throw like toothpicks and everything just to sell the product. Bring back vinyl! Make more record players as well. Probably it is a good business opportunity for me! Stop making music, start making record-players!

I wish you nothing but success, but I don’t want to miss new Hobbs’ music, hehe

PH: Haha, yeah, but like I said I have done my best to try and make it, there is a US tour ahead and the South American tour probably afterwards, now I’m just waiting for it to reconfirm, then I can concentrate on getting the album finalized, getting the cover artwork done, do the pressing and get the product out.

I’ll be waiting! OK, Peter, the interview will be slowly coming to an end. Thank you for your time and patience

PH: My pleasure!

If you want to share any thoughts with OMM readers, please feel free!

PH: Like I always said, I’d like to thank my fans very much. I’ve always put myself second, the fans come first. Without them I’m nothing. Without them I wouldn’t have an opportunity to do what I do and I am given such opportunity by them and them alone to be who I am and what I do, so to them my greatest thanks. Also great thanks to the people like yourself for giving your time to me, so we can have those interviews. I’m very grateful to many people out there because at the end of the day it is you who put me in this place. I’m looking forward to coming back to Poland again, I had a great time and

,  Interview has been made by Tymoteusz Jędrzejczyk

Foto live and questions for the interview prepared Leszek Wojnicz-Sianożęcki