Brandon Harder
Regina Leader-Post
A son of Saskatchewan, Larry Gillstrom has long held a spot in the history book of heavy metal.
His band Kick Axe began to take shape in Regina during the mid-’70s and after a stint playing softer covers while trying to break into the music scene, they’d go on to adopt a harder sound. Eventually, they shared the stage with the likes of Metallica, Judas Priest and Scorpions.
But one of the acts that laid the groundwork for groups like Kick Axe was, perhaps, the reason there’s a history book at all.
The mighty Black Sabbath.
By the time guitarist Gillstrom took his act on the road, he’d long been steeped in the doom-ridden genius of string musicians Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, the thunderous swing of drummer Bill Ward, and, of course, the haunting beauty of Ozzy Osbourne’s vocals.
“I can’t say enough about how Ozzy and Black Sabbath influenced our career,” he said, speaking by phone from his current home in British Columbia.
News of Osbourne’s recent death came as a surprise to Gillstrom.
“Ozzy was a god. I thought he was immortal. Basically, I was stunned when, when I found out he passed.”
Gillstrom called Osbourne and his band the “driving force” behind metal. Indeed, beginning with a 1970 self-titled studio album, Black Sabbath has often been credited with birthing a genre in which the band’s influence has remained ever-present.
“That was one of my favourite times of, you know, playing music and when I was just evolving my own idea of what I wanted to play,” Gillstrom said.
Osbourne would, of course, go on to a lengthy and successful solo career and tracks of his debut solo album were covered by Kick Axe in its early days.
When the band landed a record deal, it led them to Hollywood, California where they would record their 1984 album Vices. The producer of the album was “in talks” to produce the next Black Sabbath album, according to Gillstrom. Osbourne had then moved on from the band, which itself was going through changes.
The producer wanted Kick Axe to write some songs to “propose” to Black Sabbath, if he ended up getting a deal to produce for the band, Gillstrom said.
“He gave us the keys to the studio,” Gillstrom recalled, noting his band spent the weekend writing and recording songs.
“We were kind of just blindsided when we got asked to do it, and yeah, it was intimidating.”
It was not to be, however. The songs never went to Black Sabbath, the Kick Axe guitarist said, wanting to be clear about that point.
However, one of the tracks, Running Wild in the Streets, was picked up by the band W.A.S.P., said Gillstrom.
Another track called Hunger, which Gillstrom says features backup vocals from a girl who delivered the band pizza while they recorded, made its way onto the soundtrack for The Transformers: The Movie, which came out in 1986.
Gillstrom looks back on the era fondly, calling it the “very peak” for his band. He recalled Kick Axe’s breakthrough moment when he, by chance, met Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford as they were both doing interviews for a Calgary radio station.
After his own performance, Halford went to see Kick Axe play that night, setting in motion a relationship that would see the two bands tour 40 cities together, Gillstrom said.
He looks back on a show his band played with Scorpions at the old Montreal Forum as one of the highlights.
He said Kick Axe got an encore as an opening act — a rarity.
Then he and his bandmates sat on the Canadiens bench and watched Scorpions play.
And while the era may have been a heyday for bands like Kick Axe, the group has continued throughout the years, even with some member changes.
Gillstrom said his band’s goal has always been to just write good music with the hopes that folks will want to listen.
“There’s still, you know, a pretty good following for the band,” he said.
They’ve wrapped up recording on an upcoming album — likely the band’s last, according to the guitarist.
He says the album is something of a return to the band’s roots, with a sound similar to that on Vices.
“We’re playing material that would easily fit on that album,” he said.
The band is hoping to have the record out in the fall, though Gillstrom noted those who are managing the mix have busy schedules.
The album, he said, is for band members and for the group’s devoted fans.
But Gillstrom hopes those fans have not seen the last of Kick Axe on the stage. The band plans to tour in support of the album, though the guitarist noted the road trip is “going to depend on several factors.”
“We do want to go out and do you know, as many shows as we can.”
