MM - The album ‘Vigilante’ remains a firm favourite for many diehard fans, are there any plans to re-record and release this album live?
Tony – Well I could say no there isn’t, but then a couple of years back someone suggested we did 'On A Storytellers Night', which consequently we did.  That then led on to us doing this live album now.  So if I said we might, I’d probably regret it.  I won’t say no, just that there aren’t any plans to do it at the moment,  Maybe we will, maybe we won't, I’m just not sure.   

MM - Have you thought about the next studio album yet?  If so what can we expect from that?
Tony –  Actually I've pretty well got it written.  It’s probably taken me about 6-8 months to write.  I started the process after we’d been out playing and I think I wrote something like 40 odd songs, then gradually I’ve knocked them down bit by bit.  Some songs I thought might not be suitable, others I thought we might have too many ballads on it.  I’ve got it down to 12 tracks now although these have changed over the last couple of weeks in fact.  I guess it would be what Magnum people would expect really. 

I write and record the songs at home and then I go to the studio and have the whole band come in and record them with me.  That’s always been the tradition.  You don’t really know until you’ve finished them whether they are going to be any good I guess.  From what I’ve been looking at initially it all sounds pretty good, but then I guess I would say that! (laughs)   

MM – Do you know when you will be looking to release that album?
Tony – No, not an exact date.  It will be some time in 2009 as it usually takes a good 3 months to record and everything else that goes on.

MM - Looking back over the whole discography of the band, what one song in particular do you hold dearest and why that particular song?
Tony – Well that changes through the years.  I try not to look back on stuff we’ve recorded.  I think Bob plays things we’ve done in the past quite often but I’m always trying to look forward and not repeat myself, although I suppose you can’t help doing that to some degree.  Having said that I was writing something the other day and I was messing about on my computer and put 'Sleepwalking' on.  I was listening to ‘Broken Wheel’ and I thought .... blimey that’s a good song!  It just really hit me that this was a good song.  But really like I said, I think they change all the time. 

It’s a really great thing when if you go somewhere and you hear a track being played.  For example when you’re out touring in Germany and you walk into a club and you hear them playing one of your records, it’s a great way of thinking  … hey that’s a great tune! … It allows you to have an objective point of view.  It’s very hard to actually judge songs yourself.  It’s very hard to know … well that’s great! … ON a personal level sometimes it takes many years of not hearing a track before you can stand back and that with one of your songs.  Suddenly you hear it and it's as if it's been done by someone else, only then you can get the true value from it.       

MM - Do you feel it was right for Magnum to take the break they did in the 1995?  If you knew then what you know now would you choose the same path?
Tony – Yes I think so.  It was me that said to the others to fold.  I wanted to do something else and write some other music.  I did a couple of albums that were OK, but when I came back to Magnum it was like a fresh start after having that time off.  I’d really got that enthusiasm back for doing Magnum and that enthusiasm hasn’t left me since then. 

Although I must be nearly 150 years old (laughs), I really enjoy making Magnum albums and playing live now more than ever.  I’m just really excited when we go out to play these days.  In the past that feeling wasn’t always there because at times there was an awful lot of pressure on us from the labels to come up with the goods.  It’s very hard to be creative when you have someone who’s main priority is just making large amounts of money from the records.   

MM – Can you remember the first gig you ever performed?
Tony – Yes it was at a place called Shard End which is where I used to live and it was just a little community hall.  That was the first actual live show I did, obviously not with Magnum.  There were probably about 10 people there when we arrived and we were scared out of our brains.    

MM - How long have you actually been performing as an artist?
Tony – Oh that must have been about a thousand years! (laughs).  Actually it must be about 40 years now, that’s terrible isn’t it, you’d think I’d have given it up by now! (laughs).  Yes actually thinking about it, it could be closer to 45 years!  I still haven’t grown up though unfortunately. (laughs)  That’s a good thing, I think.   

MM – Can you remember who or what actually inspired you to become a performer in the first place?
Tony – I’d have to say it was really Elvis Presley.  I was probably about 10 or 11 at the time.  Buddy Holly also influenced me, although I didn’t consciously decide to be a performer.  Buddy Holly in particular gave me the ambition to give go out and learn to play the guitar.  It was the visual thing with Elvis that made me want to go out and entertain people, but it was Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochrane who inspired me and that feeling has never really left me.  It’s just something I feel I have to do. 

MM – The song ‘Backstreet Kid’, was that about a fictional character or did he actually exist?
Tony – It’s sort of autobiographical to a certain degree.  I was writing about how I felt, looking in guitar shops and looking towards other guitar players.  Earlier on I’d sort of cut myself off when I thought I could learn to play the guitar and so the song was semi-autobiographical, although I know a lot of it a generalisation of something that a lot of kids go through.  You might not be aware of it at the time, but looking back you can recognise it, when you realise that’s all you want to do.  I still remember a time when I was standing there outside shops and staring in to the windows and thinking ... oh if only I could have that guitar.  I think that happens to a lot of people. 

MM – Have you ever considered releasing a solo album?
Tony – I know I can’t sing anywhere near as good as Bob, I have toyed with the idea of putting out an instrumental album but I really didn’t pursue that any further.  I do write instrumentals that I just keep to myself.  Maybe one day when I’m just about to retire I might do it. 

MM – Although we'd love to hear Tony release a solo album if it's to be just before he retires then we hope that's a long way off and he continues for many years with Magnum creating the songs we all love to hear so much.  With that we bid our farewells to Tony and would like to thank him for taking the time out to chat with us this evening. 

We’d like to wish him and the band every success with the new live album and look forward to catching them back on the road again soon.  Whether you’re a diehard Magnum fan like me, or simply an occasional listener, be sure to check out their new album, it really is something special.