Terrorvision: ‘When the music starts, it grabs you’

Despite being a guitar band, and despite rocketing to fame in the mid-90s, there is nothing remotely ‘Britpop’ about explosive Bradford quartet Terrorvision who, happily, will soon be coming to Cambridge.

“No, well we’re a rock band,” notes the group’s charismatic lead singer, Tony Wright, 56, speaking to the Cambridge Independent from his home near Otley, West Yorkshire (his bandmates still live in the Bradford area).

“It’s just rock ‘n’ roll; I mean when I grew up, a lot of the bands – even in Bradford – had American accents, because Bon Jovi were big, or whatever.

“And it was like, ‘Yeah, they’re great but why would you want to sound like that?’

“So we like all different tunes but we just had this mish-mash of backgrounds, where we’d all come from, but with, I’d say, a thread of rock that ran through all of it.

“And with Terrorvision, I think you get a little bit of all the bands and the years that we’ve liked...

“There’s a lot of stuff that we put in there because it’s how we feel, but because we’re dancing no-one takes it seriously, which is fine as well.”

Tony, whose unmistakable Yorkshire tones can also be heard in his singing voice, will be coming to Cambridge with his “best mates” to perform later this month.

“Musically, we’re rehearsing for these gigs, we’re rehearsing for festivals, and in between gigs with Terrorvision, I’ll be out doing me own stuff as well,” he explains, “I go out with Milly [Terrorvision keyboard player Milton Evans] and we do acoustic stuff.”

One of the major events Terrorvision have coming up this summer is TK Maxx presents Live at The Piece Hall, in West Yorkshire, where they will be supporting American rockers, Extreme.

“Yeah, that’s a turn up for the books, isn’t it?” exclaims the affable frontman. “But yeah, it’s local, it’s over in Halifax, and it’s a lovely, lovely setting – especially in summer. It’s really beautiful.

“I’ve played there before. I played there with the Levellers, and I’ve been to see bands there – that’ll be a good do.

“It’ll be a blast from the past, if nothing else – it’ll be like being back in the Frog & Toad in Bradford!”

Talking of the Levellers, it’s interesting – and heartening – to note that quite a few bands who made it big in the 90s, like Terrorvision, like the Levellers, are still going strong today.

“We were really lucky, I suppose, to grow up when we did because we had lots of gigs to play,” says Tony, “you could literally tour Bradford when I were 16, 17, 18…

“You wouldn’t have to leave town and you could be out for a couple of weeks, playing different venues…

“We lost a lot of them, it’s a real shame because Bradford had loads of bands. It were a proper rock town because it had loads of gigs, and all of them have gone.

“There’s still gigs about, not saying there’s not, but I think we were really lucky, and because that’s how we cut our teeth, I think there’s a lot more of us from that era that are still going 30 years later.

“There’s bands that have got the same passion as we have coming out now, but it’s harder for them because there isn’t as many venues, is there?

“You’ll know yourself – I’m sure in your lifetime you’ve seen plenty of them shut down.”

Terrorvision’s most recent album, We Are Not Robots, was released last September and was the band’s highest-charting album since the 90s.

This outstanding collection of songs, a return-to-form of sorts, includes some absolute bangers, among them track five – The Night That Lemmy Died.

The tune is about Lemmy, the much-missed Motörhead frontman, a larger-than-life figure in the world of rock music, who passed away in 2015.

“It’s just an homage to someone who lived it and meant it,” reflects Tony, “and it was rock ‘n’ roll, wasn’t it?

“So to pay homage to that and to give a heads-up to what we believe in, a very similar sort of ethos. It’s something you do or you don’t, and some shouldn’t, and we do, so that’s how it is!”

Tony adds: “I toured with Motörhead, we did a few dates round Europe with them, and he [Lemmy] was exactly as he came across. He was no different, it wasn’t an act – so respect to him.”

Tony and his bandmates – guitarist Mark Yates, bass player Leigh Marklew, drummer Chris Bussey, and the aforementioned Milly – certainly do project a huge amount of energy whenever they’re on stage.

“Well you can’t not have, can you?,” suggests Tony, “I mean we’ve only got to dance about for two hours a day – it’s not like we move for the other 22!

“When the music starts, it grabs you, and if the crowd are full of energy, we feed off that and they feed off us – it’s a very symbiotic relationship, I suppose.”

Terrorvision’s best-known hits include Oblivion, Perseverance, Pretend Best Friend, Alice What’s the Matter?, Josephine and Tequila.

“It’s bonkers because we’ve got a ridiculous amount of songs to choose from, like 100-odd songs or something daft,” observes Tony, “so we’ll just play the new songs, the old songs, and some of the rare ones that if you’ve come to see us before you might not have heard…

“Some of the ones that you need reminding of, maybe a slightly different version of – whatever. But it’s Terrorvision, isn’t it? Terrorvision do what Terrorvision do.”

He adds: “Get some goodnight, bouncy shoes on and have a jump about – it’s good.

“The people who come along are great; if you’ve never been to a Terrorvision gig and you’re an open person, like most people, then you’ll make a lot of new friends.”

Terrorvision will be appearing at the Cambridge Junction (J1) on Thursday, 20 March. Tickets, priced £34.50, are available from junction.co.uk. For more on the band, go to terrorvisionofficial.com.