The Median Man sat down with Pete Franklin, the main man in Chariot to talk about the band’s history.
The Median Man sat down with Pete Franklin, the main man in Chariot to talk about the band’s history.
TOO MUCH WEED
What inspired the formation of the band, and why did you decide upon the name Chariot?
Chariot was formed in 1980 by Scott Biaggi & John Smith.
John came up with the name but there was no in depth reason behind it, it was a great name for a Metal band.
I joined the band in late 1980 and soon took over singing duties after the singer left 20 minutes before a gig was due to start because he had smoked too much weed! lol. Jeff then joined the band around 1984.
Inspiration wise, it was just because we loved to play metal music and wanted to be like our heroes AC/DC, Van Halen, Rainbow, Kiss & Deep Purple.
How do you approach songwriting and has that process changed at all over the decades?
Song writing has never really changed, I mainly come up with the riff’s on guitar and then write the words when the music side is finished, as I always have to be inspired by the music & the song to then write the lyrics. The great thing now is I have my own studio so we can do things at our own leisure.
OWN STUDIO
OWN STUDIO
How do you approach songwriting and has that process changed at all over the decades?
Song writing has never really changed, I mainly come up with the riff’s on guitar and then write the words when the music side is finished, as I always have to be inspired by the music & the song to then write the lyrics. The great thing now is I have my own studio so we can do things at our own leisure.
THE HUMAN RACE
Were there any songs on your latest album that explored a particular theme, if so why?
Well all the songs are mainly about what is going on in the world today, but the one song and title track (THE NEW HORIZON DAWNS) is about the human race in the future and the sun is coming to near the end of it’s life, & we will have to look for a new Earth, so its about that journey off into space.
How do you transpose what you do in the studio into a live setting?
That’s easy, we are a great live band so the sounds we get in the studio are the sounds we get live because the technology is so good now, I have a Pro Tools set up in the studio and it makes everything easy to get great sounds & tone from our instruments.
GREAT LIVE BAND
GREAT LIVE BAND
How do you transpose what you do in the studio into a live setting?
That’s easy, we are a great live band so the sounds we get in the studio are the sounds we get live because the technology is so good now, I have a Pro Tools set up in the studio and it makes everything easy to get great sounds & tone from our instruments.
WHAT WORKS
IN THE BLOOD
You’ve been going for a long time now, how do you keep yourself inspired and invigorated?
Because we have been going a long time as a band we all know each other as mates as well as band members, we all still love to play live, although there are not so many clubs to play in anymore. I guess as the title of one of our albums sums it up nicely, its IN THE BLOOD. Once Rock music gets a hold of you there is nothing you can do about, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Chariot split at the end of 1989 so I then formed Dirty Deeds in 1990 & we were lucky enough to be signed to Beast Records (Steve Harris’s label from Iron Maiden) & released 3 great albums. During that time we did 3 world tours with Maiden & Dio on the X Factor tour, the Virtual 11 tour and the start of the Brave New World tour, these were the best times of my life. But unlucky for us the label folded & Dirty Deeds split so I then contacted my old mates and Chariot started again with our albums Behind the Wire, In the blood, Demons & Angels and our latest album The new Horizon Dawns. Funny how things turn around……
What plans do you have for the future?
We are doing a show at the Cart & Horses in Stratford which is the venue where Iron Maiden first played, so it will be some time next year, with our friends AIRFORCE who have Doug Samson playing with them, he was the original drummer for Iron Maiden on the Soundhouse tapes. We also have various festivals coming up next year too. CHEERS from CHARIOT.
CART & HORSES
CART & HORSES
What plans do you have for the future?
We are doing a show at the Cart & Horses in Stratford which is the venue where Iron Maiden first played, so it will be some time next year, with our friends AIRFORCE who have Doug Samson playing with them, he was the original drummer for Iron Maiden on the Soundhouse tapes. We also have various festivals coming up next year too. CHEERS from CHARIOT.