Archive for July, 2005
Bill Checks in with another Diary
by Joe on Jul.25, 2005, under Bill Ward
Bill phoned in from Pittsburgh with the latest in his 2005 Audio Diary series (the sixth). This new edition, totaling exactly 18:53 in length has these highlighted points:
* – Some final thoughts on the European gigs
* – Coming back to the States for Ozzfest
* – Some thoughts on the first few Ozzfest 2005 gigs.
* – Other bands on Ozzfest.
* – A few thoughts about homeless folks
* – The London Subway bombings and terrorists in general.
There is of course a lot more than that, so make sure and download the entry and check it out!
https://www.billward.com/sounds/diary072205.m4a
(Right click and select “Save As” or “Save Link As” and save the file to your hard drive, don’t just click this)
You need one of any number of free audio players (Winamp, iTunes, or Musicmatch Jukebox) to play this file. Don’t forget about Bill’s Podcast for the diaries, you can get more info on that here.
You can discuss the audio diary in this thread on Bill’s forums here on billward.com. A short note, if you have Windows Media player, you may have to rename the file extension from m4a to mp4 to get the file to play right in that player.
Tony Iommi’s new music to feature on Rock 50
by Joe on Jul.21, 2005, under Rock 50
Bill will be featuring Tony Iommi’s new album ‘Fused’ on his ‘Rock 50’ radio show which goes out on WPMD.ORG this Saturday, July 23 at 11:00 AM Pacific time. Tune in to hear Bill kick off the show with a segment featuring the tracks ‘Face Your Fear’, ‘Resolution Song’ and ‘Grace’.
Click here for more details on the Rock 50 show.
New Bill Ward Interview Online
by Joe on Jul.20, 2005, under Bill Ward
The website Sin’s Metal News (SMN) has a new interview with Bill Ward online. It’s a wide ranging interview, and was done when Bill was in Stockolm on the recent European Black Sabbath tour. Check out a few quotes from it:
Q: it’s been a pretty repetitive Sabbath set-list for the past few Ozzfest’s. Back in 2001 you lads spiced it up a bit with ‘The Wizard’ and the likes of ‘Scary Dreams’ – so, what are you envisioning your upcoming set-list to look like?
A: From a drummer’s point of view, I have to move for the first 7 songs. Everything’s up on the kit so there’s no break. So, physically for the first 7 songs, it’s a lot of work from a drummer’s point of view. When you play shows, you have to learn to adjust how much energy is required for the first bit of the set; I’m saying that because after the 7th or the 8th song, we play ‘Into the Void’ which is nice for me to just lay back on and take a bit of a break. So for me it’s pretty exciting, constantly playing up the entire time. We do a medley of different songs I’m sure everyone will recognize. We’re doing ‘Dirty Women’, which is – well, let me tell you. Tony’s been absolutely blistering on ‘Dirty Women’! Some nights the solo gets cut short, or sometimes it’s extend, but last night at the festival in Denmark, in Copenhagen, the solo was extended and he kicked ass man, the solo was incredible! It varies on the night; things may be cut 24 bars short or so, or are a bit longer, but last night was amazing. It’d be nice if we can play some new music, but we have no new music unfortunately, but you know we’ve done really well – the set’s really ‘up’, we don’t take a break, but we lay back when we do ‘Black Sabbath’ and ‘Into the Void’, and overall it’s a fantastic 90 minute show.
Q: It seems like Tony’s pretty busy, he’s been bashing out a new album, re-recording ‘Trashed’ with Ian Gillan, and he’s set to hit the road at the end of Sabbath’s touring schedule – would you ever consider heading out on the road and continuing to tour in 2005 in support of your solo material and releases?
A: Definitely. I got to get my album out first! Everyone else has something out. Mine’s still back there somewhere gathering dust! If I had some…if I was able to get out there, get backing from a record company, and just tour, I got no problem at all with doing that. I would look forward to that actually. The first thing is to finish 1 more song from the album, and then it’ll all be good to go. Get this album done and out, it’s been about 5-6 years in progress, I feel as though I’m ready to move onto the next album.
Bill talks about a lot of other subjects, including his audio diary series, the status of his long delayed solo album “Beyond Aston”, to Straws, his performance at Live Aid 20 years ago, and of course a new Black Sabbath album.
Make sure and check out the full interview here. It’s a very good read.
Fifth Audio Diary Posted
by Joe on Jul.05, 2005, under Bill Ward
Bill phoned in from Sweden with the fifth in his 2005 Audio Diary series. There was a little bit of a bad phone connection on this and it generated some technical issues so the sound quality is a little scratchy, but is still pretty good. This new edition, totaling exactly 30:00 in length has these highlighted points:
* – Difficulty trying to find Vegan food
* – Bill talks about the following gigs: Sofia, Bulgaria, Vienna, Prague, Athens, & Roskilde Denmark
* – Some thoughts on Bulgaria itself.
* – European audiences in general
* – Ticket availability and his thoughts on scalpers
* – The Pink Floyd reunion at Live 8!
There is of course a lot more than that, so make sure and download the entry and check it out!
https://www.billward.com/sounds/diary070405.m4a
(Right click and select “Save As” or “Save Link As” and save the file to your hard drive, don’t just click this)
You need one of any number of free audio players (Winamp, iTunes, or Musicmatch Jukebox) to play this file. Don’t forget about Bill’s Podcast for the diaries, you can get more info on that here.
You can discuss the audio diary in this thread on Bill’s forums here on billward.com. A short note, if you have Windows Media player, you may have to rename the file extension from m4a to mp4 to get the file to play right in that player.
Bill to be interviewed on the WRAT
by Joe on Jul.01, 2005, under Bill Ward
An interview with Bill will air on New Jersey Rock Station THE WRAT,
95.9, this Sunday, July 3 at 10:00 PM EST on “The Electric Ballroom” show. If you’re not in the NJ area, you can listen on the web at http://www.wrat.com.
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Hi Everybody.
It’s Bill here. First off, I want to thank you all for the support you’ve given me throughout the years. I love to play– whether it’s playing drums in Black Sabbath, making music with my own band or working with other musicians, period. Being able to do what I love for my whole life, pretty much, has been an honour and privilege.
When I started playing in Sabbath, there was an energy of truth about us. We believed in what we were saying, the music we were making and the lives we were living. As time has moved on, I’ve nurtured and tried to save a lot of what I learnt playing in Sabbath. During the more recent years at the Ozzfest concerts, I’ve found myself immersed in the musical rewards of playing in such a unique and devastatingly, powerfully effective Metal band. Sabbath have been, and are, my greatest teachers, and I am forever grateful for the musical journey so far.
Today, I love what’s happening in music. I’ve been given the rare opportunity to play bands I like – Classic and newer Metal – on our Rock 50 radio show. These bands energize me.
I am humbled to know many of you. Music lives and brings and maintains life. Music has always brought me through.
Stay strong, safe and live. Enjoy the site.
Long Live Metal.
--Bill Ward
