Live Lightning: An Exclusive Interview With DEREK DAVIS Of BABYLON A.D.
By
George Dionne,
Podcaster
Saturday, April 1, 2023 @ 9:54 AM
“We might go through ten ideas and pick three.”
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While the San Francisco Bay Area has been known to crank out some killer Thrash Metal bands throughout the eighties, they have also delivered some great Blues-based Hard Rock act. One band who comes to mind in that category is BABYLON A.D., who’s self-titled 1989 debut spawned the three mainstay singles, “Bang Go The Bells”, “Hammer Swings Down”, and “The Kid Goes Wild”. The latter appeared in the hit movie Robocop 2.
BABYLON A.D. have released 4 studio albums since 1989, with a few years of inactivity as a group along the way. Members of the band never stopped making music, either with a side project or solo material. After surviving the rigors of a chaotic world and struggling industry, BABYLON A.D. are back and ready to pick up where they left off.
Live Lightning is their latest release, and it showcases BABYLON A.D. at their fiery best with 14 live tracks culminated through multiple performances. The set list covers the band’s early work, as well as multiple songs from their last studio album Revelation Highway (2017). I had the chance to catch up with frontman Derek Davis to find out more about it.
Highlights include:
-Discussion of latest release Live Lightning
-Balancing a set list with old & new material
-Studio touch-ups
-2023 touring plans
-New studio album on the way
-Working with Perris Records
-35th anniversary of self-titled debut
-Realities of first record deal
-Davis’ solo work and MOONSHINE project
-Past crazy rockstar behavior
-And much, much more
