Interview With Wayward Sons' Toby Jepson

Toby Jepson might be better known as the lead singer of British rock outfit, Little Angels. He has a new band now called Wayward Sons who are about to embark on a UK tour which visits York on 19 April at Fibbers. I had a chat with him about the bands he has been in and his Yorkshire roots.

You are originally from Scarborough, do you still live there?
We now live in Somerset, my wife is from Bristol so we are down here now but I did live in Scarborough for many years. I am glad that the town has the Open Air Theatre- it is a big event space and it takes a band of a certain size to fill it. It would be too small for a band such as the Foo Fighters but for pop acts it is perfect.

Tell us a little bit about your new band Wayward Sons
We released our first album in September 2012, Frontiers Music offered us a deal. It took a while to get the band together as I wanted to make sure everyone was available. We've got Sam Woods on guitar, he's from Leeds and was in the Treason Kings. Phil Martini on drums has been in Spear of Destiny, the Quireboys and Tokyo Dragons. Nic Wastell on bass is someone I've known for years, he was in Chrome Molly. On keyboards is Dave Kemp who used the be in Little Angels with me. It's a great band and we all work well together.

The York gig will be like a homecoming
We tried to get a gig arranged for Scarborough, it is not as easy as people think but yes, the York gig at Fibbers will be like a homecoming gig as it is the nearest we get to Scarborough. It is a great venue is Fibbers, it will also be one of the first gigs on the tour. Tim Hornsby there has booked so many bands over the years -big and small. He knows what works well.

Little Angels supported a lot of big bands over the years
We did but we also made it big too. We had a Number 1 album that sold over a million copies, so we did very well although the band never broke out of our own territories such as Germany, Portugal and Japan, we never crossed over in the rest of the world.

Being in Little Angels put me in the position I am in today, the band wrote some very good songs, I have great memories of that time. We reformed in 2012 for some shows and the gigs sold out.

Looking at the singles chart, you would think rock music is dead
It has never been fashionable but rock is always there - it is the lifestyle, the devotion, it feels a part of people's lives, bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath spoke to people and their music is just as popular as it ever was, it is just that radio never seems to support rock music.

You sung and toured with Fast Eddie in Fastway, how did that happen?
It was a huge privilege. I got a call from Steve at X Ray touring and he said that Fastway were going to play some gigs. Dave King the original singer in the band didn't want to do it so I was excited to do it. I used to listen to Fastway when I worked at Primrose Valley so being in the band was like a dream come true. I was fortunate to play in the band just before he passed away, we were good buddies. Now that Lemmy and Phil have passed away there are none of the original members of Motörhead left, it was such a sad loss when Eddie passed away.

Have you heard about the plans to turn the Bradford Odeon into a 4,000 seater venue?
No, I have not heard about it, but from what you say it sounds great, the city needs a big sized venue - it is much needed. It will be a big boost for the city. We cut our teeth in Little Angels playing smaller venues in Bradford such as the Frog and Toad then gradually building it up by playing the Queens Hall and then St George's Hall. We supported bands there and then were able to headline there and sell out the venue. A northern venue of the size of the Odeon can only be a good thing.

Wayward Sons play York Fibbers on Thursday 19 April.

www.fibbers.co.uk