An Interview with Dave 'NATO' Hazlewood - June 2018

1. Please could give us a bit of background info on yourself.

Dave "I was born in Tooting, London but moved to Cranbrook in Kent with my parents when I was just 2 years old. I went to a shit secondary school there called Angley School (or… ‘DAngley School’ as the sign read), and then did 2 years at West Kent College in Tonbridge before finally feeling guilty for the lack of effort I put in, and got a full time job."

2. From what age did you start to become interested in music, which bands were you into?

Dave "I always liked music, but really started developing a real passion for it when I was about 9 or 10 years old. I remember my dad asking what music I really liked, and I couldn’t answer, so I sat for a whole day listening to the radio and writing down all the tracks I liked. This was in the 80s, and bands like Kiss, Def Leppard and Billy Idol all made it onto my list, so I decided I must like rock music! The first album I bough was Iron Maiden ‘Piece of Mind’, and from then I threw myself into music 100%. By the age of 12 I had grown my hair long and was wearing studs and leather… I thought I looked pretty good!
In the early days I only listened to rock and heavy metal and was totally into bands such as Slayer, WASP, Megadeth, Skid Row, Guns n Roses etc, but as I grew up I ended up socialising in a really alternative scene where people were into anything from rock and metal to punk and goth, and my musical horizons broadened greatly. Some of the bands that I think moved me the most were/are Killing Joke, Alice Cooper, Faith No More, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana and Motorhead."

3. When did you learn to play the drums, and did you have lessons were you or self-taught? Who were your influences?
 

Dave "I started playing when I was just 6 years old in a marching band, and it was always my intention to join a military band when I left school. I loved playing drums and found that was where I was most confident and at home. In my teens however, I discovered booze, girls and rock n roll, and ended up following a different path. I had a few drum kit lessons at school and joined my first band when I was 14. We were called Phobia (later ‘Amid the noise’). I played in lots of local bands before getting some success with a punk band called ‘18th Emergency’. We had an album out and did pretty well, but it burnt out after a few years. At the age of about 25 I quit my day job though and went to a drum college before setting out to make a living from playing drums."

"I never really used to listen to specific drummers, but instead liked songs for their overall effect, which I why I play the way I do. Bands like Therapy and Helmet always had really unique drum patterns that were out of the norm, and bands like Fields of the Nephilim and Siouxsie and the Banshees had very musical drum parts. I always tried to combine and emulate that in my playing so that you could listen to the drum part on its own and know what song it is from. Unfortunately I didn’t get much chance to be that creative in the League, but I used that approach when playing all of the old classics."


4. When did you actually join the League (2005?).. and how did that all come about?
 

Dave "I met Nick (Animal), through a mutual friend one day. I run my own music school which is near the studio where the guys were recording the Road to Rampton. They needed to borrow a PA system for a rehearsal, and the owner of the studio suggested they ask me as we were friends. Nick came over and we got talking, and it came up in conversation that I had previously toured in the USA with a punk band called Blitzkrieg’. Nick was interested to stay in touch in case they ever needed a dep drummer… He called me about 2 days later and asked if I could cover some shows in Europe!
At that time PJ was the drummer, but he had problems with his passport so couldn’t do any shows abroad. For the next few months I covered shows all over Europe before finally being asked to a few weeks in Australia. During that period PJ left the band and I was asked to be the permanent drummer… That was 2005."

5. Where you a fan of The League before you joined?
 

Dave "I wasn’t a massive fan, but I had a few albums and had seen footage of Nick on stage with Metallica performing 'So What', so I knew all about them. A friend of my dad’s was the cousin of Magoo, and had toured with the band as a roadie back in the day so I’d also heard a few stories!!!"

6. Where did the 'NATO' nickname come from?
 

Dave "The name comes from my interest in all things military along with my need for everything to be organised and run properly. I also had a drum kit hand made for me by a company called ‘Animal Custom Drums’, which is based on my ex-military Land Rover. It is completely NATO green (including hardware) with Union flags and cargo netting… It’s pretty awesome."

7. Did you already know all of the songs.. if not, did it take long to learn them all?
 

Dave "I knew a few of the classics, but obviously there were a lot that I didn’t know that I had to get my head around. My first gig was at a festival in Holland were although we only played a 45 minute set, I’d only known the band for 6 days and had 1 rehearsal, which was pretty hardcore! I used to listen to tracks on the way to shows and then rehearse them in soundcheck. On the whole it worked pretty well. There was just one show I remember during the first tour in Australia where I thought I was losing it. Nick kept turning around to me, signalling for me to speed up so I kept going faster and faster until I thought I was going to die, but at the end of the show it turned out Nick had actually been signalling to our roadie to get the monitor speakers turned up, and he couldn’t work out why I was playing so fast! Definitely a learning curve!"

8. You replaced PJ on drums... any idea why he left?
 

Dave "I don’t know all of the details, but I think with all bands there comes a time when it’s not as much fun and people don’t work as well together. I think PJ had got to that point so it was time to move on."

9. Can you remember the first show you did with the League.. and what are your memories of your first gig?
 

Dave "The first gig was the festival in Holland after just one rehearsal. My main memory though was finishing the gig and being so chuffed and full of adrenaline that we went walking and drinking all round Amsterdam until it was time to go home the next day. That’s the buzz that makes you want to keep on touring!"

10. Road To Rampton album - is a brilliant concept album, with many standout tracks on that. What are your memories of recording that album, and did you
have a hand in writing any of the material ?
 

Dave "I didn’t actually play on the album at all, it was all done before I joined. A lot of the drum parts are programmed, which is a shame as had I been around a bit sooner I may of got to put some real drums on there."

11. Road To Rampton - who's idea was it to get the girl from Bucks Fizz (!) on backing vocals.. she did a really good job on Unwanted I thought.
 

Dave "That was Nick’s idea, he always has these ideas when writing and has to see them through. I think it really lifts the song (and the album!)."

12. How did you get along with Nick and your other band mates - what were they all like to work with on a professional level, and also on a personal level too?
 

Dave "We genuinely all got on really well from the start and had so much fun, which is one of the most important factors of being in any band. Jamie had the ability to wind people up sometimes, but that’s all part of it. To be a successful touring band, you need to be able to get along, but also tolerate others habits. I used to share a room with Shady, so on tour we would travel, eat, perform, sleep and get drunk together. That’s more time together than I spend with my wife!"

"In the latter days when Tom was playing guitar we also developed a real 6th sense on stage too. It is the kind of thing that makes a band really sharp and at the top of their game. I’m really proud of how we performed but also of how professionally we approached each gig. I never drink before a gig at all, and we would maintain our gear, sound check and rehearse to make sure we gave the best performance we possibly could. I know of a lot of bands we have played with over the years that didn’t take it as seriously, and it showed! Having said all of that, after the gigs it was party time!"

13. Do you have any favourite shows.. whilst you were in the band.. any particularly memorable/standout gigs?
 

Dave "I was lucky to have played some of the best shows the band has ever done and have some awesome memories from so many of them. There are a few that stand out from a personal level though. Playing the Download festival was particularly important for me as I’d seen footage of bands playing the old Monsters of Rock festival when I was a kid, and said that one day it would be me on stage at Donnington. It felt pretty good to be on stage in front of a full audience going crazy and then drinking shots outside our dressing room saying “I fucking did it!!!”. Punk Rock Bowling in Vegas was a great event too. It was a great show, but it also had this crazy vibe for the whole event that I’ve never experienced anywhere else. There are lots of other shows that have great memories and stand out, but it’s really all about the people who came to see us. We had some great fans all around the world and would get to see familiar faces all over that would jump around and get into the music and then join us for some beers after. That’s what was so special!"

14. Did you perform on both Skull & Bones and This Is War? Apparently it was Lars from Rancid who wrote the former.. how did that all come about?
 

Dave "Skull and Bones was written by Lars for a film soundtrack and he played it to Nick. He loved it and wanted to do a faster, more punk version of it. I played similar drum parts to the original with just a bit more aggression! This is War is actually the only track I got to write with the band, which is a shame as I think had we of had the chance to write more together we could have produced some awesome tunes. I’m pleased with the way the track came out though and I like the parts I wrote for it. It was a lot of fun to play live too!"

15. Your last show with ANWL was December 2015.. why did you leave? (Assuming it was to commitments with your music school, and ‘Backbone drums' business?)
 

Dave "I left the band for a few reasons, but it was completely amicable with me playing out a 6 month notice period to give the guys time to get a replacement. I played for the League for 10 years (which I think is the longest stint for a drummer in the League  and had some amazing experiences, but at the end of the day it wasn’t my band or my business and I needed to focus on where I was going in life. I run a music school and a publishing company but found I didn’t have enough time to focus on them to make them really successful. I also found that after 10 years of touring, a lot of things that were fun in the early days had lost their appeal. Back in 2013 I trained to become an Army Cadet Instructor so leaving the band has allowed me more time to focus on that and train. I am an officer now, and love sharing some of my life experiences and helping young people."

16. Are there any unreleased tracks... demos that you recorded during your time in the League?
 

Dave "Unfortunately not, Nick generally likes to write alone or just with a guitarist."

17. Do you have any anecdotes to share.. happy memories etc?
 

Dave "I have tons of great memories and look back with a massive smile at the whole experience, so it’s difficult to list just a few. Meeting Lars Ulrich from Metallica was pretty awesome though as he came to see us at a club in San Francisco and watched my playing. Having one of my idols come to see us and then tell me that I was "an absolute machine on the drums” was pretty special. The tour we did with Motorhead was also one of the highlights. We worked extremely well together and played some amazing shows. We proved to a lot of people that we weren’t 'just another punk band!’."

"The real funny stories normally come out after a few beers and I don’t think I should be putting any of them down here in black and white, haha!"

18. What are you doing nowadays, musically (do you have a link to current music projects etc), are you playing in any band(s)?
 

Dave "I am still involved a lot in music because of my music school and drum book company, but my live playing is just for fun at the moment. I play in a comedy rock/disco band with some old friends (& Tom Hunt, ANWL Guitarist!) called the Mighty Worm. It is great fun and really silly, but always pulls in a big crowd. I am also still in a band called 4th Wall that I have been in since before I joined the League. We released an awesome album called ’No Contest’ a few years back, but have done very little with it, so we are now talking about getting that moving again and maybe touring next year… Who Knows? Watch this space!"