Byfist

Byfist is one of those lost US Metals treasures. The band was formed in San Antonio,

Texas back in the year 1987. The band always struggled (just released a few EP’s

and a demo and single and in 2008 a compilation). The band also have split up in

1991 due to poor management but reformed in 2000. Nevertheless since 2000, the

band also did not released much and this album from 2020 is their first official studio

album since the long lifespan of this Heavy Power Metal band from the state Texas.

-Time to ask the guys, what went wrong and tell us their side of the story. Guys

can you please tell us why everything never really worked out? I ask this

because I think you’re a really great band and deserve much more!

In the early to mid - 1980’s, Dave Lee (lead guitarist) and I were well known in the

San Antonio Texas metal scene with our respective bands; Dave in Sabre

Sabatazh and I was in Séance (S.A. TX). In May or June of 87, I left Séance and

joined Dave’s band. Soon after joining forces, the band name changed to Byfist.

We released a single, “Love Will Find A Way / Hourglass” in August 1987, then

the EP, “You Should Have Known” in April 1988, both recorded at Blue Cat

Studios in San Antonio, Texas with Joe Trevino engineering. We recorded our

last EP, “Adrenaline” in August 1989 at Silvercloud Studios in Burbank, California

with Joe Floyd(Warrior) and Sean Kenise engineering. We also had a few of our

songs on compilation albums to peek interest.

Our first live show was in Nov '87 and we received great reviews from the local

press. In fact, after that one show we got our first big break to open up for the

Michael Schenker Group in Jan'88 which led the way for us to be able to open for

many national touring acts that came through Texas such as Fates Warning,

Reverend, Savatage, Trouble, Killer Dwarfs, Kings X, Man O War, Helstar, Frank

Marino, Danzig, Powermad, Drive, and many more. We met David Wayne

sometime in late 1988 or early 1989 through our manager, who was also a

promoter and brought Metal Church to San Antonio a few years earlier. Long

story short, our manager asked D.W. if he would like to come to San Antonio and

hang out with Byfist. D.W. visited a few times and would hang out at our

rehearsals and stay at Dave Lee’s home. D.W. invited us to his home in Los

Angeles in order to record our Adrenaline EP in the summer of ’89. Around that

same time Byfist was approached by MCA Records. After negotiating we received

a great recording contract. However, behind our back, our manager partnered

with an attorney from L.A. and attempted to get even more money. Therefore,

MCA revoked on the deal, thus ruining our chances with a major label. In 1991 the

band found itself beginning to disintegrate and because of poor management and

bad decisions, we broke up with many unfulfilled dreams and broken promises.

After a nine year hiatus, sometime in 2000, Dave Lee and his wife came over and

asked if I’d like to get Byfist back together to record a full length album and a live

recording, which we never got to do the first time around. I told him it would be

cool if we could get the same lineup we had in 1991. We got a hold of everyone

and they were all available and anxious to get back together. We also added a

third guitarist to fill my place for live shows just in case I couldn’t make it since I

was in another band called Igniter for the past couple of years at the time, but that

band ended shortly after Byfist reunited. In 2001 we were going to sign with U.S.

label LTS Records and they sent us to Burbank, California to do a music

convention, but the representative never showed up so we did not sign with

them. We stayed with three guitarists up until a little after Dave Lee and I joined

David Wayne’s band Reverend.

We played a lot of gigs up until Dave and I joined Reverend in 2002, thus slowing

down Byfist. The last time we saw D.W. he asked that if anything happened to

him, he wanted us to keep his music and memory alive and keep Reverend going.

In 2003 we were approached by German label Insanity Records for a record deal

for both Reverend and Byfist, but since Both David Wayne and Dave Lee were

handling those I really never knew why we did not sign up with them. When D.W.

passed away in 2005, we honored his wish and continued as Reverend, with

occasional Byfist shows. In 2006 Byfist signed a deal with American Indy label

Metal Ages Records to release a compilation CD, ”Preserving the Past”, which

contains all of our previous recordings, but Metal Ages went under and passed

the deal on to Rock It Up Records in Germany to manufacture and distribute the

“Preserving the Past” CD in 2008. We continued with both Reverend and Byfist

up until Dave Lee’s untimely death in Oct. 2010.

A little more history: as early as 2009, our former vocalist Vikk Real did a show

with us which started conversations of his rejoining Byfist with his wife Jeska’s

encouragement. We knew her for years and she was a really great friend.

Conversations increased in mid-2010 and we were making plans to welcome him

back into the band when tragically, in July 2010, Jeska passed away from a

motorcycle accident. To honor her wish, Vikk did rejoin Byfist and we did a few

benefit shows for Jeska. Byfist had a show in Houston, Texas in late September

2010, which would be my last with Dave for just a week later on October 1, 2010

Dave Lee suddenly passed away. This was tragic and very heartbreaking for us.

After Dave passed away, Vikk and I enlisted help from several friends to honor

upcoming shows and did a couple more benefit shows for Jeska and the Lee

Family. Vikk and I leaned on each other for a few months, and finally decided to

start writing again. In late June 2011 we had a show in Houston, Texas, which

would be my last with Vikk for just a week later, sadly, almost a year after Jeska’s

death, we got the sad news that Vikk was in a tragic accident and passed away.

After losing so many people I loved, I took some time to grieve and reflect on

things. In October 2012, I decided to reform Byfist again to honor Dave Lee, Vikk

& Jeska Real and David Wayne. So with help from a previous drummer and

bassist and new lead guitarist Ernie B., things started looking up. Vocalist Raul

“Diablo” Garcia joined in March 2013, bassist, Stony Grantham in January 2016,

and then drummer, Scott Palmer in August 2016. Byfist was a complete band

again and in between rehearsing and playing gigs we recorded the songs for the

album. In the summer of 2017, we met Bob Mitchell when we opened for Savior

from Anger in Houston, Texas. At that time, Bob was their vocalist and also the

U.S. rep for Pure Steel. We gave him a demo to listen to, and shortly after that, we

were in negotiations with Pure Steel Records. Now you can understand why it

took so long to release our first full length album, but we are extremely pleased

with it. These guys in the band are great, and I feel that if Dave Lee, Vikk & Jeska

Real and David Wayne could speak to us, they’d be proud and honored to call

them family.

-About your music, how would you describe your music to fans of old school

Metal and which bands and or artists have influenced you musically and

lyrically?

Byfist is an American power metal band hailing from the 80’s heavy metal Capital

of the World, San Antonio, Texas! The music consists of energetic, aggressive,

crunchy, head banging rhythms with melodic, high pitched screaming vocals,

expressive lead guitars, and powerful bass lines that complement the thunderous

drumming. A style with clear influences from Judas Priest, Iron Maiden,

Metallica, Saxon, Metal Church and Riot to name a few.

My influences were Black Sabbath, Budgie, Rush, Triumph, Judas Priest,

Scorpions, UFO, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, BTO, Montrose, Kiss, Rainbow,

Aerosmith, Riot, Ted Nugent, Saxon, Michael Schenker Group, Ozzy Osbourne,

Iron Maiden, Accept, Thin Lizzy, ZZ Top, Queen, Def Leppard, Nazareth, Grand

Funk Railroad, Alice Cooper, Styx, Legs Diamond and believe it or not, Elton John

and Bernie Taupin.

-How was the club circuit in the state of Texas back in the eighties? Was it

overall you played or did you also played in other States of the United States

back in those days?

There were many places to play in Texas in the 80’s. It was a haven for heavy

metal, but we weren’t fortunate to play outside of Texas in the early days. The

only time we almost played out of Texas was when we were in Burbank, California

recording the “Adrenaline” EP in August 1989. We were asked to make an

appearance at a club in the Hollywood strip but they wanted us to go under a

different name, so we declined! We also had been invited to perform in a TV show

in Mexico, because we were an all Hispanic Heavy Metal band at that time, but

one of the guys couldn’t make it, so that was our only two chances at that time to

perform out of Texas. We would play as often as we could though! I remember

Dave Lee telling me that he didn’t care where we played, whether it was in

backyards, graduations, weddings, bar mitzvahs, seedy bars, small clubs, big

clubs, theatres, high schools, colleges, flea markets, parks, outdoor drive in

theatres, on a flatbed trailer, etc…Let’s just go out and play so we can be seen

and heard”! We received great reviews from the underground press at that time

and our local fan base kept growing really well.

-How often did you guys played outside the USA and can you guys please tell

us some highlights and or roadstories?

Unfortunately, Byfist has never played outside the USA, but Dave Lee and I have

played in Holland and Germany with David Wayne when we were in his band,”

Reverend”. There are too many stories to tell, and not enough time to tell them!

But we do have a lot of nicknames of these stories that Dave Lee and I would

often tell, such as “Tin Man”, “The Deaf, the Mute and the Thief”, “Jail Bailout

with Man of Many Hats”, “Speedo Incident”, “Pee and Roll Over”, “Tar Baby”,

“Happy F***ing New Year Mother F***ers!”, “Burbank Fire Marshall Bill”,

“Tripping on stage props and really breaking a leg”, “Escape from Hospital to

Jam”, “Samuel Adams Beer Guy Trade Off”, “Not You!”, just to name a few. If we

ever chat, I’ll tell you of these stories.

-Which bands have you supported over the years and do you ever realise there

was a lot of bad luck for you guys. Do you think the internet and support from a

German label will help you to finally reach more fans and popularity and are

you happy with this debut by Pure Steel Records?

We have supported the bands that I mentioned earlier from the early days and

we’ve been honored to share the stage these past few years with the likes of:

Michael Schenker, Yngwie Malmsteen, Saxon, Queensryche, Riot, Metal Church,

Udo Dirkschneider, Stryper, Grim Reaper, Omen, Phantom X, Helstar,

Shadowkeep, just to name a few.

Yes, there have been a lot of hard times for us.

We are very pleased with the way Pure Steel is helping us to get our music out to

the world via internet, magazines, podcasts and radio!

-Is Byfist your only band or are you guys also active in any other bands?

I am also in “Séance”, (San Antonio, Texas)

Raul “Diablo” is also in “Sidewinder”, (South Texas)

Stony is also in Shadowkeep, (England)

-List us here your top 5 US Metal Recordings of all time!

So many to choose from but here you go:

Riot – Road Racin’

Metal Church – Metal Church

Reverend – Gunpoint

Anthrax – Cry for the Indian

Montrose – Space station #5

I hope we will to be able to tour in Holland next year!

Thank you Marco,

Nacho Vara

-Patchman Marco-