In a new interview with Gustavo Maiato, SAXON frontman Biff Byford was asked if guitarist Paul Quinn, who announced two years ago that he was stepping back from touring with the band, is still contributing to the songwriting process in SAXON or if Quinn’s replacement, DIAMOND HEAD’s Brian Tatler, is a “full-time” member of the band now. Biff responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Yeah, Brian’s in the band full-time, but Paul’s still sending ideas. He sent me an idea the other day for a song. It just depends how good it is, if we use it. I reject a lot of ideas until people come up with the one that I love.”We always want to make better albums, so we’re always looking for better songs, if you know what I mean,” Biff explained.As a result of Quinn’s decision to step back from touring with SAXON, the band canceled its April 2023 South American tour as well as the appearance at the Monsters Of Rock cruise. Quinn has since been replaced on the road by Tatler.Brian has been touring with fellow guitarist Doug Scarratt, drummer Nigel Glockler, bassist Tim “Nibbs” Carter and Byford since mid-2023, but continues to be a member of DIAMOND HEAD.Byford and Quinn are the sole remaining original members in SAXON’s current lineup.Originally from South Yorkshire, England, SAXON has gone on to sell about 23 million albums and has produced such classic songs as “Denim And Leather”, “Princess Of The Night”, “Wheels Of Steel” and “Power And Glory”.Two months ago, Byford was asked by FaceCulture about a possible follow-up to the band’s 24th studio album, “Hell, Fire And Damnation”, which came out in January 2024 via Silver Lining Music. He said: “We’re writing. I’ve started writing the new album, writing lyrics and titles. The boys have sent me loads of ideas already. So I’m just making a short list of what music we should use, what style we should play in, what songs are slow, fast, medium, good guitar riffs. So, yeah, we’re pretty far on. We’ll probably start rehearsing the new album maybe June, maybe recording in January, February. So we’ll probably have a new album out in late 2026.”Reflecting on “Hell, Fire And Damnation”, which marked SAXON’s first release with Tatler, Biff said: “I think it’s been a natural progression with our following and the fans with our music. Brian coming into the band added a little bit of a different dynamic to the music writing. So I think that was for a good thing. I think the new album, ‘Hellfire’, has been voted ‘Album Of The Year’ on quite a lot of sites and things, so obviously we struck a little bit of good scene with the album, a good flow. So hopefully the next one will be just as good, if not better… Well, it can’t always be better, but let’s hope. I mean, ‘Hellfire’ is gonna be hard to beat. That’s a pretty perfect album, I think.””Hell, Fire And Damnation” was produced by Andy Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, EXODUS, ACCEPT) and Byford, with Sneap mixing and mastering.[embedded content]
