Martin Walkyier: The Clan Destined
Interview with Former Skyclad & Sabbat Man on the Return of The Clan
Jun 7, 2008
In 2005 Martin Walkyier, former frontman with influential pagan thrashers Sabbat and seminal folk metal band Skyclad, announced his retirement from the music scene after problems arose with his then new project The Clan Destined. Now he's back, with both a live Sabbat reformation and a rejuvenated approach to The Clan Destined.
Problems in The Clan Destined Camp
Suite 101: You’d previously stated that you were retiring from music entirely – what exactly spurred that decision?
Martin: “Well unfortunately, the guy I was working with on The Clan Destined project initially turned out to be a bit of a lunatic. He badly let me down, which was a real shame because at the time that all this happened my dad was really ill in hospital before he died and there was also the fact that we were recording in Andy Sneap’s Backstage Studio and we’d been in there on and off using downtime at the studio for about three weeks.
"And then this guy, this Iscariah – he used to be in Immortal but he quit Immortal as well – turned round and said he wasn’t interested any more, leaving me in a way to finish the whole project off. Obviously, with everything I’d had going on in my private life as well, there comes a point where everybody’s got that line they’re not prepared to cross and I thought ‘Bugger this for a game of soldiers, this isn’t funny any more’.”
Martin Walkyier's Return to the Metal Scene
Suite 101: And what prompted you to change your mind?
Martin: “Looking back on everything that’s happened with Sabbat and the shows we’ve done and the way the CD turned out in the end, the people I’m talking to at the moment about doing some new music for The Clan Destined, it was like turning a corner from a downside in my life. Losing a family member has an effect on you as well – it’s just two entirely different times in my life.”
Live Shows with Sabbat
Suite 101: Did you also realise music was too ingrained to just give it up?
Martin: “Yeah, it always has been, music’s always been a part of me. I’m still struggling on. The CD’s done and we’ve just about finished a video for the track ‘A Beautiful Start to the End of the World’, which has taken about 8 months. It’s all become enjoyable again and reaffirmed my faith in music and what I’ve done over the years.
"Also the audience response at the Sabbat shows we’ve done in both England and Europe and now in the U.S., it’s just been so refreshing to meet all these people who’ve been influenced by my lyrics and way of thinking. So while it doesn’t become something that makes me ill or has too much pressure to carry on doing it, it’s something I’ve got to do. I don’t mean to sound melodramatic by saying that but when you’re trying to do a musical project with no management and no financial backing, which was what I was used to throughout the Sabbat and early Skyclad days, can be hard work. But there’s also the fact that if you’ve got the record labels and management, they seem to take all the money.”
Walkyier talks more with Suite101 about The Clan Destined and the Sabbat reformation.
For more information, visit The Clan Destined website.
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