Original member Adrian Jenkinson talked to Hull Live about Outer Limits, a concept album inspired by the classic attraction
Rockers Salem UK have experienced a rollercoaster career since the late 1970s and are now bringing them all the way back to Hull Fair. The heavy metal group’s latest incarnation is promoting album Outer Limits – named after one of the fair’s longest running rides – in the lead up to Walton Street spectacular in two weeks’ time.
Bassist and original member Adrian Jenkinson recorded, produced, engineered and mastered the album of ten tracks in his Hull studio, alongside singer Simon Saxby, guitarist Jonny Hirons and drummer Ian Latus. He says the concept album about the travelling fun fair was sparked by a memorable name.
Adrian explained: “Jonny, our guitarist had put together the bones of a track and Simon, our vocalist, were going to put melody and lyrics to it. So, I said to Jonny: ‘what’s the track called?’ and he said: ‘I’m calling it outer limits,’ which gave us a bit of direction when we were writing the lyrics. Simon and I looked at each other straight away when he said it because it’s the name of a fair ride at Hull Fair, and we’re all Hull lads and proud to be so.
“So we thought we’d make the lyrics a bit ambiguous so it can refer to both the ride and life’s journey. And then we went from there, and thought why stop there. We could go on to do other rides and it just took shape.”
The album, which starts and ends with a fairground organ, has earned rave reviews from metal music titles. From frenetic opener Rock You to dark and foreboding last track Oblivion, the record takes listeners on a ride through classic sounds of the New Wave of British heavy metal genre, which Salem were at the forefront of in the late 70s.
Adrian said: “There was a band in Hull that people will be aware of – at least those old enough – called Ethel the Frog who were on the first EMI Records ‘Metal for Muthas’ album. They got quite a large deal with EMI.
“One of the guitarists married my sister and when they split, I was playing guitar at the time. Two of them formed this new band called Salem and they asked me to join them, only on bass, which I couldn’t play. But I said: ‘yeah, yeah, I’ll do it!’ And as far as playing bass in Salem is concerned, the rest is history.”
He added: “We chucked the whole lot in, in 1983-84 because we arrogantly believed that we should be getting a record contract because people like Def Leppard and Saxon were already getting record deals. The truth is, at the time, we weren’t good enough.”
To their surprise, the band were contacted in 2008 by a record company that wanted to release some of their early demos on vinyl. The group hadn’t spoken to each other in more than 20 years, but it led to reformation and five subsequent albums.
Over the years the group has toured extensively, playing gigs all over Europe and even as far afield as Dubai. Salem are now gearing up to play Cornwall Rocks festival and the Whitby Goth weekend.
They have been at the vanguard of a renewed interest in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal in recent years, which has seen reissues and compilations introduce new fans to the sound. Adrian added: “When we’ve played abroad there’s been a big interest because all the fans rightly identify the UK as the fatherland of heavy metal.
“There is a large wave of it now, but how long it will last, I don’t know. We’ll probably all going to die soon, the original New Wave of British heavy metal bands. There’s won’t be many left in a few years’ time.”