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Interview with singer Peter De Wint on the 40th anniversary of the Second Attack album
Peter, before I ask you about Second Attack, is it correct, that you started as a punk band called The Onion Dolls and released a single in 1980?
Nope that is not correct, I was in a band called Hustler back then & Mark Van Caelenberge & Nero Neerickx were in a punk band : The Onion Dolls and they released a single…
What was the line up like those times and how did you get together exactly? Did you have any musical experiences?
As I said before I was in a band (symphonic rockband) Hustler where I was drummer and singer at the time, later I met Mark, we talked some time and we agreed to form a band toghether… later that band became Crossfire !
From what I know, you and drummer Chris De Brauwer were involved in Mystery…
Chris replaced me in Crossfire as drummer, in the beginning I was drummer & lead vocalist in Crossfire, but after a while we chose to change & I became frontman and we did auditions for drummers and as Chris regurarly attended our rehearsals and was a great guy…he got the job and we came along so good that I asked him to join me later in Mystery.
What made you to turn into heavy metal? Who came up with the moniker Crossfire?
We all loved and were fans from Judas Priest, as we spoke that name came across several times and no wonder that happened as we loved it so much !! I believe Mark and I come up with the idea of naming ourselves Crossfire.
How about the Belgian metal scene as a whole, when a lot of bands started popping up, such as Killer, Acid, Ostrogoth etc. all of them trying to make a name for themselves?
We all knew each other as Belgium is about a fart big ;-). I tried to do things with Shorty from Killer and I sang backings on two Ostrogoth records and later I became even the singer in Ostrogoth … FEELING OF FURY LP.
Do you think, that 1983 debut See You In Hell presented a fairly developed brand of speed metal fervor with a side-order of traditional, rocking sensibilities that set you apart from the slightly earlier NWOBHM craze and the nascent thrash metal scene?
We just played as we fely it at that time & had no idea it would turn into something we just liked the NWOBHM and just did our thing as we thought it feld good… little did we know !!
Did it showcase a talented, promising outfit?
We got somewhere to know…
How long did it take you to come up with new songs? Did the label perhaps ask you to hear new material?
The label, Mausoleum Records had NO SAY in what we did…. sometimes it took us a week , sometimes two days and now and then a couple of weeks to write new songs, we worked hard ans songs came as the wind turned ;-).
The album was recorded in 1984 at Shiva Studios, Brussels, Belgium, do you still remember, how did the recording sessions go?
I still remeber we had a lot of fun doing that session @Shiva Studios , almost everything at Mausoleum was recorded there … those days were brutal on partyand booze, now&then we were serious as the owners at the time were Juwish … practickly everybody at Mausoleum was Jewish so party time whenever 
…
Do you think, that the album art itself depict the same glowing skull face at the summit of an Aztec pyramid, but now from a much closer perspective that reveals a far more menacing setting, and the music reflects this notion?
The sculls were an invention by Eric Philippe and great special hand painted, it had nothing to do with music but we liked the idea….
Are your vocals of a far more focused and dynamic character, as the signature primal scream that you employed relentlessly before is now contrasted with some more restrained and tuneful moments?
I thank you for the compliment on my vocals and screams, they just came and I used them (a lot) but don’t look any further after these .. I was a natural talent that could scream hard and loud , could of made a movie carreer with such a screaming voice, I only was born in the wrong country !!
In your opinion, is the biggest change of the lot the bombastic, in your face tone of Marc Van Caelenberge’s lead guitar work, which still retains that mixture of NWOBHM influences, but has far more bite to the tone?
Yes , the guitar was in your face and a lot, sometimes a little bit to much if you ask my opinion, that’s why we seperated our ways Marc VC & I !! But at the time he was probably writh with his guitar.
Would you say, that in essence, this album is about as close as a speed metal album can get to becoming a full on thrash album and at times it really sounds like it wants to dispense with the Judas Priest elements and go into full on Living Death territory?
As I said before, we were Judas Priest fans no questions asked, BUT we always played our music the way we feld it sounded right, we had no intension to copy J.P. so we didn’t and if we sounded like them or L.D. as you say that is pure coinsidence. And we hated the people who named us a trash band !! Which we were not, in my opinion …
On the other hand, did this album prove to be even more menacing when the tempo is brought down, with a doom-infused anthem, like Master Of Evil and a haunting turned angry ballad in Running For Love?
I probably will disapoint you in saying that but we didn’t do this on purpose, we just played things or songs as we feld them …. yes they sound a little doomed and scarier, but that’s normal isn’t it ??
Can be Second Attack best understood as a refined and improved version of what See You In Hell sought out to accomplish 2 years prior?
Yes it did as we grown in time & playing !!
Did you develope a lot compared to the previous album?
Sure, as we all got bigger in playing and better in time…
How do you view, that Second Attack is more enjoyable than the debut and offered up something more vascular and heady without veering miles from your See You in Hell prescribed style?
See You In Hell was our debut LP & we worked hard on that one & Second Attack was it’s sucsessor and as we wrote songs as e feld them they all are a bit in the same style only more mature…as we wrote how we feld them…some got bigger others not BUT we always wrote how we felt…. always
Is the production work of a much meatier character, with the tone of the guitars having a sharper attack and the whole arrangement sounding like it’s far closer to one’s ears than before?
Ahh, I had no say whatsoever in the production at that time, Mark VC did that, the band had no say in the production, so obviously the guitars were loud and in your face… Some liked that other not…
What were the shows/tours in support of the record?
We played shows in Holland, Germany & England to support that record and the Belgian show of course.
What do you recall of the third Heavy Sound festival? Can you tell us more about it?
That was one of the last shows of that tour…. I remember that we arrived the night before to do soundcheck and I had no more voice left so they took me to a doc in the morning who launged two shots in both my vocal cords and I sang like a bird again BUT coudn’t speak for the next 3 weeks but hey ; we did a great concert at Heavy sound , we even had our picture on the tickets printed by Mausoleum ; I have a re-issue of that ticket + a re-isseu of the album who is released by another Belgium record compamy Vinyl Invasion.
The band broke up after you left to join Ostrogoth in 1987, what were the reasons of it?
A lot of personal isseus between Marc VC and myself wich I am not gonna talk about in this intevieuw…. A new start with Ostrogoth seemed a good idea at that time with resulted in a great album ! Feelings Of Fury !! A masterpiece where I could be involved in the production & more….
How do you explain, that Crossfire have become something of a historical footnote since the end of the 1980s perhaps being best remembered for your studio work with such noted acts as W.A.S.P., Twisted Sister, Glenn Hughes and several others?
It was great & an honor to be a part of the historical footnote… like I said before , we just did what we feld & did at the time & thought it was right …Later I became a live and studio sound engineer for many bands such as W.A.S.P. who’m I also recorded & mixed some songs in my studio, Glenn Hughes where I recorded a live album with on the road ; Freak Flag Flying , I worked for 11 years for that man…wonderfull man & voice !! Twisted Sister I worked with 15 years F.O.H. and in 2016 when they stopped I went on with Dee Snider & his solo project witch I recorded also a live album & dvd …and one last thing before Covid and 2 strokes put an end to my carreer as a sound engineer , I did Sons Of Apollo , European tour as F.O.H. and recorded the live album & dvd ”Live In Plovdiv” with a classic orchestra and choir…. And many more bands through the years who’m I recorded or spend Live on the road with ; like JSS (Jeff Scott SOTO) more than 20 years all over the world !! 2 great albums with AFFAIR & MYSTERY and many more….
Peter, thanks a lot for your answers, what are your closing words for our readers?
It was an honour to do this intervieuw … a little sarcasm in it as I am sacastic minded , I hope I answered good enough for you & I will be happy to see the intervieuw in real … whenever it is ready and deu to be released !! Keep listening to all the great music out there as there is a lot out there and some of it is mine … ;-)) Keep it Fucking Heavy !! Peter XXX.
