TONY MILLS Says There Was 'Little In The Way Of Team Spirit' Within TNT

Brazil's A Ilha Do Metal web site recently conducted an interview with British vocalist Tony Mills (TNT, SHY). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

A Ilha Do Metal: You've been with TNT since 2006 as its vocalist, but some weeks ago you announced that you are leaving the band. What are the main reasons that led you to make this decision?

Tony Mills: There are a few reasons I left the band last month, but they all sort of stack up to the same thing. I'm very keen to write and enjoy recording new material that I get a kick out of and with other people that enjoy themselves too, during that process. TNT has shown little interest in writing new material in the last three years and the live show has remained the same during that time, to the point of stagnation. I really feel that I have a lot to get out of my system and every time I sit down to write, I find myself on a flight to some island in the middle of nowhere to play a show and then I have to get back into focus again three days later. So I thought it was time for no more interruptions and time to do what I wanted to do for a change. The focus in the press on TNT is very much about the guitarist and there is never any communication from him within the band, unless it's a notification of his unavailability, so, there being little in the way of team spirit, coerced me to move on.

A Ilha Do Metal: Your latest album is a compilation with mostly non-TNT songs from the members. Any fan response on that one?

Tony Mills: There being no great desire to co-write together anymore drove the business end of the company to want to release a product that maintained the profile of the band in between live shows, so each member was asked to submit material that was either previously unreleased or remastered as its own, "Hidden Treasure", which we did.

A Ilha Do Metal: "The Hidden Treasure" album was given away free with a magazine, you also had a bundling of your last studio album, "Engine/A Farewell To Arms", with your own book/magazine on the newsstand. Other artists like Prince have also done similar things. What do you think of these alternative methods of distribution? Do they work as intended, reaching a possibly larger audience?

Tony Mills: They only really get pressed within the circulation of the magazine, whether it is one or five or ten thousand; in this case the amount is under debate. I think maybe three thousand were pressed, probably no more. The distribution works well, because it sits alongside regular magazine distribution in every news stand in the street and gas stations, but it goes along the way the rest of the record market has gone, with its loss of credibility as a proper record release, since the demise of commercial releases through record companies and their traditional promotion after the download renaissance.

A Ilha Do Metal: This year TNT played at the Monsters Of Cruise 2013 in the U.S. with many other classic hard rock bands. Can you tell us about how this experience was for you?

Tony Mills: It was an arduous journey to Florida through seventeen hours of flights and connections, but the first show was a great experience and a very consistent performance with our normal concerts in Norway. After a night in the air-conditioned cabin on the boat, I woke up to no voice for the second show, which hasn't happened to me for many years and consequently, the second show was less than memorable. All in all, it was a great learning curve and something I should be aware of in the future having never done it before; but the fans were great and I cherished meeting a lot of great people during that time.

A Ilha Do Metal: Besides TNT, you always kept some side projects. How did you reconcile them with the band? How is the composition process for them?

Tony Mills: Everyone in TNT has always ran side projects and worked around the band's schedule; that has never really been an issue. I have only ever really written work for each specific project apart from SERPENTINE in the U.K., where I had unreleased material that suited their catalogue and they were very receptive toward the songs.

Read the entire interview at A Ilha Do Metal.