Pete Lacey

Lacey time is.....
Myspace Clocks at WishAFriend.comBorn March 28th 1975, in the historic city of Winchester in the south of England, Pete grew up surrounded by music. His father, in his youth was a guitarist for a local sciffle group. His sister, who was eight and a half years older than him, had her music blaring out around the house, so he grew up with the sounds of the Rolling Stones, E.L.O., The Sweet and Eric Clapton.

Although offered the chance to take guitar lessons at school he declined, something he regrets to this very day. His taste in music was and still is wide and varied and includes Blues, Jazz, Punk, Classical, Reggae, Pop, Funk, Indie and Rock (to name but a few).

It was in his teens that music “took a grip on his soul.” Once he’d got his first job (peeling potatoes in a chip shop) at the age of 13 or 14 all of his money started going on records and cassettes. He became heavily into the Punk, Ska and 2Tone scene (always sticking out like a sore thumb as he was the one with hair half way down his back).His tastes then progressed onto A.O.R., Rock and Heavy Metal and he hasn’t looked back since.
Pete left school at 16 and whilst working in a Timber Store bought his first guitar from a work colleague who played in a local pub band. He taught him a few chords and from there on he was hooked. He taught himself a few cover tunes but was really more interested in writing his own songs. Initial efforts were crude and frankly not very good but at least it began the process and before long things began to improve.
At the age of 18 Pete was asked to join his first band as a vocalist. SANCTION, as they became known started out as a covers band playing songs by the likes of Scorpions, Iron Maiden, Ozzy, Kiss, ZZ Top, Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Saxon, Gary Moore and his personal favourites at the time, Magnum. It wasn’t long before they began to introduce some of his self penned tunes into the set. SANCTION recorded a two song demo of Pete’s early tunes; Fade Away and Another Lonely Night on an old Tascam 4 track cassette recorder.
After SANCTION disbanded Pete joined Wiltshire based CHEROKEE. Initially they included ex – members of NWOBHM act TOKYO BLADE and toured with the likes of TIGERTAILZ. This enabled Pete to play larger venues and gain valuable experience in front of larger crowds.
The set was comprised of more self penned tunes than covers and saw the quality of material vastly improving. CHEROKEE, although only short lived created a buzz both in the live arena and as a result of a 3 song demo recorded on 8 track. MARK ASHTON, then of BOULEVARD Fanzine (now head honcho at Now & Then Records) reviewed the tape in 1989 and his comments included; “the bands strengths include the Strong vocals of Pete Billy (the stage name he went under at the time) and the wonderfully melodic guitar work”; “Neat guitar licks and strong harmony vocals help to power the songs along” and “they have the talent to make it.”
Unfortunately due to lack of commitment from some of the band members this wasn’t to be. Pete did some session work for various acts including KERRANG favourites “IRON HEART” and recorded his first solo demo entitled “FORCE TEN HURRICANE” before forming SARAJEVO with the rhythm section from CHEROKEE.
During this climate image was (so it seemed) almost as crucial as the songs bands produced, so SARAJEVO set about putting together the “whole package”. Image, stage show and song writing were all meticulously scrutinised prior to unleashing themselves on the public.
A new song “NEVER TOO LATE FOR LOVE” was recorded and released to radio prior to going out on the road. An extensive tour was organized “THE REMEMBRANCE TOUR” to coincide with the exposure received through airplay. SARAJEVO created for themselves a ready made audience and over the next 5 years toured the four corners of the U.K. supporting the likes of Ian Hunter (Ex- Mott The Hoople), Dr Feelgood and The Almighty. From the smallest toilet to the 10 – 15 thousand open air “BULLDOG BASH” festival in 1991.During this time they recorded their debut C.D. “TOMORROW IN THE HANDS OF YESTERDAYS’ MAN”.“RAW” (Rock & Metal) magazine reviewed the disc in November 1993 saying “Sarajevo specializes in melodic rock, taking their cue from Poison, Bon Jovi, Queen and Europe. Strong vocals and uncluttered arrangements make for intriguing listening.”SARAJEVO were being regularly played on U.K. Radio 1’s Friday Rock Show, were included on B.B.C.2’s program “40 Minutes” and were building their own steady fan club base. They released a live video entitled “LIVE IN THE HANDS OF THE GODS” and recorded a promo video for the self titled lead off track from the new album, “SARAJEVO”. They toured using Europe (the band’s) sound and stage crew and were invited to play in Scandinavia and the U.S. supporting Ace Frehley (Kiss guitarist). They even began to have American College Radio start to play tracks from the new album.All this was as done without the backing of a major record label and was entirely self financed.Then the Seattle scene stopped the Melodic Rock scene dead in its tracks.
Pete took time out before resurfacing again in 2000 with his debut solo C.D. “CAN’T DO RIGHT FOR DOING WRONG.” This was his first entirely solo outing, playing all the instruments as well as supplying the vocals.Initially this was only recorded for his own pleasure and wasn’t intended for release, just really to prove to himself that he was capable of making an album for himself entirely from scratch. It was recorded in his home studio and released on his own label “SPITFIREWOLF RECORDS”. Listening back some of the recording and playing was a bit raw but the tunes carried on in a similar vein to where he’d left off from when in SARAJEVO (hardly surprising as he was the principle songwriter) and it’s still an achievement he’s fiercely proud of.January 2002 saw the follow up “ETERNAL PURSUIT” being completed. Again entirely recorded at his home studio and this time possessing a tighter, more cohesive sound. Both the recording and playing were to a far higher standard. This was assisted by being more familiar with the whole recording and engineering process as well as becoming more proficient in his playing.Due to untimely family bereavements, Pete wasn’t able to commit time to promoting this disc so largely it went by unnoticed.2005 finally sees the release of his latest effort “KARMA’S GONNA GET YOU”. Once again it continues in the similar vein incorporating anthemic melodious heavy rock, occasional flamenco influences and lots of layered up harmony backing vocals.Powerplay - U.K. Rock & Metal Magazine “Pete Lacey’s style owes a lot to that certain mid 80’s mindset. The music is melody rich with a bit of blues and a touch or two of pomp augmenting the general Hard Rock output. A set up that produces harmonies and hooks to produce a tasteful sound that is large in scope. Pete’s influences are wide ranging, but I think chief among them is the gentle string style of Mr E Clapton. My favourite track “If You Can’t Find Love” uses a cool Spanish guitar that melts easily over the ears; it is beautiful of tone even if the lyrics have a bitter twist to them. I like this album, and for charity or not I would happily buy this, and I suggest you do likewise.” 7/10Fireworks – U.K. Melodic Rock Magazine“Given the lack of funds and big label budget, I have to admit to being pretty impressed with this effort. If your favoured blend of melodic rock is Bon Jovi/Johnny Lima,but with more of an AOR angle, then you will lap this up.”Pete’s voice on “If You Can’t Find Love” is more Joe Elliot at times.One thing that can't be faulted is the immediate appeal of the music, with intelligent and interesting arrangements, wonderfully melodic guitar lines, and hooks that worm their way into your subconscious.If somebody was to invest just a bit of money into Pete, there could be an excellent UK melodic rock album in the offing.”
Strutter - German Webzine “Classy 80’s melodic rock with hooks & choruses to sing along to,very impressive. Pete has done a great job making a CD that sounds like the old UK AOR/Melodic Rock sound of bands like WALK THE WIRE, PEROUX, FM, SHY, AIRRACE.” 8.3/10
BrightEyes.de - German Website “Songs with hints of 24k, White Lion, and John Cougar Mellencamp, smooth ironed AOR. Look further and find touches of Phil Naro, Styx, Neil Young, perhaps a little Magnum & even Scorpions & Accept. The Brit has genuine hits and comes from the old school which never seems to become extinct….God praise.” 10/13
MetalReviews.com – USA WebsitePete Lacey is essentially an “iron man” one man band, playing well written melodic hard rock. The music is very reminiscent of 1980’s style melodic rock, with bands such as Dokken and Bonfire being the two that come to mind quickest while listening to this album. Karma’s Gonna Get You features all the classic melodic hooks, harmony vocals, and classy guitar solos that you would expect from a quality release in this genre. The guitar tone features a distinctly 80’s vibe to it, something that will appeal to fans of classic melodic hard rock. Throughout the album, I heard numerous riffs and solos that caught my attention. In addition to singing and writing the songs, it’s quite evident that Pete is a talented guitarist as well. Of course, as you would expect with such a release, each of the songs is built around a central melodic line, giving each of the songs their own instantly recognizable identity. There is sporadic use of the keyboards throughout the album, used to drive home the melodies in selected songs; the opening track, Leaving Tonight and the ballad Eternity Begins Tonight feature the most prominent keyboard lines. Despite the fact that Pete is essentially a one man band, he has managed to create some thick harmony vocal lines via the use of guest musicians and presumably production techniques. At any rate, the sound quality is such that you never guess this band to be a one man machine. Furthermore, the album features a nice balance between up tempo rockers, mid tempo songs, and a couple of ballads.. The mistake of including “filler” material has been avoided on this album. Again, that is a testament to the songwriting ability of Pete Lacey. Each song on this album is able is memorable, making it quite easy to listen to this album multiple times.
Rock United – FinlandWebsite “No frills melodic hard rock along the lines of early Firehouse, Def Leppard or Bon Jovi. I think the strongest point of the album is the songwriting – some of these songs are quite good melodic rock tracks, check out “Release My Heart” or “Into The Fire for instance.”
SleazeRoxx - USA Website “ “Release My Heart” reminds me of T.N.T. with huge vocal harmonies while the majestic “Into The Fire” has some Dokken moments and great guitar work.”
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