An Interview with
'Marcus Wrench'
Bassist of Bang Bang Firecracker
that took place on Tuesday 27th May, 2025
who play Mountains Of Metal on July 5th @ Network, Sheffield.
Interviewed by Glenn Milligan.
Glenn: Tell us all about how your band came to be and what roles you all have?
Marcus: We are a 3 piece consisting of Kieron Berry (Ki) (Lead Vocals and Guitar), Bobby Ansell (Drums) & Marcus Wrench (Bass and Backing Vocals).
Ki phoned me (Marcus) if I would be interested in playing bass on his solo album (Welcome To The Slaughterhouse), he recruited 2 dep drummers to lay down the drum tracks and WTTS was written.
Cut a long story short he was talked into forming a band to perform the songs he had written by the mighty Chris Holmes, former lead guitar player of W.A.S.P whilst on a U.K tour with him. Marcus was recruited on bass and after auditioning multiple 2nd guitar players and drummers we found Bobby Ansell to be the one to play drums, we also decided to go out as a trio and lose the 2nd guitar player.
Glenn: Where did your name initially come from?
Marcus: The name Bang Bang Firecracker was formed by an ingredient description of a hot chicken sandwich from a local bakery, during a break from a recording session.
Glenn: Who would you say have been your main inspirations and influences and why either individually or as a band unit?
Marcus: Our musical genre started out as NWOBHM, influenced by Motorhead, The Almighty, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Anthrax and many more of that era. Not sure if we are still classed as this but that`s what were classed as.
Glenn: How would you describe your band to somebody who had never heard you before that will be seeing you live on Saturday July 5th?
Marcus: Basically hard hitting ear splitting Rock 'n' fkn' Roll played with brutal energy.
With regard to our music writing, basically Ki will demo an idea and record a demo of the guitar riffs in the form of a song, recorded with a drum backing track. It`s then presented in rehearsal where we all bash out ideas etc, recorded on phone until we are all happy with the product and the lyrics are suitable to the music.
Glenn: What songs are you most proud of that you have released so far and for what reasons?
Marcus: We are proud of all our songs, we also like to sneak the new songs in the set before they`re recorded, just to get a feel for audience reactions.
Glenn: What would you say have been the most stand-out moments/highlights in the bands career so far and why?
Marcus: We have had the pleasure of opening the main stage for Yngwie Malmsteen at HRH, we also have played a few festivals in the past couple of years, HRH Sleaze, Savfest, Call Of The Wild, Dementia Aware, we are also fortunate to be asked back to play venues around the U.K on a regular basis.
Glenn: What have been the funniest, most Spinal Tap moments in the band?
Marcus: The odd equipment failure (Marcus forgets to plug his bass in), Bobby breaks other bands drums, verses sung twice etc, the live music gremlins that happen to every band lol.
Glenn: What revs you up and gets you going before getting on stage?
Marcus: An up for it audience is the best rev up for ourselves and any band.
Glenn: What would you most like to fulfil as a band when it comes to the bucket list?
Marcus: It would be great to go on tour with a mainstream popular band maybe one of the above mentioned.
Glenn: What does it mean to you to play the 'Mountains of Metal' All-Dayer alongside the other bands on the bill?
Marcus: It`s an honour to be asked to play Mountains Of Metal, BBF do love a festival and they`re always for a good cause.
Glenn: What special message do you have to the folk who are coming to the show?
Marcus: Our message will always be you are the ones keeping live music alive and we`ll do our best to entertain you.
Regards,
Ki, Bobby and Marcus - BBF
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