Rock band, Trespass, formed in Sudbury in 1979, call for venues to support young musicians amid ‘worrying trend’ of tribute acts
A rock band is celebrating the release of its latest album – 45 years after they were first formed - and calling for venues to support young musicians.
Trespass, a heavy metal four-piece, has released Wolf At The Door, which is already proving a hit.
The band was formed originally by brothers Mike and Paul Sutcliffe in 1979.
They performed their first gig at Sudbury Upper School.
After breaking up in the 1980s, the band was reborn in 2014, going on to tour Europe and Japan.
Wolf At The Door is their third album since then and features artwork by Mark Wilkinson, who produced covers for top bands such as Marillion and Iron Maiden.
“It’s great to release the album and also that we are still going,” said Mark, 66, from Bildeston.
“The line-up has changed a few times but we still have a reasonable fan base all over the world, including Australia, America and Japan.
“It’s quite difficult for older bands these days because we had our heyday in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.
”Fortunately, heavy rock seems to have endured.”
Trespass will play their latest gig at The Steamboat Tavern in Ipswich on March 29.
The gig has prompted Mark to call for more venues to help promote original artists after noticing a ‘worrying trend’ in tribute acts.
“I’ve done tribute work myself so I am not criticising anyone; we all have to earn a shilling,” he said.
“It’s just so many venues these days feature exclusively tribute acts, meaning that original acts don’t get a chance.
“It’s more for the younger bands that I worry, because performing live is so formative.
“It’s not until you play in front of people that you get a feel for what moves them.
“It seems to me there is a lack of venues for original bands and it’s not really a fair playing field.
“It would be great even if venues used the resources they get from tribute acts and then had original bands as support acts.
“It’s becoming harder and harder for original bands, of all ages, to play live.”