Originally started in 2017 as a Facebook mustering point for people of a like mind to trade links and info about their fave new up-and-coming rock bands, The New Wave of Classic Rock Facebook group now numbers over twenty thousand members, with the NWOCR acronym now even recognised on top music sites worldwide as a rock genre in it’s own right. The group launches it’s first double-CD survey of the movement, The Official New Wave Of Classic Rock – Volume 1, through RPM in July and so we here at Sentinel Daily thought it might be fun to catch up with some of our favourite bands from this corner of the rock and metal world, to see what they think of the NWOCR; and who better to kick off the series than Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons?

Welcome! For the benefit of our readers please identify yourself and your role in the band! “Hello, my name is Tyla Campbell and I’m the bassist and occasional tour manager for the band”.

The band formed before the whole ‘New Wave of Classic Rock’ phenomena kicked off, and already had a ‘ready made’ fanbase to a certain extent – but did you find that it assisted the band to perhaps become more widely known when you started to become associated with it? “Yes of course! Obviously when we first started most of our fan base was Motörhead fans but as we’ve gradually progressed as a band; we’ve been seeing more people discover us who have no idea about the Motörhead link and part of that is due to the NWOCR group promoting new bands all the time and we are very grateful for that”.

The movement covers a wide range of musical styles and genres – what does the term ‘classic rock’ mean to you? “I suppose a lot of people just think it’s old school rock from the sixties and seventies and eighties but I think it’s just a style regardless of what era the band are from”.

Indeed. Which I guess is what the ‘NWOCR’ phenomenon is all about! But to stick with the original conceit, if you could have appeared on any classic rock album from the past, what would it be? “Well that’s an interesting question and a tough one too, but I guess I would have to say EaglesHotel California. Obviously the title track is very overplayed on radio et cetera but every other song on that album is flawless and some of the ballads on there are some of the best ever written!”

Agreed! It’s definitely a go-to Sunday Morning album here at Sentinel Daily HQ… Back to the present now: Who would you say were your favourite artists who appear on the The Official New Wave Of Classic Rock – Volume 1 album? “Well, we recently just announced Wolf Jaw as the support act for our November UK tour and they’re a great band! I actually ran into their album The Heart Won’t Listen the other day and it’s a fantastic album, I highly recommend!”

We’ll give it a spin. Obviously it’s hard to talk about anything music industry-related without mentioning COVID – how did the pandemic impact Phil Campbell and The Bastard Sons, and what plans do you have moving forward if and when things return to normal? “Well Unfortunately it was looking like 2020 was going to be our busiest year to date! So most of our festivals have been rescheduled for 2022 but hopefully we can play a few festivals this summer! But luckily we did start writing a new album at the start of 2020 and luckily Todd (guitars) in the band is an amazing producer so we managed to record our album We’re The Bastards at his studio during lockdown. So that’s one good thing that has come out of the pandemic at least”.

Have sites like The New Wave of Classic Rock Facebook page been useful in maintaining momentum for you over the last fourteen months? “Oh yes of course, everyone does a great job there and (group co-founder) Jeremy Wills just doesn’t stop promoting bands on there and that’s great to see! Especially with the way Facebook pages don’t target all your fans now unless you pay for a promoted post, having Facebook groups like NWOCR is very beneficial for all artists”.

Here’s your chance to curate your own stage at Sentinel Daily’s virtual classic rock festival – which five ‘classic’ bands would you select, and why?
“Eagles – Because they are mind blowingly good live!
Fleetwood Mac – Same reason as above.
Steely Dan – Because I’ve never actually seen them and always wanted to.
AC/DC – Because why not?
Guns N’Roses – Also because, why not?
Start off all energy and explosive with GNR and AC/DC before winding down and chilling out with the other three acts”.

An interesting scheduling method! Anything else you’d like to tell the readers of Sentinel Daily? “Just looking forward to seeing as many people possible on our November UK and Irish tour, we can’t wait to get back out and start playing shows again!”

The Official New Wave Of Classic Rock Volume 1 releases on 23rd July.