XXX - Snowy Shaw'z New Glam Slam!
by Martin Popoff

You know Snowy as the white-haired drum monster behind some key King Diamond and Mercyful Fate albums. You might also remember him from an obscure but delectably sinful act he had called Notre Dame (check out a song called 'Vlad The Impaler' from their '99 album Vol 1: Le Theatre Du Vampire - that riff's almost up there with 'Still Of The Night' and 'Metal Church' as grooviest damn thing ever.) In any event, Shaw continues to confound, arriving back on the scene with a hard and weirdly dark "glam" act called XXX. Interesting guy, and rare in this biz, a very creative drummer...

"Everything you see and hear with XXX in the present and in the future is XXX," begins Shaw, "the way we are and how we have created it because that's what we want it to be."

So why pink 'n' black tricked out glam?

"Well, musically and style-wise I have always done exactly what I've wanted to do and I am really thrilled to be doing this glitter/glam rock thing now. I've felt a strong urge bubbling inside me for at least the last ten years to write this kind of music and to further explore my big love and passion for the '70s glam thing that I grew up with and always loved. XXX may have a different approach compared to Notre Dame as you pointed out, but yet with everything I do, basically there is one big common thing... KISS!"

Asked for a bit of a breakdown with respect to who does what within this strange trio, Shaw explains that, "Xhris (or just X - guitars, or "axeman and vox") has been in a few bands but I think the only recording band was a band called Loud 'n' Nasty that he had together with Rob (Nasty - "basstard and vox"). I write all the lyrics and most of the music along with X. The vocal idea for XXX is to have all three of us sing both lead and backing vocals, but if you should pick out one lead singer I guess that's me, since I probably sing more than 80% of the voices you hear on the album."

XXX - Snowy Shaw'z New Glam Slam! Page 2