"Lizzy will always be a part of us"

You're playing 16 shows on this tour. Is it important to you to get out and play to as many people in as many places as possible?

It is very important to us. In the old days we played every single nook and cranny around England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland and I think we`d die now if we played as much as we did back then but I do think it`s really important to play as many places as possible. You can't play just 3 or 4 shows and expect everybody to come to you. It's our responsibility to go out to the audience and play. It`s the way we planned it and I`m looking forward to playing so many shows.

You've played Newcastle many times over the years. What does a show on Tyneside mean to you?

Playing Newcastle City Hall back then was like an annual event for us. We came nearly every single year for 10 or 11 years. It was a no brainer for us. We always wanted to come and play at the Newcastle City Hall. Newcastle is a real rock city and one that you can't afford to leave out. The fans are so into their rock music so why wouldn't you want to play in Newcastle? A band must be mad to not play in Newcastle.

You have a new album out, Heavy Fire. How many songs from that album are included your shows?

We might do five or six from the new album across the tour, but not necessarily all in one night but we'll play a fair few over the course of the tour. We'll see which ones work live and which ones don`t but we are all looking forward to playing these songs live.

With your long standing membership of Thin Lizzy, you've always played a fair few songs in your set. Do you intend to put more Black Star Riders songs into the set and gradually drop the Lizzy songs as you release more albums or will there always be a place for a few Lizzy songs?

There`s always a place for a few Thin Lizzy songs in the set. There's a fair few favourites in that catalogue and we really enjoy playing those but so much of our energy is going into Black Star Riders that we also need to be focussing on those songs. The set will mainly be the BSR stuff with a couple of Lizzy songs for good measure. We'll draw up a list of 6 or 7 Thin Lizzy songs and play different songs each night.

Will there be a spot for Renegade in your show?

Jimmy DeGrasso, our drummer, really loves that song. He's always asking if we can play that and I've always refused. I told him that we never played it live on stage and he said, “yes you did” and I was “no, no, we never did it”. He immediately went to You Tube and played it for me and made me eat my words. So you never know.

Your new album, Heavy Fire is out in has just been released. Are you excited now that it`s out?

I think what is amazing is that we`ve been able to do three albums already. After we did the first one we wondered if we`d ever be able to do a second one and we did and now where here talking about the third one which we are all very excited about. We are going back to the old ways of not waiting too long between releasing albums like we did in the `70`s.

Do you feel that you are now 3 albums into your career that you are finding your own identity as a band that's not so closely associated with Thin Lizzy as when you put your first album out?

With the first album we were all fresh off the Thin Lizzy tour and we'd been doing it for years so to be able to come off that playing style it was a tough thing to do so there was always going to be some sort of bleed over from Thin Lizzy. We couldn't change our style straight off the bat. We had to grow into this new style gradually over a period of time. It's been a gradual thing but we are now creating our own separate style and identity to what we had as Thin Lizzy.

The first song Heavy Fire see the band at its heaviest and most aggressive, yet retains that melodic element that`s so important. This will be a great opener for your show. Is that the plan to have a big bombastic number to get things off to an explosive start?

You got it in one. You need to grab people straight off the bat and open up with your heavy guns.

Ticket To Rise sees you breaking new ground. Is that a Gospel choir providing the backing vocals?

I've heard that from people a lot. The riff is one of Damon Johnson`s and as soon as I heard it I knew it had to be on the album. Nick, our producer wasn`t sure if it should be on there but I lobbied to death for it to be on the album. I think I've been proven right. Nick actually suggested the background singers which I think worked really well and they have given the song this great Gospel backing.

You worked again with Nick Raskulinecz. What does he bring to the Black Star Riders sound?

He`s a musician himself. The first album we did we tended to bring some of our own stuff with us so we`d feel comfortable. When we got to his studio he`s probably got maybe 20-25 amps there and he knows exactly how to dial them in to get just the right sound. When we did the second album we left all our stuff at home and used his. He has a great guitar collection that we used. He`s the kind of guy that can listen to a track for the first time and immediately get a production idea. He always has an idea for an arrangement or a timing for every song that we do. It`s like having a safety net working with Nick.

There's 10 songs on the regular edition and the album lasts around 40 minutes. Was your intention to put out something that was punchy like an old vinyl record?

I`m glad you said that as that was kind of the idea. You don`t want to bludgeon people to death by putting over 15 songs on the album. We had 20 songs and it got whittled down to 14 which we recorded and 10 made the regular album with a bonus track on the deluxe version.

You’re doing a pre-sale for the album through Pledgemusic. Why did you decide to do that when you have the backing of a record label?

That`s what I wondered at first. What we are actually trying to do is offer something personal for our fans and give the fans the chance to buy a couple of our guitars and other equipment and offer signed stuff too. We weren't going to ask extravagant prices for anything as that`d just be unfair. It`s something else to do to get closer to the band so we just wanted to offer the fans something just a little different.

People can get to play with the band for £250. Have you had many takers yet?

That seems to have been quite popular. I'm looking forward to getting up on stage during sound check to see their take on a couple of our songs.

You're primarily a live act. Have you had any thoughts about putting out a live album at some point?

It's something we haven`t really discussed yet but I`m sure we have a live album in us somewhere as we can reproduce these songs live on stage rather well like we did with Thin Lizzy. That`s a good idea and it`s really easy to do these days so we may well just do that. We'll have to give you an executive producer credit for that idea!

Talking of Thin Lizzy. From time to time you do play occasional shows as Thin Lizzy and in the summer you were at the Ramblin’ Man Festival. How was that?

It's always a pleasure to play Thin Lizzy songs and a Thin Lizzy set and there`s always plenty of musicians who want to get up and play with us. It`s great seeing people`s faces when we play those songs. I have lived with those songs for a major part of my life and it is something I am so grateful for and I hope I never lose my love for Thin Lizzy and the guys who have played with us.

Is the plan now to focus on the Black Star Riders but occasionally play as Thin Lizzy on special occasions?

We're concentrating on Black Star Riders now. We`re not ending Thin Lizzy and we will play more shows in the future but we won`t be doing six-month tours any more just occasional shows. For now Black Star Riders is our priority.

It's been a while since we had any Lizzy material and last time we talked there was mention of a boxed set containing demos, live shows and unreleased songs. Is that still in the pipeline?

When that was first mentioned someone had said they'd found 700 old Thin Lizzy songs on cassette in a box. I thought, 700?? The Beatles didn`t even write that many. It turned out it was closer to 70 unreleased bits of material including rehearsal tapes and out takes. There are a few that are finished Thin Lizzy tracks that have never been released. A box set is planned and the label has been talking to us about it. There's no release date but we hope to be able to confirm something soon.

Is 2017 going to be a year dedicated to touring or do you have some other plans too?

We have a new album out so we`re pretty much playing anywhere and everywhere so we`ll be on the road for most of the year and we can`t wait to get started.

• Black Star Riders play at the O2 Academy, Newcastle, on Friday, March 10, with the Backyard Babies and Gun in support.