SONISPHERE SPECIAL: ON TRACK - CARCASS ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

Carcass will play Sonisphere's Saturn stage on Saturday, July 5, below headliners Slayer. The hugely influential extreme metallers, originally active from the mid-eighties, bowed out of a scene they had dominated a decade later, leaving behind a body of work including the debut album Reek of Putrefaction and the stunning Heartwork delivery. Much to the delight of fans, the British band are now back in play and in 2013 delivered the new album Surgical Steel. Guitarist Bill Steer tackled the On Track questions...   The song that first awakened your musical senses Difficult one...There are so many I could mention.  Let's say 'Whatever You Want' by Status Quo Physical or digital - how do you take your music? Physical.  Analogue.  Vinyl. Your best on stage memory Any gig where I haven't committed any severe musical gaffes...that should narrow it down a bit And the worst gig you've ever done There are several gigs competing for this award, but the absolute worst would have to be the first time that Carcass played Forte Prenestino in Rome during the summer of 1990. Some of the audience spat on Michael, stole his guitar and tried to smash it, then did their best to drag him and Jeff off the stage so that they could batter the pair of them. We played for less than 10 minutes before Jeff and Mike escaped over a high fence at the back of the stage.  Afterwards, as we drove away in our van, a mob of people waited for us wielding bottles and knives. Good days. What made you take up the guitar The guitar just appealed to me.  To a young kid, it looked like fun.  Hearing the music of Motorhead, Saxon and co definitely spurred me on, as did watching clips of players like Alvin Lee, Jimi Hendrix and Rory Gallagher on TV. Which one song by another artist do you wish you'd have written That's a tricky one, as it's almost like saying you wish you were someone else.  But there are countless tunes I can think of that are beautifully written and that make one a little envious of their creators. The first one that springs to mind would be 'Theme for Imaginary Western' by Jack Bruce And one - by yourself - which holds special significance I wouldn't describe my role in Carcass as a songwriter.  I bring in riffs and musical sections that we all work in and arrange together. And the other vital component of our songs would be Jeff's lyrics.  On the latest album, the track I like best is 'Mount of Execution', mainly because musically that was quite an achievement for us - it's our longest song to date and contains elements that can't be found in any of our previous recordings If you could step into the shoes of another musician, living or dead, who would it be and what would you do? This is a near-impossible one to answer as I wouldn't wish to be anyone else.  It's hard enough trying to be yourself, never mind getting into the brain of another Are there any current musical influences that you might look to Not really.  The stuff that inspires our band tends to be music of the past.  I like old Hard Rock and early Heavy Metal (mostly '70s-'80s), blues, soul...but not much in the way of contemporary music And any genre of music that you simply can't stand? Hmm...There's probably a couple at least.  Stoner rock, contemporary R&B...? Give the chance, whose set would you most like to catch over the Sonisphere weekend? That's easy, Iron Maiden What can we expect from your Sonisphere set? Four adult British males of varying ages playing riffs on distorted electric guitars tuned to low B, vocalising in an aggressive manner and indulging in hectic double bass drumming.   Follow Carcass on Twitter: @carcassband For Sonisphere tickets and latest news visit www.sonisphere.co.uk