Over the past few years or so, there have been revivals of several heavy metal subgenres - glam metal (Steel Panther), thrash metal (Municipal Waste), etc. But there have been few bands obviously inspired by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. That has finally changed, with the arrival of Night Demon. Despite possessing a sound a kin to such Brit bands as Diamond Head and Tygers Of Pan Tang, Night Demon (comprised of singer/bassist Jarvis Leatherby, guitarist Brent Woodward, drummer Dusty Squires) hail from the United States of America - Ventura, CA, to be exact.

The trio's latest release is Curse Of The Damned and if you close your peepers and listen to such tunes as the album's title track, 'Satan,' and 'Run for Your Life,' you will be transported directly back to the early '80s. Mr. Leatherby recently chatted with BraveWords correspondent Greg Prato about his band's origins, Flying V basses, and of course, his favorite NWOBHM artists.

BraveWords: How, when, and where did Night Demon form?

Jarvis Leatherby: "This band started as a labor of love for myself, guitarist Brent Woodward, and original drummer Pat Bailey. I was a roadie at the time for Brent's band The Fucking Wrath. We were headed down to Hollywood for a gig one night and started talking about our mutual love for NWOBHM bands. I was shocked to learn that he had known about so many bands that not only I knew, but many that I had never even heard of. At that moment we had decided that we absolutely needed to get together and play some NWOBHM inspired music. Later that week, we recruited our friend Pat Bailey to come and jam with us. Pat had even more knowledge of the NWOBHM scene than us. The chemistry when we played our first note together was magical. I remember looking at these guys and all of us just smiling so big that it was almost uncomfortable because it had felt so good and so natural. For the first time in each of our lives, we were finally playing music and felt like we belonged. We rehearsed 4 times together. During those 4 rehearsals, we wrote the 4 songs that were on the EP. It's almost like they came out as magic. We didn't think about it, we just did it! The 5th time we got together was the recording of the EP that happened on a Friday night in 2011. At that point, Pat moved away to go to college, and Brent and I continued with The Fucking Wrath. He as the guitarist, and myself as the roadie. We never thought to release this EP, or send it out to anyone, because to be completely honest with you, we had no idea that anyone else in the world would even care about three guys from California playing in a band that sounded like early Maiden and Angel Witch! We decided to call the band Night Demon after the song title. It was the first song we wrote and it basically sums up our band. When Pat moved away to go to school, our good friend John Crerar (drummer from The Fucking Wrath), came to us over a year after we recorded the EP and basically told us that the band was too good to not continue. He offered his services and played with us for the first year of our live shows. He was definitely much more of a punk than metal drummer, but his heart was in the right place and we did a lot of really cool things together and really got the Night Demon story going. We felt we needed to get a more solid man behind the kit at this point in the band's career. We wanted to play things that John didn't really understand. Not to discredit him at all, but all he wanted to do was rock out in a band, and that's exactly what he did for us. It was a really special time in the history of the band, and it was really exciting! At this point, we recruited our good friend Dusty Squires. A drum monster who moved to California from Philadelphia to pursue his rock and roll dreams. We found the right guy, and he found the right band. We have been the tightest unit yet, and we really have found the solid lineup before we did too many other things and another album. Dusty is featured on our new record, Curse of the Damned, and he rips!"

BraveWords: I detect an obvious NWOBHM influence on the band's music. Was this intentional?

Jarvis Leatherby: "Yes, absolutely. We have each spent the majority of our lives listening to NWOBHM bands, so it just became natural. I've always thought NWOBHM was the absolute best sub genre of heavy metal. I have always described it as music where power and fury meet melody and the heart. With the genius invention of the Internet, we still find new/old bands everyday. It's a great time be alive!"

BraveWords: Who are your all-time fav NWOBHM bands?

Jarvis Leatherby: "Angel Witch, Diamond Head, Jaguar, Tygers of Pan Tang, Iron Maiden, Dark Star, Satan, Raven, Praying Mantis, Demon, Trespass, AIIZ, and many more. I am also partial to some of the American bands who came from this era, such as The Rods and Riot."

BraveWords: How many recordings does the band have?

Jarvis Leatherby: "We basically have two recordings that have been released. However these recordings have been released in many different formats. Our first E.P. was released in 2012 on 7" vinyl on Reinig Records, and in CD format on Shadow Kingdom Records. These pressings were quickly sold out which led way to this original four song E.P. being released on 12" vinyl from High Roller Records in Germany as an expanded edition featuring 4 bonus tracks - in the form of studio cover versions of Jaguar's 'Axe Crazy,' Diamond Head's 'Lightning to the Nations,' and a couple of live tracks recorded at our first ever gig. Two pressings of this record quickly sold out, as well. The expanded edition is now available on CD and digital download through the bands website. Our debut full-length, Curse Of The Damned, was released in Europe by the legendary SPV/Steamhammer out of Germany on CD and gatefold vinyl. The vinyl also included a CD, but has quickly sold out in just a few months after its pressing. There will be a new color wax with some bonus tracks coming in the fall of 2015. Century Media Records released the album in North America and all other territories. That version is available on digipak CD with a bonus track cover of Riot's 'Road Racin'.' The vinyl version was released on black, orange, and blue vinyl. The blue is now sold out. The rest will be soon as well I imagine. We do have some very high quality demos featuring songs from the full-length LP. We may release those at a later date on a bonus edition, or maybe even on their own."

BraveWords: How the heck did you get the 'Night Demon' video to look/sound so awesomely retro?

 Jarvis Leatherby: "Honestly, the same DIY ethic that I learned growing up in the underground punk and metal scene. We filmed that entire video in a couple hours in our rehearsal room. We used an iPhone and downloaded an old school 8mm video app. It was a bit challenging, because there were only the three of us, and we had to perform, as well. We had to set the phone in all the right places and plan the shots out before we went for it. At that point, we dumped it into a computer and learned just basic editing software as we went along. We are very amateurish in this, but just like anything else that you are passionate about in life...if you have a vision, all you need to do is take that first step and continue on with it no matter what obstacles stand in your way. And trust me, there are many obstacles involved with following your dreams."

BraveWords: How does one locate a Flying V bass?

Jarvis Leatherby: "Countless research and luck! In the past, I have always been fond of the Fender Precision bass. It's a simple workhorse kind of bass that doesn't quit on you. When Brent got a Flying V guitar, there was no way in hell I wasn't gonna get one myself. The fact that we are a front line of two guys and he is left handed and me right, I felt we needed to match in a mirror image sort of way. The result speaks for it self and has become our trademark. We call it 'Wings of Metal.' HAHA! My quest for the perfect Flying V bass for me was difficult one. Most Flying V basses have two pickups and a set neck, or neck through body. Both of these configurations personally never appealed to me in a bass. After a few months I found my first 1981 Vantage Japanese Flying V bass. It was perfect! It had a bolt on neck and a P-bass pickup. Also the scale was slightly shorter than normal, so that helped me a lot with the fast runs up the fretboard. I have since been collecting these basses due to a combination of my love for them and the rarity of finding one. One day I will open the Vantage Flying V museum!"

BraveWords: The band just wrapped up a European tour. How did it go?

Jarvis Leatherby: "Much better than expected. That's saying a lot, because we did have high expectations going into it. We toured Europe for six weeks last year and played some highly respected festivals with some of our influences and heroes, and that went really well. It really got us firmly planted in the scene over there and was a great way to kick things off for the future. This previous tour was a grueling 10-week 54-show run of mostly headlining shows along with the occasional traditional metal festival. It was such a pleasant surprise to do a tour this extensive and not have one bad show! Every single night people showed up with enthusiasm for the band. Most people already knowing the lyrics to the songs on the new album. Some of the crowds in repeat cities we played had quadrupled in size! It has definitely become a second home for us."

BraveWords: How many US tours have the band done, and what is the reaction to the band?

Jarvis Leatherby: "Three to date. We did a west coast run last summer, 44 shows with Raven last fall, and a winter tour early this year with Canadian metallers Skull Fist. The Raven tour was especially a really great experience. Back in the fall of 2013, we had done a few west coast dates with Diamond Head and Raven. We became good acquaintances with the boys in Raven and developed a strong friendship over the coming months. We just so happened to be playing the Pounding Metal Fest in Madrid, Spain the following April, the same night as Raven. Here we were again, reunited and keeping metal alive. After the show, we both found ourselves the last ones backstage and stuck without a ride to the hotel. We waited and waited while sucking back a few beers and just decided that we would tour the entire United States together in the fall and do it completely DIY without the assistance of managers, record companies, or booking agencies. It was a crazy tour and we sure did learn a lot, but here we were fulfilling our heavy metal destiny with some of the guys who started it all. What a dream come true. The audiences in the States have been really great to us. I really think traveling all through Europe, America really gets a bad reputation for not supporting hard rock and heavy metal. I think that really comes from the bigger bands of the eighties. If you were a metal band in the time where that was the number one popular musical genre and you were playing sold out arenas and now have to play theater size venues, you could say something like that. For a band of our size and how early we are in our career, I am very happy with all of the support we have gotten Stateside. There are metal heads in every town - big or small. One of the things that our fans respect about us is that we constantly tour and service our fans by going to their small cities any chance we get. We love and appreciate them and the fact that we have something that makes them happy."

BraveWords: What can fans expect from seeing Night Demon live?

Jarvis Leatherby: "Fans can expect one of the loudest and most raw bands around in the genre today. It's pure passion and adrenaline. One of the things we pride ourselves on is in fact our live show. We bring a decent level of production into small clubs along with lighting; smoke machines, backdrops, Marshall stacks, and even our real life mascot (Rocky)! We are a no excuses kind of band, and the day that we get lazy and don't put everything we have into our performances is the day we will go away. However, I don't see that happening anytime soon."

BraveWords: What are the band's future plans?

Jarvis Leatherby: "We have had a couple weeks off at home after returning from the last European leg. We leave the beginning of May for a two and a half month headlining tour of US and Canada. We will take two months off after that and start writing for the next album. After that, we head to Mexico for a tour, then back to Europe for October and November. It's a 24-hour a day job, and we are in it to win it."