Manowar's Unofficial Founding Member
Throughout the 1960s, thousands of people clamored for the status of "the
unofficial founding member" of the Beatles. There is only one band, however, who embodies that
rank with the Kings of Metal, Manowar. John "Dawk" Stillwell, not only played an integral role
in bringing the band together, he is also responsible for helping the legendary act achieve
distinction as the loudest musicians ever. In recent years, he has worked almost exclusively
with Manowar, repairing and improving their equipment as they prepare for each metallic
onslaught.
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"Little did I know that I would be instrumental in creating music history when I asked then
future Manowar bassist and founding member Joey DeMaio to work with me on Black Sabbath's
Heaven and Hell tour," recalls Dawk. "It was 1980 and Ronnie James Dio, who had recently left
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, had accepted the daunting challenge of replacing Ozzy Osbourne in
Black Sabbath.
"Opening shows for the metal pioneers was Shakin' Street, a French band that featured New York
City punk icon Ross the Boss on lead guitar. It was during an early date on the tour that Dio
introduced Joey and Ross. The duo bonded after discovering that they shared a dream: to play
the loudest, heaviest, and craziest music ever created. And backstage at Newcastle City Hall in
England, while Black Sabbath were on stage, Joey and Ross jammed and realized that their immense
talents complimented each other's style. Their fate was sealed. Manowar was born.
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"When the tour concluded, Joey and Ross set out to piece together a formidable line-up while
collaborating on material. Not only would I begin an incredible friendship with Manowar, but
I would also begin an amazing journey, building equipment that I had once only dreamed about.
For the first time in my career, I was given free reign to design any and everything from the
ground up. The years worth of ideas that I had jotted down and stored away were now coming to
fruition. One of these realized ideas, the All-Tube MK3 Pre-Amp, remains the only such piece
of equipment capable of capturing Joey's trademark sound.
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"Although Manowar is the loudest band in the world and Joey DeMaio is the loudest musician ever
[a feat that was documented during a 1994 Hanover, Germany performance] its sound remains clear
and audible. From the beginning, it was important for the band to have the best amplifiers
available. So I was given the freedom to make any modifications to any piece of the band's
equipment.
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"The reason why Manowar has always played with such clarity despite being so loud is that its
amplifiers have an incredible amount of both headroom and frequency response. Listening to
Manowar is like listening to a symphony orchestra. What is frustrating about the band,
however, is that until recently, it was often difficult to capture the band's bold and
majestic sound on record. It simply overloaded analog tape. It was not until digital recording
became available that band's true sound was captured [hence the reason for remixing and
remastering early recordings].
"Because a picture tells a thousand words I invite you to look at a picture of Joey DeMaio's awesome recording
rig to see what I have been able to accomplish since forging a friendship with
the reigning Kings of Metal."
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