The Home of Metal Open Days were like an ‘Antiques Roadshow’ for Heavy Metal fans, inviting fans to bring their memorabilia and stories and to contribute to the ever-growing Home of Metal Digital Archive, helping build a new collection.

At least 80 volunteers were engaged in the exhibitions and events of Home of Metal.

Working with a team of volunteers to deliver these events, the Open Days informed the exciting series of exhibitions to come. These volunteers were made up of a wide range of people whose interest in the project stems from music, social history, regional pride and more. Capsule have worked closely with a number of volunteers over the past 3-4 years to guide them in their research interests.

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The Open Day at Wolverhampton Art Gallery also featured candid live interview events with two legendary figures in the the world of Heavy Metal:

Jim Simpson in conversation with Johnny Doom

Birmingham-based Big Bear, so called after the nickname given to Simpson by legendary DJ, John Peel, runs one of the oldest independent labels in the UK, specialising in jazz, blues and swing artists, although it has also been successful in other music genres. Jim is the unsung hero of Heavy Metal, he ran the progressive club, Henry’s Blueshouse where he inspired Robert Plant, Jon Bonham, Judas Priest and a plethora of others all of whom came to see the legendary American Blues artists Simpson programmed back in the day. He managed Sabbath for their first three albums, which included the seminal ‘Black Sabbath’ album, then Paranoid and Master of Reality.

Digby Pearson, Earache Records in conversation with Johnny Doom

The label has made its name releasing some of the most brutal albums of the past two decades. Earache has been home to such outfits as the legendary Napalm Death and Godflesh as well as a host of other extreme bands. Earache’s artists have set the standard for cutting-edge, uncompromising music. But just as inspiring is the story of how it came to be. Nowadays, internet wizardry or a truckload of cash can be a band’s best friend, but in the early days, Earache had neither. All it had was one man; founder, patriarch and self-confessed obsessive, Digby ‘Dig’ Pearson.