ENTREVISTA EXCLUSIVA DO SUB COM TOBIAS SAMMET INTERVIEW WITH TOBIAS SAMMET BY SAVAGE UNION BRAZIL *** All rights reserved to Savage Union Brazil Todos os direitos reservados ao Savage Union Brazil Do not copy, distribute nor reproduce the contents of this interview without our permission É proibido copiar, distribuir ou reproduzir o conteúdo desta entrevista sem a permissão da administração do SUB *** Introduction Edguy & Avantasia’s Official Brazilian Fan Club – SAVAGE UNION BRAZIL (SUB) – is the Brazilian branch of the SAVAGE UNION and was founded back in 2003 by Adriana Latorre in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Since then, we have been actively promoting our two favorite bands, EDGUY and AVANTASIA, in Brazil. So much has happened in the last decade! EDGUY has come a long way; its reputation has crossed borders as one of the leading bands in its genre. EDGUY is an undeniable reference in heavy metal and we, as long time fans of this amazing band, are very proud to have witnessed this force rising among the others. “Space Police – Defenders of the Crown”, EDGUY’s tenth studio album, has achieved the highest chart entry in Germany to date!! This is a HUGE accomplishment for a metal band! To celebrate this, SAVAGE UNION BRAZIL brings to you an exclusive interview with EDGUY’s frontman Tobias Sammet. Enjoy! SUB Admins: Sabine & Sandra SUB: You recently joined GAMMA RAY as a guest on a concert in Aschaffenburg [Germany]. Which of the four songs [“Heaven Can Wait”, “I Want Out”, “Rebellion in Dreamland” and “Send Me a Sign”] did you enjoy the most singing that night? Did you know the lyrics beforehand or did you have to memorize them shortly before the concert? Tobi: I really enjoyed it as they‘re my friends. I‘ve known them for many years and when I got the call and heard that Kai was ill and needed some help for the show, I immediately agreed. It was only an hour drive, so I went there and did it. I enjoyed Heaven Can Wait the most because it is probably the first song I ever heard of Gamma Ray. I knew the lyrics without reading them as I had sung that song before, when I did a charity gig with Uli Jon Roth and Kai. I love Gamma Ray and it was out of question to help em out. SUB: EDGUY is knowingly a tongue-in-cheek band, but everybody quickly realized that “Space Police - Defenders of the Crown“ is a lot more than just a “comical album”. Quality doesn’t have to be portrayed as “serious”. Music is made of soul, not patterns. You are constantly showing this to your fans. Now, for the question: Do you think rock/heavy metal has put its soul aside to follow conventions and overall expectations [or record deals’ demands]? Tobi: Tobi: Well, I don‘t know if it has changed as I do not really know what it’s been like 35 years ago and if it has been different. Now every opinion gets much more exposure because of the internet and readers‘ letters in magazines and all that. All I can say is how I perceive things: As a young musician I wanted to become a Metal musician because I loved that kind of music and I loved how Rock musicians were able to live the lives they wanted to live without following rules, smashing guitars on stage, behaving like beatniks and just refusing to behave like what other people expected. My favorite musicians were dressing like women as Twisted Sister did, or showed their naked ass dressed up as a schoolboy as Angus Young did or they just behaved like Bugs Bunny, as David Lee Roth did. They were cartoons, behaved like teenage outlaws and played the best music in the world. That was tempting to me. All I know is that expectations from some people are a bit different nowadays: People want you to dress a certain way, sing a certain way, play a certain way, talk a certain way. Sometimes it‘s hard to ignore that, but we always managed to do so. Thank god. I don‘t wanna imagine Angus Young sitting backstage thinking: “I will go on stage in leather clothes, a school boy‘s uniform is childish.“ I love Angus Young because he is honest and does what he thinks has to be done. Period. I trust him, that‘s what makes him an artist. And a cool one... SUB: You performed the song “Love Tyger“ at a boxing match in Berlin last month. The performance was broadcasted live by ARD and the international fans were able to watch it by streaming video online. How did this opportunity present to you? Is Arthur Abraham a fan? Are YOU a boxing fan? Tobi: I don‘t think he‘s a fan, neither have I been a real boxing maniac, although I have a lot of respect for their discipline and the skills. The chance was just presented to us by the management of the boxing promoters. They wanted us and we saw a good chance to expose ourselves and our great new album to 5 million people. A great reason to do it. SUB: Four songs of the last album “Age of the Joker” were left out of the set last time you came to Brazil [“The Arcane’s Guild”, “Pandora’s Box”, “Rock of Cashel”, “Behind the Gates to Midnight World” – N/A: in the occasion, EDGUY was the opening act for SLASH and the set had to be reduced]. Would you consider playing an extra-song in Brazil to perhaps include one of these songs? Tobi: We will do a great setlist in Brazil. We always pick the songs we play very carefully but we also have to take the length of the setlist into consideration. You have a lot of old songs you need to play, nobody wants to go home without Tears Of A Mandrake, Lavatory Love Machine, King Of Fools, Vain Glory Opera etc. So you have to include those and also - with a strong album such as Space Police in your suitcase, you have to include some new tracks as well. I have no clue what the setlist is going to be like, but we‘ll pick each song carefully and come up with what we think is going to be the best setlist possible. SUB: “Rock me Amadeus” is probably the most unpredictable cover one could ever expect from EDGUY. Not only did you have to rap, but also emulate Falcos accent. Also, you never had a German song in an album before [N/A.: although “Das Reh” is sung in German, it was released in a demo not an album]. What do you think of writing songs in German for the future? Tobi: Nothing. The language is good to be talked, but I hate singing in German. Rock Me Amadeus was a cover version and it‘s such a weird way to sing, that I don‘t even perceive it as singing in German. It‘s just making noises like Falco and I really enjoyed it, but I wanna keep on writing in English. The majority of our fans doesn‘t speak German by the way. SUB: The progressive version of the song “Space Police” has a very funny vocal line on the second part. What is it about? Tobi: It is a parody of 80s American Metal, don‘t wanna name bands, but you know. Those bands were the singers were barking and using a lot of vibrato, very operatic and very over-performed. SUB: Many people spend most of their time on the Internet nowadays. People’s lives seem to be everybody’s business. Famous or not, most people seem to have to be connected all the time and available 24x7. How does this interaction affect you, both from a personal and a professional level? Tobi: I don‘t share my private life on internet. I may tweet something about football, but my private life is my own business, so it doesn‘t really affect me, what other people do. Sometimes I scratch my head over people sharing everything with their 41875 best friends; and their best friends. I am a public person in a way, so sometimes I tweet stuff that goes directly to my Facebook page as well. Social media is pretty much a lot of people talking and only very few people listening. On a professional level I spent too much time in front of a computer, but I run my own business. It‘s very romantic to believe that musicians get drunk and write songs till seven in the morning. The truth is, you spend a lot of time in front of your computer to turn down stupid ideas of questionable music industry people. And sometimes you get drunk and write songs till seven in the morning... SUB: Savage Union Argentina has started a petition to include the song “All the Clowns” on the set of the next tour. We support this campaign and believe that this song deserves to be played live someday, as it was EDGUY’s first official video and, thus, a mark in the band’s career. Is there any possibility to play this song in Latin America, by request of the fans? Tobi: Well, we‘ll see. As I said, we‘ll think about the setlist, but it is quite difficult to come up with a setlist that everybody is happy with. So, at first, we should make me happy, that‘s why I decide, haha! Seriously, we‘ll see to find the best possible compromise and make as many people as possible happy. SUB: Why will the tour to promote the new album start only 5 months after its release? Why such a gap this time? Tobi: Because it doesn‘t make sense to do a tour in June, July or August, when everyone is in football mode following the championship and going to festivals. European summer time means festival time, people don‘t wanna see indoor shows. That‘s why we said, let‘s release the album, then get ready and go out in September By that time, people know the lyrics of the songs as well by the way. SUB: Who came up with the idea of making a cartoon video out of Love Tyger? Are you pleased with the result? Tobi: It was my idea, but I think Jens had a similar idea. It could have had quicker movement, but I really like the drawing style. I am pretty happy with, at least I can say I like it much more than performing in a real video. How many more times can we stand in an old factory hall banging our heads? Quite silly, so I prefer the cartoon video I like the story, the style, the idea. SUB: “England” is a humorous tribute to the Brits and, more specifically, to Steve Harris. Despite being a bonus track, it’s got more attention than other regular tracks in the album. Did you expect it to be so successful among the fans and critics? Tobi: You never know, but on the other hand, if you call a song literally STEVE HARRIS, of course it gets attention. I think it‘s one of the smartest lyrics I have ever written, they are a tribute to England, very lovely but at the same time very mean, at least the football and snow globe bit, and mentioning the extremely slow Diesel trains. Anyway, I really love England and its culture and history and tradition and it was a matter of heart affair to write this song. I wouldn‘t have done this for every artist, but the truth is that Iron Maiden and Steve wrote history, to me they are the most important Heavy Metal Band of all time, so it was the right topic to write about. And on top of it I knew Steve wouldn‘t be pissed off, he‘s a favourer of Edguy and likes us, and understands our kind of humour, so I think it was alright. But it wasn‘t meant to get us fan attention, it was the last track I wrote for the album. SUB: Who will win the 2014 World Cup? What’s your guess? Tobi: Could be Brazil, Netherlands or Germany. In any case, it would be partially Bayern Munich winning, so I am alright with either of them. SUB: You met your savage fans twice before during Meet & Greet events that were exclusive and costless to Savage Union Brazil’s members. In both occasions, you were very kind and approachable, fulfilling your fans’ dreams of having an album signed or a picture taken with their idol. What do you think of musicians who charge their fans for personal encounters? Tobi: I don‘t wanna judge what others do. You know, I‘ve had many occasions when we couldn‘t do meet-and-greets because there were simply too many people who wanted to come. You can‘t go meet 200 fans if you wanna focus on a show. So, if some bands say, we limit it to a certain amount of fans who can purchase a ticket, it may not sound nice, but it may be the only way for a Rock dinosaur to make it work and keep it organized. Personally I wouldn‘t spend a 1000 Dollars to meet a musician, that‘s what I can say for sure. SUB: Thanks for granting us this interview, Tobi. Were looking forward to seeing you again in Brazil! Would you like to leave a message to the Brazilian fans? Tobi: You have always been very nice to us, so I wanna thank you all. I am looking forward to be coming back to South America!!! I hope to see you all later this year! *** Savage Union Brazil wants to thank Marion Haupt [Savage Union president] and AC [Edguy and Avantasia’s manager] for their friendship and good will. God bless you! *** SAVAGE UNITED WE STAND! ***
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 12:47:21 +0000