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Hi,
first off I just want to congratulate you on your new album. To
new fans could your please fill us in on the history behind it
all?
Kai - Hi there, too. This is Kai trying to do answers :P I
Guess the very first question would be enough to fill the whole
interview space :D:D:D Well Galloglass was formed by Arnie, Dirk
and Carsten back in the fall of 1999 I think. We already knew each
other, and have been talking seriously about a side project to our
main bands, which we’re “Serpent Moves” (Arnie, Dirk and
Carsten) and “Desolation” (Me) at that time. They had the Demo
“Kings who die” Recorded already, when the asked me to join
in. We completed some more songs, I just put on some
double-lead’s and the solos and we send the tape out to the
record labels. We we’re totally blown away by the fast response
and still can’t believe what happened. We decided to sign LMP, a
well known Label I think ;). Later the guys told me that our
search for the second guitarist is over. Nobby and the others did
know each other from gigs, they did together with Nobby´s former
band “Progeria”. He was unknown to me and really was like the
missing link right from the start. We did a rehearsal together and
(ok,the songs are not so hard, but hey...) I remember me showing
him the riffs and licks to “Ancient times” only once, and he
said :” ...mkay! I got it.Next!:D:D:D And he did. It still is
cool to work with him. We are a great team J
Well.
Later we recorded “Legends...” and made some really
experiences, in recording an album on professional standards. We
changed arrangements of the songs almost completely, not because
we could do them, but we wanted to polish them more and more. Well
we are still amazed, by how the people received “Legends...”
The rest is history ;)
How
has your new album been received by the media?
Kai - We knew, most of the people would not like our new
influences. But it was necessary for us, to do so. Some of the
fans don’t like what we are doing now, but it’s just like a
beginning to us. Galloglass has started to work out their own
style and works as a band, now. To us its natural, that there are
some who do not like these and those, but we are playing for those
who like us. We decided to put a bit more extra bees on the record
than others do, because we wanted to give our fans in other
countries the opportunity to see, how we do live. Almost all of
the media gave us a “thumbs up” to few to mention who didn’t.
We are glad so far J
What’s
the main difference between “Legends from Now and Nevermore”
& “Heavenseeker”?
Kai
- Well,
“Legends...” was our debut. The most different things happened
since then. The band did some kind of evolution, which to me
appears kind of natural, when becoming more and more a real band,
and not a sort of project, as we had to handle Galloglass first. I
would even say “Heavenseeker” is more like a Galloglass album,
for the fact, that we are now put in some of our different
influences, we are all form different Metal genres (Death/Black/Melodic,
Thrash and Prog) to name a few. We had worked in a different way
on the songs, and one big advantage could be, that we had time to
work out the orchestral arrangements, and parts for violin out,
while writing the songs. On “Legends...” we had all of the
songs already arranged, and put in violins later, when finished
the recordings almost completely. That would be the main
differences for us I think...I hope I didn’t forget anything
important.
How
would you describe your music to an outsider?
Kai
- Hey,
did you ever hear a mixture of Patsy Cline and Mortician?!
Seriously this is always kind of hard, if the person is not into
metal. But usually I describe us as a melodic – speed metal
band, with some orchestral paintings and trash metal elements, for
those who know, what I am talking about. How would you do that?!
;):P:P I don’t like to compare us to other bands, but its the
easiest way sometimes...so lets say. Helloween meets Testament and
Mussorgsky or so...I don’t know :D:D:D
If
your music were an emotion, which one would it be?
Kai
- Well,
now that’s really hard to answer. I’ll pick “Euphoria”.
“Rage” is portrait the easiest I think. The hardest would be
“love”, to put into notes without sounding totally wimpy or
silly.
Who
and what inspire you when you write a song?
Kai
- It’s
always really nice to have inspiration to a song. My studies of
the guitar often inspire me a lot. I think there are differences,
between getting new inspiration for a song, that you already
started working on, and getting inspiration for a song as a whole
thing. Most of the time I get tons of inspiration out of the
silliest situations, melodies emotions or what ever. Let’s say
its good music sometimes, a good meal and nice people. Or perhaps
beer...:P
Who
has produced and mixed the album? Are you pleased with the result?
Kai
- The
album was produced by Nobby and Carsten this time. We are all very
pleased and proud about the result.
Do
you feel that you sound will evolve in some different direction,
in the future, or you will still follow the same path?
Kai
- We
have just made evolution. The band grew more and more together and
a result of that was,
that we change something on our style. We decided to get a bit
heavier and rougher, nothing
special to us, because we all are from more heavier genres, but
maybe new to the people. At this point its impossible to say, how
new material would sound, exactly. Lets see what happens next.
Who
has done the artwork? And how important do you feel it is to have
a great cover?
Kai
- Carsten
again did the job again. We are fine with it. Otherwise we would
have someone else to do it. There’s a lot of footage on our DVD
“making of ...” section, for those who care. A great cover
could be cool. But there is no guarantee to have a cover that
everyone is fine with. An eye catcher thing is always a plus I
think. Often better, than a cover with billions of details and
awesome paintings, that no one understands.
Do
you have any touring plans?
Kai
- Well,
again its hard to answer this question. We always wanted to tour
back in time, but do not have the money, and all of us are working
besides. Lets hope that some opportunity comes to us again, we
really would love to tour, have been planning something, but had
to drop it, because of missing TIME and MONEY. It’s s pity.
Please be patient, we are on it.
Let’s
speculate – you have been granted a free slot on a tour of your
own choice – who would be your ideal touring partners?
Kai
- Well,
this really is speculating to me :D But for the fact, that we did
some gigs with bands like Wizard, Mob Rules or Deadly Sin. These
would be kind of realistic partners, for a tour ;)
How
do you feel about the co-operation with your label?
Kai
- Its
cool. Both sides are satisfied.
The
Internet is a very important source for many metal fans – how do
you use the Internet and how important is it for you and other
bands?
Kai - Today the internet is very important to the scene.
Back in time people traded tapes, and that was they’re only
opportunity, to get the coolest bands. It’s a very good way to
find attention, in the most different ways. Everyone could make a
website and that’s good. We use the web a lot. Check it out. We
are always working on new ideas for the site. For those who care,
Nobby is the webmaster by the way;) Awesome job I think.
And
how do you feel about the metal scene in general at the moment?
Kai
- One
thing I didn’t like from the start is, that everyone knows
everything about everyone, always. I’m really fed up with that.
On the other hand I always loved is, the feeling on big concerts
or festivals. The “metal-brotherhood” is awesome. The metal
fans are the most loyal fans on earth I think, using Joeys (Manowar)
words ;)
Which
song do you consider to be the best one you have ever written?
I don’t know. Sorry :(
When
did you start playing and how old were you when you became
interested in metal?
Kai - I
started on the piano when I was 6 years old. But not seriously,
because musical theory became to hard for me and Football and Tae
– Kwon - Do more
interesting, to the little Kai. I guess it was during that time, I
got AC/DC, and Maiden tapes by my older cousins. I loved the sound
but didn’t even know, what an electric guitar sounds like. After
I found out , I immediately wanted to have one. My grandparents
bought me my first guitar, when I was 12. I got lessons at the age
of 12, too. Before that I noodled around on acoustic guitars of
other people. Who ever had a guitar, had to make sure, that its
hidden far away, when I came to visit :D
Name
an album, person or event that has had a huge influence on your
life … and why?
Kai
- When
I first heard AC/DC play. Later, perhaps at the age of 10 or so, I
first heard the intro lick of “Voodoo Chile”, ...after that I
didn’t want to have a Gibson SG, like Angus, but a cool Fender
Strat, like Jimi ;) But I thought, the sound of the wah-wah, came
from his Jimi's guitar, itself there are so many of that
situations, or persons who inspired me in such ways, It just
won’t fit in here.
Which
music do you listen to at home?
Kai
- Muhahaha,
I got a real sick mixture these days I guess ;) Right now, while
im typing I’m listening to Neal Morse’s “One” again ;) I
consummate A lot of Progrock, Classical music, Jazz/Swing, Classic
Rock/Blues stuff and 80´s Metal of cause.
Last
question - do you have any famous last words for our readers?
Kai - Not Famous I think but: Hey Metallians out there,
thanks for your time! Please check out our new album or www.Galloglass.de
J
STAY SAFE!!!METAL NEVER DIES!!!
Thanks,
Jørgen Ditlev
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