EDGUY
Interview by Gegers 09.12.2005
Tobias Sammet is the embodiement of the real nice guy. Apologizing for being late, he asks me my opinion about the new album, which is of course 100% positive, and the interview begins.

Gegers : Allright Tobias, let’s talk about the new album. Even if there are still these typical speed metal songs, the album marks an evolution in your career, as it sounds more like modern hardrock, with songs such as « Matrix », « Superheroes » ou « Fucking with fire ». How do you feel this evolution ?
Tobias Sammet : Well, this is a quite natural evolution, we didn’t really think about it. We are really
happy with the previous albums, we had no reason to change our style. But for this album we had the chance to work with Sacha Paeth, who produced Rocket ride. This guy is very open – minded and gave us a lot of suggestions, and to have an external point of view is very important when you’re a musician. He’s also at the origin of our slight sound change. It was definitely great working with him.


Did you write the songs for Rocket Ride in 2005 or were they written before ?
I wrote some in 2005, some before. You know, there’s no real composition process in Edguy. We do not sit around a table for 2 or 3 weeks, trying to find ideas. Each time i got an idea, I write it down. It doesn’t matter whether I’m at home, on tour or in the studio. Inspiration comes to you without warning, you can’t control it.

On your recent albums, we can hear songs which sound a little bit like songs for fun, such as « Lavatory love machine » on « Hellfire club », or « Trinidad » on « Rocket ride ». Do these songs stand as a trademark ?
No, I don’t think fun songs are our trademark. You know, we’ve been doing strange things on our albums for a long time ! On « Here I am », which was a bonus track on «Vain glory opera », we were playing like the Bee Gees ! On « Mandrake », there was this alien drum bunny on « Save us now » and well, this Louis de Funès stuff, les « Gendarmes ». And indeed on Rocket ride, both the artwork and some songs are fun.
Well you know, we are who we are ! We’re funny guys who enjoy having fun, there is no reason why we should try to hide this aspect of our personality.

I’d like to know what is your feeling towards these old German bands such as Scorpions or Accept, which paved the way for future generations of german musicians, with Scorpions for example who was the first German band to sell millions of records and the first hard rock band to play in Russia.
Yeah I really love Scorpions. It’s one of my favourite bands. I think that the two songs I like the most are « Rock you like a hurricane » and « In trance ». And Rudolf and Michael Schenker, today they’re considered as celebrities, but we must not forget that they were the two first German hardrock guitarists ! Germany can definitely be proud of Scorpions.

Yes, but do you think that their huge success helped Edguy to be commercially successful today ?
Well, I can’s say, it’s impossible to judge. When they had their biggest success, with Still loving you, I was a child. I didn’t really think about it. I don’t know if their success is at the origin of ours.

Edguy’s line-up has been the same for 7 years now. What is your secret ? Aren’t there any disputes in the band ?
Sure there are disputes, always on the same subject : « Who will keep the money with him ? » (laughs). No, I’m kiddin’. Well, we’re intelligent enough to know that what is important is to keep the band going. It’s like 2 people who live together : two people = two opinions. Edguy is the same : five people = five opinions. But when people who love each other have a dispute, they do not divorce ! They talk to each other, try to find solutions, a compromise.
You, know, before being musicians, we’re friends ! And if we can’t find a compromise, then I TAKE THE DECISION (laughs).


It’s common knowledge that you’re a fan of Michael Kiske and of Helloween’s Keeper of the seven keys albums. Did you listen to the Keeper pt.3 ? Where does this admiration for Michael Kiske come from ?
Yes, i heard the Keeper pt.3, but it was in the back of a car on a bad cd player, so I can’t give any opinion about this album.
Concerning Michael Kiske, my admiration for him simply comes from his voice ! I also love Geoff Tate, Rob Halford, Bruce Dickinson, Bob Catley…you know, any singer is influenced by another singer, but I think Michael Kiske is my main influence.

What do you think of his contradictory declarations, saying that he loves metal, then that he doesn’t like it anymore… ?
He never said he didn’t like metal. People shouldn’t judge him on sentences out of their context. He’s very proud of what he has achieved with Helloween and he still loves the albums on which he has sung. When he finds a speed metal song good, he doesn’t hesitate to say that he like it. And he never denied to like Edguy. What he doesn’t like in metal, these are these new tendancies, such as satanic metal or black metal.

Why don’t you play any song from « The savage poetry » live ? On this album there are excellent songs !
Well, I don’t really know. We generally play 15 songs per concert, and some of our songs are really long ! As a consequence we must choose among all our material. At the moment, we’re preparing the coming tour, we play 40 songs, and we’ll choose twenty of them, because we’ll change one or two songs of our setlist from one concert to another. Which songs from «The savage poetry » would you like us to play ?

I love all the songs from this album, which in my opinion is one of your best recordings. I think it would be grat if you played « Eyes of the tyrant », or « Hallowed ».
Well, thank you ! I agree with you, it would be quite great to play one song from this album. I’ll speak to the guys, maybe they’ll agree.

Is there any date planned for the release of a new DVD ?
Not yet, for the moment it is still an idea. It’s too early to give a release date. But we are going to shoot some dates of the Rocket ride tour, so on the DVD there will be one of the upcoming concerts.

If you had to change one thing, and only one, on each Edguy album. What would you change ?
The name of the band ! (laughs) And I would also change the artwork. On each album I would put a photograph of the members of the bands with big black moustaches (laughs).

Can you say a few words to the Hardrock80 metalheads ?
Thank you for keeping the band going. We’re looking forward to see you during the tour, in Paris and Lyon. We’ll come with big trucks, and we’re going to kick ass !