BLIND GUARDIAN Frontman Talks About The PETER PAN Inspiration For New Single

Mark Carras of Rock My Monkey recently conducted an interview with Hansi Kürsch of BLIND GUARDIAN. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Rock My Monkey: Back onto the "Fly" single. Why the story of Peter Pan? Was it a challenge of making something metal out of something so clearly non-metal? What was the reason for using that story?

Hansi: "I have a strong relationship to Peter Pan since I'm a kid. I just love the story. That's the first thing. But it's not only about Peter Pan, it's also about the author, James M. Barrie, and the movie 'Finding Neverland'. I tried to combine this plus the main goal of the movie, and that's about where inspiration can finally drive you. Since I've been so much inspired by fantasy literature and music, I tried to express that with the lyrics. Plus, I feel a lot of sympathy with Peter Pan, because he's not only the spirit of the kids, but also a type of anarchy guy, a punkish guy, and I love that aspect, and I try to bring that aspect into the lyrics of 'Fly', as well, since I feel the energy, the energy of the song 'Fly' is somehow punkish to me, as well."

Rock My Monkey: We all know that BLIND GUARDIAN is highly influenced by Tolkien.

Hansi: "Yes."

Rock My Monkey: And with the song "Fly", you say you're inspired by "Finding Neverland". Are there any other BLIND GUARDIAN classics that were inspired by things that would surprise fans?

Hansi: "Let me think about it. That's a good question. Going back… hmmm… I mean, I can't recall any song at the moment, but that does not necessarily mean that this is a fact. I did that plenty of times with DEMONS & WIZARDS, but I think most of what I worked on the BLIND GUARDIAN albums is pretty much verified already, and I cannot remember doing anything like that on any of the other BLIND GUARDIAN albums. But I may have just don't get in mind at the moment."

Rock My Monkey: So you said that there was a rather interesting inspiration on a DEMONS & WIZARDS song. Which one would that be?

Hansi: "Well, like, for instance, 'The Wicked Witch' is inspired by 'The Wizard of Oz', which like Peter Pan, is a little off the record. There is also that more reality inspired topics I deal with in DEMONS & WIZARDS. For instance, 'Fiddler on the Green', which was inspired by two children dying at two different car accidents, and 'Down Where I Am', which is inspired by a father who just found out about his first-born, which is a Down Syndrome child, and stuff like that."

Rock My Monkey: It seems that as you guys inject more elements into each album, and as you guys grow as musicians, and you make more eclectic music, the older fans seems to get more upset. Does this bother you at all, or is the band picking up new fans faster than the old fans drop off?

Hansi: "Basically, it's always a sad issue to lose fans for whatever reason. But I don't think that all the old school fans are upset about what we are doing. There is a good amount of diehard, old, traditional BLIND GUARDIAN fans who as well enjoy the new material. For us, it's simply a question of denying yourself, and starting to copy yourself, or going further and try to explore new things. So far we have been proven right in going further and trying out new things by winning new fans, but also keeping a lot of the old fans."

Read the entire interview at www.rockmymonkey.com.