EDGUY Frontman Begins Work On Next AVANTASIA Album

EDGUY's official web site has been updated with the following interview with the group's frontman, Tobias Sammet:

Q: The new album, "Tinnitus Sanctus", is out now. What are your expectations towards the sales?

Tobias: "Well, the sales seem to be quite strong so far, even though I don't expect the album to have a great chart entry this time, 'cause there are many releases of really big bands that we have to deal with during the Christmas sales. But we've known that in advance, it's only that the album was finished and we wanted it to be heard as soon as possible as we are very proud of it."

Q: And how were the first reactions of the people?

Tobias: "As always. Most people seem to really like it a lot, a few think it's crap, of course. And that's alright with me! And extreme album gets extreme reactions. I think it is our bast album by far and I am optimistic many people will think the same in a year, when the dust has settled a bit."

Q: Most fans seem to love the album as far as we can tell — so are you worried about single fans complaining at all anymore, especially when their criticism becomes a little rude?

Tobias: "No! I'd like to quote Kinsky: They love me or they can kiss my ass, I am fine with any of it, haha."

Q: But in the past you vindicated yourself a couple of times, as there were some negative opinions about "The Scarecrow" of AVANTASIA, "Rocket Ride"...

Tobias: "... 'Hellfire Club', 'The Metal Opera', 'Mandrake' and so on. There's always a negative opinion about anything. The more danger the more honor. You can't be everybody's darling. I hope I can encourage a lot of people out there to do their own thing without giving a shit about other people's expectations. Look, some so-called experts criticized the production of our latest AVANTASIA album. On the other hand, our producer Sascha [Paeth] has just received an award by the German sound engineer association for the best album production of the year; for the production, arrangement and atmosphere of the 'The Scarecrow'. He later held a workshop in front of numerous professional producers where he went into details of the 'Tinnitus Sanctus' production. Now tell me: Why should I give a fuck about some smart-ass, just because his taste doesn't match with what I do?

Q: So will you work with Sascha in the future as well?

Tobias: "I remember meeting Chris Tsangarides at one of our shows last year and he came to me and told me how much he liked the show, the songs and the way we played our asses off and that he hadn't had seen a show like that in quite a while. Tsangarides produced albums like JUDAS PRIEST's 'Painkiller' and he is an icon, so, of course, I felt very honored. But Sascha is even more of an icon to me. I am sure he can and will become one of the biggest producers in Europe. Behind the scenes, we have slowly started working on the forthcoming AVANTASIA record and I will do everything to have the biggest production, I've ever had. I am negotiating with an orchestra right at the moment and I just wanna have a bombastic, monumental movie for the ears. And for such an undertaking there is no one who is better than Sascha, he is like a brother to me."

Q: But before you start working on a new album, you will start another EDGUY world tour early January. What can we expect and will you play a lot of new material?

Tobias: "I can't wait to go out and do this arena tour. Next year we won't play festivals as it seems, because on your own tour you can bring the whole stage setting, which I prefer. We'll play some new stuff and a lot of old material. We'll try to play some songs that we usually don't play. Our support acts rule, there is this young Swedish hard rock act H.E.A.T. that I personally love, as their debut is absolutely killer. Not to forget about my friend André Matos and the other Swedish band ALL ENDS. We'll have a lot of fun, believe me."