EDGUY Singer Talks About Upcoming Album 'Rocket Ride'

EDGUY's official web site recently conducted a short interview with the group's lead singer, Tobias Sammet, about love, success, the forthcoming album and the tour. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Q: How are the reactions [to the "Superheroes" EP] so far?

Tobias Sammet: "Great. As we expected, we've heard it all from 'best stuff you've ever done' to 'biggest shit under the sun!' But fortunately, I don't care about what EDGUY haters say. There was not too much in the middle which is a compliment, because getting extreme reactions means you've had a strong impact on people; in whatever direction. We are a band that keeps moving constantly, we don't wanna go back or become nostalgic. I want to stay interesting and keep things interesting for ourselves. We just wanna be EDGUY and do whatever we like without forgetting about the quintessence of who we are. That's the purest form of being true and honest. Even though you may always find someone who wants a rock musician to be a devoted pet that dances to the pipe of someone else's ignorance. But you can't please everybody or be everybody's darling, anyway. So we first wanna please ourselves, 'cause only as long as we are happy we can make other people happy too."

Q: The cover of the "Superheroes" EP is quite unique. What's the story behind it?

Tobias Sammet: Well, it's not a secret that I want to get attention. We liked the controversy that the EP cover caused, for example. It's fun. It's EDGUY and it's what our fans love us for. And it's what I love our fans for. We bullshit around and we irritate and confuse our fans sometimes. It's all because we don't hesitate to entertain ourselves and have a good laugh! But when it comes down to the show and the albums we deliver the goods. We can rely on our fans and they can rely on us. That being said, the artwork was a good laugh and fits the 'Superheroes' concept.

Q: And are you happy with the EP's commercial success so far?

Tobias Sammet: "I don't know about the sales yet but we have been on the German single charts for the fifth week now, having peaked at #25 right between all those major acts and we seem to stay up there for quite a while. Unfortunately, this time all the TV stations and radio stations think we are shit, haha. That's why they don't really play the song too often. We haven't accepted any financial co-operations with the sharks, which means pay-to-be-played. We haven't kissed ass. I don't wanna come up with weird paranoid theories, but I guess the German media scene and music business have problems in growing something that has developed a life on its own and that could get out of control. We are not an artificial remote controlled bunch of dancing kids they can place and displace the way they want. We are serious shit! But it's too late. No matter what they do, we have one big advantage over all those plastic products — we have real and loyal fans in the long term. So there's no stopping us, no matter if the major media likes us or not. But that's so German, if you are a German band you have a hard time here. In Sweden, the DVD rocketed to #2 on the charts right before Michael Jackson and the video gets airplay. But what the fuck: Others get their videos played, we have a fanbase that most of these German third-class hip-hop assholes can only dream about. So what is more important? We are gonna go on tour and see what we have worked hard for. And we are all gonna have heaps of fun."

Q: So will there be a tour for the EP?

Tobias Sammet: "No, but we just finished the album, 'Rocket Ride', out January 20th. On the 4th of February the world tour will start. We will bring the biggest stage setting we have ever had and it will surely be entertaining. I am talking about real big things, stuff that you usually only see in arena productions. We bring it to the medium sized halls. Our agency is planning it right now, while we're finishing the album."

Q: Can you tell us anything about the forthcoming album?

Tobias Sammet: "Well, it's gonna be great of course, haha. The songs of the 'Superheroes' EP and the 'Rocket Ride' album originate from the same writing process but still I have a vague feeling that the EP material tends to be a bit softer than what the album as a whole is gonna be like. Anyway, what I can say is that we have got the biggest variety of different elements and the hell of a diversity on the album while it's still EDGUY. For the first time we've worked with Sascha Paeth as a producer in responsibility for recording and mixing. Even some of the arrangements were assisted by him. It was easy to work like that, because we knew if it was gonna suck we would have a scapegoat, haha. It wouldn't really have helped but we knew the album would become a killer from the moment on the first songs came together. In fact, some bands should take out insurance policy with Lloyd in London, a suck-insurance for sucking records."

Q: Which bands?

Tobias Sammet: "Well, take your pick! I would say those who potentially tend to suck, haha. I am not talking about anyone specific, I wish everybody all the best. Anyway, seriously it was a pleasure to work with Sascha. We recorded the basics live, which means drums, rhythm guitars and bass in one room at the same time. If you screw up, there's no chance you can fix things. But it worked and it sounds much stronger than playing Atari in the studio and fixing everything. It rocks. I guess, and I don't wanna blow my own trumpet even though I wish I could — technically, haha. Well, what I wanna say is, that Sascha managed to create the most powerful but still transparent sound we have ever had. And I guess it will be state-of-the-art. When the RAMMSTEIN album 'Mutter' came out, everybody talked about it and what a piece of art their sound was. And doubtlessly it was. In my humble opinion Sascha managed to create some equivalent on a different terrain. A state-of-the-art sound equivalent in metal. But go and listen to it in January and then form your own opinion on it.

"Anyway, back to the material itself. We got a song called 'Matrix' which has very modern elements, we have a fun anthem called 'Trinidad' and we have anthemic mid-tempo grooves galore. I can proudly announce we did an album that many other bands perhaps would not dare to do the way it is. And I mean it in a positive way, 'cause we didn't do a grunge album, haha. We did an EDGUY one. It's melodic, powerful and it kicks major ass."

Read the entire interview at Edguy.nu.