MIKE TERRANA Explains Why He Is 'Sexiest Drummer In The World'

Dimitris Kontogeorgakos of Metal-Temple.com recently contacted an interview with drummer Mike Terrana (TARJA TURUNEN, RAGE, MASTERPLAN, AXEL RUDI PELL). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Metal-Temple.com: Did you like Tarja's album?

Terrana: Yeah, I like it! I thought that it would be something like NIGHTWISH but it fortunately it is not! Not that I have something against that music but I play a lot of that stuff and I was looking something different and this is different; more dark, kind of classical, a little bit progressive and actually a little bit of pop.

Metal-Temple.com: You have also release and instructional DVD "Rhythm Of The Beast"; what is the feedback so far?

Terrana: Well, people seem to like and are impressed with what I did. Although, some people misunderstand me; they think that I am trying to impress them with a drum solo. For me doing a drum solo is a way to express myself and it's really fun to do that because you get the chance to play with the audience. And this seemed to be a problem when I was working with RAGE; they didn't give my space and also did not want to have a drum solo on the show because they thought it was boring and I said OK; but when we were on the studio, they were quantizing my drumming and covering it with samples. I think that this is completely sacrilegious; if you have a guy who can play drums and has a special groove and sound let him play! I don't want to get ugly on this but this is why I left RAGE, for artistic reasons; I was pushed back as a musician and this is not fair.

Metal-Temple.com: So, what are Terrana's plans? You have been into a lot of stuff with bands like MASTERPLAN, ARTENSION now with Tarja…

Terrana: Indeed, I did twelve albums last year. I will be doing a lot of drum clinics, I will in the studio for the new MASTERPLAN album, a new album with a guy named Tony Hernando, I will make an instrumental fusion record with a Belgium guitar player and Tony Levin who is the bass play for Peter Gabriel's band, I will do an AXEL RUDI PELL album; Then get back in tour with Tarja in April I think and do some summer festivals with AXEL RUDI PELL and also I will be playing with my fusion band TABOO VOODOO…

Metal-Temple.com: Do you have time for all of this?

Terrana: Yeah, I actually make time for all of this. Last year I hired a person to manage me because things were getting out of control I was not able to coordinate things, it was too much! Now he is in charge of all the scheduling and this makes things less stressful for me and the guys who are working with me!

Metal-Temple.com: OK, we reached my final question and actually the most serious one! Who gave you the title of "the sexiest drummer in the world?"

Terrana: I have to say that I was the one who had that idea because none has ever told that I am sexy, no one. My mom said I was a good-looking baby but I don't know what happened after the age of five, something went wrong I think. [Laughs] So I do it as a joke; you know there are a lot of good drummers in the world and obviously I am not the best one but I could be the sexiest!

Read the entire interview at Metal-Temple.com.