Published by : go.to/metalshrine.com
Interviewer
: Niclas Müller-Hansen
Published on : May, 2002
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What can you tell about the new
album (Warriors of the world)? How is it different from the last
one? It's been awhile. The last one came out in ´94, was it?
Eric Adams: ´96! So it's been six years since our last
studioalbum and a lot of people ask, "What have you been
doing? How come it's taken so long for you guys to come out with
an album?" And some people think we've been sitting on our
asses all this time, which is true bullshit. Because if you think
about it, years ago, journalists asked us "You've got nine
studioalbums out there, why don't you come out with a livealbum?"
We'd never done that, so we said, "That's a good idea".
So we came out with a livealbum, but we made it a double
livealbum because we always take it a step further. Manowar does
everything to the limit. So we came out with a double livealbum,
which the record company totally freaked over. We said "fuck
you, we gotta have it anyway". So we did it and the next
thing I hear is "Well how come on your livealbum, you didn't
play this song and you didn't play that song?" And we said
"Well you're absolutely right". So we stayed out on the
road and we toured the world three times and during that time we
recorded all the older songs as well and we made a second double
livealbum. So now there's four other albums out there, since our
studioalbum. We also added dvd, which is "Hell on earth".
Part one is done and out and "Hell on earth part two"
is done and out. "Hell on earth part three" is done and
is in the can. We also got a project that we did with a twelve-camera
shoot in Brazil. The first live taped show with Manowar from
beginning to end. Everything, you know! "Live in Brazil"
and it's in 5.1 sound. So there's a lot of shit that we've been
doing. And in the mean time we've built a new studio. We brought
all or gear in, built a new studio, we rehearsed the new album
and we recorded the new album. So I don't think that we've been
sitting on our asses for six years.
Not at all! On your new album you have a couple of really
different tracks. I've been listening to it all week. You've got
this opera thing "Nessun Dorma" and you have "An
American trilogy" and a song called "The March".
An instrumental song. How did the "Nessun Dorma" thing
come about? Is this stuff you wrote yourselves or is it reworked?
E: No, no, no! This is Puccini and it's a famous opera piece,
a famous classical piece.
Shows how much I know about opera!
E: Well, you know that's ok, because one of the reasons we did
it was to educate our fans. It's Pavarotti´s closing piece every
time he plays and it's a well-known piece throughout the world.
It's like the classic of all classical music. We did it as a
special tribute to our Italian fans, live in Milan at the "Gods
and metalfest" in ´99. And I'll never forget it. When I
looked up to the audience and I just saw grown men cry and I saw
cell phones in the air. Just thousands of cell phones and they
called their families during this.
Scott Columbus: Those were recording Mp 3´s on their cell phones.
E: Yeah! 30 minutes after the broadcast it was on Napster. It was
so impressive that we went in to the dressing room after and I'm
soaking wet from the stage and Joey came up to me and said "Eric!
We've got to let the world hear this. We worked hard on this, we
should record it and let the world hear it!" And I said,
"Man, I'm there! "Because it was really an up feeling
and yeah let's do it! So that's how it all got started. And the
whole band plays in it and the entire drums and everything. It
takes Manowar in a class by itself. Some other metal bands are
gonna say "Yeah, we don't wanna do that shit. That's
bullshit!" When in the truth beknown, they can't do that
shit. They just can't do it. So a lot of bands try to imitate
this band, but nobody can do it.
S: How can dogs barking sing opera, I don't understand.
It's a good point! I must say that
your voice is really good on that track and there's some heavy
screaming going on at the end there.
E: Oh yeah! You caught that. That's cool. I decided to do a
harmony scream on top of the scream that was already there.
The song "An American trilogy",
is that something that came about after the September 11 events?
S: No, we actually had decided and had a lot of that recorded
before the 9 11 events. We've been toying with the idea of doing
that particular song for a good ten years or so. We've always
been Elvis fans. He's just monumentally in rock and roll, this
guy. He's been around forever. Elvis was the kind of guy who,
when he was on stage he did whatever the fuck he wanted to and he
broke all the rules. He was an innovator. We really admired him
for that and we really dug him for that. He was just a great
performer and he had some cute chicks from time to time. So he
was the man. He always felt that this was one of his stronger
pieces of music, his performance of this song and he liked it so
much that it was actually his encore at one point, so we've been
thinking about doing this song for quite a long time, as I said
and we thought...when we did "Louder than hell", we
were thinking about doing it then, but that song wouldn't have
fit on that album properly. The way that album flowed front to
back. But when we started writing this album and as the songs
developed and you accumulate one, two, three, four songs and
you're starting to get a snapshot of what the album's gonna sound
like over all. So we said this is the perfect album for this
track and then we developed the song and had it recorded and the
rest is history.
The song "The March", an
instrumental. It sounds just like something from a movie
soundtrack. How did that one come about?
E: Well, the original name of that was "Wagners March"
and everyone knows that we're really influenced by Wagner´s
music. That triumphant, powerful sound. So Joey wrote that piece
and the very first time I heard it, I sat down at Hell, which is
our recording studio...I sat down there and I'm listening to it
and you could hear the violins going up and down and it reminded
me of Wagner and I said to him: "This is Wagener all the
way, man! This is fantastic!" He said: "I'm glad you
think that! Here's the name!" And he showed me... "Wagner´s
March" Ha, ha, ha! And I said: "Shit, there you go!"
I don't know why it got changed to just "The March, but the
original name was "Wagner´s March and it's a great piece.
So when are you coming back to
Sweden to tour? I guess you're gonna tour after this promotional
tour?
E: We're touring now! We're playing in America now and we had
to leave the tour to come over and do this and then we go right
back home and we have one day off at home and then we go right
back out on the tour again.
S: We have a month of dates all through out the U.S. and then
after that we come back to Europe. We have festivals lined up and
some shows in the Czech Republic and Hungary as well and that's
right around the end of May and early June. Check the website as
the dates become confirmed.
E: Yeah, go to manowar.com and the tour dates will be on there.
But you're definitely gonna come to
Sweden?
E: There's talk about a festival date in Sweden, but nothing's
confirmed yet. I´d be lying to you if I said, yeah definitely.
But nothing's confirmed for the festival date, but if that
doesn't happen we're still planning on coming back here in the
fall. We're doing a tour in September, October and November in
the area and we're gonna tour entire Europe and Sweden is a
definite hit because eh...You know what's funny? The last time we
played the Swedish rock festival we weren't headlining. We were
supporting and the next day we got the papers and there's a big
picture of me in the paper there and a big story about the
Swedish rock festival. All about Manowar and how we blew
everybody away blah, blah, blah.It was like...what a great
article and then the fans started writing in to the website. You
know...how you guys gotta get back to Sweden and the promoter
ended up calling us and reminded us of what happened at the
Swedish rock festival and eh...
S: That's how we put together the Monsters of Millennium tour. It
was developed from that, from that festival we played and all the
buzz came out and we were able to get the others with the
promoter and we booked the shows. Got the package together and it
turned out to be very successful.
E: So this is a major hit for us now so...every time we play,
"We'll be back" and there's some fine ladies in this
country of yours.
Yeah, everybody says that!
E: Ohh, they're gorgeous.
So what was it like to be touring
with Dio and Motörhead? I mean they've been around for a while
as well, just like you guys. You've been around for more than 20
years now!
E: They're good friends of ours. I mean, we run into Motörhead
all the time. Festival dates, we call each other, we're on tour
and they happen to be touring and they have a day off. "What
are you doing Eric? Can you make it to our show?" So, we
know ém really well. We get along great with those guys and
Ronnie´s a personal friend of ours. We grew up in the same area,
we grew up when we were teenagers. We had a really good time with
Ronnie on the Scandinavian tour.
S: It was a blast!
E: Yeah, and all kinds of pictures too! He's the one guy in the
industry that's actually shorter than I am. Ha, ha, ha! There's a
picture he took where he stood on a chair with our security guy.
The security guy is like seven feet. So Ronnie stood on a chair
next to him, put his arm around him and he still wasn't as tall.
Oh God, it was fucking hilarious! Yeah, Ronnie´s a great guy. We
get along great with each other. Somebody asked earlier: "Wouldn't
it be nice if the two of us sang together?". I´d love to do
it. I don't know if he'd be ever up for it, but I´d love to do
it. It would be great!
I read as well that...Is there a
book coming out about Manowar and four dvd´s coming out. Is that
live dvd´s or is it gonna be historic?
E: There's both! There's live dvd´s and historic dvd´s. The
book is coming out. It's being written now...
Is that gonna be a tell all kind of
thing like Mötley Crüe´s "The Dirt"?
E: It's gonna be...I haven't read it yet, what's done yet but
all the babes...it's an unleashed version of our life on the road
and what's happened in the early years and we're still together
so it's gonna be like a part one.
S: It'll be entertaining if nothing else!
E: Ha, to say the least!
Who's writing it?
S: Vinnie Ciccolinie (reservation för stavning) but we have a
collaboration of people working on this together.
Do you know when this stuff is
coming out?
E: As soon as it's done. I don't know. We've been busy.
S: It's funny cause on this press tour, one of the top three
questions...inevitably comes: "Well it's been since 1996
since you guys put out a studio record and it's now 2002!"
And then we go on and answer that question and by the time we're
finished answering that question, I think they're sorry they ever
asked.
You had your own and still have your
own record label, Magic Circle. Are you putting out stuff?
E: Yeah, we're signing bands now and we give em the
opportunity to be creative and do what they wanna do, because
that's something that the record companies always try to limit...try
to limit what you can do and they always tell you what you should
do or how you should sound and that's something we have struggled
with...with record labels and that's why we've been with so many.
So we decided to come out with our own label so people could be
creative in their own right. Without any bullshit and Bludgeon is
the first release. A band from Chicago. That's released now on
Magic Circle Records or very soon.
S: I think it came out the week that we left.
E: It had a five star review in one magazine so it's being
accepted really well and Rhino, our old drummer, He's got a
project that's coming out on Magic Circle Records and Dave
Schenkel, our old guitar player, is working on a project now so
we've got a line-up of a lot of different bands out there and
we're looking for talent all the time.
And you're in total control of that
of that label?
E: Absolutely. Total control of everything we do.
S: Anybody who's out there and who's loud and creative, unique
and talented, send your stuff into the website and we'll give it
a listen.
How do you feel about the new kind
of metal scene? Especially in the US, where you have all this nu-metal
with Slipknot, Limp Bizkit and they're mixing it with rap and
stuff. How do you feel about that? Is that innovative or...?
E: No, I think it's gonna be like grunge. It came and went and
I think this is gonna come and go as well. Look at our career. We
play true metal, you know. No bullshit! Our stage set is 60 feet
by 40 feet and a wall of speakers. That's our stage set. We don't
put on a mask or anything at all. All though, I gotta be honest.
Some of the things that Slipknot does for example is pretty good.
Everyone's got their own talent, their own crowd and their own
thing and it's all good. It's all good at the end of the day. But
we've been around 20 years and we're gonna be around for a while
longer. I think these bands that come out, they're in and they're
out and they're on to another project.
S: It's cool that metal's kind of, or music is now getting heavy
again. Over all it's heavy again and that's very good.
Yeah, cause there was a couple of
years when nothing was happening and nobody listened to hard rock.
S: Jesus! In the late 90´s it seemed like the year of the tit.
Every song you heard on the radio was a girl singing, but now
it's becoming heavy again and which is good.
I think it's the same thing in
Sweden now. There's like a bunch of bands coming out, real heavy
metal bands that are influenced by more classic heavy metal like
NWOBHM and a lot of bands are influenced by the whole German
scene, like Helloween, Gamma Ray, Accept and all that stuff. It's
cool that it's coming back and people are getting into it again
and coming to the shows.
E: That's important! Because that's how we're supported, when
fans come to the shows. We've got the strongest fans in the world
and we know it. We treat our fans like they're true brothers and
sisters. I leave my family to go on the road to be with my family
and that's just what it is. I don't know what other band in the
world allows their fans to come right up on stage and play with
you on stage. Get up there and strap on a guitar and play, you
know! What other band stays after the show is over and signs
autographs if we can. The only time when we can't sign autographs
is when we've got a 10 hour trip and we gotta make it to the next
show, so the other fans can see us. We really believe in our fans
and we really listen to our fans.
I think that's what all the fans
want and they really look up to artists that do that, and take
their time even though it's tiring. But still, that's what
matters to a lot of people and that's the reason why they keep on
buying the records and stuff like that.
E: Without the fans you're nobody. People have to realize that.
Just believe in yourself and do what you have to do and the fans
will come.
S: Speaking of Sweden. Whatever happened to that band Drain STH?
Good question! The last thing I
heard was that the singer was dating Toni Iommi.
E: Maybe that's how he lost his fingers.
Probably! (Eric skrattar så mycket
att han får lägga sig ner) That's probably the end of the story.
I haven't got a clue. They put out two or three albums and they
were on the Ozzfest and they were getting a lot of good reviews
and stuff like that and then they just kind of disappeared.
E: Hot looking babes!
S: Heavy songs too! But wait a minute, weren't you supposed to be
interviewing us and not the other way around.
Yes, that's true! How do you feel
about the whole internet thing? You were talking earlier about
when you did your classic piece, the opera piece, people were
holding up their phones and two hours later it's on Napster.
S: I think it should be like in some of these countries where
if you get caught raping someone you get your cock cut off and if
you get caught stealing something they cut your fucking hand off.
I think that when people start downloading mp3´s they should
chop their fucking ears off. Stealing is stealing! Look, I'm a
techno junkie like anybody else. I love the latest technology. Mp3
is a great technology. You can put a lot of music in a small
amount of space and these players have no moving parts. The
concept is great, but the bottom line is; stealing is stealing.
Record companies and bands can't survive. But there is a positive
side to this. Let's say there is a young band that cannot get a
record deal or whatever and they want to get their music out to
different people, then it's great if they can give their mp3´s
away. That's like free exposure you know, but for bands that are
making a living off this...it sucks.
But it seems to be like the music
industry is divided. A lot of bands are totally for it and a lot
of others are totally against it.
E: Here's what I'm totally for! I like the idea of fans being
able to hear the songs before they come out. I like the idea of
that, but not the whole song. Like when Napster had their thing
going on...I don't know if Napster´s still around, I have
trouble keeping up with things. Let's not include that, there's a
ton of them out there that are thieves and my idea is to play
them 20 seconds of each song and then stop it. Then you get an
idea, "do I like that album or is it bullshit?" Give
then 20 seconds of each song. "Holy shit that's fucking
great. I gotta go out and get it!" That makes sense. Your
album gets out on the internet, where people are down loading it
before it's even released. It's ridiculous!
And at the same time I feel like...cause
I buy tons of records, that's what I spend my money on. And I've
never gotten into the mp3 thing cause I want the real actual
record. I want the real thing.
E: Yeah! The mp3 thing is cool because you can take all of
Manowar´s albums and put them on one mp3. So once you own the
album it's a different story. Throw ém on your mp3 and go out
and jog or something and do what you gotta do. At least knowing
your supporting the band that you believe in. It's a different
story if you're just out there stealing it.
How do you think Manowar has
changed? You've been around now for 20 years. How do you think
you've changed besides being older and wiser?
E: And distinguished! Ha, ha, ha!!!
And distinguished, exactly!
S: Who the fuck´s wiser? Ha, ha,ha!!!
E: I've changed my approach for picking up chicks. Ha, ha, ha!
Yeah, you learn along the way!
E: Ha, ha, ha! Yeah I don't play the game anymore. I just grab
their hair and walk off.
S: Me Tarzan, you Jane!
E: I think we've learned...I think we've grown in our ability to
write music and we've learned that less is always more on an
album and keep more of it for a live performance and less of it
when you record. Because it just makes it sound bigger when...you
know with the chorus. I think we've learned not to let the
cameras go flashing at every 5 minutes without okeying the
picture. There's a few things we've learned down the road. Just
from being on the road. It kills me...the lines" No, this
picture is just for me!" Ha, ha!
S: It reminds me of...you remember ever having a Christmas dinner
when grandma comes by and you've got a mouth full of turkey and
no, no don't take the picture. Bam, flash!
E: Yeah, so we're pretty careful of what gets out and what we
allow to get out there.
So, you're more in control now?
E: We're in control of everything we do. We count on our
people, our managers, agents, record company people to take care
of this for us, so we can concentrate more on just the creativity.
And we've found out that that doesn't work, because it doesn't
get taken care of or it gets taken care of good enough. And we've
always stressed that if it has Manowar´s name on it, it can't
just be good enough. It's gotta be the very fucking best quality
that we can come up with and anything we do, in the t-shirts we
sell, it's the very best quality shirts you can buy. In the
pictures that go out there, they're the very best quality. We
really are concerned about quality in the sound we have, in the
live performance right down to our speakers and the wires that we
use on stage. It's a crystal clear powerful loud fucking sound.
But you don't get that if you buy cheap shit. We really pride
ourselves in coming out with the very best quality. The fans get
value for dollar at the end of the day and that's who were
thinking of.
Because you always read about the
record industry being full of bad people and you read about every
single band when they're starting out, how they're getting
screwed by lawyers etc. It seems like a really dirty business.
E: It's extremely dirty. You gotta be a businessman, a
musician, an accountant. You gotta wear a lot of hats in this
business. You really do. You know, every hand you shake...you're
shaking the right hand and the left hand is in your back pocket.
So you gotta be careful. We've learned not to sign anything
without taking the paper home and reading it. There's just a ton
of things we've learned and by starting our own record label we
hope we can avoid that.
S: Here's another thought: "The do´s and don'ts in the
music industry by Manowar!" It'll be a multi volume set.
Yeah, makes sense! What kind of
music do you listen to these days? Are you influenced by anything
or...? Do you mostly listen to old stuff, like 70´s stuff or do
you listen to a lot of new music?
E: I don't have a lot of time to listen to music. I listen to
classical music a lot, because it influences me. I listen to
ideas that Manowar has that we haven't developed fully yet. I
listen to Scott´s personal stuff that he has written, I listen
to his stuff. I just listen to a lot of...whatever sounds good I
have with me on the road. It's not just metal. It's mostly metal,
but it's not just metal.
S: Same thing. I listen to everything. Ethnic music, cultural...you
know...whatever country we're in to some of that music. Classical
music obviously, soundtracks are very interesting, classic rock/metal.
Stuff that was our influences years ago. Everything, even some
pop music. Because you know why? A good song is a good song
whatever genre of music it is. A great song is a great song.
E: And you also listen to the engineering of the song. How it was
recorded. You go: "Listen to that effect, that's kind of
cool how they did that." That kind of thing, you know. So
you kind of go to school on a lot of the things you listen to.
What about the new album, you did
everything by yourself right?
E: We do everything by ourselves.
S: But this was the first time we did have an "real engineer",
who was by our side every step of the way. It was a great
experience and I think we learned what to do and not to do.
E: Scott and Joey engineered this whole album. I was busy. My mom
was sick during this album, so I was busy most of the time and
quite frankly I don't have the patience to deal with listening to
the song for the hundred and fiftieth time. I really can't do
that. I just can't fucking do that. Scott and Joey have the ears
for that and they spent every day listening to the songs and
engineering the songs. I just had my cell phone with me, in case
I had to be there. Which worked out great. I hope the next time
they still have the same patience. Ha, ha, ha!!!
S: This is one job you go home from at the end of the day and you
don't turn on your radio in your car. 12 hours is enough.
Where do you guys live in the US?
E: New York!
Were you there when the September 11
attacks happened?
E: We were in New York State at the time, but not on Manhattan.
I was driving on the road, listening to the radio and all of the
sudden they break in and say a plane just hit WTC. And I was like:
"How the fuck can that happen?" Really, how can an
accident like that happen? Jesus Christ, you see the building and
you know. I thought maybe a mechanical failure and they lost
steering control and I'm thinking all this stuff and 10 minutes
later another plane hit and I knew we were at war. I know
something happened and we're at war. It's fucked up! And then 20
minutes later you hear there's a plane crash in Pennsylvania and
you're thinking; holy fuck, here we go...
S: And then the Pentagon...
E: Then the Pentagon and it was like Jesus Christ...
S: Then you started looking out your own window. It's so
surrealistic, it's like you're in the middle of a movie.
E: And you hear a plane going and you're looking up like...where
is this plane heading to. And it was the most eerie thing in the
world, I remember when they stopped flights in America right
after that and...
S: Especially for me, because I live 5 minutes from the airport
up in New York. And every fucking morning (härmar ett plan) and
for two or three days, nothing. It was really quiet.
E: I mean you saw no jets in the sky ever and when they did let
the planes fly again, you were like watching them; where is this
fucker going...
And then you had that other crash, a
plane went down in Rockaway Beach.
E: Immediately you thought; those pricks are at it again...I
think it woke up not only America but the whole world and I don't
think the world is gonna take that kind of shit. That's just the
way it goes. I don't know who these fucks think they are, but it
ain't gonna fucking change how we live. It's not gonna change
anything. It's just gonna wake up a sleeping giant like they said
in WWII. It's the same thing. They just started this whole ball
of wax and it's not just the United States that's involved. It's
everybody that's involved and I think it united the whole world
against these pricks. It's a good thing.
I wish you all the best with the new album and your tour and
I hope to see you guys back in Sweden rocking and rolling!
E: We'll be back in the fall, so ladies I expect you to be
there.
Thanks a lot!
E: / S: Thank you! Great interview!