Published by :
the-plague.com
Interviewer :
Daniel Hinds
Published on : May / June, 2002
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I still remember my first proper
exposure to Manowar. It was when Battle Hymns had just come out and I was
on my way home from high school. My brother was driving and popped in a
tape with "Metal Daze" on it. I was just blown away by the power
of the music and by Eric Adams' unearthly voice. We were both headbanging
so hard, we lost control of the car and nearly went off into a major ravine!
Luck was with us, though, and I followed the band closely for many years, buying
such classics as Into Glory Ride, Hail to England and Sign of the
Hammer - true metal, indeed! The band hasn't been quite as prolific in
the last decade, but they did recently do a rare US tour and released the brand
new Warriors of the World album to appease their legions of fans
worldwide. Eric lays down his sword to give me a quick update on the
current status of the Kings of Metal…
Were you pleased with the recent US tour with Immortal?
Oh yeah, I mean [we'll play] anywhere where there is a Manowar fan out there.
It's funny, the first show we ever played, there were four people in the
audience and they got the same show that the people in Texas did when we played
at the Dallas Reunion Arena. It's the same show, it doesn't matter, if
they are Manowar fans, we're out there to kick ass. All over the world,
it's the same, that's why this album is called Warriors of the World.
A Manowar fan is a Manowar fan anywhere you go. Some of the shows weren't
that happening, but the crowds were there, and some were outstanding, so it's
just the way it goes.
One thing I was amazed by was before you guys came on,
someone would yell out a line from one of your songs and pretty soon the whole
crowd was singing the rest of that verse.
(laughs) Yeah, that's great! I love that, that's one of the best
parts of the night, when the crowd sings along with us. They've seen the
DVDs, they've seen the previous shows and they know. We kind of expect it
and we write songs for the fans, we write anthem songs on every album, so we
hope that by doing that, they'll sing along with us, and it does work out really
good.
What do you do to keep your voice in shape?
Well, what do I do…? I guess a lot of pussy juice. (laughs)
I don't know, I sing all the time. I work out, I have weights with me on
the road all the time. I don't go out on stage cold and just start singing.
I sing backstage, do some scales and warm up. I don't smoke, I just kind
of take care of myself, and fortunately I've been able to sustain a pretty good
vocal throughout the years. What is really nice about the Warriors of
the World album is I really got to sing a lot on that album.
I know you guys have always expressed a love for bands
like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and KISS, but are there any metal bands from
more recent years that you feel particularly standout?
Ah hell, there's a lot of them, but I learned a long time ago that a
professional does not mention band names. (laughs) So I always get a
kick out of it when somebody mentions Manowar in a downer way. I'm like,
oh that's good - they just pissed off a lot of Manowar fans! (laughs)
Let me go back and ask you about some of the more pivotal
albums in your career. Battle Hymns - there is a confidence about
that album that is just amazing for a debut album.
I have the memory that nobody believed in the band at the time, except for one
guy who signed us. I remember living in Florida at the time - it was cold
as a bastard in New York at that time so we were recording in Florida.
When we did the Harley song, "Death Tone," the studio wanted to just
use a taped sound of a Harley. And we thought that was bullshit, we didn't
want to do anything half-assed, so we brought in three or four Harleys into the
studio and let them fire up, smoke all throughout the studio, we had microphones
everywhere - people thought we were absolutely fucking nuts. (laughs)
But, hey, that's the way Manowar has always been. Tip of the top or
nothing can be good enough.
Whenever I ask people about their favorite Manowar album,
a lot of people point to Hail to England.
Hail to England was one of those albums that just did really well for the
band, I don't know why. I love all the albums or I'd still be in the
studio recording them. I don't know what it was about Hail to England
that really set it off, but it seems like I sign more Hail to England
albums than anything (laughs) when I'm doing in-stores or whatever. I
don't know if it was the epic stories, I don't know. But every album that
we've ever done has had the same drive, the same blood, sweat and tears.
There's never any filler songs, every song is the very best it could possibly be.
I read somewhere that you recorded that album in six days.
Yeah, we did! We had no cash. We were taking the money we made from
the first album and did two albums together at that time. Because we spent
so much time in Florida rehearsing Battle Hymns, we just had more time to
write songs, so when it came time to record the next album, we said, 'Well,
let's just do two if we can.' And we were so well-rehearsed with it, we
just laid them down. The guy couldn't believe it, but we said, 'Let's do
it now, let's get it in the can, ' because we don't have the money to move on
any further. We weren't making anything. Those were the years we
were stealing to eat, it was tough staying together. But hey, here we are
22 years later.
Manowar has had a remarkably consistent line-up since day
one, weathered all the trends and are more popular than ever. What do you
attribute that longevity to? Is it just the shared vision of the band?
That's exactly what I attribute it to, Dan. I think we've always had the
policy in the Inner Circle (the four members of the band) that when times are
good, times are good for all, and when times are bad, times are bad for all.
We all stick together and do what we have to do to make it work. If
somebody has a problem and he's got a bill or whatever and he's going to lose
his house, we all chip in and help him out. What goes around comes around,
it's that kind of thing. That's why our crew members are all the same as
well. It's not just a job for them; it's a bunch of friends that got
together. When we say it's a band of brothers, that's not bullshit.
Fighting the World - This was the first digital
recording and first for Atlantic.
We're not afraid to be innovators in anything and when it was brought to our
attention that digital was the way to go, we were like, 'Let's go ahead and do
it.' I don't think any other heavy metal bands at the time were recording
in digital. They were all saying, 'Analog's the way, analog's the way, you
want that dirtier sound on the guitar.' But we thought, no, if digital is
the wave of the future, then this is what has to be done. And it just
means the guitar players have to play precise. (laughs) I don't get
it. You have to be talented and if you're talented, it's going to show on
the tape no matter if you're using analog or digital. On the new album, Warriors
of the World, we were asked to be innovators in SuperAudio CD format, and we
said yeah man, let's go. Warriors of the World is available in
regular CD format but also in SACD format, if people want it. It puts you
right on the stage, with the drums behind you and the vocal in front of you,
it's really cool.
Atlantic signed several metal bands around that same time
(Savatage, Raven) and it seemed like they had a hand in shaping how those bands
changed their sound and image. Did you have any pressure from the label at
all?
Yes sir, we did, and that sir is why we've been with so many different labels.
(laughs) When the record company says, 'Hey man, the last band that sold a
lot of records for us wore long coats and that's what you should do,' - what the
fuck are they talking about? Or if they said, 'You guys play too loud,'
what the fuck is that? What the fuck is it to them? Do they come and
buy records? Are they out in the middle of the crowds with all the metal
heads out there? No, that's not how it works. Our fans have really
been behind us a lot when we say we're not going to change, we're not going to
be pushed around or have these fucks tell us what to do. We know how we
want to sound, we know how we perform live, its balls to the wall metal and
that's it. For anyone to tell us how to sound, they're not concerned about
Manowar or Manowar's fans, they're just concerned with how many units they're
selling. I can honestly say that our [current] label in Europe and the
label here in America, they've gotten the word and they leave us alone, and
we'll see what happens in the future.
The funny part is the joke is on them [Atlantic] because
here you guys are, more successful than ever, and if they had stuck with you,
they could have been part of that success.
Exactly, that's my point. Of course, now the record companies are all
screaming for business because of all the piracy going on, but what can you do?
Unfortunately, that's the way it is and I think true metal fans know that this
is your livelihood, this is it. If they want to hear the songs before the
album is released, okay fine, download them, but they still go out and buy the
album when it comes out. That's a true fucking fan.
The new album is easily the most diverse album you've ever
done. Did you set out to make an album like that?
No album is ever set out; we never sit down and think, 'Oh we have to write an
anthem next' or whatever. It's normally about 3 o'clock in the morning and
Joey tells me to come on over to his place and sing this line because he's got
it in his head and he can't go any further until he hears me, to see if it is in
a good key. It just happens and Warriors of the World just happened.
That's why An American Trilogy worked on this album. It's one of those
songs we've always wanted to do and we couldn't do it on the previous albums
because it would have stuck out like a sore thumb. For this album, with
all the orchestration that went with it, it was just the time to lay it down.
"Nessum Dorma" was another one, time to lay it down, it just worked
like that. Nothing is ever planned with Manowar, it's always finished. (laughs)
I'm sure everyone has a favorite Manowar song, mine is
"Secret of Steel." Can you tell me a little about what inspired
that song?
It's just one of those epic songs that puts you in a different place and puts me
in a different character. That's one thing I always liked about Joey's
writing is he always put me in a different character for every song. And I
was that person and I just close my eyes and go into that place, that zone, I
can be that person and that's why it sounds pretty convincing when I'm singing
it.
That's one of the things I've always appreciated about
Manowar, that ability to transport the listener to another place or time.
At the end of the day, isn't that what music is all about? A lot of people
say, 'Well, I hear this song and it reminds me of this or that, it relates to
me.' Well, Joe Blow who wrote that song doesn't know every individual, but
every individual who listens to that song - if it is a great song - can relate
to it. You get busted at work all the time, it's a shit world that we live
in, you don’t' want to come home and turn on the news and be reminded of all
the crap that happened all day long. At the end of the day, you want to
turn on some music, sit back, close your eyes and go to a place that you want to
be. That's always what we've been about. The image of the band has
always been, 'Hey man, believe in yourself, have the courage to carry on.'
Be strong, be a leader not a follower. Be strong in your convictions.
You seem to be pretty keen on handling the business side
of your careers. Is that just something you grew into out of necessity?
That's exactly right. We used to have managers, we used to have agents
that said they believed in the band, the record execs said they believed in the
band, but all they really cared about was their gold card so they could take
someone out to dinner. I'll be honest with you, it's been a learning
experience, but we produce our own records now, we're involved in our own
artwork, we decide what goes on the t-shirts, we decide what goes on the albums,
what the order of songs is, etc. That way we know we're not getting ripped
off.