Published by : swedishmetal.net

Interviewer : Alina "Squeak" Michelle
Published on : JUNE, 2002

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Alina: In ONE word, describe each band member, including yourself.
Scott: Joey - perfectionist. Karl - virtuoso. Eric - I'll have to come back to him. Me - metronome. Eric again… hmmmm. Gifted! That's a pretty good question! It throws you off a bit, but that's really good.

Alina: Is it hard to go from playing in front of 20,000 people in Europe to 1,000 in the US?
Scott: No, not at all. It's the same energy, the same (kind of) show for us. Every fan there paid good money and deserves a good show. For us, if there is 10 people there or 10,000, they deserve the same show because they're fans, true heavy metal fans that have been following the band for a long time and dedicated. They deserve a great show whether it's in a small nightclub or a huge arena.

Alina: So it doesn't really affect you to play in front of a smaller crowd?
Scott: Oh no! Actually it is kind of cool. It's so much more intimate and you're so much more closer to the fans. I enjoy playing all the different shows whether it's 500 people or 300 people instead of 10,000 people. It's the same excitement just a different surrounding.

Alina: And you don't mind it being really hot like it was at the four shows I went to?
Scott: Oh man, well, there's nothing you can do about it. I just got off the phone with a guy from Portland that went to the Portland and San Francisco show. I told him that the San Francisco show was one of the HOTTEST shows we've ever played. Well, for me anyway. No air, no circulation. Just tremendously… HOT. There are only a couple other shows I can remember being that hot. The main thing you remember about the shows is the heat. One of them was in southern Spain in 1999. I always take digital photos and I remember labeling a photo from there "103 degrees in Spain during soundcheck". I had shorts on and that's all. It was just tremendously hot. It was outside too. But of course that was during souncheck and at night it cooled off considerably so it wasn't too bad. But initially it was killer. At L'Amours in NY it was tremendously hot too. It fits probably about 1200. This one was also a show where people were outside waiting to get in because it was so packed. I started playing the show in long pants like I normally do and during Karl's solo, the first break I got, I ripped my pants off, put shorts on and pulled my hair back. I rarely do that, but when it's hot, forget it.

Alina: What is your favorite song to play live and what is the most difficult one?
Scott: Nothing is really "difficult" to play. My favorite song to play live I would have to say right now is Warriors of the World United because the response has just been incredible. It has that medium-tempo, driving arena beat and it really gets people pumped up. When we played at the Gods of Metal Festival a couple of weeks ago, I started out with the drums and Joey came in with the bass and the fans started singing the melody choir part of it loud enough to where we could hear it on stage. It was WAY cool.

Alina: And how did you like Gods of Metal?
Scott: Oh it was just fantastic… A great show. Milano is just a great city. We had a great time. We've played three times at Gods of Metal.

Alina: In a hundred years from now when you're dead, would you rather be hatefully remembered or totally forgotten?
Scott: Where do you come up with these questions?! Is there not a third choice? It's a cool question. You know the thing is is that I would never BE hatefully remembered because I'm to damned nice of a guy. I'd be "metally" remembered.

Alina: Is there any place you haven't played that you would like to?
Scott: Oh sure, some of the eastern countries. See the band has played in Japan but I wasn't in the band at the time, so I'd like to play there. Any place that would have us, really! Any of the countries that have a strong base of Manowar fans would be great to play.

Alina: How was it when you played Russia?
Scott: Oh it was fantastic. I'm Ukranian and it was my first time to Russia and I absolutely LOVED it. In Moscow we played a theater and it was sold out two nights in a row. The fans were some of the craziest and wildest fans I've ever seen. We had to stop the show at one point because the security guys were animals and they were actually wailing on some of the fans with clubs and we told them you don't do that to our fans and calm the fuck down. A lot of energy flowing that night. That was a really cool tour with Ronnie James Dio and Motorhead. It was billed as the Monsters of the Millenium tour. It was a lot of fun. We played countless times with Motorhead and we know them really well. And of course Joey and Ronnie and Eric are all really good friends and we hung out quite a bit.

Alina: If you could have one of your songs on a movie soundtrack, which one would it be and why?
Scott: How about "The March" from the new record. It is really soundtrack-ish that could be applied to many different films.

Alina: In the unlikely event that you have free time on the road, how do you like to spend it?
Scott: I like to take in the sights that are significant of the city or country we're in. I like to check out arts and culture of the existing countries whenever possible.

Alina: How did you like your short American tour that you just had?
Scott: That was a blast. Part of it we haven't played in two and a half years so it was great to get out and on the road again, having fun and bringing metal back again. 

Alina: Since you've done the first part of your European tour now, how was it?
Scott: The response, especially for the new record, has been overwhelming.