???
1. What's Logar (both band and character) doing at this moment ?
Christoph:
Character: Logar is waiting to be played again, cause the work with the band takes very much time and Steven has paused to play him for some time. But be assured that he wrote down several adventures already.
Band: We are about to finish the songwriting process now. About 80 % of the songs are finished. And it looks like we´re going to start the recordings in late January, so that the CD will be released during the first half of the year, hopefully…!
Besides that we are rehearsing very much to be able to play the new songs in a professional way.
2. Tell me something obut the new Logar's Diary album.
Christoph: The next CD will be called “Book II: The forgotten City”. It will contain about 14 songs and will tell another tale of Logar. The release date is set to the first half of 2003, it will be published this time by a record label and at the moment we are negotiating about the distribution…! Musically I think we have developed a lot. We didn´t change the style, but we did much more orchestral parts this time, but without forgetting the Metal parts! We are still a Mertal band, but we wanted to integrate the orchestra in the Metal sound. It should stand united; not just Metal-part-orchestra-part-Metal part… it shall be one sound! Let´s see if it will work!
3. Can you reveal some of the story for the second album.
Christoph: Well, the next story plays in a special city in Barsaive, called Palainth. It has a very special architecture and history, so some songs are just to describe the city. The whole adventure will take place there, so it is very important for the listener to know everything about Palainth. Details can´t be told yet, but it will be another typical fantasy tale in the Earthdawn universe.
4. Do you think that maybe conceptual albums will prevent Logar of becoming a very popular band. There is audience that likes to identify with the songs that become like hymns to them. Some bands singing about life, like Manowar for instance, have many fans becouse of that.
Christoph: Maybe you´re right. But I can pick other examples which will prove you wrong: Choose Blind Guardian or Helloween. They both don´t have so many “real” lyrics. Blind Guardian mostly write fantasy lyrics. Sometimes also a band has to be on the right place in the right time…!
I think most important for a band to become successful is to write very good songs with a unique touch. And the basic for this is to be true to youreslf and to stand out of the masses. We are both. We play just the music we love, no compromises, and with our limitation to the Earthdawn universe and the conceptional stuff we get somehow a unique identity, which helps us to stand out of the enormous number of other Power Metal bands. Now the only thing we have to do is write very good songs, but that seems to be the most difficult part.
Marko: I think these two don’t prove anything... Helloween DO have songs about life... remember I Want Out, Judas, Chance, Eagle Fly Free... some love songs also... And Blind Guardian used great popularity of Tolkien. NIME was bought by both, Metal & Tolkien fans... It’s not my fav, but it was an album of great importance in their career...
Christoph: Blind Guardian were also very popular before the release of NIME. They sold very good with “Tales from the twilight world” and “Somewehere far beyond” and there they didn´t take advantage of the Tolkien-stuff; and Helloween were also very unique in their time. They were the only band playing this sort of Metal in this time and I believe they could also have sung about shit, they would have become successful in any way, just because of their music! (And sometimes they sang about bullshit, remember “Rise and fall”?!?)
But you asked whether our limitation will prevent us from becoming a popular band and the answer is definitely no! And fans who are playing RPGs can identify with our lyrics as well…!
5. What about Logar's gigs ? Whats your favourite ? Did you play with some other well known bands ?
Christoph: We just did two gigs so far. The first one was the release party to the first CD and the second one was a small festival with bands like White Skull and Wizard. Both were very good in my opininion, with lots of mistakes but also very much power and dedication! The fans loved it! After the release of the next CD we will try to get some more experineces in playing live.
Marko: Only Two?!?! Why?? Was it because of the problems you had with finding a drummer?? Who played drums on that promotion/release party you made(before you found Stefan)??
Christoph: Yes, just two gigs because of the problem with the drummer. The release party was done a year after the official release of the CD, so Stefan was there! We played the whole first CD, Ti´An as an acoustic song with piano and five voices, and two cover songs: “Metal Warriors” from Manowar and “Riding the Storm” from Running Wild.
6. How often do you play Earthdawn? I know that Logar is played by Steven but what about other band members? Tell me something about their characters. Who's GM(hehehehe)?
Christoph : Well, difficult question. We never played together so far, just Steven and Felix played together
sometimes. I (Christoph) am not playing Earthdawn. I play “DSA” (“Das schwarze Auge”), it´s the most
known RPG in Germany. Felix doesn´t play very often anymore, cause he works too much, hehe…!
Same with me
Stefan is playing mostly live-RPGs. And Micha and Hagen aren´t playing RPGs too often. I can tell you
only about my characters, cause that´s the only thing I know for sure. My main character is a priest/thief.
I don´t like elves or dwarves or fighters or magicians. I like the guys who look ordinary in the first view,
but are able to reveal many secrets. If you´re underestimated by your opponent, you will most likely win,
that´s my RPG-philosophy.
7. In your opinion what's the best conceptional metal
album ever?
Christoph: Tough one! The best conceptional song is “Keeper of the seven keys” from Helloween,
but the best conceptional album??? Maybe the Rhapsody-CDs? But I don´t like their lyrics. They´re
too hard to follow. Maybe Blind Guardian´s “Nightfall in Middle Earth”? But I don´t like all songs on it. Maybe
Scanner´s “Hypertrace” or “Mental Reservation”? But on “Hypertrace” the songs were mixed up. Maybe
Freternia´s “A Nightmare story”? I guess there are some real good conceptional albums, maybe that´s why
we chose to do also some ;-)
It´s much more thrilling to listen to one song, when the lyrics fit to it and the music describes the scene the lyrics tell.
Like in “In silence they march” from Crystal Eyes or “Agony and ecstasy in eight parts” by Manowar.
8. What do you think about mp3 ? Did it help you,
knowing that you was an unsigned band ?
Christoph: I think MP3s are like most things in life a very strong thing, depending on how you use it. They
can help a young band to be discovered by new fans, and they can also prevent a CD of some well known
band from being bought by the fans. I personally like CDs with music on it more than just MP3s, cause they
are somehow unpersonal, if you know what I mean.
9. As the musicians, how do you see yourselves ? Are
you a "self taughts" or musicians with education ?
Christoph: We all had once educations, but most things we taught ourselves. If you don´t like to play and
discover new things, you are no musician. But we know that we have to improve a lot to be able to compete
with other bands. And we will do that! But on the other hand there will always be someone who is better than
you, so my personal goal is to be able to play our songs the way we want.
10. Do you have a musical role models ? I know when I
saw David Shankle (ex-Manowar guitar player) on some
gig i have recorded, the first thing i thought
was: "Oh god, I just have to play like that !"
Christoph: No, I personally don´t like idols. I mean I don´t need them. I set my own goals and dream of developing
myself instead of trying to be like x or z.
11. Did Logar change your lives a lot ?
Christoph: Well, it gave our lives a new direction, so I guess the answer is “yes”. Felix and I are mostly working
for everything concerning the band, but the others also have their stuff to do. I think Logar didn´t change me as a
person, but it changed the style I live and the paths I chose during the last years.
12. Do you have anything special to say to the Serbian
fans ? Have you heard anything about Serbia (and
Yugoslavia) except war stories or sport news ?
Christoph: I want to send a big hello to all Serbian fans. I know you had tough times during the last years and I
really hope that the rest of the world will learn something from the experiences you had to make.
Unfortunately I don´t know anything else about Serbia than war stories and sport news… L
Interview by Marko
