Thanks to Nick for the transcription
Live Jag Panzer pictures by by Ice
Maiden except Muscle car pic
and live pic of Chris Broderick courtesy of Century Media.
First
I want to talk about your new 2-CD album, Decade
of the nail spiked bat. The obvious question, and the one that
youīve no doubt been asked a lot, is: why the title? Where'd it come
from?
Well, its comes from the lyrics to the song "Licensed to
kill", which was the opening track for Ample
destruction. Actually, it was the only old song that we
consistently played all the time live throughout the whole bandīs career.
I think itīs in the first or second verse that Harry says "Feel the
nails of my baseball bat"
feel the nails or the spikes or
something! So we thought that would be a cool title.
And why "decade"? Itīs been more than a decade for the
band, right!?
Well, all the songs were written within a decade. Thatīs the part that
confuses everybody.
I assume the primary impetus for doing this has been the ongoing
problem with being able to re-release Ample
destruction. Or am I not assuming correctly?
Yeah, youīre assuming totally correctly. Had we been able to
re-release it, we probably wouldnīt have come out with this. I donīt
wanna lessen the quality of it by saying this, Iīm just being honest. Had
we been able to come out with that, we would never have done this.
Can you tell me a little bit about the song selection beyond the songs
from Ample
destruction?
That was kinda a lot tougher than I thought it was gonna be. We
actually asked all the band members to pick the setlist. So we got
everybodyīs lists and we all agreed on about 15 of them. The final five
though was kinda tough though. We basically couldnīt agree among the band
members so we asked anybody I could think of, fans or journalists or road
crew, we even asked people at the record company, "what songs do you
wanna hear"? So we finally got a consensus of all those people and
then we were able to come up with the last five. But we didnīt
necessarily pick our favorite songs. Thereīs a few songs there that I
donīt like at all but they have historical significance within the band
so we thought they should be on there.
So did the band have a bit of a vote, like every member said ok and
come to an agreement?
I told everybody to e-mail me their lists. Then I started asking people
"What do you think about doing this song?" because thatīs
something I want to do and I started to get a feel about what people
thought about some of these other tracks. But the first 15 were easy, you
know, there was a definite agreement on the first 15.
Was everybody, the band and your label, into doing this project from
the very beginning?
Yeah, I think the label were more into doing it than us. You know, it
was fun recording it and everything but itīs sort of a step backwards
creative wise to play something that you wrote that long ago. But once we
got into it, it was fun, so we didnīt regret it or anything. But itīs
certainly not like doing a new studio album.
What was it like to go back to some of the songs, was there any re-leaning
like "How did we play this?"
I ended up being pretty disappointed by how poorly we played back then.
I thought it would be pretty easy figuring out these songs. I though
"Iīll put the album on and weīll just play along". What I
found was a lot of mistakes on the old songs, terrible timing. Some of
them were so bad that I had to dig out old rehearsal tapes to refer to
them and try to figure out our intent. Like "Was it really supposed
to be hitting that note there, because itīs NOT the right note?" And
sometimes it ended up being a mistake on the album and at other times we
were playing the wrong note all the time.
So the wrong way became the right way?
Yeah!
In places in your liner notes of the album, you mention how
something about the original recording might have bothered you and that
now youīve been able to fix ( for lack of a better word) some of
the things and mistakes or whatever. You
mention for example a harmony guitar part for one of the songs...
Yeah.
So when you listen back to the originals now, do you cringe and want to
listen to your new re-recorder versions?
Yeah, some of the originals just have
Thereīs just a few parts of
them where I just go "What were we thinking?" or "How did
we possibly let that slide?" or "Why did we think that was
cool?". We fixed everything that really annoyed me.
Are you the type of person who actually can listen to your own
music? Or is it like once a year you can put it on out of interest?
Very few things I can listen to. I can really listen to Thane to
the throne. I can listen to that a LOT and I can really enjoy that.
Sometimes Mechanized warfare. And most of the other material,
no not really. Maybe one or two songs off The fourth judgement.
I canīt really get into listening to The age of mastery at
all and I donīt really listen to a lot of the older material. I donīt
really listen to the new one, "Spiked bat", much either.
Youīve heard enough already?
Yeah. I try to listen as a fan and try to detach myself from the
musician and if I was a fan, I think I would enjoy Thane
to the throne much more than any of the other ones.
Sound and production values for recordings have changed a lot since
some of this material has been recorded, obviously. So with that in mind,
did you try to capture somewhat of a retro or nostalgic feel on the album
overall?
Yeah, definitely. You know, the first thing we did initially was, we
thought "OK, letīs make these songs like new Jag Panzer songs".
But when we tried that, we really ended up changing almost the whole song
so really it was pointless. So plan B was trying to make it sound
like an 80īs recording, which was hard to do, because analogue
recording is really really expensive nowadays. Itīs this little niche
market and itīs way too expensive for us. So we had to use digital
technology to try and make it sound like an 80īs analogue recording. That
took a lot of trial and error to try and go for that.
And even the artwork, everything about it is nostalgic, I guess you
could say.
Yeah, yeah, we wanted every detail, even the way we did the photo, you
know, letīs do it with a classic muscle car because that was much more
common in the 80īs than it is now. The cover WAS done in the 80īs as
well.
Is the car owned by one of you guys?
No, thatīs owned by a friend of ours. Actually, he puts that car in
car shows and itīs worth a lot of money. I was really surprised that he
let us lean all around it for some photos.
The vocals on here seem to be a little lower in the mix than on some of
your recent studio albums. Was that deliberate or does that, to you,
represent what an older sounding record might be like?
Harry wanted to go in a little different direction with the mix. He
wanted it too be a little quieter and almost no effects, which is not the
way I would personally like to mix the vocals. But I think itīs really
cool that a vocalist would have enough confidence in his voice to go for
that, because that really makes your voice sound bare. Thatīs what he
wanted and it is different for us, so we thought "OK, letīs give it
a try". His voice will not be mixed that way on the next studio
record though.
How about the lead guitar situation? Did you tell Chris (Broderick)
to play it
like it was originally or did you just say "Do what you want"?
Definitely "Do what you want", because I looked back at the
leads Joey (Tafolla) was doing back then. Joey was really working to push
the limit and he was really working hard on doing some intense leads. That
was definitely the spirit of the lead guitar playing back then. It was
going all out and trying to do some cool impressive leads, so thatīs what
I told Chris to do, "Why donīt you just go all out and
play whatever you want? Play it really fast and just go for it!"
So he didnīt bother to try to learn any of the parts?
Naaah!
And in reference to that, has there been any feedback from Joey
regarding this recording?
I havenīt heard any really. We didnīt leave on anything close to good
terms so
I havenīt heard from him. Iīm not sure I would pick up the
phone if I saw his name on the caller ID. I really donīt have anything to
say to him.
Since "Decade" marks the 20th anniversary of the band, how do
you feel about how the music industry has changed over these 20 years,
specifically with metal's place in the industry and how it is now as
opposed to when you guys were a young band?
The industry always sucks. The industry is about so much more than the
music, which is unfortunate. Iīm not a big fan of the music industry
AT ALL. I think the Internet is a big change, but thatīs more of a change
I think from a fan point of view. From a fan point of view, itīs HUGE. I
can download songs and listen to any band I want, so thatīs great. But
from a performing musician's point of view I guess itīs kind of a pain
in the ass that people can just download your songs and burn copies of
your album. I guess I'm straying from the question! The actual music industry
still sucks. It sucked back then, it sucks today.
Does it suck as much today or does it suck a little less today?
I think it sucks MORE today. I donīt know, it might be because Iīm in
more of a position to see things and I know that "wow, if someone would
just motivate five percent more it would help me immensely" and
then you donīt see it happening. So my frustration level now is much
higher than it was back then.
What
plans exist so far for the next album. Do you have any
ideas on what direction it might take or anything else to share about it?
Weīre scheduled to go in the studio at the and of April now, with a
September release in mind. The direction it takes, I think
I havenīt
heard what Chris is working on yet, but I talk to him every week or so and
heīs told me his material is quite a bit faster, which is cool. Mine is
I guess the stuff Iīve been writing is a lot like the Mechanized
warfare material. Itīs sort of in the same vein.
Do you and Chris ever write together or doe you just do
your songs and bring them to the band and go over them together like that?
Yeah, we do it separately and bring it to the band. I donīt work well
writing with people, because I write my music in layers so I might have a
part where itīs just one guitar chord held for four bars while the bass
is doing something cool underneath or thereīs a vocal build up or
something. I have it all in my head, but when Iīm writing with somebody
and I say "OK, hereīs what Iīm doing there: one chord" and
like "WHAT? Youīre just gonna play one chord there? Letīs do
something different." So my song ideas, they tend not to
You
canīt really grasp them unless I do everything and I demo everything
myself. Then I present the whole demo and them people get what's going
on.
Do you demo with like drums and bass yourself?
Yeah, my initial songwriting is I demo everything. Then Iīll get Harry
involved and then it'll be us two and then we usually do another demo
with everybody before the final recording.
Do you use a drum machine for your own demo recordings?
Yeah. I can just do a basic beat, thatīs probably all Iīll ever
really need.
How many songs have you put together so far or has it gotten that far
yet?
It hasnīt gotten that far yet. I have a bunch of riffs down in the
computer. Iīll just plug my guitar in and lay anything down thatīs been
going through my head. Iīve got to put them together and sorta piece them
into songs and work on that. Iīm still really busy on the Iced Earth DVD so thatīs definitely taking up a lot of my time.
As for Jag Panzer, are the any plans for a live album or even better
yet, a pro-shot live DVD?
You know, I wanna do that. Itīs really totally in Century Mediaīs
court. I mean, weīre gonna be in Europe in September. Weīre gonna be
headlining. Weīre gonna go places where we draw fairly large crowds. So I
sent them a proposal thing, "Can we do a live album in Europe? We
should film it professionally." You know, I havenīt heard back,
which is not a good sign.
This September tour will be for the next album then?
Yeah, the next album will come. I think the idea is for the album to
come out right when the tour starts.
Will there by any other touring or just some festival things for
"The decade
" album?
Yeah, just some festival type things. We have the
I think itīs
called Sun N' Steel
I donīt know what itīs called, we have that
Florida festival next month.
Yeah, I saw the news item with that. Any other big things coming up in
terms of playing gigs?
No, I think thatīs it. Some of my other band mates are doing some gigs
with Ballistic. I donīt know if Chris might be doing things with other
people too, I donīt know.
In terms of all your albums, which one has been the most successful
commercially, and which one do you consider artistically to be the
greatest achievement?
The most commercially successful is
Mechanized warfare. In
fact, every album weīve done has been the most successful. Except for
this one, except for "The decade
", but we knew thatīs more
of a limited appeal thing. But among the studio releases, "Mechanized
"
is absolutely the biggest seller. Artistically I gotta go with Thane
to the throne I think. We did a lot of really creative things there.
I think theyīre real subtle, a lot of people donīt pick up on that they
are there. I really like that record a lot.
What happened to the live EP? There was some talk about it
earlier...King Fowley has a label and he was supposed to release a live
EP?!
Yeah we wanted to. King asked "You guys wanna do a live ep?"
and I said "Sure", but I told him I didnīt think Century Media
would go for it. I asked Century Media and they said "Yeah, thatīll
be no problem, you can do it". And then some people changed at the
label and you get new people in and new ideas. Then Century Media backed
out of that and said "You gotta do a record on the label youīre
signed to."
And you canīt dictate that you want your next album to be live as
opposed to a studio album can you?
No, I wish I could. I donīt have that kinda pull.
You just mentioned a second ago about Ballistic. It was just recently
reported that Harry has actually joined the band. Iīm just wondering how
you feel about that and do you think it will have any impact on what Jag
Panzer is able to do or anything?
I actually try to really push my band members to do as much stuff like
that as possible. Like Rikardīs (Stjernquist) double bass which was
really good to begin with I think, is just outstanding now from doing
Ballistic, which is like double bass all the time. And just any experience
for Harry
Iīve noticed that Harryīs a different singer with Jag
Panzer. Heīs gotten stronger just because he was doing his Iron Maiden
tribute band. So he could do it in a tribute band, so I kept trying to
push him to do something else just so he can keep singing all the time. So
I think this will be really good for him. He really needs to sing a lot,
it really helps his voice.
Approximately how much downtime do you think the band has for a year,
when youīre not either writing or thinking about the next album or tour
for Jag Panzer?
Oh, itīs probably a ton. Ten months. Cause weīre usually in the
studio a month and we tour a month and the rest of the time
I need the
rest of the time to write songs and to do things. So if the other guys are
doing side projects, thatīs great. I mean, theyīre not calling me up
saying "Whatīs going on? How come nothing is going on? When are we
gonna hear a song? Complain, complain, complain!"
What is up - or what is NOT up - with jagpanzer.com? That site hasnīt
been updated a whole lot.
Thereīs actually a whole new site that was done by a guy named Zac
Schaffer. Heīs no relation to Jon Schaffer, just has the same last name
really. A very talented artist out of Los Angeles. Heīs about 95 percent
done with the completely new version of the website. Iīve got to send him
a few more things and then heīll get it up. So itīs actually my fault
that itīs not up now. Thereīs a few pieces of art so once I get him
that, and heīs certainly getting it this week, then that will be up and
you will be able to buy Jag Panzer shirts from our website then.
Will you be selling the longsleeve with the JP symbol on it?!?
Thereīs actually a new version of that. Itīs really, really
Itīs
the same kinda shirt but
Itīs hard to describe, itīs better looking.
Itīs really close to the same thing but itīs better looking now.
Is it still white on black or is it full colour?
Itīs black with white. Itīs got the sickle but itīs sorta in a
circle now and itīs log the logo around in the circle. We also did red
shirts like that but Iīm still not sure if I can sell them because the
colour scheme is a little Third Reich looking. I know a lot of musicians
and bands so Iīve been asking a lot of people "What do you think
about these shirts?" They look really cool and itīs tough because
Iīm getting half and half responses. Some people tell me, you know,
"You canīt sell a shirt like that! Itīs black, white and red and
itīs got the insignia. You canīt do it!" And other people tell me,
"Thatīs a JP sickle, thatīs not a swastika. Who cares if the colour
scheme's the same?" So I donīt know. Iīve got a box of those in my
basement that hasn't gone anywhere.
Have you ever gotten any flak as a result of
You brought up the
shirts looking kinda Third Reich, and I know Jag Panzer is from the name
of the German
tank used in WWII... So has anyone ever said you guys, you know
Yeah, actually I get about one a month. Sometimes I get
letters from guys going "Are you a skinhead band?" and "Are
you this kinda band?" No, weīre not. And sometimes I get the
opposite one, I get "How can you guys name your name after a Nazi
tank?" Itīs a tank, I donīt think itīs like a Nazi tank, itīs
just a tank!
The tank itself isnīt a Nazi?
Yeah. I mean if Al-Qaida gets some AK-47:s they donīt all of a sudden
become Al-Qaida rifles. I mean, itīs just a tank!
Are you a bit of a history buff or anything?
Yeah, actually Iīm really into that.
World War II or any specific period?
Any period. I just find it really interesting. I thought it was
interesting in school but they didnīt teach enough of it so I tried to
keep up a little bit on it. I mean, I know some people who are just
experts on it. Iīm nowhere near that but I know basic amounts of it I
guess. I do enjoy it.
Iīm a bit of a WWII history nut. I love movies and books about
that stuff. The European version of world war II anyway. I donīt read so
much about the Pacific and the Japanese.
Yeah, it almost seems like a different war.
Yeah, in a way it is....so what else do I have here? You
were talking about the DVD, I want to ask you a couple of questions about
that. Youīre working on the Iced Earth DVD. Do you have your
own company now for doing DVDs or something?
Well, I sort of do I guess. Itīs weird because the past few
years my nameīs been getting around here in Colorado and companies have
been calling me and having me do video stuff without me having an ad or a
business card or anything. Iīll just get a call like "I saw this
presentation that you put together for this company and we want this. Can
you do something else?" So itīs been sort of growing and getting
more elaborate in all the work Iīve been doing. But at the same time my
wife decided she wanted to stay home since we got the two young twins. So
she decided she didnīt want to work anymore. Well, that lasted for a
little while, a month, and then "I wanna do something" and I
said, "Ok, why donīt YOU start in the videography business?"
She said, "I donīt wanna do that kinda stuff you do." She said,
"Iīd like to do weddings and stuff like that." I said,
"OK, you do weddings." She actually has a wedding videography
company with a full website and business cards and promotional material, I
mean, sheīs got all that stuff. So sheīs busier than I am with that, sheīs doing weddings every weekend and everything. But I do
my own thing, like the Iced Earth DVD, using all the same equipment and
everything. Itīs just
I hope Iīm making sense, since it really
confuses ME sometimes!
Yeah, so the Iced Earth DVD, I know this is not an Iced Earth interview, but
youīre the guy working on it, so perhaps just for the people who do like
Iced Earth, which is probably many a Jag Panzer fan
How far along
is it and what kinda stuff are you putting into it?
Itīs real historical.
Itīs called "Gettysburg" is it?
Yeah. The beginning of the piece is sort of a lead up to Gettysburg, as
is the song on The glorious burden. Itīs in three parts and
the initial part is the lead up. Jon wanted the whole piece to be lots of
history and lots of things so the viewers increase their interest in
Gettysburg and want to learn about it. So thatīs the direction the
videoīs going. You know, youīre not gonna see the band playing live for
20 minutes and the whole thing. Itīs a lot of maps and documents and old
photos. But it has a metal edge to it, it doesnīt quite look like
something on the History Channel. Itīs a LOT of work though. Iīve got
seven computers networked to handle this stuff. Iīve got 1.5 terabytes of
video going on for the Iced Earth.
Are you able to back that up?
I have backups of the stuff that makes the final cut. Iīve just been
working on the stainless banner, the white version of the Confederate
flag. Iīll do like 20 minutes of it from different angles and just the
whole look and everything and ten seconds might make the final video. So
those ten seconds will be backed up.
How are you able to swing working with Jag Panzer and the DVD? How
many hours are in your day?
I work from 5 AM to 10 PM. Every day.
Wow, brutal! You gonna be burnt out in a few years or what?
Probably. Yeah, I havenīt been to a movie theater in a year with the
exception of "Return of the King". Other than that I havenīt
been to a theater, I donīt really go out to eat, I donīt really do anything
fun
Doing "Gettysburg" was fun, that was really cool, but
thatīs work too. I wonīt keep this pace up once the DVDīs done. Really
itīs a double DVD set, so thereīs a lot to it.
Do you know how much the running time will be roughly?
Itīs gonna be close to four hours. Thereīs a guided tour where Jon
Schaffer takes you all around Gettysburg and talks about his experiences
on the whole tour there. Thereīs also and interview with Jon with some
tough questions and he gives a straight answer to everything. Thereīs the
"Gettysburg" video and the other videos are gonna be on there.
I also noticed that you were working on some guitar instructional
DVDs.
Yes.
Can you tell me a bit about it, like who decided the content and are
you filming it and doing editing and are you releasing this yourself...etcetera?
It comes out of sort of a need I had myself. I bought all the guitar
instructional videos in the 80īs. And almost all of them sucked! Theyīre
great players, I mean, the musicianship is fantastic, but so many of them
were like "Look at me now! Look at this fast lick!" Either that
or they would say, you know, "Here, Iīm gonna teach you how to play
this song I wrote." And it was useless for someone like me, who knew
how to play the guitar already. I wasnīt a beginner by any stretch, but I
wanted to get better. I didnīt really like any of those.
So I just had in my head for years that all these instructional things
suck. And one day I actually had a client for a video that had taken
lessons from Chris. And this guy was a good musician, heīs a good guitar
player and heīs telling me that his playing just got taken to the next
level just from lessons with Chris. Coincidentally I ran into this other
guy a week later. "I was taking guitar lessons from one of your old
guitar players, Christian, and my playing just got so much better."
So I talked to both, I talked to Chris in the band and I talked to Christian
Lesegue and I asked them about their teaching techniques and what they
teach and it was really impressive. These guys are both full time
teachers. Theyīre very knowledgeable about music and it sounded like they
really had a lot to off so after I did the Jag Panzer DVD I had a
handle on how much it costs to do a DVD since I was involved with the
production and everything. I talked to both those guys and said "Do
you want to do an instructional DVD?" I did some market research just
to see. I just cared that I wasnīt gonna LOSE any money and it doesnīt
look like I will. I think we film the first one next month. Itīs gonna be
good though!
Which one is the first one?
Chris Broderickīs. Your playing will get better from this DVD. Total
instruction!
Are you gonna be selling them just through the Jag
Panzer site or though Century Media?
Century Media probably will not be interested in this. Iīll sell it on
the Jag Panzer site and Iīll probably set up another site. I think Chris
has reserved chrisbroderick.com. I think so, he just left a message saying
"I reserved a website." Itīs just an assumption that itīs
chrisbroderick.com. But itīll be available as an online order.
Some of the sections on your DVD showed Chris playing guitar if I
remember correctly.
Yeah, that was actually pretty popular. I got a lot of e-mail from
people who really liked that.
I remember watching it and just saying "wow!" You
sometimes donīt
realize how good someone is sometimes until you hear them alone, whether
it be singing, guitar playing, etc.
Yeah, and that was just setting up the camera and having him play.
It wasnīt an instructional
No!
That would have been like the ones from the 80īs that you mentioned
earlier
Yeah, actually it wouldda been.
Have you worked with any other bands or people for recording or
producing? Or is that something you want to get into, or I
guess maybe itīs a better question to ask: Do you even have the time?
I would actually probably suck at that. My whole vision of the way a
song should sound and everything, itīs pretty much exactly what Jag
Panzer does. Even other peopleīs music that I like, that Iīm really into
and I really like the song, thereīs always parts where Iīm going
"Nah, I donīt think I would of done that there!" or "I
would of changed that". But if all those changes were there, it would
have ended up sounding like a Jag Panzer song. Thatīs really a bad trait
to have as a producer, so I would be terrible. So if youīre reading this,
bands, donīt you ask me, it would be bad!
Do you guys use Protools and do you think they have allowed some bands
who perhaps donīt have the talent to properly record an album now be able
to? Or has Protools got a bad rap? Because I know a lot of people have a
lot of negative things to say about it but it seems to be a way to get to
the end point a lot quicker.
Iīd say itīs a great tool. I personally donīt have it, because I got
spoiled by Jim Morrisīs Protools setup, which is just a totally maxed
out, completely high-end Proverse and Protools which costs like 50,000
bucks. Iīve played around with more of the regular versions and I keep
wanting the really expensive one that I canīt afford. So I donīt have
it, but we use it. The last few albums weīve done with Protools. Yeah I
think itīs
a lot of bands use Protools probably the wrong way. You can
certainly cheat with it, cut and paste your bass drums and make it sound
like youīve got monster double bass chops. Thatīs probably not right.
That was the cool thing in the 80īs, you really had to get your chops out
to get an album out. Because it was so expensive to record, there was
really no way to cheat on the drums. So your really had to practice and
you really had to have it together before you even attempt an album.
Thatīs less today, today it you get something, you can edit it and piece
it together to make a record.
Sometimes a band might not be able to play their technical riff more
than one time through without screwing it up so now thanks to a program
like that I guess they can get it down once and repeat it ten times.
Yeah, Iīve seen bands where - I donīt mean this as a general
statement, but I really have seen bands where three fourths of the song is
prerecorded. I donīt know, the only thing that comes to my mind is
"You canīt play that part." You know, "Why do you have a
keyboard player on stage when that really cool and fast keyboard part on
the album is prerecorded?" So there are examples of bands who are
using the technology wrong, at least in my opinion. But they probably sell
more records than Jag Panzer, so theyīd probably tell me Iīm wrong.
Well you know, if you want to go by albums sales then you could say
that Britney Spears is very right. It isnīt always what sells.
Thatīs true. I donīt even like it when any bands at any level use
their sales to make any kind of point. Itīs totally meaningless to me.
In terms of people who inspired you to
Can you, like a lot of guitar
players, say, itīs a bit of a cliché, "Thanks to Ace Frehley Iīm in
a metal band", you hear that a hundred times. Is there anyone you can
point out yourself and say "Thanks to this guy or this band, Iīm
still doing this today"?
When I was really really young it was definitely Jimmy Page, because he
had that whole guitar hero image and Zeppelin with that dark mysterious
side to them. When I started playing guitar and going to shows a lot it
was probably Ted Nugent because his attitude and everything on stage was
so cool. It was so wild and he was just getting off at the wild noises out
of his guitar and the feedback
I just went crazy, I was just shocked.
So those would be the main to that got you started?
Yeah, I think so. I saw Ted when I was like 16 at a big festival and I
was right up front, I just went "yeeeeah!"
Was that how old you were when you got into the guitar, around 16?
Yeah, I picked it up when I was like 15 and a half. It got serious when
I was 16.
And you never tried or bothered to play much lead, you mainly wanted to
stick with rhythms?
I played lead on four of the Ample destruction songs and
all the "Tyrantīs EP" songs. It just takes so much time to get
to that level and Iīd rather spend the time writing songs.
Do you practice leads at all or when you do practice itīs
writing riffs or something like that?
Yeah, I donīt practice it at all. Itīs a different mindset and a
different approach. I think I could become probably a respectable average
metal lead guitarist in about a year if I really tried to. Thereīs no
way I could get to be like Chris, but I donīt think Iīd embarrass myself
by any means. I think I could play, but itīs just so far down my list of
things to do.
Sitting there and playing a scale for three hours straight to get it
fast is not your idea of fun or a lot of peopleīs, I guess.
Right.
I guess my last question would be: What do you think Colorado
Avalacheīs chances are of winning the Stanley Cup this year? And if they
do win, will you be recording another tribute?
Their chances are pretty much a hundred percent. At any time they lose
a game, I usually just chalk it up as extreme luck by the other team. Iīm
like the most optimistic Avalanche fan in the whole world. I really see no
problems winning the Stanley Cup. Doing another song is probably not gonna
happen because the timing is so bad. Weīve got the new studio album
coming up so itīs not like weīre gonna have any free time to do that.
When we do something like that, I gotta drive the project almost a hundred
percent, because no one else is into this. I guess they think itīs cool if
thereīs a parade in Denver and they can go check it out or something, but
I donīt think any of them could name five guys on the Avalanche. Rikard
maybe, but no one else.
Youīre a die-hard follower of the team!?
Oh yeah! I think itīs cool. But I would have to do everything and
probably drag everybody into it, so I donīt think itīs gonna happen.
I know that youīve done a couple of songs like that, that youīve
released online. You also did a really cool cover of "The Wreck of
the Edmund Fitzgerald". Is there any other things coming up that youīve been hoping to do or hoping to find time to do?
Yeah, "A Badtime story" from Skyclad, I love that song and I
really really think we could do a killer version. Not that their version
Their version is fantastic, I mean, thereīs nothing wrong with their
version, itīs great. The violin in that song and the whole approach to
the song is really similar to what we do even though that song sounds
nothing like Jag Panzer. It just has some elements that I can really
identify with. I wanted to do it on the next album but everyone else in
the band is not really into that idea. I can go with that. So maybe in the
future when we get some more time, thatīs something weīll do.
What have you been listening to lately? Any new bands or have you
been listening a lot to the staples?
Itīs almost all been The glorious burden. I think itīs a
fantastic album so itīs like Iīm listening to it half for my enjoyment
and the other half because itīs a project that Iīm working on. Thatīs
probably just it, just "The glorious burden".
There hasnīt been any new bands in the past year or so that you heard
and has really caught your ear?
Well, Rikard gave me a CD with one of the older Lullacry albums,
"Be my god", and I love it. I think itīs really really cool.
Except I donīt have it, I have a burned copy of it. Seriously, thatīs
the only burned copy of an album that I own. I told century that, I talked to him last week. I said, "Can you, like,
get me this album? Because I have a burned copy and I feel kinda creepy
having that, because itīs the only one I have." I havenīt seen it
yet in the mail. I tried buying it from them before and they kept trying to
push the new Lullacry on me and I said "I donīt know if I like the
new one, I wanna buy this old one." "You donīt have to buy
it." "But I want it, how can I get it?" So itīs like a
catch 22. They tell you you donīt have to buy it, then that means you
have to wait till they give it to you and they never get around to giving
it to you. Then you never get it.
Label: www.centurymedia.com
Band: www.jagpanzer.com
