Interview With Mystery Blue
Interview By Anders Sandvall
Thanks to the band for the promo pictures!
Here is an interview with Frenzy, Nathalie & Vince from Mystery Blue about their newly
released fourth album and some questions about the band in general.
Would you please like to tell us a bit about the band for the readers who don’t
know who you are?
FRENZY- The history of Mystery Blue goes back to the eighties when I created the band
with some friends. In 1984, we released our first album “Mystery Blue” (Axe
Killer Records) and a second one in 1986 called “Circle Of Shame” (Dream
Records). In these years, we toured a lot in France, Germany and Belgium, and supported
bands like Motörhead, Def Leppard and Saxon. The album “Spirit Of Your Song”
came out in 1998, after a few years break and a line-up change.
NATHALIE- The band is now composed of Frenzy, the guitar player and founder of the
band; Dany, our "crazy" bass player; ex Thrasher Vince on drums and me,
Nathalie, on vocals, keyboards & didgeridoo.
You started out back in -84 has it been a lot of member changing along through the
years? Why was it such a gap between the release of the second and the third album?
FRENZY- In the late 80s, when we were about to release our 3rd album, our manager had
suddenly “lost” all the money for the promotion… some of the members
didn’t resist… and after a few line-up changes the band finally collapsed around
1989. But as I never gave up the idea of reforming the band which has always been the
project of my life, I kept on struggling to find the right musicians for a few years. Then
I finally recruited Ricky (drums) and Nathalie in 1995, Dany (bass) joining in 96. So
after 2 years of composition and concerts, the album “Spirit Of Your Song” came
out in 1998. After this CD we were looking for a more “powerful” drummer and met
Vince who was perfectly fitting to our music.
On what label are you signed on right now? How many labels have you been signed on
since you started?
On what label are you signed on right now? How many labels have you been signed on
since you started?
NATHALIE- We produced this album and the previous one through a label called “Road
Show Productions” which has been created to promote Mystery Blue. The first Mystery
Blue album was released by Axe Killer Records and the second by Dream Records.
There is only one original member left, what happened with the other guys from the
original line up?
FRENZY- Some of them gave it a chance in another band and others simply banished music
from their life (what I will never be able to understand!).
I’ve never heard about you before, are you famous in you home country of
France?
VINCE- Famous? Not yet. It’s not the word, but with the new album things may
change a bit…
FRENZY- Like lots of French bands, Mystery Blue had been famous in the 80s. But now we
have to rebuild our status…and we are ready for it!
Are you big in the rest of the world?
VINCE- I don’t think so, but again, “Metal Slaves” will conquer the
entire world, are you prepared for that?
NATHALIE- Well, we already have very good reviews from all around the world, it may be
a sign…
I think you plays genuine 80’s heavy metal, how do you comment that?
VINCE- Yeah, you can call it like that if you want (we are indeed fans of Judas Priest,
Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, Accept, Saxon…). In fact we are playing the music we love
above all, but we’re not stuck in the 80s … well, maybe you would say
Hammerfall, Cage, Rawhead Rexx, Paragon or Primal Fear are playing 80s Heavy Metal too? In
this case, yes we are.
FRENZY- We just play the music we like to play, that’s our style! And I think it
would be really stupid to change our style to follow any fashion of the moment.
How would you describe what kind of music you play?
VINCE- We are playing Heavy Metal/Power Metal with a fabulous female singer!
Is this a steady line up that you have now?
VINCE- We hope so! We have been together now for 5 years, and I think we are quite a
good crew.
Why did you choose to have a female singer?
FRENZY- We were not looking for a female singer, but just for a GOOD singer,
that’s it!!
Do you think that you have developed musically through the years? In that case how?
VINCE- Well, now we’ve found the perfect line-up for Mystery Blue, I think we have
gained more unity in the last years and a real band identity with our own style.
Have you done a lot of gigs in France? Have you done any shows outside France?
FRENZY- Yes, we’ve played many gigs in France, Belgium and Germany (and hope to do
many, many more!) and have opened for great acts like Saxon, Motörhead, Def Leppard and
more recently Girlschool and Rock Bitch.
When is your new album “Metal Slaves” going to be released? Is it going to
be released worldwide?
NATHALIE- “Metal Slaves” has just come out a few weeks ago and it has started
to be played on Metal radios. You can already find some distributors on our Web Site
(www.mysteryblue.com) and we will sure add many more in the coming weeks.
How long did it take to record the album?
NATHALIE- We have produced this album in a very short time, as we had prepared it very
carefully before hand (a lot of rehearsing, arranging, recording of demo tapes). It took
us 8 days for the recording and 10 days for the mix and mastering.
Why did you choose to call it “Metal Slaves” does it have a special
meaning to you? If so what?
VINCE- Metal is our master, so we are Metal Slaves!
FRENZY- I think it was really time to dedicate an album to this music. Heavy Metal
rules in the heart of so many people around the world for such a long time …we just
live for Metal music, it’s running in our veins!!
Have you written all the music/lyrics together?
FRENZY- Yes, it usually starts with a guitar riff on which Vince puts a cool rhythm and
Dany adds a bass line. Nathalie then puts her voice on top, except when she already has an
idea for a chorus or a verse (then we have to adapt to her melody). She’s the one
writing all lyrics, but sometimes we propose her subjects we would like to be developed in
the songs.
Are the lyrics about anything special?
NATHALIE-I can make a little summary of “Metal Slaves” if you like:
“Slave To Blood” is a strange story of somebody waking up near a dead body,
seeing blood on his hands but not remembering having killed this person…
“S.T.A.G.E.”, like its title suggests, describes the feelings we may have
about being on stage.
“Dark Visions” is about a subject which is very important to me: pollution
and climate change.
“Metal Dream” is a kind of naďve song: it’s a dream we all had as
teenagers (perhaps we still are…) to live in a world without fights and war, and
where everybody would enjoy listening to cool music!
“Angel” tells the story of a good guy gone bad because of the negative
reactions/actions of the people towards him… it’s part of our everyday life.
“Roller Coaster Ride” expresses the way you can feel so high at one moment
and so low at another, just like if life was a big roller coaster ride!
“Desolation” and “Land Of No Return” take place in a desert world
where only monsters seem to have survived (maybe after the bomb…).
“Silent Whisper” expresses all the distress of people fighting against
illness and pain, this song is charged with strong emotions that everybody can feel.
“Cry Out” is a story about somebody facing a very difficult period in his
life, fighting against demons like drugs or alcohol and crying desperately for help…
Why did you record the album in Germany and not in France?
FRENZY- We were looking for a more powerful and more Heavy sound and we found it there!
NATHALIE- Germany is very practical for us because we are just living on the border and
they really have great technicians.
Who is your favourite song on the album?
FRENZY- I really can’t decide, each song has its personality and its story behind
it and I just love them all.
How was it to produce the album by yourself? Have you produced anything else before?
FRENZY- It was really interesting for us to produce the album from the beginning to the
end…and I think we weren’t too bad… We had already made a try on the
previous album “Spirit Of Your Song”, but it was in a French studio and the
result was not really what we had expected. That’s why we have chosen to record
“Metal Slaves” in Germany.
How has the reaction been from the fans on the album?
FRENZY- Oh, the first reactions are really hot!!!
Are you going to tour anything on the new album? If so when and where?
FRENZY- We plan to tour as much as possible in all places we can find in order to
promote this CD properly (we are slaves to “Metal Slaves”!!)
How do you think the market looks for genuine 80’s heavy metal today?
VINCE- We don’t care about the market. We are playing with passion a music that
comes from the heart & the guts, and we know that there will always be people
listening to that kind of real true music… and as we see the crowd is growing and
growing… HEAVY METAL WILL NEVER DIE!!
I don’t think the intro to the album fits in to the rest of the album in terms
of style and genre, why have you decided to put that on the album? Does the intro have a
special meaning to you guys?
FRENZY- For me it’s not really an intro. It’s rather a short song with a lot
of feeling describing the human race as an alien invading the earth and spoiling all its
resources… and we found it cool to mix this beautiful mystic sound of the didgeridoo
played by Nathalie with screaming Metal guitars!
I think that Frenzy/Vince impresses a lot, the only one I think is a bit weaker is
Nathalie, she has a tendency to be a bit “screamish” when she takes on the high
notes, it works better when she sings ordinary, what is you comment on that?
VINCE- Thanks, but I must say I’m a bit surprised about your judgment
concerning
our singer. Actually, Nathalie is one of the best Metal singer (male included), she can
sing everything and she’s not afraid to sing “risky” parts, you should
see/hear her live!
FRENZY- When I read all those great reviews of “Metal Slaves” I can only say
that most of the people find Nathalie’s voice fantastic, and if some of you
don’t like it…well it’s just a question of taste, and we all know that a
female singer in a Heavy Metal band may be hard to accept…
Are you satisfied with the cover on the new album? Have you design it yourself?
VINCE- Yes completely. It has the perfect Metal spirit and reflects very well the music
we are playing. When you see the cover, you know instantly what you will get,
don’t’ you?
FRENZY- For me it’s really a good cover, simply showing who we are!
How does the future looks like for Mystery Blue? What are your plans for the rest of
2003-04?
VINCE- We wanna play in every place, every country, have as many concerts as possible
and release a new album in 2004 (we’ve already composed some brand new songs).
Is there anything you would like to say to the readers of metal-rules.com?
FRENZY- Thanks for your interest and never give up the faith in Heavy Metaaaaaaaaal!!!
Thanks for taking the time to answering my questions.
VINCE- Thank you very much Anders for promoting this music so dear to our hearts!
Band Website: www.mysteryblue.com