Emerald
If you have never heard
the name EMERALD, then is more than sure that you are not in epic heavy
metal genre. This band has a cult status in the underground and it has
released 3 quality albums of this genre. With Michael we are friends for
a long time and I consider this more as a chat between friends than an
interview. So come along and join our company...
1.SO, WHAT HAPPENED TO EMERALD FROM "CALLING
THE
KNIGHTS" TILL THE RELEASE OF "FORCES OF DOOM"?
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Well, we signed a record deal with the German
label "Shark Records / Crazy Life Music". They rereleased "Calling The
Knights" in Europe and in South America through Rock Brigade Records. And
we played at the Headbanger's Open Air 2003 in Germany. That was a very
important concert for us. We met many fans and friends there and the concert
was a huge success for the band. So it gave us also a lot of motivation
for the future. After that highlight, we recorded in Bochum, Germany, our
third album "Forces Of Doom".
2.FROM THE VERY FIRST HEARING OF THE CD YOU GAVE
ME
THE IMPRESSION THAT YOU ARE MORE DETERMINED
AND YOU HAVE A BETTER AND CLEARER VISION OF YOUR MUSICAL DIRECTION. I THINK
THAT YOUR PERSONAL TOUCH AND STIGMA HAS STARTED COMING TO THE SURFACE.
DO YOU AGREE? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? WAS IT A WILLING OR A SUBCONSCIOUS DIRECTION?
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Well I think a bit of both. It's already our third
album, so we have a lot more experience now than in the past. When we write
new songs, we know what we want and what does fit to Emerald's style. Our
fans tell us at the concerts and in e-mails which songs they like and through
that we get a good confirmation that we are going the right way with the
band. The most important thing for us is that Emerald will never follow
any trends. We play our music from the heart and don't give a fuck about
today's musical trends.
3.WHERE WAS THE ALBUM RECORDED? WHO HELPED YOU
WITH THE PRODUCTION? IT IS VERY GOOD AND HAS POWER AND VOLUME. HOWEVER,
IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'RE NOT FULLY SATISFIED WITH?
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We recorded this album at the Mohrmann Studios
in Bochum / Germany. Our record company organized everything for us, which
was a great help. The album was produced by Detlef Mohrmann and Oliver
Zülch, two very nice and experienced engineers. They did a fantastic
job. Also very important for us, they did everything for the band for that
we had a pleasant and relaxed stay during the recordings. They had so much
patience and always a good taste of humor, it was just a fantastic experience
to work with them. About the result, we are very happy with the 80ies metal
sound they worked out for us. That's what we wanted. I don't like the today's
modern productions with tuned down guitars and all these effects.
4.CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG, BUT I THINK THAT
EVERYTHING'S BETTER ON THIS ALBUM COMPARED
TO YOUR PREVIOUS RELEASES. YOUR RIFFS, SOLOS, MELODIES, GUITAR LINES SOUND
MORE MATURE AND ARE BETTER WORKED. SO HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING ON
THIS ALBUM? DID YOU SPEND A LOT OF TIME ON EACH COMPOSITION?
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Thanks for the compliment, I'm happy that you
think that way about our new album. Yes, we worked really a long time on
these songs, all in all more than a year. But you must know also that we
all have our daily jobs, so we cannot work everyday for the band. And we
are not very fast with new material. Everytime when we start the songwriting
for a new album, we work very long on the new material until we are satisfied.
5.I ALSO NOTICED THAT JVO HAS IMPROVED HIS SINGING
SKILLS A LOT. HAS HE TAKEN ANY LESSONS?
-
Yes, he took some lessons. But he improved also
because we play together already such a long time now. Learning by doing.
He get's better from CD to CD, I'm very happy with his vocals and his ideas.
6.SO, IF I TOLD YOU THAT I HAVEN'T LISTENED TO
YOUR
ALBUM AND I ASKED YOU TO PRESENT IT YOURSELF
TO ME,
WHAT WOULD YOU TELL ME? HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE
IT?WHICH WORDS WOULD YOU USE?
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Well, today it is not easy anymore to define the
style of a band. Too many styles around today. In the 80ies, it was all
just named Heavy Metal. I would describe our music as a combination of
power, epic and melody. We try to keep alive the spirit of the traditional
80ies metal in our music, because this music is our way of life and passion.
7.WHERE ARE YOUR LYRICS REFERRING TO? WHAT KIND
OF
TOPICS INTRIGUE YOU TO TALK ABOUT? WOULD YOU
EVER TALK ABOUT REAL LIFE SITUATIONS OR POLITICS IN YOUR LYRICS OR DO YOU
THINK THAT SUCH MATTERS HAVE NO PLACE IN EMERALD?
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Well, most of the lyrics are again fantasy stuff
and typical heavy metal lyrics. Lyrics about Warriors, Evil Forces, Legends,
Courage, Honour etc. It fits perfect to our kind of music in our opinion.
So no political lyrics or stuff like that. Listening to heavy metal means
"take a break from our mad world". We had lyrics about life situations,
problems etc. in the past, but today I think we want to take the listener
for an hour away from the daily horror into another world.
8.LET'S TALK ABOUT YOUR ARTWORK A BIT. IT'S BEAUTIFUL!!!!
I REALLY LIKE IT A LOT! WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR IT AND HOW IS IT CONNECTED
TO THE ALBUM'S TITLE AND LYRICS?
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It was painted by Jowita Kaminska from Poland.
We heard about her talent through our promoter in Poland, Bart Gabriel
(Dragonight Agency). So we contacted her and found out that she already
knew Emerald and liked our "Calling The Knights" album. She's really unbelievable
talented and the painting she did for us made us very very happy. We are
proud to have this cover artwork. It's of course connected to the album
title and titeltrack "Forces Of Doom". You see the demons in mist (the
forces of doom) swimming and crawling to the Emerald Castle. I always wanted
to have a dark castle on an Emerald cover, so this time it was finally
time to realize this idea.
9.HOW ARE YOU THINKING OF PROMOTING "FORCES OF
DOOM"? DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS? WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT IN AN
EMERALD LIVE? DO YOU PLAY COVER SONGS?
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Our record company is doing the promotion in connection
with the magazines, radio stations etc. in Germany, France and some other
countries. We as band sent also a lot of promos to countries like
Greece, Poland and here in Switzerland. Live shows we played only a view,
because we don't have the money for a whole tour. We played concerts here
in Switzerland, in Germany and in Austria for "Forces of Doom". An Emerald
live show is easy to describe: We go on stage, play our songs and bang
our heads haha. We normally also play cover songs, because we like it and
the crowd has a lot of fun with them. We played in the past already songs
from Iron Maiden, Twisted Sister, Running Wild, Edguy, Medieval Steel,
Manowar, Virgin Steele, Pretty Maids etc. It has to make fun and kick ass.
10.WE ALSO SEE SOME GREAT GUEST APPEARANCES ON
"FORCES OF DOOM". HOW DID THESE COLLABORATIONS OCCUR? I'D ALSO LIKE TO
ASK YOU IF YOU'VE LISTENED TO MAJESTY'S LATEST ALBUM AND WHAT YOU THINK
ABOUT IT...
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Well, most of them are our good friends. Adriano
Troiano is our previous bass player (he left the band before the release
of "Calling The Knights"). We kept a good friendship and he helps us with
lyrics, on concerts etc., so we gave him some place on our new album. Christof
Schafer is also a good friend and brilliant lead guitar player. He played
already some solos on the last album because we like his style so much.
And finally we had this time a short guest appearance by Tarek from MAEJSTY.
I love all three Majesty albums and he is a friend and metalbrother since
a longtime, so we inviited him to the studio where he played a solo for
the titletrack. It's not a big story, just a meeting of some friends.
11.WHICH IS, ACCORDING TO YOU, THE BEST AND WHICH
THE WORST PART IN YOUR MUSIC? WHICH DO YOU THINK IS YOUR TRADEMARK AND
IN WHICH FIELD DO YOU THINK YOU NEED FURTHER IMPROVEMENT?
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Wow, that's a good question. The best part in
our music is in my opinion all these twin lead guitar melodies. It is also
our trademark. I worked for every album very hard on the guitar melodies.
The worst part ? I don't know any worst parts in our songs haha. But I
think that we still can improve on the musical skills.
12.THIS IS THE FIRST ALBUM YOU RELEASE FROM SHARK
RECORDS. HOW DID THIS DEAL HAPPEN? DID YOU
SEND THEM A PROMO OR WERE THEY AWARE OF YOUR MUSIC AND APPROACHED YOU?
ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE WORK THEY'VE DONE THIS FAR FOR YOU?
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After the release of "Calling The Knights", we
sent a lot of promo CDs to different labels. Some were interested, but
didn't make concrete offers. Shark Records offered a good contract from
the beginning. They already had bands like TITAN FORCE, VIRGIN STEELE,
HOLY MOTHER, AT VANCE, SEPULTURA or STRATOVARIUS under contract which shows
that they are no beginners or amateurs. And so far, we are very happy with
them. They already rereleased "Calling The Knights", so this is now
the second release we do through Shark Records.
13.HAVE YOU READ ANY INTERESTING BOOKS LATELY?
IS
THERE ANY BOOK, BESIDES LORD OF THE RINGS
THAT
EVERYONE SEEMS TO WRITE LYRICS ABOUT, YOU'D
LIKE TO
WRITE A CONCEPT STORY UPON? WHICH IS YOUR
MOST BELOVED HERO?
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I love reading books haha. I never go anywhere
without a book in my pocket. In the past, I read everything from Stephen
King and of course also the Tolkien books. Now I changed the direction.
At the moment, I'm totally fascinated by the theories and books of Erich
von Däniken. The books are mainly about the mysteries of our ancient
world, about the beginning of the human race, the cause of our planet etc.
I'm also reading books about conspiracy, hush up and maniplution through
the mighty organisations and religions on this world. A great book I read
lately was "The 12th Planet" from Zecharia Sitchin. Highly recommended.
About a concept story I'd love to do: If I ever find the time and motivation,
I will write a concept about the old Egypt, the pyramids and all the legends
around their history. My most beloved hero is William Wallace.
14.IS THERE A MUSICIAN (DEAD OR ALIVE) YOU ADMIRE
A
LOT AND YOU'D LIKE TO COOPERATE WITH? IF YES,
WHO
WOULD THIS BE AND IS THERE ANYTHING IN SPECIFIC
YOU'D
LIKE TO LEARN ABOUT HIS MUSICAL ENDEAVORS?
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My biggest idol is Steve Harris. I really admire
him, he wrote all my favourite songs and LPs and in my opinion, he is still
a fantastic musician and songwriter. And what I like so much, he never
turned into an arrogant rock star. And he never made any compromises with
his music. He gives a fuck about trends, Iron Maiden are still delievering
good old Heavy Metal with tons of killer melodies and ideas. It's my dream
to meet him and giving him my own music for a listen and feedback.
15.THANK YOU! LEAVE A MESSAGE TO THE READERS AND
YOUR FANS...
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First we would like to thank you very much for
the opportunity to present our band in your Zine. Your support is highly
appreciated, thank you !! And of course thanks to all readers for the interest
in our band and the support. Heavy Metal salutes to all the Emerald Knights
in Greece !!! Always keep the metal in your heart !!!
Christine Parastatidou
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