PARCHMENT
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MARK PHANTOM
IS A HEADBANGER FOR MANY YEARS AND I THINK THAT HE KNOWS THE HEAVY METAL
SCENE MUCH BETTER THAN MANY OF US DO(INCLUDING MYSELF). I THINK THAT 80'S
METALHEADS ARE MORE OPENMINDED THAN THE NEW ONES, BECAUSE THEY WERE UNITED.
IT'S TIME TO RECONSIDER THIS FACT AND RESPECT WHAT THE OTHERS LISTEN, THE
INTERVIEW IS ALSO VERY INTERESTING AND THE ANSWERS WERE GIVEN WITH LOT
OF HUMOR! FRIEND MARK I WISH YOU THE BEST FOR YOUR BOTH BANDS...
1.YOU HAVE 2 YEARS OF LIFE, GIVE US
THE MOST INTERESTING PARTS OF YOUR HISTORY TILL NOW.
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Well, two years ago I was still singin'
in the Prog-Metalband MIND REFLECTION, but various changes in the style
and line-up (there was no drummer anymore, a girl for second lead vocals
joined us and the music went into an alternative style) finally destroyed
the band. As I lost so many bands before, because of similar reasons, I
was very burnt out and also left my long years second band FILMRISS, where
I was bassman. I joined the independent band "ardath bay" as bassman in
the hope to make some commercial success and it even seemed to do: the
music was right in time, cause similar music was made by Merylin Manson
or HIM, we had a great drummer (but his character wasn't...) and we found
a manager who wanted to push us and went with us into a studio. But the
final tragedy was that the manager was an impostor, that was the end of
ardath bey and nearly the end of my musical career. But I could't quit,
so I decided to make my old way as Heavy Metal singer again and had the
luck to find two real Metal bands like Teutonic and Parchment!
2.WHEN JORGEN CALLED YOU TO
JOIN THE BAND AND HE WAS 13 YEARS YOUNGER THAN YOU,WHAT WAS THE FIRST THINK
THAT YOU THOUGHT?
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I was a little bit shocked, cause I
didn't notice, that I became so old already (ha!, ha!), but I think J?rgen
was even more shocked as he saw such a skinny beerdrinkin' freak....!
3.HOW DID YOU SELECT THE NAME
PARCHMENT?WHAT DOES IT MEAN?HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK THAT IS TO CHOOSE
A GOOD NAME?
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That was a chaos! We needed many months,
to agree with each other in one name! We had every two weeks another name.
Finally we all agreed with HATRED, but then we heard that this name already
exists. PARCHMENT was one of my ideas and it means the skin of sheep that
was prepared for writing on in ancient times before paper was invented.
It is the stuff where ancient stories are written on.....! I think a good
name is very important! First of all the name must sound good and you shall
remember it easy! The name also shall fit to the image of the band.
4.I READ IN YOUR BIO THAT YOU HAVE
BRUTAL VOCALS ALSO. HOW DO YOU COMBINE THEM WITH THE CLASSIC METAL YOU
PLAY?
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It is true, that we play classic metal,
but we also feel free to make experiments because real classic metal (not
so the TRUE METAL BANDS of today....) were ever open for experiments without
loosing the true spirit of metal! A very good example is my favorite band
JUDAS PRIEST: every LP of them has another sound and style, the first records
where even Hippiesound, sometimes they used synths sometimes they made
rock'n'roll - but every song of them sounds like PRIEST and is real Heavy
Metal! And I hope that PARCHMENT can do so as well!
5.YOU ALSO SING FOR ANOTHER
GERMAN BAND "TEUTONIC". CAN YOU TELL US HOW DO YOU FIND THE TIME TO BOTH
OF THE BANDS?
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As I am now studying geography, too,
it is sometimes a little bit much action - I also must take some time for
my wife...! - but all the years ago I had always more projects at the same
time (at one year I had even five bands at the same time, but that was
killing me...!)
6.WHICH ARE THE MUSICAL DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN PARCHMENT AND TEUTONIC?
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That's not easy! Both bands play classic
metal and have the same singer. One difference is, that TEUTONIC most songs
were written without me, also the lyrics, so my only influence is my singin'
style and my voice. PARCHMENT are a little bit more influenced by the Phantom-Style,
because nearly all of the lyrics are written by me and I already composed
some songs like "Dorian Gray" and "Dr Jekyll And Mr Alc". As I am a fan
of NWOBHM my influence on PARCHMENT lets the band sound a little more british
and I think TEUTONIC sounds a little more german.
7.THE TEYTONIC HEAVY METAL IS ONE
OF MY FAVORITE (YOU SEE I LIKE VERY MUCH RUNNING WILD), BUT I SEE TOO MANY
BANDS PLAYING THE HELLOWEEN STYLE. WHY DO YOU THINK THIS HAPPENS? IS IT
EASIER TO FIND A CONTRACT IF YOU PLAY THIS KIND OF MUSIC?
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I must often hear I would sing like
HELLOWEEN, but all the years I never found a contract. First of all, I
never wanted to sound like Michael Kiske or Kai Hansen (although they are
great singers) my Idols are Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford, maybe OZZY
because of his madness and LEMMY because of his great thirst for alcohol.....!
Some people said I sound like Geoff Tate or even the singer of Uriah Heep....-
I think I sing like MARK PHANTOM! But back to your question: I think the
"helloweenstyle voices" today don't have it more easy than the deep deep
deeper vocals: so many death metal bands exist today, or bands like RAMMSTEIN
or that many gothic metal bands. I think there were more high voices in
the 80ies.
8.IN THE BEGINNING THE BAND
WAS PLAYING A LOT OF COVER SONGS. WHAT DO YOU THINK FOR THE TRIBUTE ALBUMS?
WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE PART IN THE RUNNING WILD TRIBUTE OR IN ANY OTHERS
BAND TRIBUTE?
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I must admit that I don't like it very
much to make coversongs, maybe because I am a too bad singer, maybe the
covered songs are so good that you never can make it good enough for a
tribute. But a good (or maybe bad???) news for you: PARCHMENT and even
TEUTONIC both play "Under Jolly Roger" from Running Wild!
9.WHAT THINKS DO YOU LIKE IN
THE METAL SCENE AND WHICH THINGS MAKE YOU ANGRY ON THIS MUISC?
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The Metal Scene is honest! Those people
say what they think, you can rely upon them. Sometimes they seem to be
a little bit arrogant and try to behave brutal, but they are more human
than any other people. The only thing that makes me angry is that the Scene
is split into so many categories which fight one another! When I was a
teenage headbanger all Metal Maniacs held together, they all were united.
Noone had a problem, if you like SLAYER, DEEP PURPLE, METALLICA, RAINBOW,
S.O.D. or IRON MAIDEN, we all were the same: I wish, that the scene can
learn this again!
10.HAVE YOU RELEASED ANY DEMO?
CAN YOU DESCRIBE US YOUR MUSIC STYLE, CAUSE I HAVEN'T LISTEN YET ANYTHING
FROM YOU?
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Yes, PARCHMENT has a demo, but it is
no studio recording. We have recorded it with a four track analog machine
in our rehearsal room and it contains five songs. To describe the own music
is always a great problem because everyone feels music in another way.
PARCHMENT makes german Heavy Metal influenced by NWOBHM. It is melodic
and heavy. Those who like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Helloween will
also like PARCHMENT.
11.WHICH BANDS HAVE INFLUENCED
YOU?WHICH METAL SINGERS YOU LIKE PERSONALLY AND WHY?
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I already told it before: Rob Halford
is my absolute Idol, because he is a singer with a variable voice: he can
sing over many octaves from agressive deep to endless high and glorious
ballads. He has the ultimate charisma of a Metal God and finally he found
back to his roots! Bruce Dickinson also is the incarnation of a Heavy
Metal Singer, the "Air-raid Siren" himself!
12.WHICH IS THE WORST AND WHICH
IS THE BEST REVIEW YOU'VE EVER RECEIVED?
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PARCHMENT had the luck not to get bad
reviews, but there were no reviews til now at all....
13.MANY METAL MUSICIANS ACCUSE
POP STARS FOR THEIR LIFE STYLE, YET WE SEE SUCH BEHAVIOURS IN THE METAL
SCENE AS WELL (BANDS PAYING TO MAKE A COVER FOR SUCCESFUL MAGAZINES, HAVING
A GOOD REVIEW, METAL LABELS PROMOTING SPECIFIC BANDS AND GENRES EACH EPOCH,ETC).IS
IT MAYBE AFTER ALL TRUE THAT THE METAL INDUSTRY DOESN'T DIFFER FROM THE
POP? WHICH ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT?
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We live in a capitalistic world, and
all what is produced will be missused for economic aims! You use the phrase
"METAL INDUSTRY" and here you have already the answer: industry means production
for economic purposes. The Metal Industry does not differ from any other
industry! But do not mix it up with the metal scene! The Metal Scene has
nothing to do with commerce because this is a feeling of life, it is born
in the underground! And those, who use it for commerce are in the most
cases no Heavy Metal Maniacs!
14.IF TIME TRAVEL WAS POSSIBLE,
WHICH HISTORICAL PERIOD WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT AND WHY? WHAT WOULD YOU
MISS THE MOST FROM OUR TIME?
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I don't think, that there is a time
for me in the past, that I would prefer. It would be a very terrible pain
for me, to try to change the world as I know what will happen because I
know the mankind would not hear what I prophecy and would do all that faults
that happened till now, again! What I would miss??? YOU CAN'T PLAY HEAVY
METAL WITHOUT E-GUITARS!!!
15.IF YOU HAD THE MONEY TO MAKE
A PROPER VIDEOCLIP, HOW DO YOU IMAGINE IT TO BE?
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It depends on the song we use! I think
I would try to make it a bit dramatically, so that people are forced to
think about the story of the song! Like a short film with leads to a problem
that ends finally in a catastrophe. I could imagine a video of "Dr Jekyll...":
a mad scientist that drinks the evil liquor and finally changes into a
crazy monster that becomes a rockstar and looks like OZZY (ha! ha!)
16.THANK YOU FOR THE INTERVIEW.
I WISH YOU THE BEST FOR YOU AND YOUR BANDS. THE LAST WORDS BELONGS TO YOU....