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Unless
you were lucky enough to catch the recent tour with Doro Pesch, you may
not be familiar with this band ... yet! If you like traditional metal
then this is one band you gotta check out.
Live they are phenomenal. Their debut album 'Prayer For The Dying' is
even more explosive. We were lucky enough to temporarily kidnap drummer
Eckhard “Ed the tongue” Ostra after the bands performance at the
Bradford Rio to ask him a few questions about the band.
MM - Hi! How are you doing?
Ed - I'm fine. I always feel fine after a show.
MM - Is this the first time you
have been over here in England?
Ed
- Yes, this is our very first time over here in England and we are
really enjoying it. Actually tonight was our very first gig in England
so it is really special. This is the very first place we have played in
the UK.
MM - Will we be seeing you back over
here again?
Ed
- Yeh, well there are two more shows on this tour with Doro. Tomorrow we
are going to Dudley and then the next day we are in London. We are
really happy to be given this opportunity to be over here and be able to
play here in England. All of our favourite bands are coming from this
place and so it's like coming home!
MM - What bands do you like?
Ed
- We are very much into the eighties NWOBHM bands like Judas Priest,
Iron Maiden, a couple of German bands as well such as Accept. But this
is where our roots are coming from basically. I guess you can hear that
in our music and there's no doubt about it.
MM - How did you get on the tour
with Doro? Did you know Doro before the tour?
Ed - Well our manager, after we played the great Waken festival in
Germany he made this decision and asked us if we would like to do the
support for Doro. We said ... Wow! because it was just such a amazing
opportunity for us. She's touring all over Europe and we think the two
bands fit pretty well together. OK, so we are that little bit heavier
than Doro because we are more into the traditional Heavy Metal kind of
thing, but still it's such an amazing opportunity for us. The band are
great and we are having such a lot of fun. It's working just perfect.
MM - How have you found the
crowds? Sometimes bands have found the fans over here in the UK a little
bit reserved.
Ed
- Actually I have no problem at all. It is always a great challenge when
you go onstage and the place is not so crowded because nobody wants to
stand at the front because everybody is watching them. For us though
this is just great because it gives us the chance to say ... come on,
I'll get you ... and finally it works.
You have to think for yourself because if you have just one or two
people in the audience you just have to bring out everything that you
got. You still have to give it all you got because these one or two
people paid to see you. You have to give them the whole show. For us it
is just great that it works. It makes me and all the boys so much
happier.
MM - How long have the band been
together?
Ed - With this line-up we have been together for 2 years. It's a
former German band actually, the bands name used to be Repression, but
this was pretty much a local kind of thing. After the pre-production of
our album, 'Prayer For The Dying', we decided to pick up a real
professional singer Mike Tirelli. After that everything just moved by
itself, it was amazing.
MM - How long have you all known
each other, was it just the lead singer that you replaced?
Ed
- Yes. Wayne Banks has joined us for the tour because our former bassist
Andreas had a lot of work to do at home and had a little trouble getting
time off with his employers. So he decided it was better to move home
again and take care of his family and stuff. So we were so lucky that
Wayne was able to join us.
He didn't know anything about the band, even when he was coming to
Germany, the tour was already starting in Germany and he had no clue at
all. Not the bands name, not a single song, and three days later he went
onstage with us in Switzerland. It was amazing. He comes from Nottingham
and he's great. So it's a pretty international thing right now.
MM - Are you doing the full tour
with Doro?
Ed - Yes we're doing the whole tour.
MM - So what's that 47, 48 dates?
Ed - Well almost. We didn't start with the dates she did before in
September. We joined her in Nurnberg. But we will stay with her now
until the end.
MM - That's quite a punishing
tour, it's a lot of dates.
Ed - Yeh it's a lot of dates. But it's really good fun to be playing
over here and over there. Sometimes it's hard to drive for the bus
because the distance is sometimes pretty far. But as soon as you get
into the venue you can just smell it and you say ... come on that's it!
MM - How would you describe your
music to anyone who hasn't heard it yet?
Ed - Well I would like to say that if someone is still pretty much
into the NWOBHM scene like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Ronnie James
Dio, then I guess you will be pretty happy with Messiah's Kiss because
you will find out there is a lot of similarity between us and our
hero's. We also try to put on a new sound so that we are not too
traditional and it's a very powerful production of our songs and it
seems to work.
MM - You played the Wacken festival earlier in the year.
Ed - Yes, Wacken was our very first Festival but what will happen
next year we don't know. First of all we have to start writing songs for
the next record which is coming up. Then we will have to see what
happens. We would love to come and play at all the festivals but we will
have to just wait and see what happens. It is always great to play in
front of so many people. The people over there, it doesn't matter which
festival you play, the fans are all in the mood for partying all day
long.
MM - The band are signed to SPV is
that correct? How did you get hooked up with them?
Ed - Yes that is correct. It was really funny because we had only
just picked up Mike and changed the name from Repression. We were
originally only going to make 500 copies like we had always done in the
past. These were always self productions and self distribution. We had
to go to meet his producer and manager in Germany. When we went to the
place to do the record with him I asked Mike to ask him if he would be
allowed to sing our stuff. I said we would need to bring 500 pieces on
the market to get the money back.
All of a sudden the phone rings and it was Rainer Hansel and I said ...
WOW, what's going on here? He said ... Eddy have you brought out the
record to any record company yet? I said we hadn't done anything because
at that time it wasn't finished yet. He said to me ... man do me a
favour, don't do it. Wait until I give you a call in two weeks and there
might be a chance that we can get along with each other, or after that
you can do whatever you want, but just give me two weeks. I said that
that would be perfect.
So two weeks later my phone rang again, it was Rainer Hansel again and
he said ... right we have to sit down at the table and we gotta talk. It
was weird, it really happened that easy, it was unbelievable.
MM - Most bands find it really
difficult to get any interest at all.
Ed - Yes, definitely, but we were lucky that Mike still had the
contract in Germany with Holy Mother and he had to take care of his own
business with that. He brought a CD with him when we went to see Rainer
and he was pretty happy with the result. He said ... hey this is great.
So he let me take care of the telephone call and said let's get
together, and here we are.
MM - Who writes the songs for the
band?
Ed - Usually Georg the guitarist. I also do a little bit of song
writing as well, to give a different kind of colouring in it. Because
everybody has his own style and Georg is such an amazing song writer. If
he comes home from a stressful day to calm himself down he writes songs.
He writes such amazing songs and it works pretty good.
MM - The band has quite a big
sound live, similar to a big arena sound. It's as if you've been on the
road for 15 - 20 years.
Ed
- Well you know as I told you earlier I am still a huge metal fan of
each and every metal band from England and I still go to all the
concerts. This is what I focus on. I try to remember what it was like to
watch the huge bands like Judas Priest perform in the eighties. When
they were still playing huge venues and I try to get back to this.
Because we are used to this and we love this, this is actually the
reason I guess why we sound very similar to this. We've tried to find
our own style and I think it has worked out.
You know you are never quite sure what you are hearing when we are doing
a set because you say ... damn I know this ... because we have taken a
little bit of all these bands. This is the kind of music we love and you
can tell where we are coming from. Metal music is like 30 years old and
we don't want to just make new things for the sake of it. Why? It's like
McDonalds, it is good, it's always been good, and it always will be
good!
MM - Don't break it if it's not
broken!
Ed - Exactly! We just want to do the things which we can do well and
which we love. There is nothing for us to be playing nu-metal or
whatever, its not my style. It's not our style, it's just not our way
either.
MM - Do you ever get a touch of
the nerves before you go onstage? You all look totally relaxed as if you
are just up there enjoying yourselves.
Ed - Yes, you know when we played Wacken it was kind of heavy
because it was our very first gig together and we had to go out in front
of so many people. So that was kind of strange. Then we felt a little
bit nervous of course. But now we have done something like 17 gigs and
so were getting back down to business.
On the other hand we have been playing for almost 20 years so although
it was only locally with the old band, if you play live, you play live.
It doesn't matter if you are playing in front of 3,000 people or 300. I
always try to focus on what we do.
MM - What do you hope your fans
will take away from a live show?
Ed
- 110% power. Just metal straight. Double bass drum attacks, twin solo
guitars, and a very amazing voice. Those are really the kid of direction
we go. I guess you agree we are like a little bit of Ronnie James Dio, a
little bit of Rob Halford, a little bit of maybe David Coverdale if he
gets the blues. If you like this then come to our concerts and you will
like us.
Nobody in the band is like Yngwie Malmsteen or George Lynch, or any of
the guys like this where you just go to the concert to see just them. We
are just a band, five members and that's it. We're all on the same level
and we represent the band and nothing else. Not a single person it's
just a whole kind of thing.
MM - There's no room for ego's.
Ed - Exactly, its not our kind of thing. There are no egos in the
band that's what makes it easy. Everybody's respecting each other and
everybody knows what he is doing. You know I'm not Cozy Powell, I know
that. I try to play more straight ahead of drumming and sing along with
the chorus and stuff and that's it. That's my job. I prefer to show the
people what I can do and not what I can't do. I know there are people
out there who sometimes try just that little bit too much, but I say
leave that to the people who really know what they are doing.
MM - What's the music scene like back
in Germany?
Ed - Well it's pretty much more into this kind of direction. They
like Primal Fear for example, Metallium, Grave Digger, it's almost what
we are doing. Perhaps I should say that we are doing almost what they
are doing because they are so much more famous and stuff. Their concerts
are packed with people again and again it's a sign Metal is coming back.
MM - What band or artist would you
really love to tour with?
Ed - Definitely Judas Priest. We are all huge Judas Priest fans,
we have been fans of theirs since Judas Priest was first on the planet.
For us that would pretty much be who we would choose because to us they
are the real metal gods.
MM - Have you heard Rob Halford's new
album?
Ed - It's not really my stuff, I actually liked 'Resurrection'
better because it was more Judas Priest style. But I really like what
Rob Halford is doing because he really tries to find different sounds to
become more modern.
It's real dangerous for him to do
that because on the one side people accept things like he has to sound
like Judas Priest, but on the other hand he has to improve himself, and
it is very difficult to do that. I think he does a great job, he is
still the best. There is no doubt about it, he is simply the best.
MM - Would you say that Messiah's
Kiss are a fan orientated and accessible band?
Ed - Yes, we always love to come out after a show and talk to
people and listen to what they suggest. Sometimes it's nice when people
say good critical things because this gives me something to think about
when I go to bed. Sometimes I really try to improve whatever it is that
they tell to me.
When I'm sitting onstage its harder to look at it from a fans point of
view. I'm never sure how it sounds to them. I know we all have so much
to learn and so I am always very happy if someone comes up to me after a
show and says to me ... what about this, what about that, have you tried
this, why don't you have a sing-a-long part in there. It really helps
because then we can go away and talk about this and try things out and
it's just amazing, I love it.
The night was still young and the lovely
Eddy was more than happy to keep on talking, so talking we continued to
do!
MM
- Well my only complaint about the set tonight was that it wasn't long
enough. I just starting to really get into it.
Ed - Yeh, Well I have to say that Mike has got a little bit of
flu right now. Plus we were late getting here today and were still doing
the sound check when the doors opened. I don't feel too good today
either so we said ... OK, lets cut two songs so that the people don't
have to wait so long to see Doro. Usually we are playing a 40 minute
set. That suits us fine, 40 minutes is great.
MM - You sound like you are really full of cold as well.
Ed - I am. When you are on tour you really got to take care of
yourself. You have to keep going inside then outside all the time, and
when it's windy and raining outside and then hot inside it soon catches
up with you. Once you get cold you never really get rid of it while
you're on tour. Mike is having the same problems so he said ... OK let's
make it 30 minutes.
MM - I noticed you didn't have any
set lists lying around on the stage.
Ed - Well we just remember the order of the songs. Our set list
is so short that we can do that. But you know Doro plays a huge show, I
really love her for that. These people have come to see her and she
really plays for all her people. When you have 20 songs or whatever in
your set every night you really do need to write a running order or
you'd be totally lost. But if you only play 6 or 8 songs like us then
it's really no big deal. Hey, I'm blonde but I'm not that stupid!
MM - What made you decide to become a
drummer?
Ed - Oh it was when I was still really young. Although you know
originally I started out by playing the guitar. But at that time there
were so many guitarist around the place and we had like 4 people in the
band and all we had lots of guitarists and nothing else. So I said ...
OK, I'll go wherever and I'll play the drums. So I started to play the
drums.
I've known George for almost 20 years and he was a little bit older than
me but he still had the same imagination of what a band should sound
like so we've stuck together since that time. We are really happy about
this and it works well. On stage we can just look at each other and we
know exactly what the other guys thinking. He knows before I do what I
am going to do, it's amazing. This is what you see onstage. Yes there is
a little bit of routine but this is why. He is my best friend.
The band is like a family, especially with Alex as well because we have
all known each other for so many years and we take vacations together
and stuff like that. We have quite some history together. But you know
when we first met Mike it was great because immediately he was fitting
in with us and felt so right. I have been over to the United States to
meet his family and his parents and everybody is so happy about the
situation. We all have the same musical roots and we all have the same
targets. We work well together and everything will be just great.
MM - Where do you think you will go
from here?
Ed - Well after the tour we will start to write new songs for the
new record. We have a few ideas already there and I can promise you that
we wont make anything else. No improvement in a way that we try
different sounds, no way, you will get exactly a true metal album like
you did with a 'Prayer For The Dying'. Same style, same everything, the
only thing we will improve is our playing.
MM - Is 'Prayer For The Dying' your
debut album?
Ed - Yes.
MM - How long did it take to actually
record and produce it?
Ed - Well the recording process actually lasted for about 4
weeks. The pre-production actually took a little while longer because we
had to think about the world wide distribution thing. Originally when we
were only thinking about 500 copies we were doing a little bit here and
there, when we had time to do that. But you just cannot count how long
that was because it was all over the place. The actual recording process
in a professional studio, when we went to the Karo studios in Hamburg
for SPV, that took us 4 weeks.
MM - Did you all agree at the
beginning what the sound would be like or did it develop along the way?
Ed - It developed along the way. The songs were all ready at that
time but Herman Frank from the band Accept, Victory and Moondog, he was
on the mixing desk and he helped make up the sound. It was great. He did
such a terrific job and we are all very happy with the result. The
reactions have been pretty good all over the place. So we can't be doing
that much wrong! There is still a market for this type of music.
I always thought when I went to concerts, even in Germany, some true
metal bands might only get say 100 people turn up, maybe 300 tops. But I
always knew that all these fans can't be dead, they are all still alive
so come on bring it back and then we will see them again and we'll all
have a good time once more. It was only 2 years ago when Iron Maiden
went on tour with Rob Halford over in Germany, they were going back to
the old places, big places, and everywhere was sold out. You just have
to go there and show the people the you are still alive and they will
come back. Everybody was so happy.
MM - What was your favourite song(s)
off the new album then?
Ed - Oh I like 'Light In The Black', 'Prayer For The Dying', and
I like 'Final Warning' because it's a little bit different. These would
be my favourites although I do like everything on the album. I wouldn't
want to change anything at all right now.
MM - Which song do you prefer to play
live?
Ed - 'Prayer For The Dying'. We in the band have a special name
for this song but I can't tell you what it is right now. I can't tell
you because it is not for people under the age of eighteen!
MM - You have me intrigued!
Ed - OK, Well we call this song 'The Breast'. It's because it
just rolls smooth. It's just amazing because when you really get into it
it's great.
MM - Well with a name like that it's
no the wonder you like that the best.
Ed - Yes, but also because it's the most fun to play. We usually
play 'Blood Of The Kings' which is the last one off the record, but it
is pretty long. We took it out because it wouldn't fit on this tour. It
is really too heavy for the audiences. It's even too heavy for the
audiences which we bring in ourselves! But I like to play this song a
lot because its always a big challenge to get through it. It's also
pretty exhausting as well.
MM - There's actually very few new
Metal band coming out, proper metal bands. We get Nu-Metal bands but not
New Metal bands.
Ed - I really believe that our style, or Doro's style of metal
will be stronger again. I am definitely sure about this because this
music is just so great and you simply can't hold down a music type which
is this good. It is impossible. Everything else like fashions change and
it may be OK for a couple of people, and of course for the younger
people as well.
You're not listening to Elvis Presley just because your parents did and
that's fine, I'm not listening to this either. We were pretty much into
metal, and so now the youth is going through this same selection and
that is fine. We didn't listen to what our parents listened to and they
won't either. But if something is really good like rock music or pop
music, it will last forever. There are always going to be ups and downs,
or course, its fine to come up with new styles of music, but never ever
forget about your tradition.
MM - There seems to be more Metal and
Rock festival happening than there ever was.
Ed - Yes, for example I was reading in a magazine the other day
that the next Whitesnake tour will be in support of The Scorpions. That
is just so amazing. I love it. Everybody is thinking ... hey let's get
back to this. I like to be entertained, I don't want to hear all this
garage kind of thing, I don't need that. If somebody else chooses this
then fine, but I don't need it.
I want to be entertained. I want to see pyros, lights, a big stage show
and I want to be entertained. This is where I am coming from. I want to
stand in the audience and say ... WOW! Heroes! ... I want to watch a
band like a thousand yards away, right at the very back, because so many
other people have come to watch them.
MM - I must say you did do a great
show, not just musically, but visually as well. Ok, so you didn't have
big pyros and stuff but it was great to watch.
Ed - Yes, just by moving about the stage, old school style, like
right at the end when we all take a bow and stuff. It's because we're
old school kind of metal.
MM - A lot of bands look shy on stage
are afraid to move about and enjoy themselves.
Ed - Well if you are afraid on stage then your audience doesn't
do anything. You have to show the audience that you are having fun doing
what you're doing. That's when the audience comes to you. It always
works if you do it that way around, not the other way around. So we
always have to work for the audience and this is what we really like to
do. It's always a bit of a fight, you go out there and you say ... I'm
going to get you! ...it works though.
At least if someone says ... hey its not really my kind of music, but
they did a good job ... then I'm happy. If someone came up to me and
said ... I don't like your music because it is too heavy, too fast, too
loud, but I saw that you had fun on the stage and really enjoyed
watching you on the stage ... well that's fine, I am happy with that. I
would say ... bless you mam. At the end of the day that's what
it's all about, you gotta have fun in whatever job you do.
Whether you are selling beers in a bar or whatever, if you don't have
fun in what you are doing then you just have to walk away from it. We
will have to wait and see what happens in the future. We're not
depending that much on this. We are not thinking of doing this for a
living. Who knows if it turns out well great, if not then OK. This is
actually a very relaxing situation to be in. Not just for us but also
for the record company. The pressure is not there ad we can just enjoy
it.
Nobody has forced to do anything and when they asked us ... what about
touring in six weeks time? I said ... hey wait a minute I have to call
my guys because they have to take holidays from their employers and
stuff. But it worked out because everybody talked to their employers and
everybody said fine. We don't know if it will ever happen again so they
said for us to just go ahead and see what happens. Hopefully we can
carry on with this thing.
MM - Can I ask you what you all do
for your daytime jobs? We all have to pay the bills.
Ed - Oh I will have to whisper this, I am a tax accountant.
Really it is true I have to do taxes and stuff. George actually works
for the state, Alex works with people who have special needs, Mike is a
salesman in New York city, and Wayne he is just a musician. He just
comes out to play the bass and he's just such a great guy. He either
plays bass or plays football. That's his life. With me and the other
guys we have our professions and once we know what's going on we want to
say ... hey let's stick with that.
MM - So your bosses are quite happy about you taking this time off?
Ed - Yes they are very supportive and it was pretty easy for us
to get this time off. They have been following all these things in the
newspapers and magazines and they said ... go on, go, move! I don't want
to see your face anymore just go! Go into that rehearsal room and do
what you do best. So we did, and I guess in the future this will work as
well.
There are two more records to come out and we will definitely go on tour
because this is the main reason behind it. Ok sometimes you have to stay
in the studio, but usually the stage is our home. That's where you feel
great because you get the reaction immediately from the audience. This
is where you belong, you have to do it, especially if you are into this
kind of music.
In Germany our brothers and even my mother came along to a show. They
have all been so supportive of us for so many years. Nobody has ever
said to us that we are wasting our time. Everybody gets great support
and help from their family and friends. Its like Formula One, it's a
team thing, its not just the driver, its not just the car, its the whole
thing that makes it work. That's what Messiah's Kiss is all about. It's
a band and there are people in the back and there are people in the
front but it is everything together that makes this all happen.
Just then we hear the cheers rise up
at the front of the venue as Doro takes to the stage. I'd just
like to say thanks to Eddy for being such a great sport and taking the
time out to chat to us.
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