Interview Xandria: Steven Wussow
Artiest: Xandria
Geïnterviewde: Steven Wussow
Interview afgenomen via: e-mail
Label: Napalm Records
Op Eurorock zouden we de Duitse symfonische metalband Xandria interviewen. De omstandigheden op het festival lieten dit echter niet toe (lees meer hier), maar bassist Steven stond ons achteraf te woord.
Normally we were going to interview you on Eurorock, but due to the circumstances I imagine, this didn’t work out. How did you experience this festival?
Well in my whole career I never experienced a situation like this. The whole festival organization was a mess after all those things happened that were said to have happened. We had to learn all the sad details of this tragic incident the day after, from what was written in the newspapers.
As we got paid up front, it wasn`t that much of an issue for us anyway. But most of the other artists were drawn into a really mean situation as they had to cover all their travel expenses, the fees for their crew and so on with their own money.
Regardless of all the issues, what did you think about your concert and performance there?
The concert itself was cool. The tent was packed and I guess the people enjoyed the show despite all the drama that was going on behind the scenes.
Xandria doesn’t appear to be sitting quiet for too long, how are the many shows going?
Hahaha! Yes, you`re right! We love to be on the road and so we always try to keep the van rolling. As I am now looking back on the past year, since the release of our current album ‘Sacrificium’, we have done more than 100 shows all over the world. So for us the ‘Sacrificium World’ has not only been the longest but also the most successful tour in the history of the band.
To be continued. Haha!
Lots of festivals as well to come, are you looking forward to it?
Ah, the festival season is always a very special time of the year. You often run into friends somewhere while playing at the same festival which sometimes ends up in a nice party day or you have the chance to catch a band that you wanted to see performing ever since. So for us playing at festivals is sun, fun and Rock`N`Roll, too.
Do you prefer festivals or venue concerts?
Hm… I have been asked this sooo often… I really can`t decide. When the weather is fine, the program is good and everyone is in party mode, it can`t get better than playing an Open Air Festival. But on the other hand I miss the sweat and the closeness of the crowd at a clubshow. Lucky for us we can have both.
How is it to work with a Dutch singer?
Well, the du(t)chess [self-made combination of Dutch and duchess (female form of Duke)]… Hahaha. No, Dianne is a very sweet and easygoing person. She is very easy to deal with. It felt natural from day 1, no matter where she is coming from. And as we are doing the whole correspondence in English anyway there is also not that much of a language barrier. So after all there is no real difference between working with a Dutch, a German or whatever singer.
‘Sacrificium’ is your second album released on Napalm Records. Do you like it and do you think you get enough freedom of the label to do what you want?
The guys at Napalm are fun to work with. We have absolute creative freedom; they trust in us and just let us do our thing. And so far we always managed to make them happy as well!
The new EP ‘Fire & Ashes’ will have 7 songs, that’s pretty big for an EP!
Ok let`s call it minialbum as it will also be around about 35 minutes long. Longer than some of the classics from the good old days. So I guess in this case the term EP doesn`t work that well.
It is a special release that gives us the chance to try out or do some things that probably would not fit into a regular Xandria album context.
The Meat Loaf cover for example. At first this “Doing a cover of I Would Do Anything…” was just a running gag that came up during the photo session for the Sacrificium album while we were joking around to some “Bat Out Of Hell” tunes. But when the idea of doing an EP or minialbum was discussed, we thought we should just give it a shot. Just see whether it works or not. In the end this one turned out to be my most loved song of all songs that I have ever recorded in my entire life! No joke!
It contains also 2 re-recorded songs. Was it difficult to choose which ones?
We wanted to refresh some songs of the Xandria Mk.I era. Ravenheart and Now&Forever are 2 fan favorites from this era which we still play live pretty regularly. So it was pretty obvious which songs we would rerecord to present them in their 2015 outfit.
Who decided this?
Us 5.
There is also a Sonata Arctica cover, why did you choose ‘Don’t Say a Word’?
It is one of our Sonata favorites and also became our inofficial bandhymn during our US Tour with the Sonata guys. Great song and fun to play. Hope they like our version of it.
What are the plans after the EP?
Well we are already knee-deep in the preproduction of the next regular studio album. So if everything goes as planned we might already start recording by the end of the year.
In between… well touring, touring and touring. In September/October we will do a support tour for Powerwolf. After that probably some headlining or co-headlining shows. We will see. It is going to be busy year.
Will these songs also appear on the new album?
No! Those 3 songs were exclusively written for the “Fire & Ashes” EP. This would also be unfair towards the fans that are buying the EP and the album. Wouldn`t make any sense.
As a touring musician, do you still have the chance to visit concerts yourselves and if so which ones?
Yeah, of course. I am still a fan. Music is my life and I still love to see a good live show, to sing along, dance and have a beer or two. Mostly bands we don`t run into at festivals or tour with to keep it interesting. Yesterday for example, I got myself a ticket for a Coheed and Cambria concert in August.
Thank you for your time and good luck with the new EP and future albums and performances!
Thank you Tim! See you soon!