Intervju - Hansi Kursch, Blind Guardian / Demons & Wizards När Hansi Kursch besökte Stockholm för en tid sedan fick jag möjlighet att ställa lite frågor om nya Demons and Wizardplattan, Blind Guardian och avhoppade trummisen och allt annat som rör denne glade tysk. Niclas Müller-Hansen What can you say about the new album? Itīs not coming out until the end of June, right? HK: Well, thereīs some time left before the release, but I think SPV need it to set up everything properly. Otherwise it would be too much of a rush, so thatīs pretty good. Weīve been done with the whole thing since the beginning of April. So youīre just doing promotinal stuff until the release of the album? HK: We do promotion for the next two weeks and that sets up everything for June and then we do a video in between. Thatīs all weīre supposed to do and thatīs all we can do. Jon needs to work with Iced Earth and I need to work with Blind Guardian. Jon does the American leg of promotion and I do the European leg and we might do Japan together and that could be something in between as well. When you started working on this album, how long did it take from the first step to the final product? Was it a difficult process or easy writing it? HK: It was very easy though the process has taken a lot of time, because there wasnīt a lot of time! Jon sent out some stuff to me years ago and I never found the time to work on it. It took like ten months after that until I could pay the attention to the songs that they deserved. It took me weeks to complete the vocals and then I sent them back. Then Jon didnīt find the time to work on it again, so it was more or less something we could do in between until fall 2004. Jon was forced to cancel his live activities the rest of the year because of his spine and that gave us the only oppertunity to put our minds together and keep the focus on Demons and Wizards. I visited him in Indiana and we did a pre production, so we had another week there weīre we completed the arrangements we had worked on so far and we came up with, I would guess...three more songs. And basically afterwards we were ready to do the album. When we decided to do the album in December we were aware that we still had some work to do, but the basic arrangements had been done and most of the vocals as well. Some harmony arrangements I hadnīt done so far and I didnīt do the lyrics before we started the production. Do you write all the lyrics or...? HK: Yeah, I do most of it! I come up with the basic ideas for the lyrics and then I start doing the lyrics and whenever I had a problem, Jon gave me a hand or if there was a line missing he put his focus on that. There are two songs that are not on the record, but on the digi pack, "Spatial architects" and "Lunar lament" and for these two songs it was the opposite, the other way around. Jon started the song writing and when he was missing a line I put it in. I read somewhere that someone thought that the album was based on a Stephen King book called "Dark tower"? Any truth in that? HK: There is a truth in it! Some of the songs are related to the book, like the title of the album "Touched by the crimson king". Somehow people tend to think itīs a concept album, but there are only three songs about the "Dark tower" and thatīs "Crimson king", "The gunslinger" and "Teror train". I think itīs Kingīs best story and he put a lot of elements in that story about his own creation so... Was that the thought of it, when you started working on the album? Did you already have the idea that you were gonna base some songs on a Stephen King book? HK: No! To be honest, Iīm a big fan of the story and by the time we started the production, six books had been published in Germany already and the final one was missing. And when I came to the States the first thing I saw in a bookstore was that seventh and final part of the story. Ok, because I donīt think Iīve read anything by Stephen King...so thatīs the one and thereīs a whole series of books... HK: There are seven books and in these seven books he creates a kind of post nuclear King Arthur story dealing with the gunslinger, the gunslinger knight. I got that book in the US and I started reading it and I had thought of using the "Dark tower" for Blind Guardian, but since I was first to do the lyrics for Demons and Wizards and I had a song like "The gunslinger", which was called "Speed metal" at that point and I thought...letīs do the lyrics for that song about the gunslinger. And when I did that, at a certain point Jon came up with the idea of doing another song about a very famous character invented by Stephen King called Randell Flag which appears in a lot of Stephen King stories and the most popular one is probably "The Stand". Thatīs the evil character in "The Stand" and he weaves that guy in wherever he can! And heīs a very important part of the "Dark tower" as well. So thatīs the connection and I thought, if Jon wants a song about Randell Flag, then I can connect that to the "Dark tower" again. Finally there was one song still open and that was "Teror train" and Jon was supposed to do the lyrics for that one, but he couldnīt come up with an idea because he was not really aware of the fact that he was supposed to do the lyrics and he just said he didnīt have an idea. I was running out of ideas too, but I came up with the idea for "Teror train", which is a nother famous character in the story. What made you record "Immigrant song" by Led Zeppelin? Was that that a thought as well initially or... HK: That was a decision we made during the pre production period in Indiana. We talked about cover versions, but we couldnīt come up with a song we both liked. Someone came up with the idea of "Immigrant song" and that is basically one of the rare songs that Jon likes. He doesnīt like led Zeppelin, but he likes Page and Plant. When you add Bonham and Jones e thinks they suck! (laughs) I love Led Zeppelin and that song and I thought it could be a song that was very easy to acomplish and we just kind of speeded through the song. It was supposed to be a bonus track for the digi pack, but when we listened to the whole album we figured that "Immigrant song" was better than some of the other songs, so we finally made the decision to add it to the album. What inspires you when you write lyrics? What are your influences? Do you read a lot of books? I read somewhere that your favorite book was "Lord of the rings" and you like "Star wars" and stuff like that. Is that the kind of stuff that influences you when youīre writing? HK: No, itīs not so much an influence while doing the harmonies, but some of the songs require that type of lyrics as well and since Iīm addicted to that stuff itīs a pleasure for me to do it. At a certain point of the song you just figure that that could fit to that song. Basically for Blind Guardian we have abused "Lord of the rings" a thousand times as we have done Stephen King stuff, so I kind of have a certain knowledge about the books which makes it easy for me to come up with lyrics. Thatīs the point for me and Blind Guardian song writing...Andre likes to read as well and from time to time he takes the inspiration music wise, so we relate musically to a certain part of the story and then he mentions that to me ask me to write lyrics in the same direction. But thatīs not the case with Demons and Wizards! Have you ever thought of doing a soundtrack? Is that something you would like to do? I mean, Demons and Wizards is very powerful music! HK: It would be great, but usually it really depends on the movie, because most of the movies, fantasy or science fiction, they need score music and Iīm not so much into score music! It would be tempting, but I donīt see the reason to do that! I understand that youīre busy with Blind Guardian and Jon with Iced Earth, so I guess itīs difficult to find time for it all, but I read that youīre (Demons and Wizards) gonna play some dates in the US. Anything planned for Europe? HK: Weīre really short of time and thatīs the biggest problem. But I would hope that we find some time during December and January to do at least a few shows. The first attention would go to the US, because we didnīt play there the last time so itīs their previlige to se us now. I could imagine that weīd play festivals in the summer of 2006 or 2007. Ok! More about the album! Are there any leftovers from this album that you would use later on? Do you already have plans for a third album or... HK: Well, there are a few songs on this album that were leftovers from the "Glorious burden" album, from Jonīs song writing period and some of them we didnīt use for the Demons and wizards album because we were studio wise running out of time. And we could use them for any kind of single or later album, but some of them demanded more attention, so we finally decided not to use them. It could also be that Jon decides to use them for Iced Earth. I also read that...are you supposed to doa video for "Immigarnt song"? HK: No, thatīs not true! I read that as well! The first idea we had was to make a video for "Beneath these waves", but... Thatīs my favorite song by the way... HK: I appreciate that...because thatīs the song I would consider to be the future of Demons and Wizards. It does not so much relate to Blind Guardian or Iced Earth, so it stands for itself. That means we somehow have to create our own identity. But we decided to do the video for "Terror train"! Thatīs supposed to be done in early June! How does that work? Do you come up with ideas for the video or is it the director? HK: Heīs got the lyrics and he knows what the song is about. He obviously doesnīt know anything about Stephen King, but you get an idea, the character that Iīm talking about in the song. Itīs a Swedish guy called Roger and I canīt remember...he did a concept that was at least related to the lyrics. So he did the concept , but based on the lyrics. Are you shooting it in Sweden? HK: Yeah, I think we will! Jon will come over and weīll do one or two days of filming and there will be a lot of animation. But the basic idea would work perfect and it would be related to the album cover and the lyrics and would bring us in an acceptable way. Weīve done videos with Blind Guardian and Iīm sure Jon feels the same way about the Iced earth videos, theyīre just crap! (laughs) I can see that! But I was thinking...these days itīs not the 80īs anymore and back then you really needed a video and heavy metal was a big thing. These days thereīs no way youīre gonna find a Demons and Wizard video on MTV! Itīs a different forum today! As a heavy metal band, do you need a video today? I mean, are they shown anywhere? I guess you can show it in clubs or at meetings and so on. HK: I think thatīs one of the points, where we will finally use it, but the most important thin still is the underground tv stations. So itīll have exposure world wide, without having a significant impact. But Demons and Wizards will be visual and get an image in the minds of people and therefore it is very important to have one. Plus it is made for your own ego! Because youīre still hoping whenever you do a video that it finally will turn out good! You think it would be great to have at least one clip which comforts the music and presents you in a way that you feel comfortable with. That has not been the case so far! Itīs still the holy quest! (laughs) I guess! But thatīs a good thing you said, about the underground tv and radio stations. With all these big companies getting bigger and bigger and more focusing on getting more money from crappier artists. And I guess itīs a good thing as well because thereīs a forum for underground radio and tv stations and there will be more and more of it! HK: It definetely is! Especially on the internet with a lot of stations popping up here and there. HK: Sure! But Iīm still not sure about the impact that the internet has, overall. But metal is supposed to be underground and thatīs when itīs the most vivid and most productive. So whenever it is somehow hidden from the public it works the best! That could be the case with that video. I mean, itīs just a video and if itīs a good one Iīm sure some people will recognize it. So, whatīs the deal with Blind Guardian now? Your drummer jumped ship and whatīs going on there? HK: We donīt have a new drummer so far, but we have several options that we are checking out at the moment. We will definetely start the production on the next Blind Guardian album in late June, early July. You guys have been together for a long time! HK: Twenty years! Are you still in touch with eachother? HK: Well, we are in touch, but obviously it was not just musical and artistical matters. It was something...it was the best decision we could make. It happens in every relationship and hopefully weīll be able to establish that again. There are no bad words and no bad vibes, but there are no positive vibes as well. I wish him nothing but the best and heīs a very talented drummer and he will make his way, thatīs for sure. So, a new Blind Guardian album some time next year then? HK: Yeah, defenitely in the first half of 2006! And then a tour on top of that? HK: Yeah, and thatīs what makes it so difficult with Demons and Wizards. You try to be at home for a while and you wanna do songs and production and you wanna play shows! The schedule for Blind Guardian is just packed and the same can be said about Jonīs schedule. Itīs really, really difficult to find some time! Do you ever get time off for a holiday or...? HK: Very short periods. A week or so. Itīs not a real job we have, itīs a gift doing what you like the most. Is it still as fun as it was when you started out? HK: Itīs a different fun! Because in the early days you enjoyed travelling around more than being an artist or being creative. Today itīs the other way around! Are there any places where you havenīt played yet? HK: Australia! But thatīs more for the sensation! We have a great following there so that would be something! Of all the countries youīve been to...is it still exciting to go to Japan and so on? HK: Yeah! Japan is always something different because thatīs a different culture. Itīs not the cultural shock it used to be, but people behave differently and itīs still a big thrill! Best thing on the last tour would be...Chile! That was a blast! Ok! When did you start singing? Was that at an early age or...? HK: Yeah! It depends on how you look at it! I was always singing and that was something my parents didnīt really like, but on the other hand it was not my first goal. I was really focused on playing the guitar and I got to join a band and was supposed to be the bassist and the vocalist, because they desperately needed both. At that point my career started and after a while I just figured that playing bass guitar is really nice. Somehow the interest changed and I started focusing on vocals. Did you ever take, like singing lessons? HK: Yeah I did! I started in the early 90īs and thereīs still hope. (laughs) Do you do voice exercises to stay in shape? HK: Yeah I do and especially on tour when you have four or five shows in a row. I still enjoy being on the road and drinking beer and so on, but I donīt get shit faced like in the old days. But you really shouldnīt drink anything! The biggest problem you have on tour is that once you get sick you have to keep on singing and then the voice is gone. Yeah, itīs gotta be hard to go on stage when your not feeling too good! HK: Yeah, and if you donīt get the high notes...(laughs) What kind of stuff did you grow up listening to? HK: A lot of 70īs stuff. My first favorite band was ELO and then Queen and Genesis. Is that the stuff you listen to today as well? HK: Yeah, I listen to the old stuff, but some new stuff as well. Deep Purple is still my favorite band, followed by Queen. What do you think of todayīs version of Queen with Paul Rodgers? HK: I was surprised! I love Paul Rodgers, but that is definetely not the right vocalist I would consider for Queen. A friend of mine saw them in Hamburg and he said it was good, but different. And it turned out to be better when they played Bad Company and Free songs. (laughs) I think, as stupid as it sounds, that they shouldīve taken George Michael again. Character wise heīs a little bit more like Freddie. What kind of new stuff do you listen to? HK: I like Dimmu Borgir and Arch Enemy. I love Tori Amos and Dixie Chicks and Travis. Itīs a big mixture of everything! Sounds good! Well, I wish you all the best and good luck with the new album and forthcoming tours! HK: Thanks! Blind Guardian - Official website Demons & Wizards - Official website

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