Tobias: Oh Hi, this is Tobias from Avantasia.

Tobias: Oh no problem. Hey, you sound tired.

Tobias: Oh that's very bad, please don't do any harm to your health.

Tobias: Well it wasn't that difficult, I knew most of them before we started working on it. I called all the people I've already known, like Kai because I toured with Gamma Ray a couple of times and Alex Holzwarth who had played one Edguy show and so I called all the people I know and asked and it was different from person to person. Bob Catley from Magnum was not that familiar with what I have done before so I played him some Edguy stuff and he said "Ok that sounds cool maybe we can do it." So basically I got in touch with the people to convince them what it was and this was the idea I had and I showed them some ideas I'd been working on and my past work with Edguy, my main band, and they basically, when they came close to doing it, they didn't want to do the work cos its a pain in the ass so I just organized the people and of course worked around the different schedules, different recording times, different contracts of them with their main band and with their licensees and their main record companies so all those things had to be kept in mind, but finally dont ask me how, but finally I managed to do it (laughs)

Tobias: Oh yea well I was the happiest one myself. I remember Michael was in his own studio in Hamburg, and I remember when I was having a phone call and he was saying "I have the first song done if you want to listen to it" and he played Reach out for the Light and The Tower off of part 1. I just said "Oh my God. This is your song and this is this singer and he's singing it like that Man this is really great material." I was really happy and it was a good honor and a great thing for myself. Michael doesn't write and record heavy metal albums these days and if I wanna buy those and I'm in the stores and there's no albums of Michael singing heavy metal songs that I don't own already, well why not write my own and let him sing them. (laughs)

Tobias: Well you have to be careful with that. Of course you'll say ah this sounds not as quite as I imagined it would be or yea this guitar could be a bit more heavy and well here we should use a different keyboard sound or whatever. Of course if you're building lets say military buildings nowadays, you wouldn't build an old castle but that doesnt necessary mean that new military buildings are more beutiful than an old castle but I think the magic... Lets start from the other way. When you listen to something that you really appreciate which was recorded 20 years ago it may only have that magic because it was recorded exactly the way it is. Nowadays you could record Holy Diver from Ronnie James Dio with different sounds, you could make it sound like Rammstein or whatever you can do those things of course you make it sound like nu-metal put a different sound to it put much more money to the production, do something that is really really up to date but would it be the Holy Diver as it was for Dio then? No it wouldn't, it would terribly lose the magic, this album sounds exactly as it is as it should be and thats the way I try to think about Avantasia as well. I'm really happy with it, of course I could always think I could improve afterwards but then it wouldn't be the same album. This is the best album I was able to record at that time and that's the timeless magic that those timeless albums then had, it's the charisma that is coming from those albums afterwards. I'm really happy with Avantasia as it is and I wouldn't change it even if I had the option to.

Tobias: The problem about when you talk bad about your previous work is something beyond untrustworthy. Some day you could sound like a fool because people know "Ok we know the new album of this band is really really hit parade but in two years he may tell us the same thing as he has done five years and five times before that that one is shit, and the new one is the best one. So we know now that he will say that in two years that we shouldn't listen to the album." It's really stupid, of course as you devleop as a person you will see things differently after ten years but that doesn't neccesarily mean that what you've been doing ten years before was bad or didn't have the right to be done as it was.

Tobias: Do you mean to let the story carry on or to do different things with the story as it is now?

Tobias: It's already a script which is more extensive than that,I don't know how many pages it is exactly but we have that script and there was a plan, I say was because I dont know now if its ever going to happen but there was a plan to release it as a book but in my opinion whenever you do make an album and do a tour or release a book you have to do it with 100% of your blood, your sweat and your passion and at the moment I just don't have time and don't want to concentrate on the release of a book. The release of a book now will probably just bring in more interviews, people would write about it again and you should be really focused on that, ask the author and talk about it and say "Ok this is exactly what I wanted to do as an author" and Im gonna tell you why and tell the stories behind it and do a promotion for it as well and I just don't want to do that at the moment so I stopped working on the book and I don't know if its ever gonna happen or be released but I will tell you there is a huge script.

Tobias: Just to be realistic in my opinion you shouldn't expect too much for anything because there's always a chance you wont live up to the expectations or the reality won't live up to the expectations so basically I dont expect too much but I was taking to Century Media yesterday and they said that regarding the reactions with the press and fans that the mood under the metal tent is that they're quite optimistic that this will be a good seller whatever that means you know? This is a heavy metal album and heavy metal is not really that big anywhere, I mean it's there and its never gonna go away but its not the kind of music you listen to when you turn on MTV and I think that's the same problem or even a worse problem in the United States at least that's what it's been for a long time. I just hope that it's coming back slowly but a little bit stronger I just hope that we can reach something and see, cross your fingers and hope that it will be somewhere and in my opinion is wherever we've been playing so far with Edguy and wherever we've been wherever there's people there have been heavy metal fans becasue this music has its own dynamics, people dont have to be shown ,people who like this music take it from somewhere. They're on the internet and on the underground and somehow get the music that's why I think there are heavy metal fans everywhere, the United States as well I hope. Like I said, cross fingers but its gotta be a few more than the last one (laughs)

Tobias: Yea I mean I don't wanna say those bands suck, but I dont listen to that. It's just you know really stupid when people talk about metal they talk only about this and when they talk about music as we do them, some people say "Oh this is not metal, this is old fasiohned stuff form the 80s. Spandex and hairspray and stuff " (laughs)

Tobias: Well what was better in 86? It's just the kind of music but that doesn't mean its exactly what has been done in '86. By the way I like Ronnie James Dio much more than Korn (laughs)

Tobias: Well I think good art has always been timeless and people that don't get it they should listen to whatever they wanna listen to but the problem is I think this music has potential to be listened to. I really think so and that's a bit sad. Some people just don't get shown they don't see it. Now when you show this kind of music to somebody of couse some people will react by saying "Oh thats old music" but some people go "hey this sounds good it has good melody and has really powerful music and its got a positive aggression its really good stuff. What is that? that's not heavy metal! It doesn't sound like it" Oh yea this is heavy metal but people just aren't shown they just dont find it you know? Im happy about this underground following which somehow bewares artists that are dependents of the great major media in a way. bands like Edguy sells 15 000 copies in the US and bands like Korn sell what? I dont know what they sell.

Tobias: Two million? Five million? I don't know.

Tobias: We just wanna be good. I hope our fans don't take that as the "surprise" that would really be scary (laughs). But you know there's no special effects or anything theres no pyro allowed for those shows so we can't bring the whole Euro show to the US but its a start and I think the most important thing is the show, the intesity of it and the music. I'm quite optimistic about that and we just try to be really good and I'm really looking forward to doing that. Its the first appearance in the country that Ronnie James Dio comes from. (laughs) I always mention Dio, ok, Gene Simmons comes form there as well. I mean you have to play the United States if you wanna be considered a real rock band (laughs)

Tobias: I think well play basically more or less the same set as in Europe but we have been changing the set list, not each night, but every couple of nights and changing this song or that song. In Japan we played almost two different shows in Tokyo in two nights two different sets, so we don't know exactly what were gonna play. We usually are that unorganized that one and a half hours before the show or maybe two hours before the show Felix who is programming his metronome that he has on the ear, he has a metronome on his ear to play, and hell say "Ok I'd like to program the speeds of the songs now, so what are we playing tonight?" and we're like "Hold on give us ten minutes we have to finish eating" It's always the same thing on our tour bus or hotel or whatever it's really a last minute decision what songs are played then finally, I dunno, if you catch is in a good mood we'll play whatever you want to hear.

Tobias: I think we've, no... we've never played Arrows Fly live before, if we manage to rehearse before, but Fairytale you have a good chance to hear that

Tobias: Well we'll see, I'll tell the others

Tobias: (laughs) You'll be the only one who enjoys it then. We will recognize you "hey look this is Ben he enjoys the song" "Who" "the only one without his middle finger up in the air" (laughs)

Tobias: We haven't thought about that yet. The problem at Prog Power is I don't know how long exactly we have to play I think it's about one hour.

Tobias: And in one hour you don't have so much time, you don't have so much time in one hour you have one hour basically hahaa that's math. We don't know if well change it if we'll play another one and throw out Avantasia but we haven't rehearsed anything other than Avantasia yet so I really can't say too much about it. In general I will say in the future there's nothing that really speaks against playing Avantasia material even from Part II in an Edguy show as long as it's not too much cos it is an Edguy show and we get more of our album sales from them so we shouldn't do too many things from Avantasia because Edguy's the band. But I dont know what will happen at Prog Power regarding this.

Tobias: (thoughtfully) Yea... We could really think about it. I could ask the other guys but yea we could really think about it.

Tobias: I really cannot say too much between the differences between the two albums because myself, I didn't really plan to have any differences on purpose there. But listening to what people say and listening to the album again and having this in the back of my mind, what people say, I can agree that part two is a little bit more extreme it has a wider range regarding the style. It has some bombastic rock elements like for example that could be taken from the Rocky Horror Picture show from Broadway, on the other hand you got almost fresh material like The Final Sacrifice or really hard riffy guitar metal like Memory, and of course typical speed elements like we have in Edguy as well. I really cannot deny there's a difference where Part I was in more one direction but apart from that, the continuation of the story of course it's different song titles different cover art different songs and well its hard to say, mainly the continuation of the story, the next step of it.

Tobias: This? (singing) I have been alone since the madman came along....?

Tobias: Sorry?

Tobias: It's something maybe unusal for a speed metal or a power metal production or whatever but I think this kind of music if you do it good it leaves you some space and that's what I say when people say " hey you dont wanna change your style, please dont change your style" and I say No I won't and I don't want to , I love this kind of metal but Ive always loved different types of stuff to involve in this kind of music. It leaves you with space to do a piano ballad, it leaves you with space to do a poppy or rock song you know as long as it keeps the magic of the album. Finally, I'm a heavy metal musician and I really love this music but there's always been ballads and rock songs and mainstream songs and then comes the double bass again. I just love how this kind of music leaves you alot of space to let you do what you feel needs to be done.

Tobias: Yea definitely and it's a big difference between those bands and that's like saying pop music sounds the same like Madonna, Sting, Bruce Springsteen or whatever you know "oh it's all the same stuff" I mean thats not true that's something my grandmother would say (laughs) but she would say Elvis Presley sounds like Edguy as well because it's all not in the German language and its all Rock based music and it's all not German folk music and yodeling. So of course for her it all sounds the same. But it's just how you take it. I wouldn't compare Elvis Preisly to Edguy too much. (laughs)

Tobias: Well we have started writing material, but that's the wrong expression as a songwriter to say you've STARTED writing material because when you're a songwriter and don't write... you know like a Pizza Hut boy, a delivery guy, brings the pizza for somebody whose ordered it, you always constantly write, it's just when you have an idea it doesn't matter if youre in a "songwriting process" or on the toilet when you have an idea then you have it. When you're a good songriter in my opinion, it's a metter of expressing yourself and then you have to capture the idea. So there's a couple of new things, I have two and a half mini discs full of new ideas so far, and I will gather a bit more and well what can I say? it's melodies and riffy ideas and it's Edguy material. In the end, all I expect from the album is it will be the best metal album we can record at that time that's what I expect from the album. We will give alot and the material sounds great to me already and I think in early or mid next year well sit down and go to the studio and then I think we can expect it in the end of 2003 or the beginning of 2004. All I can say is that it's all as it has been it's just the next step of the evolution, our personal evolution and that's what I expect from it, but first in 2003 there will be a double live album from Edguy which may be to some people "Oh ok its just another double live album" Well you know live albums are just like everything released they have a right to be there as long as they are good. We want to do something with a big book and double live with alot of pictures from the whole world tour, a photobooklet which makes it more enjoyable for the people, in my opinion though, I just want to do something that poeple want to have, otherwise it doesn't make any sense you know?

Tobias: Yea that's basically how we want to do it, if you look at the package for Live After Death, talk about value for your money.

Tobias: Well we've done that before, we recorded Hymn from Ultravox. We don't plan it but if there's an idea to do it, then we will probably do it. It's something that has to come up naturally though. Tribute albums in my opinion, well I'm not a big fan of them, they're a tribute to the bank account of the company that releases them you know? (laughs) and nothing more. I was once talking to Timo Tolkki about tribute albums and I was asking cos we were asked to participate in a tribute to Dio.

Tobias: I don't know... I think it was.

Tobias: You like it? I have listened to it

Tobias: That sounds not too good for me as well (laughs). I just said to Timo I think it'd be cool to honor Ronnie James Dio and Timo said "Ok if thats the reason just send him a letter and write that you admire him" (laughs) Ok I'm gonna do that I said... I didn't do it to be honest though. So basically we didn't particpate in that one or any tribute album for that matter. Well I'm quite sorry but I think we have to close the interview now. Do you have many more questions?

Tobias: Well thank you very much that's nice to hear: Hey maybe well see you in Atlanta, well be there and you'll be there as well so (laughs) maybe we can have a beer together.

Tobias: Well it's been cool for me and well see you in the United States in Atlanta.

Tobias: Ok Good talking to you!

Tobias: Haha have a good one....bye