Interviews

Your new album Circle of Life is completed and due out in March, how did the recording sessions for it go?

We began to record the drums in Hamburg,Germany, August 2004, and then moved back to our hometown Nuremberg. There we have our own studio and we could work hard from August 'til November 2004 in recording the rest. The difference in between the productions before was that we optimized the arrangements and changed part to part during the production, so we could catch a more spontanious performance as we did before.

On Eternity, Freedom Call experimented a bit with some harsh vocals as well as two Power Ballads, are there any more surprises in store for fans with this new long player?

Of course, we never will give it up to experiment during our productions. In the last few years we did a lot of shows and tours, so the experience we got influenced our music very much. On the new album "The Circle of Life" we tried to expand the flexibilty of Freedom Call's music and so you can listen to some new colours of our work. Specially on songs like "Mother Earth" or "Rhythm of Life" reigns more the "groovy" side of Freedom Call.

Freedom Call stands out from the pack of other Power Metal bands for being one of, if not the happiest metal band in existence. What prompted you and Daniel to write these epic, metal hymns that are so overtly joyous?

I decided for myself to prefer the sunny side of life. In reality of life the problems you have are usually coming by themselves...so it`s not necessary to force the dark side of life in songs or in music in making myself depressive or frustrated. So my music is a good escape from the negative side of reality.

Will you guys ever resurrect the Taragon storyline or go again for another concept thread?

We won`t close to book of Taragon forever, but I don`t think that we`ll work on it in the near future. If you write a story like Taragon, you`ll need good ideas and inspiration. All the energy we had for the new album, we put into the songs and arrangement of "The Circle of Life". But maybe in the future we could go on with a story or fairytale beside the music.

Do you ever have difficulties pulling off the huge vocal harmonies live?

All members of Freedom Call are able to sing the background vocals.We spend a lot of time in the rehearsal room for practising the choirs. It`s sounding definitely different of stage, but I think nobody is interested to see on stage a one to one copy of the studio album.

Do you think that Daniel's involvement with Gamma Ray has helped spread the word about Freedom Call?

Maybe in the first beginning of Freedom Call. But in the following years we had the problem that specially the press tried to name Freedom Call as a "project". Freedom Call was from the beginning on a real band, but we had to fight for it and now everybody can accept it.

You have done a few cover songs in the past, Ultravox, Hiroshima, and Helloween, are there any more cover songs planned for the future?

We always had lots of fun during the recordings of coversongs. We covered only songs which we love and knew from your youth on. But our albums should express our emotions and performance from the band, we don`t want to put some coversongs on our albums. Maybe on a sampler or as a bonustrack.

When Sascha Gerstner quit the band he said he wanted to play different music than metal, but now he is in Helloween, a band regarded as starting Power Metal, what are your thoughts on this and are there any bad feelings between the two parties?

I wish Sascha a great career and good times in his life.

The Taragon storyline had many similarities to certain Christian stories, (the Jews escaping slavery, the birth of Christ) was this intentional?

No, there is no intended comparison to the Christian story or Bible. But this kind of story could happen everywhere and anytime.

Freedom Call has been enjoying success in Europe and Japan, are there any plans for bringing the band over to the US? SPV markets the US pretty actively and the notion isn't so far off.

We would like to come over to the states very much. The most problem is the money, we have to find promoters to make it possible. But we`ll keep an eye on it and look optimistic for the future.

Your singing style is one that is constantly high and soaring, how difficult is it to maintain your voice's health?

I`m a smoker, I like to drink wine and don`t live the healthist life. But when I'm getting problems with my voice on tour, I`m very selfcontrolled and take care of my voice.

Have you ever considered taking over the microphone exclusively and bringing another guitarist on board?

In all bands I played before Freedom Call, I was only the singer. I love to play the guitar and I don`t want to miss it on stage. But on the next tour, I'll perform a few songs exclusively on the microphone...isn`t it a good alternative? :-)

What new and exciting things can we expect in 2005 from Freedom Call and do you have any last words for our readers?

The release of our new album "The Circle of Life" will be on 21st of March and in April is planned a tour in Europe. We`ll try to play as many festivals as possible and lots of fantastic shows in the upcoming future. My last words are distanced from the music, and I will say to all people, that I hope that the future gives us, the humankind, a better understanding, more tolerance and acceptance...independent from mentality, religion and origin. > > Take care & thanx for your interest

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