Dave: What's been happening?? Been a while since we have heard from you??
Tom: Yeah, I was away for a bit. After leaving PF and Sinner I took a break from the music scene, because I was so tired of it all. But after awhile, the fire started to burn again and I felt that the old metal heart inside of me is still beating. So I started doing a lot of studio jobs and I also started writing songs.
Dave: What kind of stuff are you writing??
Tom: I am writing the stuff that really comes from the bottom of my heart. I don`t look on the market or what`s hip today ( and gone tomorrow). Maybe you can compare it with the first two Primal Fear albums, but with different vocals on it. The forthcoming album will contain fast stuff, midtempo songs and songs with typical german guitar riffing. It will be honest music. It will be like a tank coming over you.
Dave: What are you going to be doing musically this summer?? Hear you might be out on tour.
Tom: I`m gonna play some festivals with Metalium this summer. I know Lars ( the bass player) for about 13 years now and we are good friends. We always kept in touch and we met each other on different festivals in Europe. One day he called me up and he told me that Jack Frost left the band.
And so he asked if I would like to join the band for the summer festivals. And now I`m back where I belong. On the toilet with the sick, hahaha !!!
Dave: What kind of gigs are Metalium booking??
Tom: As far as I know we are playing huge festivals around Europe. We are playing the Summer festival in Sweden, the Graspop Festival in Belgium, Wacken Open Air in Germany and Festivals in Spain and France.
Dave: Looking back at your experiences in Primal Fear, what advice would you give yourself in future projects you are involved with??
Tom: Oh, that was a very exciting period in my life. We started writing songs just for fun.We got a deal and the album was a never expected success worldwide. We played the biggest festivals in Europe. It was like a dream come true, you know. The only thing that bothers me, was the time pressure for the second album. I had the feeling that the songwriting wasn`t as good as on the debut. But the studio was booked and the "Jaws of Death" was recorded. I felt a little uncomfortable with the songs and nowadays I`ll better wait one or two more months to write new and maybe better material and get an album with 10-12 good songs on it.
Dave: Heard you had a chance to join Freedom Call, why did you decline??
Tom: I never had a real offer to join the band. Horst Odermatt, the organizer of the Bang Your Head Festivals, told me that Freedom Call are looking for a new guitar-player and he asked me for my telephone number, but I told him that I was doing the summer festivals with Metalium and so I never got a call.
Dave: Any projections on when you might have some music out to the fans??
Tom: Oh, that is hard to say. My future plan is to enter the studio in Oct. or Nov., but it depends on different things like the time schedule of Achim Köhler ( Producer and Engineer of Sinner and Primal Fear) or in finding the right musicians. I have just started rehearsals to find the right guys around me.
Dave: What are you currently listening to??
Tom: Oh, I`m into very different kinds of music. At the moment I am listening to the new Rammstein.
I love the guitar work of this band. I also listen to Lifehouse, Splender, Fuel, Pantera, Priest,Thin Lizzy and so on. But it depends on my mood.
Dave: The scene in Europe seems to be alive and well. The American fans have to put up with a lot of crap in our scene like the annoying boy bands. What do you think is the key to the longevity of the scene over there??
Tom: The german metal scene was always there, but it wasn`t mentioned by the magazines and the TV. We played our shows and we made our records thoughout the years. Now that grunge is over and the media realizes that there is still a great amount of good german metal bands around, they started writing about these bands again. The scene was never really dead. It was just sleeping. But now we are back stronger than ever !!!
Dave: Anything you would like to tell the fans right now??
Tom: Yeah, thanks for your support over the years and maybe we meet on one of the european festivals !!
Take care of yourself, be excellent to each other and party on !!!! Support metal and have a drink on me!!!
