Interview with Schally from Ignition
By Mick Michaels
COSMICK VIEW: Hello, Schally! Welcome to The Cosmick View. Thank you for taking some time out of your day to chat with me, it's greatly appreciated.
CV: Do you feel Heavy Metal music in general is viewed differently by fans in Europe compared to fans elsewhere, especially in America, and if so why?
Schally: I don't know if Europe is different from America. I think the taste is a little more classical here. I think that in the US they bands are not so focused on musical genres which can be seen by looking at the touring billings where traditional bands go on tour with more or less modern metal bands.
CV: What do you feel makes Heavy Metal music so alluring to the fans? What is it about the music that personally resonates so strongly with you?
Schally: Heavy metal is not just music. It is a lifestyle, part of ourselves. With listening to metal or playing metal music as a band we express ourselves. In the end It’s all about the passion to this music.
CV: Has Metal splintered into too many sub-genres in your opinion, thus, making it harder for newer bands to actually classify themselves as one style over another? Is it confusing for fans as well?
Schally: I don't like the classification of sub genres because it divides metalheads from each other. I grew up in a time when the Helloween fan partied together with the Metallica and Slayer Fan. I also listened to Bands like Biohazard or Bodycount who were part of the Metal scene at that time. I think sub genres were found by the press to make it easier to describe things. Today it is just used to put things into drawers without showing the needed respecting the artist and the music they create. It makes it hard for smaller bands to get accepted as unique. In our case we don´t give anything about musical classification in genres because this would be a kind of limitation which doesn´t come together with our understanding of Heavy Metal.
CV: How would you describe the current state of the music business considering
we are now living in a COVID aware,
and maybe even feared world? Have things drastically changed long-term for
artists and bands given the recent pandemic? What are your thoughts?
Schally: COVID made all
things more complicated, it made it impossible to play live and left a big mess
for the music industry after it. At the moment, there are a lot of cancelled
tours because of the raised touring costs. That is really annoying.
CV: What do you feel makes your band and its particular approach to songwriting
work? What keeps the band together and making music?
Schally: We just do what
we like most. Creating metal music in the way we love it: Hard loud and mostly
fast. On Vengeance we concentrated on the main things and added new facets that
in our eyes suit the sound well. Corona kept us closer together as a band. We
just used the time we weren't playing live for the new record.
CV: On a more global view, how do you see your band’s music and songwriting
separating itself from just being another Heavy Metal act?
Schally: I think that lies
in the eye of the beholder. We do what we love and I think people who come to
our shows feel that. They are close to the energy we release live. On our
records we try to concentrate on what is needed for a kick ass record…big drums
with killing guitar riffs, pumping bass lines and powerful melodic vocal
arrangements.
CV: Can an artist truly be unique? Some would argue there is no such thing as
being unique; that it’s nothing more than a compounding of influences making an
artist who or what they are. Would this then say that artists today are
destined to be just copies of those who have already come to pass?
Schally: That is bullshit
and I hope you know that asking that question. It is hard for smaller bands to
get the attention they need. But hey, let us play on Wacken or Bloodstock and
we will show you that we are unique. It is always easier to hold on your old
heroes that look for new ones. So open up your eyes and ears and be open to new
influences and bands. Maybe you are impressed in what they are capable of.
CV: Are there life lessons to learn being in a Heavy Metal band that you feel
cannot be taught elsewhere? If so, what are they?
Schally: I think that
would be question for bands in the 80s or 90s, where bands could make a living
with being a musician. Today that is not possible anymore, if you are not
willing to sacrifice your whole life for being on the road. Maybe one thing you
can learn from Heavy Metal is to be honest to yourself and to give a shit about
what others say. For us Heavy Metal is the freedom to do what we love. There
will always be people who like it and people who don´t, people who will always
try to find something the criticize, or people who we call the “genre or scene
police” who always want to tell you what is real or true. We do what we love
and what defines us as musicians. So maybe the lesson you can learn from being in
a Heavy Metal band is to be true to yourself and support the bands around you!
CV: What do you feel makes someone a “rock
star”? Does being a rock star automatically make one iconic or are the two
completely different in your opinion?
Schally: The rock stars are
dying in these times and getting less important. If you are known out there,
just try to do something that matters. That would make you iconic. Just being a
rock star changes nothing in this world.
CV: What's next for you? What can fans expect to see coming as the world looks
to surmount a new normal laced with a load of restrictions?
Schally: We will tour,
release records and do the things we love. We don't care about restrictions or
ties that bind you down. We take the opportunities we get and maybe me meet at
an Ignition live show in Europe or even the US.
CV: Thank you again Schally for spending some time talking and sharing with our readers. It was a
pleasure. I wish you all the best and continued success.
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