RSS
Interview
Deutsche VersionInterview mit Omen (19.08.2004)
HH: Hi, how do you do? Some weeks ago you played a furious gig at the Bang Your Head festival! Congratulations for that great show! How do you feel playing in front of such a big crowd?
Kevin: Thank you for your congratulations. The Bang Your Head festival was awesome. It was the biggest show that I have done with Omen to date and the crowd response was killer.
HH: Some days have passed now, how would you rate your show with that distance in mind? Are you pleased with it?
Kevin: On a scale of 1 (being not so good) and 10 (being great), I would rate the show a 13! Omen is very pleased with the outcome.
HH: How did you like the Bang Your Head festival in general?
Kevin: The BYH is a very organized event. The staff were very cool to us and the festival was an awesome experience for us.
HH: You played two times at Balingen, on Friday at in the WOM club and one day later at the festival stage. Where did you get better reactions?
Kevin: This is a hard question to answer. At both shows the audience was chanting the Omen name at every break, singing the words to the songs (even the new ones) with me and everyone gave us a lot of energy. The difference is at the WOM club the crowd was right in our faces and we could reach out and touch them. At the festival it was not as intimate and there is always the barricade to contend with. But, I would have to say at the festival show we got a better reaction only because we played to 5000 people verses 1000 at the WOM.
HH: Did you get in contact with fans on the festival site?
Kevin: Oh yes! Unlike other bands that are too much of rock stars to do that sort of thing, we always go out into the crowd and try to meet as many people as we can. Omen will always sign all of your memorabilia and take photos. We love it!
HH: Which band did you enjoy most?
Kevin: Man! There were too many good bands to list them all. Majesty always kicks ass. It was very cool to see Death Angel. I liked Angel, Queensryche, Lillian Axe (good friends of ours), Sebastian Bach and Ruffians. Also, Iced Earth, Testament, and Blaze. Too many great bands! In my honest opinion though, Alice Cooper stole the show. I am a huge fan and it was an honor to be on the same stage.
HH: Your guitarist Kenny gave a guitar into the audience after the gig. Why did he do that?
Kevin: Omen always tries to give everything we have to give in our shows. This being the biggest show we had done to date, Kenny decided to throw out a Fender guitar autographed by the band to some lucky fan. We are always careful when we do this sort of thing. Bands like KISS throw out a guitar every night during their performance. We can only afford to do it every once in a while. This seemed to be a good time to do so. But, also we give out a ton of free promo pictures (most bands make you pay for them) and our drummer, Rick, threw out at least 20 pairs of Omen drumsticks. It's just our way of saying thanks to those dedicated fans that spend their hard earned Euro to come watch us play!
HH: How were the reactions on your last album Eternal Black Dawn so far? How did fans and press react?
Kevin: The reactions were good for the most part. Our fans loved it, especially since it's the closest recording sound wise to Battle Cry, Warning of Danger, and The Curse since those albums. But, there's always that guy in the press reviewing new CD that really listens to Death metal or nu-metal that says don't buy this CD because it sounds like it was done in the 80's blah, blah, blah,... and I just want to say to them it's supposed to sound that way you stupid fucker. We are an 80's sounding band and always have been!
HH: What are your plans for the nearby future? New Album, further touring, DVD or something?
Kevin: All of that and more... as Omen already has more festival in the works for next summer. We have been working on a few new ideas for the new studio recording. Also, while we were on tour in Europe this time around we videotaped everything. So, we will be going through the footage to release a live DVD and possible live companion CD.
HH: Will you hit the road for a european club tour this year?
Kevin: Hopefully so! It all depends on the numbers. After the release of Eternal Black Dawn last October we were scheduled on no less than three different tours, but as you well know it takes a certain amount of money to make a tour happen. So, maybe we will have better luck this time.
HH: Thank you for your time and good luck for your future! The last words are yours!
Kevin: Thank you for the interview. I just want to say, we appreciate all of the loyal and dedicated Omen fans. You mean the world to us! We can't wait to come back and perform again for you. Stay heavy and stay hard! For those reading this and don't know much about Omen, visit www.omenlegion.com and find out for yourself!