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Interview
Deutsche VersionInterview mit Virgin Steele (15.11.2008)
David: Hello, it's David DeFeis of Virgin Steele. How are you?
HH: Fine. How are you?
David: I'm fine, thanks.
HH: You're quite on time, I must say.
David: Yeah, I want to finish on time.
HH: That's great, me too. So, first: thanks a lot for the first interview in about six years. It's been a long time.
David: It's been that long because you didn't call me! You could have called me!
HH: You've just re-released three quite different and also quite important records of your discography. So, for what reason did you decide to re-release them?
David: The main reason was our old label contract was running out, so the albums would be out of print. We get new Fans with every new release who have never heard of the old albums before, so we want to keep them available.
HH: What do those three re-releases mean to you?
David: They're part of my biography. It was as it was with most of my records. I made music I wanted to hear.
HH: Not only with this three records, you've influenced a lot of bands, as your duet with Crystal Viper shows. What do you think about the contemporary Heavy Metal-Scene?
David: Oh, that's a good question. Sometimes I hear things that I've never heard before and say "Wow, this breaks new ground!". Some bands are quite good and some bands sound mostly the same.
HH: Are there new bands you can recommend?
David: I don't know. Ask me again later.
HH: Now that you've re-released about half of your albums: do you think there'll be re-releases of House Of Atreus Act One and Two some day?
David: Yeah, sure. They will be made available somehow.
HH: Do you think Virgin Steele is going to carry on for such a long time?
David: Virgin Steele, I hope, is going to carry on as long as it can carry on. As long as the band wants to carry on. We'll be going on as long as everyone is healthy, strong, ready to go. I will go on in some shape or form anyway. Call it Virgin Steele or anything else. I will play with other musicians, I have a project here with Thomen from Blind Guardian. Actually I want to stay in music buisness as long as I can. As long as I have something to say, I'll keep going. If I don't have fun anymore, if I find myself in situations in which I keep repeating myself then it's enough.
HH: So we won't see Virgin Steele some time at the opening of a shopping centre?
David: No.
HH: That's good to hear!
David: We'll implode, blow up or go gracefully. We won't do our thing at a shopping center.
HH: You've also announced you were working on a new studio album. Do you have any information for our readers yet?
David: I'm asked that all the time. I have an idea of what the record might be like, with so many songs that I'm still trying to decide where the music's gonna go. I have a better idea for the album after. I'm working at three albums, planning. So it's hard to say what the record's gonna be like. I'm trying to prepare several records at the same time, so that when one album is released there won't be a big, long wait before the next one can come out. I'll already be almost done.
The material itself, I would say, is something different that what came before but has also some of the dark vibes of the last album and the dark moments of the House Of Atreus-stuff. Perhaps there are moments of illumination, for lack of better words, I reckon there were, but it is kind of somber and especially the opening cover track is very, very heavy. There are moody things, there are classical things, I have a whole instrumental album that I'm working on.
I'm not quite certain yet what to do with the whole material. So, it's a tricky thing. We will continue a bit of the story of the last record, see what happens in the 21st century.
HH: So there'll be no overall concept?
David: It is a continuation of the idea of the overthrow of the female principle in the divine by the male. It will be a Virgin Steele record. It will be barbaric and romantic and I hope people will like it.
HH: Are you going to do a tour as well, especially in Europe?
David: Yeah, we'll come over and play shows in Europe when the record's done. I know that sounds as if I am in a complete chaos - and I am, but I hope I'll have it done between March and May, so when it's out in spring or summer we'll see us in Europe.
Anyway, I've talked to the label we just signed to and we're going to release something every five or six months: a new album, some projects or a reissue. No one can say I'm sitting on my ass. I'm working all the time. You'll get whatever's finished first. That's the thing.
If you noticed, on Life Among The Ruins there's a bunch of acoustic rehearsals. There's a lot more where that came from. I'm in the middle of sorting out all those rehearsal recordings and life recordings that we did acoustically. There will probably be a two or three CD set. I'm actually halfway through now, there's quite some more stuff and that's coming, it's on the way. I also have a Heavy Metal kind of bluesy record that I'm doing.
And there was also a US-Version of Life Among The Ruins which had different mixes and I have a whole bunch of other songs that were s'posed to go on the US-Version, maybe that stuff is coming out as well, someday. What's coming out first is a matter of what I'm done with first. On the new album, most songs are to ninety percent finished, so it's quite possible that I'll make that deadline we spoke about.
HH: Sounds as if you were a true workaholic...
David: Well, that happened. Over the last couple of years I started writing so much, that's one of the things where I can't stop. Now I've got this material and a lot of it is by ninety percent finished, some of it by hundred percent. For example the new album that I talked about, that's more blue sketched, it's over seventy minutes of music. I've recorded basic ideas with keyboards and now it's just a question of filling in... it's a lot of work.
HH: By the way: On Life Among The Ruins you have the bonus track "Snakeskin Voodoo Man". You put the electric version into the running order. Was that planned?
David: Yes, that's how it went on the US-Version. We gave it a very small pressing, mostly for ourselves.
HH: Did you already plan to put it on the record when you first released Life Among The Ruins?
David: No, because it was actually recorded slightly after we issued the European pressing, probably about one or two months later.
HH: It sounds homogenous compared to the rest of the album.
David: We were playing the song prior to making the record but we never got round to recording it.
HH: By the way: What do you say about the elections' outcome?
David: We're very pleased here. We look forward to getting on, making the country strong and getting it back in shape. As far as I know everyone is pretty happy with the outcome and looking forward to the future.
HH: We over here are happy and looking forward as well.
David: Same here. It's quite historic.
HH: Fine, that's the end of our questions. Thanks a lot!
David: My pleasure, sir!
HH: I'll hope to get to see you soon.
David: We've been away for a while, but we will return.
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