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Interview
Deutsche VersionInterview mit Swashbuckle (10.08.2009)
HH: Avast, me pirates of the high seas, how is the crew doin' at the moment?
Admiral Nobeard:Â We're gearing up for conquests of pillage and glory for the Paganfest tour in Europe in September, that and we're drinking massive amounts of rum.
HH: Your actual booty quest Back To The Noose did quite an impact at the ordinary landlubbers, commonly known as critics. How pleased are you with your prey by your own? Happy to have hauled out the best possible from your victims... ah... fans or could the prize possibly have been larger?
Admiral Nobeard: Landlubbers and sea dwellers alike seem to enjoy our brand of metal madness, so we're quite pleased with the reviews and the amount of scallywags thrashin' out on the record. We'll just keep touring and touring so more people can get into it.
HH: As pirates amongst Metalheads you're on the one hand quite in an exceptional position, on the other hand you will always be compared with heroes of the scene like Running Wild or Alestorm. Is that incentive or a burden?
Admiral Nobeard: It's neither. We don't sound anything like Alestorm or Running Wild, so we don't see it as incentive or a burden. We do what we do, and that's how we fuckin' roll.
HH: Tell me about the difference between the sound of Swashbuckle and the above mentioned bands.
Admiral Nobeard: We play thrash metal, where as Alestorm plays power metal and Running Wild is straight up heavy metal. We're the more brash and aggressive out of the "piratical" bunch.
HH: I almost got the idea of a continuous story behind the current album. Is this impression deceptive and all the parts of the output accidentally fit together perfectly or is there indeed something under the surface?
Admiral Nobeard: It's a loose story with the album. It's more like a piratical adventure that just happens to end with a concept. We tried to get the flow of the record to feel like a story is happening, and that be just how it turned out.
HH: Didn't you fear that those interludes on the CD could take away some tension from the album? Or are they indispensable for the disk?
Admiral Nobeard: If anything they build more tension and set more atmospheres, at least to my ears. Sometimes ye need to sit back with yar acoustic guitar and a gallon of rum and play the melodies of the sea.
HH: A few lonely voices mocked about you getting the contract with Nuclear Blast by winning a competition for bands and the wicked word "casting" was murmured across the seven seas. Do you care about this or do you still pursue your track obliviously?
Admiral Nobeard: There's always going to be nay-sayers about what we do, and how we got to where we are, it's not going to deter us from what we do or what we've done. Regardless of a record contract, we were still going to put out the record and do touring on it. It would've been more "do it yourself," which we're used to and have done for the past years, but it still would've happened. Just because we won some contest isn't going to make us work any less hard than we would have, if anything we're working harder than ever. So fuck those bitching about it, they can take a long walk off a short fucking plank.
HH: This autumn we're lucky to welcome you in the course of the Paganfest throughout Europe, mainly Germany. Do you think your Thrash Metal fits the billing of the tour? And is there enough potential booty for two pirate vessels that proud like Swashbuckle and Alestorm or do you have to compete with the Scots for your part of the loot?
Admiral Nobeard: I'm sure we fit the tour just fine. Granted we may be the fastest act on the tour, but it's not going to take away from the reasoning behind the show, which is to have fun and love heavy metal. We tend to find our place wherever we are, so we're not worried about trying to "fit in." There's always enough booty to go around, so there be no competition between us and Alestorm. If anything, we'll be high-fiving, plank diving, and getting ripped on some rum whilst rocking out with
some killer bands and some awesome fans.
HH: What about the near future? Any plans for a Headliner-Tour? Writing some stuff for a new album? Or is it time to squander the quarry earned on the actual raid in the cheap fleabags of Port Royal and Tortuga?
Admiral Nobeard: We'll be doing tours galore and pillaging and plundering ears and booties alike. Right now, we're getting together the sets for Paganfest and all the other tours planned out as well as working on new material for the next record. So we're keeping ourselves busy and getting ready to thrash.
HH: Is there any special band you'd love to share the stage especially willingly with or don't you care about who accompanies you on your upcoming adventures?
Admiral Nobeard: I'm sure we'd all shit a cannonball out if we got the chance to tour with Blind Guardian. But we're glad to be sharing the stage with any of the bands we've toured with or will tour with. It's always awesome to be able to open for some of your favorite band as well as discovering some new bands out there that we don't normally listen to on a daily basis.
HH: And now the inevitable special question: What would be the shipbuilding equivalent to Swashbuckle? A Frigate? Brigg? Galleon? Or something completely different? And particularly: why?
Admiral Nobeard: Definitely a Battleship, it's big, it's heavy, it's fast, and it's got more guns than you do!
HH: Arrr, so the only thing that is left to me is to wish you any luck on your raids. May they be as prosperous as possible and don't let humorless pirate hunters board your vessel!
Admiral Nobeard: Well thank ye for the words, we hope to see ye and everyone else reading this on the Paganfest tour and any upcoming tours as well. Raise yar ales and prepare for Metal Glory!
Hannes