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Interview with Lars Ratz - Metalium
Coming right on the heals of the fourth installment to the Metalium Saga, titled "As One, Chapter Four," The one and only Hashman had the opportunity to speak with bassist Lars Ratz about the current endeavor that has brought Metalium to the fourth release of their career.
Within this interview, Lars stresses the importance for making music in the band's terms, combining the precise musicianship created for the songs themselves, for which is the reason behind the fact that they have grown to be one of the forerunners of metal, ever since their beginning. Having that said, with their massive following worldwide and a growing cult following stateside, which is going noticed by the band themselves, they have the aspirations to eventually play North America
So before the actual questions are asked, Lars and I speak about the Metalium's website and how they offer ear candy samples to the fans.
Lars: We try to give some information to the fans, and it's a good service to the fans, to have excerpts of the songs, so we don't have to hide them. MP3s are cool as far as giving people a chance to have a listen before they buy, having fade in/fade out versions, I think it's cool.
So pressing on with the interview I asked Lars about the Metalium concept and the evolution all the way into its fourth chapter.
Lars: There is the key figure leading through the story, the Metalian, to connect all the lyrics and all the concepts/stories; no for Chapter Four we brought in a female counterpart called the Metaliana, which is a symbolic figure to make the Metalian complete, because there is always a plus and minus, a yin and yank; so to make this complete you always have to have the counterpart, so As One: Chapter Four, the lyrics are all about the female creature, and the history of the human beings within this saga, so the soul of the Metaliana will be reincarnated in the bodies and figures of evil, the songs reflect the most the evil figures from our lifetime, such as Medusa, Pandora, or Aphrodite.
Hashman: So how did the songwriting process come together with making this record, as far as the music goes?
Lars: It's always been the same up until now, everybody in the band is writing music, so me as the producer from the first record on, I have a pool of creativity that I can dig out, or I can just take the ingredients to make the Metalium super, so to speak.
The difference from record to record sometimes, is generally like saying "who wrote a bit here, and who wrote a bit more there, and who wrote more lyrics, but in the end it's always a mixture of putting together everybody's creativity. With this music we cannot become rich, were not playing in the leagues with say, Iron Maiden or something. We are a band with a worldwide following, but we are also a band that is happy enough so that we can tour, so what I am saying is that we have to bring up some idealism and the energy to do this; and that is the main point of all this, we no like the "Boy Bands" that are selling the millions, we do this first of all our belief in what we do. We are happy of course, that we have several fan clubs worldwide and that we have a good fanbase. I think the main point why our music sounds the way it does is because we make it without borders, we don't have to have a single or the typical thing to make a hit, we just make the music as we feel and how we want to have it, and then out comes a fresh Heavy Metal record, in my point of view there is no record that we are ashamed about, we have always gotten to the point where we were happy in the end, and the (current) record has already been out a month in Japan, so it seems that we did something right here.
Hashman: Being the producer, over the years how has the evolution of recording equipment like Pro-Tools, The Pod, all this other newly affordable digital equipment affected you and your production work. Did you work with any analog gear before working with Metalium.
Lars: Yeah, I'm the owner of the studio we record in, so I am using the same stuff we started with, but over the years I got a bit more knowledge about things and how I could get a new technique in recording. In some ways I am traditional, I would never use The Pod (a guitar amplifier model simulator/speaker cabinet emulator/effects processor), even though the Pod is pretty good, it lacks percentage from 99% to 100%, especially when it comes to miking the speaker cabinet, so again we do this for us, to create a sound that we want, that we feel is right for a Heavy Metal record; a tape machine is a great sound, but a Pro-Tools system has something to it; in the end it does not matter too much if you are using new technology or old technology, as long as a song is good, it will stay good, no matter what you are using; you cannot blow up a bad song if it's recorded quietly (digitally) with a lot of technique, its still a bad song.
Look at the Beatles, they recorded their first biggest hits on a four track, good songs remain good regardless, so in Heavy Metal, it is what gets across with feeling to the listener and that is very important.
Hashman: Oh Yeah, a great musician is going to sound better playing a Washburn Guitar through a Crate Amp, rather than a completely amateur musician playing a Les Paul through a Mesa Boogie, it all boils down to the musicianship, rather than the equipment
Lars: Of course the perfect the marriage between the perfect musician and the perfect equipment is best, but in the end, what is more important.
Hashman: On the subject of production, how was it working with keyboardist Don Airey (Rainbow, Deep Purple, Ozzy) on this record?
Lars: Since I have been a huge Rainbow and Ozzy Osbourne fan since I was twelve years old, the first concert I went to was Rainbow's Difficult to Cure tour, Airey was simply my idol, so my dream came true already on Chapter Three, when we got him to participate on keyboards. It was time to think about who we would want on keyboards, so I called him up, and during all of this he became the keyboardist for Deep Purple, so I expected him to be busy, however, he said that he would be delighted to play in the next record (Chapter Four), and he didn't even say anything like "how much do I get for it," so that was very exciting, of course he got something for it, but in his mind that was not the main thing, it was all about the music.
When it comes to the music on this record, there is a part in the middle, where it is nothing but keyboard pads, where the mood takes big step forward, and within this Don (Airey) brought his keyboard sounds to the table, which were these old 70's analog synths (such as Moogs), it just great. It makes us proud that we created something that will last longer in earth than our own existence.
Hashman: From what I understand, your first two albums were out on Pavement Music (at least in the States), but now you are with Century Media Stateside, have you guys always been signed to Century Media in Europe, and had different distribution in the U.S.?
Lars: Up until now (Chapter Four), we have been signed to Massacre Records in Europe, and they licensed the first two to Pavement in the U.S., the third and the fourth on Armageddon Products, a new metal label in Europe, they licensed the third and fourth to Century Media, so Chapter Three and Four will be available together as a double set (digipack), so you get more for your money, and that is important in this time of downloading.
Hashman: On the subject of downloading, have you seen that affect you at all, and what are your thoughts on that.
Lars: Well I don't know if that has affected us, but all I know that the market is getting weak because of this, but I do like the fact that you can download to check out new things, to get an opinion, and I also use it, when a band puts some samples on their homepage, I can get a sample of what that band in particular sound like, and when I think it's cool, I buy the record. It does become hairy and dramatic when people just download to burn on their own CD, and not buy the record, hurting the artist. For example it would hurt us more than say Metallica, they sell millions of records, 5,000 downloads will not affect them as it would affect us, considering that our sales figures are completely different from their sales, it can have a really negative affect on us, and many other bands doing this type of music.
Hashman: It's a good thing that American record stores will always carry metal CDs, regardless of the city or scene, and according to people that I talk to that work at Tower Records in Nashville, Metal sells considerably well, regardless of there being no promotion on radio and no real metal scene in Nashville, the magazines are the only way to reach metalheads in a city like Nashville, where the record industry in town, tends to think Country Music rules the roost. It's a good sign to see this, future is bright for metal in the U.S.
So where do you guys plan to tour?
Lars: We are already confirmed to co-headline the Wacken Road Show in Europe, actually we had offers to play the March Festival in Europe, but problems arised, such as pay to play issues, and we really cannot afford to do that, unfortunately we have not booked any shows yet, but yet there are possibly some opportunities coming up, we would love to come over to the U.S. because our first records sold considerably well, which surprised us, so its time to go over to the states and kick ass.
Hashman: Metal is finally arising form the underground in the U.S. and a lot of people out there are realizing that this stuff is out there and its gaining a large audience, regardless of the lack of promotion and tours, it does not exist on radio, so it really is something scared that metalheads stateside can hold as their own scene, even if the bands aren't from the local areas or the U.S.
Lars: All we can really do is look ahead is keep delivering the best music that we can, do the best we can, so I believe the wheels are turning and everything comes back, and if I did not have this belief, I probably could not go on as a musician, but I do have this belief.
Hashman: Any last words?
Lars: Hello Revelation Z, and we are looking to come to the U.S. for the first time and we are sure to kick ass.
Hashman: On behalf of the Revelation Z and the rest of the staff, I thank you. | |
Written by Hashman - 2/3/2004 |
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RevelationZ Comments
| Comment by Tommy (Member) - Wednesday, February 4, 2004 | 
View Profile
Comments: 74
Ratings: 31 | | Cool informative interview Hashman. Looking forward to the new album.
Tommy
RevelationZ Magazine
Posted by Tommy
Wednesday, February 4, 2004 |
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