This interview was conducted by Philip A. Wickstrand with drummer Felix Bohnke via telephone on August 28, 2011.

With the release of their ninth studio album, Age of the Joker, Germany’s EDGUY continue to show why they have attained such notoriety in the Metal community. Where some bands get as far along as EDGUY has, they tend to manufacture albums rather than crafting them. Not the case with Germany’s Superheroes, as Age of the Joker shows a great deal of variety and attention to detail, not to mention the great songs themselves.

Phil: First of all, tell us a bit about the new EDGUY album, Age of the Joker.

Felix: Well, it’s new. [laughs] Of course it’s the best, like every new album, but actually we’re quite satisfied and of course proud. I think it’s on one hand typical EDGUY, but on the other hand… first of all, we tried to go back, if back is maybe the right term, in many ways. Production-wise, for example, when we recorded the drums, we used a huge room and tried to use as much of the original drum sound as possible and I don’t know… if you’ve heard the new CD by now, everything seems to be not as loud as other CDs in comparison because there is much more dynamic in the sound. And guitars and vocals were recorded the same way, so we just tried to make everything organic, so to speak, and more traditional. I don’t think it sounds really modern, but a true Rock record, I would call it. And the songs themselves… well, that’s a matter of opinion, I guess. [laughs] They’re still EDGUY, but of course over the years even the sound of EDGUY changed a little, so where some people were or are complaining that it’s not a hundred percent Power Metal anymore, that we include Hard Rock and some other styles in our music as well, but we just write new songs and we play and write what we like and we don’t think about “Is this Metal enough?” or “Is this fast enough?” - it just has to be good and we have to like it. And that’s what we did this time again and I think we succeeded, but I hope all the other people would see it the same way.

Phil: One of the things I definitely did notice was the variety in the album. Like in “Rock of Cashel,” it sounded like a little bit of Folk Metal in there and also I think I heard a slide guitar on one of the songs?

Felix: Yes, it’s “Pandora’s Box,” I think. It sounds a little unusual, like Country or bands like Y&T and stuff like that, but with an EDGUY typical chorus I’d say.

Phil: I’m definitely enjoying the album. What was the song writing process like and how involved were you yourself?

Felix: Usually Tobi comes with ideas or sometimes with a whole song and he presents this in the rehearsal room and then we all start working on it. So by the end a record is done, it’s possible that the original Tobi idea got so twisted around that there is not much from the original song. On the other hand, of course, there are some songs that haven’t changed a bit and so everybody tries to or is free to give as much input as he likes and in the end, our producer, Sascha… of course it’s great working with him because after so many weeks of rehearsing and writing songs, I’d say you lose perspective or you’re not objective anymore, of course. I mean, how could you be? And then he comes in and he hears all the stuff for the very first time and then he has some completely different ideas and then we work on the songs in the studio again and sometimes we try many different things he suggests, then later we can choose which parts or which songs we actually like and what version of the song, of course. In the end, Tobi is still the main song writer in EDGUY.

Phil: What would you say are your favorite songs off the album?

Felix: My favorite songs would be “Pandora’s Box,” “Two out of Seven” and “Robin Hood.”

Phil: Why do you like those songs in particular?

Felix: Well, “Robin Hood” maybe because we had so much fun shooting the video for that and because it’s more of a typical EDGUY song, in my opinion, and “Pandora’s Box “ because I like that style of Hard Rock music and I was actually very glad and happy that we have a song like this because I think it’s not really a typical EDGUY song, but it worked out very fine and I would like to try that song live because I think it kicks ass and would be a great song to play live. But now I have no idea what we could play from the new CD. And “Two out of Seven…” well, just one of my favorites from the very easy and very melodic songs from the album.

Phil: What was it like filming the video for “Robin Hood?”

Felix: At times very cold [laughs] because we started, I think, at five in the morning and the forest was real and, of course, it started raining at some point. We were dressed only with these stupid green tights… these stupid green pants and it was a very strange experience. I think I am the only one who did not keep these pants [laughter] because I fear we are expected to wear them again and I don’t need that. [laughs] But apart from that, it was really funny because all the people set up this sort of medieval camp or the Robin Hood camp. They were really nice and they travel around Germany and participate in these medieval markets and you can see sword fights and of course a lot of riding and they will show you what they think life in the Middle Ages was like. They were a great help. And they did all the costumes as well. Some of these guys played roles in the video and we just had a great time filming the video, although it was a very long and stressful day and we all almost froze to death. [laughs] And then by nighttime, we had to shoot all the performance sections; the band with instruments, but that was in another studio somewhere in the city of Berlin. After that, we actually shot another video clip for “Two out of Seven,” the same night, so it was a very, very long day.

Phil: What will the video for “Two out of Seven” be like?

Felix: It’s a performance video, so only the band performing and by now I have only seen a rough cut of that version, so I have no idea how the final video will look. So I have no idea.

Phil: For the “Robin Hood” video, would you say that Monty Python or Mel Brooks was the greater influence?

Felix: Of course we thought about these guys. [laughs] I think the main idea was I think Tobi watched one of these very old Robin Hood movies with Errol Flynn and after seeing this, I think it just clicked and he told us “Watch that movie again,” ‘cause everyone has seen it, but nobody remembers [laughs] and we wanted to go in that direction. I don’t know if you’re familiar with that old Robin Hood movie, but they really have these stupid pants and they really look like that and they jump and laugh all the time. It’s really funny from our perspective nowadays and that the main direction we wanted to go, so it was never a question or it never occurred to us to shoot a serious video about that because I think the lyrics are not that serious as well and nobody would expect anything serious coming from us anyway, so why bother?

Phil: [chuckles] Going back to the Age of the Joker album, what do you feel are the overall strongest points?

Felix: I’d say, as you mentioned, the variety of the songs, of the whole CD that has so many different styles and things you can discover inside of EDGUY that were not there before and on the other hand, that it’s still EDGUY, that people will recognize if you hear the CD without knowing that it’s the new EDGUY CD, but you know the band in general, that you can actually tell “Okay, that must be the new EDGUY CD or an EDGUY CD I haven’t heard before.” I think we managed that, that we found our own style of music and of course we’re very happy with that.

Phil: What are your North American touring plans?

Felix: Uh… very good question. [laughs] We hope that we will be back touring the United States. I know there are some negotiations with several other bands for next year, but there’s nothing concrete by now, so I can’t give you any dates or something specific, I just know that our agency keeps us up to date and they’re checking different scenarios, but I’m quite positive that we will return to the States. And we definitely want to because the tours so far have been great for us and I just hope that we can make it back.

Phil: Are you hoping for a headlining tour or do you think that a support slot would be better for you at this point?

Felix: Well, a support slot I think would only make sense if it’s a really, really successful band and I think those really, really successful bands, especially American bands, wouldn’t take us on tour with them. Of course, it would be great touring with a band like AEROSMITH or something bigger like that, but this is totally unrealistic. Which would be nice, of course, would be a tour together with SCORPIONS. I think they’re still pretty big in the U.S. But still, I don’t think that this is going to happen and I think they already did their part of the farewell tour in the States, right?

Phil: I know they did at least one of the two legs in the States, yeah.

Felix: Okay. So then we would do another support tour, but I think we might do another headliner tour in the States. Or maybe a third option would be to find another band that is as big or as small as EDGUY and do a co-headlining tour probably, but I don’t know if that’s realistic as well.

Phil: Okay, I’ve just got one more thing for you; recommend a book for our readers and then explain why you recommend that particular work.

Felix: I pick The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett. I like reading fantasy novels and this was one book I discovered by accident at a very large internet book and DVD seller. I just found the whole idea of a world where demons crawl the earth at night and nobody actually thought about fighting back for so long. Everything in that book I found very well written and the characters, the whole story of the book was very… I was just very captured. I just had to keep on reading and bought the second book and I’m very pissed that the third part has not been released by now. [laughs] It’s just a very nice and very well written fantasy book.

Phil: Sounds pretty interesting. Is it a shorter fantasy book or is it one of the super long ones?

Felix: I would say something in between.

Phil: So not Michael Moorcock short, but not Robert Jordan long then?

Felix: No. [laughs] Exactly!

Phil: Okay, is there anything else you’d like to add?

Felix: It’s been a pleasure and I hope, as I mentioned, that we will go back to the U.S. and maybe we can actually meet at a show.

Edguy's Felix Bohnke

Interviewer: Philip A. Wickstrand

September 7, 2011

*By clicking "Submit" you agree to the following Terms of Use. You agree not to post any material that is obscene, slanderous, or threatening, or that may violate any law of your country of origin or the United States or of international law. Should you wish to restrict viewing of your email address by third parties, you must select "Hide My Email." You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Metal Psalter from any claims, actions, suits, damages, or other costs arising out of any breach of these Terms of Use.

*Comments:

TO THE TOP

(Click on Photo to Enlarge)

Formed: 1992
Fulda, Hesse  GERMANY
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Genre: Power Metal

CURRENT LINE-UP:

Tobias Sammet:  Vocals & Keyboards
Jens Ludwig:  Lead Guitars
Dirk Sauer:  Rhythm Guitars
Tobias Exxel:  Bass
Felix Bohnke:  Drums

DISCOGRAPHY:

Savage Poetry (1995)
Kingdom of Madness (1997)
Vain Glory Opera (1998)
Theater of Salvation (1999)
The Savage Poetry (2000)
Mandrake (2001)
Burning Down the Opera Live (2003)
King of Fools EP (2004)
Hellfire Club (2004)
Hall of Flames Comp. (2004)
Superheroes EP/DVD (2005)
Rocket Ride (2006)
The Singles Comp. (2008)
Tinnitus Sanctus (2008)
Fucking with Fire Live CD/DVD (2009)
Gold Edition Vol 2 Comp. (2010)
Age of the Joker (2011)

Check out Peter's review of Age of the Joker here