Tobias Sammet (Avantasia)
December 2007
The last time we talked about Avantasia you said that it’ll never have a part three...
Well, we don’t have a part three, we have a new part one. (Laughs) No, I know what you mean and I know what you refer to. Back then I felt this was the truth what I was saying because I could not imagine of doing it again in a million years because honestly speaking I have to say that it was so much work back then. Not that I’m shy of work but I was a young musician, I was 23 years old and I commited myself to a record company and tried to deliver something and they were behind me and I had to face so many difficulties that I never expected and I had to rely on many people. I didn’t have the experience and I didn’t have the self-condifence. I just did it and I think I did quite good but it was so much work and so much stress that I thought, “Okay, I’m never gonna do this again.” I didn’t even think about doing it again until two friends of mine talked about it to me. They asked of why I’m not doing another Avantasia record and I said, “Because I don’t even want to think about it.” They said, “But you should. You have a big name, you can produce with a budget nowadays that I lot of bands would dream of having to produce an album. And you have everything that you need, you need a lot of people, you have experience.” I thought that they were actually right and that’s when I made the decision that maybe I could do it again and then all of a sudden I had a vision of doing it again and I was getting ideas. And whenever you are having a vision and getting ideas it’s too late to say no anymore. It was already decided. It was an accident, it just happened. (Laughs)
And when was that?
I think it was late summer of 2006.
I know it’s early to say but do you think you can take this Avantasia thing on more albums in the future?
Definitely there’s gonna be a Scarecrow part two. After that I have no idea. I can say that I don’t plan anything at the moment. I don’t plan this to be a constant entity and I don’t plan this to be a steady institution in the metal scene, so I can’t tell. I don’t know. I don’t think it’s gonna happen but you never know what will happen in five or seven years. I did the mistake once to say I can’t imagine doing it ever again and I don’t wanna say that again... but I really can’t imagine at the moment.
Some would say it’s risky to make a follow-up to something really successful. Never felt the pressure due to the success of the Metal Opera?
No, because I had the self-confidence that I can come up with something big and even if I would have come up with an album with a different name people would have compared it to Avantasia and Edguy because it’s me being on there. So the only thing if I didn’t want to have the pressure to become a professional football player and not record albums anymore, which is not a really good option for me. (Laughs) I think it’s a much more luxury situation to have people expecting at least something because that way people will pay attention. It doesn’t mean that they’ll like it but they pay attention and if they do that you are already one step ahead to those bands that don’t even get the attention. So I think it’s a luxury situation that I am in and when you have the self-confidence that you come up with something really huge and bombastic I think you shouldn’t be afraid just because a lot of people waiting for it. It should be an advantage and not something to call pressure.
And how about people saying you just want to milk the cow?
Whatever I do people will say that. As soon as I would sell some items on eBay people would say, "He's milking the cow." I didn't invent the system of money and capitalism. It's just that I'm in a luxury position to do whatever I like and get paid for it. I can do what I feel I have to do without any compromises. 99,99% of the people out there have to sell themselves in order to make money, so I'd say I belong to the 0,01% that are actually no prostitutes in our society. So how should anyone tell me that I milk the cow. I just did what I love to do, recorded an album, recorded the biggest way I could do and hopefully sell it.
Did you pick up the story where you finished on the second Avantasia album or you started a new one?
It's a completely new one. It doesn't have to do with Avantasia Part One because I didn't want to come up with a sequel where there's no sequel intended to be. There shouldn't be a sequel. It was written by a guy that was 23 years old and I was telling the story back then but it didn't make sense to make a sequel to it.
So what is the story this time?
I can try telling in brief words because it's a very complicated story. It's a story about a young man with a distorted sensory perception who grows up emotionally isolated from his environment living and feeling lonesome. Metaphorically spoken he's living like a scarecrow. Due to this he discovers his passion of sounds and the very special influence they have on his mood. So he develops skills in creating sounds and music and making it a substitute for affection and a way to get connected to his environment. Because he's so passionate about what he's doing he develops a certain magic to impress other people and all of a sudden he experiences approval and acclaim. The higher he climbs on the social ladder the further he gets away from his original personality. And he gets driven to face temptation exploring the depths of the human mind and slowly goes insane. It's a very tragic story and there's a lot of personal experience in there as well. It also got some Faust elements and it also got some Edward Scissorhand elements. It's a beautiful concept, very abstract, so each song makes sense on his own as well. They all leave you the freedom to discover metaphors in each song.
How did you decide on the participating singers?
I'm writing, playing and recording music just to please myself at first. It's something I spend my precious time with and a lot of it so I want to enjoy it, so basically I invited idols and friends and luckily almost everyone could participate in it. And then of course you got feelings... whenever you have a role you have a voice in your head. For example if you listen to Jørn Lande you immediately know that he has to sing for that role I had for him on the album. While Alice Cooper is an eerie tycoon with a black top hat. A dangerous, mysterious man. As soon as I had the characters I had people in mind who could sing them. It's hard to describe why I knew that certain people would be perfect for certain songs and roles but I guess it's naturally happens.
How on earth did you get Alice Cooper to sing on your album?
It was quite easy. I just asked Eric Singer, who is the drummer for Alice Cooper as well, if he could just ask Alice Cooper if he would like to participate on the album. I think Alice didn't do it because he thinks that Tobi Sammet is such a great guy, to be honest, I think he just did it as a favour to Eric Singer but it's okay as it is the same thing. (Laughs)
But did you meet him?
No, not yet. I think he's touring Europe right now and he was in England two weeks ago and I was seriously considering flying over but my promotion schedule is so tight that I enjoy every night in my own bed. And my girlfriend would probably kill me if I would go. If I would take the first chance to fly out to see Alice Cooper in England after weeks not being at home. (Laughs) He didn't come over for the recording, he recorded his part in Los Angeles in the studio of his bass player Chuck.
Yeah, but girlfriends are replaceable but not Alice Cooper...
Yeah, you're right. I should have flown there. (Laughs)
You also had some other singers like Amanda and Khan from Kamelot. How did they get into the picture?
Amanda came into the picture because she was in the studio. I've known her for a long time. She was singing backing vocals for Edguy. She were singing the demos and after we heard singing the demos and we wanted to find a female singer who could sing what she demoed. But then all of a sudden I was saying to Sascha, "Why should we find someone else to sing?" because the demo sounded so great. Then he said, "It would be stupid, it would just change for the worse if we would try to find someone and get her sing it." So we decided that Amanda will be on the album. With Roy Khan it was a funny thing because I've met him several times because he was recording in the studio at the same time with Kamelot. And the studio is quite big with two recording rooms, so two bands can work there at the same time. We have met for weeks every day so it was just a question away.
Were there any big name guys you wanted to have on the record but it didn't work out?
Yeah, it was Brian May. It was for timing reasons. I tried to get Brian May doing it but the problem was that we just finished the song that he was supposed to play on and we wanted to have everything very professional sounding so we completed the whole song, we mixed it with all the vocals and choirs and we sent it to him and he said, "Yeah, it's a very beautiful song but at the moment I don't have the time." So it was a schedule problem but apart from that all the other guys could do it. It would have just been the icing on the cake.
How long did it take to get all the songs written?
About half a year. It's really hard to say because I'm collecting song ideas all the time. Every time I'm sitting there throughout a year, no matter if I need new songs or not, I'm sitting at my keyboard and whenever I have an idea I record it and capture it. And when it gets time for the detailed songwriting I just listen to those recordings, to those little sound files and I try to find if there’s anything usable in there. And that happened of course even before that. But I think we consciously started writing songs... I mean I wrote the songs and Sascha and I, we arranged them together, I think we started in late summer 2007.
Who are the instrumental people on the album?
It was Sascha playing all rhythm guitars and some lead guitars as well. I am playing the bass and Eric Singer is playing the drums. Miro did the keyboards and then we had some guest guitar players like Kai Hansen, Henjo Richter, Rudolf Schenker and we had some additional musicians.
How was having Rudolf Schenker on the album? He could be one of your childhood heroes...
Yeah, I think he’s playing in the number one rock band of all times coming from Germany. He’s a very nice guy and to me it’s a big honour to have Rudolf on my album, without a doubt. He’s just great. As I said the Scorpions are one of the biggest bands. If you ask someone in America about the best German band they’ll say, “I know one and that’s called the Scorpions.” They are something very special to me because they opened the doors for bands like Helloween and Edguy and Blind Guardian and we should be very thankful for it. Of course Rudolf is a great guitar player, he’s very unique, he has his own style and sound and I’m very honoured to work with him.
You were lucky enough to open up for them in Slovakia with Edguy...
Yeah, we did. Back then we knew each other already. But it was funny because I was planning having him on my album already and he said, “Yeah, I’m gonna do it” and then he had to take it down again because he was so busy with the promotion of their new album. And by the time we were playing in Slovakia he asked me, “So how did your album turn out?” I told him that we haven’t finished yet and he said that then he could play the solo. Then he recorded his solo two weeks after that. He’s a great guy, he’s down to earth and we were invited to their aftershow party. It’s a great band.
The new album is so different from The Metal Opera. You touch upon many different styles this time. Was this an intentional move on your behalf?
It was not intentional. I think it just developed. I know people hate the expression of ‘development’ especially if they are a little intolerant. People know exactly what they like and what they demand and that’s what they want to have. But if I would give in to demands I wouldn’t be a real artist. I think the roots of Avantasia are on the album, it’s definitely there: the bombastic elements, the story telling elements, big rock and heavy metal music is in there. But I just tried to make it more like what I would do now as I’m 30 years old. I think it’s arranged much better than what it was on the first albums. And I think the story is more mature so I think it’s actually more metal than Avantasia has ever been. Not because I play what people expect exactly but because I don’t do what people expect. That’s metal to me as well. To be unpredictable. To take the risk of doing something that is not expected and getting flak for it. I think that’s very brave and I would wish that some more bands would be that brave and do it because that would help our beloved heavy metal music to not become irrelevant.
Do you think you will upset some fans with this?
Of course, I always do. I get flak all the time and flak should be my family name. (Laughs) That’s true. You get it all the time whatever you do. If you copy yourself people will say, “Oh, he’s just copying himself.” There’s only one reason to copy your successful album and that is to make money and to please all the fans that you already have. It’s the easiest way to promote yourself to the fans that you already gathered throughout the past years because they will pay attention anyway. But that’s not good for me and that’s not good for my music and that would be not honest to the fans. I knew that some people for example... especially songs like “Lost in Space”... I knew that some people will really whine and cry and complain and say that I’m a stupid asshole selling out. But what the fuck, if I’m a true metalhead I have to ignore it and just say, “I do what I think is right, I’m honest, I deliver quality and I just can hope that people like it.” That’s all I can do.
Yeah, that song is quite different from anything you ever had with Edguy or Avantasia...
Yeah, definitely. I knew that but it sounded good. It wasn’t even planned to be the first single. It was a good song and Eric and Sascha in the studio said that it should be the first single, so we made it the first single. It wasn’t even my decision. I think it’s a good song and I can live with it being the first single but of course it’s different. But I like different things because everyone is talking about Avantasia at the moment. Some people love it, a few people hate it but people talk and this is the best promotion you can have.
What was the idea behind the two EPs?
The thing is that the record company always want to have a single as they always do with Edguy as well. That’s very normal, that’s part of the promotion of the album. But it’s not a secret that I don’t like singles because what’s the point in selling one song for the price of a CD? But we had enough material even after the album was completely written and arranged. A couple of cover versions and a couple of tracks that we just wrote after the album was completed. So we produced that material as well and decided to use them as B-sides for the single. Then it already became an EP and we ended up having enough material for two EPs. Usually a record company do two versions of the same EP with one track being different on both and having maybe a different cover artwork. But we wanted to have two EPs with more songs and please the fans with that because pleased fans, honestly speaking, are the best way to promote an album. It’s better than a full page advertisement.
How do the own songs on the EPs fit the concept of the album?
The rest of the songs don’t fit in although the cover song “In My Defence” that would have fit into the concept because that’s what it was chosen for in the first place but we took it off the album because we had so much great own material.
It’s a brave effort to cover Freddie Mercury...
Well, it wasn’t my idea. I’m a megalomaniac but I’m not that megalomaniac. (Laughs) It was the idea of Sascha. He said that it’s such a great track, it has such a beautiful lyrics and it fits very well to our concept: “I’m just a singer with a song.” So he said, “Just do it” but I wasn’t sure it was a good idea for a singer to cover Freddie Mercury. But then we just did it because there’s always the chance to say that we won’t release it but I think I did quite good. I think I’m almost 85% as good as Freddie.
You have new music with Avantasia and a new look as Tobi Sammet. How come?
There’s no calculation behind it. Some people said that I wanted to be Bon Jovi. No! There’s millions of people in this world with shorter hair so it’s not necessarily Bon Jovi. (Laughs) The whole story is that I went to the barber and I said, “Well, cut it off.” He asked back if I was sure and I answered yes. I thought of doing something unexpected. So I said, “Just cut it off. I’m in the mood. But please hurry because in 10 minutes I may think differently about this.” And that was the whole thing. People said that this was like I was changing my religion. But no, it was nothing, it was just some scissors and that was it. (Laughs) It didn’t hurt, my voice is still there. It’s just cool, I think. You should imagine us going on tour and every tour I get sick because we’re touring in winter and you wash your hair after the show and then you have all these beauty products... we had a special suitcase just for the hair products... I felt like a fucking faggot. (Laughs) I felt like my girlfriend because you have all those things... a little shampoo here, some stabiliser here, some this here and there... what the fuck? I’m a man, I’m not a woman. I don’t know, maybe I’m gonna have long hair in the future again but for this time it was the right decision.
Now that you had three albums with Avantasia and the fourth is coming out soon as well, how about putting this thing on stage?
We will! We’ll play next summer. There’s a time frame of two months when I’ll commit myself to Avantasia and it’s already confirmed that we’ll headline Wacken Open Air. Iron Maiden will be one of the headliners and we’ll be headliners on another day. Then we’ll probably do from 5 to 10 shows and then that’s it. People were asking about it, so we thought about it and we’ll do it in 2008.