Transcript of an interview I recorded with Marcel 'Schmier' Schirmer of DESTRUCTION - 10/07/19. Full article here. MAL-
On the line for the fifth time I'm talking to Schmier from DESTRUCTION. Schmier, thanks for taking my call. SCHMIER- Great being back now. Great. Always good talking to you. MAL- Yeah, it's great to have you back on. Now the last time I spoke to you over the phone, it was just when the tour of Australia was announced in support of the 'Under Attack' album. How did the ''Under Attack'' album go for you? SCHMIER- It was a good tour, we had a very long tour we've been touring over two years and the Australian tour was actually one of the last ones we did. Anfter that we went to South America, there was the last tour we did for the 'Under Attack' album, but it must be the one of the longest tours they ever did. And so many shows over two and a half years. And without the 'Under Attack' experiences and stuff, we wouldn't be here today, you know, always the new album is always becoming as good as the old one helps you to do you know, so we learned a lot of on the last tours and recordings. And now we're here with a new one. MAL- Yeah, a little bit has changed since the last album. We've got Randy Black full time in the band now. And we've got an extra guitarist. We've got Damir on guitars. Tell us about him. SCHMIER- Yeah, right. Randy actually was still not a member when we played in Australia. Right after the Australian tour, we announced him as a permanent member of DESTRUCTION. And Damir is a good friend of mine and fantastic guitar player, that we asked to join the band because we felt the time was right for change. We wanted to compose an album for 2 guitars again, we always have to hold back in the last years when you compose an album when you're just a three piece. You always got to you know, sacrifice some (?) and some melodies and some harmony parts. So we said this time, why don't we finally do it and bring back a second guitar player and Damir was the right guy at the right moment. He's a good friend of mine. Fantastic guitar player. And we already played many shows together now. And he's a great contribution to that. MAL- So how long did this new album take to put together? Was stuff written on the road? Are you one of those bands that can write on the road? SCHMIER- No, no, yeah, I can't. I want to focus on writing. I'm very effective once I start, I'm going really quick. And of course I have ideas you know, but usually ideas are not a problem when I start writing I get quite (?) And then it goes quick. So we started in December. Then of course Christmas break and New Year's stuff and and then the last three months, basically till the whole album was recorded and written. You always make demos and then we make the album out of the demos. So it's it's three months of very creative work and maybe the fastest we have ever been in the writing and recording process. MAL- That's a very quick process, to me anyway, but it doesn't sound like it was rushed. It sounds really solid. SCHMIER- You know, it's like everything in life. When you have a good run, stuff just goes together. It's like a smooth fusion of ideas and co-operation. And the band really became a strong unit. You know, we worked really well together. We know each other all for a long time now even if you didn't play all together in this constellation. But it really work together. There's enough respect and enough creativity there. So it was a very creative rush and was great fun and I'm very satisfied with the samples of so we didn't have to, to rush yourself. You took time at the end with the mixing and mastering of the album. When it was done in March, you went on tour with OVERKILL and FLOTSAM AND JETSAM. And after the tour, we came back home and then we mixed the album and it was great fun actually, it feels good, you know, feels really comfortable. MAL- That sounds crazy. So you came back mixed the album, it's all ready to go coming out in early August. Then what happens for DESTRUCTION, out on the road again? SCHMIER- Yeah, we finished the festival season. We debuted album basically on the first festivals in summer, August, Party San and the Brutal Assault festival in Czech Republic. And we're going to have a second part of this very successful OVERKILL FLOTSAM run in September, which will bring us to some other countries time and to some, that's Germany for some more shows also. And after that we're going to play some more festivals. And then hopefully beginning of next year, we will come to Asia and hopefully also Australia again, before we headline, also Europe again and America again. And hopefully South America also so there's big plans, touring plans for the next year. MAL- Excellent. Looking forward to that. Very hard working band, don't you? SCHMIER- Yeah, we always like to play in a good year, we easily play 150 shows a year, you know, so it's been a part of our success to play live, you always been a good live band and people want to see thrash metal live. It's energetic live, it's, it's a live kind of music. So we always love to traveling and you know, seeing different cultures and, you know, kind of spreading our horizons. And it's a big part of me when I'm home, I'm after three weeks, I'm home, I'm going crazy. I want to go out and tour again. So what we basically do is keep ourselves busy. Just let me write the album and kind of stay home bit longer focused on the record like we did this year. But basically, there's no months without concerts, you know, and the world is big enough, you know, heavy metal, thrash metal, might be underground music, but it has big following all over the world. MAL- Absolutely. Do you get much time off? Have you got any time for PANZER these days? What's happening there? SCHMIER- Oh, yeah, the PANZER thing I basically had to quit, you know, it was, it was a difficult decision for me. But I felt like, you know, PANZER gave me a lot in terms of, you know, going back to my roots, played with some fantastic musicians playing some different musical also from DESTRUCTION. But I also felt that I was the driving force in the band, and it took too much toll, you know, I think at one point, DESTRUCTION, drummer left, you know, when Varver went for his family and left the band, I felt like the band was in need for me to be there. 100%. So I kind of told the PANZER guys that I can't do it at the moment anymore. I want to focus on DESTRUCTION, because DESTRUCTION is my life is my job. It's my dedication. And the PANZER. I don't know if you guys want to continue without me or not, we didn't discuss that yet. But I had to focus on DESTRUCTION to save the band. As you can see, now I know the new guitar player and the drummer. It wasn't easy last year for us, even though now and the album is coming out, the album is strong as fuck, and it's powerful. But it wasn't an easy year for me because I had to make a lot of important decisions, you know, decisions that, that either break the band or, or will be super for the future for the band. So I had to make the right decisions. And I felt the band was needed. So I actually have time off when I'm home. I do love sports and I try to see my friends. But we also tour a lot. We make actually we have a great plan for this, you know, when you're on tour maximum, four to five weeks. And then we're home again, at least for two weeks, you know, that's the plan, we always do. And this way you can actually tour a lot, you know, I know a lot of other bands that go on tour for like three, four months on the road, then they come home and then they breakup. So we have learned that we love each other we love to tour, but if you overdo it, then that is not good for the chemistry for anybody you know. So we have a strict philosophy of doing this couple of weeks, and a couple of weeks break and then the next couple of weeks and that is actually amazing. Then you enjoy both, you know, you enjoy home, and you enjoy the tour as much. MAL- Absolutely, gotta look after yourself first. SCHMIER- You know, we're old, we still feel like teenagers, but we're not. Though we still feel the music is carrying on with us. It's a great energy, and everything. But of course you can feel you know, you age at certain times, and then you have to be careful. MAL- Absolutely, new DESTRUCTION album, so we've got 'Born To Perish' coming out the 9th of August this year. You must be excited. SCHMIER- I'm very excited. You know, this is a new kickstart for the band. You know, a new drummer Randy Blackmon is like one of the icons of this kind of music. And Damir we have a very fresh guitar player, there's a really good spirit in the band. Again, we feel like renewed and Mike and me are very motivated. So it's it feels kind of a new start for the band. I mean, we had this, this 20 years ago, we had this come back when I came back into the band after the 90s when they are played without me for a few years. And just feels the same way now, like kind of reborn, you know, like we had a great 20 years now as a trio, but now as a four piece, it feels like new energy in the band. And that's of course, a new motivation for all of us. I want to thank thank all the fans for the great support we have received in Australia on the last tour last year, because before that we didn't even play for, I don't know, 8 years before in Australia, and it was not so easy to come back. But we had a great tour and a lot of fantastic reactions from the fans. And I really hope you can come back with 'Born To Perish' because it's very strong album. And now the band is a four piece. I think we have even, you know, put the band on the next level live now with two guitars. So I really hope we have a chance to come back to Australia also with the 'Born To Perish' in our pockets. MAL- And you'll be able to say 'Get a dog up ya'. SCHMIER- And we can say 'Get a dog up ya'. Exactly. Yeah, great times. I mean, we had a amazing time in Australia. It's lovely for us to come to Australia. I mean it's so far away, you know, but I always tell everybody (?) in Australia I know. Go there, see the country, meet the people. It's one of a kind you know, it's a country I would totally see myself moving if it wasn't that far away, because as a musician, in Australia it's kind of difficult because it's too difficult. It's too far away from the rest of the music world. MAL- Yeah, we are a long way from the action but we do okay. SCHMIER- Well yeah, but then you want to play some festivals in summer in Europe. You know, you have to travel all the way. And for us, we go home, we play a festival, we go home, we play a festival, you know, MAL- Schmier, absolutely magnificent talking to you again, you've still got the record for the person I've spoken to more than any other overseas artist. SCHMIER- Thank you very much, Mal, a pleasure. MAL- So it's great to talk to you about the new DESTRUCTION album 'Born To Perish' out 9th of August. All the very best with that and kick arse live and hopefully we'll see you here on a tour at some stage in the near future. SCHMIER- Hopefully we come back to Oz in 2020 and see you over there. MAL- All right, you take care of yourself, my man. And hopefully we'll see you down here soon. SCHMIER- Okay, thank you. Bye bye. Comments are closed.
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AuthorMetalhead who hates bad parking. |