SYMPHORCE INTERVIEW
Symphorce is this great German / Swizz power metal band that have just released their fourth album, and of course Lars had a sudden urge to talk to guitarist Cedé about the new disc ("Twice Second") as well as subjects ranging from beer to skiing. Hmmmm ...

Interview by Lars F. Larsen
Hi Cede, how are you today and from where are you calling?

"I'm calling you from Switzerland. In Basel that is. The rest of the guys are located in Germany, but I'm Swiss, so…"

Ok. Let's begin with a question about the new album. How come you went into this lighter and more straight forward style on "Twice Second", than the dark style of "Phorcefullahead"?

"Actually, the rest of the people I talked to have kept telling me that it's the other way around. They find "Phorcefullahead" lighter and the new one much darker, but I guess it's the normal conception of music: we all hear something different. When we wrote the previous one, I was writing a lot of the stuff and it turned out to be one style of music throughout the whole album, whereas both Dennis and I wrote a lot on this one. The new album is much more diverse than the previous one, and we believe it is a logical step forward for the band. We have 2 guitars and played a lot of 7 strings on this one, making the feeling a bit darker. I believe that we did some better song writing on this one. It's more modern in both writing and sound. Dennis and I finish all our writing and the Andy adds his lyrics to the stuff as the last thing."

Having Andy in both Brainstorm and seeing that both bands are doing pretty well now, do you leach off Brainstorm, do they leach off you or is it a kind of symbiosis, where you attract each other's fans?

"I don't really know if it's a guarantee that the Symphorce fan also goes out to buy the Brainstorm album or the other way around….you know, I'm also in Freedom Call.."

Yeah, and that was actually my next question, but it's ok to answer 2 in the same :-)

"What I mean is that it's different kinds of music so there's not necessarily a guarantee that the ordinary fan will like all 3 bands for instance. Of course they will eventually hear about us, being in other bands, so there's a bigger chance that they check this out as well, if they liked the initial album, but I believe that Symphorce has its own World and has to build its own fan base. We just came back from tour and we had a lot of positive response that we couldn't just get the other way."

What is your main priority between Freedom Call and Symphorce?

"I don't have a kind of priority. I have my heart in both camps, and I work 100% for both bands. There's always something to do in one of the bands, and then there's a break in the other, so I have room for both. My priority is with the band that has something going on - either touring or recording. But it's really 2 different things."

What's the biggest band of those 2 - sales wise?

"Definitely Freedom Call."

Seeing Dream Theater last night I wonder how big Symphorce is? How big was your biggest tour? How many people pr. Show and how many dates?

"We have just arrived home from a tour with Grave Digger, where we played for an average of 500 - 600 people every night. We played 13 days, and it was very cool. Of course I'd like to play for more people always, but I also think that the vibe in the audience is very important. It won't be cool to play for 5000 if they are all standing with crossed arms. Then I'd rather want to do the shows we did, where the crowd were really into the music. Of course we also played Wacken Open Air last year on the main stage, but that's a festival, so you're sure there's gonna be a lot of people. With Freedom Call, we supported Blind Guardian on their previous tour, so we played for a lot of people. In Spain and in general southern Europe, we played for 4000 - 6000 people."

Now my next question is pretty stupid, hehehe. Are you going on tour with this album? If so, will you reach Copenhagen?

"Not on this one, sorry. Since we just toured it will be impossible. We are doing some single shows in Germany and Switzerland, but outside these countries, it's too far away. The expenses are too high, compared to the income, so it's not financially safe to do it. The new album came out before the tour. I know this and it was a bit stupid, but you don't say no to open for Grave Digger on a European tour. Simple as that. But hey, if everyone in the world buys a Symphorce album, we can go on a world tour, and then I promise you we'll come to Denmark, hahaha."

Are you playing any Festivals the coming summer?

"Nothing's confirmed or worked out yet. We're working on it right now."

Oh, so you don't have a management to do that?

"No, we're more or less doing all the practical stuff ourselves. We don't have a management, but we do work sometimes with a booking agency. All the promotion is taken care of by the record label, so we don't need a manager for that either. We're all in the band doing our things, so it adds up to us, being sufficient for ourselves."

What do you like the best: Touring or being in the studio?

"Definitely touring. Recording in the studio is fun and cool, but it's "live", where the songs get their energy and feel alive in its own way."

What do you do besides music? Job? Hobbies?

"I actually don't have time for a job, hahahaha. I have so much to do with the 2 bands, so I am almost never free to work anymore. However, it happens that I work temporarily in an office. My hobbies???? Hmmm, it must be music, really. I don't have any kind of hobby beside the musical side of my life. I drive a motorcycle, but I don't really consider that a hobby. It's more of a relaxing gem for me. It's cool just to ride the bike for a couple of hours, to feel some kind of freedom."

Hmmmm - since you're Swiss, what about skiing?

"Here's a secret: I can't really ski!! I'm not much of a snowman, so to speak."

Last question, and the inevitable one - Favourite beer?

"Newcastle Ale."

Thanks for the nice intie, Cede. Good luck with your future endeavours.

"Take care, Lars and say Hi to your readers."