Germany: Avantasia – Interview

In the first of a series of interviews ahead of Unser Lied für Stockholm we caught up with the front man of Avantasia, Tobias Sammet. We talk about his musical influences growing up, the story behind his song in the contest and how he has never sat through a full Eurovision Song Contest, take a read below;

Thank you very much for talking to us, we are a week away now from the German national final how are you feeling?

I am doing great, thank you! Honestly, I am working fullspeed, but not because of the German national final for the ESC but because we have just released an album, I am doing promotion all over the world and as if that all wasn’t enough, we are getting ready for the world tour that will kick off in two weeks. It’s insane and I can’t exactly complain about having too much free time these days.

When you were first approached about taking part in the German selection for Eurovision 2016 what was your first reaction?

I immediately said ‘sure, why not?’. Honestly, I am a curious person, I have been in this business for almost 25 years – even though I am fully aware that I look as if I just turned 21, haha! Seriously, I have done this for so long, nothing can shock me and despite I have a Heavy Metal background I am very open minded. It’s a good chance to show the German mainstream audience that we exist. Anything else is not in my hands.

Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself as a singer and what drew you into being a metal singer?

I’ve always been into that kind of music. When I was around 8 years old I was listening to ACDC, Kiss, Iron Maiden or Queen. It was noise to most people, to me it was pure gold! And to me it seemed tempting to be someone like Freddie Mercury or Bon Scott instead of doing a proper day job. I loved the sound, I dreamt about the life style, so I founded a band and since my need of attention was bigger than the fear of making a complete idiot of myself I became the singer. I did that despite the fact that I was the only one in the band who didn’t have the voice of a man yet. That was 24 years ago, I don’t claim to sound better now, but I do sound like a man. Ha!

You are performing as part of Avantasia can you tell us more about the group and what your biggest influences musically are?

Avantasia is a Metal Opera or Rock Opera all star band that I founded in 1999. I was on tour with my main band Edguy when I thought I wanted to write a Rock Opera on my own, and get musicians and guest singers of other bands involved. What started out as a one-off-album project has become a stable entity in the Metal world. We’ve just released our 7th album and will set off on tour in March. In Avantasia I always work with other singers and I have managed to work with Klaus and Rudolf of the Scorpions, Alice Cooper or members of Uriah Heep, Kiss, Mr. Big, Nightwish or Within Temptation… It’s really cool.

The song you are performing at Unser Lied für Stockholm is titled “Mystery of a Blood Red Rose”, what inspired you to write this song and what is the message of the song?

The new album is part of a conceptual Rock Opera, so this song in particular is an excerpt of the concept. The story of the album is a fairytale that deals with the acceleration of our daily pace and how we get lost in empty ideals and values that don’t make sense. How we burn out trying to cope with the pace that is being forced upon us in our daily lives, and how we don’t have energy left to make up our minds about what’s truly important in life. The song “mystery of a blood red rose” refers to a point in the story where the protagonist wonders which way he should seize his day, slow down and halt in the moment or live life in the fast line by squeezing out the maximum. He tends to fall for the second option and the song kind of asks the question why strangely it’s always the dangerous path that’s tempting and appeals to us. The whole story is really weird but very beautiful I believe. I hate the pace of our day and age, it’s not very humane…

What can we expect from your performance on stage in Cologne?

We go in there, plug in and do what we’ve been doing for ages. Yes, there may be a bit of fireworks and the bells and whistles, but we’re a rock band. We do that because we believe in our music, we have Marshall stacks and guitars and all that and unfortunately it won’t be as loud on stage as we are when playing really really live. As for the show, it shouldn’t distract from the song, although being a Kiss fan I know that visuals are part of the show to some extent. Yet, we don’t want to be more high gloss than this kind of music can take. Even though it’s flamboyant, it’s still “street music”.

Growing up what role did the Eurovision Song Contest play in your childhood and is it something that you watch on an annual basis?

Honestly, and don’t take this as something disrespectful, I have no intention to bash anything, but: I have never seen a full show. It’s not that I don’t like it, I simply can’t judge because it has never played a big role in my life. I have watched excerpts in the past, but I hardly watch TV. But hey, this time I’ll follow it and I’ll let you know afterwards, I am an open minded person and I bet everyone in there has worked hard to be on stage. So they all have my respect! And also, I think these days with so much bullshit going on I think it’s more important than ever to have a format to reach people who want to watch music on television! Because let’s face it: Most ‘music shows’ these days are talent shows that mainly exist to show young girls cry because their dreams burst like bubbles in front of a TV audience. All for the viewing figures. That’s awful! Inviting someone to ridicule him in front of millions? In which century do we live…

What would it mean to represent Germany in Stockholm?

First and foremost I see myself as a representative of handmade rocking guitar music, sweat and honest Marshall amplification! I am a German, so I guess I’ll go there with a German flag on my arm, but I don’t think in those categories… And I don’t say this to be politically correct. I say this because I mean this! If you take a look at our tour dates, you know where our home is. But I do like living in Germany, and I don’t know too many assholes here, so I guess we’re quite okay… Well, yes – I am proud to represent German Metal!

Finally do you have a message for your fans and the readers of Eurovoix.com?

Hey, enjoy the show. And if you wanna check us out, we’re on a world tour in March in April. Have fun, be good and keep on rocking!

Thanks to Tobias Sammet for taking the time out to talking to us, you can listen to his song in the German selection below: