The original idea to form something goes back to Thomen Stauch, he was writing music for Blind Guardian and soon he realized that these songs just wouldn't fit in a new Blind Guardian album. He though that the songs will be turned down and left to rot in some drawer or something (Laughs). He told me that he really liked the material. I listened to it and I also liked it a lot.

At first I played the Persuader album to him and he really liked it. He told me that he wanted to get in touch with the guys from Persuader. That was roughly one year ago. Thomen contacted them and a couple of weeks later he contacted me again and asked me if I also wanted to join him. This was a hard decision for me because I also have Iron Savior and they are also very important to me. I spent a couple of days thinking about it but finally I agreed. That was actually the birth of this band.

I read on the internet that a lot of the work was done via e-mail, chats etc. Was it easy, or at least easier than working all under the same roof, jamming together?

I don't know. At that certain time period it was impossible for all of us to be under the same roof at the same time. On personal experience this is somehow the same way I work with Iron Savior. I do my thing and then the rest join me. There was no such option for Savage Circus, to work all together. The good thing was that at first there were no finished songs. Most of the songs were rough ideas that came back and forth dozens of time before they reached their version we all get to hear in the CD.

To be honest I think this was a quite inspirational process. Many times when you get to work on one song you reach a point where you can't go on. It's that point where all the others come in. The constant swap of e-mails was a unique experience.

Yes, this is a team effort. Of course at times we used our base in Hamburg where we met like five or six times and finalized the songs. It worked really great.

Yes, it is very difficult. Not a piece of cake but it is doable. Otherwise I wouldn't join another band. Everything has to do with the scheduling of both bands. I can tell you that I see both bands as equal and I am not willing to cheat time from one in favor of the other. That would be a terrible thing for the bands and for their fans. After all Mat Sinner has managed to work so many years with Sinner and Primal Fear with no problem. I think I can make it as well! (Laughs)

Right now? We are writing songs for our next album that should be out in the summer of next year.

Of course! Persuader have also signed with our label, Dockyard, and their next album is also scheduled for the first half of next year. As far as I know their songwriting is mostly done and in late November they will start recording. As you see, all this has to do with the synchronization of all those bands. One good thing is that all bands are in the same label and in the same booking agency.

Maybe a little hard to pronounce (Laughs). This was my idea. Finding a name is a hard task. In the beginning we knew what we didn't want. We didn't want something like Leatherboys From Hell or Brothers Of Blood (Laughs). That was terrible. Everybody was coming up with names and it was getting too frustrating that at a certain point we even thought of keeping our working name, which was a funny one... Death Devils (Laughs)... Ok, stop laughing, but finally I came up with this last attempt and everybody liked it. But I also liked Death Devils...

It is more than obvious that the work of Savage Circus will bring in mind a certain period of Blind Guardian...

I don't disagree. Of course it does since the songs were written while Thomen was still in Blind Guardian. I have no problem regarding comparisons and there's nothing we can do about it. We like this music and we didn't simply want to steal fans from Blind Guardian. After all Blind Guardian don't play this style anymore. They did play like this like ten years ago. They have advanced very much since then. I like their new style very much. But I know many people who were attracted by the old style of Blind Guardian and I am one of them. I think they will find what they want in Savage Circus.

Also in the end I think it is an honor when people compare us with Blind Guardian since they are an amazing band, that no one has tried so far to play like them.

Persuader did it but I think that their album has many differences when it gets compared with Blind Guardian. And to tell you the truth I always thought they are huge fans of Blind Guardian but they told me they are not fond of their music! They are not too familiar with Blind Guardian's music.

Yes, we did one for the song Evil Eyes and it will be included in the limited edition of the album. Generally the limited edition looks more... cool (Laughs). I must admit that I am not a huge fan of limited or special editions.

Touring plans...

We are right in the middle of planning out some tour dates. Generally the main period for touring will be next January until April 2006. We will include shows outside Germany, but not as headliners or something. We will do some headlining shows. We will do like 15 - 20 shows. Athens and Thessaloniki are in our plans.

Oh, good question. Hard to say. I will probably ask the companies not to release everything they find. Because it is good to have a big variety but most of the albums are not that good at all. So people often buy albums that don't respect your money. They don't add anything to the music industry.

Ten years ago labels were way too careful with what they released. Of course ten years ago recording was ten times more expensive than it is today with all this technology available. That is the main problem. I wish labels gave extra weight to quality rather than quantity.

Free time (Laughs). When I am in Hamburg I have a family with two children that demand all my attention. I like reading... oh I also like Tekken... you know, the game for Playstation? Yeah, that's the only game I have (Laughs). I am not a big gamer but I like this game a lot. I also like surfing during my vacations.

It is not a crime to look at what other people are doing but don't stop there. Set a base around things you like and things you like to work with and try to build a musical identity around all of them. There are so many Helloween or Stratovarius clones and they all sell a bit, but bands that sell a lot are those who have something original in their music. So try in time to create something original.

Thanks for this interview. I hope you like our album and I wish to see you in due time down the road.