Primal Fear
One More Step Up

22.08.2015

Germany's Primal Fear were the last addition to the list of participants in this year’s Moscow Metal Meeting, and it made quite a lot of fans review their decisions whether to attend the festival. Unlike other acts on the bill, Primal Fear are rare guests in Russia, even though their blend of straightforward yet catchy power metal is in big demand over here. They’re not a frequent interview subject either, therefore we did our best to have them on our pages this time around, and luckily it turned out fine. Read on to learn what frontman Ralf Scheepers revealed to us about the band’s upcoming studio album, survival in the music business, his hobbies and, of course, summer festivals, one of which is eagerly awaiting for them to play very soon…

How are you? Are you in Germany?

Yes, I’m in my studio recording a new album. I’ve just sung seven new songs and it’s going pretty well. I sang yesterday and added just a little bit today. And I have some students here. So I’m in Germany, it’s pretty warm here and it’s been very humid and hot for three weeks already.

I heard you were recording in Denmark, right?

We recorded drums in Denmark, yes. And it’s gonna be mixed there because everybody else, like guitars, bass and vocals are recorded in home studios of the band members. For me it’s been the best way to work for years because I’m a perfectionist and you know… It’s just the time changed a little bit. I had a good time 20 year ago working together with the guys in a studio as a team which is also a very good way of producing. But I work better now on my own at home because as I said I’m a perfectionist and I don’t let some things go through which the other guys would say are good enough. It’s not good enough for me. (laughs) I have my microphone here, my compressor and my ProTools so I can really work on my own. It’s a really good thing to work like this.

If so, why did you have to go to Denmark at all?

Drums are different, because you can’t record drums in small studios like home studios. You need a good recording room for drums; you always also record the ambience of the room. Also drums are a very, very specific instrument to record, so…

Don’t you have that kind of rooms in Germany?

Oh, yes. (both laughing) I mean, we don’t depend on Denmark but we love to work together with Jacob Hansen. He’s an absolutely pro producer, sound-wise, engineering-wise. Music-wise we produce our own music, but sound-wise Jacob is a wonderful guy and he is a perfectionist also. He mixed our album “Delivering The Black“ (2014) two years ago, and this time we decided also to record drums there ‘cause last time when we were there mixing the album we saw he had great rooms for that. So the plan was that we might also record the drums there.

Can you tell me a little bit more about the upcoming album? Do you have a big concept or a common theme for the songs?

Well, the concept is pretty much heavy metal. I mean, there’s no storyline behind it like we once had on the “Black Sun” album (2002), but this time it is really all about back to rough 80s heavy metal stuff and basically to what people know as Primal Fear; melodic heavy screams, riffing guitars, pounding drums… We came from that and we love it, we love to do that and we love to do it for our fans because they also love to hear it from us, so it’s no lying if we do that, it’s absolutely what we love to do and that’s the reason why it might be successful. (laughs)

Your last album, “Delivering The Black”, was really great, and now you have to at least stay at the same level which is not very easy. Do you feel any extra pressure because of that?

It’ good that you mentioned that because I think we’re even more than just keeping the level. Right now, when I sing those songs, I’m still getting my goosebumps again up and down my spine. I mean, everybody says that every musician would somehow support his new stuff. It’s really true, I mean, the new baby is always the best. We always look ahead and not back. We love “Delivering The Black”, it’s amazing, for us it’s also one of the best albums we’ve ever done, but this new one, for me, is one step up again.

Will there be any guests?

No, we are not inviting guests. We’re just lucky enough to have enough musicians together. (laughs) But I totally understand what you mean. There have been some duets on the previous albums when we invited female vocalists, which is also a good thing because it’s always great to add some colors here and there because we’re painting pictures here, you know.

Do you have a name for the album already?

Yes, we have a name already, but maybe it’s too early to come out with it. Sometimes I give hints and pieces on my Facebook where I post a little bit, but I’m not quite sure I can mention the name already. Maybe Mat (Sinner, bass) says “Why not?” but I have first to check out with him and with the management, so I won’t say anything at the moment.

Ok, so when is it to be released?

It’s gonna be January 2016, the end of January.

It’s pretty close now.

Absolutely. So the mixing starts in the middle of September. I’m not gonna be there but I absolutely trust Jacob and Matt with what they’re doing because as I said last time it was just a wonderful experience, this guy absolutely knows how the music should sound and I have no doubt that it’s gonna be good. Because I have to fly over to America to shoot a short movie.

What kind of movie?

Well, it’s called “The Devil’s Five”, and it’s pretty much a dark story behind a devilish wife. She is penetrating the world and terrifying the world. It’s the first time when I’m really acting with speaking. I did some acts here and there, just shorts scenes without speaking but this time it’s also speaking which is not so easy for me as a German citizen. But that’s what they want, they want to have a little bit of a German accent in there. I have known Terry Wickham (one of the producers of the movie – ed.) for two years now, we meet when we are touring, and we talk a little bit about movies, about acting and stuff. So we got together and it’s gonna be a really right thing, I’m looking very much forward, there gonna be Veronica Freeman from Benedictum in there and a lot of nice people whom I never saw before but we are now teaming up on Facebook and Skype and talk to each other.

I never knew you were also an actor.

I never knew it either, so… (both laughing) We’re gonna find it out. It’s another thing, it’s no easy, you have to focus, but I love to do it. I like it when you see the result and everybody is happy. (laughs) It’s the same with music.

Well, it looks like it’s now kind of fashion to invite heavy metal musicians to movies.

The question is, why not?

(both laughing) Yeah. So, are you going to play any new songs in Moscow?

No, there is too little time for that now. We’re still in the middle of recording, like I said. I still have five songs to go, and the concert is now in almost two weeks, right? And we have one more show in Germany here before we fly to Moscow. We’re looking absolutely forward to come back again because we had a good time last time and it’s always great in Moscow. Everybody’s really looking forward for that. But we won’t play songs from the new album anyway.

It’s a pity.

We have a huge set vlist for the fans, so don’t worry.

Ok, it’s been quite a while since we saw you here for the last time. Do you remember anything of those shows?

Absolutely, I do. I mean, the fans were absolutely fantastic. And for us, for Western people it’s always a great experience to come to Russia. I mean, I don’t care about… Of course, I do care about politics but I don’t care about troubles in between countries and who is right or not… I’m just a normal person like everybody else out there, I want to have peace, I want to make my music, I want to please people with music, and people want to be pleased by music. So I’m very much opened to all persons all around the world, to all people of all races. We’re just one mankind, it’s as simple as that! Also every time I come there it’s just a great view! The city is just beautiful, Moscow and also St. Petersburg for instance. Really wonderful! I remember riding by train from Moscow to St. Petersburg by this… Trans-Siberian express, was it? I can’t remember what was the right name for it, but it was also a really great experience. People walking around with caviar and champagne and stuff. (laughs) There was this sleeping trailer, I don’t know what it’s called. Anyway, like I said, it’s always a great experience to come there. Looking forward, again.

Last time you didn’t have such a big audience, but this time it’s gonna be a lot of people. Does it make any difference for you?

Basically not. I mean, we go out as a band and always give 100%. If it’s not possible, it’s because of some physical stuff like somebody being ill or stuff like that. But we’re professional musicians and we go out there doing our passion. Once again, we don’t have to somehow act like we’re doing something what we really don’t like. We’re going out there because we love what we do. We live our passion, we live our dream. We don’t mind if there are 50 people, or 5,000 people, or 50,000 people. I mean, there is a little bit more adrenalin, of course, when there are more people, but it won’t change the show or the attitude towards the show.

You know, we don’t have such a long tradition of open-air festivals. What do you think we need to have a great festival?

Good weather! (both laughing) What do you need for a great festival? Great bands, good advertising, promotion, and, of course, a good organization, which makes the bands come back. If you disappoint people they won’t come back. I mean, this starts from the surrounding sometimes. Modern promoters really forget that there is a human being behind the musician who needs maybe a little bit of something to eat before the show and also a bathroom and stuff, and if it’s a tour it’s not always that you get good conditions to work. That’s a pity. So I think, that is also a very important point to please not only the people out there, the fans, but to please everybody. I know, that’s a hard job because the promoter and all the crew, they have to work like crazy and they are also human beings, so it’s always giving and taking. I think, that’s what people shouldn’t forget; there are always human beings behind everything.

Do you have a favorite festival?

There are so many festivals nowadays that you can’t really pick any favorite festival anymore. I mean, it was Wacken years ago and still it is a wonderful festival to play, like every festival out there. I mean, there are many new festivals coming up like also Rock Fest in Barcelona that we played a couple of weeks ago. It was also a great thing. The Monsters of Rock in South America, Sao Paulo, was amazing… And all those things, I mean, yes, it’s hard to choose a favorite festival, it’s almost like picking a favorite song. To pick your favorite child is also not possible, every child you love, and every child has some unique things. I have one boy but I can speak for people with more children. (laughs)

As you said, you’ll play a show right the day before Moscow Metal Meeting. How do you plan to get here in time?

We have a show in Germany, so it’s gonna be an early flight. And that’s the next thing in music. I mean, if you go to South America, we always call it a non-sleeping tour. You just arrive, relax a little bit in a hotel and maybe you have the first show the same day when you arrive or the very next day. And then you have to go to the airport because there are long distances and you’re gonna fly, fly, fly… Maybe take a shower somewhere in between and try to find some sleep in the airplane. That’s pretty much it. But that’s the reason why we are used to that, to the early flights and all these things. It’s only one week so we are pretty much capable to do that. (laughs)

As I heard from now on you’re gonna have three guitarists in the band. How is it gonna work for you?

Actually, we have three guitarists involved in writing music and stuff but Magnus (Karlsson) is not gonna play live because of his personal background, his family. He’s got three kids and a working wife so we totally understand that he is not touring. But we always wanted to have him in the band because he is so much also in love with us, with Primal Fear, with the music, and of course he is an amazing writing member. So we don’t want to say, “That’s it” because he wants to do it, he loves the way we’re working and we love the way we are working. If it comes to the point that maybe he wants to play sometimes again we also keep every door open. We might do a three-guitarists-set, who knows? But that’s very hypothetic at the moment because there are no talks about that.

Last year you took part in a lot of other projects, though in your previous interview with our web-site you said that you wanted to keep your voice only for Primal Fear. What has changed since then?

Well, it is still somehow my thinking because a singer’s job is a trademark of a band a little bit and he’s the one who’s making the band recognizable. But of course this is my business and if a band sends me their demo asking for a guest appearance, if I can take part in a duet or even sing a whole song, I have to first like the song and then I consider for myself if I have time and if I want to do it. Because it’s a business, too, you know. I offer my voice and they give me a little bit of money which fills my fridge. I’m self-employed, I’m living off music, and this is not so easy anymore like everybody supposedly thinks it is. So we also have to look how we can survive and that’s another possibility to earn a little bit of money.

So it’s not possible to survive only with Primal Fear, is it?

No, it’s not possible. Because the market is really hard. It’s not that easy anymore and if you have a company going on you can’t forget the costs you get. I mean, you have to pay taxes and what stays after that you have to somehow use for covering costs. If a band goes on tour, there are a lot of people behind working and if somebody’s working, they are of course earning money. And the company has to pay that. We’re just happy all the years to be one band out there that still can survive with it. There are a lot of people just falling out of the matrix somehow because they can’t survive anymore. Or they somehow strip down their costs so much that they can’t really provide a good show anymore. In the end it’s all about money which is sometimes is a bad thing and of course…

What is the strangest day-job you’ve ever had?

The strangest day-job I’ve ever had… Well, I still sometimes do a day-job, but it’s not strange. I’m just driving trucks and vans here and there sometimes to add up my monthly salary. (laughs) So, no strange jobs. If I did something like… Explain, what is a strange job? Each job is a job of course, even prostitution. (laughs) I never did that, though. (both laughing)

What is the most difficult song you’ve ever performed?

“Iron Fist In A Velvet Glove”. Because it’s fucking high, it’s really hard to keep the notes all the time. But you know, you find out always in the rehearsal room – we still have some time to rehearse here and there – and you find out if it’s working or not. Of course we still do that, we did it with “Iron Fist In A Velvet Glove”. It worked pretty well, but if you have to do it for an entire tour it’s difficult sometimes.

What do you do to keep yourself and your voice in a good shape?

I try to live as healthy as possible which is sometimes not possible because I also sometimes have a little bit of celebration with my buddies in the band and of course privately, too. But basically I try to be in a good shape, doing sports, drinking a lot of water which is very difficult and starting nowadays to warm up my voice which I didn’t do many years ago. So that’s the reason why I point this straw to you (shows a straw) because there is a certain technique of warming up your voice with a straw. Anyway, I try to be as focused and as economic as possible with my voice. Sometimes it is not possible because I really scream out of me everything I have; when I’m out there I just give everything, I can’t be singing like 50%, it’s not possible.

I know you also played guitar in your early days. Why did you eventually choose vocals?

I wasn’t a good guitar player. I’m still playing guitar, I can do the chords, I play notes and stuff and I find harmonies with the guitar for instance, and of course when there are family celebrations I still do “Happy Birthday” and stuff and whatever, but… I can’t really sing along to the guitar when I’m on stage because I’m not like this autodetective guy who’s doing multiplexing stuff like… I can’t imagine how a drummer for instance can sing. For me this is not easy, I have to do one thing. (laughs) And so I focus on the vocals.

It is stated on your web-site that you love Formula-1. Is that true?

Yes, I do, but it really went down since Schumacher is out. I was an absolute fan of Michael Schumacher and when he was out of Formula-1 it really went down and I don’t follow it anymore like I used to do. So that’s a little bit of an old statement on the web-site.

Why is Vancouver your favorite city?

We mixed our seventh album there, it was the “Seven Seals” album, 2005. Ten years ago, time really flies. And it’s a beautiful city. You have everything there from skiing to sunbathing, and you have a seaside, you have a mountainside. And it’s a wonderful city as well. British Columbia in Canada is just a wonderful, amazing place, it’s very, very beautiful and that’s why I like Vancouver. It’s just amazing, it’s really great.

You are also interested in astronomy, right?

Yes, but not so much because I don’t have that much time left. The good thing is that I have a rooftop and I can really see the stars when I go up there and just relax and breeze, deeply breeze in the stars, into (laughs) my own space that I have, it’s like myself. I’m really recharging the batteries when I’m up there watching the stars.

Do you follow NASA news, like New Horizons and stuff?

Yes, when there is news out there, I’m the one who is reading of course. Because I’m quite sure that there is something out there which is another form of life which everybody is looking forward I think if this is gonna happen that we find a different life it’s gonna change a lot in our… Well, that’s just science fiction, let’s forget it. (laughs)

How did you get to know Kai Hansen?

That was a long time ago. I remember that Helloween once wanted me as a vocalist before Michael Kiske joined but it never turned out because I was a young boy and I was living at home with my family and my family was also my band, back then it was Tyran’ Pace. So I never thought about leaving. Then after several years when Tyran’ Pace split up, Kai called me up to record a demo for a different band he used to produce in Hamburg, he was still in Helloween then. So we got to know each other, he liked my singing, but we just kept it like that because he was still in the band. Then, when he left Helloween, my first thought was to contact Kai and his first thought was to contact me so that’s how we came together in 1989. I still had my job and on the weekends I drove to Hamburg and we somehow composed songs. He composed songs I have to admit, because he did everything on his own and I just reproduced sometimes what he’d sung and added my ideas here and there of course.

Well, but how did they got to know you for the first time? ‘Cause you lived in another city...

Maybe they heard some album of Tyran’ Pace…

So you didn’t know them in person at that time, did you?

I didn’t meet them in person before. Until the early 90s when I met everybody of them.

This year Gamma Ray released a compilation album with two of your songs on it. Have you heard it already?

I haven’t heard that so far. I mean, Kai sent me a link to download the songs but I’m so full of work I didn’t even have time to listen.

25 years is a long time for a band. Do you still consider yourself being a part of their history or are you completely out of it?

No, I feel like being a part of Gamma Ray, I was there for the first five years and I did the first three albums with them, and this is basically the first step into the business for a band. So I still consider myself a vocalist for Gamma Ray from the early phase, and I think the guys do, too. Because when we meet we have a good feeling, we are good friends. Kai is a wonderful human being and the others, too, of course. There are no hard feelings at all, I would always go on stage together with them again, why not?

Great! I am now through with my questions. Do you want to add anything?

Yes, I would like to say that we are really looking forward to come back to Moscow, to kick some serious asses and have a good time with people there and maybe afterwards go for some vodka. (laughs)

Primal Fear on the Internet: http://www.primalfear.de

Special thanks to Alexei Kuzovlev for arranging this interview

Ekaterina Akopova
August 11, 2015
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