Zur deutschen Version dieses Interviews geht es hier.
Whoever thought I would return from Helmfest without interviews was definitely wrong! First up is FIREWIND, whose frontman Herbie Langhans kindly took some time to answer my questions. Find out what inspires FIREWIND’s music, what makes the upcoming live album Still Raging special and what Herbie wishes for the band’s future!
The amazing pictures were, as always, made by lightinmirror.de! Huge thanks for that!
Shieldmaiden’s Voice: What makes FIREWIND unique?
Herbie Langhans: First of all, FIREWIND has been around for quite a long time, over 20 years by now! The outstanding feature is of course Gus G. on guitar, he was with OZZY OSBOURNE for a very long time and has also worked with many other bands. It’s an awesome band that works well and when I joined I really jumped right in so it’s not just some project. I’m also involved in the songwriting now, which Gus and I do mostly, and it works like clockwork!
SV: You just mentioned songwriting, what inspires you the most while doing that?
Herbie: That’s hard to say… When writing lyrics, it’s actually always the case that we are close to world events, so social issues, injustices and things like that. We’re not writing about unicorns, dragons and such, but rather about topics that concern everyone. Songwriting is mainly about what everyone has already done or experienced musically in their lives. Especially now with the new album there are more influences from the 80s again. You always think beforehand that you’re not inspired, but when you write new songs, things like that always come out again. Gus and I can pass the ball back and forth pretty well, even at a distance, and it’s all going super well!
SV: Power Metal today has a lot of fantastic elements and there are many bands that, as you said, write stories about dragons or unicorns. Would you say that you consciously decided against that to differentiate yourselves from others?
Herbie: No, I don’t think so. I’m not the type who likes to tell such fantastic stories anyway, but FIREWIND has never done that, not even long before me. We simply have realistic topics that concern everyone and with which everyone can do something. It doesn’t really matter whether it’s about injustice, wars or environmental crises. On the other hand, not everyone can relate to dragons. But that’s not something we would have done consciously. Personally, I think it’s always nicer to be close to reality.
SV: On September 1st you will release your new live album Still Raging, what can fans look forward to the most?
Herbie: It was an enormously cool show in Thessaloniki. When we play in Greece, the atmosphere is always exorbitantly good, because FIREWIND is a big act in Greece. We played songs from almost all albums at the show and it was a colorful potpourri that was a bit of a 20th anniversary celebration. It’s a bit hard for me to cover the other singers – there were some singers in FIREWIND before me – but the show was just awesome. The audience was really into it, the stage was beautiful, the camera team was really good, so the recordings were fantastic and also the sound recordings were great! On top of that, it’s all real. In retrospect, we have recorded nothing additional, but it is a real live show!
SV: It’s not FIREWIND’s first live album. How is Still Raging different from the live albums before?
Herbie: New singer! [We laugh] It is, I think, relatively similar. The audience was already bombastic back then with FIREWIND. I do some things differently on stage than other singers and I also like to do all kinds of shenanigans, but I think the show was just very entertaining.
SV: Why did you decide – even if for the time being – against the release of a studio album and for the release of a live album?
Herbie: We already played this show last year and we wanted to film this show anyway and it wasn’t really clear what would happen with the material. Whether there would be a BluRay or whether it would „only“ be Youtube videos, we didn’t know, but we wanted to record a special show and release it in good quality somehow. The new album is already recorded and will be released next year, but the live album was just a good fit now. We’re playing a couple of shows in Greece again at the beginning of September and it fits perfectly that we’re releasing the live album exactly at that time.
SV: A lot of bands have a musical style similar to yours, how do you manage to stay true to yourself amidst that competition?
Herbie: By simply doing what you do. You shouldn’t look so far to the left and right. It’s no use thinking „Oh, they’re doing this!“ or „We have to follow this trend!“. We are a relatively classic Power Metal band and of course we try to incorporate some more modern elements here and there, but the whole thing is actually relatively straightforward. You can’t completely change a band like that from one day to the next and that wouldn’t do us any good!
SV: It was mentioned before that FIREWIND is almost 20 years old now. Where do you see the band in five to ten years?
Herbie: We already have quite good plans in that we think our current line-up is very stable, it’s fun and works very well. By doing the songwriting together, maybe the songs are a little different from the material on the albums before. Gus used to write a lot on his own or with a producer, and now I’m actively involved in the songwriting, which gives the music a different style in some places.
SV: What is something you always wanted to say or mention in an interview but never had the chance to?
Herbie: Oh man, I think I’ve already told pretty much everything… Basically I always say the same things, but here’s maybe something for all the musicians out there who think they’re too old: I only started my own music business four and a half years ago, when I was already in my mid-40s. So never stop dreaming, there’s really no expiration date in the music business. Always thinking that your career won’t work out anyway is total nonsense! You can also combine everything with family, I have three children myself. You always have to be able to juggle things well, I’m also not someone who likes to be on tour only. I like the balance of touring, studio work and a few rest days in between. It’s all possible if you approach it the right way!
SV: If you could wish for one thing in the band’s future, what would it be?
Herbie: Definitely that we can play more on bigger festivals and that we have bigger tours. I think that over the last few years we have gained more audience, especially younger audience, particularly through the tours with DRAGONFORCE or BEAST IN BLACK and it’s really cool that we seem to be attracting a new generation of fans. At the moment we’re doing pretty well, so in the next few years it could all get a bit bigger than it already was.
SV: If you could send your fans one message, what would it be?
Herbie: Stay true to the music scene! And especially the Metal festivals! These are the most loving festivals there are! Always support, always go there and just have fun. I don’t know any scene that is as warm as the Metal scene. We’ve met so many people on tour, they’ve never been to a concert before that! So check out more live music, don’t always hang on your cell phone, go out and listen to some handmade music!
I think if there is one thing we can rely on in the Metal scene, it is the loyalty of the fans to the music! If you also want to prove your loyalty to FIREWIND, then treat yourself to the live album, which will be released on September 1st. As you can surely see from the photos, the four of them deliver an absolutely cool show!
Keep faith with me, because the day after tomorrow there will be the next interview!
Shieldmaiden's Voice 