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As announced, here’s the interview to follow! Dirk was kind enough to take a few minutes during the packed day to answer some of my questions. What is he looking forward to the most on the Japan trip? Where does he see VICTORIUS in the future? Why are they especially worth experiencing live? Read all that and more below!
Vielen Dank an lightinmirror.de for the cool pics!
Shieldmaiden’s Voice: What makes you unique?
Dirk: We have funny costumes and sing about dinosaurs, ninjas, laser and everything in between!
SV: Dinosaurs is a good cue: Your album Dinosaur Warfare Pt. 2: The Great Ninja War was released about a year ago. What conclusion would you draw at this point?
Dirk: It is our most successful album to date. We were able to place the album at number 51 in the German charts. In addition, we could and can go on tour a lot. So there is an increased demand on us and in general we also have the feeling of growth as a band. In this respect, the album was an important step forward.
SV: Which new possibilities were presented to you?
Dirk: Without the album, our gigs in Japan this weekend would not have been possible. We also have many requests from other bands to tour with us. We’ve also been to many festivals this year, albeit smaller ones. But all this together shows us that things are moving forward!
SV: Which hopes didn’t come true (yet)?
Dirk: Unfortunately we haven’t been to Wacken or Summer Breeze yet, so so to speak the big festival milestones are missing. In that regard, we continue to hope!
SV: You also just mentioned your trip to Japan, what are you looking forward to the most?
Dirk: The food! Apart from that, the Japanese are also very, very friendly and very appreciative, so I think it will be a cool experience. We have a very loyal fan base there that is certainly looking forward to seeing us. How big this community will be remains to be seen.
SV: What can your Japanese fans be excited for the most?
Dirk: We play songs that we haven’t played for a long time, that we will only play in Japan. We rehearsed them again especially for this! We play three days and every day we have a different set, only METALLICA do that!
SV: In addition, the Great Dino Tour 2023 is coming up. Why should the people go see this tour?
Dirk: Because we make cool music for Power Metal fans! Our show contains new elements and we play with everything we have. If you’ve only seen VICTORIUS as an opening act before, you’ll now get the full headliner show.
SV: Why are you a good headliner?
Dirk: I think we’ve earned that by now. We’ve been around long enough to know what we’re doing. Basically, you could just write, „Because!“ [laughs]
SV: Let me rephrase that then: Why is it worthwhile seeing you live?
Dirk: Listening to our record(s) is one thing, but seeing it live is just something else. Through our show, with the outfits, the decorations and our energy, it’s just something really special. Live is always cooler in any case!
SV: You’ve been around as a band for a while now and you said yourself that things are going well for you right now. Does that mean that you will keep everything the same for now or do you have any changes planned for the future?
Dirk: We will definitely change, because we always want to try to grow. We won’t say that it’s the non plus ultra now and that it can’t be better anyway. Of course we have plans to evolve and change, to maybe become even bigger and to tackle bigger projects as a result.
SV: Does that mean we’ll have to say goodbye to your costumes?
Dirk: We will keep the costumes, but we already have an update planned. The next level of armor is coming! We are a gimmick band and it will stay that way!
SV: There are also a few artists who have got themselves armor that is not unlike yours. How do you deal with the fact that you are so admired in the scene?
Dirk: I have never heard that we are admired!
SV: There is an artist that made a song about laser dinosaurs…
Dirk: He is also very successful with it! It doesn’t bother me at all. I know the artist personally, he’s a very nice guy. There is no argument between us because of that, after all he is really successful with it. Even if it would piss me off now, I couldn’t change it.
SV: But it also shows a certain degree of admiration when you adopt such striking elements.
Dirk: I don’t think he admires us or that he needs to. I don’t care either. The outcry from the fans was big enough, who accused him of stealing. I wouldn’t see it that drastically. There is no bad blood between us and everyone can do what he wants. The success proves him right!
SV: Success is another good cue! What are things that you wish for in the band’s future?
Dirk: We would like our festivals to become even bigger. I already mentioned Wacken or Summer Breeze earlier. I would also like to tour with HAMMERFALL, otherwise everyone has another favorite with whom he would like to go on tour.
We also haven’t been to the USA yet, that would be cool!
SV: If you look into the next five to ten years, how many more albums are we looking at?
Dirk: Probably two or three. But I won’t spoil how the story with the ninjas and dinosaurs will be continued!
SV: What a shame! If you could give your fans one last message, what would it be?
Dirk: Thank you for your support! There are always so many haters and so much ignorance and intolerance in the Metal scene and we are fortunately a band that attracts people who see the whole thing very casually. So a big thank you for just wanting to have fun with us without taking it all so seriously!
What a nice closing word! We can therefore be excited about what is still to come in the near future! And don’t forget: If you feel like seeing VICTORIUS live, make sure to catch one of their upcoming tour dates.
We will continue here in October, but then again with something very special! Stay tuned!
Shieldmaiden's Voice 