The interview took place
in June '93 while 'Tage were playing in Stuttgart/Germany as part of their
European tour to promote EOT. I first talked to Criss (My questions are
marked with an asterisk):
* Tell me about the tour so far. Are you satisfied with the way things are going?
Absolutely. The cool thing about the tour is that there are three bands involved which play different styles. Non Fiction play thick heavy metal like early Black Sabbath. We are more melodic, doing progressive hard rock. And Overkill is more like a, uhm, death metal band
* Oh, I don't think it's death metal.
Right, it's not death metal. It's speed metal. Anyway, the audience won't be bored. With three similar bands, the kids could easily get bored.
* The tour was announced to be a 'double headlining tour'. Are you allowed to play as long as Overkill?
No, we are allowed to play for one hour. Overkill plays for one hour and a half. But we'll be headliner when we go to Holland...
* Are you very popular in Holland?
Don't know. Maybe our records sold well there.
* I guess you'd prefer to be headliner?
Sure. But the middle slot isn't that bad because you start playing when all the people have arrived. And when we are finished with the fans they are usually pretty tired (He grins). So, we got a good slot. After the gig, you can go for the girls while the headliner is still on the stage.
* There's a second guitar player with you on the tour.
Yes. His name is Wes Garren, he is 22 years old, he's almost a kid, we love him. It's his first tour. He's also playing the piano.
* Chris Caffery was the second guitar player in the band when 'Gutter Ballet' was done. Did you ever consider to take a second guitar player as a regular band member again?
We don't need one in the studio, but we do need one for the shows. Some of our songs have been written for two guitars. You know, my brother's no longer in the band, he used to play the piano. So we need help on the tour, but there won't be another guitar player in the band.
* How does 'Edge of thorns' compare with your prior releases?
We went back a little to heavier stuff. Maybe a little bit like 'Hall of the mountain king'. Less keyboards, more guitars.
* Aren't you satisfied with 'Streets' anymore?
Oh, I sure am, I love it. It's a masterpiece. But when the record came out it was just bad timing. Many people just didn't realize the story in 'Streets'. The record really is good. There's a lot of emotion in it, it's like a real story.
* One thing I've been thinking about for a long time is the meaning of the word 'Savatage'.
It's just supposed to be another spelling for 'sabotage'. We just spelled it different but it has the same meaning.
* The cover artwork of the new album 'EOT' is impressing.
My wife was the model for the girl. Hehe. The face in the trees is my brother, it's Jon's face (He grins). It's kind of a good meets evil story. The girl is surrounded by fear and innocence. But the face in the trees is evil. Everything around her is evil. It's about good and evil. The songs on the CD reflect this, too. The artwork has been done by Gary Smith, who also did 'HOTMK' and 'GB' and the guitar with the rose on the 'Streets' cover. Gary paints the covers for our records and he also paints my guitars. He's really good, a great airbrush artist.
* Your brother Jon is still involved in writing the songs. He, Paul O'Neill and you are doing the song writing, right?
Yes, it's been this way ever since 'HOTMK'. Each one is doing one third of the work. The three of us do everything. First, each of us works on his own, after that we compare our work, swap tapes and work on the ideas of the other ones as well. A long process, that most often lasts two to four months. After that, some months of rehearsals and pre-production is needed. Recording the tracks in the studio takes another two months.
* Are all songs completely finished at the time when you start recording in the studio?
No. 'All that I bleed' for instance has been written in the studio. There are always one or two songs which suddenly pop up out of nowhere. The atmosphere in the studio is a real inspiration for me. The song 'Gutter Ballet' was written when the rest of the album has already been finished but when we had no title for the album! And the song is the most outstanding on the whole record! It was just the same with 'Jesus saves' and 'Can you hear me now' on 'Streets'. Jon and I did the recording of those songs on our own, too, since Johnny and Steve had already left the studio after recording the basic tracks. It would have been too expensive to fly them across the country just in order to record two songs. So Jon did the drums and I played the bass. The song 'Gutter Ballet' and those two songs on 'Street' have been recorded by Jon and me solely. Most people don't know that.
* While you were doing the sound check today, I realized that Steve Wacholz isn't with you! Did he leave the band?
Yes, he now has his own business and runs a racing track for radio controlled cars. The actual reason is that he has chronical health problems originating from the long time he's been drumming. He cannot go on tours anymore. But he did come up with his successor himself. He just said 'Here's your new drummer'. We didn't have to search. (At that moment the new singer, Zachary, comes over to us) But for this guy here, Zachary, we've been looking for quite some time. And we've been listening to quite some tapes. In the first place, I wasn't looking for somebody to replace my brother. That can never happen. I've been looking for somebody different. And I found him with a little help from our roadie. After listening to Zachary's tape I knew that he was the man. I gave him a call some days later.
* Zachary, wasn't that a big surprise for you?
Z: You can bet. I was working on my car when the telephone rang. First I thought about not answering it because I was busy with my work.
* How does it feel working with the guys? Is it like a professional team or more like a couple of friends.
Z: It's both. We really get along great, not only when it comes to music.
* Maybe one more question...
C: Why did Jon leave!!!
* Oh no, I think one could read enough about that in the magazines!
C: Thank god! You're the first one not asking that question! (He grins happily and grabs my hand)
* What I'd like to know are your plans for the next few months.
C: We'll finish the tour here in Europe. After that, we'll have some
rest before we start touring in the States and Canada. After that we'll
be touring in Japan. We are very popular over there. I don't know the sales
figures of 'EOT' yet, but I think the new album is doing very well there.
'Streets' was number seven with all those biggies, Guns'n'Roses, Metallica,
Poison, big fuckin' bands. We just sat there right among them. They just
like our music over there. And they had a real understanding for the 'Streets'
story.
Z: They really have kind of a literary streak and 'Streets' was very literary.
C: They really got it, them smart Jabs, he he.
Z: Most Americans don't have enough patience to listen to the story from
the beginning to the end. Maybe, the people in Europe are more patient,
they don't listen to a record just once. In the last few weeks, while we
were doing this tour, many fans came to me and said 'Zak, I didn't like
your singing when I first listened to the new record. But when I listened
to it for a second time, I loved it.'
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