Hi, first off all I just want to congratulate you with your box-set “Through the Years”. Are you satisfied with it?
Michael: Yes it went out really well with bonus tracks who never had been on cd before, with a very fine 32 booklet and all the lyrics , and I think it must be a fine thing booth for the older supporters and for the new, who is starting to support Artillery.
Maybe it comes as a surprise to some... but my favourite ARTILLERY album has always been...
and still is “Fear of Tomorrow! Which album is your favourite?
Michael: There are still a lot of people who like the first album F.O.T and we still play a lot of songs from that live. It’s really difficult to say what my favourite album is! F.O.T was our first album so it will always be some great things to remember, with some of my favourite tracks like “Eternal War”, “Time Has Come” and “Deeds of Darkness”. Terror Squad was in many ways a ground breaking album for us with an amazing support from the media and fans, with my favourite songs like “The Challenge” and the title track. By Inheritance was our most technical album and ended up to be the most supported album by the critics, with my personal favourite songs like “Khomaniac”, “Don't Believe” and the title track.
B.A.C.K was a great comeback for us and was well received both by the critics and the fans and carried one of the best Artillery songs ever... “Cybermind". So it ´s very difficult to say what album I like best.
How did you get your name ARTILLERY back then?
Michael: The name Artillery came from Carsten and Jørgen in the very early days of 1982 and was inspired by the song “Heavy Artillery” by Tank.
Well... it’s great to have you back on stage again. Do you still get a kick out of playing live?
Michael: Yes I love playing for the metal heads, that's the main reason we’re never getting tired of playing music. And with that support there still are for Artillery it is really easy to play.
Can you confirm that a live DVD is under serious consideration?
Michael: Yes we’re going to play at the Metalmania festival in Poland together with Megadeth and Overkill and we will record a live DVD at the same time, and we are very exciting about that, because we never did that before. It will be recorded on the 8 of March.
What about a brand new studio album?
Michael: Yes in August or September we will try to have songs enough for a new album.
We’re already playing one new song Uniform and have 2 or 3 songs finished.
What tasks presently lie ahead for ARTILLERY?
Michael: The DVD at the Metalmania festival, we will play The Rock in March, Sweden Rock cruise, some festivals in Germany, some gigs in Denmark and maybe we are going to South America.
Let's speculate - you have been granted a free slot on a tour of your own choice - who would be your ideal touring partners?
Michael: Musically I think a band like Exodus would be great. But also Metallica, Megadeth or something in that vein.
What albums or bands do you believe have had the greatest impact on the history of metal?
Michael: Exodus: Bounded by blood.
Merciful Fate 2 first albums (Mellissa and Don’t Break the Oath).
Metallica first albums (Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets).
Slayer first albums (especially Reign In Blood).
Black Sabbath all.
Also bands like Savatage, GBH, Jethro Tull, Grand Funk Railroad and Judas Priest among many others.
I thank you very much for participating in this interview and sharing this information and your thoughts with us - these last lines are entirely for you. Any final words you would like to round off with - a tip, a recommendation or a thought for the future?
Michael: I’m sure we really are going for some really good things now with our new singer Søren, we can do a lot more playing etc. than before. And I wanna give a big thanx to all who have supported the band for such a long time.
See you!
Michael
