Bryn Schurman: I guess my first experience with your music goes back to Grip Inc. with the song Savage Seas off of Power of Inner Strength. Here we are, thirteen years later and you’ve got a new band – Enemy of the Sun – and a new album called Shadows. So how did this new project come together?
Waldemar Sorychta: Well, first of all, you have to look a bit back to the story of when Grip Inc. was recording the last record so far with the name Incorporated (2003-2004). After we released that record, nobody actually knew about the future. If Grip Inc. gonna continue or not because the decision if Dave gonna continue his work with Slayer or not, was not made yet.
The latest from 2004 when Dave’s made the decision “Okay guys, I will continue my work with Slayer”, we have to make our decision: do we gonna continue Grip without Dave or not? And that was nothing that I was looking forward to make Grip without Dave.
Grip for me was us, and without even one person it was no more Grip. And for me, it was clear I want to start very very fresh, very new with new people, with basically unknown people. I don’t care that much if people had names or not, I just care more about what’s inside. What those people want to go for, what those people… how they are in the heart. If they’re good musicians…
You know, I wanted to have music back on the first place and nothing else. I don’t want to have discussions for hours about tour buses, about money. I want to have in the first place, simply discussed about music. This is how we came together and I’m very very happy to get people like these guys that I have on Enemy of the Sun because, for me, it’s almost like paradise to work with these guys.
BS: In the songwriting process for this, there’s a huge mix of genres. Was that intentional, or did it that sort of evolve into that?
WS: First of all, you have to see also the songwriting process how I see it. I don’t write songs after the charts. I’m not looking what’s playing on the radio and that’s like, ’Wow that’s cool, I want to do something like that’.
For me, that’s the biggest experience for music is life my itself. When you get back home and you feel unhappy or sad – I wouldn’t be able to make like a funny song. It’s the same when I go home and I’m not very happy, it won’t be like the right mood to make a very fast song. I’m not having a schedule when I say Monday’s going to be the day when I’m writing fast songs and Tuesday the slow songs.
Like every day brings you a new experience – new moods – and this is how I basically write songs. Like they should tell you stories before you even know the lyrics. Like, the song by itself, just the music, supposed to be big enough to tell you something.
BS: Any story behind the song “Feel the Beating”
WS: Well, my passion to Flamenco music I guess you can hear very very well. I did already many many parts and even complete songs while the time with Grip Inc. That is something that I’m really open to and I listen to it a lot. Flamenco Spanish guitar is everything that I’m looking at a different side because… Flamenco has emotion, it has passion, and you have to be a good guitar player to play it. Basically, everything that you need in music is included in Flamenco. I think that, in the past already with Grip Inc. the combination of metal and that Spanish Flamenco music did work very very fine. That’s why on Enemy of the Sun it was meant to go that way.
The lyrics are about something completely different. They are not about Spain. They are about the Brazilian police. That’s why ’Can you feel the beating’. Because the situation over there is pretty hard. A good friend of Ulla’s who lives there had tell me many many stories. How police are going to people that, even when you look at the eyes they have a reason to go after you and… this is what the song is lyric-wise about.
BS: Not just a mixture of musical styles, but I’ve found there are a lot of sonic textures. How many different guitar tones are on there? Do you have an arsenal of guitars and amps and everything?
WS: You know, the funny thing about this record is, exactly when I was in the studio for recording that record, a big magazine from Germany came to me and they want make a test between a guitar that simulates many many sounds and the original guitars.
You have to picture this, I have this like twenty guitars… but this simulation guitar. The name is Line6 basically, which has many simulations – for example Gibson or Fender and many other guitars, and they want me to try how this guitar works with the sound, like when you compare the sounds to the original guitars. And that was exactly this time when I was in the studio working on Enemy of the Sun.
So for me it was like a very great situation that I can use seven guitars exactly at the same time when I was recording. So, what I have already these guitars in the studio, of course, I tell me, “I’m going to use them”. So when I have a part when I felt: woah, that is a part I hear already a Fender guitar playing this, this I played with Fender. When I felt this must be a Gibson sound, I played with Gibson. Of course, most of the songs I played with my Ibáñez, because this is the guitar that I love. It’s almost like my girlfriend.
BS: Any new projects that you’re producing?
WS: I just in November, finished a co-production with the new Moonspell record. They are right now in the process, I think, to mix it in Denmark. So for the future, I think 2008 is more or less a year that I’m looking forward, very very much, to spend most of the time with Enemy of the Sun playing live.
We are looking hard to see some tours. But for sure, already, we have many many festivals this summer, and I’m proud to say a few of the biggest festivals in Europe, we already booked for them. And even on the main stage, which is, I think for a newcomer band, an amazing thing. So this year its going to be a more or less a live-playing year for me. Like maybe one or at maximum two productions, but many many live shows. And of course, writing new songs for Enemy.
BS: I was going to mention the Wacken Open Air. How did you get that gig on your first album, basically?
WS: Well, the news came to me close to Christmas, so basically, I have two Christmases in just one time. Wacken is one of the biggest festivals, and one of the most traditional festivals, not just in Germany, just in the whole of Europe. Many people from every country goes there because of the lineup and it’s the oldest thing around, it’s very good. And for me it’s like an honor to be part of this, to play there. And looks like everybody from the festival promoters… they were really into our record, so we didn’t even need to fight. We just sent our record and straight there was an offer from the festivals. They wanted us to play there and that is really, how I should say, that it’s an honor as a newcomer band to be part of the biggest festivals. I mean, we’re really excited about this.
BS: I know it’s probably too early to say, but any possible statewide appearances?
WS: To be realistic, we’re a newcomer band and for newcomer band it’s not that we have the choice by ourselves. Like all this touring thing is something that we don’t have in our hands. The record. To make the record, to make the music… that was something that we can control and we can do by ourselves. Touring, we are dependent on so many different things so we’re working hard to find a good tour for us and we hope that it’s going to happen sooner than later. Who knows, maybe before this summer, maybe later, after the summer, but we are excited to go with this thing on tour.
Maybe one short story: on our very first show was straight supporting Megadeth in front of 1,200 people. In regular, a newcomer band is always nervous. And when those guys went on stage, they blow me away. I was surprised by myself at how intense the show of this band is. And when you get off the stage with the first show with this kind of emotion, I think this is just the beginning. I see this band is really, really good in the future. We’ll be very excited to be, as soon as possible on stage.
BS: As a new band, the Internet can be a powerful resource, especially with sites like Myspace. What is your take on illegal downloading?
WS: The Internet of today, I think it’s a good thing to bring closer the music immediately. For example, as a fan, you have the choice as a fan to know the songs, to know the plans, and to know everything about this band.
Ten or fifteen years ago, you didn’t have the possibility so every time you heard something about a band, you had to go to the store or go meet somebody who has maybe the record. This time you can just click and you have a full-page with everything. That way you can listen to songs, music, see pictures, and view the plans of the tour and support and whatever.
The Internet is getting misused many times, but people may just look for commercial themselves, or something like that. So I think you have to see both sides, but overall I think it’s a good thing for any music.
BS: Any final words?
WS: I don’t want to talk just bullshit like we’re thanking all supporting us. I think the people who support us, they know that we’re thankful for everything, but I want to say that this is what we do. Enemy of the Sun is something we do with passion and for me, passion is the most important thing for music at all. I think music without passion is just a gathering of notes, which tomorrow, doesn’t have any life. It’s important, and this is basically the soul of all music. What we do is one hundred percent passion-fueled so Enemy of the Sun is something that you will hear emotion from.