< PreviousYou like a lot of other modern metal bands, include influences from other genres like pop, ambient or R’n’B, breaking with some expectations for what metal can be. Mike Stringer: Again, that’s all based off our love of music. We listen to so many different styles: Courtney loves metal, but she takes a lot of inspiration from pretty much everywhere. For me, lately I’ve mostly been listening to polar opposite genres while we’ve been writing in order to pull different inspirations from outside sources. Can you name some of the non–metal artists you’ve been into lately? Mike Stringer: It goes from Coldplay over Kendrick Lamar to Taylor Swift. It’s all over the map. The thing is: When you’re writing music, hands. Our first records were made in my parents’ basement and sent out to our producer. Isn’t it sometimes hard to have your private life and your job intertwined this closely? Mike Stringer: I would rather call it interesting. It’s a different dynamic than most people are used to. When people ask me about it, I tell them how much I love it and how great it is. Sometimes they respond how they couldn’t imagine working with their significant other. But I believe that this is something you should want to do. I met Courtney at a local show in 2008, we first became friends, and then we were in Iwrestledabearonce for a brief period. As soon as that was over, we pivoted to Spiritbox. This has been our road, and it works great. What’s it like touring as a married couple? Mike Stringer: That’s the best part about it! I don’t have to leave anyone at home. Our band members Josh [Gilbert, bass] and Zev [Rose, drums] both and you’re playing guitar, there’s good tone in every style of music. You just have to listen closely. In my opinion you should listen to all sorts of things. There are so many production techniques and so many cool moments within other genres that I just feel like you’d be missing out if you didn’t take that into account. Do you think being open to other influences has been lacking from metal? Mike Stringer: I think we’re kind of getting into this genre crossing moment within metal and rock, where it’s very interesting to see how genuine something is. It’s a blurry line. On the one hand, there is something I call ‘react core’. People are throwing things in their music just for the sake of a YouTube thumbnail. You can see it from a mile away, and it sucks.The opposite is including something because you genuinely adore it, maybe from an album you had been obsessed with 15 years ago and want it to be on your album for that reason. Would making exactly the music you want to make be possible with someone else than your wife Courtney? Mike Stringer: That’s hard to say because everything this band has done has just been me and her. When we first started that was only because we lived on an island, there wasn’t anyone else to collaborate with. So we took matters into our own Power couple: Mike (right) and Courtney (middle) have been married for eight years. They are a perfect team – on as well as off stage Credits: Alex Bemis, Jonathan Weiner, Phoebe Fox Courntey on stage in Antwerpehave significant others that they have to be away from. That can be very difficult. I get the best of all worlds, which is very rare. And I’m very fortunate for that. Once you promised to get Courtney a dog if you got nominated for a Grammy… Mike Stringer: We did! Her name is Spaghetti, she is a mini bernedoodle. Our lives have been completely transformed. She wakes us up every day at 6:30 a.m. because she has an internal clock that just does not change.She’s our first dog together. Courtney has actually raised a lot of dogs in her lifetime, I wasn’t fortunate enough to get to do that. It’s the best. When we talked about finally getting a dog if we got a Grammy nomination, I simply ran with it because I honestly didn’t think that we were going to get that nomination. Do you plan on taking Spaghetti on tour with you? Mike Stringer: Yeah, we do actually. We’re not going to take her to Europe because she’s too young.But the overall plan is for her to become a road dog. She’s very chill when it comes to big, loud banging sounds. If there’s a siren or whatever, she’s not barking. I think she would be fine coming on tour with us with the bus sounds and the band in general. The thought of having my entire family on the road with me makes me very happy. DOSENMATROSEN ARE BACK! Already in 2022, Dosenmatrosen provided and delighted thousands of thirsty metalheads with chilled canned drinks and ice cubes at the W:O:A Farmers Market! Starting from June 28, 2024, Click & Collect can be used again this year. Simply pre-order drinks in the Dosenmatrosen online shop and pick them up at the W:O:A Farmers Market.20 years of Wacken Metal Battle There is still a First time for some things By Timon Menge hich band has made it and will travel to the Holy Ground this year? At the time this magazine issue was done, the decisions have been made in 22 out of 30 re- gions already. We’ll tell you, which happy up-and-com- ing heavy metal bands have won the stage slots, and we’ll take a closer look at three special Metal Battle regions. May 3, 2024, Jeddah. Saudi Arabia’s metal scene is not big, but today it is gathering in one place: The Makan Music Center is hosting the first Saudi Arabian preliminary round for the Wacken Metal Battle, the world’s largest international competition for up–and–coming heavy music talents. Also there: Salman U. Syed, India’s W:O:A ambassador. „The atmosphere was electric“, he reports later. „A palpable sense of anticipation filled the air.“ Fans and musi- cians were proud that the Metal Battle is now also represented in their country. Syed adds: “The progression of Saudi Arabia in embracing such cultural events marks a significant shift from its traditional roots towards a more modern and inclusive society.” Saudi Arabia is part of the Middle East region, which also includes Egypt, Jordan and Leb- anon. Organizer Monika Bremer is actually from Germany but knows her way around the Mid- dle East very well and explains the differences in Saudi Arabia: “There are few venues here and, above all, no bars. That’s because there’s no alcohol available here, unlike in muslim vacation desti- nations like Egypt.” Therefore, the only venues available are school and university stages, music centers or hotels. Howev- er, there is a lively scene, reports Bremer: “When Metallica per- form in Saudi Arabia, metal fans join from all over the country.” The preliminary round was won by the melodic death metal band Wasted Land from Saudi Arabia. “Their performance was a masterful blend of technical prowess and raw emotion, cap- turing the essence of what metal music is all about”, enthuses Sal- man U. Syed. In his eyes, Wasted Land’s victory also shows the po- tential of this relatively young metal scene. At the premiere of the Metal Battle in Saudi Arabia, fans of heavier music gathered in the port city of Jeddah. Promoter Monika Bremer (center) welcomed the guests Wasted LandThe atmosphere at Club Sognage in Johannesburg was simply fantastic as hundreds of metal fans celebrated their scene. Promoter Sashquita Northey (center) has been organizing the regional competition since 2017 Sunken StateDespite difficult circumstances, the metal fans celebrated their country’s up–and– coming bands during the preliminary round. Promoter Anatoliy Kondyuk (center) praised the outstanding participants and shared the joy with the winners, Karabiner (photo above) Fotos: Wacken Metal Battle Poseydon (Belgium) Beguiler (Canada) Black Tooth (Caucasian Republics & Turkyie) Fleshless Entity (Central America) Five Penalties (China) Junkwolvz (Greece) Türböwitch (Hungary) Kasck (India) Rain (Italy) Paramena (Japan) Griefgod (Lithuania) Æonik (Luxembourg) Wasted Land (Middle East) Inherited (Netherlands) Tessia (Norway) Aquilla (Poland) Voidwoomb (Portugal) Doomsday Astronaut (Romania & Rep. Moldova) Etterna (Slovakia) Sunken State (Sub–Saharan Africa) INFO (South America Northern Region) Karabiner (Ukraine) France, Indonesia, Ireland, Philippines, USA, Austria, Denmark, Germany The Wacken Metal Battle also found a home in and around South Africa. Since 2017, Sashquita Northey has been in charge of the regional competi- tion Sub–Saharan Africa, which includes South Africa, Angola, Kenya, Botswana, Mozambique and, since this year, Namibia. She has to handle logistical hur- dles: “The countries are large, and they are very far apart, es- pecially when it comes to Angola and Kenya”, explains Northey. “One of our biggest challenges is getting all the bands to South Africa for the final round. The flight costs can be high, but luck- ily we get a lot of support from the Wacken team.” So it happens that a great metal party could be celebrated on site, including the preliminary round, which was won by Sunken State from South Africa, who will travel to W:O:A at the end of July. In Ukraine, the war follow- ing the Russian attack has made things more compli- cated since February 2022. “It has become more difficult to cross the border”, explains organizer Anatoliy Kondyuk, who recommended himself as the host of the Wacken Metal Battle Ukraine via a letter of application years ago. But the metal bands in the country are not discouraged. “It was hard for the judges to choose a winner”, reports Kondyuk, enthusiastic about the high quality of the Ukrainian groups. At the end of the day, Karabiner won the race. “They are young but very talented and they’re technical experts.” Because of some festi- val appearances, the band even has a fan base in Europe al- ready. “I hope they’ll show themselves at their best in Wacken!” This year’s 20th an- niversary of the Wacken Metal Battle will be cele- brated with all participat- ing bands but also with old friends. The Wacken organizers will welcome former Metal Bat- tle competitors such as Source Of Rage (Germany winner 2019), Archaic (Hungary win- ner 2019), Jet Jaguar (Mexico and international winner 2017) and Varang Nord (Latvia and in- ternational winner 2019), who will perform on two days of the W:O:A and present a Metal Bat- tle Special at the Landgasthof on Wacken Tuesday. On Wednes- day, the WET Stage and the Headbangers Stage will be com- pletely dedicated to the Metal Battle, for the first time ever. After all, could there be a better way to celebrate an anniversary than with a premiere?SEASIDE ENTERTAINMENT PROUDLY PRESENTSPeter Tägtgren about the new Pain album, his mental superpower, and a special request for the metalheads attending the upcoming show at the W:O:A Everyone bring a yellow shirt to the show! Von Celia Woitas eter Tägtgren has been balancing dif- ferent musical projects for a long time. His newest work is „I Am“ by his band Pain, once again fusing metal and industrial music. With Pain, the 54–year–old multi– instrumentalist and producer will step onto Wacken’s Holy Ground again this summer. For the interview with The Bullhead, we reach Tägtgren at his Abyss Studio in Swe- den, where he creates most of his work. One for all: Peter Tägtgren is a multi– instrumentalist, composer and producer and usually works on several projects at the same timeHey Peter, please tell us a little bit about your studio. How does your work day and the atmosphere there look like? Peter Tägtgren: It’s very nice and quiet here, and I can see the lake out in the back. Other than one time, when I worked at a studio in L.A. for four days, I always wrote here since ’94, when I moved here. That’s kind of weird, but I feel calm at this place, and that helps me a lot. I always set my alarm to nine o’clock. It doesn’t matter if I go to bed at two, three or four. I try to get up and go to the studio and either listen to old stuff, or I have some ideas and start to work on new material. Soon we have to start practicing for the festivals, and the focus is going to be a lot more on the live stuff. You have played W:O:A with Pain and Hypocrisy multiple times. Is there a certain memory that comes to mind when you think about the festival? Peter Tägtgren: Yes, of course. With Hypocrisy we dedicated an album to you guys: “Hypocrisy Destroys Wacken”. I think it was 1998 when we played there in a tent, and it was amazing. It’s always been good and fun. Every time we get up on stage and play, we have a great time, and so does the audience. Is there something that makes Wacken special to you? Peter Tägtgren: It’s still the biggest pure metal festival I know, and it’s been for a long time now. So it’s the ultimate. (laughs) It’s the Disney World of metal. What are you planning for your set with Pain this year? Peter Tägtgren: What we’ve been doing for the last couple of years: We really integrate the audience and have some cool things going on. That’s something that we just started doing, and it works fine. So instead of one hour of the same kind of feeling, we try to modify it a little bit here and there. So let’s see what’s gonna happen. There will be something special for sure. Everyone that will be in the audience, bring a yellow shirt to the show! When it comes to preparation: Is there something that you do before a gig, especially at a festival? Peter Tägtgren: I always have to take a leak before the show. That’s the last thing I do before I get up on stage, even if it’s only for two drops. No matter if I was playing In Pain, Tägtgren does almost everything on his own, but is not complete without his touring band consisting of his son Sebastian Tägtgren (drums), Jonathan Olsson (bass) and Sebastian Svalland (guitar) The musician in his Abyss Studio, where he spends time almost every daywith Hypocrisy, Lindemann or Pain, it’s always been like that, and it’s probably my only routine. But regarding warm– ups and things like that: We stretch a little, and with Pain it’s good to prepare the throat. Even if you don’t do vocal exercises and go “La la la la la”, you can sing along to a cool song that you’re listening to and just start easy, warm up the voice a little bit, so it doesn’t sound too bad for the first two songs when you get up on stage. With “I Am” you just released a new Pain album, the first since 2016. How would you describe the creative process? Were you writing the songs in a short period of time, or was it expanded? Peter Tägtgren: Actually, it was expanded. When I was done with the Hypocrisy album “Worship”, I think it was in November 2020, my manager said: “Hey, you have to release some Pain songs before it’s getting busy with Hypocrisy, otherwise your Pain fans will be mad – or they’ll forget you.” So I wrote “Party in my Head”. “Gimme Shelter” was also a song I had laying around which was originally written in a more bluesy way. So I pimped it a little bit and released these two songs. When I started thinking about what I should write next, I listened through the last Pain album from beginning to end and had to admit: “Oh, this is a sleepy album.” That inspired me to write “Push the Pusher” right away. After that it indeed got busy with Hypocrisy, and I had to stop my work for Pain. There was a lot back and forth as I was also helping Joe Lynn Turner on his solo record back then because I promised him to do so… just a lot of things at the same time. After all I started in 2021 and ended in 2023 – so two years, but it was on and off. Sometimes I had two weeks, when it felt like: “Wow, that’s good, now I can really get into it.” But then, even though you’re engaged in your work, you have to leave it and go somewhere else. That is how it is sometimes. Is it difficult to get back into a certain mood with all that back and forth? Peter Tägtgren: Yeah, but I think it’s also good because I don’t get stuck in a certain mood. When you’re listening to the songs there is a lot of variety as well. So maybe it’s good in a way that you disconnect from the songs you already did and go in with new and fresh ideas every time. I’m just speculating here. I have actually no clue how it works. It just happens. You are a big David Bowie fan. Did his music have an influence on the new album? Peter Tägtgren: Not on this one, but he was a big influence for the “Coming Home” album. With acoustic guitars, orchestra and stuff like that I’ve tried to get my Bowie Tägtgren and his bands Pain and Hypocracy have often performed on the stages of Wacken Open AirCredits: Agata Nigrovskaya, Irina Panova, Felix Zimmer, Promo into the music. Maybe that’s why it turned out a little bit sleepy. But every time I write an album, it’s just an experiment, finding new things. For example, “Go with The Flow” doesn’t really sound like Pain in the beginning. I always try to push myself to do wider steps in different directions because I think in the end with my distorted guitars and my voice it all merges together and becomes Pain anyway. And people are used to this after eight albums. Each one sounds different than the other, and that just illustrates the state of mind you’re in, what’s your taste or what you want to do at that moment when you’re making them. You just mentioned “Go With the Flow” and “Party in my Head”: There are some songs like these on “I Am” that are very uplifting and even dancy. How much of that energy is based in your own personality? Peter Tägtgren: Well, I got ADHD, so I guess (pauses and grins) there’s a lot of energy in there. But the older you get, the more energy moves “up” to your head: You don’t move your body so much anymore, but your brain goes even faster. Can you appreciate that when you’re working on new music? Peter Tägtgren: I was 21 when I got diagnosed with ADHD by four different people. My mom said that she already knew in the 70s when I was a kid. So at least I have it on paper now. I also knew that something wasn’t right but I think most of us artists, creators – whatever it is: music or art –, I think we all have a couple of letter combinations in there, to be honest. I believe that’s the only way to be able to do this job. You are the job. You fascinating to do videos, I really enjoy it. We always try to make them a little bit different from everybody else, a little bit interesting, and a lot of humor is important for me. When Peter and me are doing videos together we always have two acoustic guitars in the backstage room, and we sit and play old Beatles songs or things like that. We talk shit and play blues. Did you ever think about pursuing another career outside of music? Peter Tägtgren: I would love to be in movies, but I don’t know if I could do it. I’d need to practice and learn. But it’s also really inspiring if you have to learn something to be able to do something. So yes, I would love to do that. become the job because you’re so into it. I can really sit for weeks with one instrument or a song. I get so fixated on something, and time flies until I look up, and then a month has passed. What the hell? That’s how it works. But if I wouldn’t have that, I’d be probably welding somewhere right now like my friends at home nowadays, out on jobs, going to Norway to make shitloads of money. But my mind, my soul, told me: “This is what you do, so do it!” And does it make you happy? Peter Tägtgren: That’s the thing. For me it’s bittersweet to write music. Maybe it’s like that for everybody. I’m a very tough judge, and I constantly try to push myself. But I think that’s what makes it interesting for me to do these things. When you can see something actually grow. Also, you have a nice library behind you that tells you how you were thinking when you were writing a certain album or song. It’s like a diary for 30 years of me. You already do act in some of your music videos like the one for „Go with the Flow“ with Swedish actor Peter Stormare… Peter Tägtgren: It’s always an adventure and The musician at the video shoot for his song “Go With The Flow”Next >