"We are workaholics!"

Peter "Peavy" Wagner - the 43-year-old founder, vocalist, bass player and only original member of the German heavy metal masters Rage - presents the trio's brand-new full-length studio album "Carved in Stone", due out on February 22, 2008 via Nuclear Blast. It's the first effort recorded by Peavy and guitarist Victor Smolski without long-time drummer Mike Terrana, but with new addition Andre Hilgers on board...

Vassil Varbanov: Good evening, Peavy! The reason for having you with us today is this forthcoming Rage album, "Carved in Stone". Did you miss Mike Terrana during the recordings?

Peavy Wagner: No, we don't miss him at all. As you can hear on our new album, we found a really good substitute for him - Andre Hilgers. He sounds great and plays the songs perfectly, so we've never missed Mike since he's gone. On the other hand, we're relieved to have a new chemistry in the band that works a lot better than it was in the time when Mike was in the band - he changed a lot and it was very difficult to work with him recently. Since Andre joined us, the situation got a lot more relaxed for us.

V. V.: Where did you find Andre?

P. W.: It was a nice coincidence for us. As you probably remember, Victor and I worked together on a sampler for the 20 years anniversary of Nuclear Blast in the beginning of 2007, entitled "Into the Light". We were recording with different drummers, and one of them was Andre. We fell in love with him, so to say - it was very cool working with him, his understanding for the music was perfect and he imagined what we wanted. Meanwhile we found out he's an old fan of Rage and knew all our old material. We started jamming and it sounded perfect, so after checking out a few other drummers we decided he's our guy.

V. V.: We had the chance to talk to Victor Smolski some months ago. Back then we asked him about how did he manage to find the time work on Rage's music, having in mind he's been so occupied with the writing and recording process for "Into the Light". What about you?

P. W.: We are workaholics! However, we still find some spare time to do some holiday and vacation and stuff. As songwriters we are working constantly, so we already have lots of ideas to work on, but it doesn't take that long as we're really experienced. Also, it's easy to work as a band right now, because Andre lives quite near from us and we can meet every day to jam on the material - something that wasn't possible with Mike, as he lives in Copenhagen in Denmark. The work on our new album was really relaxed - in between the recording sessions we played live shows...

V. V.: What was the most difficult part of doing "Carved in Stone"?

P. W.: I wouldn't say there was something difficult. There was one song that took us a little longer to work on - the last one on the album, "Lord of the Flies", as it's the only song that has an orchestration and a choir. It started from a tune that I had written, which was a semi-ballad thing, but the end result is something quite different. For about two weeks we jammed along it and changed it constantly, as we were never really satisfied, and what finally came out is something that none of us expected - it's a very dark and spooky song, maybe comparable to some of our older tracks like "Alive But Dead".

V. V.: Has the song "Lord of the Flies" anything in common with the famous William Golding novel of the same name?

P. W.: Of course - it is inspired by the book. It's not exactly about the novel, but it's inspired by its topic and has the same pessimistic view on the world.

V. V.: Is this your favourite track on "Carved in Stone"?

P. W.: It's hard for me to say what is my favourite right now. I think "Lord of the Flies" is one of the most outstanding songs on the CD, but faves of mine are definitely also the title track, "Drop Dead!"... It depends on what mood you are, you know. I just love to listen to the album as one piece.

V. V.: A question about your label. How do you feel within Nuclear Blast's artist roster?

P. W.: On one hand, the more bands they sign, the more difficult it gets to serve everybody, but on the other hand, you can call the Nuclear Blast guys anytime... To be honest, it depends on whom you work with. My buddy on the label is Andy Siry (NB's A&R manager) and he's really available anytime. We can talk basically about everything, as he's not just a business partner, but also a friend of mine. This is different in most of the other labels, I'd say.

V. V.: Ok, what are your touring plans for 2008?

P. W.: The live thing is the most interesting for me - that's what I love the most. We plan to do a European tour from the end of March until May. We also are already booked for a couple of festivals. I'm not sure if there is a date in Bulgaria during the tour, but I think we are supposed to play there in May, I think.

V. V.: You've got a great new album, a great new drummer, a great tour on the way... Is there anything you wish to do, but you don't have the time to?

P. W.: Well, you might have heard about my hobby - I'm a fossil and bone collector, and at the moment there's not much time for it. Usually in the summer, when it's the right time for it, there are always some festivals to play.

Copyright: Tangra Mega Rock