"I'm in love with myself, you know - I'm a heavy metal frontman!"

After the massive success of the debut pair of albums "The Metal Opera" (2001) and "The Metal Opera Part II" (2002), Edguy frontman Tobias Sammet returns with a brand-new release by his side-project Avantasia. Entitled "The Scarecrow" and scheduled for release on January 25, 2008, this all-star effort was preceded by the smash hit single "Lost in Space", which also turned out to be a massive chartbuster...

Vassil Varbanov: Hey, Tobi! It's good to have you with us again! How are you?

Tobias Sammet: I'm fine! Everything is very, very good here.

V. V.: We just got the info that Avantasia's "Lost in Space" EPs just landed on number 9 in the German charts today.

T. S.: Yeah, I was informed about it some half an hour ago. It seems like people really love it! That's good, as I think that's a victory for heavy metal. It's a soft song, but still people will buy a heavy metal album afterwards, and I think this is the best thing that could have happened to our beloved music!

V. V.: It's been something like 3 weeks since your first ever show in Bulgaria with Edguy. What happened to you afterwards?

T. S.: Well, we went from Bulgaria to Moscow and... You know, I've been just organizing stuff for the album release, planning a little bit here and there, just preparing for the storm of promotion that I'll have to do. Also, it was my birthday last week - I turned 30 and I'm an old fart now... You see, a lot of things are going on here.

V. V.: How was the Edguy show at the 20 Years Nuclear Blast Festival in Sofia from your point of view?

T. S.: It was terrific! It was great! And it was a mixed audience, you know, and everybody seemed to be appreciating what was going on. I think it was fantastic, even though there were Kataklysm... No, not Kataklysm... What other bands were playing there?

V. V.: Benediction and Amorphis.

T. S.: Benediction, yeah, and Amorphis and Agathodaimon... It was a heavy metal party. Everybody was into it, and that's the idea of heavy metal - not to fight each other, but to be a big community and celebrate our guitar-driven music. I liked the crowd and I'm quite sure we're gonna be there more often from now on. That was a very good start for us in Bulgaria.

V. V.: Let's jump on Avantasia now. Helloween's bass player Markus Grosskopf, who used to be an important part of the first Avantasia releases, is not on board anymore, so...

T. S.: I'm playing bass myself now. Of course I love him - not on a physical basis, ha-ha! Markus is a nice and great guy, and the only reason was that I wanted to play bass myself. There are not many people that I love more than Markus... but of course, I am one of those few people that I love even more than Markus, ha-ha! I'm in love with myself, you know - I'm a heavy metal frontman!

V. V.: At the same time, you've got an impressive line of famous guests on your album, like Alice Cooper, Bob Catley, JГёrn Lande, Michael Kiske, Eric Singer, Rudolf Schenker, Kai Hansen... Was the any person you invited to take part in the album that said no?

T. S.: Yeah, there was, however for time reasons. I tried to get Brian May to play some lead guitars, but the problem is... he's Brian May, you know. He's one of the most important guitar players of all time, so I wanted to get him, but not by approaching him with a demo, so I decided to finish the songs first. So we produced and mixed the album, and then we sent him a song and asked him whether he'd like to play on it. He said, "It's a great song, but at the moment it's a bit bad with my schedule," and we had just one week to get the material back, so it didn't work out. I don't know if he was just bullshitting, but that's what he said.

V. V.: By the way, it's been five years since the former Avantasia release, "The Metal Opera Part II". Why did it take you so long to make "The Scarecrow"?

T. S.: Because I didn't plan to make another record at all. I just wanted to do the first two parts, but - as it always gets - some morning you just wake up and have an idea. In my case it wasn't a morning, but during a talk with some friends. They said, "Tobi, why don't you do it again?" I was like, "Because I don't want to. It was so much work and stress and I don't want that again. I've got Edguy," but they said, "You're stupid! You've got so much experience, you know so many people and you've got enough money to make a really huge production. And you've got Sascha Paeth - a sidekick that everybody would love to have." So I said, "Alright, let's do it!"

V. V.: What are the other guys of Edguy doing now?

T. S.: They're occupied as well. We'll play a show next Saturday in the Czech Republic, before that we did some other concerts and this huge American tour... Basically I'm working, but it's on and off, you know - sometimes I have to do things and I'm off for 3 days, then I'm back working with them... We're writing new songs and plan to start rehearsing for the new album early next year. You see, there's no long time gap.

V. V.: What plans do you have for Christmas?

T. S.: Work. I hate holidays - it's just a time when you're not allowed to work, and I always wanna do something. I don't want to be forced to sit there with my relatives eating a fuckin' duck! That's boring! They just sit there and eat and stuff themselves until they explode! I can't stand it.

V. V.: Okay, back to Avantasia then. As you said, "Lost in Space" is a soft song. Actually, it reminds me a bit of Bon Jovi...

T. S.: Really? That's good - Bon Jovi is a killer songwriter!

V. V.: And which of the 11 songs on "The Scarecrow" is your favourite one?

T. S.: I'd say the title track, as it's the most diversified. I also really love "Lost in Space", "Carry Me Over", "Another Angel Down"... I could name them all. For me it was a really exciting thing to see a song like "Lost in Space" being born, written by me, because it's different - I've never written something like that before, but it's good and I'm capable of doing it! The funny thing is that nowadays the kids distinguish, "Oh, that's Bon Jovi - it's bad," or "It's pop - it's bad!" Hey, 20 years ago Bon Jovi were headlining the Monsters of Rock - one year before Iron Maiden did! I think 20 years ago it was all one family - Bon Jovi, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Helloween, Van Halen, Scorpions... It was just our beloved guitar music.

V. V.: We need to tell Kerry King he's in the same family with Bon Jovi - he'll be delighted!

T. S.: He should be! I'm sure he'll be delighted to be in the financial family of Bon Jovi...

V. V.: Everybody would be! So... Do you have Avantasia volume 4 in mind?

T. S.: Yes. Most of the stuff is already written and recorded - not everything, but I'm working on it. There are still a lot of vocals, choirs and lead guitars missing, but the basics have been laid down. However, that's gonna take two more years, I think. First we're gonna do something with Edguy now, and then, whenever I have time, I'll finish the album.

Copyright: Tangra Mega Rock