Stormwarrior – Yenz Leonhardt
Greg: You mentioned that you’re really looking to take the music on the forthcoming disc to the next level, and even beyond. In your eyes, will the music be different is any discernible way, or is it purely STORMWARRIOR with even stronger songs?
Yenz: I think of it like zooming in on the different aspects that we used to have. Like on Heading Northe, for instance, we have the battlefield area. There’s a couple songs, where you can really… through the lyrics, you can really feel that you’re standing on the battlefield defending the… (mutual laughter) We’re going to blow that up and make the feel even more atmospheric and more epic. On the other hand there’s always been the Heavy Metal anthems, which are pretty no-bullshit songs. We’re going to blow that up also and make that even more kick ass, Heavy Metal anthem-like. So we want to zoom in. Like in Photoshop, instead of a 300 pixel version, it will be a 1,200 or something.
Greg: (laughter). I love that answer. We talked earlier about the 2007 Wacken Open Air performance, which you filmed for a soon to be released DVD. First of all, do you know when the DVD will be released?
Yenz: It’s basically finished. We completed our work. It was a bit confusing, who’s going to release it. Dockyard? No. OK, then we went back to Remedy Records who actually released the first two albums in Germany. They’re ready to release that. It should be a matter of a very short time because we are finished.
Greg: Great. So as a musician, is it more stressful knowing a performance is being filmed for a DVD, and knowing that performance will be captured for all time? Are you very aware that you’re being filmed?
Yenz: I think you just have to learn how to ignore. I think the right way is just to fucking ignore it and just play like you always play and do what you always do, because that has to be good enough. If you try to figure out where’s the camera, how can I pose right now, than you’ve already lost a couple good moments. That’s the way I see it. I don’t think about it at all.
Greg: OK. At that performance, you performed with Kai. Can you talk a little about the band’s relationship with Kai?
Yenz: Well, he’s a very close friend of the band. It started like… Lars had made his first cassette demo. He played that… there’s a cult place here in Hamburg called the Headbanger’s Ballroom. So he played this demo for Kai. And I guess it kind of reminded Kai of the early HELLOWEEN days. So he said, “OK, one day I’m going to produce an album for you guys.” And that point came in 2002, I guess, when he finally produced the first real album. Since then, it’s not been planned or anything. It’s just been like, “We’re playing in Italy. It’s a great festival.”
“Oh, then maybe I could come and sing a couple of songs.” (spoken as Kai)
“Yeah, we’d split the show.” It’s more like that. And when we have a party, of course, we phone up Kai, “Hey, do you have time, let’s listen to some albums, let’s have some whiskey or whatever.” So it’s more that kind of a relationship.
On the last GAMMA RAY tour he asked us to join them on tour, but we didn’t have the new album, so we couldn’t make it. And all this is without considering money, promotional value or whatever. We just do it because we’re bonded in some way.
Greg: That’s very cool. So in September, you guys will be playing the next edition of ProgPower. This will actually be your third trip, as you’ve been here with both SAVAGE CIRCUS and IRON SAVIOR. So what have you told the STORMWARRIOR guys to expect from this festival?
Yenz: Yeah… I could just tell them, when the idea arose, people started saying, “Oh America, the dollar value is so low… and customs and papers.”
I said, “Relax, these people are so cool. It’s just like the people we know here.” The community built up around ProgPower, it’s all very nice people. People that you can really stand in the corner, drinking beers and talking for hours with everybody in the whole hall. So I just told them to relax. Glenn is a real, real nice guy. He helped us with a visa this time, and actually promised us to send the money up front, because he knows that the dollar value is really low in comparison to Euro. Yeah, it’s just a very nice thing. We want to pay this hospitality back by doing a great show over there. That’s really how it is.
Greg: Obviously you’ve been here before, but your band mates haven’t. I’m always kind of curious, is it a big deal playing the U.S. for the first time? Is it different than playing any other country you’ve never played before? I’m just curious what the mindset is.
