Schmier Interview (Destruction)

Schmier, bass player and singer of DESTRUCTION speaks about his influences, his gears, but as well about the future of DESTRUCTION and the incoming album (planned for Summer 2015).

Hello and thanks for your time. How are you doing ?

I am doing good, we had a good show tonight, it was fun, but a little bit hot. It was a hot day, for October it’s pretty unusual, more than 20°, it’s crazy. But, it’s better than freezing. We had a good atmosphere today with the crown, it was fun.

Yes, it was quite a good show, but the sound was a little bit muddy.

Yes, it’s because of the dB limiter, 103 dB and that’s a little bit like, a touch too less, and to get the final little crunchiness, we need 105 or106 dB and it would be powerful! 103 dB is a little bit too less.

It’s because of the law, nothing you can really do about. Sometimes the guitar was a little bit too low, and covered by the bass.

Yes…

But it was a good show !

Ok ! (laugh)

Destruction is always on the road. Do you never stop?

No, because the road is our life you know, the rock’n roll happens on the road. I like to do albums, I like to be at home too, but the action is on the road. We have the opportunity and the luck that we can play worldwide, there is a worldwide demand for Destruction and Thrash metal, and that’s fucking fantastic! As long as we still can do it, we want to do it.

if you still have the time, you do like Lemmy

Oh yeah, we have 20 additional years at least, so it’s good!

30 years of total destruction, and still at the top, one of the German Thrash legends, about 20 albums, pretty amazing!! Any regrets?

No, no no no no… Sometimes you know, your social life is becoming a problem because people live for the weekend, and I am away at the weekend. I am on festivals, on tours, so it’s difficult to keep your social life. As I’m always on the road, sometimes I am mad because I don’t see some friends, I want and try to talk to my friends, but sometimes you return at home tired, and you do not want to see anyone. You need like a week to rest, and you want to be just at home and have a glass of wine, you know, just being relaxed. So that’s the only regret I have, I don’t see my friends and my family often enough, but life on the road is exciting, adventurous, and sometimes crazy and fucked up, but it keeps you young, and I love that.

Since 84, your music almost never changed. Destruction is sounding like Destruction, for good. What is the secret of your sound?

I think you just have to stick to your guns. We have achieved to have our own original sound, and then you got to keep it. Of course we try out some stuff, to progress the band in the way of thrash metal, but of course we have achieved to have our own sound and that’s a great thing. Imagine AC/DC want to do prog rock…

No ! no no

(laugh) Or imagine Rush sounding like AC/DC all of a sudden…

No, but bands are evolving a little bit, but I have the impression since 1984 you never changed one millimeter

Yeah, we have been trying on some albums to be more progressive or faster, or groovier. But you have to hear the riff for a couple of seconds, and when the vocals is coming, latest then you have to know who is playing, and that’s the achievement.

When you are singing, everybody knows it’s Destruction!

(laugh) Yeah !

Some people they have a voice, when they start, you cannot be wrong.

Yes, sometimes I think it’s a gift, sometimes it’s also a curse. You have your own voice, some people like it, some don’t, but it’s definitively something that stands for the band, it’s a trademark you know

Is there anything coming out soon ? A new album, new DVD ?

Yes, we are working on a new album, for summer 2015. We are recording demos now, and we go to the studio in February/March, to record. Coming up next year… so…

A question you probably already answered 1,000 times… who had the idea of the Butcher, which is now your trademark, and as almost famous as Eddie for Maiden ?

The butcher comes actually from Mike who wrote the lyrics, it was “Jack The Ripper” the idea. When the record label wanted to have this Mad Butcher EP, we said ok. But we had to put the butcher on the cover, so we came up with the idea of some freaky guy in the mirror, and we had this crazy cover artist. He was not famous at the time, and he realized it, with some sarcasm, little clichés, and with this cover, the butcher came alive and it became a trademark. We never thought it would go that far with us. It’s all the same with the skull of Destruction on Infernal Overkill. At the beginning, we never thought about it, and then in 99. When Destruction came back on festivals with me, I saw all those people having a skull on their arm, and it fucking crazy. Then we said, ok, we have to put the Butcher and the skull on the next cover maybe. We did not do it, but we did it on the album after.

You are 3 on stage. I have read in an old interview that you don’t really like to have 2 guitarists on stage, because it’s hard to pass them over. I personally think it fits very well the band, like for Sodom. Is it because you see the bass as a real instrument like in Motörhead, or just because you want people to hear the bass, which is almost never the case in metal music ?

It’s not that true, we work very good as a team as 3 pieces, and with 2 guitars for the live is of course more volume more crunchiness, but 3 pieces are easier, it’s more sorted and cleaner. 2 guitars of course can do harmonies and solo together, but it means also more trouble. You have more trouble writing songs because every guitarist wants to bring in an idea, so it has all good on that side. There are not so many classics 3 pieces anymore, so it’s a good thing to be 3 pieces…

Motörhead ? Sodom ?

Yeah ! But there are not so many left. Sometimes I think, a second guitar player would be cool, Ol Dreck from EVILE, he is doing our guitar tech sometimes; he would be a great guitar player for Destruction.

Yes, he came on stage tonight, on Bestial Invasion for a few seconds…

Yeah, he would be good but he is kind of not interested in the tour, and we are working good like this. But who knows, maybe one day there will be an album with a second guitar, never say never. At the moment, it works good like this, there is a good chemistry in the band.

How are the songs created? Is it like a big jam session until you get something good, or is it all written before from one guy that say to the other, “ok, now we play this new song like that”?

No, we are working with riffs, and we are looking from a trademark riff for a song.

From the bass or the guitar?

It depends sometimes on me and sometimes on the guitar. When we have this main riff, we start to write the song. Then everybody comes with a chorus or harmonies, and we build the song around the riff. So first of all 1 or 2 trademark riffs, those are the basic skeleton of the song.

You left Destruction in 89…

They left me… but…

Yes, I know, but let put it this way and (hopefully) came back in 99. Do you regret this 10 years without the band ? Even if you did something else in the meantime.

You know, everything in life has a meaning, what happened was a disaster to me, it was very difficult, but on the other side, because it happened, a lot of fans also always wanted Destruction back with me, it was a demand. And who knows if it would be the same. Maybe I would not be here, maybe we would have continued another 10 years and then stop. So, it was some difficult years for all of us, but at the end we took it for good. It took a lot of years to forgive and to look each other in the eyes again, but how it is in life, sometimes you make mistakes and understand them, but at the end it was maybe a good thing for us, it may be saved the band. But I regret nothing about it; I learned a lot also in those years.

You have to take it like this, and go on.

You know all your wrong friends leave you in bad the time.

That’s because they are not your friends !

Exactly !

What is Destruction for you, is it all your life, an achievement, or just a way to earn money?

It’s my life ! It’s of course my life. It’s not just the music, it’s a life style, I live for the band 24 hours a day, I am working at night for the band, I am working all time for the band. It’s not just a job. Of course it’s a way to make money, I am very happy we can live with the band, it’s not easy, because living from music is difficult, but we have great achievement that we can still do this after 30 years. How many bands out there can do this after such a long time? Therefore it’s all, first of all a way of life, it’s of course my job, and it’s an achievement too because we have been working very hard for it.

Do you plan to stop one day? Or are you afraid of stopping?

You know a lot of people ask me, what are you gonna do after Destruction ? And I am like, what do you mean AFTER Destruction? Yes, when you retire, after Destruction? And I say, what do you mean AFTER Destruction?

Yes, but on day you will stop ?

Who knows, look at Lemmy. I hope I can do this to the end of my days, so how long Lemmy does it you know… because I love music, so as long as we are in the band, as long as we have fans and opportunities to play live, everywhere… there are always new countries coming. This time we have been in India for the first time, we have been in Korea for the first time, we have a festival in Nicaragua coming up, hope this gonna happen, because Nicaragua is difficult to play. But it’s always new stuff, and always exiting you, new shows, so…

I wish you could do as long as Lemmy is doing it

Oh yeah, he is always a role model for us you know

Kreator, Sodom, Tankard and Destruction. The big 4.

Hope that one day they will tour together !

Would be great !!! Let me know and I come

Yeah! Let me know and I come too ! We are waiting for that, and I hope it will happen in the next years

Those bands are in my personal top 10 🙂 Do you remember how this “Big 4” started ? And what is left from it now ?

Sure, because we all started in the same time, our very first show we were going and meeting Sodom and Tankard, it was the Venom fan club Meeting in Frankfurt, and we shared that stage, we jam with them, it was 1984, beginning of 84. Then our second show was Sodom, Destruction, Iron Angel, and then Tormentor (first name of the band before it became Kreator) was in the crowd, they came on stage and played 2 songs also, later on, they were turning into Kreator, so we all know each other from the beginning. Because we were the first bands to play this kind of music, so we met each other, and it was like wow cool other bands playing this too, because it was super low underground music at that time.

And the 4 bands are still there 30 years after !

It’s kind of crazy (laugh)

What is the future for the band now ? Do you have an album coming out, touring, recording ?

Hopefully this tour will happen one day, that would be a great thing. And then you can just play in places you never play before, so hopefully for the next album I would love to go out and play some places we have never been before. We have been in many countries, and also some countries we have only been once maybe, or never, so that’s still a lot of achievement to do, and that’s the biggest gift for the band, you go play somewhere at the end of the world, in the rain forest, or in India. So that’s the future of the band, looking forward to play in crazy countries. And hopefully to play some more shows in France.

Yes, when you want, or in Stuttgart also, let me know and I come.

Yeah (laugh)

What do you think about the “thrash” scene in general ? Do you see any new “big 4” somewhere ?

That’s difficult to say, a lot of young bands have a lot of energy in the first years and then, maybe they have a girlfriend, or study or get married and have a job, and then they stop. A lot of great bands give up because it’s difficult now. But I see a lot of great bands, we have been just on tour with Evil Invaders from Belgium, their first album is coming now, it’s kind of speed metal with some Iron Maiden influence or Exciter, this direction, melodic with heavier sound, a great band. And there is also Lost Society from Finland, they were with us, these guys are very young. So it was interesting to see the young generation which is like 20 years younger than us, or more, so they remind us of course our beginning, that’s crazy. When Destruction came back in 99, there was no thrash band, only melodic death metal, like Death set it, and I was like, Oh my god where are all the kids, why is nobody playing thrash.

It’s coming back again, there was a time when there was almost nothing and it’s coming back since 10 years, so it’s a good thing

Yeah

To be honest, I have a cover of one of your song with my band, that is not finished, by the way, “Antichrist” from “Infernal Overkill”. What do you think of bands covering your songs in general ?

Great, it’s an honor, I love to hear cover version I should say, sometimes I just go on Youtube and I put the song title, or Destruction cover, then I just check out bands from Indonesia, Korea, South America covering like the most covered songs from Total Disaster and Bestial Invasion. It’s great, sometimes cover are really good.

One day you will hear our version of Antichrist on Youtube, who knows…

Good (laugh)

Now we go a little bit technical. Let’s talk about bass. Do you remember how you started to play bass ? And why ?

Exactly, those guys enforced me to play bass, because they were looking for a bass player, and they had nobody, they said, do you know how to headbang ? You have long hairs; you are our new bass player. And I said, well I have no bass, and they said, tomorrow we will buy one. But I asked, do you have some money, they said yeah, then we drove to Freiburg, bought my bass, and I was the bass player

They bought you the bass?

I bought the bass, but I wasn’t asked, they just said “you are the bass player”, we were just a handful of people, so I was like, hey cool !

Normally you have a lot of guitarist, not a lot of bass player and almost no drummer

At the beginning of the scene, it was in 82 83, there was nobody, so they were looking for a guy with long hairs, do you play before ? No, but you are on the bass. Do you like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Angel Witch ? Ok, you’re in the band.

Can you still remember what your first bass was ?

Sure it was a Tokai Precision, blue…

Oh !

Yeah (laugh), it was cheap, you know. But my really, really first good bass, great bass, was a Ibanez Destroyer Black, limited edition, it’s very rare now.

Do you still have it ?

Yeah, yeah, and then I was playing some German brand for a while Hoyer Guitars from Nürnberg , but they don’t exist anymore. It was like a custom company, and then for many years I was endorsed by Fernandes from Japan, and now with Dean since many years, and I am very satisfied.

Last time I saw you, but you probably don’t remember, was at the Musik Messe in 2013, you were with Mickael Amott. Do you plan to go again next year ?

Oh yes, who knows, when I am at home, they always ask me, hey, are you there, can we see you at the Messe ? But most of the time we are touring, but when I am there I love to go because the boss of Dean guitars is also a musician, he is a bass player, played with Mickael Schenker and Uli Jon Roth, a great guy.

He played last year with… the Italian guy with the double neck guitar

Oh yeah Angelo ! I love to see him, he was the first guy who built me a Flying V bass you know. I said I want a Flying V bass, and he said, ok we will do it.

It’s a nice instrument ! I don’t like the head, but…

The head is their trademark you know, and with Dimebag it has a special meaning. It’s a big trademark for them, it’s very big, my bass case is huge when I go on the plane it’s always a problem. A flying V, long scale and then the head…

How many bass do you own ?

I still have my two old ones, that I did not sell, because they are very special, but maybe one day I am gonna do it because I don’t play them anymore, and I am sure to a fan it means more than for me. And I have several flying V Dean, I think 4. 2 of them I use to play live, and 2 of them are on the wall. Then I have 2 more others. So 4, 6… 8, I think 8 or 9. It’s not a lot. Sometimes I give stuff away, for my friends, when I don’t need it, you know, I am not a collector, I like to play the stuff. When it’s good, I like to play it, when I don’t need anymore, I gave some stuff to my brother, to some friends in Brazil. I did not sale a bass yet, and if I sell then it’s gonna be the first two, because they are very special.

Don’t do it, you will regret if you do !

(Laugh)

So, your main bass is the Dean one ?

Yes, both. I mean I play both V Dean bass, they have the EQ also, and they sound a little bit different. One is sharper, and one has a little bit more low ends. It depends on the stages or what I like. And in the studio I play also Dean, but not all the time the Flying V, because when you have long recording sessions, it’s difficult to sit with the V shape, so I am playing the Demonator, the David Vincent, with Bartolini pickups, very nice EQ, very high gain, the Bartolini are not active pickups but it’s still so punchy. And I tried the V with Bartolinis, but it didn’t sound good. The V bass need EMG.

Do you know which ones?

No, I cannot tell you which one, but these are the active ones, the most powerful ones, double humbuckers. I am not a tech freak, I said I want those in the bass, and they put them. Like for the bass, I see what I like, I don’t like many knobs, I like it easy. When Ampeg made the Vintage amp, I was like, that’s the root, can you make a vintage for me ? And they said ok, we’ll get you one.

So you’re playing on Ampeg?

Yes, Ampeg Vintage, it’s an old amp redone. It’s like 7 tubes and 40 kilos, it’s the old sound you know. And I am using a little Sansamp pedal for an extra crunch or little distortion. Tech 21 Sansamp, very easy, you can adjust, you don’t have to push too much so the sound doesn’t get too soiled, so, it works very good.

So that’s your setting and you use it everywhere?

Yes, everywhere, and it works everywhere. And the Ampeg, when there is no Vintage, then it has to be SVT classic which is also very good. And there is nothing in between, not this newer models. For a while Ampeg was a little bit lost, but now with the vintage it’s really awesome, and SVT are classic, there is no better bass amp. I have tested other stuff before, but I always come back to Ampeg. They have the tube sounds you know

Well, that was it, do you want to add anything ?

Vive la France !