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| ::June 6th 2009:: TOBIAS JOINING "LEGENDS OF ROCK"! On Sunday June 7th Tobias will join his mate Uli Jon Roth's (ex-Scorpions) "Legends Of Rock" at Stazione Birra in Rome to raise funds for the victims of the recent earthquake in the region of the city of L'Aquila, which was largely destroyed. Tobias will share the stage with a variety of artists including Kai Hansen (Gamma Ray, ex-Helloween), Richie Kotzen (Mr. Big, Poison), Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer), Kee Marcello (ex-Europe), and various other artists. A few weeks ago Uli called me asking if I'd be available for a charity gig to raise funds for the numerous victims of that terrible asshole of earthquake. Well, that was not exactly what he said, but pretty much the quintessence. I have a terribly stressful schedule this year and at first I thought that it wouldn't really fit in my schedule. But then: This earthquake didn't really fit in anyone's schedule, and it was so terrible and brought so much pain to so many families. So, let's all go to Rome and have a great night, we'll jam a little, I'll sing songs I have never ever sung in my whole life and we'll have a good time - for a great purpose. We'll help those who desperately need it!!! ::May 11th 2009:: NEW AVANTASIA ALBUM IN THE MAKING! After the tremendous success of his latest Avantasia-album "The Scarecrow", which rocketed into the charts all over Europe (e.g. #8 in Germany), received an award for "Best Rock Production 2008" by the German association of sound engineers (VDT) and featured Top10 hit single "Lost In Space", Tobias has announced that he is currently working on new material for a new "Avantasia"-album. When asked for a release date he said: "This is not a Rock-&-Roll-homestudio-project, we'll work with a choir, with a symphony orchestra and - no matter if the music-industry goes down the toilet- I'll spend a fortune on creating the whole thing. So I'll take all the time I need, and it won't see the light of day until I am completely satisfied. Some who know my plans said, that it's unreasonable to spend one's savings on creating a piece of music these days, as the music industry is going through hard times. Absolutely right! But do you consider it extremely reasonable to shoot a man into space? It's unreasonable to spend money for whatever, life itself is unreasonable, because - believe it or not - in the end it's quite often pretty lethal. I am rather unreasonable and therefor unsad." ::May 11th 2009:: EDGUY DVD OUT NOW! After 17 years Tobias' main band Edguy has finally released a Live-DVD called "Fucking With Fire - Live". It contains a live show recorded in Brazil in 2006 and a lot of bonus material like interviews, a behind-the-scenes-documentary and the video clips of the band. For more information visit www.edguy.net. ::February 7th 2009:: MESSAGE FROM TOBIAS! "Hey people, we have a day off - the tour's been going on for over four weeks now and I thought I'll drop you a little mail to let you know we are doing fine. The tour is a real success, especially in Germany we have had 30% more people than on the recent tour, given the fact that there are 7 million bands touring right now I think that is absolutely amazing. Okay, the bad thing about touring in January is the asshole virusses that are hanging out backstage to meet the band and boy - they met me... I caught the fucking worst flu I can think off and we had to reschedule two shows in Cologne and Oberhausen. I am still not doing to fine, but I give my very best to keep this going and make it as cool as possible. When we played Malmö yesterday and I sounded like a hoarse frog, and the fans sang along, I was reminded of how great our fans are. Thank you so much, and on we go! Rock'n'Roll! Faithfully, the hoarse frog" ::December 26th 2008:: THE SCARECROW RECEIVING PRODUCTION AWARD! Sascha Paeth, producer, engineer and guitarist of Avantasia has just received the prestigious sound award "Golden Bobby" by the German association of sound engineers (VDT) for the best production of the year 2008 - in the category Rock. The song that made the difference was the 11-minutes-epic "The Scarecrow". The jury of highly acclaimed and established sound engineers and professors stated that they were astonished at the dynamics and the power and that they couldn't think of a song winning so clearly. "The Scarecrow", latest Avantasia album of Edguy-main man Tobias Sammet starred a long list of guest musicians (a.o. Bob Catley, Jorn Lande, Michael Kiske, Alice Cooper, KISS drummer Eric Singer, Scorpions guitarist Rudolf Schenker, Kai Hansen etc.), featured Top10 hit single "Lost In Space" and went on the official album charts in 15 countries, going Top10 in four countries. When asked about the award, that is sponsored by the prestigious Neumann-company Tobias said: "It's no surprise to me, Sascha is one of the best producers in the world. He is a genius, it's just that he can't show the scope of his talent everytime, because in most of his productions his clients ask him to put all that fast overloaded stuff, which makes it hard to define and shape a clear but yet powerful sound. The next Avantasia record will feature a symphonic orchestra and I think there is no better choice than letting Sascha arrange, produce and engineer it. He is a great man, a great producer and he deserves that award like no one else." ::December 25th 2008:: MERRY CHRISTMAS! "Hey my friends, this year was a very busy year for me. It was a successful year, I managed to keep myself out of trouble, I released two really successful albums and played a great tour. On the private end I am the happiest man on earth and I just wanna let you know, how much I appreciate your loyalty and your support. I thank you for being open-minded, for enduring my hair cut and honesty... and a little pop song every now and then ;-) Seriously, I promise you I will follow my heart, I will never lie to you and as long as I feel so much inspiration and music in me, I will go on and we'll have many more years to go. Thanx for being the greatest fans in the world. See you with Edguy on tour in January. I wish you peace, health, happiness, love and whatever you need! Merry Christmas and a happy new year, Tobi" ::December 3rd 2008:: MESSAGE FROM TOBIAS! Hey folks, this message is dedicated to our fans all over the world, the real fans. The people that I really care about! The people who are really taken by the music that we write and record. I never really cared too much about what people expect and I used to get very angry about people who give us flak for just following the path we do. That's not because I do not care, that's because it is the only way to stay honest to myself - and to you! Although we have had higher chart positions in the past - due to strong other mainstream releases coming out these days - Tinnitus Sanctus seems to be our strongest selling album to date - looking at the figures - which is amazing looking at the general situation of the music market. I wanna thank all you people out there for supporting us. I know it's not very fashionable to like us these days, a lot of people call us a sell-out, a pop band (which is ridiculous bullshit) and whatever. All I can do is play the music that I feel, no matter if it sells or not. I met Alice (Cooper) a few days ago and he told me how much he loves "The Scarecrow", I've talked to many Edguy fans recently and they told me how much they enjoy the "Tinnitus Sanctus" album and how much it means to them. And I am sure this wouldn't be the case if we'd record a copy of any of our previous albums. I wanna make sure that you - our true fans with brain and heart - know how much it means to me, when you love the music, and that's got nothing to do with sales. I will always be honest and I'd rather quit playing music than following the fools who don't understand what we do. Thank you and have a wonderful pre-christmas time. We are right now preparing for the world tour and I can't wait to hit the road with my Edguy fellows again. I am sorry we won't play many festivals in 2009, but we are preparing our own big stage show right now and I think it's better for our fans to bring a big production ourselves than adjusting it to a festival stage. I am sure we will have a blast in January/February. Love you, Tobi ::November 24th 2008:: NEW INTERVIEW WITH TOBIAS! The new Edguy album "Tinnitus Sanctus" is out now, we have spoken to Tobias about what's been going on recently, about what's up in the Edguy and Avantasia camp. Question: The new album "Tinnitus Sanctus" is out now, what are your expectations towards the sales? Tobias: "Well, the sales seem to be quite strong so far, even though I don't expect the album to have a great chart entry this time, cause there are many releases of really big bands that we have to deal with during the christmas sales. But we've known that in advance, it's only that the album was finished and we wanted it to be heard as soon as possible as we are very proud of it." Question: And how were the first reactions of the people? Tobias: "As always. Most people seem to really like it a lot, a few think it's crap of course. And that's alright with me! And extreme album gets extreme reactions. I think it is our bast album by far and I am optimistic many people will think the same in a year, when the dust has settled a bit." Question: Most fans seem to love the album as far as we can tell - so are you worried about single fans complaining at all anymore, especially when their critiscism becomes a little rude? Tobias: "No! I'd like to quote Kinsky: They love me or they can kiss my ass, I am fine with any of it, haha." Question: But in the past you vindicated yourself a a couple of times, as there were some negative opinions about "The Scarecrow" of Avantasia, Rocket Ride... Tobias: "... Hellfire Club, The Metal Opera, Mandrake and so on. There's always a negative opinion about anything. The more danger the more honor. You can't be everybody's darling. I hope, I can encourage a lot of people out there to do their own thing without giving a shit about other people's expectations. Look, some so called experts criticised the production of our latest Avantasia album. On the other hand, our producer Sascha has just received an award by the German sound engineer association for the best album production of the year; for the production, arrangement and atmosphere of the "The Scarecrow". He later held a workshop in front of numerous professional producers where he went into details of the "Tinnitus Sanctus" production. Now tell me: Why should I give a fuck about some smartass, just because his taste doesn't match with what I do? Question: So will you work with Sascha in the future as well? Tobias: "I remember meeting Chris Tsangarides at one of our shows last year and he came to me and told me how much he liked the show, the songs and the way we played our asses off and that he hadn't had seen a show like that in quite a while. Tsangarides produced albums like Judas Priest's Painkiller and he is an icon, so of course I felt very honored. But Sascha is even more of an icon to me. I am sure he can and will become one of the biggest producers in Europe. behind the scenes we have slowly started working on the forthcoming Avantasia record and I will do everything to have the biggest production, I've ever had. I am negotiating with an orchestra right at the moment and I just wanna have a bombastic, monumental movie for the ears. And for such an undertaking there is no one who is better than Sascha, he is like a brother to me." Question: But before you start woking on a new album, you will start another Edguy world tour early January. What can we expect and will you play a lot of new material? Tobias: "I can't wait to go out and do this arena tour. Next year we won't play festivals as it seems, because on your own tour you can bring the whole stage setting, which I prefer. We'll play some new stuff and a lot of old material. We'll try to play some songs that we usually don't play. Our support acts rule, there is this young Swedish Hard Rock act H.E.A.T, that I personally love, as their debut is absolutely killer. Not to forget about m,y friend André Matos and the other Swedish band All Ends. We'll have a lot of fun, believe me." ::November 8th 2008:: TOBIAS RECORDING WITH BRUCE KULICK (EX-KISS)! Tobias has just returned from Los Angeles where his main band Edguy had finished their most recent US-tour. He stayed a few more days in Los Angeles to work with Bruce Kulick on a song for the former KISS guitarist's forthcoming solo album, which will also feature Gene Simmons and Eric Singer of KISS, John Corabi (ex-Mötley Crüe) and more. Tobias recalls the most recent trip to the USA: "The tour with Edguy was great, all the clubs were packed and the whole North American trip was a huge success. After the last show in Hollywood I spent a few days in a hotel on Sunset Strip - and expensive hotel, the tour was a success, haha - to relax and catch up with Bruce Kulick (he is the guy who played in KISS during their unmasked era and I love his guitar work on stuff like "Crazy Nights" or "God Gave Rock N Roll To You", you surely remember...). He came to see our show at the Keyclub and then we met in my hotel and finished the lyrics I had started for a song he had. I really loved the song, it's different from what I usually do but it's the kind of music that I personally really love, it's ballsy dirty Hard Rock and it sounds like the stuff on the Kiss Revenge album, my friend Eric Singer played on the song too, that makes it even more Revenge-ish (Eric played on that Kiss album as well). Anyway, the next day we went to the studio and I recorded the vocals. I hope you all check it out by the time the album gets released. To check what Bruce has to say about it, click here. ::June 15th 2008:: MESSAGE FROM TOBIAS! Avantasia have just finished their show in Tokyo and Tobias has checked in from the hotel room: "How are you folks? I feel like being drunk although I am not, there was just an earthquake a few seconds ago and I am on the 21st floor of a hotel tower, it scared the shit out of me, the tower was swinging back and forth like a pendulum. Wow! Anyway, I am still alive and I guess people here got used to it. So, we have played four shows with Avantasia now and we seem to get better and better. Sweden Rock was a blast, more than 30.000 people going crazy. Switzerland, Russia and Japan were great too, it's such a unique experience to play with all those musicians I had never played with before. It's a pretty great constellation and we have a lot of fun on the road. Last night we played over two hours, adding songs like "No Return" and "Inside" to our regular set. I'll be off to Mexico now, we play Mexico City tomorrow. It's weird, three days ago we played Europe, a few hours ago we played Asia and in a few hours I'll cross the date line to fly to Mexico. Crossing the date line means, I'll leave Asia in the evening and arrive in San Francisco in the morning of the same day. If you do that a few thousand times you look like a baby. Thanx Japan, thanx Sweden, Switzerland, Russia. And now I am looking forward to Mexico City. If you wanna check out Avantasia click on the links below, some pretty kool stuff on youtube. Sign Of The Cross :: Switzerland The Toy Master :: Sweden Rock (Low Quality) See ya, Tobi. ::September 24th, 2008:: NEW EDGUY ALBUM COMING SOON! On November 14th Tobias' main band "Edguy" will release their brand new album "Tinnitus Sanctus". We have managed to speak to Tobias to get some information about what's going with Tobias at the moment. Read what he has to say below. For more information check out www.edguy.net. Question: When will the long awaited Avantasia-DVD be ready to be released? Answer: That's gonna take quite some time, because during the next months I won't find the time to work on it. We have recorded some shows with many cameras and the rough material looks amazing. But for the moment my main band "Edguy" is all that counts, because on November 14th we'll release our new album "Tinnitus Sanctus" and I gotta say: Edguy never sounded better! The album deserves my energy to promote it. Question: You've mentioned that first press reactions to the new album have been really good. How important are other people's opinions to you, especially when you haven't always been treated fair from outside? Tobias: Of course you're happy about any kind of appreciation. But I had to learn my lessons and that you can be quite isolated when you are an honest artist; in Heavy Metal as well. No matter if it's the radio, TV, Metal magazines or even the drawing table of your own record label: Everywhere you are confronted with artificial shit, that is tailored to suit a certain target audience! All you can do is hope, that there are a lot of crazy weirdos out there - just like me - who get red pustules on their arses when they have to listen to that kind of plastic crap. If I'd be God I'd give every human being an advanced hearing with an onboard shit-detector for dishonest artists so they'd be able to detect that crap and distinguish crap from art! And then I'd sell millions of CDs. Boy, that would be cool. Question: Doesn't it feel depressing at times to release an album these days, under all those difficult circumstances of our age? Tobias: From an artist's point of view I feel blessed to produce the musical visions I have. As for the business part: If downloading and CD-copying behaviour will get worse, bands will focus on playing shows and not record new songs anymore. But that's okay, Beethoven didn't record albums, his stuff was played live. Nevertheless I believe we'll have good chances to record some more albums because our fans are honest and buy our albums. Most of them are not ignorant assholes. They know that the money they pay for an album is needed to make sure, our next album will be crazy enough again, with a great production. I believe our fans aren't stupid at all. Question: You've previously stated that you are reaching out for new horizons with this new album. How would you describe the changes? Tobias: I think we've got our best melodies in ages, but still "Tinnitus Sanctus" is a very down-to-earth and powerful album. The attitude of some passages reminds me of the heavy Skid Row. In my opinion they were the Metal band with the biggest Rock'n'Roll factor. I really can't release the seventh Happy Metal record, only because the label might see a better chance to sell it, but on the other hand I don't wanna sound like that flood of growling Hipster bands with fast drumcomputers. I don't care about that stuff. We play energetic, bombastic music with anthemic chorusses and a whole lot of honest sweat, no germ-free digital pseudo-brutal crap. Sorry if I may sound offensive, but I am fed up with the state of the scene right now. Unfortunately one side of the coin called record deal is that I have to be part of a nerve-wrecking sick music-industry. Question: After the release of the album you'll embark on another world tour in January. Are there any support bands confirmed already and what can your fans expect this time? Tobias: Support acts are not confirmed as of yet. Only our opening act for the European leg of the tour, it's a Swedish Hard Rock act called "Heat". They are quite unknown, but that will change as they are the best AOR-band I've heard in the last 15 years. Every song is a hit and these guys are still damn young. If you wanna support the scene, you have to make sure great bands like that get their chance. As for our shows on the European-tour: People can expect a big party of course. We'll play old and new material, we'll bring a giant stage set and just have fun. That's the quintessence of an Edguy show. We've always been a different kind of band, that's why some people dislike us with such passion. When you attend an Edguy show the atmosphere is unique because with our behaviour we have alienated the intolerant people years ago already. Fortunately, cause otherwise the venues would be too small by now. So we may play to only 2000 people a night maybe, but you can be sure those 2000 people are wonderfully odd fellows with a fine sense of humor and a feel for good music, they are just like us. And I am sure they get red pustules on their arses, when a band is dishonest. ::August 15th, 2008:: NEW INTERVIEW WITH TOBIAS! We have managed to ask Tobias a couple of questions about the forthcoming Edguy album and an overall impression of the Avantasia live experience. Q: Tobias, how do you look back on the Avantasia tour and especially the memorable Wacken show in front of 80.000 people?  Tobias: The whole tour was a great success, we were the first ones to fly an all star project like this around the world. Wacken was an experience I'd never had before. Of course we had played to 30.000 people before, Edguy have played stadiums with Iron Maiden or the Scorpions, we have toured with Aerosmith and even on our own tours we played huge crowds here and there but Wacken was beyond your imagination. I stood there and estimated 80.000 family members seemed to tie a bond between them and me. Usually I talk a lot and I joke around but when I was on stage and looked into this ocean of hands in the air I felt something special between the audience and me, and I was almost starting to cry. It was magic and in that moment I felt blessed I am. I know I sound a bit wimpy but I don't fucking care, sometimes you should stop pretending to be a hero and just be thankful for how great life is. And thank the people who made it possible!Q: There are rumors that there will be an Avantasia-DVD... Tobias: Absolutely true. We've had a camera team following us around the world, there will be an extended road documentary movie and we have shot some concerts, Masters Of Rock and Wacken as well. I have seen some scenes already, I got goose bumps all over my body, 80.000 people going crazy. Nobody has ever sent a project like that around the world and we've had cameras following us literally 24 hours a day. We will give fans a very intimate view behind the scenes. It will take some time until it gets released but I swear it will be the kind of DVD, you have never ever seen before. Q: Now you're working on a new Edguy album "Tinnitus Sanctus" already. Isn't that quite a bit of stress? Tobias: If it was stress I wouldn't do it. I played 14 shows in half a year, I finished the latest Avantasia album almost one year ago already, I think it's no big deal to write ten songs in twelve months if you don't have a regular job. I don't do drugs, I get high on writing great songs that make my flesh crawl. It's no stress, it's a blessing. Q: You mentioned that you won't go back to the roots, how would you describe the new material then? Tobias: We don't go back to the roots, we never denied who we are and where we come from, so I don't see a reason to go back to wherever. I go straight forward and follow my heart as I've always done, "Tinnitus Sanctus" is exactly the music we wanna play, we are happy and I don't give a fuck if it's gonna be our biggest selling album or not. It's so great, even if my career would go down the drain and this would be the last album, I'd be more than happy to be remembered as the guy who recorded "Tinnitus Sanctus". I'd rather ruin my carreer with a creative killer album like that than trying to play safe with a boring stereotype Power Metal stinker constructed on a drawing table. We have a couple of song titles such as "Dragonfly", "Dead Or Rock", "Wake Up Dreaming Black" or "Sex Fire Religion". And we'll shoot a video for a very heavy midtempo-anthem by the name of "Ministry Of Saints". And there'll be a bonus track called "Aren't You A Little Pervert Too?" which is quite nasty. Q: But not long ago you said the album won't turn out as goofy as Rocket Ride? Tobias: I don't think Rocket Ride was totally goofy, but maybe it was too obvious that we wanted to show the world that we're ready to disregard conventions. Tinnitus Sanctus is a serious album, only with a subtle scent of humor here and there. It's not like Rocket Ride, it's got bigger balls! "Little Pervert" is just a song about several ways of interaction, a game for one to seven players, haha. Incest is a game the whole family can play, haha. Seriously, the key message is that no matter what you are during the day time, when the lights go down we are all dirty little animals! It's not about me personally, it's pretty funny. Metal and humor go well together, otherwise why would old men go on stage in loincloths and warpaint pretending to be Conan the Barbarian? That's tongue-in-cheek and that's cool and I love people who don't take themselves too serious. I feel a little bit like God, he doesn't take himself as half as seriously as his fans do, that's what those two clowns, god and me, have got in common. Have you ever seen an aardvark? Check it out and then tell me, do you really believe God has no sense of humor? Q: And when is the album due to be released? ::July 24th, 2008:: AVANTASIA SETTING OFF FOR THE FINAL SHOWS! After the breathtaking success of the first ever Avantasia world tour as well as festival appearances at Sweden Rock and Masters Of Rock in Czech Republic in front of more than 20.000 crazy fans Tobias' all star project Avantasia are setting off to play Romania and Italy this weekend, before Avantasia will celebrate their farewell from the stages playing the Sziget festival Hungary and headlining the world's biggest Heavy Metal Festival, Wacken Open Air in Northern Germany in front of 80.000 people on Friday 1st of August right after midnight. ::June 30th 2008:: AVANTASIA HAVE RETURNED FROM FIRST TOUR! Avantasia have just returned from an insane trip, touring three continents in less than three weeks. No matter if it was 30.000 people in Sweden or just 4.500 in Brazil, everyone who was there was blown away by an enchanting performance. If you have the chance to see the show (check the tour section for the forthcoming dates) don't miss it! ::June 30th 2008:: NEW EDGUY ALBUM COMING IN NOVEMBER! The new Edguy album "Tinnitus Sanctus" is due to be released in November 2008. Check www.edguy.net to find some extensive information about the forthcoming release of Tobias' main band. ::June 15th 2008:: MESSAGE FROM TOBIAS! Avantasia have just finished their show in Tokyo and Tobias has checked in from the hotel room: "How are you folks? I feel like being drunk although I am not, there was just an earthquake a few seconds ago and I am on the 21st floor of a hotel tower, it scared the shit out of me, the tower was swinging back and forth like a pendulum. Wow! Anyway, I am still alive and I guess people here got used to it. So, we have played four shows with Avantasia now and we seem to get better and better. Sweden Rock was a blast, more than 30.000 people going crazy. Switzerland, Russia and Japan were great too, it's such a unique experience to play with all those musicians I had never played with before. It's a pretty great constellation and we have a lot of fun on the road. Last night we played over two hours, adding songs like "No Return" and "Inside" to our regular set. I'll be off to Mexico now, we play Mexico City tomorrow. It's weird, three days ago we played Europe, a few hours ago we played Asia and in a few hours I'll cross the date line to fly to Mexico. Crossing the date line means, I'll leave Asia in the evening and arrive in San Francisco in the morning of the same day. If you do that a few thousand times you look like a baby. Thanx Japan, thanx Sweden, Switzerland, Russia. And now I am looking forward to Mexico City. If you wanna check out Avantasia click on the links below, some pretty kool stuff on youtube. Sign Of The Cross :: Switzerland The Toy Master :: Sweden Rock (Low Quality) See ya, Tobi. ::June 15th 2008:: CASTLE FEST SERBIA CANCELLED. We are sorry to announce that the whole Castle festival in Serbia has been cancelled. ::May 29th 2008:: AVANTASIA TOUR IS SET TO KICK OFF :: INTERVIEW WITH TOBIAS ABOUT THE AVANTASIA TOUR! On the 5th of June the Avantasia summer tour will kick off in Huttwill, Switzerland. Two days later Avantasia will be one of the main acts at Sweden Rock Festival before they will set off to Russia, Japan, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Brazil. We have asked Tobias who is rehearsing these days a few questions about the forthcoming tour. Tell us a good reason to see Avantasia live this summer! Well, if you wanna see the mother of all so called Metal Operas on stage this is your one and only chance in your life to hear songs like Reach Out For The Light sung by a legion of the best vocalists in the world, played by killer musicians. Wherever we play, we bring the whole production. We have never played live before and this will never happen again, it will be huge and majestic. All those other bands around have played for years and they'll surely come back again, if you miss out on Avantasia, you'll regret it even after ten years, cause we won't come back! So there will be old and new material in the setlist? Of course! We have released three albums, all of them define Avantasia. I don't love everything I have done eight years ago, but the Metal Opera albums are an important part of me. I am looking forward to play many old songs. That's what people wanna hear and honestly: Those songs sound amazingly powerful in the rehearsing room. Wait until you'll hear the choirs and the orchestration live. You only play 14 shows around the world, a lot of people want to see the project and you could easily play a 100 shows world tour. Why don't you play more shows? I would love to, but we have a giant show with a giant crew and many musicians involved. You just cannot play everywhere, because we didn't wanna downsize the show. I've been asked for Avantasia shows since the first album was released eight years ago. People expect a magical show, and I won't make compromises. Avantasia is an epic project, so has to be the show. You had many musicians on the album, was it difficult to organize the different people and their schedules for the live-mission? Jesus, yes it was. Not everybody could make a commitment immediately, although everybody would have loved to be involved for the whole tour, because it's not only something special for the audience, but for us musicians as well. It's an exciting constellation and a chance to have an impact on the whole scene. We'll write Metal history, haha! It is very important that we have a diversified selection of vocalists to be able to do all the old songs and the new ones as well. That's why there are so many different vocalists in the game: Andre Matos, Jorn Lande, Bob Catley, Amanda Somerville, Olli Hartmann, me, and for a few shows Kai Hansen Popansen. We'll try to include some surprise guests for some shows as well. I don't wanna say too much, let's see. You will travel around the world to play Moscow, Tokyo, Mexico, Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile and Sao Paulo within two weeks. Has any band done and survived that before? Not a 15 people Heavy Metal Allstar ensemble I guess, haha. Seriously, we are professional and we don't wanna waste time on hotel rooms. We wanna go out and play, and the shorter the time frame, the better for the musicians involved. We rather take the time for long rehearsals in advance, cause when Avantasia comes to Chile we'll better be amazing. There is no second chance, cause we'll never come to Chile again! It's one chance and we'll take it and blow you away! Any last words for your fans? Be there!!! If you don't come and see us you will regret it. If I wouldn't have to be on that stage as well, I'd surely be in the audience! I am looking forward to seeing you all! ::May 6th 2008:: AVANTASIA COMING TO SPAIN! It's confirmed now: Avantasia fans in Spain will have the chance to see the full show at Metalway Festival in Zaragoza, Spain on the 12th of July. Other confirmed bands are Iron Maiden, Iced Earth, Slayer and Rose Tattoo, so you better get your tickets soon. ::April 26th 2008:: AVANTASIA NEWS FROM TOBIAS! Hello friends, How are you doing? It's been a while since I have been speaking to you. I'd like to take the opportunity to thank you for your great support. "The Scarecrow" is an album that means a lot to me and it was quite a commercial risk to just follow my heart instead of doing exactly what people expected. But if I take a look at the chart positions and sales - it went into the album charts in 16 countries, hitting the Top10 in four countries - it seems like you appreciate my honesty! Thank you! Now preparing for the festival summer with Avantasia seems so surreal. Avantasia has never been on stage before and all of the sudden we are headlining the biggest festivals in the world, just been confirmed for the Sziget festival in Hungary on the 13th of August, playing amongst legendary bands such as R.E.M., die Ärzte, Iron Maiden and the Sex Pistols. Amazing! The Avantasia line up will be Jorn Lande, André Matos, Amanda Somerville, Olli Hartmann, Bob Catley (not all shows), Sascha Paeth, Miro, Robert Hunecke, Claudy Yang and Frank Lindenthal who is gonna replace Eric Singer who'll be playing with KISS. Despite all rumors Michael Kiske will not be there, as he didn't wanna do it and I respect that! We'll put on a huge epic show anyway. Nobody has done something like that before and I swear, nobody will ever forget the event, neither you nor us!!! Check the tour section to read all the dates or check www.edguy.net to read some other interesting news about a new Edguy album maybe?! Now I can't wait to hit the road. Love and peace, Tobias ::March 19th 2008:: AVANTASIA COMING TO TOKYO, MOSCOW AND MEXICO! More Avantasia live shows have been confirmed. In June the all-star project will play live in Moscow, Tokyo and Mexico City. 05.06.2008 CH - Huttwil / Rocksound Festival 07.06.2008 S - Sölvesborg / Sweden Rock Festival 10.06.2008 RUS - Moscow / DK Gorbunova 13.06.2008 JP - Tokyo / Shinagawa Prince Stellar Ball 15.06.2008 MEX - Mexico City / Circo Volador 18.06.2008 ARG - Buenos Aires / Obras 20.06.2008 CHILE - Santiago De Chile / Teatro Caupolica 22.06.2008 BRA - Sao Paulo / Credicard Hall 04.07.2008 SERBIA - Castlefest 10.07.2008 CZ - Zlin - Masters Of Rock 26.07.2008 I - Rockin Field Festival 01.08.2008 GER - Wacken Open Air (sold out) ::March 19th 2008:: NEW ALBUM #9 IN GREEK ALBUM CHARTS! The new album "The Scarecrow" has entered the charts in several countries. The most recent chart entry was at #9 in the official international album charts in Greece. The album went Top10 in five countries and it was officially amongst the twenty best selling albums in Europe during the 4th week of January, the EP "Lost In Space" went in the single Top10 in Germany, Norway and Sweden. The album chart positions read as follows: #6 Czech Republic, #8 Germany, #9 Greece, #10 Sweden, #10 Hungary, #16 Austria, #17 Switzerland, #26 Finland, #27 Spain, #29 England (Independent), #36 Norway, #49 Japan, #50 Belgium, #58 France, #65 Netherlands, and #65 Italy. ::March 11th 2008:: MORE AVANTASIA SHOWS ANNOUNCED! The Avantasia management is proud to announce that Avantasia will bring the full production to South America as well. Find all confirmed dates in the tour section! ::February 15th 2008:: AVANTASIA AT SWEDEN ROCK FESTIVAL! Now it's official: Tobias and his Avantasia-project will make their first ever live appearance at the Sweden Rock Festival. Avantasia will be one of the main bands amongst classic acts such as Judas Priest, Def Leppard, Poison and Whitesnake. Click here for more information! ::February 15th 2008:: "THE SCARECROW" BESTSELLER IN EUROPE! Tobias Sammet's new Avantasia album "The Scarecrow" has been officially one of the 20 best selling albums in whole Europe during the fourth week of January. The record label has just announced that it has also reached #27 in the Spanish album charts and #36 in the official charts in Norway. For the first time one of Tobias' releases has entered the Italian charts as well, on #65. To check the album click here! Official album chart positions so far read as follows:
::February 9th 2008:: "THE SCARECROW" RELEASED IN THE USA NOW! Since February 5th, "The Scarecrow" is officially available in the USA as well. Check your local record store! ::February 8th 2008:: TOBIAS SAMMET RADIO INTERVIEW! To listen to a radio interview with Tobias Sammet follow this link. ::February 6th 2008:: AVANTASIA IN THE CHARTS! Upon its release the new Avantasia album "The Scarecrow" has entered the official album charts at #08 in Germany, #10 in Sweden, #16 in Austria, #17 in Switzerland, #26 in Finland, #49 in Japan, #50 in Belgium and #65 in the Netherlands. The album contains 11 songs that range from Epic Metal to Bombastic Classic Rock. Among the many guest musicians are Alice Cooper, Eric Singer (KISS), Rudolf Schenker (Scorpions), Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween), Kai Hansen & Henjo Richter (Gamma Ray), Roy Khan (Kamelot), Jorn Lande, Bob Catley (Magnum) and many more. The limited edition featuring a bonus DVD with video material, bonus tracks and an interview where Tobias speaks about the conceptual story of the album can be checked here. ::January 30th 2008:: AVANTASIA IN ITALY! After Germany, Serbia, and the Czech Republic the Avantasia ensemble has just confirmed their fourth live show. On Saturday, July 26th they will headline the Rockin Field Festival in Adro (Brescia) Italy. More dates tba! ::January 26th 2008:: AVANTASIA SIGNING SESSIONS! On Jan 26 at 2:00 pm (Saturn, Nuernberg) and Jan 28 at 5:00 pm (Saturn, Hamburg, Moenckebergstrasse) Tobias will have an in-store signing session. Make sure you are there to get your album signed! ::January 25th 2008:: NEW AVANTASIA ALBUM OUT NOW! The new Avantasia album “The Scarecrow” has now been released worldwide. The album contains 11 regular songs that range from Epic Metal to bombastic Classic Rock. Among the many guest musicians are Alice Cooper, Eric Singer (KISS), Rudolf Schenker (Scorpions), Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween), Kai Hansen & Henjo Richter (Gamma Ray), Roy Khan (Kamelot), Jorn Lande, Bob Catley (Magnum) and many more. The limited edition featuring a bonus DVD with video material, bonus tracks and an interview where Tobias speaks about the conceptual story of the album can be checked here. I know it’s the best and most ambitious project I have ever worked on and I am absolutely pleased with it, no matter if it sells or not. I have worked on ten albums and some of them are really great, but this one is the most majestic piece of music. I expect my fans to love it as much as I do. And I expect some people to complain. As always, hahaha.
The opinion of self acclaimed experts is totally invalid to me. I play music for myself and I rather focus on the lovely comments of those who feel the magic of the album. Imagine, you cook a delicious dinner with healthy high-quality ingredients. You love the taste and a lot of your friends love the taste too. And then there is a little group of monkeys that refuse to eat it. Would you seriously care? The only difference is that in our case the monkeys can write, but for some of them it would be less embarassing if they couldn’t. How would you describe the new album in your own words? It’s a visual album. A mystic fantasy movie for your hearing. It’s melodic and bombastic, it’s Rock and Metal and it’s been played by some of the best musicians in the world. Everyone who loves Avantasia, Meat Loaf, Queen and Ludwig van Beethoven should check it out. It’s a visionary epic Heavy Metal album of the 21st century. I may come across cocky, but I am just happy and honest! Although the songwriting reminds us of your epic roots, the production sounds very fresh and up to date. Was it your intention to refurbish the classic Avantasia sound? I didn’t plan anything. It’s a strong album, an intensive one, and it deserved a modern high-end production. Sometimes you forget about ecconomic aspects when you are a true artist, so we spent a lot of money on the production. Only the mixing of the album took 48 days for example but we knew the album was worth it. You can ask the producer Sascha Paeth, he will tell you that it’s probably the best album he has ever worked on. And he knows what he’s talking about. Isn’t it frustrating then if people just download or copy an album that you have been working on for almost two years? Metal fans are quite loyal and support the artist! Anyone who downloads music illegally is an enemy of true art and the Metal spirit. It is frustrating because in a few years it will be impossible for most bands to produce albums, which will kill our music in the long term. Thencheap and crappy Hip Hop-productions produced at home will take over completely. I just hope that people will buy my album if they like it. You just don’t steal, it’s a matter of morality! Lying, stealing, cheating. Anyone who does it is a cocksucking asshole. Sorry, but I have no respect for people who don’t show respect for other people’s work and property.
I think big names are only important if the material is good. That being said, it was never too important to have big names. Alice Cooper has been one of my heroes when I was a little kid. This is not Chris Norman, this is fucking Alice Cooper! He is an idol. As for Rudolf, I love the Scorpions and I love his working ethics. As far as I know, he was the maniac that I am. He was a young man with a vision. Everybody must have laughed about him when he planned to make the Scoprions one of the biggest Rock bands in the world. And that’s what he did. Without the Scorps, Edguy wouldn’t be able to play 30 countries on a tour. They have been ploughing the way for all German Rock bands. I remember a conversation when some of our younger fans didn’t know about the Scorpions, it made me furious. Because they are a fucking legend! In Germany they don’t get the respect they deserve because they had like 20 hit-ballads on radio, so they are considered a pop band. What a heavy load of crap! Their ballads are great, and so are their early Metal songs! In America they are heroes and I am proud they are a German band. Rudolf rocks! And he is a nice guy. You must have been talking about your new album a few thousand times, so we end this interview here with your last words for the fans: I thank you for being so loyal. I really love the new album and I am so fucking proud of its honesty and quality. Check it out, you won’t regret it. Take care, don’t drink and drive and have a happy birthday.
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The reactions to the album were overwhelming, the most enthusiastic in a long time. But certain people seem to complain about whatever you do. After 16 years in this business, do you still bother? 
On the first two Avantasia albums you already had some big names as special guests, now you even managed to get Rudolf Schenker of the Scorpions and Alice Cooper for “The Scarecrow”. How important are big names for the album?