Questions answered by David Kuri.
1. For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
We're Booze Control from Germany, here to bring you some pristine old school Heavy Metal! The band consists of guitarist guy Jendrik Seiler, bassist guy Steffen Kurth, drummer guy Lauritz 'The Lord' Jilge, and myself on vocals and guitar.
2. So far you have released an ep and 2 full length's, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on those recordings?
We formed the band in 2009 with our release date and gig already planned out - we had about two months to go. We deliberately forced ourselves to get the first EP 'Wanted' done as fast as possible, without too much of an initial idea what it would become. It ended up being kinda hard / punk rockish with songs about drinking, being drunk and being in a band, because that's pretty much all we did at the time. Let's just say we didn't take shit too seriously. We played a couple of more shows and began working on our first self-produced full album 'Don't Touch While Running', released in early 2011. Without straying too far from the original idea of not overcomplicating things we put a bit more time and effort into the songwriting process and ended up with an album that is not so overly simplistic as 'Wanted' was, but began to sound like some of the less polished classics from the NWOBHM. With a clearer idea of what sound we were going for and which direction we wanted to take with the band, we starting writing for our latest release 'Heavy Metal'. We wrote plenty of songs, way more than eventually ended up on the album. This really helped us to further shape out what this band is about - kickass Heavy Metal with strong melodies, staying true to the roots without drifting off into being a cliché band. We recorded the album in the Overlodge Recording Studios with the awesome sound guy Martin Schnella. He gave us exactly the sound we needed for the Heavy Metal we wrote!
3. There has not been any new material in the past 2 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?
The year 2013 on 'Heavy Metal' may be a bit misleading. The album was released, without the support of a label, in December 2013. So that leaves the question what we've been doing all throughout 2014. We surely didn't drink away an entire year, did we? Maybe half. The other half, we played plenty of shows to promote the album. We also talked to lots of labels. You know, for a young aspiring musician who doesn't know shit it's both extremely exciting and disillusioning to have your first record deal lying on the table, so we did quite a lot of searching there. In late 2014, we got in touch with the great guys Kay of Kernkraftritter Records and Fabien of Infernö Records, who supported us in doing a re-release of 'Heavy Metal' scheduled for February 2015. Of course we're not keeping still. There's more to come!
4. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
As I mentioned, our topics were pretty narrow in the early days. We've extended our repertoire a bit there, nowadays we draw inspiration from everything we can get our hands on. There's literature of course. Thunder Child is about the badass torpedo ram from H. G. Wells' The War Of The Worlds. Swim With The Shark is about Jule Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Sometimes we just have a cool idea like with Powertrain, or draw from mythology, history, film or video games. Then of course we get drunk again and write something like Night Of The Drinking Dead or We Are The Booze. Sometimes we don't know ourselves, so there's that.
5. 3/4th of the band members where originally in Shepherd's Guns, what was the cause of the split and also the decision to form a new band?
We were very young at the time and the progress of the band had kinda come to a halt. We called it a day for the Shepherd's Guns and kept jamming, which in hindsight was definitely the right move for us. Or guitarist at the time, who is a great guy and still a very good friend, left the band. When we found our current guitar guy Jendrik we didn't even have a real clue what kind of band we would be. It all kinda worked out.
6. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Booze Control'?
We needed a band name, and quick, haha! It's not so deep actually. For some reason this was the first thing that came to mind and we'd stick with it. Some people have told us that we need to change it, that we won't be booked with that name because promoters will think we're a bunch of dodgy drunkards. What the fuck man. We're playing Heavy Metal, that doesn't mean we'll throw up on your stage and trash your backstage after we drank all the beer. Get over yourselves!
7. What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
We played a couple of very exciting shows last year. That festival Metal Frenzy was a very special experience with an awesome crowd and some of the best people I ever met! We played a show with Stallion and one with Metal Inquisitor and really had a great time there. When we're on stage, we are partying along with the people. This music that we make is the music we love. We wanna bang our fucking heads, so we do it! Nothing is more boring than a band not enjoying what they're doing. You won't see that happening with the Booze.
8. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Unfortunately our re-release and the label deals came a bit late for this year's festival season, so we're about to look into 2016 already. This year, we only have a couple of shows confirmed so far. We're gonna play with Blaze Bailey and Lord Volture in Hamburg on June 14th, which I'm really looking forward to! Of course we're constantly looking for more opportunities and you can see all the confirmed shows on our website www.boozecontrol.de.
9. Recently Inferno Records re-issued your 2013 album on cassette, what are your thoughts on the final product?
Actually, Infernö and Kernkraftritter Records are both selling the re-issue of 'Heavy Metal' on CD. There are no cassette releases I know of. If you know more, please hook me up with a link. I'd love to have that cassette, haha! That said, we've been thinking about making cassette and / or vinyl editions of the album, given their popularity among fans of old school Heavy Metal. We'll look into that.
10. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of heavy metal?
Of course we've mostly been present in Germany and the surrounding states, but we've occasionally received feedback from all over the world. All in all, we get overwhelming responses! People really seem to dig our take on classical Heavy Metal.
11. When can we expect new material and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We're currently in the process of writing new material. A couple of songs are finished and plenty of drafts and ideas are waiting to be. You can expect a new Booze Control release pretty soon. We'll keep you posted on Facebook with news about the songwriting and recording process! As for the direction, there are no bad surprises waiting for you. We're not about redefining the metal genre. It's gonna be Heavy Metal to the max. We have of course learned from our release 'Heavy Metal' and seen what works for us and what doesn't, so you can expect the best kind of 'more of the same'!
12. What are some of the bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
You can clearly hear the NWOBHM with bands like Angel Witch, Tokyo Blade and early Iron Maiden. There's a bunch of killer bands from the states that we've drawn inspiration from, for example Manilla Road and Warlord. Maybe the most obvious influences come from our own country - Hansen-era Helloween, Running Wild, early Blind Guardian. That's the stuff! Being a young band making some Heavy Metal we are not alone in the world, there's a number of new bands that we really enjoy. Especially the guys from Steelwing (who are going to hit the studio this month, fuck yeah!) have been a huge inspiration for the sound on Heavy Metal. Right now, I'm blasting Witchfinder General's 'Death Penalty', though I like to listen to a bit heavier stuff at times. In the past weeks I found myself listening to Death's 'The Sound Of Perseverance' and Bathory's 'Under the Sign of the Black Mark' a lot. You get the idea.
13. What are some of your non musical interests?
Being a computer science guy, I've done a lot of hobbyist game development in my spare time. Apart from that, we're all going to a lot of concerts and festivals, enjoy the shows and hang out with people.
14. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thank you for your questions, John! It's been a pleasure. Everybody, make sure to follow us on Facebook, you'll get all the latest there. We're just getting started!
