Greetings. First of all, congratulations for «Lipservice», in my opinion a wonderful album and, undoubtly, one of my favourite albums in 2005.

 

As a start… What does the name of the album mean to the band?

 

First of all: Hello and thanxx for the “album flowers”….

About the title “Lipservice”… Most peoples think about the sexual meaning… but this is wrong (with a little smile)

So «Lipservice» means par example if someone makes you a compliment but behind your back he talks bad about you. If you tell me in the interview that we have made a great album but in your magazine you write the opposite. Politics use this a lot, when they want to reach a target…. they speak something beautiful..

These are situations you can watch daily in the TV, newspaper and if you are known in the public you will get it from all peoples around you.

 

With this album, you go back to more of a rock sound, like in G or Dial Hard… What can you tell us about this? Was it deliberate?

 

It was the right time for a little change. As we’ve changed in the year 99 with *”Open”; now it was the right time to play again harder tunes. It’s not deliberate it’s just taste, feelings at the moment.

 

About the production, the kind of sound you chose, the recording process.. what was it like?

 

The songs where already done as we went to the studios. Fortunately we have our own studios, which make the whole process of working much easier. Leo as the producer and Ronald Prent as second producer did a great job and they made us feel very good. So the whole recordings went really easy for the band and the producers came up with fantastic ideas which made our live much easier. The feeling and the mud where perfect the whole time.

 

How are you feeling with your label, Nuclear Blast?

 

In Switzerland we have our own label named G.records. In the rest of the world we have Nuclear Blast. They are known as a Label for really hard tunes. Even for them it was a challenge to have a rock band. They are doing a great job and for us it’s great to be released all over the planet.

 

From my point of view, you can be considered a classic rock band close to AOR. How would you
define your music, so that someone who hasn’t ever listened to it can get an idea of what to expect?

 

We play hard rock with a lot of melodies and harmonies inside, based on the classical blues

 

And how would you define your last album?

 

Straight rock tunes, great melodies, alive…

Everything on it, from hard songs to great ballades.. Just ordinary great rock music.

You can listen to the whole album you like a concert.

 

Considering your lyrics and your music, what are your main influences when composing?

 

By the music is the main influences our life and our heart. We love straight uncomplicated rock, that’s what we’re born to.

The Lyrics are based on our life. Story’s we’ve experienced.

Statements, about different situation from our life or around the world.

 

In this music genre, most bands are followers of American rock or European bands. Which one has influenced you more?

 

“Lipservice” is following more the European rock. The last albums where following the American way. This is depending even on the producer you work with. Different producer means different sound.

 

In your Lipservice gig, you played in 3 Spanish cities, and in all of them tickets were sold out. Did you expect such a reception by the Spanish public?

 

No, never. It was a big surprise even for us…. Fantastic… thnxx Spain.

 

Now, what many people here are wondering… is Spain one of the countries in which you’ll rock in the next gig

?

 

Spain is for sure one of the main new market we have and we’re not going to let these people wait for to long, until we will come back…

We’re already planning to make some festival in Spain this year.

 

When i had the chance to see your show, i enjoyed to the maximum. Apart from a very good sound quality, you did your best, the crowd was really captivated and, when i thought it couldn’t get any better, you played a cover of that classic «Immigrant song». why did you decide to play that song in your concerts?

 

We all love “Led Zeppelin”. With “Zepp” tunes we learned to play our instruments. In the past we were playing “Rock n’ Roll” from “Zeppelin” as last encore at every show. Now we’ve thought that it’s time for a change. So we’ve decided to play this tune. It’s a pleasure from the side of the band and Steve is singing these Song really great… So, why not playing it?

 

Apart from little concerts, you’ve played in European festivals. What do you prefer: sharing the stage with other bands in festivals, or small concerts?

 

I don’t care. Both ways are great. Small concerts have much privacy; festivals are great to gain new fans and to meet other musicians.

 

Gotthard has been playing for more than a decade and you’ve always been characterized by your class and by keeping your cared sound, you’ve innovated, none of your albums is boring and all of them are different. What motivates you to achieve this and keep your fans happy?

 

The better Question would be:

What motivates us to achieve this to keep us happy J He he….

We want to bring quality, not only one or two good songs each album.

That’s why we work really hard on every album to keep or raise the level of the songs. Self-critical is the best way to do this. An album is like a baby, you try to get the best out of it.

 

It looks like in your country, many bands of your style are coming up lately. Do you follow any of these bands? Is there at the moment a big rock wave as a result of this?

 

I know many musicians and their bands. It’s a small country so you know them all. There are many great bands in Switzerland but unfortunately they can’t keep the quality of there work. Big Rock wave – No, but harder tunes at the radio and TV – Yes.

 

What are your projects for the future? Are you already working in your next album? What can you tell us in advance about it?

 

Yes, our next album will be released in a few weeks. This will be a “Live” album with a free bonus DVD included. This album was recorded in Zurich Switzerland.

 

I guess that, after all these years in the music world, many people are

 

wondering if you haven’t ever thought of releasing a live album, a

compilation or a DVD. At present, many bands that have been playing for more than a decade, release this kind of material. Have you ever considered it?

 

Here it is…. Of course we’ve planed many times to record something live and we even did this. We have many tapes which where never released. But now, the right time is here.

 

Many people complain about the rock scene nowadays being at a standstill, as most bands (or the most famous ones) don’t innovate at all when there’s much left to be invented. But, sometimes when a band tries something different, they are badly criticized because of the change. What do you prefer, innovative bands, or those that always follow the same patterns?

 

I think both sides are very important. At the end are the fans which make the decision what’s cool for him or not. Every band has to try different ways. Otherwise they will stand still. But the way how to do it is very small… you don’t have much space to move.

 

What’s your vision of the current rock scene, and where do you think Gotthard is located in the music scene?

 

The rock scene is slowly coming back. You can hear this already at the radios. Harder tunes are played there. But it wouldn’t be like in the past, rock will has a new outfit.

Gotthard is one of the classic bands. The important thing is the music and the great live shows for us. We’re known all over but we have no supersarlevel, except for Switzerland.

We’re going our way of quality and we want to go on again a few years.

 

I guess that, after all these years, you have lots of interesting anecdotes you can tell. Which one is the most talked of, or most worth mentioning?

 

Yes.. Yes, there are some Stories to tell….

But a funny one was, as we’ve played in the Kremlin in Moscow. 4500 people came to see us and we were already in the hall and have to pass the metal detector before we went on stage… that was really funny. I think everyone can imagine this situation….

 

Now, for a different kind of questions. As you know, in Queens of Steel we specially support women in the rock/metal world. Do you think that many female bands are underestimated and judged by their physique, or, on the contrary, both men and women are equally appreciated and judged only by their musical quality?

 

No of course not. But I even have never seen a woman standing and presenting a performance on stage in a way that looks really mean like a man can do. Many of them play fantastic and they write good songs…. but to present the Rock n’ Roll image, proud, hard, cool….. Sorry, man can do this better…. (But only this)

 

In the 80s, women in the rock scene, more than artists were considered like ‘groupies’. Do you think this has changed in the recent years?

 

Yes, women are much more in to music than ev
er. Maybe still more in Pop than Rock. But there are many newcomers which are doing a great work.

 

Which bands with female components do you listen to?

 

In the past I was listening to bands like “Bangles” etc.

In these day’s I’m listening to all kind of female bands, from Single Stars like Alanis Morrisette (Pop/Rock) until “Avril Lavigne.”

 

This was all, it’s been a great pleasure to get to know you more, and now, if you want to add something, do so. We wish you all the very best and we hope that we don’t have to wait as long as the last time to see you here again!

 

Thank you too

 

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