Pogovarjali smo se z newyorško zasedbo Tragedy, krajše za Tragedy: All Metal Tribute to the Bee Gees & Beyond. Pred kratkim so izdali album z njihovimi največjimi uspešnicami, priredbami z zasukom, med katerimi so se znašle tudi “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” in “Dancing Queen” (Abba), “You’re The One That I Want” (Grease), “Africa” (Toto), “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” (Bonnie Tyler) ter ”Skyfall” (Adele).
Ste že slišali disco metal? Zdaj imate priložnost. Skladba “Stayin’ Alive” od skupine Bee Gees še nikoli ni zvenela tako. Na vprašanja je odgovarjal Mo’Royce Peterson. Album naročite TUKAJ.
Datum izdaje: 30.7.2021
Naslovnica: Michael Blase
‘Disco Balls to the Wall’ seznam skladb:
1. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
2. You’re The One That I Want
3. Evil / Baker Street
4. Stayin’ Alive
5. Sweet Caroline
6. Raining Blood / It’s Raining Men
7. How Deep Is Your Love
8. Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In
9. Africa
10. Total Eclipse Of The Heart
11. Tragedy
12. Dancing Queen
13. Skyfall
14. Hot Stuff
Člani zasedbe:
Disco Mountain Man – vokal, klaviature
Mo’Royce Peterson – vokal, kitara
Andy Gibbous Waning – vokal, bas
Garry Bibb – vokal, kitara
The Lord Gibbeth – bobni
Lance – tisti, ki skrbi za brisače, kompletni idiot
Povezave:
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NAPALM RECORDS
ROCKER.SI: Lep pozdrav. Upam, da ste dobro. Pred kratkim ste izdali kolekcijo novih miksov skladb in na novo posnetih vaših najljubših komadov. Kako ste se odločili, katere boste vključili? In kako to, da ste čutili potrebo po novih miksih?
TRAGEDY: Živjo! Lepo je imeti priložnost govoriti z vašimi bralci. Dobrodošli v intervjuju, ki bo za vedno spremenil vaše življenje! Po tem, ko smo mnogi let sami izdajali albume, je to prvi pravi svetovni izid albuma preko Napalm Records. Zaradi tega smo se odločili za album naših največjih hitov, s kolekcijo pa se želimo predstaviti novemu občinstvu. Težko smo izbrali štirinajst skladb. Vse so nam všeč, zato je kot da bi moral izbrati najljubše otroke – če imaš 98 otrok! Posvetovali smo se z Odinom in njegovim sinom Thorom, strokovnjaki za podatke so preverili številke na Spotify in BOOM, popoln album se je rodil!
Ne samo, da smo na novo delali mikse in masteringe, posneli smo nekaj novih verzij naših starih skladb. Razlog je v tem, da smo skozi čas te skladbe začeli igrati na drugačen način. Prav je, da album odseva te spremembe. Poleg tega mora album imeti enako zvočno sliko. Vse te variacije morajo zvočno sovpadati.
ROCKER.SI: Kako se je zgodilo sodelovanje z Napalm Records?
TRAGEDY: Naš zadnji koncert pred pandemijo – v Londonu marca 2020 – je obiskal insajder glasbene industrije. Imel smo že nekaj turnej po Evropi in v Veliki Britaniji, kot tudi v ZDA, s čimer smo si nabrali lepo število sledilcev, zato nas je prašal, zakaj ne sodelujemo z založbo. Rekli smo, zakaj pa ne. In ko je svet stal pri miru, smo se mi lotili dela, kar nam je prineslo pogodbo z Napalm Records.
ROCKER.SI: To je največja in najbolj seksi kolekcija hitov, kar ste jih izdali. Zakaj zdaj?
TRAGEDY: Vedno se nam zdi, da je naš novi album največji in najbolj seksi, kar smo jih kadarkoli izdali. Ampak tokrat je to res! Štirinajst pesmi, ki so se čez leta dokazale kot najljubše za naše poslušalce. Ni posameznika, ki ne bi bil polno (seksualno) vzburjen ob poslušanju tega albuma. Ne bodo vsi priznali, ampak mi poznamo resnico, ker vsak naš posnetek vsebuje vohunsko napravo.
ROCKER.SI: Prebral sem, da bo na voljo zgolj tristo izvodov albuma?
TRAGEDY: Teh tristo kopij spada v začetni paket Special Edition Orange Vinyl LP. Zgoščenka in kasneje vinilna plošča se bosta prodali v milijonskih nakladah! Vraga, mogoče bomo celo prvi bend v zgodovini, ki bo prodal milijardo albumov!
ROCKER.SI: Priredili ste tudi Abbo. Ste imeli priložnosti videti zasedbo v živo? Ali pa poznate koga, ki je imel to srečo? Ste gledali filma Mamma Mia? Kakšna sta se vam zdela?
TRAGEDY: Obožujemo Abbo. Kolikor jaz vem, so komajda kdaj šli na turneje, tako da jih nismo videli v živo. Skušal sem gledati prvi film Mamma Mia, ampak ga nisem dokončal. Nekateri naši oboževalci so nori na ta film. Naš menedžer turneje po Veliki Britaniji ga obožuje! Bom mu dal še eno priložnost, ko bom v pravem razpoloženju ali na pravih drogah!
ROCKER.SI: Več kot očitno imate radi muzikale, ker ste priredili tudi pesmi iz Hair in Grease. Kateri je vaš najljubši muzikal? So vam bolj všeč filmi ali gledališke verzije?
TRAGEDY: New York je dom muzikalov. Ko sem odraščal, sem sovražil muzikale, ampak po tem, ko sem si ogledal nekaj predstav na Broadwayju, sem začel ceniti njihov talent in produkcijo, ki gre v te predstave. Zdaj neizmerno uživam ob gledanju. Pred leti sem videl ponovno obuditev muzikala Hair. To je tako čustveno močna predstava in produkcija me je naravnost sezula!
ROCKER.SI: Česa se splošna javnost ne zaveda, ko pride do ustvarjanja priredb? Obstaja morda napačna miselnost glede vaše zasedbe ali glasbe, ki jo ustvarjate?
TRAGEDY: Pred Tragedy nihče od nas ni igral v tribute bendu. Vsi smo avtorji glasbe. Pri Tragedy na novo izumljamo skladbe, ki jih priredimo, proces pa je zelo podoben pisanju avtorske glasbe. V glasbo vložimo naša srca in duše. Ljudje rečejo, da je naše delo duhovito, ampak smo popolnoma – nekateri bi rekli že neprištevno – predani temu, kar počnemo. Kdor obišče naš koncert, z lahkoto razume.
ROCKER.SI: Zakaj zaimki? Ali kdaj uporabite prava imena? Želim si vedeti več o Lanceu, tistemu, ki naj bi skrbel za brisače, kompletnemu idiotu.
TRAGEDY: Ker smo začeli kot tribute bend zasedbi Bee Gees. Želeli smo imeti imena za naše like, ki so bili posvečeni zasedbi Bee Gees. Naši “liki” so ključni za duh celotne zasedbe. Naša prava imena pa niso skrivnost. Lance, kradljivec žarometov? Kot garači pridelamo veliko telesnih tekočin, zato smo se odločili, da zaposlimo prinašalca brisač, ki nam streže na koncertih. Vidi se kot del nastopa in poskuša prevzeti zasluge za vse kul stvari, ki jih počnemo. Če gre na odru ali drugače karkoli narobe, krivimo njega!
ROCKER.SI: Kaj je naslednje za skupino, imate napovedane koncerte? Kaj pa v Evropi, mislite, da boste v kratkem opravili izlet “čez lužo”?
TRAGEDY: Še vedno je norišnica v teh pandemičnih časih. Načrtujemo koncerte v ZDA, delamo pa tudi na turnejah po Veliki Britaniji, Evropi in Avstraliji za leto 2022. Če bo temačni Gospod na naši strani, bomo na odru v vaši bližini!
ROCKER.SI: Vse dobro!
TRAGEDY: Srečno!
*Angleška verzija intervjuja
ROCKER.SI: Hello guys and thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. How are you? Recently you released a collection of new masters, new mixes and some all-new recordings of your most beloved songs. How did you decide which songs will make the cut? And why did you feel the need to make new masters and mixes?
TRAGEDY: Hi! It’s great to be able to talk to your readers. Welcome to the interview that will change your life forever!
While we’ve been releasing albums on our own for many years, this is the first proper worldwide release, on Napalm Records. Because of this, we thought it would be best to do a “greatest hits” collection to introduce the band to a new audience. It was hard to narrow it down to 14 songs. We love all of our songs, so it’s like choosing your favorite children – if you have 98 children! But we consulted with Odin and his son Thor, had some data nerds look at our most popular songs on Spotify, and BOOM, the perfect album was born!
Not only did we remix and remaster everything, we also did some all-new recordings of some of our old favorites. The reason we did some all-new versions was because the way we play these songs has changed over time, and we wanted the album to reflect that. The remixing and remastering had to be done to make the various recordings from various albums all fit together sonically.
ROCKER.SI: How did collaboration with Napalm Records happen?
TRAGEDY: Our last show before the pandemic – London in March 2020, we were approached by a music industry insider. We had been touring the UK/EU and US for years, building up a good following, so he asked why we didn’t work with a record label. We were like, “we could do that”? Then, while the world was in lockdown, he got to work, and landed us a record deal with Napalm.
ROCKER.SI: This is the biggest and sexiest collection of hits you’ve ever released. Why now?
TRAGEDY: We always think our newest album is the biggest and sexiest we’ve ever released! But this time, it’s definitely true! Fourteen songs that have proven to be fan favorites throughout the years. We have not found a single person who has not been fully (sexualy) aroused by listening to this album. Not everyone may admit to it, but we know the truth because each of our recordings contains a spying device.
ROCKER.SI: I’ve read that the released will be strictly limited to 300 copies worldwide?
TRAGEDY: The 300 copies is just of the initial Special Edition Orange Vinyl LP release. The CD and subsequent vinyl releases will sell millions! Hell, we may even be the first band to sell a BILLION albums!
ROCKER.SI: You also covered Abba. Did some of you get the chance to ever see them live? Or maybe you know did get that chance? Did you watch any of Mamma Mia films? What did you think of them?
TRAGEDY: We love Abba. As far as I know, they hardly ever toured, so we never got to see them live. I have tried to watch the first Mamma Mia film, but never got through it. Some of our fans go crazy for it. Our UK Tour manager LOVES it. I’ll have to try and watch again when I’m in the right mood, or on the right drugs!
ROCKER.SI: You obviously love musical, with Hair and Grease…which is your favourite musical? And do you prefer movies or theatre shows?
TRAGEDY: We are in NYC – the home of Broadway. When I was growing up I kinda hated musical theatre. But then seeing shows live on Broadway, and appreciating all of the talent and production that goes into them, I have the greatest time watching them. I saw a revival of Hair a few years ago. That’s such an emotionally-charged show, and this production absolutely knocked me out.
ROCKER.SI: What is the one thing people don’t realize about creating covers? Is there some misconception about you as a band or the work you do?
TRAGEDY: Before Tragedy, none of us had played in a cover band. We are all songwriters. But the way we do Tragedy, we totally reinvent the songs we cover, and the process is very similar to songwriting. We put our hearts and souls into this. A lot of what we do is comedic, but we are fully, some may say, insanely, vested in what we are doing. Anyone who sees a live show understands that easily.
ROCKER.SI: Why the nicknames? Do you ever use real names? I want to know more about Lance – towel boy, complete idiot.
TRAGEDY: Because we started as a metal tribute to the Bee Gees, we all wanted to have character names that honored the Bee Gees. The “characters” we become in this band are integral to the spirit of the whole thing. Our real names are not a secret.
Lance…the spotlight thief! As a hardworking rock band, we generate bodily fluids, so we decided to employ the services of a towel boy during our concerts. Now, he sees himself as part of the show and tries to take credit for all the cool stuff we do. If anything goes wrong, on or off stage…blame lance!
ROCKER.SI: What’s next for you band, do you have any show planned? What about Europe, will you make the trip over the sea sometimes soon?
TRAGEDY: Things are still crazy in these pandemic times. But we are planning shows in the US this year, and working on tours in the UK, EU and Australia for 2022. Dark Lord willing, we will be at a stage near you!
ROCKER.SI: All the best!
TRAGEDY: Cheerz!