Avantasia are on their way to Australia. The Rock Opera, brainchild of Tobias Sammet of Edguy, and its impressive cast touch down briefly to perform two shows as part of the ‘Moonglow World Tour’ on May 12th and May 14th. If you’re lucky enough to live in Sydney and Melbourne there’s no other place to be on those nights and no excuses for missing what promises to be the show of a lifetime. We caught up with four of the cast for their own personal takes on the project – first up is Mr Big’s Eric Martin who also touches on Mr Big’s future and his upcoming solo record.
Mark: Hi Eric, its Mark from The Rockpit in Australia calling, how are you.
Eric: Oh, oh! I’m good, I’m just waking up! So if you hear this growly voice, that’s just my normal voice. We did the gig last night and I guess they could smoke in that club! (laughs) I could taste it! Now talk to me! (laughs)
Mark: That was the first of three nights in Switzerland, a beautiful country.
Eric: Yeah we played Offenbach (in Germany) and then this place called Z7 (in Pratteln), we have two more shows here. The last one sold out, this one is close, it’s fantastic.
Mark: And it’s great that you’re bringing the show Down-under too, it’s not that long ago that you were here with Mr. Big.
Eric: Yeah, last year, June with Extreme and we played the Forum actually. I was telling Toby about that, such a beautiful venue, this wonderful setting in an old Victorian building. And it’s perfect for this occasion, it kinda has that look.
Mark: These are Avantasia’s first ever dates Down-under and we have you down here at the Metro Theatre in Sydney on May 12th and at the Forum in Melbourne on May 14th how different is it being part of an ensemble cast to being the centre of stage?
Eric: Oh, I’m used to it now but when Toby first talked to me about it he said “This is like a Rock Opera” and when I said that I had all these scary moments in my head – German Rock, a blonde woman holding a lightning bolt, or some shit, you know, air raiding this thing (laughs) but it’s not like that at all. It is a Rock Opera there’s all kind of styles, Celtic and Folk and Metal and even some Pop in there too. But how is it – it’s actually great! The whole Mr Big thing is a lot of fun but I sing bout 20, 23 songs in Mr Big and in this each singer sings five songs. There’s about six or seven of us from all over the world and we pour everything we have into these five songs. It’s hard to describe it, I love the camaraderie of all these people. I mean it’s claustrophobic, in the dressing room there’s 14, 15 people in one dressing room, then we have two female singers who get the bigger room! But this is how I’d describe it: If I was home in America I wouldn’t be singing with guys like this. We come from different worlds – I mean me and Geoff Tate from Queensryche! It would just never happen in America, but with Toby’s help through the magic of his brainchild he’s put all these different singers together, and there’s a lot of duets and stuff and I love it. Singing with Ronnie Atkins and the great Jorn Lande – have you heard of this guy before?
Mark: I certainly have.
Eric: He’s, wow, an incredible singer. We had Michael Kiske about three years ago but now he’s got his Helloween duties and Jorn Lande has kind of taken over that sort of leader spot next to Toby, and he’s so fun to sing with.
Mark: You were involved in the Project I think since the ‘Mystery of Time’ album back in 2013, how did that call up happen? Did you know Tobias?
Eric: No, not at all, I was playing in Budapest with Mr Big and he knocked on the bus door, I thought he was like a 25 year old, he looks really young, and he had in his hand this big yellow box set I think it was ‘The Flying Opera’, and he said I’d like you to sing on this record. At the time I had no idea who he was, I was intrigued by his presence and the way he was describing what this was all about. I listened to it, you know I’d never been in the ‘Metal World’ before and I thought “How can I do this?” He used to send me e-mails “Dude you’re unique, you have so much Soul in your voice. You can do anything and everything with this band, it’s OK to bring a little Soul to Metal.” But this is really Metal and melody anyway.
Mark: There’s certainly a lot of melody in there. Had you worked with any of the other guys before?
Eric: No, not at all, I was thrown right into the lion’s cage when I first got into this thing! I had worked with Bob Catley once, playing at come Festival in England and he came on and sang ‘To Be With You’ and that was it.
Mark: Bob’s a lovely guy, so down to earth and so humble with a marvelous voice.
Eric: You know, I’ve become fans of all these guys. I think my favourite, and he’s kind of like my Toxic Twin if you like, and we sometimes have a little too much fun on the off days, though there aren’t many off days! Is, a great singer, Ronnie Atkins from the Pretty Maids. Oh man, he’s amazing, he really is, he has that ‘angry’ presence on stage but he’s soulful.
Mark: I think he and you get to sing two of my favourite songs off the album – he gets to sing ‘Starlight’ if I’m not mistaken.
Eric: Yeah, he sings ‘Starlight’ and we all sing ‘Piper at the Gates’ but I just have a minimal part.
Mark: And you…
Eric: Go ahead say it!
Mark: (laughs) You get to sing ‘Maniac’ on this new one!
Eric: (laughs) I don’t why he picked ‘Maniac’ for me (laughs) but it goes down big time live, it’s amazing. But I always have to ask him “Why did you put ‘Maniac’ on the Moonglow album?” It’s almost like putting ‘Hell Bent for Leather’ on a Pet Shop Boys record! And he always says “Because I can!” But I think live it works so well because the show is all about that bombastic, epic, eight minute fantasy stuff about other-worldly elves and dwarfs and all that fun fantasy stuff, and all of a sudden he has this ‘Maniac’ right in the middle of it! And it’s kind of a shocker that comes out of left field. It’s almost like an intermission song, where everyone has fun and then we get back to, well not really reality, but back to the fantasy world.
Mark: It’s a cool concept, so much going on but nice and open to interpretation.
Eric: I got to sing ‘Twisted Mind’ with Ronnie last time and this time I get to sing it with Geoff Tate, and man it really Rocks! I mean I’m not a Metal guy but I’ve been Metal guy in this band for about three or four years now and I’m in! I have my Avantasia tattoo! I’m in like Flynn! I also get to do ’Promised Land’ with Jorn Lande and ‘Dying For an Angel’ with Toby.
Mark: It’s going to be a fantastic night and something that I know we’re not used to seeing anything like it down here. I think it’s going to go down absolutely brilliantly.
Eric: Oh Mark, I think it is going to go down too, to think it’s three hours, it flies by and the audience doesn’t even feel it, they’re still cheering at the end wondering what the hell just happened! I think it’s like I just saw like every concert I’ve ever seen in my life in one hit.
Mark: So what’s next for you then Eric after this tour, and it’s quite a long Tour taking in most of Europe, coming to see us and playing a few dates in the US. Mr Big put out some fantastic albums over the last few years, but I read somewhere that you’d said that after 2019 that was going to be it for the band?
Eric: Well I guess that was kinda wishy-washy, I said that was probably going to be it when Pat died obviously we felt that ourselves. When he died we had gigs that were already booked – we had Australia, I think we did South East Asia, and I wanted to do maybe one more album, maybe an EP with some rarity songs on there. I think everyone was just so overwhelmed in processing his death. I think Paul had just put out a record, and Billy he was doing his Winery Dogs. But at the moment I’m doing a record with the help of Sascha Paeth (Producer and Avantasia) and Oliver Hartmann (At Vance, Avantasia). I’ve been threatening to do a solo album for the last 14 years! So I’m working with those guys. It definitely has Melodic Rock in it but there’s going to be a lot of acoustic, deep Bluesy material, and that’s from Sascha – he said “I can see you doing that” and I love that direction – those guys are all mad geniuses and Toby is the leader of it! They’re really super-talented people and I love hanging out with them all.
Mark: So nothing like ‘Destroy all Monsters’? I loved that record! (laughs)
Eric: (laughs) No, not at all! (laughs) Thank you for saying that though! That was a long, long time ago! I mean that was good, I performed and produced and wrote, and even played guitar, not that great but that was a fun record to make. This is going to be a lot more than that. I’m definitely doing the acoustic thing and then I’ll have some harder stuff on it. Oliver’s already sent me some tracks. Man that was my ‘Foo Fighters’ period (laughs)
Mark: (laughs) I guess that anything is possible these days the way technology is and it’s great to have those Avantasia connections. Great to hear that you’ll be putting something out Eric, I can’t wait to hear it.
Mark: Wow the time has just flown by! I think we’re almost out of time so I have to ask our traditional closer – a nice easy one to end with – what is the meaning of life?
Eric: The meaning of life for me is my children. And my music, and love. But my children are the biggest thing that has ever happened to me. I mean they’re 14 year old boys now and they’re too busy to Skype daddy (laughs) but they mean everything to me, they are my life. Music is and will always be a part of me, but my meaning of life is my kids.
Mark: That’s a wonderful answer. Take care Eric, have a great night and see you when you get down-under.
Eric: Thanks Mark.
AVANTASIA TOUR DATES:
May 12th – Sydney, Metro Theatre
Tickets: https://bit.ly/2IMBZMr
May 14th – Melbourne, The Forum
Tickets: https://bit.ly/2Uk2c6E
