Dead by April at Wacken: Swedish Metal, Festival Stories, and Life on Tour

0:04 Hi, you have done too. Yes, that's true. For see wow for you. Your This is the pipe Man here on the Adventures of Pipe Man W four c Y Radio and I'm here. With Punctus and Chris from did By April. Nice. So you got some fucking muscles, man, don't know it. Don't kick the shit out of me if it's a bad interview. I'm okay. I'm just saying, okay. I'm nice. So you're here at Vakin. Have you guys ever been at Vakin before?

0:45 Once many years ago we played it waken. Yeah. Wow, How long ago was that? Like probably twenty thirteen. I would say, wow, that is a long time ago. How much has it changed since then? Not much because really it's pretty much the same layouts. You got the tent and the big stages and yeah it's the area is huge. It is It's insane. Yeah, so it's funny. I didn't This is my first time doing vaking, but I go on tour and I do festivals all over the US, UK, Europe, and I do Healthfest every year. And after doing heal Fest, I'm like, how big could Vakan be? I mean, like it's probably the same as Hellfest and I got here, I'm like, oh fuck, yeah, you know I'm telling you, like, somebody asked me for an interview at some other stage that's like a forty minute walk from here, and I'm like, why I have an.

1:37 Interview here an interview here. I don't think I'll make it. To either of those if I go over there, you know, And then I did. I haven't been able to venture out much yet because I've been one interview after another. But the first day I did walk, like at an hour break, and I walked and I didn't even touch part of. The fucking place. Man. Yeah, I was like, health Fest is a great festival. It's huge, but I could walk through the whole thing in an hour. So I'm like I was in amazement, like this place is never ending. And then even last night, I was helping my friends who were drunk and didn't know where their car was, so I helped them to get to their car.

2:18 Meanwhile, then I didn't know where the fuck I. Was, okay, because we took a shuttle of us and you know it's dark out there. You gotta know your route to get back to your car. It took me like forty minutes to get to my car, you know, from wherever I was and I didn't even go that far off. I was still on the property. Yeah yeah, yeah, super insanely big. Oh yeah, eat it like he made me eat it festival. I mean, this is my first time here, edit it, and this is just incredible, to be honest, It's one of the greatest experiences I've had in festival so far. I love that. Yeah, I love hearing that. It's me too, man like, first time here. Yeah yeah, cool, No wonder they call it the Holy Ground?

3:03 Yah? Yeah, yeah for sure. I mean it's like it's not an. Exaggeration, no, not at all. Yeah. You don't know what to expect when you've never been here. You can't really envision it. I know. People said it's a big festival, it's so nice and and. Yeah, and I'm thinking how big could have say? Right, just like you said, shovels everywhere you can't walk because it's too fucking big, right, It's right. So what it feel like now, all these years later and you for the first time getting that contact that hey, come play with thirty fifth anniversary? I was freaking out. I was freaking out, to be honest, because I was in a I was in a work call and I was just reading my emails in between you know, meetings, that shit just popped off and I was like, wait, stop everything, fuck this this is crazy.

3:55 So I called every guy. Everyone in the band is like, guys, we're doing walking this year. It is surreal. And you guys are from Sweden, right, yeah? Yeah, So I got funny story for you. What part of Sweden are you, guys? Gothenburg? Okay, So I've actually played hockey on a bondie field in Gothenburg, al right where there We're like, I couldn't believe I never saw a bondifield before, and I'm like, oh my god, this is fucking huge. It's like fucking oh yeah, because we had like the big Ones, right. Yeah, we had twelve hockey games going on, h yeah, and just for fun, like just fun. And I'm like, what the hell you know? This is insane.

4:38 But I got funny story for you, okay, Because Americans can be idiots at times, you know. And I say that because some of the things we see on TV, like the Santa Claus, things we think are fictional, and yes, part of it is, but part isn't. So one of my friends best friends. He got married to a Swedish girl. The wedding was in Sweden, in Uppsala, and so I was married at the time. We go to wedding. I'm a vegetarian at a time, she's a meat eater. We're at the reception. She's eating the meat and I like, the bus chops okay, And I was like, is that meat good? Bless you, salute and everything else and thank you for going the other way and not sneezing into me.

5:39 And I'm like, is that good? And she goes, she goes yeah. I'm like, you're eating Rudolph. And she's like, what are you talking about. I'm like, you're eating Rudolph the red Nose reindeer. And she goes, get the fuck out here. There's no such thing as reindeer. I'm like, Ing's parents are reindeer farmers. And we're about half an hour from the North Pole. There's no such thing as a North Pole, idiot. There is absolutely a North Pole. It's just Santa Claus is not there. Okay, that's the part that's fictional. And I said, and Aing's parents are reindeer farmers. You're eating Rudolph the red nose rein there and you should have seen the look of horror on her face when she realized I wasn't kidding, But like it is.

6:38 Isn't it funny though? Like you live in different parts of the world and you can't imagine certain things, and like, I'll tell you what blew my mind the first time I came to Sweden. Two things. One is I was from New Jersey and at Newark Airport, what do you see when you're leaving in the plane? Ikia? Oh yeah. So then when when we arrived in Sweden, I'm in the plague Gondor, I see Ikia and I knew it was from Sweden, but it still kind of felt like, oh my god, are we landing back in Newark? Like something happened. They returned us to the airport twelve hours later, right exactly. But then, okay, so we're hanging out at some place on the water and I didn't switch the time on my watch, you know, before we had this smart shit, and I look up at the sky and I said to somebody, I'm like, man, it's really sunny out for six pm. And they're like, it's not six it's midnight.

7:44 I'm like, you gotta be fucking kidding me. And because I didn't switch my watch and so I thought it was six. But then when it's mid I'm like, holy shit. And I remember watching like the looking left and the sun going down and looking right or one or the other, and the son coming up. Like as I moved my head, I'm like, that's a trip. Yeah, yeah, you. Know, midsummer. Yeah, and if you go further than north, the sun does never. Go down, right, That's wild. Yeah, I can't imagine the six months of darkness though. Yeah, And that's why I think bands like you are such great musicians, because what. The fuck else are you going to do?

8:27 Right? You know? Like, and I really do like some of the best metal in the world comes from Sweden and Finland and Norway. It must be because you have all that darkness and so A you sit there and you got nothing better to do but play music. B that's where you. Get black metal from it, and death metal and stuff is like from the depression of that six months. We are depressed, like six months of the year, That's what I'm saying. It's longer the darkness. Darkness is around. Six that's what I'm saying. That's why it's such dark music because that's what you're experiencing.

9:10 Then when the sun does come out, fuck, you need to get outside and see the world. Then, So what started this whole journey in music? Both of you will have different answers, not necessarily the band, but individually. Individually. Yes, it's kind of complex for me, it's a long story, but how do I shorten it? I think it was a place. Music became a place for me to go to ventilate, to express emotions and suppressed once, you know, just I could.

9:51 It was a whole new world to me where I could just live and express everything literally and I got hooked an addicted straight away, and I wanted to learn everything, and I just yeah. What's the first band you ever saw live? The first band? I was so live? It was probably like Rod Stewart with my mom. Nice, nice, something like that. Yeah, I love it. Yeah, your turn? Yeah, well, music is Tiger's. Going to attack me. Sorry, he's looking at me. He's looking to attack me. I think it's so realistic, right, it's so realistic. I looked over, I glanced over. I'm like fucking staring at me the whole time.

10:38 Oh well, so music has always been a part of my family, and my father was a musician, so I grew up in a family, a music family, so I was like growing up in rehearsal studio with my with my dad. I wasn't supposed to be a musician because my main goal was being a soccer player and a football player. But I fucked up my knee early. I mean not really, because now you're here at vodka. I mean it's not too bad, right, So yeah, I kind of just jumped straight into music from when I got my injury, and yeah, I always had much love for music, but from there it's just straight up.

11:21 Yeah, what's the first concert you ever saw? Oh, he's showing his age now that he's a little dementia. Cooking right now, let's see. Oh wow, I haven't been to a lot of concerts man. Well see that's that you should remember. I should, I should, But. I think it's I think it's a it's a Swedish band. The first concert I went to Luke It's a Swedish. Like punk rock metal band. Nice. Yeah. I went there with my with my grandma and she was into that. Well you know what's cool about that? Well, I bring my grandchildren sometimes to vessels with me.

12:05 One of my oldest grandson, he passed away a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, sorry, but he got to interview and thank you. He got to interview Ivan from Five Finger Death Punch, and Ivan interviewed him. Such a great guy, right. Oh he was. I was setting up my equipment and he started just interviewing him. He interviewed Winston from Parkway Drive. He interviewed Mark Tremani, and then he was up on stage for Tremani and the other guitars for Tremay came over with his back take crowd and just played for him for a few minutes, gave him a high five and went back out on stage.

12:46 That is amazing. So at least he had some cool memories in that lifetime. Right, I gotta tell you a funny story. Looking at your earring that reminds me of a funny story. So yes, it's only when you have in so only wouldn't have it. So like back in the eighties, you know, either got as a guy, your ear pierced on the left on the right rarely both. So I talked to my dad about my ear piercing. He's like over my dead body blah blah blah. Right, but I did it anyway. It was a girl. It's always a girl. And she she did a good job because I could take an earring now i'ven't worn one since I'm eighteen, just stick it right in there, because she's like, she took a potato, put it behind my ear and her earring, and she took it out of her ear and she right through and like, you know, I wanted to get laid, so I took it.

13:51 I took it. But here's the funny thing. So I'm a Jew, and here's the how an idiot teenager thinks I had a dangling upside down cross in my air, so you have the right side up. I had an upside down one. I had long hair so it would cover it. My dad never saw him. One day in California, we had the Santa Ana winds, which are really strong winds, and blew my hair back and walk in the house. Unbeknownst to me. It's just dangling and sparkling to him and he got passed and I'm like, but Dad, you don't understand. It's not a Christian cross. I'm not going against my religion.

14:38 It's an upside down cross it's for Satan. And I really was saying this seriously, like that was gonna get me out of a shit. That's how stupid we are as teenagers. Yeah, don't worry, dad, I'm not going against chewings. Oh okay, yeah, okay, sure, you better take that fucking thing out before I rip it out. Oh my god. But yeah, like you remember when you're a teenagers, like the stupid shit you say. So then when my kids said stupid shit, my older kids would tell the younger kids are like, you ain't gonna ever get anything over on, dad. He's already two steps ahead of you because they learned the their lesson. Yeah, And I think that's the key of being a great parent is remembering what you were like at that age, right, because that's what most parents do.

15:29 They forget what it's like to be that age. But you know what, you gotta realize how stupid your kids are at that age. Yeah. So, what else you got going on? After Vodkan? How are you gonna top Vodkin? Well, that's gonna be hard. I mean, I mean, we are doing another show. Well, the show tomorrow is kind of cool as well, because it's in a castle apparently nice. You heard that, like the backstage areas like in tombs under the Wow, that's pretty cool. I want what one is that tomorrow? No, what's the name of it? Oh? Something rock rock the Berg rock after Yes, something like that in Cogstein.

16:13 Wow. That's cool. It's not as big as this, but. It's but it's cool. Like last week I was at a festival called Incarceration. Have you heard of it? Oh? Yeah, yeah, it's such a Shawshank prison. Oh yeah. And the prison's haunted and they even have ghost tours in there and then they have tattooing in there, and like I was doing interviews, my backdrop is the prison and the prison looks European. It has a European architecture. So my youngest s or She'll always call me in like, so dead, are you excited about this festival? And I'm like, well, when you do it every weekend, I don't know if it's exciting, but I love doing it. It's great. First time I did that. When I called up, I'm like, now I'm excited. I'm calling you from the is in yard of Shank.

17:01 Yeah, So now. You make me want to go to that festival and do press cover. I'm gonna have to look that up. More festival shows to do. We have a show in Georgia, yeah, coming up as well, so that's gonna be special. Yeah. That took me a second too, Like dumb Americans again, you know Georgia, Why are you playing in Georgia. You're gonna play it voking and you're gonna play But I knew what you were talking about, Like, but there was that one second that you know, because we're creatures of habit so it's like, you know what. And I think a lot of people in the world are oblivious, especially when they don't leave their little bubble, especially Americans. I'll tell you right now. See, that's a cool thing about Europe.

17:45 It's you guys travel a lot, and it's easy to get from country and country and see different cultures. Like I'm leaving here. I have a break between my next festivals at Bloodstock next week, so I decided to hop on plane to Rome and just hang out for this, you know, because that's the what you did last year between download and Lfest, I hopped on playing the Morocco for eighty bucks. Nice. You can't do that in the States, you know. It costs me more in that to get to my daughters that's in the same state. But you know, when you don't leave your own bubble, you don't know what it's like out there. And I think everybody in the world should be required to travel the world and see other cultures, not for tourist shit. You know, like when I go to other countries, I don't want to do the tourist shit.

18:33 I want to be with the locals and learn and assimilate with the culture. I don't want to be American in another country, like all these people that go to these resorts. Like I was in. Bali for like a few months, and there were people that went to this one part Bali. That's all just resorts. You're just going to America on the twenty five hour flight, right, Like, go with the people, and maybe that will solve the world's problems if we could understand every other culture and instead of the shit that's fed into our head, especially in my country. You know, it's like we're fed this stuff. I remember the first time I went to Europe and I'm like, who, what the fuck were they telling me?

19:17 All my life? I call it the big lie. Oh, we're the best country in the world. We're the only free country and it's scary everywhere else. Oh really, Yeah, a lot of people think like that. Oh yeah, especially especially the rednecks and Hillbillies in the South where they still think the South it's going to rise again and they're still pissed off that they can't be racist. Oh wow, you know, well, I love the States though. It's a beautiful country as well. Yeah. And you know what's cool about the States is every state It's like the European Union. Every state is a different country, different culture, different upbringing, different way of life, even different die and different ways of saying things. So you know, that's why I think everybody should travel and see everything and then you can form your own opinion instead of listening to political leaders that want to brainwash you.

20:15 Right, that's simple, I agree. Sure, So anything else you want to tell the listeners that we haven't covered about your band or what's coming up, or and tell them how to connect to you on socials and buy your merch because if they don't buy your merch, they can't listen to my show. That's right, You want to tell them what we have going on. Yeah, I would love that. I mean our merch you can get at Debraypril dot com. We uh, what do we have going on? We have our recording of our debut album and we have some new sounds in the pipeline. And stuff like that. Yeah, we have a few festivals to go as well. Yeah.

21:02 So yeah, well I'm glad you're you're here at baking and thanks for being on the Adventures of pipe Man. Cool Man. Thanks a lot, Thanks you. Cheers, but Thank you for listening to the Adventures of pipe Man on w for c u I Radio.