Seeb and Tobi – Orden Ogan – Interview Exclusive
Written by David Whistance
Thursday, 10 June 2010 06:00
Way back in January of 2010 David Whistance cast his every watchful Electric Eye of Heavy Metal over the second album from German Heavy Metallers Orden Ogan, giving ‘Easton Hope’ an all round thumbs up. So enthused by his review were Orden Ogan members Seeb (Guitar / Vocals) and Tobi (Guitar) that they contacted us to ask if David would like to shoot the Heavy Metal breeze with them over a few cups of warm mead (essential for those cold winter evenings). So without further ado what follows is the result of five months hard work bridging the gap within three very busy Heavy Metal diaries to get the two parties talking…Hope you all enjoy it.
Hello guys, many thanks for taking the time to speak with us at Uber Rock, we like to think that we offer our readers a pretty diverse mix of rock and as such you are the first what we would call ‘proper metal band’ that I have interviewed. So please be gentle with us!
Tobi: Thanks for your interest Dave. We’re really sorry it’s taken a few months to get back to you, but ever since the album came out, our lives have been a total rush….. We’ll try and give you our best attention!
Seeb: Proper metal bands are always gentle, Dave!!
So lets start with the basics, whilst researching information on you guys I couldn’t seem to find anywhere where you take your name from, can you help settle this conundrum for us?
Tobi: Well, actually it comes from an old Greek circumcision ritual??!! We don’t know much about the details but only the toughest can go through this and then join the Order Of Ogan… It’s an old ode passed from generation to generation.
OK…Unusual to say the least? I did however discover that you have been labelled Melodic Metal, Power Metal, Battle Metal, Fantasy Metal and even Folk Metal??? . How would Orden Ogan define yourselves, and more importantly give us a little background on quite how you can cross so many genres?
Tobi: Well, actually, I think this is the first time that we have been confronted with so many genres…! Ha! Ha! We don’t think actively about mixing styles and what comes out at the end. It’s just a natural process.
Of course, our individual musical tastes shine through here and there, but we don’t have a master plan to create a specific sound that has to sound this or that way. It just happens. And to define our style – well, it’s just our way to create a new and unique sound. That is truly the one and only aim we want to accomplish.”
Seeb: We definitely don’t see ourselves as a traditional power metal band. I think it’s melodic metal with a lot of modern elements. Let’s call it the Orden Ogan sound? Ha! Ha!
When you first burst onto the scene I had heard of you being described as the only real successors to Blind Guardian; how did that make you feel?
Seeb: It’s an honour, of course, though I don’t completely understand that comparison. Journalists tend to compare bands with other bands to give the fans an idea of how a newcomer might sound. That’s OK and maybe Blind Guardian’s sound is closest to what we are doing, but I honestly think that’s like comparing EBM to Techno, you know what I mean?! Both work with electronic sounds, but the approach is completely different. We play melodic metal, work with orchestral sounds and have big choirs, but I think we use a lot more modern elements in our music too!
You first came to my attention with your acclaimed 2008 debut ‘Vale’; did you feel under pressure whilst recording current album ‘Easton Hope’ to record an album that would surpass its predecessor.
Tobi: Absolutely not. We only started working. We knew that ‘Vale’ was a good record and we are still happy with it. We didn’t want to repeat ourselves. That will be the same with the next record. We always want to expand our sound a bit, to keep it interesting for us, and the listener. But like I said before, we had no master plan. All the songs are reflections of moods and thoughts we were in at that time. Sometimes we’re coming up with a song in a certain style…., but its all spontaneous… That’s how ‘We Are Pirates’ came to life! It was meant as a tribute to Running Wild, and so it proved, but it wasn’t deliberate! You should see what we’ve been working on since then; wow!!
So to that album ‘Euston Hope’. When I first heard the album, I was blown away with the colossal production; everything concerning the album was enormous. Was this a deciding factor when you chose the overall concept and vision for the music?
Tobi: Yes, that’s an important side of Orden Ogan. We’ll never loose that little bit of “Hollywood” in our sound. And it fits perfectly, I think. It’s one of the important ingredients that I think anyone coming to Orden Ogan really looks for these days…. It would be a dream come true to work with a real orchestra now that could really give us that true, bombastic edge! That would be really great.
Yes, I also could almost envisage the album as a soundtrack to an epic movie; if you could choose any film past/present that would accompany your music, what would you choose?
Seeb; Crikey… ‘The Muppets In Manhattan’ or ‘Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes’…? Ha! Ha! Just kidding… Of course, it has to be ‘Lord Of The Rings’ or another movie of that style? Maybe, ‘Dune’; that was also great and I can imagine hearing Orden Ogan in a movie like that, you know!!
I hope you don’t mind me asking this, but my only slight gripe concerning ‘Euston Hope’ is the possible overuse of a choir throughout the album, what made you decide to use choristers on many of the albums tracks?
Tobi: Well, everyone has a different view, no problem…! On the ‘Vale’ record we did the choral parts with just a few singers in the studio. But, on the new record, we wanted to work with a really big choir. We had the opportunity to record the choir in an old cathedral in Northern Germany, so it was a perfect opportunity. That gave it this little bit ‘extra’; just that bit more size!”
Seeb: We arranged all the choruses for choirs and recorded them first. At that point, we didn’t know which song would feature this idea, but it just seemed natural. The sound of that real choir, in that cathedral, turned out so great that we kept it in almost every track!! Only ‘We are Pirates’ and ‘Nobody Leaves’ escaped, Ha! Ha!
Talking of the track ‘We Are Pirates’, you were joined on that by Running Wild guitarist Majik Moti. How did that collaboration come about?
Tobi: He constantly begged us for it…!! Ha! Ha! No, I’m kidding again, of course… I’m a really huge Running Wild fan and Seeb here also thinks ‘Death Or Glory’ (from Running Wild) is the best Heavy Metal Record ever made, so it had to be!! Thankfully, he said yes, and I think it worked wonderfully!!
Seeb: When we were recording that song, we just thought it’d be great to have a former Running Wild guitarist playing a guest solo on it….. It had to be Majk! Because Tobi and I liked ‘Death Or Glory’ best, he was the perfect man for the job. Maybe Rolf would have done it, I don’t know? I was in touch with Jens Pohl, who is the web-master of Running Wild and also a good friend of Majik’s; he asked him for me and Majk embraced the idea right away!! I was so pleased!!
Whilst on the subject of pirates, whilst attending the Bloodstock festival in the UK in 2007, I was constantly surrounded by student types sporting Jack Sparrow style Pirate gear, only to see these rum-drinking sailors being collected by their parents at the end of the festival instead of boarding their Galleons. Leaving me with a slight distaste for all things pirate related. Where do you think the sudden emergence of all things pirate related within Heavy Metal stems from (Running Wild perhaps)?
Tobi: I think the old themes like that, which were really strong themes too by the way; all come back someday… The case is, that Running Wild are really sadly missed, because in the 80’s and 90’s, they were a great band. I think the strong image was a big part of their success and it was combined perfectly with their music. There wasn’t any band that was really able to step into that role, but, as you see, it’s now worked pretty well for Alestorm and Swashbuckle, hasn’t it? Those ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’ movies definitely left their mark too….!!
Seeb: But I’d like to state clearly now, Dave!! Orden Ogan is definitely not the new pirate metal band trying to follow those people, OK!!
OK, that deals with that then!! Aside from the song ‘We Are Pirates’, Orden Ogan aren’t fans of this particular genre?
Tobi: Ha! Ha! That sounds too clinical in a way, but, just speaking for me, I’d say NO, yes. I’m a big Running Wild fan and ‘We Are Pirates’ is meant as homage to this great band, but that’s it for us… I never wanted to step into a certain genre with that song!
Please don’t get me wrong here; approximately a decade ago; the Heavy Metal scene was in a dire state across the globe particularly in the UK and USA, so any new Heavy Metal scene is good in my eyes. But with this in mind why do you think the scene remained so strong across Europe, in the Nineties whilst largely disregarding the dire Nu Metal that the same people now dressed as pirates in the UK and USA swallowed so easily?
Seeb: That’s one interesting thing for me. I don’t think there’s one particular, ‘typical’ Orden Ogan fan. I think our music appeals to many old metal-heads that were into the music of the old German legends like Helloween, Blind Guardian, Running Wild or Gamma Ray and the NWOBHM stuff you guys had. But on the other hand, we get tons of messages from very young metal heads via Myspace for example, and they’re into completely different bands and from very different backgrounds!!
And following on from the previous question, having attended both Wacken and Graspop festivals, why do you think Europe can organise such great Metal festivals compared to the rest of the World (let’s not forget your own Festival WinterNachtsTraum here obviously)?
Seeb: I think perhaps I misheard the question or didn’t understand it…….? As far as I know there are lots of great festivals all over the world, aren’t there?
Tobi: I think it all depends on the idea! To make something big or great happen, you have to have the right idea in the first place. The Wacken Festival has lasted for such a long time now, but in the first few years it was a totally different festival to today’s. It grew from year to year; they could get bigger bands and more well known headlining acts, and it was a natural, evolving process. That could’ve also happened in Holland (with Dynamo for example) or anywhere else, for that matter. And of course, the hype around the Wacken village helped the name grow. The Internet grew stronger, and every metal-head wanted to go to that legendary festival. And so the story goes on…!
Getting back to ‘Easton Hope’ you signed to AFM for this your first worldwide release. AFM is of course home to such celebrated Metal artists as Doro, U.D.O, Destruction and Edguy. How does it feel being on the same label as such influential artists and what’s the story behind you getting signed to AFM?
Seeb: It’s wonderful, but at the same time it was vital for this band! We released the last record ‘Vale’ via Yonah Records, a small German label. The press feedback was great and the sales sensational, but we had to move forward. AFM’s A&R guy, Timo was a big fan of Orden Ogan from back then, and we always said that we wanted to work with a label that really believed in the band and gives 110% to it, just like we do ourselves. Now, I think almost everybody in AFM Records is a big Orden Ogan Fan, and that’s just what we wanted to see!
Tobi: We’re really happy to work with AFM. It was our first choice, for sure!
And with the Wacken festival’s half-sister festival Bloodstock Open Air over here in the UK now growing into such a highly acclaimed festival in it’s own right, has it’s impact got to Germany? This year it features AFM signings Doro and Ross The Boss; are they any plans for Orden Ogan to visit the North of England this coming August?
Seeb: Sadly, we won’t be playing Bloodstock this year; but we’ll be on a big European tour in the Autumn. So be sure not to miss us there, when we make the UK!
And while we are on the subject, what does 2010 have in store for you guys (that you can tell us about)?
Tobi: Well, this year we want to do as many concerts as possible! There’ll be the European tour Seeb just mentioned and a lot of festival gigs as well. In fact, this has already started and if you’re checking our website you’ll see we’ve got loads more to go…? Then, we’ll be collecting new song ideas together; there’s a world-wide re-release of our completely remixed and re-mastered official debut ‘Vale’ coming later in the year, or possibly just next year and a lot other things too… It’s insane I tell you!
Just to finish off I’m going to go back to my very first question in a way and ask that as you have been described in the past as Battle Metal, if you were to lead your own almighty battle, what music would be playing on Orden Ogan’s Ipod to guide you on your way?
Tobi: Oh shit… I would love to hear King Diamond covering some old Cannibal Corpse stuff…? That would be on constant rotation in my Ipod… But, at the moment, I’m really into Freak Kitchen and some old 70’s stuff, so that might have to go on there too? The last albums by Winger, Treat and Ratt are great and, for relaxing, having won the day, I would choose an album from Andy McKee. If it comes down to the classics, it would be Running Wild, Pantera and Megadeth!
Seeb: I literally listen to everything that I like, so no particular preference. When it comes to metal, I almost only listen to death metal though!!
And with that I’d just like to say “Thank You” again for your time, and for talking with us at Uber Rock. We certainly hope to see you out on the road sometime soon!
Tobi: We thank you for the nice talk Dave and hope to see you all in the first row when we get there! Sorry again for being so long in answering, but check out ‘Easton Hope’ and stay heavy…!!
Seeb: Reingehauen ihr pfögel…
And with those prolific gestures the three parties passed like ships in the Heavy Metal night, Orden Ogan start a seemingly never ending European Tour this coming July so those lucky enough to be able to attend will be able to catch ‘Easton Hope’ live in all it’s pomp and glory…Lucky devils.
Uber Rock would like to thank Seeb and Tobi along with Mike Exley from the band’s PR Company for making this interview happen (finally) and we look forward to the much-promised UK dates sometime in the near future. For those of you to yet check out the epic metal of Orden Ogan click on their Myspace link below and get yourselves acquainted.