Sunday, November 6, 2016

Interview with Germany's Barbarian Wrath Rec. done by Patrick on 11-6-16

Hello
Here  is  a  new  interview  with  the  legendary  German  record  label  Barbarian  Wrath.The  owner  BW. talks   about  the  label's  early  days and  current  label  work  along  with  other  topics.If  you  are  a  fan  of  old-school  death,black  and thrash  metal  then  be  sure  to  check  this  label  and  distro  selection  out.
Regards
Patrick
fiendformetal@live.com
https://twitter.com/PDeathrasher
https://plus.google.com/110515263288050247357?hl=en





Interview  with  BG.  owner  of  Barbarian  Wrath Rec.  done  by    Patrick


1.Hello   BG   please   introduce  yourself  to  the  readers?  At  what  age  did  you  find  yourself  getting  into  metal  music  and  who   were  some  of the  early  bands  you   listened  to?

You mean there's still people out there who don't know me...? O_o I got into Metal at the age of 12 through a class mate at school. That was back in 1979. He had a slightly older cousin who already was into Metal and we started listening to his AC/DC and MOT�RHEAD albums while playing "Defender" on our ATARI 2600 video games. Those were the times... :) I got into other bands mostly by chance since there was nothing even remotely resembling a Metal press or Hell forbid, a Metal radio in Germany. I got into ACCEPT in 1983 when I had a class mate record me a FOREIGNER album and he put "Restless And Wild" on the flip side. It was his Dad's record and he thought I'd like it.... Needless to say the ACCEPT side got a lot more playing time, hahaha. There are similar stories about how I got into IRON MAIDEN or SAXON in those years. All that changed in 1984 with the advent of Metal Hammer which was quickly followed by fanzines which used to be sold in one of the local record stores.

2.I  believe  before  you  started    Barbarian  Wrath   you  were  owner  and  operater  of  Nazgul's  Eyrie   how  long  was  this  label  open  for?  And  what  made  you  decide  to  stop  it?

Guilty. NAZGULS EYRIE lasted (on paper) from 1993 to 1999 and was directly followed by BARBARIAN WRATH. When you look at release dates however you'll see that the really active time was between July 1994 and July 1996 followed by a long period of agony caused by bad business decisions which cost me a lot of money and my sanity. When I had finally paid off the financial aftermath I changed the name and gave it another go which I'm happy to say went somewhat more smoothly. However, the name of NAZGULS EYRIE was burnt and spent so I came up with something more personal instead. The fact that everyone and their grandmothers were running around with pseudonymes based on Tolkien may have also played a minor role in my decision.


3.In  2000  you  formed    Barbarian  Wrath Rec. what  gave  you  the  idea  to  start  up  a  different  label?  And  how  did  you  choose    Barbarian  Wrath   as  the  name  for  your  new  label?

I sort of explained that in the previous question already. It's not a different label in my mind, it's the same thing, just run in a slightly more professional way :D The name came up at some point based on my nickname at the time. My gentleman-like behaviour caused me to be referred to as the "Bavarian Barbarian" by the guys of COUNTESS at first and by pretty much everyone soon after. Since I was coming back (well, trying to) with a vengeance from the NEP disaster the "Wrath" part just fell into place :)

4.What   have  been  some  of your   personal  favorite  releases  over the  years?And   are  their   any  upcoming  releases  the  readers  should  watch  out  for?

 I feel like a father to all my releases and like a father I love them all for what they are even when they annoy me at times. Since I have returned from a well deserved time out in January 2014 (This time without bothering to change the name...) there has been a steady stream of 24 releases so far which is more than I managed to release in the entire decade before. Of course people should watch out for all my releases as well as those of my darling wife through WITCHES BREW. :)

5.What  are  some  things  you  look  for   when  signing  and  releasing  a  band? And  are  you  still  on the   look  out  for  new  bands  to  work  with  or  is  the   Barbarian  Wrath Rec  roster  full  at  this  time?

I want to be surprised. The big cancer of today is predictability. Be that movies, books or bands, if I already know how things will end 10 minutes in, why bother ? Of course a band may still be entertaining in a live situation (Usually because I drink them better...) but why would I bother to release something by those guys. It's sometimes rough to have to tell that to people and not all take it gracefully either but it's my damn money and I decide what to spend it on :) I'm always looking for bands who manage to make me perk up. It doesn't happen often anymore since I'm a jaded old bastard but it does happen and when it does I usually find a way to place such a band in my roster.

6.Do  you  run  the  label  by  yourself  or do  you   have  some  help  from  friends or  family?  Would  you   have  any  advice  to  the readers  who  might  be  thinking  of  starting  a  distro  or  a label  themselves?

I have help. My wife does all the tedious background work so I can concentrate on signing bands and smoking cigars. Which suits me just fine, hehehe. Seriously though, since I have a full time job besides running BW and she doesn't it makes sense that she runs the distro and her own label WITCHES BREW. The distro is exclusively hers and she decides what to carry. Usually she goes for the more exotic stuff (as in from an exotic place, not an exotic mix of musical styles with a hint of Metal as an afterthought...). Seeing that there are more distros than buying fans in Germany and they all carry the same stuff I think she's right trying to stick out and do something original for a change.

 7. BG   are  you  currently   looking  for   new  labels  or  bands  to  work and  trade  with?  If  yes  what  styles  of  metal  do  you  carry   in your  distro?

As I just typed, I always look for new stuff that I find impressive and surprising. All distro questions go to my wife :)


8. BG   you   live  in  the  metal  filled  country  of  Germany  what  is  your  opinion  of the German metal  scene  over  the  years to  present  day?

I think Germany is vastly overrated. I'm sick of Germans strutting around like their shit don't stink and all they really do is buy what glossy magazines serve them and treck to Wacken every year. There are real people besides me of course (quite a few actually) but this picture of Germany being the great Metal nation is inherently wrong. You don't see any Metalheads on the streets and when you do they won't talk to you because they don't like (or, more likely don't know) the band on the shirt you're wearing. So, as far a scene (as in people working together to achieve a common goal) goes, Germany is burnt and salted ground. If you count the number of role-playing fools who'll simply consume whatever glossy magazines tell them to, we got a few million of those.

9.Who  are  your   all-time  favorite   German  bands? And  are  their   any  new  bands  that  you  feel  the  readers  should  watch  out  for?

All time favorite German band... hmmm.... Nope, I don't really have a favorite band but I can list you favorite albums by German bands. The thing is, every band seems to come to a point eventually where they lose me. For instance, I worship AVENGERs "Prayers Of Steel" album but I find RAGE just barely tolerable even though it's the same people who wrote those songs and recorded the album.
I can't tell you about new bands because I'm trying to sign them and I don't want any competition.
10.Besides  bands  are  their   any  good  labels  or distro's  you  feel  the  readers  should  check  out   soon?

I feel that WITCHES BREW get's far to little attention. There is a bunch of fucking brilliant bands there continously releasing jewels of Metal and WB get neither glory nor sales for it and it's a bloody shame.

 11.Do  you  still  try to  go  out  to   local  shows  or do you  prefer  to  stay  in?

I still go to shows when I can though mostly I go to small festivals. We got an entire string of those that we go to every year. Seeing a cool band whom you previously had not known is the high point of every festival. Local shows to me are going to N�rnberg or M�nchen which both are 1 hour trips. Really local shows don't exist because my area is pretty much exclusively settled by the types I described in question # 8.

12.When  not   working  on  label  business   what  do  you  enjoy  doing  in  your   free  time?

What is this "free time" you speak about...?

 13.In  your   opinion  what  is  the  best  and  worst  thing  about  the  underground  metal  scene  today?  And  what  does  underground  metal  mean  to  you?

The best and worst thing is the internet and computers in general and for pretty much the same reason. Life has sped up incredibly since the 90s and everybody has access to everything. Underground to me means to do something for passion with monetary gain being a nice side effect should it happen, but not a driving force. Which is the exact reason why I never tried going "pro". I enjoy the freedom of releasing whatever I want, I don't have to worry about sales because the money to pay for our beer comes from a different source.

14.Were  can  the  readers  find   Barbarian  Wrath   news  and  releases to   purchase?

There are a number of social media pages for the label that I keep up to date, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, the usual. Just type "Barbarian Wrath" in a search engine and you'll get 3 pages of links :)
As for buying my releases, the first and foremost spot to do so is WITCHES BREW. Besides German postage being rather cheap even for worldwide shipping she has a constant stream of other releases going through her distro so you have to be deaf and blind (Which, apparently you're not or is this text in Braille, eh ?) to not find something interesting.
In the USA (and North America) we are officially distributed by HELL'S HEADBANGERS and in Japan (and East Asia) by ROCK STAKK and we are looking for other partners in territories not yet covered.

15.Thank  you  BG   for  taking  the  time  to  fill  this   interview  out  do  you   have  any  final  words  for the  readers?

You're welcome :) I haven't done one of those in quite a while so I enjoy the chance to talk. Well, type :D As a final word I would ask you all to give small bands and labels a chance and look beyond the circle jerk you find in your magazines. It's worth it. Trust me.

Stay in the loop
@ https://www.facebook.com/BarbarianWrath666
@ https://plus.google.com/+BarbarianwrathOrg
@ https://www.linkedin.com/company/barbarian-wrath
@ https://twitter.com/BarbarianWrath
@ https://www.youtube.com/c/BarbarianwrathOrg
@ https://barbarianwrath.bandcamp.com
@ https://soundcloud.com/barbarianwrath
@ https://soundcloud.com/barbarian-wrath-ii
@ https://barbarian-wrath.tumblr.com
@ https://www.pinterest.com/BarbarianWrath/