METAL MAIDEN OF THE MONTH 

 OCTOBER

Metal Pit:  Hello Suzi and welcome to "The Metal Pit"

Susi:       Hello Nick and readers.


Metal Pit:   As one of the founding members of Reckless Tide, describe the
band for us and what in your opinion makes this band stand out from some of the others.

Susi: Well, Reckless Tide is a typical German thrash metal band. Our songs
are containing traditional and modern elements, combining neck-breaking
riffs and melodic hooklines. We started as a 6 person band with two vocalists - Andrew as shouter and Kjell for melodics. In the beginning of 2008 Andrew  quit the band for family and job-related reasons. We were sad about it. But in process of time Kjell trained his voice more and more and nowadays he has an amazing spectrum, from melodic over shouting to screaming and growling. Apart from that we're the same band members from the first day and are very proud of it. Most of bands are'nt able to discuss problems or different meanings with each other and so a lot of bands change there band members regularly.Fortunately I think fans can really identify with this band because we are not just musicians but Metal fans as well and our fans really identify with that,afterall we share the same passion for our music. 

 

Susi:  I think I have to start a bit earlier in my life...
In 1993 I met my today's husband Kai. He tried to form a metal band on his
18th birthday party. But none of these guys could really play an intrument
so it was kind of a funny catastrophy when we tried to play live. After that
I bought my first e-guitar and started playing together with my Kai on his
drums. It was gruesome nice and we also found some other musicians to join us and founded a small band, our first band. It was more a kind of Doom Metal with Celtic elements. We just played what we wanted, unfortunately not for everybodys ear, haha  ;o) When we moved from our house our first band broke up. We thought about founding a new band together but Kai joined another band, a thrash metal band. After some weeks I missed playing guitar and I joined also another band. But it was just an alternative rock band and they told me my songs would be a bit too complex for their style... Kai did'nt really like my playing with other guys and especially without him. So "I hold a pistol on his head" to form a new common band right now or he should see where he can get his bread rolls in the morning ;o) Indeed it was'nt really easy to find the right band members, with the right taste of music, the right character
and also the right look ;o). And it has taken nearly 2 years until we could
say we are a real thrash metal band but the result was worth the long
searching and I'm really happy with my boys.

Metal Pit:     You actually have a very unique situation in that you are married
to the drummer of the band, tell us about the hubby and the rest of the band?

Susi:    A bit about my husband and drummer Kai I've just told you. We're
having discussions like every other married couple from time to time but
normaly not with the same subjects like others. When we're in conflicts
we're just arguing about music, ... songs, riffs, organizing stuff etc. like
typical musicians. Meanwhile I'm also working together with Kai in our
sound- and graphic studio and it works, I think probably because music" IS"
our  life. My boys don't have any problems with it. Especially because all
in all we don't behave like a loved couple in the band. We don't kiss or
snuggle in front of our band members, just act like musicians. That's why
nobody is envious about Kai  having his wife  on tour, maybe even glad about their own position, haha ;o) Besides my band members have to check all band activities with their girlfriends, who are not really happy about the time the boys are spending at the studio sometimes. In this case I'm a lucky girl, haha ;o) Kai and me complete each other and mostly we're having the same taste in different things. That makes things easier and we're very happy with this and it has been working for 15 years now.



Metal Pit:     You are also the band's manager as well, is that something you
enjoy doing?

Susi:          Sometimes yes and sometimes no. When it bears on show booking it's sometimes very annoying because there are really too many concerts in Europe and especially in Germany. The metalheads are fed up and because everything costs money they think about which concert they'll visit and often they decide to visit really popular bands. So it's not always easy to convince the club owners and organizers of an event when they don't know how many people will be there in the evening. But this is a general problem, not just mine. When a show or tour  finishes and everything went well I am also a bit proud of me ;o). On the other hand I have to manage my boys at the studio too. And that's not the easiest for me.When they are in their element and fooling about it's hard to stop them and bring them back to the routine. At this point I'm glad to have no children, ... there is enough to do with these guys ;o) But in many ways I also love it and love them and I'm happy with them, even if they'll care for my white hair soon!!! ;o)



Metal Pit:    Who writes the lyrics and music for Reckless Tide?

Susi:         Every band member may write songs but normally most is done by us guitarists and also a bit by the bass guitarist. I'm writing songs as much as my guitarist Olli. Merely my songs are sometimes a bit more melodic or modern and Ollis songs are a bit more oldschool thrashy. The decisions of songs and songstructures are in the band. Normally every song will be changed in many ways until it is to be recorded. And that's ok, because you cannot realize and check the complete songs in the end without timing.Which songs will make it on the album is depending on different facts like style, lyrics, speed or running time etc.
Unfortunately Olli has not really much time for songwriting at the moment
because he's very busy with Holy Moses and will be also on tour with them
again in October. So currently I'm taking the main part of songwriting
together with Kai and I'm sure the new stuff will excite all thrash metal
fans!




Metal Pit:    When did you decide you wanted to be a guitarist in a Metal band?

Susi:           It was more a stroke of good fortune than a plan. As far as I can
think back to my childhood I wished to make music. I did'nt think of a
special music style at this time but music was always in my mind. I started
playing acoustic guitar playing when I was 16.  So Kai was the cause for me
to making serious music and like I told you before, because he tried to form
a band and failed terribly it arose from this happening. So it was always in
my mind and I never thought it would happen so suddenly.




Metal Pit:    Did your family support you when you told them what you wanted to do with your life?

Susi:         There were never a problem with it. In the first years music was just our hobby and nobody ever  had to be worry about if I would waste my life. It was always second next to my job until this past year. My parents are
always supporting me and Reckless Tide. For example they help to manage a lot  of the handicraft work and requisitions for our current video-clip, which will be finished and published in the next few days. We were very thankful for it and have saved a lot of money doing things on our own. My parents are proud of me and also proud of themself, what they have managed to make, haha ;o)

Metal Pit:    Are there any Guitar players that have influenced you over the
years?

Susi:        I never was focused on special guitarists. Of course there are a lot of excellent musicians but I normaly listen to the whole songs and pay
attention to detailed riffs and breakes and how they are effecting at the
songs. At this point I'm not only focused on thrash metal but also on other
styles like death or power metal.



Metal Pit:   Who are some of the band's musical influences?

Susi:         Mainly bands like Testament, Exodus, Heathen, Kreator. In any case thrash metal bands.

Metal Pit:    Your first two cd's "Repent or seal your fate" and "Helleraser"
were excellent examples of "Melodic Thrash",can you give us a hint as to
what to expect from your new cd?

Susi:           Harder and faster! ;o) Because I can be more focused on the band since now I have more time for song writing. And consequently there is also more time to think about every song and check them again. This is a really good base for out-balanced and interesting songs as well. Besides Henning will write a new funny song again for the next album I think. He has also done it for the other albums and it's a cute gimmik the metal heads who like our stuff would miss it for sure, in case of we would'nt do it again ;o) So friends of thrash can look forward to a new album with a measure of both seriousness and humour.

Metal Pit:   How can fans get their hands on your music?

Susi:          Our cds are released European wide and in the US too. In the US they arereleased by Locomotive Records and you can find  in stores and also onlineshops like www.amazon.com or www.cmdistro.com . Of course it's also to order from us. We do ship our merchandise nearly all over the world, it's just a question of shipping costs like on other online shops too. But it's no problem as well and real fans often ordering also a signed cd.




Metal Pit:    The band has played both the "Wacken" and "Bloodstock"
festivals,can you tell us a little about those experiences?

Susi:         Well, to think on both festivals bring back nice memories. In Wacken we've also played two times. The first time it was the Wacken Metal Battle, the first Wacken Metal Battle ever and we were the winner. Of course we have nice memories, in spite of the fact we could'nt finish our set because we had problems with their stage equipment, needed 3 minutes longer than planned and were'nt really happy with the stage manager who was pissed off. When we started our fifth song she cut off the power and we had to stop in the middle of the song. Luckily the sympathy was on our side and we won a couple of new fans. The second gig was quite like a normal show, only you are a bit more nervous and when you are on stage and it's an unbelievable feeling when you're calling "Waaaaackeeeenn" into the crowd and receiving their reactions after that! 
           Bloodstock was one of the best organized show we ever played. In the bottomwe had a lot of equipment especially for the drummer for his indivudual drum kit. Kai has built the kit like he wanted it and after that the drum-tech had rebuilt it on stage absolutely correct like Kai did built it before. We were shocked in a positive way about this professional job. Certainly there are a lot of perfect techs on big festivals but in this case it was our first experience. Apart from that - the crowd was awesome and supported us a lot. Besides we were brought to the signing session with security and were really surprised about the metalheads who was already standing in front of the door and waiting for us to sign their cds, shirts, posters, flags, drinking glasses and also their parts of the body. For popular bands it was routine but new for us. Today I'm already happy to play a big festival again sometime and I'm sure it'll happens, probably after the next album.




Metal Pit:    Do you prefer playing live to those large festival crowds or the
intimacey of the clubs?

Susi:         Both are very special. On large festivals you're having enough space on stage, mostly good equipment and good engineers. The feedback of thousands of metalheads is amazing. But you're more nervouse in case of something does'nt work on stage. On the other hand you're quite closed to the fans in small clubs and you can make a nice party during the show. I prefer a bit more the large festivals because I don't need organize most of the stuff around the show by myself...




Metal Pit:    What can potential new fans expect to see at a Reckless Tide live show?

Susi:           Me and my boys, ha ;o) Sorry for joking, what shall I say?...
In any case fans can see a show bursting with energy. Our bass guitarist
Henning is running around all the time and is grimacing. Both guitarists,
Olli and me are headbanging during the show and the drummer is fighting with the foreign drum kit. Our vocalist Kjell is often attracting attention by
the girls because of his  trained body. And after the show Olli is always
telling us if we have seen the girls who were just looking to him. And we
just laughed about it ;o)

Metal Pit:    Any plans on a world wide domination tour in the near future?

Susi:          Not yet. Currently we're focused on our new recording and new
video-clips. When I'm starting with booking again in the end of the year it
will mostly happens in Europe. We don't have an invitation to the states or
Canada yet but I'm sure it'll happen sometime, and if you keep us in your
mind maybe we'll meet there sometime ;o) Would be nice in any case.




Metal Pit:    Ok, if you could chose any band in the world to share a stage
with, who would it be and why?

Susi:         Two years earlier I would have said Metallica but now it'd be Iron
Maiden, because they're the damned greatest live band! ;o)




Metal Pit:     There are more Metal bands these days than ever before with
female musicians and singers, Does this make it easier or is it still a hard
thing to convince some people that you belong?

Susi:           Probably this makes things easier. But on the other hand you have to do more to prove yourself to the masses as a female musicians. I know I'm really not the only  good female guitarist in the world, especially because I'm more of a rhythm guitarist than a lead guitarist, but I'm confident oursongs will be our proof.

Susi:         I don't know... cause most of the excellent and popular guitarists are male the focus is more on male guitarists than on female. I've heard a
couple of really good female guitarists online but because they're not
really the best songwriters at all, not  many people are interested in their
bands and so they're having a hard time trying to get the attention they'd
need to become more popular. The development of women in the metal scene in the last few years,seems to include more talented women than
ever,furthermore  I think sometime it'll be simply standard to see female
musicians in metal bands.

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