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| Interview by Burt Wolf with Dryss Boulmedias, bassist for LONEWOLF! Interview done 10-14-05 |
| LONEWOLF WAS BORN IN FRANCE BACK IN 1993. COULD YOU PLEASE GIVE THE BANDS HISTORY SO FAR? HOW YOU FORMED? ANY PREVIOUS BANDS YOU WERE IN? Yes, LONEWOLF was born in Grenoble in 1993, a town in south east of France, near Italy! In the first line up, Felix (drums) was on guitar solo. Other guys that were in LONEWOLF (Stephan on guitar, Roland on bass & Renaud on drums). In 1996, LONEWOLF was broken up because a bad contract & stopped playing music for 4 years. In 2000, we came back with a new line up! Damien didn't play in any band, Jens was always in the "LONEWOLF" spirit, Feliw too & I was guitar solo in a Thrash band like KREATOR, SEPULTURA, PANTERA, etc...named TRIBAL. And now here we are with TRUE METAL INSIDE!!! :) WHY WAS THE NAME LONEWOLF CHOSEN AS THE BANDS NAME? This name of LONEWOLF was a RUNNING WILD song. Jens thought that it was a nice name for a band & remember, RUNNING WILD was a JUDAS PRIEST song on the album "HELL BENT FOR LEATHER" in 1979! ahahahaha!!! WHAT HAPPENED IN 1996 WITH A BAD CONTRACT THAT LED TO THE SPLIT OF LONEWOLF? WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO RESTART THE BAND UP AGAIN IN 2000? Well...in 1996, LONEWOLF wanted to record a first CD. But producer & other sharks of business (we won't tell their names) decided to stop all engines. So, this first CD was buried alive :) ! It was buried with out seeing the light of the sun. The mood of LONEWOLF was very very down & that's why we wanted to stop music forever. But in 2000, we wanted to start this band, just for fun! Why not? And after some tests, we saw that we had a real Metal spirit inside our heart & decieded to follow this adventure! And now here we are! :) |
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| WHO OR WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR INFLUENCES IN LIFE & IN MUSIC? The first influences of LONEWOLF is German true Metal! RUNNING WILD, GRAVE DIGGER, GAMMA RAY & others...but we each have an influence! Felix is more SAVATAGE, Damien is more STEVE VAI, PRETTY MAIDS, Jens is RUNNING WILD 200% & I am IRON MAIDEN, CHILDREN OF BODOM, PANTERA! So we have a lot of influences! LONEWOLF BLENDS ELEMENTS OF HEAVY METAL, POWER METAL, GERMAN THRASH METAL & MORE TO COME UP WITH YOUR SOUND. HOW WOULD YOU BEST DESCRIBE THE STYLE & SOUND OF LONEWOLF? |
| We can say that LONEWOLF is true German Heavy Metal! That's all! No more, no less! :) I HAVE BOTH OF YOUR CD'S "MARCH INTO THE AREN" & "UNHOLY PARADISE, WHICH HAVE BOTH BEEN OUT FOR SOME TIME. HOW WELL HAVE BOTH OF THESE CD'S DONE FOR YOU? WHAT WAS THE RESPONSE LIKE TO THESE RELEASES? Our first CD "MARCH INTO THE ARENA" was released by ourselves! We made a first website & some people bought our CD from us. Then we found the Spanish label GOI MUSIC which re-released it. So, many times after, we wanted to record a second album under GOI MUSIC: "UNHOLY PARADISE". Responses were very good! It was a good surprise because of the sound production of this album, not so good. We were decieved about it! But not about the songs, cause we think that they are not too bad at all! Well...it was what people & reviews said! But this sound...pfff...! BOTH OF THESE ALBUMS WERE PUT OUT BY THE SPANISH LABEL GOI MUSIC. HOW DID YOU GET HOOKED UP WITH THEM? HOW HAS IT BEEN WORKING WITH THEM? ARE YOU STILL WITH THEM? GOI MUSIC contacted us by email after seeing our website & listening to "MARCH INTO THE ARENA". Actually, we are not with them! To be honest, they were not honest with us. So that's why now, we are looking for a new label for the future!!! Sorry...I can't explain more!!! :) CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE AMAZING COVER ARTWORK ON THESE ALBUMS & WHO DID THEM? Well...the artwork was done by Jean Pascal Fournier (IMPALED NAZARENE, EDGUY, IMMORTAL, AVANTASIA, etc...) He is a friend of ours & lives near us! So it wasn't very complicated to have a nice cover! We trusted him about the cover & after some first draws, we said: Wowwwww...no more to say...! WHAT IS SOME OF THE LYRICAL CONTENT IN YOUR GREAT SONGS? All lyrics are written by Jens (except "Erikk The Red" on "UNHOLY PARADISE" by me & "Child Of Oblivion" on the 7" "HELLENIC WARRIOR" by Damien) The lyric's spirits depend on the mood of who writes them! Usually, we trust in Jens to find the right words in the right song! |
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| WHO WRITES THE MAJORITY OF YOUR MUSIC OR IS IT A WHOLE BAND COLLABORATION THING? We are 4 & the 4 of us write the songs! I made some songs, Feliw too, Jens a lot & Damien too. We don't have a leadership for writting songs! Everybody in the band is free to bring new stuff! ON YOUR WEBSITE THERE IS MENTION OF 6 NEW SONGS IN THE WORKS. CAN YOU GIVE US SOME INFORMATION ON THIS RELEASE? HOW DO YOU FEEL THE BAND HAS IMPROVED OR PROGRESSED WITH THIS RELEASE? You're right! Six new songs were recorded by ourselves! If I say "by ourselves" it's because we'd like to have a good sound, not like "UNHOLY PARADISE", recorded in a "professional" studio (professional...my ass is more professional! : p ) These songs are: "Divine Art Of Lies", "Utopia", "Seawolf", "Host Of The Dark", "Night Peace", "Shadowland". These songs were recorded for promo only! We'd like to find a new label, wanted to have more chance with us! Sound is good, songs are not too band (I guess hahaha) & we hope that someone could trust in us! And then a 3rd album with other songs! DOES LONEWOLF PLAY OUT A LOT? WHERE ARE SOME OF THE PLACES YOU'VE PLAYED? WHO ARE SOME OF THE BANDS YOU'VE SHARED THE STAGE WITH? We played a lot in France, of course, but we have a great chance to play in Athens, Greece. They said we are the first French Heavy metal band to play in Greece. Greeks are really fools! In Greece, you won't see merchandising of METALLICA - "LOAD", SLIPKNOT or PLACEBO...but only t-shirts of TANKARD, RUNNING WILD, GRAVE DIGGER, SAXON, SAVATAGE, EUROPE, SURVIVOR, etc... It was a REALLY FUCKING GREAT TIME! And they are good drinkers!!! ahahahah We played in Germany too in the Swordbrothers Festival! All was perfect! We spent a really great time there! And of course, we drank a lot of beers!!! In "Holy Land Of Beer", it was very gooooooood cause we saw our Greek friends there & played with them! WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS THE BEST & WORST PART ABOUT PLAYING IN A BAND? If you decide to be in a band, you have to LOVE MUSIC WITH YOUR BALLS!!! When you play in a band, the best way is to play with heart! You don't need to be a Malmsteen or a Steve Vai, a Stuart Hamm on bass or a Glen Oglan on drums. Just be yourself, just play with heart! There is no worst part to playing in a band! All is good! WHO DO YOU FEEL ARE SOME OF THE BETTER BANDS, LABELS, ZINES, ETC IN FRANCE? |
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| There are so many good bands in France! NIGHTMARE, MISANTHROPE, YYRKOON, REVENGE & a lot of other bands! Metal magazine in France are very good! They are very full of news for each kind of Metal! About labels, I can't tell you more, because I don't know a lot. & I wouldn't like to say bad things about some of them!!! HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE THE SCENE IN FRANCE TO THE SCENE HERE IN THE U.S.? Well...YOU are the expert! I'm not! ahahahaha To be honest, I don't know a lot of the U.S. Metal scene! Of course, I know great bands, but I'd like to see what Metal is in the U.S., in real! By my own eyes! I'm sure it is fucking great! |
| WHAT WAS THE FIRST ALBUM YOU REMEMBER BUYING? WHAT WAS THE FIRST CONCERT YOU EVER SAW? I remember when my mother bought a CD player. I bought "PEACE OF MIND" by IRON MAIDEN. It was a real pleasure & I listened to it a lot of times! The first concert I ever saw was a French band named ODDMONGERS (Thrash Metal). But my first big concert I ever saw was IRON MAIDEN in Grenoble France. A friend of mine played football (soccer) with Steve Harris & I went with him. Can you imagine how I was in front of my favorite bassist. And my favorite concert was the last one of DEATH, just before the death of Chuck Schuldiner! WHAT DO THE MEMBERS OF LONEWOLF DO WHEN NOT DOING ANY WORK FOR THE BAND? OTHER JOBS? HOBBIES? ETC? We all work! We all have a job! heheheh We have to pay our rents & in France, nothing is free! Except that, Jens & Felix are with their wives! Damien & I, our only hobby is BEER!!! ahahahah WHAT IS ONE THING PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO FIND OUT ABOUT YOU? When you see us, in concerts, we are "chains & leather", but you could be surprised to see how we are nice! We are not bad, always pleased to speak with new people! |
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| WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR VIEWS ON THE WAR THE U.S. IS INVOLVED IN NOW & SOME OF THE DECISIONS THAT PRESIDENT BUSH HAS MADE FOR THIS COUNTRY? Well...I don't speak for LONEWOLF, but I don't think that war in Iraq is a good thing! Not a good thing for Americans & Iraqies! War is expensive for America & destructive for Iraq. But as I said, it is just my own opinion!!! WHAT CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE NEXT FROM LONEWOLF? Hopefully we'll find a new label, new concerts & never lose our true Metal spirit! Never lose our love for METAAAAAAAAL!!!! |
| WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE ANSWERING THIS INTERVIEW? WHAT WILL YOU DO NOW THAT IT IS DONE? Just before this interview, I was with Damien & a beer (heu...many beers!!!) !!!ahahahaha!!! & now, I think I will go to bed!!! :o) THANX A LOT FOR ANSWERING THIS INTERVIEW. WOULD YOU LIKE TO ADD ANYTHING TO CLOSE OUT? Ho no!!! Thanx TO YOU!!!!! It was a real pleasure & thanx to all Americans who will read this nice interview!!! Just one word to close out...METAL 'TILL DEATH!!!!!! Dryss & LONEWOLF! |
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| LONEWOLFweb@chez.com www.chez.com/LONEWOLFweb ALL PHOTOS & GRAPHICS COURTESY OF LONEWOLF INTERVIEWS MAIN PAGE |