All Interviews
Gun Barrel
Xaver in action
Posted on Dec 26, 2005
by Anders
Gun Barrel a German force on their way ahead in this world. They are delivering very effective heavy metal with a good dose of sheer rock n' roll energy involved, and that is a hard hitting cocktail that works. They released their third album "Bombard Your Soul" earlier this year, and in connection with that I got in connection with singer and lyric-writer Xaver Drexler, who also is new in the band, "Bombard Your Soul" is infact his first album with Gun Barrel, but he is handling his role very well!
Hi there, how are things in Germany as we speak?
Thanks - everything is fine. We've got a new "Bundeskanzlerin" - "Prime-misses" now and gonna end up this year as metal as we can ;-).
Will you please start off by introducing yourself and tell us why you rock away in Gun Barrel?
Well, I'm Xaver Drexler the new voice of Gun Barrel, I've been in the band since March 2005. I'm rocking with these guys because I like their way of making music and the way we together creates stuff and they are fine guys as well. It is all very fitting.
A small introduction of the rest of the band and a bit about what they contribute to Gun Barrel with, would be very good as well!
We have Mr. Tom Klintgen on the bass guitar - the rolling thunder, Mr. Toni Pinciroli the animal-machine of Gun Barrel and last but not least Mr. Rolf Tanzius the guitar-maniac.
You are now ready with your new album "Bombard Your Soul", how do you feel about the album?
We love it and we are very proud of this new metal material we've created together. It's great to be back again and this album makes so much fun to play live.
What does the album title refer to and what are your thoughts behind it?
First of all it sounds very good as a title ;-). We think it fits perfectly with the Band's name. "Bombing" describes our music best and with our kind of music, we're back on the road to bomb some "happy" or "lost" souls.
How has the album been received by the press and your fans?
We can be really satisfied. We have received very, very good reviews with high points in all the magazines so far. (Metal Hammer 6/7, Rock Hard 9/10). We have already done some shows with the new material - especially two album-presentations. One in Hamburg at the Headbangers Ballroom and one in Cologne, which is our hometown. Man what else can I say... that roxx!!! The audience partied with us from the first song till the last. We're very pleased that our fans like our new material.
What do you expect from the album and what do you want to accomplish with your music?
Well, it's the 3rd album for Gun Barrel now and it seems that people who listen to our music (even though it is better to experience live) really like our metal rock n' roll style. So, all we can do right now is to go out and let the music do the talking. We hope that "Bombard Your Soul" will bring us to some new areas and gain us some more listeners.
When you started out to write the music for "Bombard Your Soul", what did you then want to accomplish?
We just want to make the best music we can. We didn't have a big plan that we followed when we wrote the music, it all just happened as it did. I mean, we're writing lots of parts or songs, as we then select the best of... and that's it. We wanted the album to sound like it does, due that is how we sound and feel in this exact moment.
Do you feel you accomplished that?
Yes, we think so. With this album Gun Barrel made the next step, into a good direction.
What do you want to tell with your music?
This is very simple... we have a lot of fun in doing what we're doing and we want to bring this to the fans too. Lyrics are important - that's true, but if somebody just wants to enjoy our music for what it is - that's alright as well.
Do your lyrics contain messages that you want to tell?
Messages? Yes… or no... I would have named the album "...Talking About..." because there are many different themes on the album. Some of the songs are made to think about and others are just plain fun.
Which lyrical themes are touched on the new album?
The "Bombard Your Soul" album got a little frame… It's starting up with the mail to the devil, in the middle of this album you've got the lights and shadows and it's ending up with a prayer to mr. god.
If you feel like it, you are very welcome to go through the album track by track, and tell a bit about the lyrics and music on each, that will be a real honor for us here!!!
'Begging For The Awakening': This intro was created out of the song 'Fearing The Fear Of My Fears' - this is how it got the title... Very orchestral and great dynamics. We start every concert with it.
'Dear Mr. Devil': It's about the mail to the devil. We in Gun Barrel with all our fans are giving him a bargain because of the way we are, dirty, mean, motherfucking rock n' rollers... We are really the best deal for his place called hell.
'Down And Dirty':... Is a real but very sad story about two lovely persons I know. She was married but in love with another guy and they met each other every Friday night at a rock club in Koblenz(Germany) called "Dreams". They always tried to keep their situation a secret and with this song I wanted to show them that I knew... But there wasn't the time to do so, because they both died during the recordings of this song. God bless them!
'Fearing The Fear Of My Fears':... Describes the situation when you really are in fear. Fear got so many faces. Every one of us will meet this in many different situations during life. And this song displays my feelings about it.
'The Fallen One'... Are my thoughts and my feelings about those suckers who think you're a fool or looser if you got long hair, wearing leather and listen to the noise we call heavy metal. And if I'm a fallen one in their eyes - then I've done everything right, because we're proud about how we are, we have a lot of fun with this life, which they'll never have.
'Lights And Shadows':... Every day you have to decide so many things in life. Sometimes it's hard and sometimes easier. Some will lead you into a better future and some not. And the big question you sometimes ask yourself is: "What would be different in your life, if you had chosen another path?"... To the lights... or to the shadows?
'Dive Into The Flame':... When you know you can do something - do it and don't care about what anybody else thinks about it. When you believe in what you're doing, then you know what to do… Dive into the flame and it won't hurt you.
'Bombard Your Soul': The title track of the album and the opener at our shows, is telling about how we love to play our music live and want to have a great time together with the audience night by night.
'Bloody Pretender': I really hate these kind of people. Somehow they are not real. They are mostly only interested in themselves and don't care about any others lives, talking bullshit the whole day long and don't have any respect... Fucking egomaniacs!
'On The Road Again': Yes it is good to be back with new and good metal stuff, and to travel around again, maybe to bring Gun Barrel to your place as well.
'I'm Alive':.. Even after a bad time... it's getting better every day. And the main thing is... I'm still alive. Everybody have to think about this: "You are very rich - because you are alive".
'...Is You': Yes I'm a believer. But there was a very heavy time for me when my parents passed away. The same feeling occurs when some of my family as well as some of the good persons in my life passes away. Then I was coming to that point again and again. I want to believe...But?... And then I wrote this song.
Where is the inspiration for the lyrics found?
In my life… Living is inspiration.
The music you deliver is straight ahead heavy metal with a good and healthy dose of rock n' roll, how did it end up like that?
Our music is the face of our feelings. Sometimes simple but true. We're writing the songs together and every Gun Barrel maniac has influence by creating the music. Melodic metal and rock n' roll - We think that's a good mixture.
Where do you find inspiration when the music is written?
Look around you – you can find it everywhere. If you're in a good or bad mood – more or less anything works - take your instrument or your voice and try to describe your feelings in the moment. That's more or less it.
Can you pull out 3 bands and 3 songs that have meant a lot to you and the way you make/play music?
Judas Priest 'Screaming For Vengeance', Iron Maiden 'The Trooper' and Queensrÿche 'Operation:Mindcrime'.
Are you going to embark on some heavy touring in support of the new album, and how does it look with a visit or many in Scandinavia?
We are planning it right now, but at this point we can't say anything about it, because we don't know which band we are going to play with. It's not sure yet, sorry. But we would love to come over to Scandinavia to kick some ass!!!
How do you look upon the future of Gun Barrel?
Excited! With the new album everything has started up in a very good way. We want to do a lot of shows and festivals in 2006 and are planning to release our 4th album in the end of next year.
Will you share your 5 all time favourite albums with our readers?
Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
Def Leppard - Hysteria
Queensrÿche – Operation: Mindcrime
Kiss – Alive 2
Guns N' Roses – Appetite For Destruction
Thanks a lot for answering my questions, if you have anything to add, feel free to do it now!
Thank you... I had a lot of fun with your questions. Hope to see you somewhere on this planet before, during or after a live-show.
Thanks - everything is fine. We've got a new "Bundeskanzlerin" - "Prime-misses" now and gonna end up this year as metal as we can ;-).
Will you please start off by introducing yourself and tell us why you rock away in Gun Barrel?
Well, I'm Xaver Drexler the new voice of Gun Barrel, I've been in the band since March 2005. I'm rocking with these guys because I like their way of making music and the way we together creates stuff and they are fine guys as well. It is all very fitting.
A small introduction of the rest of the band and a bit about what they contribute to Gun Barrel with, would be very good as well!
We have Mr. Tom Klintgen on the bass guitar - the rolling thunder, Mr. Toni Pinciroli the animal-machine of Gun Barrel and last but not least Mr. Rolf Tanzius the guitar-maniac.
You are now ready with your new album "Bombard Your Soul", how do you feel about the album?
We love it and we are very proud of this new metal material we've created together. It's great to be back again and this album makes so much fun to play live.
What does the album title refer to and what are your thoughts behind it?
First of all it sounds very good as a title ;-). We think it fits perfectly with the Band's name. "Bombing" describes our music best and with our kind of music, we're back on the road to bomb some "happy" or "lost" souls.
How has the album been received by the press and your fans?
We can be really satisfied. We have received very, very good reviews with high points in all the magazines so far. (Metal Hammer 6/7, Rock Hard 9/10). We have already done some shows with the new material - especially two album-presentations. One in Hamburg at the Headbangers Ballroom and one in Cologne, which is our hometown. Man what else can I say... that roxx!!! The audience partied with us from the first song till the last. We're very pleased that our fans like our new material.
What do you expect from the album and what do you want to accomplish with your music?
Well, it's the 3rd album for Gun Barrel now and it seems that people who listen to our music (even though it is better to experience live) really like our metal rock n' roll style. So, all we can do right now is to go out and let the music do the talking. We hope that "Bombard Your Soul" will bring us to some new areas and gain us some more listeners.
When you started out to write the music for "Bombard Your Soul", what did you then want to accomplish?
We just want to make the best music we can. We didn't have a big plan that we followed when we wrote the music, it all just happened as it did. I mean, we're writing lots of parts or songs, as we then select the best of... and that's it. We wanted the album to sound like it does, due that is how we sound and feel in this exact moment.
Do you feel you accomplished that?
Yes, we think so. With this album Gun Barrel made the next step, into a good direction.
What do you want to tell with your music?
This is very simple... we have a lot of fun in doing what we're doing and we want to bring this to the fans too. Lyrics are important - that's true, but if somebody just wants to enjoy our music for what it is - that's alright as well.
Do your lyrics contain messages that you want to tell?
Messages? Yes… or no... I would have named the album "...Talking About..." because there are many different themes on the album. Some of the songs are made to think about and others are just plain fun.
Which lyrical themes are touched on the new album?
The "Bombard Your Soul" album got a little frame… It's starting up with the mail to the devil, in the middle of this album you've got the lights and shadows and it's ending up with a prayer to mr. god.
If you feel like it, you are very welcome to go through the album track by track, and tell a bit about the lyrics and music on each, that will be a real honor for us here!!!
'Begging For The Awakening': This intro was created out of the song 'Fearing The Fear Of My Fears' - this is how it got the title... Very orchestral and great dynamics. We start every concert with it.
'Dear Mr. Devil': It's about the mail to the devil. We in Gun Barrel with all our fans are giving him a bargain because of the way we are, dirty, mean, motherfucking rock n' rollers... We are really the best deal for his place called hell.
'Down And Dirty':... Is a real but very sad story about two lovely persons I know. She was married but in love with another guy and they met each other every Friday night at a rock club in Koblenz(Germany) called "Dreams". They always tried to keep their situation a secret and with this song I wanted to show them that I knew... But there wasn't the time to do so, because they both died during the recordings of this song. God bless them!
'Fearing The Fear Of My Fears':... Describes the situation when you really are in fear. Fear got so many faces. Every one of us will meet this in many different situations during life. And this song displays my feelings about it.
'The Fallen One'... Are my thoughts and my feelings about those suckers who think you're a fool or looser if you got long hair, wearing leather and listen to the noise we call heavy metal. And if I'm a fallen one in their eyes - then I've done everything right, because we're proud about how we are, we have a lot of fun with this life, which they'll never have.
'Lights And Shadows':... Every day you have to decide so many things in life. Sometimes it's hard and sometimes easier. Some will lead you into a better future and some not. And the big question you sometimes ask yourself is: "What would be different in your life, if you had chosen another path?"... To the lights... or to the shadows?
'Dive Into The Flame':... When you know you can do something - do it and don't care about what anybody else thinks about it. When you believe in what you're doing, then you know what to do… Dive into the flame and it won't hurt you.
'Bombard Your Soul': The title track of the album and the opener at our shows, is telling about how we love to play our music live and want to have a great time together with the audience night by night.
'Bloody Pretender': I really hate these kind of people. Somehow they are not real. They are mostly only interested in themselves and don't care about any others lives, talking bullshit the whole day long and don't have any respect... Fucking egomaniacs!
'On The Road Again': Yes it is good to be back with new and good metal stuff, and to travel around again, maybe to bring Gun Barrel to your place as well.
'I'm Alive':.. Even after a bad time... it's getting better every day. And the main thing is... I'm still alive. Everybody have to think about this: "You are very rich - because you are alive".
'...Is You': Yes I'm a believer. But there was a very heavy time for me when my parents passed away. The same feeling occurs when some of my family as well as some of the good persons in my life passes away. Then I was coming to that point again and again. I want to believe...But?... And then I wrote this song.
Where is the inspiration for the lyrics found?
In my life… Living is inspiration.
The music you deliver is straight ahead heavy metal with a good and healthy dose of rock n' roll, how did it end up like that?
Our music is the face of our feelings. Sometimes simple but true. We're writing the songs together and every Gun Barrel maniac has influence by creating the music. Melodic metal and rock n' roll - We think that's a good mixture.
Where do you find inspiration when the music is written?
Look around you – you can find it everywhere. If you're in a good or bad mood – more or less anything works - take your instrument or your voice and try to describe your feelings in the moment. That's more or less it.
Can you pull out 3 bands and 3 songs that have meant a lot to you and the way you make/play music?
Judas Priest 'Screaming For Vengeance', Iron Maiden 'The Trooper' and Queensrÿche 'Operation:Mindcrime'.
Are you going to embark on some heavy touring in support of the new album, and how does it look with a visit or many in Scandinavia?
We are planning it right now, but at this point we can't say anything about it, because we don't know which band we are going to play with. It's not sure yet, sorry. But we would love to come over to Scandinavia to kick some ass!!!
How do you look upon the future of Gun Barrel?
Excited! With the new album everything has started up in a very good way. We want to do a lot of shows and festivals in 2006 and are planning to release our 4th album in the end of next year.
Will you share your 5 all time favourite albums with our readers?
Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
Def Leppard - Hysteria
Queensrÿche – Operation: Mindcrime
Kiss – Alive 2
Guns N' Roses – Appetite For Destruction
Thanks a lot for answering my questions, if you have anything to add, feel free to do it now!
Thank you... I had a lot of fun with your questions. Hope to see you somewhere on this planet before, during or after a live-show.
Gun Barrel website
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