Interview :
Interview Alex FREY du groupe DEVICIOUS (anglais)
(
DEVICIOUS
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Date de publication : 10/05/2020
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Auteur : rebel51
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Interview fait le jeudi 30 avril 2020
| Rebel 51 |
Please Alex, present us the members of the band, because I don’t have informations about the musicians : guitarist Radivoj PETROVIC, keyboardist Denis KUNZ, drummer Lars NIPPA and you of course on bass.
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| Alex FREY (DEVICIOUS) |
Hello Franck thank you for giving me the opportunity to present DEVICIOUS to your readers. The reasons why you haven’t heard of most of the band members are because I wanted to start a new band with real friends that I have known for more than 25 years.
Back in 2016 it was important to me that nobody was from the business, that everyone has a fresh mind and soul and no bad experiences in the business. Our drummer Lars, has played in a couple of bands such as CHRYZTYNE or ZAR before but other than that we were all working in studios on projects. Our guitar player Radivoj is one of the best guitar players in Europe on the classical concert guitar, his skills are beyond believe.
I have seen him playing a solo concert which was basically a 2 hours guitar solo but he didn’t only play the lead guitar, he also played the bass and the rhythm guitar while shredding a solo. This was a classical concert, people were dresses nicely but after each song they stood up and celebrated him like it was a rock concert. Completely fascinating. I had to have him in the band and it took me a few weeks to convince him.
Denis our keyboarder is completely unknown, he played in a few cover bands but we knew from the start he would be the perfect guy for us. I am writing songs for others since I was a little boy, I always wanted to stay in the background, now with DEVICIOUS I thoroughly enjoy being in the front row.
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| Rebel 51 |
Now precise me what happened with Zoran ZANDOROV (alias Mister SANDERS) who delivered great vocal prestation on the first 2 CDs, because he is not the singer on Phase Three ?
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| Alex FREY (DEVICIOUS) |
We had to split ways with Zoran 4 days after our 2nd album Reflections came out. We had a 9 city in 10 days planned but pretty much after the third show we all realized that he wouldn’t be able to sing the entire tour and we didn’t want to take further risks to damage his voice in the long run.
It was a lot of pressure for him and he wasn’t used to the life on the road. We talked to him after our show in Munich and decided to part ways.
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| Rebel 51 |
How did you meet Antonio CALANNA and how did you decide to take him in the band for the third album, Phase Three ? Thanks to give us his musical course.
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| Alex FREY (DEVICIOUS) |
Antonio found us. We posted on social media that we are looking for a new singer. We received over 200 demos and just when we decided to hire a girl from Finland, Antonio’s application came in. We instantly knew he was different than anyone else, he had a brilliant voice and of course he is very charismatic and sexy.
We sent him an instrumental from our song Long Way Home and he sent us 3 versions back and each of them was better than the original. It took us 48 hours to decide, it was the easiest and best decision we have ever made. Antonio worked for huge musical productions such as JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, ROCK OF AGES and BAT OUT OF HELL where he always had the leading role.
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| Rebel 51 |
What is the processus of composition, all the band or only one composer, precise me in a few words how the band rise such a high level in its music, with 3 great albums indeed ?
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| Alex FREY (DEVICIOUS) |
I am the main songwriter of the band, except for the songs Desire and Firefly that were co-written by Radivoj PETROVIC, I am writing the songs in my studio. Since I am also the producer I wrote each album different. Never Say Never was about the melodies and I wanted to write an easy to listen to AOR album. On Reflections I wanted a little bit more groove so I wrote it on my bass guitar with focus on the choruses.
Phase Three needed to have more power, much more power because Antonio is not only a lead singer, he is a rock ‘n’ roll performer. I haven’t seen a frontman like him in many years. Our songs needed to match the energy of this guy. So I started to develop a sound concept, with deeper bass, darker guitars and a lot more speed and pressure. Taken from there it was a walk in the park, I wrote the entire album in 2 weeks because the melodies just kept coming.
I could have easily written a double album with 24 songs but we didn’t have much time since this was our 3rd album in 3 years and we have player tours and festivals since the first album came out.
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| Rebel 51 |
I reviewed the 2 previous albums from DEVICIOUS, and listening them again, I notice that those albums are oriented AOR, with a lot of keyboards, because with Phase Three, there is a change, it’s more heavy, without losing the melodic approach of the songs of course. Can you explain this ?
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| Alex FREY (DEVICIOUS) |
As I was trying to explain earlier, Phase Three was built on a sound concept, with powerful drums, deeper bass and darker guitars. I had the feeling that the last 2 CD’s have too much focus on the keyboards, I wanted to change that fundamentally on Phase Three and I am very excited how it turned out.
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| Rebel 51 |
Is DEVICIOUS music the outcome of each musician experience and taste ? What are the bands wich inspired DEVICIOUS in general and you in particular ?
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| Alex FREY (DEVICIOUS) |
We grew up in the late 80’s and bands like SKID ROW, BON JOVI, MÖTLEY CRÜE or VAN HALEN will always be our heroes but when I write songs I only think about my vision and not other bands. Our heroes might have inspired us to learn an instrument but DEVICIOUS got their own style.
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| Rebel 51 |
I know all your tour dates have changed because of the disease. I supposed you are very impatient to hit the road. In what musical spirit is the band in these difficult times ?
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| Alex FREY (DEVICIOUS) |
We have a brand new album coming out on May 8th. Our spirits are as high as it gets, we have fantastic reviews from the press, we have an album that we love by 100% and the sales are fantastic. The Corona Pandemic has stopped our tour plans but we are all healthy and so are our families. Many people have it much worse than us, therefore we are thankful to our government that it protected us so well. Next year when hopefully everything is over, we will be back on the road.
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| Rebel 51 |
Do you intend to go on releasing an album per year, because it’s the case so far ?
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| Alex FREY (DEVICIOUS) |
Absolutely not. We had to give Antonio his own songs, there was no point having him in the band without an album but we won’t be back in the studio before end of 2021.
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| Rebel 51 |
Give us please explanations about the great front covers of all your albums ? Who is the artist behind and how did DEVICIOUS give him such inspirations ?
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| Alex FREY (DEVICIOUS) |
It’s really simple : I am doing all the cover designs, beautiful girls inspire me, there is not much of a story to tell except that people who buy Phase Three on CD will be able to see a picture story in the booklet that portrays the rise of the blonde woman from the Never say Never album how she becomes a goddess in golden armor.
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| Rebel 51 |
At last, give us your opinion about melodic rock scene in Germany, I think there are more and more bands in this genre, isn’t it and why for you ?
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| Alex FREY (DEVICIOUS) |
Since I was a teenager I loved PINK CREAM 69 and I still think they are the best band we have in Germany playing hard rock or melodic rock. The scene has many bands and many talented musicians, such as Michael BORMANN who is in my eyes the best singer in Europe but in the end of the day the scene is pretty small, otherwise it would have taken longer for us to rise up to the level where we are now.
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From left to right : Radivoj PETROVIC (guitar), Alex FREY (bass), Antonio CALANNA (vocals), Lars NIPPA (drums), Denis KUNZ (keyboards)
From left to right : Radivoj PETROVIC (guitar), Alex FREY (bass), Antonio CALANNA (vocals), Lars NIPPA (drums), Denis KUNZ (keyboards)
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From left to right : Radivoj PETROVIC (guitar), Alex FREY (bass), Antonio CALANNA (vocals), Lars NIPPA (drums), Denis KUNZ (keyboards)
From left to right : Radivoj PETROVIC (guitar), Alex FREY (bass), Antonio CALANNA (vocals), Lars NIPPA (drums), Denis KUNZ (keyboards)
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