13/06/2006

Samir: Hi! Thanks for talking to us. How's everything with the band?


-Hello samir!!! Eversthing is fine, we are very busy with the promotion of our new album and the reviews and reactions are really great!!!

Samir: Ok! Do an introduction to Tankard's history!

-Tankard was formed in 82 and we know each other all from school. In 1984 we recorded our first demo “heavy metal vanguard”, in 1985 “alcholic metal”. After sending this demo to several record companies we signed a contract with noise records and brought out our debut zombie attack in 1986! For the rest of the biography please check out our homepage www.tankard.org!

Samir: How did you arrive at that first "Tankard" album line-up?

-As I told you we all know eachother from school. Axel and frank decided to start the band. In the beginning I was supposed to play bass and frank to sing, but then we changed, a wise decision!

Samir: Which of the "Tankard" albums is the most special to you and why?


-Of course “zombie attack”, because it was our very first release!!! It was something special to keep your very first album in your own hands!!!!!

Samir: "Tankard" are not the only band to reform recently. Just about everywhere you look metal bands from the '80s are getting back together to go on tour and release new material. What are your views on that?

-It´s great that thrash metal is coming back a little bit!!!! Every band can reunite, it´s not to me to comment this, we stay here since 24 years and play the same kind of music, we never gave up and keep on going as long as we have fun!

Samir: The world is a different place now than when a lot of these bands originally started out. As I said, I was first introduced to "Tankard" through tape trading in the early '80s, but now we have the world wide web for discovering new bands. What are your views on the internet and its effect on the music scene?

-On the one hand it`s great for the bands to present their music, you can reach people in the whole wirld, on the other hand you damage especially little bands by illegal downloads!!!!!

Samir: How far do you see "Tankard" going this time around?

-We still here, and especially with our last three albums the success came back, the reactions were quite good, and the promoters want to book us! So we are really looking forward for our 25th birthday next year!

Samir: What have the media and fans to say about your album "B-Day(2002)" and do you remember how many gigs did you do on that album?


-The reactions were quite good, this was really a big step comparing the last album “kings of beer” and we played 20-30 shows to promote this album!

Samir: Where was that first show?

-Our really first show we played in may 83 during a fest of our school. We played in a classroom and put the beer into milk bottles because of the teachers……..hahahahaha!

Samir: Let's talk about your songwriting .what's the kinds of your lyrics?

-We always try to do a mixture af funny stuff and serious lyrics! But first of all tankard is band who combinates thrash metal with a lot of fun. We have a lot of fun to play that kind of music and we don`t take ourselfes too seriously!!!!

Samir: Do the members of the band play in other projects? Or is Tankard your only and main goal?

-Our guitar player andy joins the band lightmare, for the other band memebers is tankard the only and one goal!

Samir: What have been some of your best memories with the band?

-Our trips to foreign contries like japan, turkey, greece, etc……..it´s really fgreat to learn to know new countries, meet all the metal fans and have a good time together with them! And of course to taste new beer……………………………

Samir: My favorite Albums are "The Tankard(1995)" and 'Stone Cold Sober(1992)'. Which ones do you prefer and why?

-Zombie attack because it is the vevery first, the tankard because it is the best one in a musically way and of course “the beauty and the beer” the new one because I´m still really involved in it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Samir: What was the favorite band you toured with?

-A really tour we did with sodom, but we already played on festivals together with bands like slayer, motörhead, kreator, etc.

Samir: Can you imagine a life after Tankard? Can you imagine to stop Tankard one day?

-No, not really, I want to keep on going until I drop hahahahaha………………….

Samir: Do you follow the evolution of the Thrash Metal scene nowadays ?

-I´m still a big metal and thrash fan, buy a lot of records and dvds, read the monthly metal magazines and go often to concerts, so I´m good informed and join it really to be a part of the big metal community!

Samir: What is your musical background? Your personal influences?

-We all were grown up with the new wave of british heavy metal and did listen to bands like iron maiden, judas priest, motörhead, etc. later on the first metallica, exciter came out and we really felt in love with that kind of metal!!!!!!!!

Samir: What are your future plans? Future touring projects, next releases etc...

-First of all we gonna play live as lot as we can, next year we gonna celebrate our 25th birthday, therefore we will bring out a double-cd, on the first one we gonna records some old songs with a new modern sound, the second cd will be a tribute, we asked already a lot of bands to join this tribute!

Samir: Can you tell me more about "Two Faced(1994)"? What is your feeling about it?



- I still like this album we brought out in a time thrash was not that popular anymore but we didn`t change the style…………we still play nation over nation live, two-faced is also a great classic tankard song!

Samir: What would you like to say to your morocain fans ?

-Thanx for all your support in the last 24 years!!!! We really would love to your conuntry to play and party together with you! Cheers!

Samir: Thank you very much for precious time, last words are yours !

-Thanx for your time and support, heavy metal will never die!!!!!!!


Members:

Andreas "Gerre" Geremia (Vocals)
Frank Thorwarth (Bass)
Andy Gutjahr (Guitar)
Olaf Zissel (Drums)

Albums :

Heavy Metal Vanguard Demo 1984
Alcoholic Metal 1985
Zombie Attack 1986
Chemical Invasion 1987
Celtic Frost / Tankard Split 1988
The Morning After 1988
Hair of The Dog Best of/Compilation, 1989
Alien 1989
Open All Night Video/VHS, 1990
Doomsday News III - Thrashing East Live 1990
The Meaning of Life 1990
Fat, Ugly and Live Live album 1991
Stone Cold Sober 1992
Stone Cold Sober 1992
Ich Brauch Meinen Suff 1993
Two Faced 1994
The Tankard 1995
Disco Destroyer 1998
Kings of Beer 2000 [
B-Day 2002
Beast Of Bourbon 2004
Fat, Ugly And Still (A)Live DVD, 2005
The Beauty And The Beer 2006

Links :

www.tankard.org