Една вечер на Metal Hangar 18 с KAMELOT

Shortly after their show at the Kavarna Rock Festival, Thomas Youngblood, Tommy Karevik and Oliver Palotai said a word or two to Metal Hangar 18.

Metal Hangar 18: Hi and welcome back to Kavarna. How do you feel three years later back at this festival?
Thomas Youngblood:Thanks, we are fine and glad to play again here in Bulgaria.

Metal Hangar 18: Do you remember your last participation in Kavarna Rock 2012? For Tommy it was third appearance in front of the fans of KAMELOT.
Tommy Karevik: Of course I remember it. It was great experience!

Metal Hangar 18: Do you think then the fans welcomed Tommy as a new vocalist well?
Tommy Karevik: Yes I think so, I felt good and confident, the audience was amazing, knew the songs and supported me. But today there were much more fans than back in 2012 and the feeling was even more awesome!
Thomas Youngblood: Yes, I definitely remember our last participation in Kavarna Rock, the audience was quite impressive, but today it was even more exciting. There were probably twice as much fans than back in 2012. I also remember our first show in Sofia in 2008. I was very impressed by the emotional audience.

Metal Hangar 18: Do you have favourite locations where you prefer to play?
Thomas Youngblood: I like to perform in different locations and in new places. It’s always pleasant to see you have fans everywhere, but honestly I like to play in Japan, the audience is special there.

Metal Hangar 18: Let’s talk about the new album. What isnpired you and is there a special message?
Thomas Youngblood: „Haven„is inspired by the modern world, the technologies and what they cause to the earth, the nature and the people. „Haven“ is strongly influenced by movies like „Gattaca„, „The Island“ and „Logan’s Run„.

Metal Hangar 18: Did you expect the album to become so successful? Are you surprised?
Thomas Youngblood: This is a difficult one. If I say we did not expect such success, this would mean we were disappointed by our own work and we thought that we could have done better. If I say we definitely expected this result, this would mean I am too self-confident. We worked really hard and created a good album. „Haven“ hit №1 in Billboard Hard Rock Charts and that is a fact which says enough for the quality of the work.

Metal Hangar 18: Can you compare „Silverthorn„and „Haven?. How are they different to you and how do you think are they different to the fans?
Thomas Youngblood: The albums are quite different in fact. The fans should answer this question.

Metal Hangar 18: You use a lot of guest female vocals in your albums. Do you consider to take a female vocalist on a permanent basis?
Thomas Youngblood: No, I don’t see point in this so far. We prefer to continue working with guest vocals as before. After all, Kamelot has always been and will always remain a boy band!

Metal Hangar 18:During the last years you have been touring more intensely. How do you manage to deal with it?
Thomas Youngblood: There are bands which spend like 260 day a year on the road. We try to tour within 4 months total per year. That is the way to achieve a healthy balance between work and rest.

Metal Hangar 18: Now I would like to ask something Oliver. Less than two years ago Simone Simons and you became parents. How do you manage to deal with your professional engagements and the time to spend with little Vincent?
Oliver Palotai: We always try to arrange our professional engagements in a way that either one of us to be at home with Vincent. We all try to find the balance between personal life and work. I am not the type of a musician which likes the long tours without rest. I and Simone practically spend more time with our son than the average parents who in the morning leave the kids at the kindergarden and pick them back in the evening after daily job.

Metal Hangar 18: Does Vincent leave you time to create new music material?
Oliver Palotai: Yes of course. He inspires me. I can just look at him and after that I can continue to work.

Metal Hangar 18: Oliver, where do you find your inspiration for new materials?
Oliver Palotai: I can say the classic music inspires me. I have already mentioned a lot of times I am not the typical rock hero. I would say I am more classical musician. I did not start playing rock and metal from the beginning, I am much more the typical orchestra guy.

Metal Hangar 18: Thomas, which one of your albums is more special for you?
Thomas Youngblood: Definitely: „Karma„. I was going through a special emocional period with a lot of problems during the time when „Karma“ was created. This left a specific mark upon the music and the album.

Metal Hangar 18: Speaking about this album I cannot help myself asking you something. Whose was the idea to to embed a motif from Edward Grieg work in „Forever„?
Thomas Youngblood: It was Roy Khan’s idea.

Metal Hangar 18: Do you keep in touch with him? Did you receive any feedback from him for the new material you have created with Tommy Karevik?
Thomas Youngblood: No, no I don’t talk about the old stuff, about the old days. I live in the present, not in the past. Five years have
already passed…

Metal Hangar 18: Did Tommy bring fresh blood to the fanbase?
Thomas Youngblood: Yes, definately. I think he can make a connection between the new material we create and the new fans. He tries new techniques and our music reaches new people. This is actually great!

Metal Hangar 18: Tommy, do you have a favourite song from the Roy Khan era which you enjoy to perform live?
Tommy Karevik: I like very much „Center of the Universe„. The lyrics are great and the mood it has….. It just suits me as vocal performance and reminds of the things I do with Seveth Wonder.

Metal Hangar 18: And what about the songs you have written with Kamelot?
Tommy Karevik: It would definitely be „Song for Jolee„.

Metal Hangar 18: I expected to hear it today…
Tommy Karevik: There is no way to include all the songs. This is a festival after all.

Metal Hangar 18: I would like to ask you something abouth the lyrics of „Sacrimony„. You use one very specific word there „nebula“.
Tommy Karevik: Yes, this is the exact word which I wanted to use. For me it is related to the inner space of a man. It describes something which is homogeneous and in the same time controversial, something compact and in the same time big, as a cloud, as an inner universe, something without edges and without form… This is the exact word, it is in the lyrics for a purpose.

Metal Hangar 18: Did your professional schedule change a lot after you joined KAMELOT?
Tommy Karevik: Yes the schedule is more tight. And as you know except for my work with KAMELOT I spend time for my other two projects.

Metal Hangar 18: And what about your personal life? Was it affected?
Tommy Karevik: Of course it was affected, everything needs time. In one moment in your life you should decide what you reaaly want to do, what is important to you. And you need to make up your mind which one to choose…

Metal Hangar 18: This is the third visit of KAMELOT in Bulgaria but you still haven’t had a headliner show here with Tommy. Do you plan to visit us again with alonger setlist of songs?
Tommy Karevik: It would be a pleasure to sing in front of this audience as a headliner. I hope that we shall be able to make it.
Thomas Youngblood: This autumn starts our European tour that passes through countries from Eastern Europe – Poland, Hungary and Czech Rebuplic. I don’t know if we would be able to visit Bulgaria again this year. After all we have already played here, even at a summer festival. But what we saw today impressed us very much – all these emotional and dedicated fans were amazing! We should defiintely consider the possibility to visit Bulgaria again, as headliners with a longer setlist.

Metal Hangar 18: Thank you for your time. We hope to see back in Bulgaria again.