The new Tankard album is on its way... Needless to say, I am pretty excited about it, so I've decided to send in my questions. Olaf Zissel (drums) was cool enough and answered them super quick. Now read on all the latest Tankard news from Olaf's perspective!!!
Hello Olaf! I guess all the diehard maniacs of Tankard are very pleased about the fact your new record "Pavlov's Dawgs" will be out 30th of September and that the band is turning 40 this year. How do you personally feel about both?
- Hello all. The new release is far away from routine as you all know that we had two years of starving for getting our lives back. So we are happy that we made it one more time and can't wait to roll out the new one.
Back in the early days I couldn't imagine doing thrash metal till the age of 30, but now I'm 54 and still do this. But it's still fun and also the band's 40th anniversary results in doing it seriously, but don't forget to have fun with it.
This album will mark your debut at Reaper Entertainment. What kind of deal you inked with them? What was wrong with Nuclear Blast?
- We've had a long time working with Blast, but shortly after the company was sold, all of our contact persons were gone and so we decided to rejoin them at Reaper. There wasn't anything wrong at Blast, but the changes went too big for us old farts. I think we did the best we could in this situation and so we luckily have the same people around as before the change.
"Beerbarians", the first single from the upcoming record, premiered on the 1st of July. It brings the typical, humor-filled Tankard style at its best! How would you describe the other 9 songs of the album? Topics-wise, what have you been touching this time?
- Hard for me to go, because at the time I recorded the new stuff most of the lyrics weren't finished and so I only got Gerre's "Phantom Lyrics" on the headphone. These are usually total nonsense. But I give it a try to copy some of the prepared notes translated by google (sorry, would take me too long and leads me to my English limits).
"Pavlov's Dawg" – Around the turn of the 20th century, Petrovich Pavlov found out that salivation in dogs can be triggered simply by ringing a bell if it has been rung regularly before feeding. He called this process conditioning. The song is about a person being conditioned. Hearing a beer bottle open gets the person in the party mood and tipsy. He thinks this is great until the effect shifts, the party stage is skipped, and the sound of a bottle opening gives him an instant hangover. As is typical for Tankard, the text should not be taken too seriously. A funny play on words is the consonance of "dawg", which means "dude" or "guy", and "dog". It equates humans with dogs and provocatively implies that humans, with all their evolutionary-biological arrogance, do not function any differently than "simple" animals.
"Diary of a Nihilist" – A goth is fed up with his negative attitude towards the world, because the world and society far outweighs his badness. So he discards his nihilism and becomes a faithful churchgoer.
"On the Day I Die" – You find out that you only have one more day to live, who do you still have to confess your love to, what horny shit can you still experience and which goals and wishes may never come true? Do not lose hope and dignity in the face of the inevitable end, and accept death for what it is: an ending that says an eventful life preceded it.
"Beerbarians" – There are serious anthropologists and historians who assume that brewing beer was one of the decisive engines of civilizational progress. It is claimed that many scientific developments are due to the desire for improved brewing technology and thus better and more consistent beer quality. These include agriculture and irrigation technology, road construction and transport, etc.
The new album was recorded together with producer Martin Buchwalter at Gernhard Studio in Troisdorf. Your cooperation with Martin started at the recordings of "One Foot in the Grave" in 2017. How was it to work with him this time? Are there any funny studio stories to tell? How long did it take for you to complete the material for "Pavlov's Dawgs"?
- Martin is a nice guy and his studio is just a two-hour drive away. There is an Irish Pub across the street, but at this time the city still had some lockdown rules and so I had to wear a facemask while crossing the road. Once I reached the pub I started to clean the fog off from my glasses before grabbing the mask off. So the people in the pub started to call me the masked drummer...
The cover artworks for both the album and the single were painted by Patrick Strogulski. Nice jobs again! Was it totally Patrick's vision of what these covers should look like or you gave him an exact guide on both?
- I can't give you a serious answer to this. I simply do not know.
You've joined Tankard in 1994 and your first record with the band was "The Tankard" album in 1995. How do you remember the start of your career in Tankard? Did you ever think you'll stay with them for so long?
- The guys just finished the "Two-Faced" album and asked me to play the tour in march 1994, because they kicked Arnulf out of the band. I told them that it would be cool, but I'm on a European tour with Killrays. A few weeks later this tour was postponed for reasons I don't remember and I asked Tankard if they are still looking for a drummer for this tour. That's it. Played 17 shows in a row, returned home for two days and did another two weeks on the road with Killrays. This was the first time I got paid for what I'm loving to do (not the Killrays tour for sure). That's how I joined the bunch.
What kind of gear did you use for the recordings of "Pavlov's Dawgs". I mean the drums, cymbals, pedals, drumsticks, etc. Does it differ a lot from what you are using at your rehearsal room? By the way, when did you start playing the drums and what bands/musicians influenced you to do so?
- Nothing special. Usually I use a Mapex Falcon double pedal and/or a DW 5000. Vic Firth EX5B sticks. Drums are Mapex Saturn 22", 12", 16" and a small set of cymbals with different brands and on stage it is a Mapex Machete snare drum, but I don't remember if we used it at the recordings or not. Tried a few, but they all looked the same and the Irish pub was close.
In a few days, more precisely on 16th of July you are finally going to play at Obscene Extreme Festival in the Czech Republic. You've been announced for the 2020 edition of the festival, but for obvious reasons it didn't happen. That is definitely the sickest extreme music festival on the planet. Are you prepared for the surprise? How many and which songs are you planning to play there?
- I guess that we are not the headliner, so we have 45 or 60 minutes to perform and so we dig out the classics and see what happens.
Your guitarist Andy besides shredding in Tankard since 1998 also known for taking part in the IronMan European Championship Frankfurt 2022. How many times has he finished this championship so far? What do you personally think about his hobby and achievements?
- As far as I know it was his second full IronMan he finished. But besides this race he does a few more with shorter distances to get in shape for the main race. Finally, he finished in 11:29 hours. That would be my time for the swimming part at first (3.8 km).
OK, please share your final thoughts for the end... and long live the Tankard.
- Good to be back in the game and have the chance to share some time with people all over the world. Cheers, Olaf
