Warfield – Johannes and Dominik Interview 

Interview By Smudge

German old school thrashers Warfield are due to release their latest album on March 28^th through Napalm Records. It’s been 7 years since their last effort ‘Wrecking Command’ which was their first as a trio. I got the chance to speak with singer/bass player Johannes and drummer Dominik over a crystal-clear zoom link. First up I wanted to know what took them so long.. 

J – 10 years. 10 years, yeah, that’s a long time. Are we just lazy or…? No, no, no. I would defend ourselves, because, it’s obviously too long, of course. 

The reason is kind of a mixture between personal, private job stuff. We all did our exams in this time and found new jobs. And also in the band, you know, I started to play the bass live in 2018, was all in this time. 

D – And then the whole process of recording, you know, we basically had to start from scratch, because on the first record was a friend of ours who recorded it in his home studio. But for us, it was sure that we want to, take a step up and go to like a real studio and take more from the sound, more possibilities. And then we had to search a studio for the drums, for the guitars and check how we can finance it. 

J – It’s not that easy as well. And then the songs pretty much were written during the pandemic. So they have been waiting for some time. 

And then after recording, the search for the label started. So this took some time. And then, you know, Napalm Records, they don’t stop and say, all right, Warfield, we’re going to release your album right now. They have their own plans.  

The band started as a quartet then grew to a quintet but since 2018 they have been a trio. So, what happened to the rest of them? 

D – Back in 2009, we started as this three piece. We knew each other since elementary school.  Jojo and I, and yeah, as Matze (Matthias – guitar) and Jojo are brothers. Jojo tried his hand at singing back in the day so that we could share this dream we have together to just create our own band. 

J – And then in 2012, Warfield was founded.  

D – And there actually was a four piece, then five piece. And then due to time issues and personal stuff, two of the band members said, okay, they don’t want to do this anymore or can’t do this anymore. And then over the years from 2016 to 18, I think it was, we had a live bass player. But he also had one or two other bands he had to manage. And then, yeah, during the rec and comment process and album recordings, Jojo took over, like he said, on the bass. 

And we just turned back to the original three piece. And we just figured out that it works out just fine. So we played the shows as a three piece and nobody came afterwards and said, okay, there’s something missing. Where’s the second guitar? Or there’s energy left on the floor. So, we said, okay, this just works out fine. So, we do not aggressively look for another guitar player or something like that. 

Maybe someday in the future, if it’s the right person, we are not intending to move forward as a three piece. If it’s the right one, maybe we compare as a four piece again. But for the moment, due to the fact that we know each other so long, it’s a little bit less stress for us three and time finding, because we all live in the same village and stuff like that. 

Yeah, so for the moment, it just works out fine. And the record and live shows, nothing is missing. So I think everyone is fine with it. 

More room in the van and more money. 

 I hear a massive amount of Sodom in your sound. And that’s no bad thing because I absolutely adore Sodom. You mentioned that you’ve known each other since elementary school, and you still live in the same village. Where are we talking?  

J – It’s southwest of Germany. If you know Kaiserslautern, maybe you know the football club. I think it’s the only reason you know Kaiserslautern at all. So, we live like 10 minutes away from Kaiserslautern, in a small village. we still live there. We have all moved away for a short time, but only just to find that it wasn’t right. And we moved back. 

Do the rest of the village know what you do?  

J – Yeah, I think so. I think they know what we do, yeah. 

Good, as long as you’ve got that support. So tell me about the album.  

I think we tried a lot of new things on the new record. So ‘Wrecking Command’ is like, the name says, just 10 songs full of in-your-face thrash without the time for taking breath between the songs. 

D – I think the new record is more clearly worked out. A lot of new elements like gang shouts or even seven-minute epics, like the song ‘Gasp’, with a lot of different parts. Yeah, these were a few things we tried to figure out if it works, and it felt natural the way it was appearing in the rehearsal room. 

But overall, I think we still have the same energy and aggressiveness in the sound, in the songs, like a lot of typical thrash parts where you can freak out and just let the energy all out when listening to the songs. Tthere are a lot of more variations in the songwriting. 

So, I think it’s one step up to Wrecking Command, sound-wise and lyric-wise and songwriting-wise. Lyrically, there’s more depth. It’s a stronger focus on the inner lives of the soldiers or the characters we’re telling about. The experiences, the impacts or aftermaths of the experiences of the characters take a lot more focus. So, these approaches presented a new challenge, but hopefully we just made it well. 

Who writes the material? Do you all contribute?  

Yeah, it always starts with the riff from Matthias. It’s the flesh of the song, of each song. And he comes up with ideas for, arrangements and drums, what he imagines what the song could sound like, it’s hard to write a riff without writing a song, you know. 

So, of course, he always thinks ahead of what we could do with the drums and so on. But it’s always put together in the rehearsal room and we all, participate in the same way. And we say what we think the song needs at this point and at this point. 

And then, it’s basically the riff. Then the drums, I put my bassline underneath it or between it maybe. And the vocals come, as we figured out, for us it works best at the very end. 

Because we use the vocals as, like, another rhythm instrument. So, it’s easier when the riff and the song is already standing and you can, like, put in the words and then fill them with meaning, you know. It’s more like syllables without words and then afterwards the words come in. 

How do you write in a second language?  

J – Good question. I think I write, how do I write? I think I write, I try to think in English and write in English. 

So, I don’t write the text in German and then translate it. I write in English with the computer and multiple, like, translators. Google Translate. 

Then I have my little what rhymes with what website. So, these tools work pretty fine for me. So, sometimes we rhyme, sometimes we don’t, but I like it if it rhymes. 

And, yeah, and to be honest, it’s also a huge factor that the words sound cool. So, this is not only the word should be what I want to say, but it also, you know, if there’s a Y in it or, you know, an X, it automatically sounds cool. So, I look for these words, of course, specifically. 

I asked Doro the same question and because she couldn’t speak English at all when she first started Warlock. And then she moved to New York and then she started writing in English once she started to dream in English. 

Oh, right.  

Do you dream in English now?  

No, no. No, no, no. 

So, would you consider this a concept album then?  

D – No, I wouldn’t go to say that it’s a concept album. The songs are probably, just going in the same direction. It’s more focused on the inner lives or the inner emotions of yourself, like in songs ‘Melting Mass’ or ‘Tie the Rope’. 

It’s more a description of how we look at the world and can, yeah, take out of our personal lives or experiences. It’s not everything about the small things. But, of course, a lot of them. 

So, who produced it? Did you produce it yourself?  

J – No, it was produced by Phil Hillen, is the guy’s name, from SU2 Studios. Hh did the drums and vocal recordings and the final master and mixing. And the second guy is called Karsten Aurig from DAG1 Studio. There we recorded the guitar and bass. Due to time issues, we had to split this up. We are really grateful we worked that way because both are great characters. They just gave us their kind of view and input and made a lot of ideas and stuff like this. It was a really funny and great time. 

So, once you’ve got the bare bones of the song, how do you know it’s finished?  

D – Another good question. Maybe the song ‘Gasp’ goes on forever. So,it’s not a rehearsal room, we wanted to start a little bit slower. And then, at four or five minutes, we said, OK, it would be pretty nice if the song allows us to do something like the bass and drum outro we did. And it just felt natural in the way of just putting it together in the rehearsal room. It just fits to the song, to the atmosphere. It’s comparable to Bolthrower’s ‘When Cannons Fade’. I wanted to do a thing like that. Not on the second album, but someday. So now it turned out to be on the second album. Just because the song allowed this. Because over six minutes, we said, OK, if it goes six or seven minutes, it doesn’t matter anymore, so let’s do it. 

So did you record the album and then shop it around or did you sign the deal with Napalm first?  

J – The album was recorded, mixed and mastered and the artwork was finished. So, it was completely finished as we offered it to Napalm. So, the album was done. 

And then the last part, because we were really involved in the whole sound finding and mixing and mastering process. It wasn’t like, OK, now we have time, and we look for a label. We were invested in it. 

And then we had to look afterwards to find a label that fits with the bands which are on the label. And then also it has to, for us it was important to like on a human level that it fits as well. So, yeah, we sent the finished product to every label that we thought could fit. Napalm liked it pretty much. And this is how it happened.  

And is it just a deal for one album or have they signed you up for a couple? Or can’t you say? 

J – It’s, I don’t know if we’re allowed to say. That’s a good question actually. No, I think they have like options. For a newcomer band, of course, it’s our first major label contract. And so, I think it’s normal that the band, the label like has the option to see how the sales go and so on and then decide what to do in the future, which is fine for us.  

are you always writing? Is it always an ongoing process or do you set aside the time?  

J-  I would say we are setting like time. So, it’s not in a moment. We have very much to do actually with the whole release. And since we’re only three people, sometimes it’s a good thing and sometimes it’s not that good because we’re only three people and we have to do it all by ourselves. And so, I think Matthias also already has a couple of riffs. I think he didn’t show them all to us yet, but there will be time and place for that. 

D – And I think we’re like, after this album is released and the whole release cycle is through, I think we’ll put an alarm in the calendar and say, OK, let’s write. Let’s go. Don’t take another seven years. 

Will there be a tour? 

D – Yeah, there are a few shows. So, the next thing that will be in the future is our release show. It’s on this Friday, we are really looking forward to this because we almost play the whole album live for the first time, which is really exciting. I want to see how the new songs figure out and how the audience is reacting to the songs, to new songs and how they fit into our new set. And with the old songs, that’s really going to be great to see how this works out. And then hopefully we are going on a nightliner tour this year to spread the album across all lands. So there are things in the making, but nothing we can talk about right now. Hopefully, that definitely would be a teenage dream come true for all of us three. And yeah, so maybe we come around your area and can play the new record as well. So hopefully someday this year it will happen. But there are a few more gigs you can read on our website, but it’s just for now only in Germany.  

What songs are you looking forward to playing live?  

J – Basically, every song, but to be more specific, it’s funny because some songs are hard for me to play, which aren’t hard to play for the other guys and the other way around. So, when we rehearse and we start off, we’re like, okay, can we play this song? And two of us say yes, and the other one says no. It’s the same. I’m especially looking forward to the album opener ‘Melting Mass’ because it kicks the whole thing off and we haven’t played this live at all. And of course, the title track. Those are going to be the two songs which I’m most excited for the audience reaction because I want to know how they like the songs. I hope when the album is out, finally the people just internalize the chorus, that they maybe scream it through during the shows. So I think that would be pretty cool.  

D – ‘Repetitive Aggression’ is the most difficult song for me, so these double bass parts kill me every time.  

a question for you, Dominik. How do you cope with playing at that speed for however long your set is? 45 minutes, an hour? I mean, you must be Olympic fit? 

D – I don’t know exactly what I did in the past. Besides sitting for hours in the rehearsal room and just going left foot, right foot, up and down, up and down for hours. So, this had a lot of impact on me to do this in my youth or teenage years. But after the pandemic, when it was not that easy to rehearse all the time, I felt that it was even more difficult to get on this level where I wanted to play. I am very grateful that there has to be some muscle memory. When I just do it over and over again for, I don’t know, two or three weeks, it just comes back to this level. So I’m blessed that I can go back, came back to this form. But yeah, you have to do things like jogging or running in the forest or something. This really helps to keep your feet going a little bit better. It worked out for the recordings. And so hopefully it will be live when we play new songs as well.  

Now, Johannes, how do you cope with the vocals? Because they’re pretty raw, aren’t they?  

J – Actually, I don’t have much trouble with the vocals after the gig. For example, we also play sometimes in an Iron Maiden cover band, and then I do the singing as well. And for my voice, that’s more challenging. And I feel it’s more punishing for the voice than this style. I don’t know why, but it feels natural to sing the Warfield vocal style. And of course, it’s demanding, especially with breathing. That’s the main thing. It’s not that the voice is gone, but the air is gone. Yeah, but to be honest, we’ll have to see what happens if we’re on tour like two weeks in a row. We didn’t experience that as well. 

So I think it’s going to be a learning process on how much power you give each night, because you want to be on 100% each night, so you can’t go like 300% each night. I think it’s not possible. It’s going to be exciting to figure this out. I hope I don’t have that many problems with it.  

 I looked on your website earlier, and there’s little bits and pieces that you’ve put on there about what you like doing, like your favourite films and beer. 

J – Yeah, yeah, yeah. Really important.  

Why don’t you like Guinness Dominik? 

D – I don’t know. I just don’t like it. It just doesn’t taste good to me. 

You all love Iron Maiden, though. You’ve all said that your favourite albums are on Iron Maiden, but they’re all different. Is there anybody that we wouldn’t expect as an influence?  

J – That’s a good question. I think we listen to pretty much all kinds of music that makes us feel something. I think it’s normal that in teenage years you go through a phase where everything besides metal is not cool and it’s not real music. But then after a couple of years you make up your mind and you say, you know, the genre, which type of music, it doesn’t matter at all. If it makes you feel something, it’s good music. For me, good music is something else than for anybody else. It’s personal. What do you don’t expect? Good question. Do you know First Aid Kit? I would say maybe this is my pick. I don’t expect a thrash metal singer to like them, but I really much like them. It’s awesome music to me. 

What about you, Dominik?  

D- I would mention bands like hardcore genre, like Turnstile or stuff like this. Not on the songwriting level, but on the way the energy goes from the album to your ears and makes something with you. I think that we’re all big fans of this band. Looking at the live shows they give, I think that’s a huge inspiration for what to do for your own self on stage. In the drumming style, I would mention John Maher from the Buzzcocks. Back in the day, in the 70s. 

I think the punk drummers were also a huge influence for thrash metal in general, but especially for me too. When you listen closely at the ending of ‘Gasp’, the drum part is a, I have to give the credit to John Maher here, it’s a slowed down version from the drum fill during the main verse of ‘Ever Fallen In Love’ from the Buzzcocks. They play this snare and tom-tom style. That’s so pretty fucking cool that I said, this works out great, slowed down for the song ‘Gasp’. 

My time came to an end and both Johannes and Domink promised that they wouldn’t leave it so long next time.