Perhaps the most significant melodic metal band to come out of Germany in the last ten years, EDGUY have been steadily attracting new fans around the globe with each successive album. Up until recently however, they've remained largely unknown here in the UK, but thankfully, that now seems to be changing. Since their unexpected UK debut at Bloodstock a coupe of years ago, the word has started to spread on the metal grapevine, show attendances and album sales correspondingly showing a healthy increase. Now, on the eve of release of their latest, some might say greatest, album 'Rocket Ride' front man and main composer TOBY SAMMET talks candidly with DAVE COCKETT.

Originally signed to AFM in the mid 90's, Edguy built up a strong profile, which eventually culminated in the magnificent 'Mandrake' album back in 2001. Then, just as it seemed as though both band and label were heading for the big time, the announcement came that they'd parted company. "I think AFM took us as far as they could," explains Toby. "I'll always be extremely grateful for what they've done for us, but towards the end of our association with them, they just weren't as good as they were in the beginning. Back then it was mutually beneficial to both of us because everybody was working hard to promote the band, which in turn helped the profile of the label, but when the deal was coming to an end, they just weren't as reliable as they had been in the beginning. I don't want to blame them because I think we achieved a lot together … it's just that everything had grown so fast. There were a lot of things on the business side to be taken care of, and I think in the end it was really too much for them. Then Nuclear Blast came into the picture. They'd been trying to sign Edguy for nearly two years when we finally accepted their offer, but I'm sure we made the right decision because they had links and connections into markets that AFM wouldn't have had in a million years. But I look back now on our association with AFM, and I'm generally happy how things turned out … there are no bad feelings."

Without Edguy though, it could certainly be argued that AFM wouldn't be the label it is today. "Yeah, of course, I think everybody knew that," Toby acknowledges, "even the guys at AFM. Like I said, I think our partnership was one that benefited us both enormously, so there was no reason for bad feelings when we decided the time was right for us to move on to a bigger organisation like Nuclear Blast. And to be honest, they've found themselves a pretty good replacement for us with Masterplan, so I think it's worked out quite well all round."

Their AFM swansong (the aforementioned 'Mandrake') took Edguy to another level completely. I wondered if this added any undue pressure when they came to record their Nuclear Blast debut? "No, not really, " Toby shakes his head, "there's never been any real pressure because we've always enjoyed what we do so much. I mean, we take our music very seriously, we always want to give it one hundred percent, and that's what we always do. The release valve is that we don't take ourselves as individuals too seriously. We're quite aware that we're in a very lucky position, and that we shouldn't take that for granted. We're happy for anything that we've achieved, no matter what the future may bring, you know, it's quite rare for a metal band to be where we are anyway these days. So no, there was no pressure at all really, we just recorded another album ('Hellfire Club') and gave it to another record company. Maybe the thought that so many record companies had been after our signature was a big deal because of the financial implications, but we just did as we've always done, try and write the best songs we could and see where it took us."

A lesson there for all I think. "That's the only way you can work I think," shrugs Toby, "that's the only chance you have. If you've got to sit down and make up your mind as to how difficult it's gonna be to top what you did last time, then you've failed from the very first moment onwards. So you just have to be confident in your abilities and trust your instincts. The new album is a case in point. I think 'Rocket Ride' is a great album … it's not exactly the same album as 'Hellfire Club', but it was never intended to be. First of all, the most important goal was that we wanted to please ourselves, and that was the frame of mind we were in when we started working. You know, if you go there and you want to outdo another album, you will just copy it. Even if its only subconsciously, you'll just end up doing the best possible copy you can, so the real trick is to not even try."

The pace of success for Edguy, particularly in the last couple of years, seems to be on the increase. "Yeah, but it's been building for quite a while now," explains Toby. "Even when we signed for Nuclear Blast, it wasn't really like an overnight thing, generally that growth has been quite predictable from one album to the next. We seem to be getting quite a name for ourselves in the UK right now, but we've never really been a band that has grown particularly fast in any one territory. It's taken us a long time everywhere, but I think the longer it takes, the better is your stand in where you are. I mean, at least you know where you are, and how to appreciate it. You're much better equipped to defend your place if you've gotten there slowly and not by some accidental overnight success. So I don't think it's just down to Nuclear Blast that we've gotten where we are. They just took over very carefully what we had already started with AFM, and just carried on doing the same thing. In some territories with an outstanding quality, some territories were just the same quality as AFM; so it wasn't like taking off to a new league. And I'm slowly getting used to it. I've seen so many bands overtaking us, and then quickly falling by the wayside … it's a bit like the tortoise and the hare, it's taken time, but we're getting there in the end. That's how I perceive it at any rate. It's never been something overnight, something outrageously fast; it's always been a steady process, and I think that's the healthiest way of getting there."

In measurable terms, each new album seems to be more successful than the last. "Sure, and I think that's because we've been granted the time to develop and to grow," nods Toby. "So many other bands haven't been afforded that luxury …I mean, where can you go if your first album sold something like triple platinum? Where can you go? You do one or two albums that are not as successful, and then you get dropped by the label, and you will end up doing heroin or whatever, ha, ha! Of course, that's a bit drastically put, but you know what I mean. We've always got some perspective and vision, we've always got somewhere to go, and that's something I'm really happy about. You know, when you're a young musician and you see other bands overtaking you, of course you don't see anything good about it. But now I see many good things about it. I see that we have grown musically and personally in tandem with our success, slowly but surely every year."

So much so that there now seems to be some crossover into more mainstream markets with the recent 'Superheroes' EP making a healthy dent in the German singles charts. "It was in the singles charts for something like nine weeks," concedes Toby, "which is unbelievable for a Heavy Metal single or EP. I don't know if we're breaking out into more mainstream markets, it's just that sales wise, we're now in a league where we have at least one foot in the door. But it's just the figures, it's not the same kinds of fans, you know. I don't think that we're gonna get Hip Hop fans or Techno fans to buy our albums, I think it's basically still just rock and metal fans … it just seems like there are now more of them, ha, ha!"

Even so, such a high profile placing brings its own rewards in terms of national exposure on prime time TV and radio. "Agreed, but we'd already had more of that anyway with 'Hellfire Club'," Toby explains, "but back then things were slightly different to how they are now. They thought that the video was chauvinistic and things like that … what can you do? You just do your best. It's not really a question of failing, but how good you look whilst you're failing … I'm not afraid of failing, but I want to look good when I'm doing it, ha, ha!"

Even after a cursory listen, it's clear that new album 'Rocket Ride' contains the most diverse set of songs yet to come out under the Edguy name. "I think so," agrees Toby, "the whole album is the most diverse thing we've ever written, simply because we didn't set ourselves any limits. We had the self confidence to do whatever we wanted to do, because in the end it's gonna be Edguy anyway, we're still essentially the same five guys. It's us singing it, us writing it, and us playing it, so we don't have to make sure that it suits every power metal fan out there because in the end, we think it will anyway .. you just have to have that confidence and self belief. I'm a Heavy Metal fan myself, so I have to make sure that I make an album which will suit any Heavy Metal fan. It will automatically happen, because first of all I've got to be happy with it myself."

"And the rest of the band of course!," he adds laughing. "When I say I, I mean the other guys in the band as well … first we have to be happy with it. You learn that you can't always be everybody's darling all the time in this business, so you just have to hope that people will like it. And the best way to do that is to look at it from a fans perspective, because I'm a fan. I'm a fan of my own music … I'm my biggest fan, but I'm also my worst critic. After a new song is completed, I just sit down and listen to it, and after a while if I think it's good, it's good. Hopefully then other fans will think it's good too. And if I think it's shit, well, they'll probably think it's shit as well, ha, ha! You have to be your worst critic and your biggest fan yourself. That way you can guarantee that you will come up with a certain quality all the time. This time we were just not afraid of trying out new things, of adding new elements to the music. So whilst it didn't really change the quintessence of who we're about, it has added a lot of spice, and as a consequence, made the album sound much fresher."

Even as recently as 'Hellfire Club', it's doubtful the band would have had the confidence to try a song such as 'Trinidad'. "No, I think you're probably right," admits Toby. "I've got to say, both 'Fucking With Fire' and 'Trinidad' were originally planned to be just bonus tracks. But it's like always when we try to write bonus tracks, they both turned out to be so great that we though it just wouldn't be fair to limit them to the special edition version of the album. When you listen to them for the first time, some people might actually think that we've gone crazy … but in my book, that's a good enough reason to put them on there in the first place, ha, ha! Nowadays there are so many metal band who just want to play it safe, who just want to try and kiss everybody's ass and only do things that are deemed suitable for their target audience … and that's just bullshit! To me, rock music has always been about doing what you want and to hell with the consequences. When I was growing up, my heroes didn't give a shit about what the press might think, or what people who didn't like the band might say … it was all about no compromises. That's the biggest difference between now, and what it was like 25 years ago, and it's sad in a way that has been lost."

Perhaps it's that non-conformist, self-depreciating sense of humour that has helped to put Edguy in the enviable position they now enjoy? "The whole thing is just fun to do," confesses Toby, "and by looking it at in that way, it makes it a lot easier for the five of us to spend so long out on the road together, or to endure through all the not so great times we've had. The humour aspect is something that's quite important to us because it comes so naturally … it's not something that we think has to be in there. In the past we always tried to play down that side of us in our music because we thought people wouldn't take us seriously, but now we have the confidence and self-belief to put it in there because we believe the music is strong enough to speak for itself, and not be seen as a parody or anything. So now we can let that humour out and can just go on doing whatever we want to do. I think our fans realise that this is our honest way of being, and I think they really appreciate that honesty."

That humour has certainly manifested itself in the comic book covers for both the 'Superheroes' EP, and the 'Rocket Ride' album. "Basically, because it was just an EP, we were originally just going to run with a band shot on 'Superheroes'," explains Toby. "But then we really thought it would be great to play on the whole superhero comic book image, and go with something more akin to Kiss's 'Destroyer' album cover. So we let somebody paint a cover, which we really liked, and then it just seemed natural to extend that to the album as the two go hand in hand. Again, we thought that there would be people out there who would think we were crazy, but at least it would provoke a reaction, which has to be better than no reaction at all. Some people have said it's the worst piece of crap they've ever seen, whilst others have said it was the funniest thing they've ever seen. But like I said, at least gets a reaction, and that's the most important thing. And when the music is strong enough to back it up, that keeps it from becoming a parody, and then everything is okay."

Another first is that 'Rocket Ride' is really the first time that Edguy have worked extensively with an outside producer. "In the past, we've done most of it ourselves," says Toby, "but we were so happy with the way 'Hellfire Club' turned out that we needed to find a new way of keeping it exciting for ourselves and the fans, without necessarily forcing a change. When you're happy with your songwriting, and with the production and the style, you don't want to change something just to keep it exciting … that would be a stupid way of working, ha, ha! We thought that we'd just add a producer whom we believe understands our kind of music, understands us, and let him make some ideas and suggestions. So we asked Sascha Paeth, and the first thing he did was to let us record the album live, which was great … definitely the right thing to do. And he was full of new ideas for adding to the arrangements. Never forceful or overbearing, just great suggestions to make things sound even better. Then, when we'd completed the first song, he offered us a certain mix down to see if we wanted him to continue with eth whole album. It made complete sense to me, and to the others as well, because he was making sure that everything was recorded the way he wanted to have it, which of course would suit the way he wanted to mix it. In the end, we were more than happy to let him produce the whole thing for us … and the good thing is that if anything is fucked up and people complain about it, we can always blame Sascha, ha, ha!"

Reactions so far have been pretty much on a par with what the band expected. "The press reaction has been very good, but of course, we have to wait until the fans really get to hear it, that's the only true gauge of how well an album has been received. There have been a few extremes; some have said that it's different, some have said it isn't different enough ... but so far, nobody has suggested it isn't a great album, and that's what really counts. And you know, if that spark moves over to the fans, then I think we're gonna have a hell of year to come! But the bottom line is you never know until you know, so I'm quite careful about making any bold proclamations at this stage."

As part of the first leg of the 'Rocket Ride' tour, Edguy are coming back to British soil as special guests to Dragonforce, who coincidentally, will be acting as support throughout the rest Europe. "It's sort of ironic," laughs Toby, "but the country where we've had the least success, or where we've not really had any success, that's where the tour kicks off! But I think things are beginning to get better for us in the UK, and we want to build on that by taking the opportunity to play to as many people as possible. And if that means playing support that's' fine, we just want an opportunity to show these people what they've been missing for the past 14 years!"

Part of the problem is down to the price of distribution here in the UK. Many retailers end up buying the CD's directly from Europe, thus bypassing the UK distributor, as that's the cheaper option. Consequently, these show up as European sales, instead of UK sales, giving the impression that sales over here are worse than they actually are. "That's interesting," concedes Toby, "because sales in the UK haven't looked that good in the past, yet we've played four shows over there and the reactions have been amazing! I mean, it wasn't the same size of halls that we've played for example in Germany, or South America or wherever, but it's been really encouraging. I'm optimistic that things will turn out to be great here in the UK as well, it just takes a little more time and a lot of work ... but we're willing to take up the challenge, and to keep plugging away in the UK until we make it work."

That's the kind of determination many of today's bands seem to be lacking. "To us, that's what music is all about," affirms Toby, "playing live, and playing to audiences. It's like, if a band has only the press and no audience, where can it go? It will just lead nowhere. The most important thing is that you have to work to convince the fans who support you, those who buy your albums and who pay to come to the shows. In the long run, it doesn't really help you to convince the press, it's the fans who are the most important thing. There are loads of bands who've always gotten better press than us in most of the magazines, but mot of them have just disappeared after the initial furore has died down. So it's up to you, and it's up to the fans … in the end it's not really up to the opinion of some journalist."

A couple of strange rumours about Edguy have been doing the rounds of late. The first one is quite amusing, whilst the second seems to be a touch more sinister. "Oh, you mean the sex change thing," laughs Toby, "that wasn't really a rumours, just something I wrote myself. We'd just had this discussion about female fronted bands, and how they seem to be having a lot of success right now, and we were trying to think how we could maybe equal that success. So I said 'Okay, if it's just a dick that stands in our way, let's just cut it off!' ha, ha! So that was really just a joke that started within the band. But the suicide thing, somebody on the web really started to spread that one … for the second time this year! I've no idea where it came from or how it started, but if you're as controversial as we are, you're bound to pick up one or two enemies. I dunno … it just seems that someone wanted to create some rumour and some gossip. Maybe they feel happy when other bands are concerned, who knows? I remember reading it and thinking 'My God, it has come this far that you have to learn of your own death in this way!' ha, ha! ... you know, reacting to it with humour. I don't usually respond to that kind of stuff, but when fans really start worrying about you, or even Sascha … Sascha called me and said 'Ah, you're still alive, because I read on the internet you were dead, and I thought shit now that I have sent out your minidisk player … if you were dead I could have kept it!', ha, ha! But in the end, I felt I had to make a comment about it on our website because people were genuinely worried."

With the album release imminent, and a continually growing tour stretching ahead into the distance, the rest of 2006 looks like it will be extremely busy for Edguy … who knows, if the reaction to the Dragonforce gigs is good enough, they might even come back as headliners in their own right. Here's hoping at any rate!