Blind Guardian – Frederik Ehmke

Having released nine albums over the last 20 years which have influenced both the movie and video game world, along with appearing at virtually every heavy metal festival under the sun since the early 90’s. Blind Guardian has become a defining name within the power metal world.

The band is now regarded as one of the leading influences of melodic power metal with the creation of such classic albums as ‘Imaginations from the Otherside’ and ‘Nightfall in Middle Earth’, along with their most recent masterpiece ‘At the Edge of Time’ which gained acclaimed success across the globe.

Metal Obsession was fortunate enough to sit down with Blind Guardian’s drummer, Frederik Ehmke. We chatted about the band’s upcoming tour of Australia, his influences towards Blind Guardian in recent times and the possibility of Blind Guardian playing a unique cover song for the Australian audiences.

Metal Obsession: Hey Frederik. How have you been?

Frederik Ehmke: I’m great thanks. How are you, Anwar?

MO: I’m good thanks. I actually got back from Europe yesterday. I saw you guys at Wacken a couple of weeks ago and had a fantastic time.

FE: That’s great. I’m glad you enjoyed it.

MO: That was Blind Guardian’s fifth performance at Wacken. Is that correct?

FE: It was the band’s fifth show and my second show at Wacken.

MO: Do you prefer playing big festivals like Wacken and Metal Camp, or do you much prefer a large venue with say, two or three thousand people?

FE: It’s something which is completely different. I do like both because with a smaller audience you have a more intimate atmosphere and contact towards the fans and with bigger festivals like Wacken you have the chance for the entire crowd to sing-a-long to your songs which has always been something very special for the band. I can’t really pick one of those and say which one is better, or that I like more. Both of them are great! [laughs]

That’s mainly the reason we do both nowadays. Not only focusing on the big festivals, but we also try to keep that smaller shows alive and do it as much as we can.

MO: Does it still surprise you that you initially became a “rock star” overnight when you first joined Blind Guardian?

FE: Sometimes. For instance when I’m at a store and people recognise me, I know something has changed in my life. I think having the same attitude and being the same person that I was before joining Blind Guardian has helped me in some way from not changing my behaviour. One reason why I haven’t really changed is because the other guys in Blind Guardian are very down to earth and very “normal”.

They’re just regular people. If your only surrounded by normal people, its easier to stay normal and not have a rock star attitude all the time or lose your ground. [laughs] 

MO: Were you completely involved with writing and recording when you first joined or were you more of a session musician when you first started in Blind Guardian?

FE: The song writing for ‘A Twist in the Myth’ was already completed and they were seriously looking for a permanent drummer because the recording schedule was only two months ahead, so it was a very tough time for them trying to find a new drummer. I presented Blind Guardian a DVD where I performed in the studio where I played a couple of old tracks, so they could see how I would sound from a live situation and they liked it that much, they invited me to have a studio recording session with them and see how I would go in the studio.

After that I immediately started recording and arranging my drum sessions for ‘A Twist in the Myth’ when I joined.

MO: Were you familiar with Blind Guardian before you replaced Thomen Stauch?

FE: I have a lot of favourite bands and listen to a lot of bands, but it was always Blind Guardian which was my favourite. When I heard the old drummer, Thomen left Blind Guardian I just took my chances, picked up the phone and called Andre. [laughs] I was very lucky I think.

MO: Is Oliver Grassmann still your drum tech?

FE: Yeah, he’s doing a great job. When I joined in 2005 he took care of me and my drum kit. There is nothing to complain about. He’s the perfect drum tech for me and a nice one too, so there is no problems. [laughs]

MO: I guess you must be pretty excited to be coming back to Australia this September?

FE:Yeah. I’m very excited. We have three shows all up. One in Sydney and two in Melbourne If I remember correctly. We’re very happy to come back again. I think the last time we were there was back in 2008? We liked it that much down there and enjoyed the audiences so much that we felt it would be a very cool to come back and play more shows for you all.

MO: Well, you’ll be happy to know that the first Melbourne show is sold out. The Sydney show is close to selling out, so lets hope the second Melbourne show sells out as well.

FE: I hope so too. It’s a good sign to have sold out shows in advance. It tells you the fans are eager to have us back in Australia. We are very enthusiastic and looking forward to all the shows, so we know in advance what to expect when we arrive in Australia and everyone will enjoy the music and have a great time. It will be a blast!

MO: Has there been much discussion on what the setlist will be like when you tour Australia. Do you mix it up at each show or have you been working to one setlist for the current tour?

FE: We basically mix it up so we don’t get bored with it. [laughs] It’s good to change the setlist because it keeps us on our toes and makes us concentrate a little more. We always talk about the setlist on the day of our performance, sometimes earlier in cases where we play festivals like Wacken. It’s more of a spontaneous thing. We have a song pool of about 40 to 50 songs where we take the songs for the setlist for each show we do. We sometimes skips songs we play quite often, but everyone has to be prepared to play those 40 to 50 songs if they are selected to be played at any show.

We work or play songs by what mood we are in on the day of each show. However, there is one song we are considering to play in Australia, but I’m unsure and haven’t really discussed it properly with the other guys. Its the cover song of John Franham’s ‘You’re the Voice’ which has been highly recommend and asked by the Australian fans. I don’t know, we basically don’t do cover songs any more at our shows, but will see what develops from this. We have at least thought about it. [laughs]

MO: Any updates on Blind Guardian’s orchestral album. I know Hansi has been updating fans via the Blind Guardian website, but is there an official release date yet?

FE: Ummm…the orchestral album isn’t completed…yet. The song writing isn’t yet completely finished. There are some small things to be done. The other guys have been working on this album for about 10 years or so. We first thought of several topics because any orchestral album demands an epic story which is well suited to the music and its concept.

We talked about the concept of the album among other things and finally decided on getting a well know German fantasy writer named, Markus Heitz who is very experienced in this field. He is considered the best fantasy writer in Germany, so he’s currently writing the story for us. Not a real story, but creating characters and elements from Hansi’s lyrics and ideas for the orchestral album.

MO: Have you put much input into the orchestral album. I mean you do play the bagpipes and the flute, so have these elements been included into the orchestral project?

FE: I had some ideas, but the main impact of influence is done by Andre and Hansi, who I mentioned before have been working on this album for about 10 years now. When I first joined most of the songs had some structure or concept to them, so I didn’t influence much of the project when I joined. But as you mentioned before I do play bagpipes and the flute, so I’m more than just a drummer. I’m influenced from a lot of musical elements so I’m sure I’ll have some great ideas to contribute for the next full length Blind Guardian album.

We will see how we go because once I tried to write a Blind Guardian song and presented it to the guys, but in the end I realised a typical Blind Guardian sound recommends Andre forming the basic idea and Hansi writing the lyrics for that typical Blind Guardian touch. The song I wrote didn’t really sound anything like what Andre or Hansi would put together when they write a new song, it just sounded like something completely different. [laughs] But, lets see how things go. It’s always great fun for me to work with the guys and I’m sure will make great use out of all the ideas we put together on the next album.

MO: On that note mate I better let you go. Any famous last words?

FE: Well, I’m very happy that the shows are almost sold out. The first time we came down to Australia we had a total blast, so I’m definitely looking forward to coming back again and seeing all the old faces and hopefully some new ones too. So I hope to see you all in Sydney in Melbourne.

Blind Guardian’s first Melbourne show on Sunday 2nd, October at Billboards the Venue has completely sold out,  but ticket for a recently announced second show on Monday 3rd, October at the same venue in Melbourne are now available via Metal Massacre and Ticketek. Tickets for the Sydney show on Friday 30th,  September are still available but are running out quick. Don’t miss out!

For more information, go to: www.blind-guardian.com  and www.metalmassacre.com.au