Mandy Meyer

All posts tagged Mandy Meyer

Source: Blabbermouth.net

Swiss hard rock veterans KROKUS are rehearsing at full throttle for the upcoming tour dates in the living room of bassist/producer Chris Von Rohr‘s 103-year old villa.

“If a song played on low volume sounds thrilling, we know that it really will sound incredible played at a higher volume,” explains the host of this relaxed hard rock rehearsal in his living room. “The atmosphere here is perfect,” says guitarist Mandy Meyer, who has come back to the fold of the classic formation 30 years later. “Here we can arrange the sound of our guitars perfectly before we rev up the sound volume controls from two to ten.”

“At present the fun factor in our band is higher than ever,” states Fernando Von Arb, as he sweeps gently over the strings of his guitar. Vocalist Marc Storace adds: “We are very proud of the cool new songs.”

After playing a handful of smaller venues in Switzerland, starting May 2, KROKUS will perform at huge festivals throughout Europe. Asia is knocking at the door next, wanting the Swiss rockers to tour there next and America has shown interest as well. “We old dogs will rock like puppies,” promises Von Arb.

“Dirty Dynamite”, the 17th studio album from KROKUS, entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 17. This marks the first time in KROKUS‘ history that the band has landed in the Top 20 of the German chart.

KROKUS has tapped Dani Löble (HELLOWEEN) to sit behind the kit for the band’s upcoming “Dirty Dynamite Tour”, which is scheduled to kick off in early May.

KROKUS‘s official video for the title track of their new album, “Dirty Dynamite”, can be seen below.

“Dirty Dynamite” was released on February 22 in Europe via Sony Music and in North America on March 5 via The End Records. The CD marks the return of KROKUS guitarist Mandy Meyer after 30 years. Sound engineer for the recording sessions was again Dennis Ward, who also recorded the band’s last album, “Hoodoo”.

KROKUS 2013 is:

Marc Storace – Vocals
Chris Von Rohr – Bass
Fernando Von Arb – Lead Guitar
Mark Kohler – Rhythm Guitar
Mandy Meyer – Guitar

Drummer Freddy Steady left KROKUS in May 2011 because he “concluded that he really wanted to play music just for fun in small clubs rather than conquering the world, playing arenas on huge stages with pyro props, etc.,” according to guitarist Fernando Von Arb.

 

Source:Bravewords.com
UNISONIC guitarist Mandy Meyer recently spoke with Metal-Trails.com. The video interview is available below (in German) along with a partial translation provided by the band’s official fanclub, Souls Alive:
On performing HELLOWEEN songs in the setlist and being able to identify with them:

Mandy: “It’s a lot of fun and we have to play some HELLOWEEN songs. It would be stupid not to do this since we have the original HELLOWEEN singer with us (Michael Kiske) who can still sing these songs in the original key. And I think he sounds better nowadays. Kai (Hansen) wrote the songs, so we have the right to play them.”

On UNISONIC as a substitute for the Andi Deris-led HELLOWEEN:

Mandy: “No I don’t think so. We are UNISONIC and try to avoid being a second HELLOWEEN. We must take care that there is no interest conflict, with HELLOWEEN playing HELLOWEEN songs, then UNISONIC cannot play so many HELLOWEEN songs. And additionally there is also GAMMA RAY playing HELLOWEEN songs, so we have to take care of it and only the big hits like ‘I Want Out’.”

On the upcoming HELLOWEENGAMMA RAY Hellish Rock tour and UNISONIC as a hypothetical third band on the bill:

Mandy: “Then Kai needs to be paid twice (laughs). But if it is not too much for Kai, I can imagine this. Maybe it would be too much with Kai playing in two bands on one evening, but I think it could be possible and would be a good package.”

On songwriting for UNISONIC‘s next album:

Mandy: “This is difficult to say. With the first album we wrote many songs and I also had more songs, but we didn’t know in which direction we wanted to go. In the end the best songs are chosen. I’m more used to write more blues style songs. It was totally different to wrote music for Michael Kiske. For example, Michael Kiske cannot sing songs of David Coverdale and David Coverdale cannot sing songs of Kiske, it is a totally different voice. It is a little bit easier to write songs for Coverdale, you only need some parts and the he adds his rough voice and you have the rest of the song. It is more difficult to write songs for Michael Kiske, you need more to elaborate the sound surrounding his voice like orchestration.”

On the UNISONIC sound:

Mandy: “We should not do speed metal, since Kai is already doing this with GAMMA RAY. It is better to have the bands with a different sound. We want to go more into melodic rock.”

On the next album:

Mandy: “We are already working on it. Dennis (Ward) already has some songs and I have some ideas. The plan is to enter the studio in autumn 2013 and then in 2014 the new tour. I have not heard Dennis‘ songs yet, but i think it should not be in the direction of pop songs in my opinion. I think it is better to go in the direction of ‘King for a Day’ or ‘Unisonic’. Originally the song ‘Unisonic’ was a little bit like an easy created hard rock song, but while we worked on it and Kai added the lyrics, it became a much better song.”

Source: Bravewords.com

30 years after his departure from KROKUS, guitarist Mandy Meyer has now officially returned.

Founder Chris Von Rohr and Fernando Von Arb are thrilled to have him back in the fold. Fernando adds: “Now the Krokus family is complete again”.

KrokusMandyMeyer

Mandy Meyer replaced original guitarist Tommy Kiefer (RIP) for the remainder of 1980′s Metal Rendez-Vous tour and 1981′s Hardware tour. And witnessed the growing popularity of Krokus worldwide including the band’s first US tour. Those two albums sold millions of copies around the world.

Mandy left Krokus and moved at the tender age of 22 years old to Los Angeles to pursue his musical dreams. And it worked out pretty good, as time would tell.

In the mid-nineties Mandy moved back to Switzerland and joined GOTTHARD, another successful Swiss band. In 2004 he left that band and concentrated on his solo career. Between 2005 and 2007 he toured with Krokus in support of the Hellraiser album, which he recorded and contributed to.

In 2009, Meyer joined forces with vocalist Michael Kiske (ex-HELLOWEEN) with Dennis Ward (bass) and Kosta Zafiriou (drums) of Germany’s PINK CREAM 69 in UNISONIC.

Towards the end of 2011 Chris Von Rohr approached Mandy and asked him whether he would be game to play a couple of shows in Japan. Recalls Mandy: “I agreed in a New York minute”. The concerts proved to be totally successful. “And we got along great, it was as if time stood still,” reminisces Mandy.

Chris Von Rohr along with vocalist Marc Storace recently laid down bass and vocal tracks at no other than London’s Abbey Road Studios for the band’s 17th album, Dirty Dynamite. Coincidentally, THE BEATLES, the band who made this studio famous are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. Sound engineer for the recording sessions is again Dennis Ward, who also recorded our last album Hoodoo.

Krokus2012

Chris Von Rohr promises: “The new songs sound like dirty dynamite: pure, dirty, in your face hard rock with a touch of blues.”

Adds Marc Storace: “We’ve been taking the time it needs writing for our next rock album and we guarantee that it definitely will contain no fillers!”

Krokus 2012 is:

Marc Storace – vocals
Chris Von Rohr – bass
Fernando Von Arb – lead guitar
Mark Kohler – rhythm guitar
Mandy Meyer – guitar