Magic of ManOwaR: Interview with Joey DeMaio, Eric Adams and David Shankle

INTERVIEW with JOEY DEMAIO, ERIC ADAMS
and DAVID SHANKLE

DDS: What have been your influences? Which bands do you consider to be cool?
Eric: My greatest idol has always been Ian Gillan of Deep Purple.
Joey: Bands like Black Sabbath & Led Zeppelin, the first hard rock/ heavy metal bands have very much influenced me.
David: I have somewhat different musical preference; I prefer Fusion rock and the more progressive guitar players.
DDS: On the 14th of April of this year (1989) you also played Paradiso Amsterdam. Why are you back so soon?
Joey: Because be care for our fans and we had the opportunity to play Holland again.
Eric: It's like we always say at the end of a show: WE WILL BE BACK that is why.
DDS: Do you already have plans for a new album? And will you ever release a live album?
Joey: Right now (16-Dec-89) we are not thinking about a new album. We're right in the middle of our tour.
Eric: We do have some plans for a live-album, perhaps we will release one in the future.
DDS: Dave, you are the new guitar player how did that come about?
David: I met the guys of Manowar during the recording of Fighting the World (1987). We became friends, and when Ross the Boss married and left the band, the guys first thought of me to replace Ross. I have a classical music education, and think it's very great to play in Manowar.
Joey: Ross The Boss wanted to play a different style of metal, more blues-orientated so he left the band. He now has his own band. (The Pack)
DDS: A number of your songs are about Vikings (e.g. "Gates of Valhalla", "Hail to England", "Thor") and you also look like Vikings in your stage outfits can you tell me something more about that?
Joey: I have always had respect for warriors. We see ourselves as modern-day warriors, fighting against all sorts of trends. We play and defend True Metal.
Eric: Vikings are cool!
DDS: Almost all songs deal in one way or another with violence. And because of a number of songs (among whom "Hail to England") you are accused of being fascists.
Joey: WE ARE NO FASCISTS! The people who say that are frustrated. If all those people would fuck more, they wouldn't be so frustrated! (Joey is really upset by all these false accusations) The real fans know better. And concerning the violence, we think it's better to sing about violence than to see it happen.
DDS: Joey, you have written a number of songs about Vietnam (e.g. "Shell Shock" and "Violence and Bloodshed") Why?
Joey: I have always been interested in Vietnam. America fought out a war there. I find it sad that a lot of people died there. I did not fight as a soldier in Vietnam myself.
DDS: How serious do you take Manowar and the music you make?
Eric: We try to make good music and we take the entertainment business very seriously. When we're not on stage we are completely different people compared to when we are on stage.
Joey: When we perform we become the characters about whom we sing. Like actors and runners we are very serious about what we do, about our art. We all think it's very important.
DDS: Can you give me examples of bands that play false metal?
Joey: (After he has laughed a bit) I don't want to be negative about other bands and call them by name. We are against this whole movement of people who only want to become famous. For us the music is important, not the money. We feel like we are still able to improve musically.
Eric: We want to be recognized as a good band, because of the music and not because of other things.
DDS: Are you ever going to play a cover?
Joey: NO! A lot of bands play covers only to reach success. We will remain honest and truthful to ourselves. We will make it on our own strength. We will succeed.

12.16.1989
The tourbus in front of Paradiso
Amsterdam (The Netherlands)

This article is taken from Evil Manowar Page

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