"...to me creating a musical legacy is far more important then being a flash in the pan...."
Hardly any introduction to this long running, and highly respected band is needed. Jag Panzer has had the traditional ebb and flow of growing pains through the years--leading up to what can be considered their come-back album, The Fourth Judgement, in 1997. Since then, there's nothing musically stopping this band, with strong and highly rated release after release--each retaining their unique and refreshing take on the existing genre of Power Metal. They're back again with new material soon to be released, entitled Casting The Stones. Mark Briody took the time to speak to D-Day about the new album, football, touring, so read on....
D-Day: I see that you have a new album coming out. Can you tell us a little about that and the actual release date?
Mark: The album is entitled ‘Casting the Stones’ and the European street date is September 27th. I’m not sure when the U.S. date is [10/19--rippen], but hopefully it will be very close. It can be problematic when the U.S. date is later then the European date. Hardcore fans will buy the album as an import. The import sales aren’t tracked by the U.S. label office, so sales figures appear less. Lower sales mean lower recording budgets, which is not a good thing! However we did a good budget for ‘Casting’ and I think it sounds fantastic. We have 2 mp3s from the new album on our site at www.jagpanzer.com
D-Day: What type of touring do you have lined up so far?
Mark: Nothing confirmed yet, except for the ‘Bang Your Head’ festival next year in Germany. I love playing that festival; it’s a great experience.
We’ll be doing some type of tour, but we’re still sorting that out.
D-Day: According to your bio, you started off with the band name “Tyrant”, but then had to change it because the name was already taken. Now that Jag Panzer has had some obvious success and I have NEVER heard of the band Tyrant, have you ever had the urge to call them up and say, “Take that! Screw you guys!”
Mark: At that time period, the early 80’s, we were a bunch of Colorado high school kids while the other Tyrant were an established California band. The main players in the metal scene, guys like Mike Varney and Brian Slagel, were all based in California. They were familiar with the band Tyrant. Both of these guys suggested a name change, so we agreed that it would probably be the best thing to do.
D-Day: With Jag Panzer being based in Colorado; would you consider that
advantageous to you in any way? Obviously, L.A. and New York seem to be the hotbeds for music. What made you decide to stay there?
Mark: We actually moved to California in ’84. It was a disaster for us. We weren’t a hair band, we didn’t have giant walls of amps and we had no financial backing. All of this made it very difficult for us to play in Los Angeles. The scene was very image oriented and we were just a ‘jeans and t-shirts’ band.
Colorado is also a great environment for songwriting.
I have little to nodistractions and I find it very
comfortable here. It’s home for me and I do my best
work here.
D-Day: And speaking of Colorado, are there some unsigned bands in the area that you feel has what it takes to make it big if they are discovered?
Mark: There are a lot of great bands from Colorado! Silencer and Section XVI are the first 2 that come to mind. Silencer are a killer thrash band from Denver.
Section XVI features Corey Brown from Magnitude-9 vocals, that guy has a
fantastic voice.
D-Day: You’ve had some outstanding company on the road with bands like Iced Earth, In Flames, Gamma Ray, etc., and I’m sure you’ve been alongside some heavyweights at festivals. What other bands have you always wanted to tour with but haven’t yet had the chance?
Mark: I’d love to tour with Skyclad simply because I love that band. I’d be in heaven every night watching their set. Iron Maiden and Judas Priest would also be ‘dream tour’ bands. Dio is another musician I’d like to do some shows with.
D-Day: Along those same lines, name the “perfect package” of a tour with Jag Panzer and 3 other bands of your choice.
Mark: Skyclad, Blind Guardian and Iron Maiden. Man, that would be killer!
D-Day: Here’s a multiple choice question: Jag Panzer has been the most requested band ever by the citizens of some tiny, uncharted country deep in the jungle. Your management tells you that they have received a letter from the country’s tribal chief asking you to travel there and that the crowd should be huge. The only problem is that in order for you to go you will have to have about 25 vaccination shots each, travel by rowboat for 10 miles through croc infested waters, travel the last two miles on foot through the mud while carrying your equipment on your back and eat worms and bugs for your meals when you get there.
Would you:
A) Take the gig anyway.
B) Politely decline due to circumstances that “suddenly came up”.
C) Outright tell them that their country and living conditions suck ass.
D) Say that you really wanted to go and then blame the cancellation on Century Media.
Mark: Definetly D. Blaming things on the label is always a convenient excuse. No! Seriously, A. We’d do the gig. We’ve traveled for 30 hours for a gig, sleeping in airports, then crowding a in a little van driving for 6 hours. We played the set and then left the same way. I just look at it as an adventure.
D-Day: Do you now feel vindicated after being shunned during your brief stay in L.A. because your music wasn’t “commercial” / glam back in the ‘80s? JP has obviously lasted longer than many of the popular ones of that day.
Mark: I feel good that our earlier music is still in demand. I remember in the 80’s that my friends used to listen to a band called Vendetta (not the German band, but a U.S. trio with Nicki Buzz on bass). Vendatta were on MTV quite a bit. These people would say ‘That band has made it. You guys need to sound like them’. Today I think you’d have a hard time finding anyone today who is familiar with that band, their music didn’t stand the test of time. Granted, for a period of time, they were far more successful then Jag Panzer. But to me creating a musical legacy is far more important then being a flash in the pan.
D-Day: What is Jag Panzers’ stance on music downloading?
Mark: I think that the band and/or label should make 2 tracks available for download from each album. These 2 tracks should be freely distributable by anyone. People can download them, trade them, whatever. These 2 tracks should be enough to give anyone an idea of what the band sounds like. If you like the band, then buy the cd. Downloading anything beyond these 2 ‘sample’ tracks is stealing.
D-Day: How would you describe the differences between European audiences and American audiences? I would have to assume the European ones are much bigger, at least. Correct?
Mark: I think that the average mainstream European is probably less influenced by the media (MTV) then the average America. There seems to be more of an emphasis in Europe on developing your own personal taste in music. I know a lot of American kids just listen to music that their friends listen to.
But thankfully there is an underground scene in America. It’s small, but it’s getting bigger. It’s a good scene too.
D-Day: How will the Broncos do this year?
Mark: Losing Portis will be tough, but running back has never been a problem position for Shanahan. I hope they go to the Super Bowl, but lose to the Vikings. I like the Broncos but the Vikes are my team.
D-Day: What kind of crazy, hedonistic road story can you share with us? There must be some wild shit that’s happened to you after all this time. Perhaps there’s been a Spinal Tap moment as well?
Mark: We are probably known for being the LEAST wild band. Other bands have posted signs on our dressing rooms like ‘Quiet Please – Library’. We’ve been known to exchange our complimentary tour beer for bottled water. We’ll have the occasional drink, but none of us are really partiers.
As far as a Spinal Tap moment, our singer has been known to get the name of the city wrong in concert. He has some kind of mental block with Ohio cities.
Whenever we play there he gets the city wrong. Cleveland becomes Cincinnati, etc. He almost got the country wrong once in Europe, but I nudged him with my guitar and told him where we were at.
D-Day: How do you see the state of Hard Rock / Heavy Metal today?
Mark: I’m hoping that Judas Priest on Ozzfest will help the scene. I was seeing a disturbing trend for awhile here in Colorado. The stations that play nu-metal were bashing traditional metal on the station constantly. They called Dio’s ‘Holy Diver’ the worst song ever, worse then the “Macarena’ or any Spice Girls track. It just didn’t make any sense. Other forms of music, like rap, have a great respect for the ‘old school’. It was disappointing for me. So I’m hoping that Ozzfest will expose some people to bands like Judas Priest.
D-Day: And finally, do you have any parting words for the fans?
Mark: It sounds cliché, but thanks for the support! We get no airplay and little press here in America, so I always appreciate anyone that listens to us here.
All photo's courtesy of Jag Panzer
8/14/2004
