Heavy Metal - Recorded and Remixed: Episode 03

Heavy Metal and the Ruhr area – a classic combo like fish’n’chips. Since the 80s, this region is a stronghold of Metal, so nobody was surprised when Iron Maiden recorded their gig on November 24, 2003 in the Westfalenhalle Dortmund and released this live document on DVD - and it’s no big thing either that young local acts have touring successes in the USA. Other (industrial) trademarks of the area like Opel, Karstadt and the coal mines may disappear – but Metal is here to stay!

Rock Hard (Dortmund) and Drakkar Entertainment (Witten)

It’s not even ten o’clock in the morning, and we’re offered a cup of coffee – then, Bogdan “Boggi” Kopec pulls into the driveway of the impressive company villa, followed by a relaxed shake-hands. While we’re still rigging up our equipment and Kopec checks his letters and emails, Götz Kühnemund, the editor-in-chief of Rock Hard magazine, arrives. The independent magazine, located in Dortmund, has been Metal’s mouthpiece and „bible“ for almost thirty years now. You won’t get any sermons from the pulpit, though, the mag is eye to eye with its fans. The medium-sized company with franchises in Italy, Spain, France, Greece and Brazil sells around 40.000 copies per month in Germany. Apart from that, Rock Hard organises and presents its own annual festival in the amphitheatre in Gelsenkirchen. Götz Kühnemund explains why you just had to be at the concerts in the Zeche Bochum – from the e mid-80s on.

Bogdan Kopec was born 1951. After an apprenticeship as a car mechanic, he began his music business career in the late 60s – at that time, Motörhead, Van Halen, and Accept lured him to Metal. 1981, he started his company Kopec Musikverlag which became Drakkar Promotion in 1986. The pioneer wanted to care for his bands fair and square with his publishing company, he was responsible for just about everything: management, merchandise, booking… Today, this is called a „360° concept“, and even huge companies offer it for the entertainment stars. Bands like Kreator, Rage, or Risk were among the first Drakkar acts - two decades later, Lordi (one of Kopec’s finds) were the first Heavy Metal band to win the Eurovision Song Contest. Even Finnish mega sellers Nightwish signed their first big contract with Kopec’s label. Boggi, knowing all about the tricks and traps of the trade, treats us to some insider’s insights…

Kreator and Japanische Kampfhörspiele (Essen)

The weather is still nice – we’re in Mille’s garden and he offers us some juice and water. Also at the table: Christof – this is a “Thrash legend meets Grindcore pro” encounter. The two know and like each other, and we want to know their views on learning by doing. Kreator have a band history of 25 years – German and international fans consider mastermind Miland „Mille“ Petrozza and his boys to be THE Thrash Metal outfit. In the 80s, they gained cult status – last, but not least due to the tv documentation „Thrash Altenessen“. Their current album „Hordes Of Chaos“ convinced fans and critics, even the German news magazine Der Spiegel wrote „the production can only be described as perfect“. Petrozza writes his lyrics in English, but admires Christof Kather’s ability to use German lyrics in his band Japanische Kampfhörspiele. The latter combines brute, raw Grindcore with cuttings from grunted text fragments, collages, and slogans, all aimed to discover the misleading ways of our modern consumer and media society. Their cover album „Deutschland von vorne“ features lyrics by bands such as Die Goldene Zitronen, Trio, or Tocotronic. Drummer, lyricist, and band mastermind Kather explains his attitude towards the latest developments in re Metal.

Caliban (Hattingen) and Century Media (Dortmund)

Picture perfect weather, a picture perfect small town – in the Ruhr area? Still a bit tired, all Caliban members arrive at the interview location near the river. In the meantime, some of them have moved away, singer Andy and guitarist Marco have moved to Essen, for example, but 1997, they made their first musical steps as a school band in their hometown Hattingen.
Caliban – that’s a synonym for original, hefty and powerful music between Hardcore und Metal, a new genre called Metalcore. Next to their peers from Heaven Shall Burn, they are among the top acts of this scene. Their current album „Say Hello To Tragedy“ was released in April 2009, making a #36 position in the German charts. A couple of days after our appointment, the band is off to another US tour again.
Caliban’s record label Century Media is just a few miles away from Hattingen. Robert Kampf started the company 1988 as a classic independent label – he wanted to promote his own band Despair without any compromises, just like the British Punk and Grindcore outfits of that time did it. In the meantime, Century Media has become one of the most well-known Metal labels, with business major player EMI taking over the worldwide distribution in 2005. The company has branches and foreign offices in the USA, Brazil and Australia, and in almost every European country. Paradise Lost or Napalm Death (both hailing from Britain) are but two household names in the label’s history comprising almost 1300 releases by more than 400 bands. Jens Prüter, the Head Of A&R in the Dortmund office, offers some glimpses behind the scenes of Heavy Metal working conditions.

Text: Jens Mayer and Peter Hesse

„The Ruhr area – recorded and remixed“ – a series of episodes by Jens Mayer, Jörg Stiepermann, and Peter Hesse on music, people and the area.
The next episode, „High culture in a steel surrounding“ with Hajo Sommers, the Ruhrtriennale, Karsten Riedel, and Iggy Pop, will be featured soon on 2010LAB.tv !

Related videos:

• Echo Jazz in Bochum – the music industry’s new award goes to Paul Kuhn
• The Ruhr area - recorded and remixed
• The Ruhr Area - Recorded and Remixed / Episode 00
• Rock.2010 - Recorded and Remixed / Episode 01
• The Mülheim Breed - Recorded and Remixed / Episode 02
• Clubbing/ Dancing Industry - Recorded and Remixed / Episode 05
• HipHop in the Ruhr Area - Recorded and Remixed / Episode 06

Related blogs:

• What happens when the music stops?
• Not your wishy-washy pop band - an interview with Moke front man Felix Maginn
• TV show selected idols dominate music market

Go to Channel: Recorded and Remixed