Christoph: Hmm, at the moment (April ī02) we are writing on the songs for the second CD, which will be hopefully released in winter this year. Besides we will start to play live (and to gather experience) at the end of this month. We will have a gig for our friends and families on 20th of April and two weeks later we will stand on stage on a festival together with Wizard and White Skull and a lot of other bands. Pretty tough beginning for my live career ;-)

What has happened since our debut release? Hmm, we got a lot of positive response from all over the world and also some record contract proposals. We decided to sign with MFE (Metal Fortress Entertainment), a small Swedish label, which gave us the best offer and also we got the feeling that they are tryinmg to reach something. They believe in us and in what we are doing. We can decide for ourselves what we want and how we make. Thatīs the most important thing, more important than to sell much CDs. You have to be satisfied in what you are doing. At the moment we plan the studio and the recordings and are rehearsing much…

As you mentioned to me some time ago, you have secured a drummer. I guess he is a skilled one, as your material isnīt the easiest to handle? Could you please tell me who he is and what he has done prior to joining Logar?

Christoph: Yeah, indeed we have found a great drummer at last. Itīs funny: Berlin is such a big city; although we listen to the same music, we never happened to meet him somewhere. He bought our CD in a local store and gave me immediately a call telling me that he wanted to join us. We had a rehearsal with him and felt the power of our songs live. So the decision was taken easily. Stefan (that is his name) is drumming also in a progressive Metal band called Deception and was formerly in a Black Metal band called Nachtschatten, as far as I remember. But Logar is his main band and has priority for him, as it also has for everyone of us.

Christoph: Logarīs Diary is a concept band. We are telling the adventures of the magician Logar. Logar writes down his adventures in his diary and we make the music for this. So the name Logarīs Diary is part of the concept. I believe it is today very important to develop an own image of your band, not to be called a clone or something. And such concept band is somehow new, at least with this sincerity we are doing it. By the way, Logar is the roleplaing character from Steven, which he plays in his Earthdawn sessions…

Christoph: Iīm not sure if I got your point… I donīt write in my zine about us, I sent some fellow of mine our CD and listened to it very carefully and he loved it, so we gave him an interview which was released on the website of Fame of Metal (). That was all we did with my fanzine. I think he is neutral and didnīt do the interview just to push us, cause we write together on the same zine. And the FOM is not the biggest zine, so I doubt if it has so much importance anyway. But I used my connections I have due to my work for the zine to promote our CD. I had many addresses, know many bands and know where to send the promo-CDs to. I know which zines are important and which donīt like Power Metal at all. So I do all the promotional stuff for the band. And we managed to print 2000 CDs and sold about 1000 so far (excluding about 500 promos). Thatīs pretty good for an underground band without any distribution Iīd say and we are very proud of this. But the best things are the reactions of some people who like our music. Getting the reactions is the best thing in music business and it drives you to go on…

Christoph: Good question! I would say we differ a little bit from other bands so we have the right to find a place in the scene. We are a full concept band and our music and the lyrics (and also the artwork and our live-shows) go hand in hand. And also our songwriting is a bit different from other bands. We try to link the typical clichée chords with new fresh sounding melodies and ideas. We never want to write the same song twice. So our songs sound a little bit different from other bands of the Power Metal genre (at least we hope so). Nevertheless I personally love the whole Power Metal scene and also the new CDs from the new Power Metal bands. I think the scene has accepted that there is a new professionell working band in Berlin, who has the possibility to get a name in the scene. We will see what will happen…

< What kind of improvements have you done on this soon-to-be released album compared to the debut? As I guess all bands strive to deliver one better with every new offering?

Christoph: We analyzed very hard the mistakes we did on our debut and try to be better in all parts. Regarding the songs I can tell you that they will be a bit more complex, not every verse getting the same melodies, they will be faster, the melodies will sound more fresh and not 100000 times heard everywhere and a simple song like “Travar” wonīt be on the new CD anymore. We will use choirs as we did on our debut. The playing will be (hopefully) more precise, the drums will be real played (no computer anymore), the voice will sound better (Hagen improved a lot and we had an eye on how high we can write the vocallines this time…), the sound will be better, cause we will use a different studio this time. And concerning the package of the CD we have thought of some surprises. So it sounds like a good CD coming along at the end of the year ;-)

No really, I hope we can compete with all the other good bands out there. We are not the best musicians, but we know how to arrange a good song and will do much with our enthusiasm, cause we really love what we are doing. And thatīs a difference to many other bands these days…

Christoph: Internet is definitely the future. Itīs all so much more easy using the net to promote your band. Nearly everyone in the scene has access to the net and webzines get more and more important. And also you can save a lot money, writing emails instead of letters. And also look at the time you spare…! And also MP3s are a good thing. So the fans can download some samples from your site and decide for themselves if they like what they hear or not. A good thing!

Christoph: I think it will be a matter of getting used to it. The longer you sit on the PC, the more it will become easy for you. In fact there are days I sit from morning to night in front of the PC, no problem for me. But I still read a lot of printed zines, the PC is justy a good alternative, no stand alone media! But I have no problems in thinking ten years ahead: Why canīt you take your laptop to the toilet???

What kind of position do you feel the zines hold today? Any favourites? Christoph: Hmm, I think you have to distinguish between well known zines and underground zines. In the printed zine scene you either have to cover a broad range of styles to sell much or you have to specialize on one style to get your readers. In the internet other things are more important. Speed (topicality) and being good structured. And also you have to update often and tell what the updates were, thatīs very important to satisfy the readers. Then you will get much hits. Good stories/interviews are not so important in webzines Iīd say, more quantity than quality. If itīs good or not one can decide for oneself.

Christoph: Yeah, you might think that. But Berlin is the capital of Techno and the Metal scene (especially Power Metal) is pretty weak here. Here you can do so much things, nearly everything, you donīt have your one Metal pub where you go every second day. So itīs pretty hard for a scene to develop here. In fact big bands like Running Wild or Rage wonīt visit Berlin on their tours sometimes…

Nevertheless I love Berlin and wonīt live in another city someday, cause everywhere I go I think “it is too small for me”. Berlin is like ten cities in one. On the northern side it looks totally different than on the southern… Weīll see what will happen with the scene if Logar calls the fans to arms to have some great Metal parties but thatīs future dreaming!

Christoph: Thank you very much for this statement. This is exactly our opinion. Far too many bands (which have responsibility standing in the public) donīt take a stand! The time to remain silent is over! The people should stand together and get rid of the fascism in our scene. Especially the Black Metal scene is very much subleveled from nationalists and fascistic idiots. They destroy what we are living for, so we cannot look away. On our next CD we will have a song against racism, wrapped in fantasy lyrics. We plan to play it live very often and use it to say our opinion on stage. Itīs soooo important these days to say some clear words against fascists and similar human being despising people! Iīd wish more bands (especially the big ones!!!) would take their responsibility more serious!

Christoph: Yeah, Germany is a pretty good land for living when you are into Metal. Thatīs right! Many good bands come from here. Regarding to my age (Iīm still 25) I like more the younger generation. Developed from Helloween, Blind Guardian, Running Wild, Gamma Ray, Rage, come many new bands like Custard, Freedom Call, Human Fortress, Majesty, Edguy, Fading Starlight, Wizard, Sacred Steel (to name a few…)! Especially in South Germany we have a strong Metal scene. Itīs relative easy to play live and to sell your CDs. What do you want more???

Christoph: A nice wish you have… I will answer this question personally. Iīm sure the others will have an own opinion, but the basics will be the same: Itīs very frightening for me to see that the people in this world didnīt leran how to live together. They still estimate their own thoughts of hyow to live higher than an other life. Thatīs pretty frightening! A high-developed land like the USA can start a war (I know they see it different) and the people spend applause while bombs destroy lives??? I canīt understand. Lately I discussed with a friend of mine and he told me that Bush had no other choice than to throw bombs. He asked me what I would have done. I told him: The best way would have been to go to Afghane and to give away for free medicine and food. Instead of sowing the seeds of hate again they should have reached them their hand. Than the fundamentalists would have lost their basis among the people and couldnīt recruit new human bombs…

That would have been the only right answer to destruction, to give a helping hand…

But they are so blind and too proud for that, unfortunatley. And that is what makes me frightened.

I could talk endlessly about that, but what is is worse? Maybe someone will understand…! You canīt fight for peace! Never!

Christoph: Thanx, Yngwe for the very interesting questions. I really enjoyed doing this. To all fans out there: Logarīs Diary play Fantasy Power Metal and welcome future fellows on !

Metallic greetings to Norway!

Interview by Yngwe

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