Interviewed by Denys (Site Founder/Senior Staff Writer) Myglobalmind Webzine
Myglobalmind: Hey Mario thanks for dropping by Myglobalmind for a few minutes to chat about Wild Frontier’s new album “2012”!!!
Mario: It´s my pleasure. Thank you for giving your attention to the band.
Myglobalmind: Let’s start by letting the readers who may not be familiar with your band Wild Frontier and tell me a little bit more about your history, the beginnings of the band and how long you guys have been together playing?
Mario: Well, Wild Frontier was founded in 1990. We recorded 5 full length albums and three EP´s. Two of them with German lyrics. During all over the years the line up has changed. Only Jens and myself are still in the band an have been so for 22 years.
Myglobalmind: Where are you originally from Mario?
Mario: I live in the middle of Germany in a small town called Fritzlar. All the other band members live in the same area around 50 kilometers from here.
Myglobalmind: The music scene in Germany is varied as any other country, but they have always shown support for rock bands. How’s the scene there now and as compared to previous times in relation to bands that play Melodic Rock/Hard Rock etc?
Mario Erdmann
Mario: There is a huge music scene with many bands here in Germany. But it is very difficult to sustain good success touring, when you have no major company and a famous booking agency. But now we have the same booking agency as Bonfire and we are hopeful that it will helps us a little bit in the future. During the last 22 years we performed more than 400 shows all over Europe. We need to be on tour and get in touch with our fans, that´s why we are playing music.
Myglobalmind: You are the band’s founding member, things got started for you in 1990, what do you remember about those early days in Wild Frontier?
Mario: It was a real good time. I had full hair and melodic rock was very popular. We organized the shows by ourselves and toured really often. We had so much fun and met so many nice characters during all over the years. We often performed for the US Army here in Germany. It was always a pleasure to perform for them. This very day I am still in touch with a few of them.
Myglobalmind: I read that the name of the band came from the very famous Gary Moore record by the same title, is this true? Who’s the Moore fan in the band?
Mario: Jens and I are huge Gary Moore fans. Our first contact with melodic rock was in 1985 with Gary Moore´s video “Out in the Fields” As we saw it, we realized we wanted to become musicians. In 1987 we visited him on the “Wild Frontier Tour” and this was an experience we will never forget. We perform the song “Out in the Fields “still in our live set.
Myglobalmind: What we’re some of your early influences growing up and later as you guys started making music together?
Mario: I would say a little bit of Gary Moore, Bon Jovi and Def Leppard. Those bands inspired us very much. Maybe sometimes we sound also a little bit like Dokken, Pink Cream 69 or Gotthard.
Mygloblamind: Has the sound change much from the early days, most particularly around the “Thousand Miles Away” album to now?
Mario: Yes each album has its own sound but one thing we did never loose, was our catchy hook lines as it has become our trademark. The debut album “One Way to Heaven” has more a rough sound; “Thousand Miles Away” is very smooth and catchy with Irish influences. My favorite album it “Stick Your Neck Out” which contains great guitar works and tons of powerful songs. “Bite the Bullet” was more of a Hard Rock album. “2012” is well produced and contains a little bit from all. I think a good combination also with some modern influences from Sunrise Avenue, Simple Plan and many others. But you can find also traditional rocks songs like “Stay Tough”.
Myglobalmind: The band has had a number of lineup changes through the years, how have you been able to keep the band together and still manage to release records on a small budget?
Mario: We had a new drummer on each album, that´s true. Hopefully we will guard Nico for a longer time. The reason for those many personal changes comes more from the private sector. Consider we´re all non professionals.
Myglobalmind: Twenty Two years of playing together is certainly quite a feat, do you think if you guys would of have more help from labels and sign a big record deal that you would of released more records in this lifespan?
Wild Frontier Party
Mario: We had offers from major labels but for my opinion it has been better to be able to pull the strings within our own camp. We learned to hard way over all the years. We lost a few thousand Euros over all the years with different companies. Then we started to become more careful. This is the safer way.
Myglobalmind: What made you and the band decide to record this new record “2012”?
Mario: We received lot´s of mails with the question when we would release a new album and on the other hand we love the music we play and we thought that the time would be right to release a new one. We are still hungry for more.
Myglobalmind: As you can tell by the our review, I enjoyed the album quite a lot and I felt is a bit of a crossover from old school Melodic Rock to this new era we live in. It has all the melodies and hooks without compromising its hard rock edge but feeling modern at times. Is this what you we’re going for?
Mario: Yes because we love the traditional hard rock and we also do that with modern rock like Simple Plan or Hinder. What we do is a good combination. I read in a few reviews that the keyboards and a few songs would be to modern and trendy, but that´s what we want to have. Is a combination of old school and modern rock.
Myglobalmind: Give the readers your best sales pitch as to why they should pick up the new record?
Mario: The new album is available at all big mail orders around the world, NEH Records in the states, at cdbaby.com, Amazon and also at www.wildfrontier.de. There you can get the album signed by all band members.
Myglobalmind: How much has the band perform live across Europe over the 22 years together?
Mario: We have played in over 400 shows. Mostly in Germany, followed by Switzerland, Austria, Hungary and Spain.
Myglobalmind: What has been the most memorable live performance Wild Frontier has been a part of?
Mario: One show we had in Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate together with Survivor for the German Government. But there were so many good shows which should never end, I can´t name them all. I´m deeply grateful for all those memories.
Myglobalmind: What do you do in your regular day when you’re not playing in the band?
Mario: All band members have regular jobs. Me and Jens working for a huge car manufacturer, Sascha and Nico at the defense industry and Thomas in a business office.
Myglobalmind: Any new music you from other bands you are currently listening to?
Mario: I like the new Hardline album, as well Jeff Scott Soto´s new effort and there a lot of good stuff out. My favorite bands are also Wig Wam, Treat, Simple Plan, Accept, The Hooters and many many more. The scene is very good at the moment. Rock music is still alive.
Myglobalmind: Hey Mario thanks for checking in and good luck with the new album. Final words are yours!!!!
Mario: I thank you very much for your kind support. It was a great honor for me to do this. I am so glad for everyone who is helping us, because we are doing music from fans to fans, that´s it ! ! ! Let me finally say that the United States are the most important market for us. On our website we have 65 % of all visitors from the States. This is very good for a German band and shows me how important you guys are for us. Thank you all.
Webzine Review for Wild Frontrier – 2012
https://myglobalmind.com/2012/04/07/wild-frontier-2012-review/
https://www.facebook.com/WildFrontier2012
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