Interview Black Majesty

De Australische melodic power metal band Black Majesty bracht onlangs hun vijfde plaat 'Stargazer' uit.

Hoog tijd om deze ozzies eens aan de tand te voelen. Voor ons nam gitarist Stevie even wat tijd vrij.

For those of us who do not know you guys: could the members of the band please introduce themselves? Who are you exactly? What instruments do you play? Why? Are you educated in this instrument? How did you come to join the band?

Hi my name is Stevie Janevski and I’m one of the guitarists in Australian melodic power metal band ‘Black Majesty’. We have been together for approximately ten years and have so far released five cds through our label Limb Music Germany.

• Sands Of Time – 2003
• Silent company – 2005
• Tomorrowland – 2007
• In Your Honour – 2012
• Stargazer – 2012

All of us had all played in the local music scene together and things came together once our drummer Pavel joined the band.

We’ve kept the same band line up together the entire time with John Cavaliere – lead vocals, Hanny Mohamed – guitars, Pavel Konvalinka – drums and myself on guitar. We’ve had a great friend by the name of Evan Harris play bass on all of the recordings.

How did you come up with a band name like Black Majesty?

The name Black Majesty came about with the idea of having a representation of Australia’s ties to the English monarchy – ‘majesty’ and we added the word ‘black’ in front of it to give the name more of a metal/powerful element.

Black Majesty is a fairly unknown band today in Belgium. What’s your ambition? Where do you plan to be in, let’s say, five years?

We just do what we do. We appreciate all our fans from around the world and we’re happy to keep spreading the word! We play the music we play for enjoyment. It’s a bonus that we have fans from around the globe!

Could you describe your music? Why do you play this kind of music?

Our style was developed with influences from the classic heavy metal scene of the 70’s and 80’s. Bands such as Rainbow, Dio, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Helloween, early Queensryche & Dokken are many of our influences. These days our style is described as melodic power metal – we’re happy wearing our influences on our sleeves and do what we do!

Where did you get your inspiration for the songs on this album?

The music was written by all of us over about a year. We normally demo all of our songs first and write the lyrics after the music and melodies are done. Our singer John writes most of the lyrics. Stargazer tackles themes such as astrology, faith, love and hope. Most of the inspiration comes from within, although we love listening to the old school classics to get us vibed to write new tunes.

What can we expect from you on stage?

We pride ourselves on our live show. We really get into our music on stage and we’re kind of known to be quite active on stage and feed off the crowds reactions. Sometimes we’ll have guest singer’s from other bands jump on stage with us – Danny C. from Eyefear & Silvio M. from Vanishing Point are great friends of ours. Other times we’ll throw in a cover tune for a bit of fun!

Speaking of ‘on stage’: do you have tour plans? And, if so, is Belgium on your list?

We’ve been to Europe many times but unfortunately we’re yet to get to Belgium. Fingers crossed that happens sooner rather than later! We’re already booked for a few Australian album launches and after that we’ll support Nightwish on their 2013 Australian tour in January.

How difficult is it for a metalband to get somewhere, in terms of success and sales? Are you guys active in this process, or are other people involved on the ‘marketing’ side of the story?

Our label Limb Music in Germany obviously helps promote our music but yes we’re also heavily involved with spreading the word! We all enjoy touring and playing shows for fans worldwide.

We’ve already been fortunate enough to play some of the biggest festivals such as Wacken Open Air, Masters Of Rock, Metal Universe, Screamfest aswell as support bands like Helloween, Blind Guardian, Saxon, Masterplan, Dragonforce, etc. However headline shows are always our fave thing to do, as we get to play a longer set and be in more control of our stage layout.

How and why did you get a record deal? What did you do before that with your music to get it ‘out there’?

We worked very hard to get a record deal. We sent our promo ep to all of the Euro labels and magazines and got many favorable responses. We were voted best unsigned band in 2002 in many polls and after receiving a few offers from different labels we decided on Limb Music.

Before this time we all individually flirted with different projects from hard rock through to death metal.

What’s your favorite song on the album ‘Stargazer’ and why?

My personal favo song is the opening track ‘Falling’. I like that it has a bit of a different feel yet still has that signature Black Majesty sound. It’s catchy and has a great melody throughout, in some ways reminiscent of Kamelot.

What music do you guys listen to yourselves?

Personally I’m into heavy rock and classic metal. My favo bands include Judas Priest, Whitesnake, KISS, Dokken & Skid Row. Our singer John likes Dio, Helloween & Masterplan. Hanny likes a lot of the classics like Rainbow, Triumph & Iron Maiden and our drummer Pavel likes bands like Saxon, Accept and Primal Fear.

What kind of clothes do you wear? Why? Is there a difference on stage – off stage?

We don’t differ that much from on stage to off…..you’ll normally see us in ‘metal T-shirts’ like Judas Priest, Dio, Twisted Sister, Helloween or Dio when we’re on the street. Heavy metal is very much our lifestyle!

Do you have a role model, someone in your line of business you look up to, you admire?

Personally guitarists like Tipton & KK downing, Murray & Smith, Degarmo & Wilton worked together really well and in many ways I like the fact that these players played for the song instead of always shredding a million miles per hour. I personally think a balance is important for tasty guitar licks to shine through. Other faves include George Lynch, John Sykes & Van Halen.

How about merchandise? What do you have already and what do plan for the future?

We always sell merchandise at our shows and keep with the theme of all of our album art. We have recently released Stargazer t. shirts, long sleeves and hoodies which look great! We always liked how bands like Dio & Iron Maiden had cool art which were also on their merch!

Who do you want your audience to be?

Much of our crowd at shows are metal heads that range from hard rockers to death metallers! It’s about the enjoyment! We don’t discriminate!

Thanks for your time.

Metal cheers & thanks for the support!

Steve & Black Majesty