Scorpio: What are the latest DESTRUCTION news?
Mike: No special news at the moment. We're just doing promotion work for the new album. We're here in Donzdorf at the record company office. We give about 20 interviews each day. We have to talk, talk, talk... Soon our tour will start too.
Scorpio: Will you have a release party with free beer and DESTRUCTION on stage?
Mike: We want to have a release party, but without a live show — it'll just be a big listening session. It'll be at Rock Fabrik. It's in South Germany.
Scorpio: Where did you record your new "Metal Discharge" album? At Abyss again?
Mike: No, no! This time we went to Switzerland. To Little Creek Studio. It's owned by the GURD guitar player. Maybe you know this Swiss band, GURD.
Scorpio: Actually, no. I've heard clips of your new song taken from your official website. Cool thrash metal, I have to say! But what about the drum section: the hi-hats are sounding non-stop. Don't you think it sounds like bells on Santa Claus' sledge?
Mike: I don't think so. You think so?
Scorpio: Well, yeah.
Mike: Ha-ha! Personally, I think it doesn't have anything to do with Santa Claus.
Scorpio: And what do you think about the drums on the last METALLICA album "St. Anger"? It seems like Lars Ulrich sold his drum kit to buy more beer.
Mike: Heh, I don't like the drums on the new METALLICA. They're too loud. I'm really not into new METALLICA.
Scorpio: It sounds like saucepans, not drums, yeah?
Mike: Uh-huh.
Scorpio: Where did you find your new drummer Marc?
Mike: You know, a friend of ours lived in the southern part of Germany and then moved to Berlin to study. He got to know Marc there, and he called us one time and said, "If you need a good drummer, check this guy out." So yes, it was like that. We called him. He was really good, so he joined DESTRUCTION.
Kashey: And what happened to Sven? Did you trade him for a thousand bottles of beer?
Mike: A thousand bottles of beer? No, no, no, no, no! He wasn't a guy who enjoyed touring, you know. He decided to stop because a band like DESTRUCTION can't just play rock music without touring. And sometimes we're on the road for a very long time, have to drink a lot. Hard job, yeah, and he didn't like touring, so he didn't see the point in playing with DESTRUCTION.
Scorpio: Is Sven the boss of the famous company SVEN, which produces multimedia equipment for PCs?
Mike: Sorry, once again please.
Scorpio: You know, there is a company called SVEN.
Mike: A company?
Scorpio: Yeah, it produces multimedia equipment for personal computers.
Mike: Oh, I'm not into computers, so I've never heard of it.
Scorpio: Because there is this company SVEN, and maybe Sven is the boss of it.
Mike: No, he's not, exactly, heh.
Scorpio: In his profile, Marc wrote that he's unbeatable at masturbating. Has he already shown his skill?
Mike: Never. He never showed me his dick. I don't like dicks, you know. Ha-ha!
Scorpio: Is the cover of Metal Discharge just a metalized copy of Antichrist's cover?
Mike: Uh-huh.
Scorpio: And where is Mad Butcher? I think some fans miss him!
Mike: You think so, yeah? In my opinion, the skull is better. At light shows, we always use this skull for the background. And it looks great. If we had Mad Butcher on the background, you know... It's red and... yellow. I think it's too colorful, that's why we use the skull.
Scorpio: Maybe the next cover will be Mad Butcher as a robot?
Mike: Maybe, yeah. We'll think about that.
Scorpio: And maybe a stone Destruction Skull?
Mike: I don't think so. But, you know, we have a lot of time till the next cover, so we haven't thought about it now. We'll think about it when the time comes.
Scorpio: Tell us something about the new video, please.
Mike: What about our new video? You should watch it. Yeah, it's cool — I won't describe it. You should watch it.
Scorpio: And is it already on your website for downloading?
Mike: Yeah, it is.
Scorpio: OK, will check it out.
Mike: Cool!
Scorpio: I've heard you recently made a statement that you are against US military politics. You made an EXPLOITED cover song "Fuck The USA" available for download. Some of your fans, especially from the USA, disliked it. And Billy Milano said that he would kill you if you come to the USA.
Mike: We've already been to the USA after recording that song, and nobody complained. You can find many complaints on the internet. I don't think we're going to have problems when we play in the States. Not really. You know, last time we played in the States, we talked to many, many people. And most of the people who came to our concert are against the government too. They say, "I'm going to move to Europe, I can't take this brainwashing anymore."
Scorpio: Two years ago, the World Trade Center in New York was destroyed. So, what do you think about Bush, Bin Laden, and Saddam Hussein?
Mike: You should put them in the same tank and hit it. Ha-ha! The States put pressure on every country and try to tell every single nation how to live and how to behave. Bin Laden doesn't like that, so he fights. I can understand him in one way, but I think it's wrong too, because his actions have religion as their basis.
Kashey: Maybe someday you'll make a cover with the ruins of the World Trade Center on it?
Mike: Ha-ha-ha. No, that would be a little bit tasteless. You know, that was really shit, really sad. I saw it live on TV. At first I thought, "Oh, it's a new movie." And then when I realized it was real, I was shocked. It makes no sense for the States to answer like this, because they're going to get more war problems.
Scorpio: Yeah, the whole world was shocked.
Mike: Yeah.
Kashey: Your song lyrics are sometimes quite grim. Maybe you'll release a death metal album someday?
Mike: No, I don't think so.
Kashey: And do you like death metal?
Mike: Oh yeah, once in a while. I listen to it often to get on my nerves. :) But once in a while I like it.
Kashey: And what is your favorite death metal band?
Mike: I don't have a favorite death metal band.
Kashey: Do you drink alcohol during recording sessions, or is music very important to you and you're serious about it?
Mike: Heh, of course, music is really important to me. But it has nothing to do with alcohol. If you don't drink too much, you can even play better. I can play better when I drink a bit of wine, for example, to get warm fingers. You know, I never record when I'm drunk, for sure. Yeah, we drink in the studio, why not. And smoke, of course. If you know what I mean... Marijuana! :)
Scorpio: Yeah, I've read on your website that you like to smoke dope.
Mike: Exactly!
Scorpio: Why is the name of your band DESTRUCTION? ZERSTÖRUNG sounds cool too.
Mike: Our lyrics are in English, so it really wouldn't make sense to choose a German name. I'm glad that we have this name.
Scorpio: Mike, why did you kick Schmier out in the beginning of the '90s?
Mike: You know, we had different views on how things should go. I wanted to get more technical in the music; he thought otherwise. It was no fun. While we were practicing, we'd always talk — and that makes no sense, you know. If you're practicing, you should be making music, not talking. But now it's OK again.
Scorpio: Do you like the stuff you did with the so-called NEO-DESTRUCTION — DESTRUCTION without Schmier?
Mike: Oh yeah. It was a good experience for me.
Scorpio: So now you are together again. Do you think you'll never part ways with Schmier?
Mike: Uh, never say never. I don't think I'll be going on stage till I'm 80. When we get old, maybe we'll drift apart.
Scorpio: Or you'll quarrel and we'll see old man Schmier in battle against old man Mike. :)
Mike: Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!
Scorpio: You're not very tall. Were you ashamed of your height at school?
Mike: I don't care. Sometimes it's even better when you're not very tall. Imagine if we had a really tiny tour bus — tall guys would have to bend. I never had problems with that.
Scorpio: Mike, when did you start listening to metal music?
Mike: Oh, when I was 12 or 13, something like that. It wasn't really metal — I started with STATUS QUO, DEEP PURPLE, RAINBOW.
Kashey: Did you decide to become a musician before you learned to play the guitar, or while you were learning?
Mike: Heh, "decided" is maybe the wrong word, you know. I wanted to become a musician and I worked hard for it. But I didn't decide. You never know beforehand if you're going to make it. So I just tried my best all the time to become a rockstar! :)
Kashey: Your posters are in every magazine, heh!
Mike: Not in every magazine. Not in commercial ones like Daily News or something like that.
Kashey: But do you want to get in the Daily News someday?
Mike: Hmm, not really. You can get there if you do pop music, but that's not my style.
Scorpio: Yeah! What was your first guitar?
Mike: Oh, it was a crappy acoustic guitar. My grandma gave it to me as a present, you know. It was a really cheap piece-of-crap guitar. She was cool — she gave me that guitar and maybe that's what pushed me to become a musician. And my first electric guitar was shit too. It was like a guitar you can buy in a supermarket. Really cheap garbage. And my first real guitar was the one I still play — a Gibson Flying V.
Scorpio: Did you keep your first acoustic guitar, or did you sell it?
Mike: Do I still have it?
Scorpio: Yeah!
Mike: No, no. I gave it away to my cousin. He should still have it.
Scorpio: Does he play guitar?
Mike: Oh no, he just tried. You know, I gave it to him about 15 years ago. He tried but he never made it.
Scorpio: So you won't have a cousin who's a metal musician.
Mike: No, I don't think so. He's a heavy smoker! He's a good cousin.
Scorpio: What do you think about musicians who smash their guitars on stage?
Mike: OK, if they have enough money and like doing that, yeah, why not. You know, it's always cheap guitars they smash. Sometimes it's cool. I hate it when they smash a really nice guitar, a Fender guitar. It hurts, you know, when you see it smashed like a cheap guitar. If they have fun, let them do it.
Scorpio: And have you ever damaged your guitar on stage?
Mike: No, never. You know, I'm not rich. I don't have enough money to destroy guitars — I like to play them.
Scorpio: Maybe you'll try it one day?
Mike: I don't think so. There are many guys who do this on stage — it's just part of their shows. I think music is more important, and you don't have to destroy a guitar to put on a good show.
Kashey: What do you think about musicians who mix metal music and rap?
Mike: Oh, it's not really my cup of tea. OK, once in a while there's a good song in between. But it's not really for me — not my cup of tea.
Kashey: Maybe it's like a cup of tea with salt instead of sugar?
Mike: Yes. Exactly! Salt and pepper.
Kashey: Sometimes it happens that a band radically changes its style, mostly because they want to earn more money with their music. Will that ever happen to DESTRUCTION?
Mike: No, never.
Scorpio: We hope so!
Mike: Yeah, I'm not a sellout. I'm not selling myself for money, so it'll never happen.
Scorpio: And how do you like working with Nuclear Blast?
Mike: It's really good working with them, because all the people there are real metalheads who are really into the music, and that's important. They do it with their hearts and not just to earn money, and that's very important.
Scorpio: I've seen a photo where Jaap, from Nuclear Blast's promo department, is feeding Schmier a sandwich.
Mike: I never saw that photo. :)
Scorpio: And has Schmier ever fed you a sandwich?
Mike: No, no. I feed myself. I feed Schmier sometimes with a joint! :)
Scorpio: Schmier has a restaurant. Have you ever been there?
Mike: Yes, lots of times. They have a good cook, and I like it!
Scorpio: So the drinks and food are good there. No bullshit!
Mike: No bullshit. It's quite good.
Scorpio: And what music plays there?
Mike: You know, it's like a normal restaurant. Normal rock music plays, sometimes a radio program. But there's an extra room, a bar room, and there they play rock and metal music. So you can choose — if you want to drink and have a metal party, go to the bar room, and if you want to listen to quiet music, choose the other room.
Scorpio: Are there photos of DESTRUCTION on the walls?
Mike: No.
Scorpio: I've heard you like russian writers. Is that really so?
Mike: Yeah. My favorite is Dostoyevsky. And I like Goncharov, Gogol, Chekhov, Tolstoy.
Scorpio: And have you read "Master and Margarita" by Bulgakov?
Mike: Yes, I have. It's a great one too, yeah! It's strange and I like it!
Scorpio: You know, we read this book in school.
Mike: In school, yeah?
Scorpio: Yep. And it was required by the curriculum.
Mike: That's cool! And here in Germany we mostly read German writers.
Kashey: What is your point of view about religion?
Mike: I think everybody can believe in whatever they want. I have nothing against people who go to church. They can do what they want and believe what they want, but when somebody tries to tell me what I have to think and believe, I get angry. Some really religious people say, "I believe in God because I know Him," and it's bullshit. How can he know God and I don't, any less? So he's lying. Fuck off!
Kashey: And Satanism?
Mike: It's the same, same thing. You don't know God and nobody knows, and nobody has seen Satan. So it's exactly the same thing. If you don't know something, you shouldn't talk about it, because it makes no sense.
Scorpio: You smoke dope. Are you really into the "Sex, drugs, rock'n'roll" principle?
Mike: Ha-ha-ha. It's kind of romantic, you know. Yeah, I like sex, of course. I like drugs, especially something to smoke, and of course I like fuckin' rock'n'roll. I don't try to hook up with a girl every night — that could get you in trouble. :)
Scorpio: Have you ever had sex to DESTRUCTION songs?
Mike: No, no. That would turn me off. Schmier's voice while I'm having sex? No, it's not erotic. But many, many people have told me, "Oh, I always have sex to DESTRUCTION music. It's really good for me!"
Scorpio: Maybe you don't do that because it would feel like Schmier is in the room?
Mike: Yeah, kind of. Ha-ha-ha!
Scorpio: Schmier is an eternal bachelor. And what about you?
Mike: I don't have children. You know, you always get problems when you have children and you're not at home. If you have children, you should take care of them and raise them, try to be a good father. And when you're on the road most of the time, you don't see your children. That's not good for a family.
Scorpio: Describe the perfect wife for you.
Mike: I think I already have her. She has to be nice, pretty, intelligent, and a good person. I have a girlfriend at the moment.
Scorpio: Now I'll name some drinks and you say a few words — do you like them or have you ever tried them? OK?
Mike: OK.
Scorpio: Water.
Mike: Yeah, you need it. I drink it once in a while, yeah.
Scorpio: Milk.
Mike: Milk. Milk is nice with chocolate. I put it in my coffee. I drink it sometimes to get over a hangover. I like milk.
Scorpio: Tea.
Mike: I'm a big tea drinker. I drink about two liters of tea each day.
Scorpio: Coffee.
Mike: When I was younger, I didn't drink tea — I just drank coffee the whole day, and I messed up my stomach with that. So with coffee, I have to be careful, but I still like it. I like the strong Turkish one and the Italian — espresso, you know.
Scorpio: And it's bad for the stomach.
Mike: It's bad for the stomach, but I just drink it after meals.
Scorpio: Coca-Cola.
Mike: I don't really like Coca-Cola because it's too sweet for me. And you always have to burp after you drink it. Sometimes you need it to mix a long drink. Once in a while, I like to drink a whiskey and Coke or something like that. But too much Coke messes up your stomach too. Really badly.
Scorpio: Beer.
Mike: You know, here in Germany, drinking beer is almost like eating bread. I really like to drink beer, but now not as much as I used to. When I was younger, I drank ten liters a day. Nowadays, I've switched more to wine. We have really good beer in Germany, you should know.
Scorpio: Wine.
Mike: I'm a really big wine drinker. Where I live, in South Germany, we have good wine. Wine is like an art form for me — I really like it, yeah.
Scorpio: And what do you prefer: red or white?
Mike: I love both. You know, in some moments I prefer white wine, and in winter it's more the red one. I really like both, but only when it's good wine, of course. I don't like sweet crap. From sweet wine I get a big headache. So I drink dry wine.
Scorpio: And red wine is good with meat.
Mike: It's good with meat, yeah. And if you eat chicken or something like that, white wine is better. Or with fish — always white wine.
Scorpio: Whiskey.
Mike: Oh yeah, whiskey. It's a good friend of mine. Ha-ha. I like whiskey, especially Scotch. I like Scotch whiskey with a little bit of ice, or mixed with Coke. Canadian is also good, and even Japanese whiskey is good, heh.
Scorpio: I've never seen bottles of Japanese whiskey.
Mike: They have really, really good stuff. Recently, it's won a few awards, taking first places ahead of the Scottish ones.
Scorpio: Champagne.
Mike: I like it too. But you know, champagne is really fucking expensive. And when I drink it, I drink German champagne. We have good stuff, really good stuff. French champagne is also good.
Scorpio: Champagne is the traditional New Year's drink.
Mike: Oh yeah, it's the traditional New Year's drink. You know, I always drink two or three glasses and that's enough — then I switch to red wine. To get drunk, I think red wine is better.
Scorpio: Liqueur.
Mike: I'm not really into liqueur because it's too sweet for me and gives me a bad headache.
Scorpio: Vodka.
Mike: Vooodka! Ha-ha! Nice drink, of course. I like vodka with orange juice or vodka straight. I prefer russian vodka (of course! It can't be any other! — auth.) — "Stolichnaya," I like it the most. And maybe sometimes the Polish one.
Scorpio: Is it possible to buy russian vodka in Germany?
Mike: Of course! We have it all. I prefer "Stolichnaya" over "Moskovskaya."
Scorpio: Samogon.
Mike: What?
Scorpio: It's a traditional alcoholic drink from Ukraine, russia, and Belarus. People in villages make it; it's about 60 proof.
Mike: Oh yeah? Cool! And what is it made from? Grapes? Or what kind of fruit?
Scorpio: In Ukraine, it's mostly made from sugar beets.
Mike: Sugar beets? OK, interesting. Never heard of it, but if I come to your country, I'll try it for sure.
Scorpio: OK. You have to try it!
Mike: I will!
Scorpio: Spiritus.
Mike: Spiritus isn't really a drink, heh.
Scorpio: Some people here — I've heard doctors — mix it with water and drink it.
Mike: You know, people in Germany used to do that about fifteen years ago or something. But now they mix it with oil, you know, like diesel.
Scorpio: And have you ever tried it?
Mike: Never tried it, because you can't mix German spiritus with water — it's really like petrol. You wouldn't drink petrol; it makes you go blind.
Scorpio: Do you know some russian words?
Mike: Davay, davay! Er... Spasibo! That's all I've got! Ha-ha!
Scorpio: Do you know how to say DESTRUCTION in Ukrainian?
Mike: I met one guy from Ukraine. It was in Hungary when we played there. He told me there are a lot of people who like DESTRUCTION in Ukraine.
Kashey: When will you come to play in Ukraine or russia?
Mike: You know, it depends on russian and Ukrainian promoters. We always want to play in every country. And we planned to play in russia. This March, we were supposed to play in moscow, but the moscow show was cancelled by the russian promoter. But we're still trying, and I think we'll play there next year.
Scorpio: Please tell us a tour story.
Mike: You know, we don't have time for that anymore because I have to call Finland now. Sorry about that — I have so many interviews to do.
Scorpio: Oh, I understand. So, last two questions. What are your plans for the future?
Mike: Oh, making music and playing good shows.
Scorpio: And to end — your final words!
Mike: Thanks for waiting so long for DESTRUCTION. I really hope to come to russia and Ukraine next year (We are waiting for you! — auth.). I wish everyone all the best. Thank you, bye-bye!
Scorpio: Thanks for the answers and good luck!
Mike: Thanks, and have a nice time. See you then. Hopefully next year, OK?
Scorpio: OK, I think so.
Mike: Cool! Take care! Bye-bye!
Scorpio, Kashey: Bye!