Zeljko Knezevic: The dawn of Grinder

 

A well needed trivia. I’ve always been a huge fan of Grinder which I consider one of the finest thrash bands from Germany. Their “Dead End” pleases me more than some better known albums of Kreator, Sodom, Destruction or Tankard. I’ve done a couple interviews with Andy Erguen (one you can read here and one I’ll post soon in the blog) and in 2014 I was asked by one Russian label if it was possible to reissue Grinder’s demo “Sirens”. One thing led to another, and the owner of the label asked if Grinder’s first demo “Scared to Death” was available for reissue too. I need to say, that this demo is very rare and I had to bother Grinder’s original drummer Zeljko Knezevic and a friend of the band Timo to digitalize the demo and send it to the label. We also did an interview for the booklet of the upcoming CD. Everything was ready… and nothing happened. The label postponed the reissue for various (I suspect fake) reasons and the interview was buried on my hard drive. A while ago I managed to find it. So here is the story of the very first steps of Grinder told by Zeljko the Shellshock!

Zeljko, please tell us how did you get into heavy music and why did you decide to play drums?

Well,it all started with my first KISS concert in 1980 with Iron Maiden supporting KISS.KISS was my favorite band at the time, but after I saw Maiden things changed immediately. i was fascinated by Clive Burr the Maiden Drummer and his drumming. That was the day I decided to play drums. At school the next day, I asked Lario who was my best friend at the time (and was until he died) if he would start a metal band with me. Said and done! We had a name for the band: The Bastards. The only thing was no one ever played an instrument and we need more than two people to start a band. Lario’s decision was clear — he wanted to play the guitar, so we just needed a bassist and a singer. We found two of our school mates who were absolutely into it but it all stocked and we never started this band. The Bastards were history. But Lario and I decided to become Rock stars, you know, sex drugs and rock and roll, a normal things for boys at the age of 13.

In metal community you are known as Shellshock. How did you get this nickname? Is it just because of the German version of your name or was there any other reason?

Somewhere around 81/82 I saw Tank for the first time. They became one of my favorite bands (as you can see, my favorite bands changed very often at that time). Their first album “Filth Hounds of Hades” was so unbelievable (and still is for me), and they had this song called “Shellshock” which I played on my cassette player on and on. Zeljko (a normal boys name in former Yugoslavia, where I was born) sounds similar to shellshock to me, so I decided whenever I start a band I will call myself “Shellshock”!

Do you remember how you get in touch with Adrian Hahn and Lario Teclic? Who came up with the idea to form a band?

I’ve answered the question partly in my first answer. Lario and I were close friends since the age of 6. We met Adrian in a pub in our hometown of Frankfurt in 1983. I was part of the tape trading scene in Germany and had the first Metallica, Slayer, Exodus Demo tapes, the scene at that time was very small and everybody knows everybody who was into that “new extreme ьetal shit”. After a few drinks and some more drinks I found out that Adrian was a real metalhead. As he told me that he was playing bass, i asked him if he speaks English. He said “Yes, a little bit” and I knew we’d found a bassplayer and maybe a singer for our band that existed only in Lario’s and my mind.

As far as I’m aware that was you who came up with the idea to call the band after Judas Priest’s song “Grinder”. What made this particular track so special for you?

Lario and I listened to each and every metal album we could get. The NWOBHM was on the rise back then, and Judas Priest were one of those bands who we really liked among a few others. “British Steel”, a masterpiece in Heavy Metal came out and “Grinder” was a killer song. Not knowing what the word Grinder means, I decided that if we ever had a real Band it has to be called Grinder.

By the way, who created Grinder’s famous logo (which is one of memorable logos in metal in my eyes)?

That was my friend Timo Weber.

Now let’s speak about the demo “Scared To Death”. Where was it recorded? What are your best memories about recording sessions? Judging by the demo’s cover you had a lot fun during the record process and drank a lot of beer, wine and whatever. 

“Scared to Death” was recorded in the late 1985 in a town called Wiesbaden, about 40 km away from Frankfurt. We had a professional producer, but we, especially me, were everything but definitely not professionals. In our rehearsal room we used to party and get drunk all day and night. That was our definition of metal, quite normal when you were our age of about 17.The studio sessions were horrible — not for us (we had fun) but for the producer. We finished the recordings within a day, I think everyone can hear the result on this tape, not a masterpiece in metal but it came straight from our hearts… and our beer cans!

Can you tell us about songwriting process in the band at that time? In further times Lario Teclic (R.I.P.) became one of the most composers in Grinder but what about those early days?

Lario played guitar, Adrian played bass and did the vocals including the lyrics. You know, he was the one whose English were more fluent than just beer, tits and  rock and roll (that was all I knew in English). I played drums… plain and simple. Our rehearsals room was always packed with our (almost/always drunk) friends and every practice turned into a party/ We drank, sometimes puked, and tried to write songs. We were unprofessional as much as unprofessional a band can be BUT we had fu and that was what it was all about! Three own riffs, and then we started the song “TNT” by AC/DC. Why this song? It was easy to play and shout. We had a blast back then!

The demo contains the song “The Magician” which later appeared on the first full-length album “Dawn for the Living” but other tracks like “Armageddon”, “Scared To Death” and “Infernal Nights” were dropped. How can you describe them? Why didn’t the band use them in the future?

“The Magician” is still a great metal song, I love that one. “Armageddon” was inspired by the song “Armageddon” from Carnivore (the next of my favorite bands). It did not sound the same, but it was my own inspiration to write a song with the same title. OK ,to be honest, Adrian wrote the lyrics, as I told you my English was not perfect! “Scared to Death” and “Infernal Nights” were great songs as well, simple and straight in the face. “Armageddon”, “Scared to Death” and “Infernal Nights” did not make it on the first album maybe because Grinder wrote better songs after I left the band.

You pressed 400 copies of this demo. Did you sold them all? Were you a part of tape-trading circuit?

The 400 copies were all sold, the people seemed to like the songs and our music. Of course I was part of the trading scene. It was the only way to get the great new music from all over the world: North America (Metallica, Exodus, Legacy, Anthrax, Overkill, Slayer etc.), Australia (Mortal Sin),Brazil (Sepultura) and all over Europe.

What can you say about live shows in the early days? Did you get a chance to play outside Frankfurt-am-Mein?

I played just shows in the Frankfurt area with Grinder, but later the band played shows outside Germany as well in Istanbul/Turkey for example.

By the way, what was the metal scene like in Frankfurt at that time? Were you friends with Tankard or Exumer?

Tankard started about one year earlier than Grinder We played one show together in 1985. After I left Grinder I started a nameless Band and shared the rehearsal room with Exumer from time to time. The Frankfurt area had a small but strong metal scene in the 80’s. Gere from Tankard and I are still good friends, we are supporters of the best Football club in the world — Eintracht Frankfurt, and it’s great to see that Exumer are back again!

You left Grinder in 1987. Have you ever felt a kind of regret that you quit the band so quick? Did you play in any other band after your departure from Grinder?

It was my own decision to leave the band. After Andy joined the band I found out that the more ambitious way they want to go is not mine. Not that I did not want to, but my drumming did not fit that new way the other bandmates wanted to go. I have been always more into the Hardcore aggressive style. They choose to go in more melodic (but still thrash metal) style. I played in two other bands, but I lost the interest of playing in bands. In 1990 I had to do my military service in Yugoslavi. When I came back I ended my short carrier as a drummer, but I’ve never left the local metal scene. I am no more a musician but I’m still a fan!

As far as I know even after your departure you stayed with the guys in the future and were a drum-tech for them. So what are your opinion and best memories about that line-up with Andy Erguen and Stefan Arnold?

I left the band for a good reason, but the connection between the band and me were still strong. Lario and I were still best friends, and  I considered the other guys (Stefan, Andy and Adrian) as my close friends as well. I wasn’t the band member anymore, but it didn’t mean that we could not be friends and party hard. And let me tell you we did party very hard back then.When Grinder did their recordings for “Dawn for the Living” album, some of us (including some guys from Tankard) decided to go to the studio (which was about 300 km away from Frankfurt) after we drank the whole night at our favorite pub, the “Speak Easy”, in Frankfurt. We drove all absolutely drunk at 3 o clock in the night to the recording studio just to wake them up an party. The Grinder/Despair/Accuser tour was also great, fantastic bands and fantastic people, playing small clubs and wrecking them all. Good old memories…

After the first demo Grinder put out one more demo (“Sirens”), one EP and three full-length albums. Did you hear those records and if yes what is your favorite?

I have all albums and the demo tape. My favorite album? It changes from time to time. But I think “Dead End” is the best one they ever recorded!

After Grinder called it quit Adrian Hahn used to play in Capricorn but since that time he literally disappeared. Do you know anything about him?

Adrian left Capricorn and after that I met him once, but it was about 10 years ago, no one I know, knows where he is.

What are your feelings about this re-issue of the demo “Scared to Death”. Does it make you proud or something else?    

To be honest I’ve never thought nowadays anybody ever cares about this demo tape. And yes, it makes me kinda proud! Thanx a lot for bringing back some good old memories!