Overlord SR: The power of metal

Damn! There are so many new releases every year, that it's easy to miss really cool ones. That's what happened to the latest Overlord SR album "Prepare for the King". I managed to get my hands on it only this year. The band is still going strong and kikicng asses of all USPM fans. Wildman George Koerber took the time to tell me about the album and shared some stories from the glorious past of the band. 

Overlord SR's line-up has been stable since 2013, and the only missing member is Mark "Zip" Zapeda. What happened to him? 

We were writing the new songs for “Prepare for the King”. When we noticed Zip could not come up with drum parts for several songs right off the bat. He could not do it! He said on “Still Standing” we had old recordings or versions of those songs for him to go off of. He just copied what was on there and on the new added parts, we put on those songs. So he kept saying, “I am not a metal drummer, I am a Pop  drummer, not a metal one!” So we Found David "Pop Pop" Morris and he is Metal all the way! Makes us back up to speed, and high energy, plus Zip was slowing things down also!

Do you remember when you started writing for "Prepare for the King" and what were the first songs? 

“In Ancient Times” was first and then “The Revelation” was second.

What is your approach to songwriting? Do you write all together? Or do you and Craig Dunham bring complete songs? 

I write the song music wise first and come up with a theme for the song to be about. Then singer Steve Sosa and I get together and work out the parts and melodies and how it should fit together, and flow. We record in on a CD, then give it to the rest of the band and all them to work out their parts at home and then come back the next week. We then as a band put our parts all together and form the song. Then record it live in the studio to a CD and we all take it home and listen and if we like it, then we move forward on it. You have to like what you write and play, and it has to move you first before anyone else will listen to it. Craig and I never argue on solo parts, we just know who will be doing the solos once the arrangement is done.

Wildman George Koerber

Could you provide some formal information about the making of "Prepare for the King" please? Like, where was it recorded and how long did it take to record it? Who mixed and mastered it? Who did the cover artwork?

It was recorded in our studio Castle Studios in my back yard. The album took about several months to compose — almost a year, and 4 months to lay down the tracks. The rest of that info are in the liner notes of the CD. The cover work was done by Brandy Sinex, the concept for the cover was my idea, and she nailed it.

I love rough sound of "Prepare for the King" — it is so different to polished sound of modern metal bands. Were you all agreed that the album should sound this way? 

We wanted it to have that 80's sound which we are and love our unique sound and style, it just lends itself to this. We wanted a raw and more lively sound for today. Most bands today have a dry drum sound and the guitars are over processed, compressed, and digital sounding. The bass is a roar on the low end and the vocals today seem like they were recorded in a box with tons of foam on the wall, close up! This is not us and we try not to over produce so we can do the songs justice live when we play them on our shows. No auto tune was ever used or harmed on this recording! (Laughs.)

The album bursts with "The Power of Metal" which is slightly reworked version of "Power Metal" from "Still Standing". Why did you decide to re-record the song?

Because Zip was on “Power Metal”, this was the only new songs we did on “Still Standing” album. The song did not have the punch it should have behind it with Zip on it, and the mix on “Still Sanding” was not up to par with the rest of the songs on that album. The song kicks now and has what it should of had all along. Steve, our signer, said the title is “The Power of Metal”, not “Power Metal”.

Steve Sosa

Did you use this time some previously unrecorded material, like you did on "Still Standing"? 

No, except for “The Power of Metal” song all the songs are new and written for this album, “Prepare for the King”.

"The Revelation" is a pure epic power metal greatness! Do you remember how this song came to you? 

I was sitting on a glider swing outside in the Spring and I write all songs on the acoustic guitar first. Was on my patio and the chorus came to me first and then started working on it. It was laid on my heart to write this song and the title and the subject. I know it is coming, I have known this as a kid since the fourth grade when I had a teacher ask me why I had checked out a Bible for reading hour every day. She asked me if I was going to be a seminary. I said no, I need to read this book here, “The Revelation”, because I know I will be here when this starts when I am older. So we are here and I like to tell metal listeners what is coming in the future in case they are not paying attention to what is going on around them, in the world. Which happens these days.

"Beginning of the End" has that doomy Black Sabbath-esque feeling. What inspired you to write it? 

The same as “The Revelation”, we are living  in these days now, and it is the Beginning of the End. Young people do not want to hear this, but as you see it is getting more evil every day, more killings, shootings, earthquakes, hurricanes,  killing thousands. It was written this would happen in the end of days. Well we are here now, listen to the song.

The album has 7 songs (about 30 minutes of music). In my opinion, it's better than filling an album with some unnecessary songs just for the sake of it. Was it your initial plan to make people asking for more when the album ends up? 

Seven is the number of completion and plus we wanted this record on vinyl and if you get over 34 minutes or so, the tracks do not have the punch you want. I love all my vinyl Metal LP's, I have over 300.

Why did you decide to release "Prepare for the King" independently? There are so many labels like Heaven and Hell Records who would be happy to do it.

We will never use Heaven and Hell records ever again! He does not like to pay bands what they deserve for selling their songs and he did not believe we were a band who deserved anything. We chose Exitus Stratagem Records because they pay more per CD and vinyl LP and digital download than other labels. The next album we might shop it for sure, with bigger labels, we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

Craig Dunham

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Overlord SR have never played in Europe. Why is that? Have you been asked to do so by promoters of Headbangers Open Air or Keep It True festivals? 

You are right we have never played Europe, yet! Nobody has offered us enough money to play over there. Oliver of KIT will not even answer his in boxes to bring us over for his festival, even from our booking agent.  It takes money to fly over, have rooms, we will not stay in a roach motel, we are much older and want to be comfortable. This is fine when you are in your 20's but now when you are older, you need to be comfortable. We will need back line, drums, our gear here in the US is 110 volts and there it is 220 volts. Need transportation so it comes down to money as always. A promoter will clean and make money their up to bring us over there, everyone in Europe wants us to play there. So we need someone who believes in the band and invest in us and bring us over to play some festivals. To me Wacken would be the one for me to play, I was born in Germany and that is the festival of festivals to play, and all others also! you understand what i am trying to say here all festivals there will be fun, but that one is a goal I have always had.

I'd love to discuss some aspects of Overlord SR's history, if you don't mind. In the very beginning you played covers with Fantasy and Rheagan for several years. Would you say that it helped you to become a better musician and to understand music better? Would you advice playing covers to those who do their first steps in music? 

I was 17 in Fantasy and 19 in Rheagan, and we were breaking ground here in the Bible belt in the south playing AC/DC, Scorpions, Y&T, Iron Maiden when nobody was here at that time in North Carolina. It helps get you knowing what sound you want to strive for in the future. Then you have to write your own songs and at 20 I did and the song “Keeper of the Flame” is a testament to that. It has on the original demo version on You Tube over 140,000 views for a demo song. I love our remake of “In the Year 2525” — we made it our own and it needed more money to mix and get a better drum sound for 1985. I want some remakes on this next album, we have not done any in a while and they will be done our way.

Is there any special story behind your nickname Wildman? 

Yes, I used to use a 100 ft cable back in the day before wirelesses and use to jump form the stage to a table to the bar and run down the bar and run back to the table to the stage. People would come up to me after the show and say “Hey, Wildman!" (not, “Hey, George!”) That was really cool of you and all that crazy running around and playing!” It was given by the fans and it stuck, all these years later.

Did you have to pay to get a slot on "Metal Massacre" compilation? I heard that was common thing back then... 

No we got paid for being on that album and it sold over 25,000 copies worldwide in 1987. It was not a bunch but we did get paid and it opened doors for us to open for big name bands then.

Back in the 80's you had marvelous stage show with castles made of wood, scene which looked like a dungeon, armors, helmets etc. Did you do these decorations and armors yourselves? 

Yes, we made them and were always adding to the show every time we got a chance to up grad and add something else. We loved KISS and Alice Cooper who had stage shows to go along with their music.

I guess it was quite hard to set the stage for your shows with abovementioned decorations. Were there some hilarious/odd/Spinal Tap moments? 

No, not with props like Stonehenge in “Spinal Tap”, but we have had a guitarist jump off stage and he lost his wireless pack, his shoes and he broke a string! He showed up next to me on stage in his socks and another guitar strapped on him. (Laughs.)

You've played with Savatage, KIX, Warlock, Madam X, Nantucket, Leatherwolf, Ace Frehley and many others. Did they let you use your full stage set? Which bands treated you the best way and which were a bit of a pain in the ass? 

KIX were prima donnas and tried to steal our guitar stands, because we toke care of our gear and they did not. I had them secretly marked and they even tried to steal our drummer’s cymbals. They were on Atlantic Records and we were on Metal Blade and they wanted us to use 8 channels that were left on their console and I said no, we will use our own console and just need two channels to patch into. They were like, “Who the hell are you guys?” They even measured our Marshall Stack box cases and the next time we opened for them on the next tour they had copied our cases because they got big money for “Blow My Fuse” album.

You managed to play in the famous club "Troubadour" in LA. Was it a one-off show or did you do a string of shows? 

A one off show for our record label, Metal Blade Records, and several metal labels, Medusa, Enigma, Capitol, CBS  and other big time record labels, came out to see us that night.

 

Did you like that experience? Weren't you out of breath because of hair spray in LA's air? And how did the fans react on your stage performance? 

Yes we enjoyed it there. The fans were great and we had some Chinese/Mexican's at the front of the stage who jammed out the whole night with us head banging, they were awesome! No out of breath with the hair spray or the LA air it was February so the air is great then, by the way.

I have tons and tons of questions, but let's round up! What are your last words and wishes to the riders of the blog? 

We want you to Follow us on Facebook it seem we are not the greatest at the social media scene but need over 10 K Follows and this helps get us to Europe and other festivals to play. We sound better live than our albums, we get told that at every live show. So support us and get with a promoter and tell them you want to see Overlord SR in your country!  Thank you for all your support and look forward in seeing all of you at a show of ours very soon and meet you afterwards.