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There is a stereotype associated
with heavy metal musicians, a party and play all night, sleep
all day image that goes with the full throttle power chords,
leather, and tattoos that seems to be indelibly wedded to the
music. I was accordingly somewhat doubtful that JAG PANZER
guitarist Mark Briody would be available for a telephone
interview on a Friday at 10:00 a.m. and originating from
Briody's home in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The call came
through right on time, however, with Briody sounding awake,
refreshed and enthusiastic, as if this were the first, rather
than the 20th, interview he had done in support of Jag Panzer's
new CD, MECHANIZED WARFARE. Briody touched on many facets
of Jag Panzer, including their recording methods, new CD, and
early influences, as well as some music projects they have been
working on in addition to the new CD.
m-r.c:
Your latest project, MECHANIZED WARFARE, is both a return to
some of the stylings of your earliest work and at the same time
contains elements of your last project, THANE TO THE THRONE. Yet
while MECHANIZED WARFARE is reminiscent of both, it's repetitive
of neither. It reminded me in some ways of a career
retrospective, and in other ways of work by some fantastic new
band. Did Jag Panzer consciously set out to have a project as
stylistically varied as MECHANIZED WARFARE, or did it gradually
evolve into it?
MB:
When we get ready to make a record, we start off from the point
that we want to make every release completely different. We get
together and try to figure what we're gonna do. We decided for
MECHANIZED WARFARE that we wanted to go back to what was fun to
play when we first started out in 1983, when we were all in high
school, things like the (Rob) Halford type screams, that type of
thing. Of course, the work environment now is totally different
from what it was like back then, in terms of all the great
technology that's available now, and we wanted to take advantage
of that, too. So what MECHANIZED WARFARE is basically, is an old
school record with modern techniques.
m-r.c:On
a related note, Jag Panzer has previously acknowledged the
influence initially, of such bands as Judas Priest and Iron
Maiden. In the intervening period between the formation of Jag
Panzer and now, have their been other bands that you felt may
have influenced you?
MB:
No, not really. We started Jag Panzer when we were all in high
school, and actually cut our first record while we were in our
early and middle teens. I can remember my mother driving me to
our first recording session (laughing)! And Priest and
Iron Maiden were what we were all into.That got us started and
kept us going ever since.
m-r.c:
Have their been any musicians in other genres who have had an
effect on your playing?
MB:Oh,
yeah, I mentioned that I studied jazz guitar. John McClaughlin
was an early influence, so was Les Paul. Johnnie Smith was
another.
m-r.c:Jag
Panzer originally came together out of a love for metal music.
Do you remember how you initially became exposed to metal?
MB:Absolutely.
I was 10 years old, and my older sister's boyfriend brought over
MACHINE HEAD by Deep Purple. I was hooked; I started to save up
my allowance for it. It took a few months, but I finally got
MACHINE HEAD.
m-r.c:
MECHANIZED WARFARE, in places, combines disparate elements, such
as Gregorian chant, opera and metal sensibilities
("Unworthy") and chamber music, chorale and bombast
("All Things Renewed"). I was amazed at how well it
flowed, without any of the components sounding forced. Do any of
the members of Jag Panzer have a background in these types of
music?
MB:
(laughing) OH YEAH! Chris (Broderick), our guitarist, has a
degree in Music. Harry (Conklin, vocalist) has been doing
musicals since we were all in Junior High!. And I studied jazz
guitar extensively. With so many different musical backgrounds,
if we wanted to, say, feature a cello on one of our tracks,
someone in Jag Panzer could probably do it or get it done.
m-r.c:
My favorite track on MECHANIZED WARFARE is "The Scarlet
Letter." This is a track that guys far outside of your
target audience can readily identify with. Was this track
written with one particular person in mind, or is it a composite
of many?
MB:
Actually, "The Scarlet Letter" is a tip of the hat to
Iron Maiden. Iron Maiden was one of our earliest influences;
they had a number of tunes dealing with a recurring character
named "Charlotte the Harlot," and this track is a
homage to her, and to them. There are a few riffs in the track
that are Iron Maiden influenced, as well. .
m-r.c:
You've been doing some nice things for your fans, including the
release of a couple of free mp3s. I heard one of them yesterday.
I was floored by the way you took the Gordon Lightfoot classic,
"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," and made it your
own. How did you happen to pick this for a cover? Do you plan
any sort of similar projects in the future?
MB:
Nothing in concrete. We actually talked about this for about a
year. We wanted to take an epic song and completely redo it. We
ultimately decided on "The Wreck of the Edmund
Fitzgerald" and went into the studio and did it. If we have
the inspiration and a free weekend we'll definitely do it again!
m-r.c:
Yeah, it was great. I'd compare it to what Nazareth did with
Joni Mitchell's "This Flight Tonight," they did such a
great number on that one that I can't even hear her version any
more.
MB:
They did a great job on that, that's the type of thing we were
aiming for.
m-r.c:
Well you did it. You've also recorded an mp3 for the Colorado
Avalanche hockey team. Have you gotten any feedback on that
project?
MB:Oh
yeah.(laughing). We're all big hockey fans. I was complaining so
much about the theme music that the Colorado Avalanche was using
that my friends said, "Do your own and quit
complaining." So I did! IT got popular enough that it got
played in Colorado on the radio which was unusual. We NEVER get
played on the radio here.
m-r.c:
Seriously? Your stations don't support the local music scene?
MB:
No, not at all.
m-r.c:Jim
Morris of Morrisounds in Florida did the post production work on
MECHANIZED WARFARE. You had also worked with Jim on THANE TO THE
THRONE. How did you originally get hooked up with Jim?
MB:
Actually, it was on our first record for CenturyMedia, THE
FOURTH JUDGMENT. Century sent our tracks to Jim with an inquiry
as to whether he thought he could do anything with us. He said,
"Oh, yeah!" And of course we were knocked out to be
working with him, he's the greatest.
m-r.c:
How did it come about that you record MECHANIZED WARFARE in
three different locales?
MB:
Actually, it works out really well for us. We record the drum
tracks in Arizona, the guitar tracks in Colorado, and work on
the rest in Florida with Jim. It just depends on what studios
are available. Since we like to work things out beforehand, it
is actually less expensive to do it this way, even with the
transportation expenses, than to do it all in one place. This
has always been the best way for us to do things without
sacrificing the quality our sound.
m-r.c:Do
you have any plans for an extensive tour in the next six months?
MB:We're
all kind of tied up with various things over the next few
months, but we're looking to do some touring beginning in
February 2002. I'm not sure where we'll be, but we'll post it to
the website (www.jagpanzer.com).
m-r.c:
Name a CD you've heard in the past six months, besides
MECHANIZED WARFARE, that you would recommend to our readers.
MB:
Oh, man, Blind Guardian. It's great. And HORROR SHOW by Iced
Earth. Absolutely the best.
m-r.c:
Thanks! That's all we've got. Best of luck to you and to the
rest of Jag Panzer. We'll look forward to seeing you next
year.
MB:
Great!
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Jag Panzer
Mark Briody
Exclusive Interview
by Joe Hartlaub
Jag Panzer
Discography
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| 1983:
Tyrants |
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| 1984:
Ample Destruction |
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| 1994:
Dissident Alliance |
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| 1997:
The Fourth Judgement |
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| 1998:
The Age of Mastery |
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| 2000:
Thane to the Throne |
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| 2001:
Mechanical Warfare |
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| win stuff |
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