Through The Raging Wheels Of Time with Re-Machined

Through The Raging Wheels Of Time with Re-Machined

Re-Machined is a hard rockin’ heavy metal collective from Germany in the grand tradition of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, and they are ready to explode into the big leagues worldwide!  The band has opened for the likes of Bonfire and Gun Barrell, and they’ve just released their debut album entitled Wheels Of Time through Pride & Joy Music.  Jammed packed with dynamic heavy metal anthems, Wheels Of Time is a collective of raging tunes that will absolutely thrill the senses.  Highwire Daze recently interviewed Re-Machined’s drummer Volker Brecher to find out a whole lot more about this exhilarating band on the rise.  Read on…

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Re-Machined, and how long the band has been together.
Hello, my name is Volker and I am the drummer of Re-Machined. The band has existed since 2017 and has already released one EP (just for promotion) and currently our first record, called Wheels Of Time.

Where is the band based out of and what is the local music scene like there?
Re-Machined is based in Mainz, Germany, a town near Frankfurt. The city has about 200.000 inhabitants and a vital metal scene. There are hundreds of mostly Thrash and Deathmetal Bands with quite good sounding material. Maybe you know the thrashband Exumer or the black metal band Agathodaimon? Unfortunately there is no band from our region earning international fame.

How did you wind up signing with Pride & Joy Records?
We made it the traditional way. We produced the record on our own, designed the cover and finalized the layout. Then we sent the finished product to all the labels we thought they might be interested in us. Some of the labels answered quite fast and two of them offered contracts. Pride & Joy Records gave us the best conditions and so we signed there. So far we are quite happy with the relationship.

Is there any overall story or concept behind the Wheels Of Time CD title?
No, there is no concept or red thread in this. Our singer Thomas usually writes the lyrics. The texts deal with all kinds of emotions or problems that bother us in our normal everyday lives. We don’t write philosophical treatises, science-fiction-stories or lyrics about dragons and kings.

Select two songs from Wheels Of Time and what inspired the lyrics.
The song In My Life deals with incidents evoking emotions that sometimes overwhelm us. In your life you will meet a lot of persons having impact on you. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. There are times, you would like to change something in life but you don’t know how. Sometimes you will make wrong decisions. At the end of the day, it’s just your life.

The song No Master is a statement against oppression in all different forms. Whether it is your boss at work or a politician or some religious madmen. They are all convinced to know what’s right or wrong, what’s the best and what’s the worst. So they make the rules and try to manipulate people seeking their own advantage. But time will come, when all of them have to pay the bill for their behavior

Who did the cover art for Wheels Of Time and how much input did you have on it?
As I am a highschool teacher, I asked the students in the art class, if they would like to create a classic metal cover. I only made some suggestions for props that usually could be found on metal covers. Alicia, one of my students, painted the skull, the guitars and the gearwheel and our guitarist Horst added some digital art to it. In the beginning there was an medal of honor at the end of the chain but our label thought that could cause some trouble because it was used in World War II. So I took my daughters’ crayons and painted the flail you can find on the final version of the cover.

What did producer Markus Teske contribute to the making of Wheels Of Time and what was it like working with him?
Working with Markus was very easy. He also produced our demo and we have been friends for many years. He lives in a small village not far away from Frankfurt. In terms of production he had our full trust and some brilliant ideas; some great vocal arrangements come from him, for example. The only thing that made the new production a bit difficult was that we had to wait until Markus had finished the recording of the The New Roses – Album that hit the German charts at number 10 last summer. But we wanted nobody else but Markus for the job and so it took half a year between recording and mixing. In the end, I think it was a good idea to wait because in our ears the record sounds great.

What could one expect from a live Re-Machined show?
We promise you will have a real good time. We love performing on stage and we always give one hundred percent, even if there are only ten people in the crowd. The music comes right from our hearts and I am convinced the audience will take notice of that.

What was the experience like doing shows with Gun Barrel and Bonfire, and did you get to meet or hang out with them at all?
We are very proud of having the opportunity to support some of our favorite metal bands in this early stage of our career. All of the musicians we met have been really polite and obliging. For example we did two concerts with Manilla Road on their last tour before the death of Mark Shelton. At the first venue Manilla Road just arrived as we did the rehearsal. Mark stood right in front of the stage, listened to the complete song and then applauded. This was a real honor for us. Those two nights we played together we became friends, , so it’s a tragedy that he is gone. Also I have to mention that we never paid any money to play as a support. All of the bands we played with gave us the opportuny of joining them on stage without any demands. So you can see, all of them are really good company.

If Re-Machined could open for any band either now or from the past, who would it be and why?
Since we love the traditional style of metal, it is no secret that we all adore Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Saxon and Accept. A dream would come true, if we could open for one of these all-time heroes. If we had a time machine then also the classic Rainbow lineup with Cozy Powell, Dio and Blackmore or the Thin Lizzy tour on which they recorded Live and Dangerous would be a great choice.

Germany is famous for their BEER!!! What is your favorite beer of choice and why?
I’m the only one in the band drinking beer and my choice of brand isn’t a surprise. I drink Bitburger, this is one of the biggest German breweries. In Germany you can get thousands of beers and there are even more craft breweries, creating really strange stuff like beer with strawberry or smoke flavor. I’m not into that. You can get Bitburger everywhere, so it’s a good choice, if you don’t like to try out something new every evening.

Are you or any other members involved with any other projects outside of Re-Machined?
No, we give our full attention to Re-Machined. As we all have jobs and families, there is no time in left to start other projects. We are a hard-working band and most of the stuff for our second record has already been written. In my opinion musicians that have all kinds of projects can’t focus their creativity and as a result these bands don’t exploit their full potential.

What’s up next for Re-Machined?
The last weeks we have been rehearsing for two concerts we will be playing as headliner with shows running about nearly two hours. So we rehearsed more than twenty songs! At the same time we are looking out for new gigs. We don´t have a manager, so we have to do all the business stuff on our own. Getting gigs with good conditions isn’t easy, so all of us have to be persistent and hard-working.

Any final words of wisdom?
Support classic metal. Get your physical copy of new records and take the opportunity to see as many bands as you can live in your local club!

Re-Machined is:
Horst Pflaumer: Guitar
Volker Brecher: Drum
Bruno Strasser: Bass
Thomas Ritter: Vocal
Andreas Glanz: Guitar

(Interview by Ken Morton)

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