tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91738256998085498802024-02-07T19:39:07.907+01:00Marcus SiepenWelcome to my blogMarcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comBlogger126125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-22829799302458906772014-02-04T14:28:00.001+01:002014-02-04T14:28:38.396+01:00My new homepage is onlineAfter having this blog for quiet some time I decided to get a proper homepage instead and it just went online. Please change your bookmarks to <a href="http://www.marcussiepen.com/">www.marcussiepen.com</a> because this blog here will not be continued. Have fun checking out the site.<br />
Cheers<br />
Marcus<br />
<br />Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-35621514300496315292014-01-20T12:11:00.000+01:002014-01-20T12:15:02.414+01:00New Sinbreed album will come out in marchWow, one year without me updating this blog, I guess deep in my heart I am not really a blogger.<br />
Even though I have been very lazy here I have been buzy concerning music, I guess most of you will have read Hansi's recent update about Blind Guardian, so you should be up to date about this. If not, you can read it <a href="http://www.blind-guardian.com/2013/10/18/a-sign-of-hope/">here</a>.<br />
But also in Sinbreed we have been working hard on finishing the new album, so here is a little update on this:<br />
The album is called "Shadows" and will be released on the 28th of March in Europe and on the 15th of April in the USA. Here is the Tracklist:<br />
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01 Bleed</div>
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02 Shadows</div>
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03 Call To Arms</div>
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04 Reborn</div>
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05 Leaving The Road</div>
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06 Far Too Long</div>
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07 Black Death</div>
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08 Standing Tall</div>
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09 London Moon<br />
10 Broken Wings<br />
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Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-47804587845552884082012-12-23T23:02:00.000+01:002012-12-23T23:02:50.702+01:00The Offline DiaryThere are several things in life we tend to take for granted, in my case one of those things is being online. I am used to being online 24/7, here at home pretty much everything is connected to my wifi: my laptop, my computer, my phone, my Nexus, my Kindle, my Wii and my Playstation, my wife's computer and Kindle... I wouldn't be surprised if even our fridge would be connected to the internet in some weird way. Sending an e-mail? No problem. Quickly checking something online? Just a matter of seconds. Doing some interviews using Skype? Sure. World of warcraft? Any time... well, in theory.<br />
Actually things are very different since some weeks: We are offline. After some problems with our old provider we decided to cancel the contract and look for a new one, and finding the "right one" was not difficult, the price was good, the offered conditions even better, so I signed the contract. And this is exactly where the problems started and our connection to the internet ended. It seems to be much more tricky to get the new line into our appartment than we expected (and than we were told...), before I signed the deal everything was supposed to be very simple and fast of course, but now, out of the blue, there are several things that have to be taken care of first, problems that have to be solved. As a result we don't have internet so far, and on top of this we also don't have a working telefone line either (both comes from the new provider), and this doesn't seem to change before the middle of January. A very unusual situation for somebody that is so used to being online, but since there is not much I can do about I guess I will just have to be patient.Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-9965370998330104812012-11-29T00:32:00.000+01:002012-11-29T00:32:01.179+01:00Nominate Orphaned Land for the 2013 Nobel Peace Price<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qnvmKQZGlnI/ULae0ksHxiI/AAAAAAAAAWI/hcsUur6S8n4/s1600/OrphanedLand_2010_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qnvmKQZGlnI/ULae0ksHxiI/AAAAAAAAAWI/hcsUur6S8n4/s320/OrphanedLand_2010_1.jpg" width="252" /></a></div>
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Sometimes peaceful change happens in the
most unlikely ways, fostered by the most unlikely people. In the past
few years, while Israel’s relationship with the Arab and Muslim world
has drastically deteriorated, Orphaned Land, Israel’s biggest heavy
metal band, has been uniting thousands of Jews and Muslims across the
Middle East. <br />
<br />
These fans come from Turkey, Syria, Iran, Palestine, Lebanon, Morocco, Dubai, Yemen and Israel. <br />
<br />
Orphaned Land has been able to achieve this through their music (which
fuses traditional Middle Eastern sounds and instruments with Western
Heavy metal), vision of coexistence, collaborations with Arab and Muslim
artists, and a vigorous and active community of fans.<br />
<br />
While not overtly political, Orphaned Land are nevertheless proud of
creating a reality of coexistence that has escaped politicians and
peacemakers alike. They often speak of the power of music to turn
purported enemies into friends; frequently pay homage and encourage
collaborations with Arab and Muslim artists; and have made their latest
album free to download for anyone in a number of Middle Eastern and
North African countries.<br />
<br />
Their endeavors to transform the region’s conflicts have not gone unnoticed. <br />
<br />
• Reciprocating the band’s courageous efforts to cross religious and
national boundaries, Divan, an Iranian rock magazine, featured Orphaned
Land on their cover in an eight-page spread. <br />
• In 2010, the band was awarded a peace prize by Istanbul Commerce
University for their contribution to the friendship between Muslims and
Jews in the Middle East. <br />
• In February 2012, in a five-city tour of Turkey (in which proceeds
from the Istanbul concert went to the victims of the Van earthquake),
Orphaned Land was given The Friendship and Peace Award from Dr. Huseyin
Tugcu, official advisor to Prime Minster Erdogan. <br />
• In September 2012, Orphaned Land was bestowed another Peace and
Friendship award by Bulent Tanik, Mayor of Cankaya (the main district of
the capital Ankara).<br />
<br />
Again, it should be emphasized that this all happening during a period
in which relations between Israel and the Muslim world are at an
all-time low. Orphaned Land has produced a social force that pushes
against the direction of conflict, while at the same time creating space
for the type of peaceful relations that are still possible within the
region. <br />
<br />
To nominate them for 2013 Nobel Peace Prize is therefore to make a bold
statement: violent conflict is not the destiny of the region.<br />
<br />
Please sign this petition if you agree that Norwegian Nobel Committee
needs to seriously consider Orphaned Land as a nominee to the 2013 Nobel
Peace prize.</div>
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<div class="desc">
To get to the petition, click <a href="http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/nominate-orphaned-land-for-the-2013-nobel-peace-prize.html">HERE </a></div>
Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-20281332663884527582012-09-12T20:12:00.001+02:002012-09-12T20:12:19.142+02:00Deja VuExactly 10 years ago Blind Guardian played their first show in the USA at Prog Power festival in Atlanta. In two days Sinbreed will do the same, the only difference is that this time it will only be this one show, so there won't be a tour follwoing right after that event. Still I am really looking forward to this gig, I have great memories about that festival and I will meet some old friends again, this is for sure going to be a very cool weekend! See some of you guys there!Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-65462446099814695182012-08-09T12:45:00.001+02:002012-08-09T12:45:57.026+02:00Songwriting startedAfter almost 2 years on the road we finally finished the "At the edge of time" world tour, and what a great tour this was! I want to thank everybody in our crew for being great guys, who sometimes make the impossible happen and for making this tour such a fun trip. A big hello goes out to all the bands that we toured with and that we met on the road (Van Canto, Steelwing, Holy Grail, Seven Kingdoms, Kreator, Sodom, Powerwolf, Hypocrisy, Judas Priest, Megadeth and all the others) and of course an extra special thanks goes out to you guys, the best fans in the world!!!<br />
So what's up next on our schedule? For Blind Guardian the serious songwriting season has already started, for Fred and me there are a couple of Sinbreed shows coming up, the first one being our gig at the ProgPower Festival in Atlanta on September 14th, I hope to see some of you guys there.Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-24894027525094471792012-07-04T12:08:00.003+02:002012-07-04T12:10:29.435+02:00Your romantic notion doesn’t pay my rent: David Lowery, Emily White and the future of music<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="http://www.dangerousminds.net/images/uploads/Starving_Artist_by_Ebony_Lace.jpg" height="301" src="http://www.dangerousminds.net/images/uploads/Starving_Artist_by_Ebony_Lace.jpg" width="400" /></div>
<br />
A short while ago, Emily White, who is an intern at NPR, made <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2012/06/16/154863819/i-never-owned-any-music-to-begin-with">a
blog post in which she admitted that, despite having 11,000 songs on
her iTunes, she had paid for a grand total of 15 CDs in her 21 years of
existence</a>. Is that statistic shocking? It certainly was to David
Lowery, singer with Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker, who on Monday
wrote a <a href="http://thetrichordist.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/letter-to-emily-white-at-npr-all-songs-considered/">detailed, open-letter-style response to White</a>.
<br />
This open-letter has been blowing up on social networks and music
sites over the last few days, and I wanted to share it here as it’s
pertinent to my own situation and I’m keen to see what other DM readers
think. In the essay, Lowery asks White to think about how her actions
and attitude has effected the music industry as a whole. He uses facts
and figures to back up his assertions, and while not everyone is going
to agree with what he writes, it’s an excellent essay that is well worth
reading: <br />
<blockquote>
"I must disagree with the underlying premise of what you
have written. Fairly compensating musicians is not a problem that is up
to governments and large corporations to solve. It is not up to them to
make it “convenient” so you don’t behave unethically. (Besides–is it
really that inconvenient to download a song from iTunes into your
iPhone? Is it that hard to type in your password? I think millions would
disagree.)<br />
Rather, fairness for musicians is a problem that requires each of us
to individually look at our own actions, values and choices and try to
anticipate the consequences of our choices. I would suggest to you that,
like so many other policies in our society, it is up to us individually
to put pressure on our governments and private corporations to act
ethically and fairly when it comes to artists rights. Not the other way
around. We cannot wait for these entities to act in the myriad little
transactions that make up an ethical life. I’d suggest to you that, as a
21-year old adult who wants to work in the music business, it is
especially important for you to come to grips with these very personal
ethical issues.<br />
...<br />
What the corporate backed Free Culture movement is asking us to do is
analogous to changing our morality and principles to allow the
equivalent of looting. Say there is a neighborhood in your local big
city. Let’s call it The ‘Net. In this neighborhood there are record
stores. Because of some antiquated laws, The ‘Net was never assigned a
police force. So in this neighborhood people simply loot all the
products from the shelves of the record store. People know it’s wrong,
but they do it because they know they will rarely be punished for doing
so. What the commercial Free Culture movement (see the “hybrid economy”)
is saying is that instead of putting a police force in this
neighborhood we should simply change our values and morality to accept
this behavior. We should change our morality and ethics to accept
looting because it is simply possible to get away with it. And nothing
says freedom like getting away with it, right?"</blockquote>
This article presents (in a roundabout way) two things I have been brewing over for a long time, in regards to file sharing. <br />
The first one is this: why does the onus always seem to be on the
creator of art to accept that their product should be free, rather than
on the consumer to analyze the impact of their actions on the quality of
art? <br />
It has happened here on DM in the past, especially in heated comments threads under <a href="http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/pirate_bays_brilliant_statement_about_sopa_and_pipa">posts about Pirate Bay</a>, where the question that tended to get asked the most was “why should an artist expect to get paid money for what they do?” (<i>Unfortunately,
since we switched over to the Disqus comment system last month, all our
old comment threads have been wiped, but readers are more than welcome
to keep the discourse going right here</i>.) <br />
Well, as an artist, the most immediate way to refute that question
would be to ask “why should you expect to receive art for free?” But to
take it further, here is another question that is never, ever asked, and
to me taps into the root of the whole problem: “if you are not willing
to pay for music, then why exactly do you collect music?” <br />
Seriously, though. Why? Yes, music is lovely (I should know as I have
dedicated my life to making, playing and writing about it) but then so
is beer, and if I expected to get drunk every day without paying any
money for the privilege, I would quickly get the reputation of being an
unpopular scrounger. It’s basic economics, but it’s still a concept many
fail to grasp, or would rather substitute with the victim-blaming that
it’s the artist’s fault for expecting to get paid. <br />
So, to put it more Marxist-friendly terms: “why does a person consume a form of art?” <br />
I should make this clear at this point, I have been a very heavy
collector and consumer of music myself in the past, my forte being rare
disco and obscure deep house. So I get it! I get the buzz of obtaining
new music (not to mention that, being a DJ, I need to have access to new
music). But there came a point when I realized that NO, I couldn’t own
every single disco record ever made—thank you, Daniel Wang—but also, <i>why in the hell would I want to</i>?! <br />
As a musician I have found that I learn more about music by
concentrating on a smaller group of records/artists and listening to
them more intently than I do from consuming vast swathes of music and
not really getting around to listening to much of it. While a lot of
this has to do with my own route from consumer to creator, the thought
still niggles at the back of my head: have music consumers been driven
into such a blind state of consumption that they simply MUST have
everything, regardless of the cost to the medium itself? <br />
And I ask this because sometimes it feels like the artists, the
people who make our society more tolerable, more beautiful and even more
inspirational, have been thrown to the wolves. One of the most common
“validations” for the file sharing of music among consumers and
listeners is that the labels have been exploiting us for years, so fuck
‘em. While this may be true, it’s very short-sighted and supremely
selfish, as it (deliberately?) disregards the damage caused to the
artists and, in turn, the musical landscape by the devaluation of the
actual product. And while their work has been deemed financially
worthless by the people who consume it (people who, presumably, want to
hear/read/see/feel more of what the artist has to offer), what opinion
do artists most often hear coming from the public in relation to art?
That the quality is getting worse and worse. Well, I’m afraid these two
things are not unconnected. <br />
And here’s the second point that really irks me. <br />
First and foremost, beyond being a writer and a blogger, I consider
myself a musician. I create music regularly, I work hard at it, and I
try and funnel all my non-music-creating activities back into helping me
make more music. One day I would dearly love to be able to live off the
money generated by my music. So, am I somehow wrong (or perhaps even <i>evil</i>) because I want this? <br />
Some would say that I am, that somehow I am not a “true” artist
because I have brought money into the equation and have aspirations to
become “professional.” (How exactly does being considered a professional
in your field invalidate what you do?!) To these folks I must stay
clean and unsullied by money at all times, lest I become some kind of
artistic “whore.” (And I LOVE getting called a “whore,” especially by
people who can’t stop themselves downloading music like a junkie can’t
say no to a fix.) <br />
Well, newsflash: your romantic notion doesn’t pay my rent. <br />
I need money to go on creating my art. I need money to live, and to
peruse that at which I am good at. I need money to invest in the
equipment I need to make music. I need money so I can spend time
learning how to use that equipment properly, not to mention spending
time on that actual art of music itself i.e. writing and arranging
melodies, rhythms and lyrics. I need money to finance distribution in
all its forms and the production of physical media. If I am to progress
and be the best artist I can possibly be, I need the time and money
afforded by being a professional in my field. I could make some bucks
out of t-shirts sales, I am told, but I am not in this to be a t-shirt
designer. <i>I am in this to be a musician</i>. <br />
And another point that I should clarify: I have been heavily involved
in “free culture.” From 2007 till this year I ran a label that dealt
primarily with free downloads. I have released music through other
labels that work on a similar basis. Simply put, I love giving people
some of my music for free. But not all of it. If I have a potential
Number One song in my brain, something I feel could give me an ongoing,
long-term income, and thus the freedom to peruse my art to a higher
level, why would should I give that away for free?<br />
I will always go on making music, of course. I don’t think I will
ever stop playing with my Ableton and my Akai controller (until
something better comes along) and I know now that, even if I wanted to, I
couldn’t stop my brain writing strange little melodies all on its own.
But while I will go on making music, I will also keep feeling the
frustration of not being able to reach my full potential, of not
progressing and of missing opportunities of creating bigger, wilder,
greater art. Of using 40-piece choirs and 24 track analog desks, of
playing around with original Moogs and top of the range compressors. And
where exactly would the incentive for me to share my music with the
world be, if the world isn’t willing to share something in return? <br />
As uncommercial or abrasive as my music sometimes is, I consider it
to be worthy of as big a fucking audience as possible. I don’t want it
to stay in a niche, preaching to the already converted, I want it to
travel and affect as many people as it can. And that’s another thing
that costs money. Simply “putting it out there” is NOT enough, artists
are still reliant on proven methods of PR and old/new media
communications to make people aware of their work. <br />
Here’s a case in point. Last year I made an album, and after punting
it around to various labels who turned it down, I decided just to put it
out there for free. It’s called “AKA” and there are a lot of guests
featured, many of them MCs and vocalists from underground gay and drag
scenes, but they all have something unique, refreshing and different to
say. I want to give them the biggest platform I possibly can to get
their messages across. So go at it, get the album, (directly <a href="http://www.sendspace.com/file/ids03y">here</a>, or listen first <a href="http://www.niallism.com/p/niallist-aka-lp-2011.html">here</a>)
it won’t cost you a thing, and if you don’t like it, you can have your
money back. But I will still have to invest money in this project to see
that it goes beyond small niche markets and has a chance of being
picked up in the mainstream. Because I believe it deserves to be in the
mainstream. <br />
“AKA” is my <a href="http://www.niallism.com/p/releases.html">fourth</a>
free download album release, and I hope it is my last. Not because I
dislike giving away my music for free, or because I want to start
sucking corporate cock. But because free culture is not sustainable, not
for me anyway. Or for artists who want to progress beyond the bedroom
and take their work out to a mass audience. An audience that is
constantly telling us it WANTS and NEEDS new and exciting music, maybe
the very kind of music we are creating. For artists who want to kick it
up a level and become *gasp* professional musicians. Not t-shirt
designers, not concert promoters, not
writers-who-make-music-on-the-side, but PROFESSIONAL MUSICIANS. <br />
Asking for money for your output is NOT a crime. No-one is expecting to get rich off music, just to be <i>paid our dues</i>. <br />
I may be wrong, but I believe that we’ll never see another David
Bowie or another Prince or another Beatles again. Not because talents
such as there’s aren’t out there, but because the financial system that
allowed those talents to flourish, and that in turn made the consumers
used to obtaining a high level of art on a regular basis, are gone. That
is in no way an excuse for the almost-criminal activities of major
labels, and smaller labels for that matter, rather it’s just a statement
of fact. Without access to the high calibre
musicians/producers/engineers/designers/promoters/managers/etc that was
afforded these artists through the label network, none of them would
have been able to create their most seminal works of art, works that
defined eras, inspired movements, elevated art forms. And, lest we not
forget, raised the expectations of listeners to such a level that all
else pales. <br />
The public WANTS another Beatles/Bowie/Prince, an iconic, genuinely
brilliant artist or band, for and of our age, yet to me the public
doesn’t seem willing to pay for that. <br />
So where do we go from here?<br />
<br />
Originally published in <a href="http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/david_lowery_v_emily_white_and_the_future_of_music">Dangerous Minds</a> by Niall O'ConghaileMarcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-34023412936963822212012-07-02T10:55:00.000+02:002012-07-02T10:55:30.939+02:00Just two days ago we played a very cool gig at the "Rock am Härtsfeldsee" festival in Dischingen. Everything was perfect, the festival was sold out, the weather was awesome (sun all day long, 30 degrees), everybody was in a great mood and we had a lot of fun with all the fans and really enjoyed the show. Now I am shocked to hear that on the second day everything changed completely when the festival area was hit by two serious thunderstorms, washing away the whole camping ground and leaving only destruction, with 10 people injured, 3 of them seriously. Our wishes go to all of you, get well soon and see you again at some other gig.Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-81655248825381744462012-05-03T01:20:00.000+02:002012-05-05T02:24:09.217+02:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/oO2sbQQ6nsM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
We just finished the 2012 South American tour and apart from the sad Sao Luis incident we had a lot of fun. In case you didn't have the chance to come to one of the shows check out the video to get an idea what you missed ;-) (By the way, I am still impressed by the sound quality of some of those mobile phone videos on youtube)<br />
Next on the list is the Spanish tour with Judas Priest, something we are definitely looking forward to, so see you guys soon.Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-12478672256251579222012-04-23T21:06:00.001+02:002012-04-23T21:06:13.207+02:00Soundcheck doneWe just finished the soundcheck for the Sao Paulo show, the sound is perfect :-) Can't wait for the show, see you guys later tonight.<br /><br /><br /><br />Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-17698997345039723612012-04-21T21:52:00.000+02:002012-05-05T02:25:09.743+02:00Today's show in Sao Luis cancelled!Unfortunately I have very bad news for all our Brazilian fans, we just had to cancel today's show in Sao Luis, at the M.O.A. Festival. It seems that the local management was not able at all to provide the things needed to make this festival possible, so we had no choice but to cancel tonight's show. We are very sorry for this, in all our carreer we have always tried to play every gig, no matter how bad the circumstances might have been, but tonight it is just beyond our control. As far as we know the other Brazilian shows in Sao Paulo and Curitiba are not affected, so hope to see you guys there.Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-81013608534628371522012-04-12T18:11:00.000+02:002012-04-12T18:11:45.440+02:00Next stop: BrazilThe 2012 festival season has started for us and two shows were played already, both were a lot of fun for us. Of course (as always on festivals) I missed all the bands that I wanted to see myself (Sodom on the Sweden Rock Cruise and Powerwolf & Freak Kitchen at the PPM Fest in Belgium), but since there are many more festivals to come I guess I will have some other chances to catch them, at least I am optimistic. Next stop for us is Brazil, where we will play a big festival and a couple of headlining shows, followed by a show in Montevideo and another festival in Chile. South America, be prepared, we'll be back soon!Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-54828450213273644672012-03-19T21:57:00.001+01:002012-03-20T17:43:37.701+01:00Randy Rhoads<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3sAXRNtOrdxqkOh-nwWhvrm-m2PzhSRNre4oh0ds2LPmEr0FBmRlca_nzO6bFQjGFF2aHkwUNwxQ-GQC_rscRqP3zpXqofwm_o3peoOZeYyYMK4E52OyFEN7yhQ7NHI6APR6szu7xGJC/s1600/Randy+Rhoads.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3sAXRNtOrdxqkOh-nwWhvrm-m2PzhSRNre4oh0ds2LPmEr0FBmRlca_nzO6bFQjGFF2aHkwUNwxQ-GQC_rscRqP3zpXqofwm_o3peoOZeYyYMK4E52OyFEN7yhQ7NHI6APR6szu7xGJC/s320/Randy+Rhoads.jpg" width="313" /></a></div>30 years ago we lost one of the best guitarists ever: Randy Rhoads. His work on Ozzy's first 2 albums (as well as his work on the first 2 Quiet Riot albums) was so outstanding, it still inspires and influences me today. Rest in peace Randy and thank you for your music!Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-76076654535003379192011-12-25T13:56:00.001+01:002012-01-06T13:43:18.841+01:00My hitlist for 2011As every year here is my annual hitlist:<br />
<br />
<b><u>Albums:</u></b><br />
<br />
Arch/Matheos - Sympathetic Resonance<br />
Machine Head - Unto The Locust<br />
Powerwolf - Blood Of The Saints<br />
Graveyard - Hisingen Blues<br />
Joe Bonamassa - Dust Bowl<br />
<br />
<b><u>Gigs:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br />
</u></b><br />
Death Angel @ 70000 Tons Of Metal Cruise<br />
Sanctuary @ 70000 Tons Of Netal Cruise<br />
Forbidden @ 70000 Tons Of Metal Cruise<br />
Fates Warning @ Essen<br />
Nevermore @ 70000 Tons Of Metal Cruise<br />
<br />
<b><u>Movies:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br />
</u></b><br />
X-Men First Class<br />
Agora<br />
Kidnapped<br />
Machete<br />
I Spit On Your Grave<br />
<br />
<b><u>Books:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br />
</u></b><br />
George R. R. Martin - A Song Of Ice And Fire<br />
Stieg Larsson - Milennium Trilogy<br />
Keith Richards - Life<br />
Henning Mankell - The Man Who Smiled<br />
Art Spiegelman - Maus<br />
<br />
<b><u>Timekillers:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br />
</u></b><br />
World Of Warcraft (I know, big surprise...)<br />
Diablo 3 Beta<br />
Portal 2<br />
Starcraft 2<br />
Mass Effect<br />
<br />
<b><u>Best Investment:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br />
</u></b><br />
My KindleMarcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-44457681665822418752011-12-24T14:04:00.001+01:002011-12-24T14:04:01.051+01:00Merry Christmas<br />Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all of you, see you on tour next year :-)<br /><br /><br />Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-43508532071481539372011-12-13T00:19:00.001+01:002011-12-13T00:19:41.930+01:00The end of the tourAfter 15 months on the road we just finished the "At the edge of time" world tour with a fantastic show in Warsaw. I want to thank our crew for making life on the road easy for us and a special thanks goes out to all of you guys for celebrating so many awesome gigs with us!<br />See you all again next year!<br /><br /><br /><br />Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-74180877295578627162011-11-16T13:15:00.000+01:002011-11-16T13:15:44.826+01:00New Arch Matheos Video released :-)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/W_GkMrjIAjU/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/W_GkMrjIAjU&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/W_GkMrjIAjU&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div>I have always been a die hard Fates Warning fan, with their "Awaken the guardian" album being my very favourite album ever, this one is pure magic for me. So of course I was completely thrilled when they announced this kind of "reunion" of the old Fates Warning, and Sympathetic Resonance turned out to be an awesome album, it perfectly shows how the old Fates Warning would sound like in 2011. Here is the first video for this album, the song "Midnight Serenade", my personal highlight for 2011 :-)Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-72615924154569424052011-11-09T17:48:00.001+01:002011-11-09T17:48:48.876+01:00The real meDid you ever surf the internet and suddenly stumble upon yourself? Sometimes this happens to me, there are some cool sites online just paying tribute to myself or Blind Guardian, on the other hand there are also some freaks creating pages or profiles using my name and pretending to be me, which is not cool at all. So how can you know if it is really me that you found online? Actually this is very simple, aside from the official Blind Guardian homepage, the GMC homepage and this blog there are only two more places where you can find me:<br /><br />Facebook - Yes, I have a Facebook account, no, I won't add you ;-) I am using Facebook only to babble with some friends of mine, there is no such thing as an "official" profile, it is only private so don't bother sending me requests there.<br /><br />Google+ - I am also using Google+, originally I only wanted to see how it is compared to Facebook, in the end I liked both so I also kept my profile on Google+. Since this is not as private as my Facebook account you can even feel free to add me there, just don't expect too much posting from my side, you see how often I update this blog ;-)<br /><br />If you see "Marcus Siepen" anywhere else on the internet you can be absolutely sure it is not me, I am not running any other pages or profiles on whatever communities.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-72715211853605013282011-11-07T16:30:00.000+01:002011-11-07T16:30:45.023+01:00Latin America & Australia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU2v46vg6LFIg5e42o7pEM69FO0yPgbpILRWS9DVj3qKx8cmRWUPlM24SenJsWtnRwH2VP0jHskI_DHRrUZZ7Y6yrtL6SaN9u6Aa7-v7loZVBYC-mz9Nc3eUQBatBhG32X4wThghFd9R8T/s1600/Caracas.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU2v46vg6LFIg5e42o7pEM69FO0yPgbpILRWS9DVj3qKx8cmRWUPlM24SenJsWtnRwH2VP0jHskI_DHRrUZZ7Y6yrtL6SaN9u6Aa7-v7loZVBYC-mz9Nc3eUQBatBhG32X4wThghFd9R8T/s320/Caracas.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>Hmm, I just realized that I am a bit slow with my updates again, so let me finally tell you about the rest of the Latin American /Australian tour. After finishing the Brazilian shows under perfect conditions and with awesome gigs we started moving into unknown territory and played in a lot of countries in which we have never played before. Unfortunately we ran into some serious technical problems, everything from broken mixing consoles to wrong electricity voltage or no electricity at all, but thanks to our crew we could still play every show and some of them turned out absolutely remarkable despite of the technical chaos. Take the show in Caracas for example, by the time we arrived at the venue to do soundcheck the whole place was completely flooded because of very heavy rain. The big problem was that also all the power generators were in the water, all the electricity was drowned completely, there was no chance of using anything of our equipment that demanded the converted power. So in the end we used equipment that we borrowed, stripped down everything (going down from 48 channels of monitor sound to 8 is fun :-) ) and played a set that was completely adapted to the circumstances: we couldn't use any clean sounds for the guitars or any keyboards, so we kicked out all those songs demanding this and played a pretty old school set, still the show was a lot of fun. My personal highlight of that evening was the Bards Song, the only "clean guitars" song that we didn't sacrifice, we played it with crunchy electric guitars, it sounded pretty differend but everybody still liked it.<br />
After the Latin American part of the tour we went to Australia and played some great shows in Sydney and Melbourne. Unfortunately we had to cut the set in Sydney short because the owner of the venue only informed us about a strict curfew exactly one minute before that curfew, when we asked earlier on that day if there would be a curfew it was still "no curfew tonight"...Well, it was still an awesome show and we can always add the missing song next time ;-)<br />
So a big thank you goes out to everybody involved, our fans, our crew and all the new and old friends we met during those weeks.<br />
Another big thanks goes out to my friends in Sinbreed, whith whom I played a couple of gigs during the last weeks. Shortly before we started the South American tour Frederik asked me if I would like to play some shows with them cause they only had one guitarist in the band and of course I accepted the invitation. I didn't have much time to learn the songs, actually my only chance was using a couple of days off on the road, but in the end that was time enough and I loved the new experience, after all it was my first time playing with different musicians since the middle of the 80's. In case you missed those shows, don't worry, we are planning to do more next year ;-)Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-25535887066470964612011-09-08T16:59:00.000+02:002011-09-08T16:59:54.916+02:00Oi Brasil, tudo bem?The first 2 shows in Brasil were awesome, Rio and Porto Alegre rocked big time! I have seen people passing out, starting to cry when we played certain songs, there were even circle pits and I heard the loudest crowds singing with us, well done my friends! Todays show in Sao Luis is pretty special to me cause it is my birthday today, so you better be good ;-) See you tonight :-)Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-68210098148681599972011-09-04T13:50:00.001+02:002011-09-04T13:50:48.399+02:00Waiting at the AirportBuenos Aires airport, waiting for our flight to Rio. The tour is big fun so far, even though I got a flu. Chile was great and returning to Argentina aftet 13 years was incredible you guys didn't forget how to sing. Now I am really looking forward to the shows in Brazil, next up is Rio, see you guys tonight<br /><br /><br /><br />Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-6612788572103047542011-08-29T18:01:00.001+02:002011-08-29T18:01:30.728+02:00South AmericaSouth America here we come! In the moment we are still in Frankfurt, waiting at the gate, with 18 hours of flying time ahead of us, still I am very excited. I am looking forward to some great shows, meeting some old friends again and exploring some places where we didn't play so far. Touring rules :-)<br /><br /><br /><br />Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-74018498039287740362011-08-21T12:42:00.002+02:002011-08-26T11:05:25.142+02:00GamescomFriday Andre and me had a great day at the Gamescom in Cologne. DTP invited us to check out their upcoming game "The Cursed Crusade" and it looks awesome. Cool setting, cool graphics, lots of weapons, combos and finishing moves, this one will for sure be fun to play. Of course we also visited our friends of Blizzard to check out the latest news about Diablo 3 and we made some new friends at the Bioware/Star Wars camp. Normally I am not the biggest fan of fairs like that but being a die hard gamer I really enjoyed Gamescom, I am already looking forward to the next one.<br />
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Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-6740355699824070302011-08-11T19:04:00.000+02:002011-08-11T19:04:54.715+02:00Guitars for Van CantoI know the rumor has been online since some days already, so lemme confirm the news: There will be some real guitars on the next Van Canto album, played by myself :-) And yes, I am talking about real guitars, I am not singing them, I leave that to the people that can do this properly.<br />
Some time ago Stef asked me if I would be interested in recording some guitars for them, and I found the idea very cool, after all I like Van Canto a lot and I haven't recorded anything for anybody else but Blind Guardian during the last 25 years, so I immediately agreed. He sent me a demo of the song called "Spelled in Waters", with only some vocals and a piano, and I started to work on guitars right away. I really liked the demo version of the song, but of course a guitar is different compared to a piano, so I changed some things, added some others and the guys liked the result :-) The most tricky thing was to find the right time to record my takes, whenever Van Canto have been at our Twilighthall studios Blind Guardian have been on the road, so in the end I recorded everything in Stefs studio, and I have been hellish nervous :-) I am just not used to recording things for other people, but well, I survived and the result sounds great.<br />
The album is called "Break the silence" and will be released on the 23rd of September, check it out!<br />
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Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9173825699808549880.post-34398512600941255212011-08-09T20:50:00.000+02:002011-08-09T20:50:56.068+02:00WackenWe are back from Wacken again and all I can say is it was absolutely awesome, one of our best shows in my humble opinion. The audience was fantastic, so in case you have been there, thanks for a special night ;-) In case you have not been there and you would like to get some impressions of the show, here are 3 videos:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://2.gvt0.com/vi/C_W5BLO0WyY/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/C_W5BLO0WyY&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/C_W5BLO0WyY&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/4btKwIFvJj4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
Marcus Siepenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090770124294759066noreply@blogger.com