Interview time with Lagerstein

Not too long ago everyone's favorite pirate metal band Alestorm posted on their Facebook about another pirate band from Australia, deciding that the taste of Alestorm can't be all that bad I decided to check them out and was blown away. This band was Lagerstein and they take the pirate gimmick to a whole new level mixing the gruff cliche pirate vocals with soaring clean harmonic ones all while telling such entertaining and hilarious tales. Having formed in 2010 the band describe themselves as  "a six-piece drinking, rocking, pirating rock/folk/metal powerhouse hailing from the distant shores of Brisbane, Australia" and they released their debut 'Drink til We Die' this past September.

I was honored to have three of the Lagerstein lads to sit down and have a good ole Q&A session for Metalhorizons. If you're a fan of pirates, rum and heavy metal this one is for you!





Drink til we Die is available for a full stream on their bandcamp, so before you read the interview start listening to some glorious pirate tales.


 1. Who are you?
We are Ultralord (UL), Neil Rummy Rackers (NR) and The Majestic Beast (MB), we are pirates and we are drunk, but mostly, we are Lagerstein.

2. Where are you from?
We were born of the sea, though currently we've washed up upon the great southern shores of Brisbane, Australia.

3. What do you do?
Ultralord  does the vocals, The Majestic Beast and Rackers play the six strings. Ultralord and The Beast write the shanties.

4. Why do you do this?
MB - The crew were gathered, knocking off a cartons of rum or two, listening to our favourite drinking tunes.
NR - But halfway through we ran out of tunes so, under the influence, "Slocken the Rum" was born.
UL - Shortly thereafter I called mutiny and took the helm of the ship.

5. Pirates, Booze and Metal, these three go together in such a special way. From Running Wild to Alestorm with many other bands in between, why do you think this is such a great mixture?
NR - Much like a fine batch of Jungle Juice, its the special hand picked ingredients that makes the mix a quality one. And lets be honest who doesn't love pirates, drinking and metal.
UL - Any alternative has yet to dawn on us.

6. Speaking of Alestorm, Running Wild, Swashbuckle etc. Do these bands play a big influence on
your music? Or are you inspired from other sources?
MB - They each play a part in influence as well as many different bands from Black Metal to Classic Rock.
UL - We're as influenced by The Dropkick Murphy's, Flogging Molly and Gilbert and Sullivan as we are other Pirate crews - we've found that when it comes to playing sea shanties, it helps if you're already a bit of a pirate to begin with.

Pirate Rivalry

7. The past couple of years have seen a big emergence in cruise ship festivals, how awesome would it be to have a pirate cruise?
NR - Provided there were complimentary beer bongs upon boarding, any pirate cruise would be a jolly good time on the sea.
MB - Thats the kind of ship where many would walk the plank.

8. Harpooning the sun, flying ships, eagle poutine, can you share a bit about the writing process behind these humorous and brilliant songs?
UL - The sun sucks, flying ships don't and eagles are delicious. Each song is a captain's log from an actual voyage aboard the S.S. Plunderberg.

9. There is real craftwork and skill behind your music, have you ever feared that people will dismiss it due to the pirate theme?
MB - It's all in good fun. We have other projects such as Aeternitas and Vyrion which are oceans apart from Lagerstein.
UL - We're pirates, that's our music. If we weren't pirates, that wouldn't be our music.

10. Why did you chose to cover Reel Big Fish and the Lonely Island?
NR - As we'd played these pirate versions in early live shows, we decided to give the locals some bonus material. One song is 'Beer', I love beer, and who doesn't want to be On a Boat while drinking it?
UL - We originally intended to record the two songs for ourselves but we enjoyed them, others enjoyed them, there wasn't really a good reason not to put them on the album.

11. On the topic of tracks, what would you suggest the best song for a new listener would be?

UL - For a metal fan "Nightmare Ship", a punk fan "Pirate Music Piracy" and a pop fan "Harpoon The Sun".
MB - My favourite song is "Dreaded Skies".

12. I must admit, 'Pirate Music Piracy' is probably my favorite track. Are there plans to do more songs in that off key pirate voice?
UL - Planning isn't our forte.
MB - We have been telling Ultralord to get lessons for months and months harr harr.
UL - We mix it up, keep it fresh, that way I don't have to practice.

13. 'Drink til we die' is a great debut but what is yet to come? What does the future have in store for Lagerstein?
NR - Plenty more songs about us pirates drinking, beer bonging, flying and adventuring to as many pubs the S.S. Plunderberg will take us to.

14. Can't believe I almost forgot to ask this, what is the drink of choice, the one that fuels the Lagerstein ship?
MB - Jungle Juice is our ultimate fuel of choice. We cant give away our secret recipe but we assure its the liquid of pirate gods.
UL - We anchored at Jungle Bay on Jungle Cove of Jungle Island, we trekked through Jungle Jungle to Jungle Cave and we fought the Jungle Beast to get the Jungle Juice. That's why I prefer Lager.

15. What is your stance on piracy? Not the one you write about, the one that effects your music.
UL - Piracy is a crime, which is a good thing, but downloading ain't pirating. Pirate music properly, loot a music store. Or don a hat and a patch, go to a local show and swordfight a band.

16. Your pirate ship has begun to sink near an isolated island, you only have time to grab three albums to take a shore with you. Which three do you choose?
- Lagerstein: Drink 'Til We Die (We wrote it for our own drinking amusement.)
- Toto: The Best Of.
- Tower of Fire: Soundtrack to a Tower of Fire Album IV.

Well that's about it guys, I really appreciate your time and hope you enjoy the interview! Any last words to your fans?
Drink up! ...and keep an eye to the skies for the S.S. Plunderberg.

Want more of Lagerstein?

 Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/lagerstein

Bandcamp:

http://lagersteinau.bandcamp.com/

Official: 

http://www.lagerstein.com/