Herman Li - DragonForce (18/01/2013)
Descending on our shores for Soundwave Festival 2013, and armed with a new album, The Power Within, we chat with DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
Hey Herman, how are you?
Hey, how you doing?
I'm doing great, thanks.
Same here.
That's good to hear. So for those who don't know, how did Dragonforce form?
Sam (Totman, guitars) and I always wanted to play gigs together, that's just kinda what we liked to do for fun so we started Dragonforce to hopefully get a record deal and play lots of gigs and go on tour. Back then that was how it got started, we just wanted to write music, go on tour and play them live.
So you've always been a fan of metal music?
Yeah pretty much. The first kind of music I enjoyed was hard rock but then of course you move on and had different type of styles to what you like.
What sort of bands inspired you when you were younger?
Stuff like Bon Jovi, Europe things like that a long time ago and then I got into the metal stuff like, like thrash like Metallica, Megadeth and stuff and then moved onto guitar music and then onto the prog stuff. Every sort of music I listen to inspires me. There are pretty much no boundaries, music is music to me.
How long have you been playing the guitar for?
I dunno, maybe 20 years. Long time. I'm not sure exactly.
Do you still practice everyday?
I don't have time to practice everyday even though I should (laughs) But I do still practise a lot to improve my playing and get better over time.
You must be pretty excited to be on the Soundwave lineup?
Yeah. Last year we were supposed to play but unfortunately we couldn't finish the latest album on time so we had cancel....well more postpone it to this year. Soundwave has always been a festival we've wanted to play, we've been talking about it for years so it's pretty cool we'll actually be able to make it this year and we're really looking forward to it. It's great the festival is already sold out so early. There's gonna be some really crazy gigs happening.
Absolutely! Is this going to be your first time to Australia?
No, I think I've been to Australia with Dragonforce at least three times so I think the last time we visited was in 2009 so it's been a long time.
You must be looking forward to coming back?
Yeah, we had some of the best times down there and we've got lots of friends there too so it'll be good to catch up with them. The Australian fans have always been good to us too. The last time we came was actually for the previous album and that's been about a 4 year gap.
Yeah and between that album and the new one you actually got a new singer, how did that come about?
Well basically we had to find a new singer after ZP (Theart) left and it took us quite a while, like 9 months. It's actually a really long story about how it all happened, you know with making sure who we got is the right fit, rehearsing, making sure we can write together, things like that but I'm happy we spent all the time to make the new album 'The Power Within', it was definitely worth it.
What would you say the similarities and differences are between Marc (Hudson) and your old singer ZP are?
The tone of the voice is very different and the range as well. I could talk about technique too maybe but that's kinda a weird thing to say, but basically just the approach they take to singing. Marc definitely fits well with the way the band is evolving.
How have the fans reacted to Marc? Has he been well received?
Before the announcement of Marc being in the band I was actually really worried, I was thinking “oh man, what's gonna happen?” but the fans have really received Marc really well, old fans and new fans.
Yeah I guess trying to replace a singer can get very, very difficult.
Replacing any band member is a pain, it's very difficult. Especially when you've spent so much time with this person on stage, in the studio and on tour.
Yeah you and Sam are now the only two original members left, is that right?
From the first player our keyboard player (Vadim Pruzhanov) was also a member.
What would you say your favourite song is to play live?
I like playing some of the old songs, from the first album like 'Valley of The Damned' and maybe 'Fury of The Storm' from the second album. The older songs are definitely a lot of fun.
You must have fun doing the guitar solos too because some of them are just insane?
I guess the older songs are a bit easier because you've been playing them longer (laughs) you can relax more, run around, jump around.
How long do you normally spend coming up with these solos and getting them right for recording?
Some of them take a few days, others can just take one or two hours it all just depends really on if you are on top of your game *laughs*
What influences the lyrics and music of the songs?
These days we pretty much write about what's happening around the world, maybe a few kind of fantasy ones as well and the music we just take inspiration from all the bands we were listening to growing up so it's over 20 years of music mixed together.
What bands are you loving right now?
Oh definitely the bands I've been listening to since I started music. Dream Theater, prog stuff like Symphony X and guitar music like Steve Vai and (Joe) Satriani, those kind of things.
What would you say is the best and worst thing about being in a band?
The best thing, at least for me anyway, is I get to do what I always wanted to do. I really like my job and the worst thing is I guess we get pretty hated by a lot of people but I guess that's like any band, some people love it and some people hate it even if you haven't met them or anything they just hate you. We shouldn't really care about it but it can be the worst part of being in a band.
Dragonforce do cop a little bit of hate which I think is uncalled for, how do you, as a band, respond to that?
We pretty much accept that's life, that's how things are. We don't do music to try and fit in or copy anyone else so ultimately we don't care whether people love or hate us, we're just doing what we love. They can hate me all day long, me caring isn't going to stop that.
Which band would you say has been the most fun to tour with?
Uhh, that's hard. We've travelled with lots of bands so just to pick one is maybe Shadow's Fall. We had a great time with them back in 2007 I think it was. That tour was a lot of fun. We all had the same kind of humour, we had a good laugh together.
What about for Soundwave next year, who are you most looking forward to playing alongside?
Metallica, Anthrax are cool and so are Bullet For My Valentine, a few others. Just good to be playing with them all.
Yeah it's a very diverse lineup which is good.
I think it's important to have a diverse lineup so you don't have all the bands sounding the same.
What's next for Dragonforce after Soundwave?
After Soundwave we have a bunch more shows happening. We're off to Asia which is exciting, two shows are already confirmed plus some more hopefully and then some festivals in Europe.
Exciting. What about working on a new album?
We're always working on new music so we'll see what happens.
Fair enough then. Well I'll make this the last question, what do you like to get up to in your time off?
It's kind of a weird thing to say but in my time off all I do is do Dragonforce stuff and play the guitar (laughs) It's kinda sad that I do the same thing when I'm not on tour.
Well I guess that proves that music is your life.
Yeah it's what we do, whether it be onstage or offstage.
We'll wrap it up there, thanks very much for your time.
Thanks, nice talking to you.
Matt Barton
Hey Herman, how are you?
Hey, how you doing?
I'm doing great, thanks.
Same here.
That's good to hear. So for those who don't know, how did Dragonforce form?
Sam (Totman, guitars) and I always wanted to play gigs together, that's just kinda what we liked to do for fun so we started Dragonforce to hopefully get a record deal and play lots of gigs and go on tour. Back then that was how it got started, we just wanted to write music, go on tour and play them live.
So you've always been a fan of metal music?
Yeah pretty much. The first kind of music I enjoyed was hard rock but then of course you move on and had different type of styles to what you like.
What sort of bands inspired you when you were younger?
Stuff like Bon Jovi, Europe things like that a long time ago and then I got into the metal stuff like, like thrash like Metallica, Megadeth and stuff and then moved onto guitar music and then onto the prog stuff. Every sort of music I listen to inspires me. There are pretty much no boundaries, music is music to me.
How long have you been playing the guitar for?
I dunno, maybe 20 years. Long time. I'm not sure exactly.
Do you still practice everyday?
I don't have time to practice everyday even though I should (laughs) But I do still practise a lot to improve my playing and get better over time.
You must be pretty excited to be on the Soundwave lineup?
Yeah. Last year we were supposed to play but unfortunately we couldn't finish the latest album on time so we had cancel....well more postpone it to this year. Soundwave has always been a festival we've wanted to play, we've been talking about it for years so it's pretty cool we'll actually be able to make it this year and we're really looking forward to it. It's great the festival is already sold out so early. There's gonna be some really crazy gigs happening.
Absolutely! Is this going to be your first time to Australia?
No, I think I've been to Australia with Dragonforce at least three times so I think the last time we visited was in 2009 so it's been a long time.
You must be looking forward to coming back?
Yeah, we had some of the best times down there and we've got lots of friends there too so it'll be good to catch up with them. The Australian fans have always been good to us too. The last time we came was actually for the previous album and that's been about a 4 year gap.
Yeah and between that album and the new one you actually got a new singer, how did that come about?
Well basically we had to find a new singer after ZP (Theart) left and it took us quite a while, like 9 months. It's actually a really long story about how it all happened, you know with making sure who we got is the right fit, rehearsing, making sure we can write together, things like that but I'm happy we spent all the time to make the new album 'The Power Within', it was definitely worth it.
What would you say the similarities and differences are between Marc (Hudson) and your old singer ZP are?
The tone of the voice is very different and the range as well. I could talk about technique too maybe but that's kinda a weird thing to say, but basically just the approach they take to singing. Marc definitely fits well with the way the band is evolving.
How have the fans reacted to Marc? Has he been well received?
Before the announcement of Marc being in the band I was actually really worried, I was thinking “oh man, what's gonna happen?” but the fans have really received Marc really well, old fans and new fans.
Yeah I guess trying to replace a singer can get very, very difficult.
Replacing any band member is a pain, it's very difficult. Especially when you've spent so much time with this person on stage, in the studio and on tour.
Yeah you and Sam are now the only two original members left, is that right?
From the first player our keyboard player (Vadim Pruzhanov) was also a member.
What would you say your favourite song is to play live?
I like playing some of the old songs, from the first album like 'Valley of The Damned' and maybe 'Fury of The Storm' from the second album. The older songs are definitely a lot of fun.
You must have fun doing the guitar solos too because some of them are just insane?
I guess the older songs are a bit easier because you've been playing them longer (laughs) you can relax more, run around, jump around.
How long do you normally spend coming up with these solos and getting them right for recording?
Some of them take a few days, others can just take one or two hours it all just depends really on if you are on top of your game *laughs*
What influences the lyrics and music of the songs?
These days we pretty much write about what's happening around the world, maybe a few kind of fantasy ones as well and the music we just take inspiration from all the bands we were listening to growing up so it's over 20 years of music mixed together.
What bands are you loving right now?
Oh definitely the bands I've been listening to since I started music. Dream Theater, prog stuff like Symphony X and guitar music like Steve Vai and (Joe) Satriani, those kind of things.
What would you say is the best and worst thing about being in a band?
The best thing, at least for me anyway, is I get to do what I always wanted to do. I really like my job and the worst thing is I guess we get pretty hated by a lot of people but I guess that's like any band, some people love it and some people hate it even if you haven't met them or anything they just hate you. We shouldn't really care about it but it can be the worst part of being in a band.
Dragonforce do cop a little bit of hate which I think is uncalled for, how do you, as a band, respond to that?
We pretty much accept that's life, that's how things are. We don't do music to try and fit in or copy anyone else so ultimately we don't care whether people love or hate us, we're just doing what we love. They can hate me all day long, me caring isn't going to stop that.
Which band would you say has been the most fun to tour with?
Uhh, that's hard. We've travelled with lots of bands so just to pick one is maybe Shadow's Fall. We had a great time with them back in 2007 I think it was. That tour was a lot of fun. We all had the same kind of humour, we had a good laugh together.
What about for Soundwave next year, who are you most looking forward to playing alongside?
Metallica, Anthrax are cool and so are Bullet For My Valentine, a few others. Just good to be playing with them all.
Yeah it's a very diverse lineup which is good.
I think it's important to have a diverse lineup so you don't have all the bands sounding the same.
What's next for Dragonforce after Soundwave?
After Soundwave we have a bunch more shows happening. We're off to Asia which is exciting, two shows are already confirmed plus some more hopefully and then some festivals in Europe.
Exciting. What about working on a new album?
We're always working on new music so we'll see what happens.
Fair enough then. Well I'll make this the last question, what do you like to get up to in your time off?
It's kind of a weird thing to say but in my time off all I do is do Dragonforce stuff and play the guitar (laughs) It's kinda sad that I do the same thing when I'm not on tour.
Well I guess that proves that music is your life.
Yeah it's what we do, whether it be onstage or offstage.
We'll wrap it up there, thanks very much for your time.
Thanks, nice talking to you.
Matt Barton