Whilst the band Kissin’ Dynamite were in Glasgow on their support slot to Powerwolf I had the chance to catch up with drummer Andi Schnitzer. This is the main parts of what was said in amongst some really pleasant general chat. Really nice guy. This is what he had to say:
Tom Cornell: So this is your first time in Scotland?
Andi: Yeah! First time. The sun is out, we’ve been out walking, but that was due to yesterday when we had plenty of Jack Daniels, and we need to get fit for tonight!(Laughing away)
TC: I first saw you in Berlin and was really impressed On checking up I saw that you have been together since about 2006?
Andi: Yeah, we have been doing music since we were kids, about 10 years old. However, the record deal was around 2007 and the band became known as Kissin’ Dynamite. So the band have been really going for around 11 or 12 years already.
TC: Were you all in the same school?
Andi: Not all in the same one. Jim (guitarist Jim Muller) and I were in one school and the other 3 (singer Hannes Braun, other guitarist Ande Braun and bassist Steffen Haile) were in a school about 45 minutes away. We kind of got together in an interesting way. I first saw Hannes on a TV show in Germany called Star Search and he was singing stuff from AC/DC and Guns n Roses and I thought he was really good. We didn’t have a singer back then and we were looking for a good singer. He was almost a neighbour, yet the first time I saw him was on TV. We got to know each other and we all worked into one band.
TC: You are still the same band?
Andi: Yes. We have never changed a member since 2007. It is such a cool thing, we are just 5 mates together.
TC: So do you all bring different things to the band? Tastes for instance.
Andi: It turned out that Hannes is the best composer and I write lyrics, so most of the songs are by him and me, and the rest of the guys add all their things to make the songs whole. There as been development of styles as we found our own. We began more metal, our second album was, of course, called Addicted To Metal, then we went more American sleazy. Now we have a more modern sound and in the new album Ecstasy, we have pure Kissin’ Dynamite. No experiments, just good hard rock music. It is what feels good. We have the “big hair” (laughs) but are more British European influenced.
TC: What are the main influences of the band?
Andi: I always say AC/DC and Iron Maiden. I cannot imagine a world without both of them in it. Some of the others are big Scorpions fans who I think are still cool.
TC: What about drummers? Who are your favorites?
Andi: I do like drummers that can play crazy stuff. Folks that rehearse 8 hours a day, however, I am too lazy for all that (laughs). For me, it is important to groove so that is why I love Phil Rudd (AC/DC), simple but groovy. Also, Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden) who is such a funny guy as well as a groovy drummer. It is a case of fitting into your band, both of those fit perfectly.
TC: You have been on tour with Powerwolf for a while. You are quite different in styles? How do you find that?
Andi: We did about 4 weeks with them last year and doing another 3 weeks at moment. We are quite different but that can be a good thing. Not too different, we wouldn’t blend for instance with a black metal band I would say. We are hopefully both fun, with melodies and big choruses to sing along with.
TC: What other bands have you toured with?
Andi: Our first was with Udo away back when we did our second album. Small shows but a great experience for us. Still sometimes see him at festivals and are still friends. Nice memories with him. More recently or about 7 years ago probably, we toured with Dragonforce from the UK. We also did support for Slash and Motley Crue. Just the one gig. We had tickets. The day before the original support had to pull out so we had the opportunity to play the show. Did make sure to get my 50 bucks back! (laughs away) Was amazing to be on the same stage as Slash, even had a close look at his guitars. (laughs)
TC: What is next?
Andi: We will be doing a tour called Ecstasy over Europe which will be mostly on mainland Europe, although we will be doing a gig in London in autumn. Which be our first headline show here in the UK. We hope to make it a normal thing to eventually tour the UK.
At this point, we shook hands and I allowed him to get off to get sound checked. It was a pleasure to spend a little time with Andi and I thank him for his time and his chat.
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