What have you been up to since we released the Duality EZXs that you recorded with Jakob Herrmann back in 2020?
I’ve been very busy since then. Among other things, I recorded songs for Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy for a solo project of hers, which are currently being released via her Patreon page. Then I recorded Enigmatic Entrance, a great project by a Finnish guitarist Timo Lehminkangas. Plus a lot of other stuff, like the second Philosphobia album as well as, of course, the new Kamelot and Cyhra albums. We’ve also been touring a lot, I’ve been to South America twice, Japan twice and North America and Europe. And then of course I have to mention ROKK, which is a music streaming platform I founded together with my old friend Peter Moog. It’s the first streaming platform dedicated to rock and metal.

Although you’ve played with Kamelot for quite some time live, this was your first studio album. What was it like recording with a band with a 20+ year career behind them?
First and foremost, it was a lot of fun. The songs for the current album were really great even in the demo stage. But it was also a fine line between what you want from the band as a fan and what I wanted to add as new elements and my own personality. With a band that’s been around for so long and with Casey Grillo, a really great drummer, playing with them for so long, it’s never an easy situation. But at that point I had been playing live with them for almost five years, so I knew what was “still Kamelot” and what was “ah…that’s a bit too much Dream Theater.” I’m very happy with the result.

As far as Duality, has it helped having a library of sounds that you sampled yourself handy when it comes to composing, practicing and writing for your sessions?
More than just that. It is an incredible privilege to have my own samples at this world-class recording level, also in terms of dynamics and articulation, available at any time. In fact, I’ve used it on productions recently and nobody could believe that they weren’t acoustic drums. The effect cymbals in particular but also the stacks and splashes are simply unbelievably well done and, of course, having my absolute favorite snare perfectly sampled is simply too good to be true. For anyone who still hasn’t found the perfect mix of real metal sounds with extreme dynamics and very musical cymbal sounds, I recommend the two Duality EZXs. Check them out!

What does your setup at home look like in terms of e-drum gear and such?
I mainly use a Roland VAD 306, but I still have an older Roland that I like to use for practice sometimes. And then I use it to control EZdrummer 3 with Duality loaded on it. EZdrummer 3 has become my favorite tool now because it’s even more intuitive to control with the e-drum. Short answer, but it’s that simple.

What’s next on your agenda?
I’m currently working on a progressive metal/rock album in German with a good friend of mine. It will probably be recorded entirely on my Roland with EZdrummer 3 and the Duality II EZX sounds. In my private life, things have also changed a lot recently. Together with my girlfriend Kira we have become parents of two adorable boys. To Toontrack, thanks for your continued support!

WHEN TWO WORLDS COLLIDE.

Check out the two Duality EZXs here