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A Dirty Dozen with MICHAEL EHRE from THE UNITY – March 2020

| 10 March 2020 | Reply

 

According to a recent press release: ““German-Italian melodic metal act THE UNITY releases a new single and video for the song “Line And Sinker.” The song is taken from the forthcoming studio album Pride. Following two successful studio albums (The Unity, 2017 & Rise, 2018), tours with Axel Rudi Pell, Edguy and Sinner, among others, not to mention their own headlining shows and performances at renowned festivals all over Europe, the latest album release by power metal act The Unity, entitled Pride, documents the group’s consistent and at the same time impressive development.” We get drummer Michael to discuss new music, influences, and much more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets the band put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Our latest album Pride is the third in our history. We always try to bring in some little details into our compositions. People always tell us that they hear these details after the second, maybe third time they listen to our songs. It has nothing to do with being a die hard fan. I guess this is hearable for every listener.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

I started to play drums when I was 10 years old but the moment when I realized that I want to become a professional musician was much later at the age of 17 or 18. I visited a concert and the band that was playing blew me away. From that moment on I was infected. The funny thing about this is that one of the guitarists in that band was Stef and became our guitar player.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

Yes, it was this particular show in 1988 or 1989 that changed my life forever. Btw – the bands name was Crossroads.

4. Who would be your main five musical influences?

There are tons of influences but if I have to chose only five it would be Judas Priest, Whitesnake, Deep Purple, DIO and Journey.

5. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

It would be Ronnie James Dio, though I know that this is not possible. But he was not only an incredibly good singer but an awesome songwriter, too. This includes composing music and writing lyrics. Some singers can turn the listings of a phone book into a fascinating story.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

For me our music is a mixture of power metal and hard rock. It’s somewhere in between both worlds. We always try to write heavy songs with catchy melodies. Our variety seems also to become a kind of trademark for The Unity. I always disagree when people say that we sound like Gamma Ray as this is something we like to avoid. And to be honest: this is really not the case.

7. What’s the best thing about being a musician?

The best thing is that your dream became reality. You can be creative, play an instrument, make records and travel around the world. This is really cool, especially when there are people who like what you’re doing.

8. When the band are all hanging out together, who cooks; who gets the drinks in; and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

The first to take care about drinks is our second guitarist Henjo. We don’t have a cook in the band, we prefer to go out and have a dinner together or order some food. Though it might sound a bit boring but if we’re not in the rehearsal room nobody picks a guitar for a singalong. We prefer to discuss band related things or just talk about this and that.

9. When was the last time you were star struck and who was it?

Oh, if I remember correctly I’ve never been star struck in my life though I met a lot musicians I was a fan of, like Cozy Powell, who died a long time ago. I have deep respect for every musician but I’m still able to talk to them without starting to stutter.

10. If you weren’t a musician, what would be your dream job?

If I weren’t a musician I probably would be a teacher, but that doesn’t mean that this would be my dream job, hahaha… I can´t imagine anything else than being a musician to be honest.

11.  Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over”, even if it didn’t change your current situation?

No, actually not. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t make mistakes but even this mistakes made me who I am today. So I don´t regret anything.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

I would probably chose the Screaming For Vengeance album by Judas Priest as this is the perfect Metal-album for me and I’m really, really curious about the songwriting and recording process and everything that happened behind the curtain at that time. As I said for me it’s the perfect Metal-album and though it’s already more than 35 years old it´s still one of my favourite records of all time.

THE UNITY LINKS:

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Category: Interviews

About the Author ()

ToddStar - that's me... just a rocking accountant who had dreams of being a rock star. I get to do the next best thing to rocking the globe - I get to take pictures of the lucky ones that do. I love to shoot all genres of music and different types of performers. If it is related to music, I love to photograph it. I get to shoot and hang with not only some of my friends and idols, but some of the coolest people around today.

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