{"id":69268,"date":"2021-02-18T10:26:03","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T15:26:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=69268"},"modified":"2021-02-18T10:26:13","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T15:26:13","slug":"interview-with-sebastian-seeb-levermann-of-orden-ogan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2021\/interview-with-sebastian-seeb-levermann-of-orden-ogan\/","title":{"rendered":"Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann of Orden Ogan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Alexandra Mrozowska
\u2014 Senior Columnist \u2014<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

All nostalgia aside, there\u2019s something about the humankind that makes us look forward \u2013 way beyond the predictable lifespan of one\u2019s own generation. That certainly explains the popularity of Science Fiction as a genre, even though most predictions about what\u2019s going to happen are rather grim. Futuristic concepts aren\u2019t nothing new also in the world of Rock and Metal. And yet, when you take a look at an album entitled Final Days<\/em>, you may feel a bit uneasy for a split second… But don\u2019t worry, it\u2019s not the end of the world coming. Or is it…?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final Days<\/em> is the sixth full-length by the German ensemble Orden Ogan and although much has been said about the Dark Sci-Fi theme the album has been built around, the band\u2019s mastermind Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann argues there\u2019s more to the new songs than just speculative visions of the future. \u201cWhat I also really like to do is taking a specific field of words \u2013 a semantic field \u2013 that belongs to the scenery and to the topic, and then work with metaphors of these words,\u201d he says, giving Hardrock Haven readers a sneak peek into his songwriting process. But this one was just one of many topics we\u2019ve discussed alongside Sci-Fi, technological expansion and joys and challenges of music production \u2013 and Sebastian\u2019s recommended way of coping with the lockdown blues…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hardrock Haven: Orden Ogan\u2019s new album Final Days <\/em>was originally due to be out in November last year, but was rescheduled. The general reasons for postponement of many albums are the same and obvious now, but were there any specific reasons for that in your case?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann: Yes, actually in our case this COVID-19 thing was just the cherry on top, because we had terrible problems in the production process for this record in basically every area. I don\u2019t know \u2013 I don\u2019t believe in stuff like that, but you could almost say there was somebody who didn\u2019t want us to get this finished. Some evil forces maybe… I don\u2019t know (laughs). I mean, literally whatever you can imagine, it went wrong. We had terrible problems with the drum recordings, with guitar recordings… everything. And then, when COVID hit, we were almost already pretty cynical \u2013 mainly saying something like, \u201cAhh yes, okay. A global pandemic… what else?\u201d (laughs) So it was terrible, but it\u2019s good that we\u2019re done now with everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: You\u2019re quoted as saying that you didn\u2019t want to compromise when it comes to the quality of the album and the production aspects you\u2019ve just mentioned, so would you say you consider yourself a perfectionist when it comes to your music?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann: Yes, I\u2019m a perfectionist and the one thing that I really have to say is I personally never saw Orden Ogan as a commercial product. I mean, I\u2019m making my whole income out of that, apart from the studio work that I do… Both things are running well and I can do my studio [work] or Orden Ogan or the other way around, whatever… Both work really good and it\u2019s a great situation for me. And obviously, AFM Records really wanted to release that record, but the main reason why I\u2019m doing these records is that I want to do that for myself. I\u2019ve never felt pushed by anyone to do that, so it really has to be at a point where I say, \u201cOkay, now I\u2019m really, really happy with it.\u201d It has to be like this and I think this is the part of the Orden Ogan identity. When you look back at all the other records, it\u2019s the same with everything [on them]. I mean, obviously they sound a little bit dated today, but they still aged pretty well because even back in the day we always did the best that we could at the time. I really intend to keep it that way, in this case too. It was really worth all the work, because I think also from the production standpoint it\u2019s the best record that I\u2019ve done for Orden Ogan and maybe also the best record that I\u2019ve ever mixed in my studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Speaking about the studio work, Final Days <\/em>is obviously not the first self-produced Orden Ogan. What do you think are the advantages of choosing this method rather than working with an outside producer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann: I don\u2019t think it would work to work with an outside producer in our case, because I personally am what you would really call a producer. I have a really strong and clear vision of what I want to achieve and in the last years I really worked hard on my skills to be able to get there. So, that wouldn\u2019t work at all. I mean, I could imagine giving the tracks away to a talented guy who can just mix the record, \u2018cause that\u2019s one thing. But in terms of writing the music and arranging it and really producing it, I don\u2019t think that anybody else could have the same vision that I do. So that would be out of the question. The thing is, I get hired in the studio to do exactly that… I mean, when I work with bands like Rhapsody Of Fire, obviously not, because Alex [Staropoli] is a perfectionist himself and he knows how Rhapsody Of Fire should sound… so I can\u2019t give them any advice, I just have to mix the record. But when I work with a band like Brainstorm for example, they explicitly want somebody who really focuses on the songwriting itself and maybe [suggest] if we should remove the bridge or repeat the chorus or do something else with it, or add another vocal line… So I consider production skills to be my biggest strength of all. If you ask me if I\u2019m a singer, a guitar player or whatever \u2013 I think my main spot in this world is being a music producer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Sometimes the musicians who produce their own albums complain on having difficulties with distancing themselves from what they\u2019ve written and recorded and the lack of perspective. In spite of what you\u2019ve just said, have you ever found it challenging as well?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann: No, totally not. In my case, that\u2019s the exact opposite. Like I said, I have a pretty clear vision in my head of what I want to achieve. Sometimes you have a vision that differs from reality (laughs), and then you will just have to understand that the stuff that you just did does not sound the way you imagined it, and then you have to find another way… Sometimes it\u2019s even better. Sometimes you\u2019re just working on stuff and you don\u2019t even think that this is going to be great, and then all of a sudden it turns out to be amazing. That can also happen. The only thing that really is a problem when it comes to distancing yourself is when I work with a band like Brainstorm and I know that some backing vocals, for example, might just be like eighty percent great… I can understand better that they are not relevant in the full picture, if you know what I mean. So sometimes eighty percent is good enough for stuff like backing vocals or whatever. But the problem when you\u2019re producing and recording the stuff yourself, like in my case, is that when I sang something where I really know I didn\u2019t nail it one hundred percent, I will always know it. It doesn\u2019t matter if you hear it or not in the end result, because you know that this isn\u2019t one hundred percent. And this is just one of the reasons why it can take a little bit longer sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: You\u2019ve mentioned that working with the different bands you name-dropped requires different approach and different skills, so do you think these experiences have any impact on what you do with your own band, both as a musician and a producer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann: Yes, it always has. I mean, everything is an influence. When you get up in the morning and go to the car and drive somewhere, and there\u2019s a song on the radio \u2013 that is also an influence. And if you work with other musicians, obviously you get to learn stuff that they do differently than you would normally. In the case of Rhapsody Of Fire, I have to say not so much really, because like I said before, Alex really, really knows how the band should sound and I get basically perfect tracks from him. And he\u2019s just like, \u201cOkay, just mix it and do your magic with it and make it sound the best way it can. But still then you would say, \u201cOkay, we need the flutes a little bit louder or the violins a little bit louder…\u201d or stuff like this, so we work together on that. But totally yes when it comes to things like the mixing sound \u2013 just the pure sound of the record \u2013 obviously that\u2019s just experience, you know. I think the first record that I really mixed completely for Orden Ogan was Easton Hope <\/em>back in 2010, and then I just sat down and said to myself, \u201cOkay, where do you wanna go? Do you wanna be a producer that is working just with the small bands, the next-door-kind of basically, or do you wanna work with the great bands of the genre and the scene and have fun, because then you can work with amazing musicians?\u201d For me, the answer was crystal clear. So I really had to sit down on my ass and really work and practice a lot, because you don\u2019t get good overnight. You really have to practice \u2013 it\u2019s just mixing, mixing, mixing… doing, doing, doing the stuff… and then, eventually, you will get better. It\u2019s not that it comes overnight and it\u2019s not that you need to buy super expensive equipment if you really just know what to listen for and how things work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely. Focusing on the album, much has been said about \u201cInferno\u201d being the most unusual song on the album in terms of style, and yet it was chosen as a single. Is this choice more about the band\u2019s artistic development, or perhaps expanding your fanbase as well?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann: I wouldn\u2019t necessarily say that this was on purpose. And I would also not really say that this song is that different. I mean, the term that popped up a couple of times was that it sounds pretty \u201cpoppy,\u201d you know? Like it was more of a Pop song than a real Heavy Metal song. But actually, if people say, \u201cNow they\u2019re starting to sell out\u201d \u2013 and there will always be people who\u2019d say, \u201cArghh, the band is selling out, they\u2019re so commercial now…\u201d \u2013 those people don\u2019t know the band. Because if you listen to the older records, like our debut one Vale <\/em>[2008], there\u2019s also songs [on it] like \u201cThis Is!\u201d or \u201cFarewell\u201d that basically have the same vibe, like a four-on-the-floor groove and very poppy structure… So we always did stuff like that. And I personally don\u2019t think in these boundaries. A great song is a great song for me personally. I listen to a lot of different genres and it doesn\u2019t really matter. In the case of \u201cInferno\u201d, I personally thought that the song\u2019s chorus is super hooky and it will work amazingly in a live context with the shouts from the audience. So this is why we picked it actually, because I really thought the song is the best track and I don\u2019t really think in terms of genres… I knew \u2013 obviously, it was crystal clear for me \u2013 that people would say, \u201cOh, this song\u2019s more commercial than the other stuff than they did before.\u201d Yes, it is! But that was the main reason why we put out \u201cIn The Dawn Of The AI\u201d as the first single. You\u2019ll always find the people who complain [about something], so with this one, there were also people complaining, \u201cHow can they put out a six-minute-long Progressive track like \u201cIn The Dawn Of The AI\u201d as the first single?\u201d And we\u2019re like, \u201cYes, because that\u2019s also Orden Ogan. Why shouldn\u2019t we put out a six-minute-long single?\u201d It\u2019s all art. We don\u2019t follow the rules, it\u2019s just about our music and our art. It\u2019s not that we\u2019re trying to be the most commercially effective machine on the planet. We\u2019re just making music and people can enjoy it or not. I mean, if you don\u2019t like it, you don\u2019t have to listen to it. But I have to say that overall, reactions to the tracks have been amazing actually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: …and well-deserved. And speaking of the singles, also the band\u2019s videos \u2013 \u201cInferno\u201d included \u2013 seem to be quite important parts of the entire story. Do you pay much attention to the visual representation of your music, especially in the era of the lyric videos and simplified visuals?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann: Like I said before, I do Orden Ogan mainly for myself. And when this COVID-19 thing hit, in the very beginning our drummer [Dirk Meyer-Berhorn] said, \u201cOh, look! There are a lot of bands that are doing livestreams and they have a camera in their rehearsal space and then they\u2019re releasing these videos and we should do that as well.\u201d And I said, \u201cDirk, Orden Ogan has always been a quality product. We\u2019ve always tried to make everything the best way we can, so we won\u2019t certainly put just one camera in our rehearsal space and record us playing and stream that live, because that\u2019s not my artistic vision of this thing.\u201d So to answer the question itself \u2013 yes, of course. The thing is that it\u2019s the part of the whole art, if you want to put it that way… So obviously, the videos are super important for us. It was a little bit of a bummer as we actually planned a lot more for the videos, but due to the COVID situation it wasn\u2019t possible to shoot a lot of the stuff that we wanted to do. And also the \u201cInferno\u201d video actually was planned in a little different way \u2013 it turned out to be a little funny eventually. And this is because we thought that the situation is already bad enough for everyone, so everyone could really use a smile and cheer up a little bit. That\u2019s why we thought about bringing in the fans and the fan videos that we used in the video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: There are two guests on Final Days<\/em> \u2013 Ylva Eriksson of Brothers of Metal and Gus G. How did you hook up with them and what\u2019s prompted their participation in the album?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann: I could just repeat myself \u2013 it\u2019s always about the art. And especially when it comes to guest musicians, it has never been that we wanted to do big name-droppings and stuff. It really has to fit, so the people really have to fit to the tracks. And when we wrote \u201cAlone In The Dark\u201d, we knew that there had to be a female part. There were a lot of names thrown around \u2013 a lot of very known singers as well… I mean, Ylva is not so known yet. But she was suggested by AFM Records and I listened to her voice \u2013 I thought it was beautiful and I really tried to picture how it would sound if she did like this really calm, fragile, melancholic tune. I thought it would turn out amazing and I really think she nailed it, totally. It\u2019s a beautiful vocal performance and I don\u2019t think any other female singer could\u2019ve done that in a better way \u2013 maybe differently, but not better. So I\u2019m super happy with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when it comes to Gus \u2013 we had some problems with our former guitar player Toby [Kersting]. And even back in 2018 we really knew that\u2019s very likely that he will take some time off from the band and we\u2019ll have to go with another guitar player. So we were actually joking around, like, \u201cOkay, then we\u2019ll have just to bring in some guests to play the solos\u201d and Gus was the first guy who came to mind. And we knew him, because Niels [L\u00f6ffler], our other guitar player, was on tour with him once. So I think between the first e-mail to Gus and a final solo it was just a couple of days. And it\u2019s of course a big honor for us to have a former Ozzy Osbourne guitar player on the record, and we love his guitar playing… He\u2019s a great guy as well, and I also really knew what to expect [from him]. I knew what he would be sending back and as soon as I put the fader up, I just had to laugh because it was exactly what I pictured in my head. So that was great as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: There\u2019s been many guests on the previous Orden Ogan albums too, from Liv Kristine to Joacim Cans of HammerFall. What do you think all these contributions bring to your music?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann: In the case of Joacim, this was also a situation when we were on tour with him and HammerFall in 2015, so we thought that would be nice to bring this together on the record as well. But like I said before, it has to fit artistically. And when we had the idea to bring Joacim in for the vocals, I knew exactly where the spot would be. So that was the perfect path for him and it turned out like that. And if you listen to the track, it really sounds like it belongs there. With Liv, it was pretty much the same. We know her because Niels sometimes helps out on bass for Leaves\u2019 Eyes and we\u2019re all friends basically. And back then, when she still was with Leaves\u2019 Eyes and we knew that there has to be a female voice [in our song], we thought that would be a perfect spot for her. And it was. It worked pretty well. So like I said before, it\u2019s always about what the musician brings to the table and not that it\u2019s the biggest name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: What inspires the storylines for Orden Ogan albums? How does your songwriting process usually look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann: When it comes to songwriting, during the last years I\u2019ve been writing most of the material myself. And also with this record [Final Days<\/em>], I think the very, very big chunk of it is by me. And [when it comes to] coming up with the ideas, it can totally vary. You can be walking down the street and humming a melody, and then all of a sudden it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, this melody sounds great. We should do it in the song.\u201d You can be sitting on a couch playing guitar and think, \u201cOkay, this is a great riff. We should do something with it.\u201d It happened that I woke up in the middle of the night \u2018cause I have dreamt a song (laughs) and just went to the computer and recorded my ideas. That happens. I really have to say that I\u2019ve been working a lot with our drummer Dirk during the last years too, not only on the drum performance but also on the songs themselves. It turned out to be a pretty great combination because he\u2019s also very creative and really understands the band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the storylines… I mean, the records all have one shared setting for the record, but it\u2019s not that they\u2019re like complete concept albums. So it\u2019s not that all tracks are connected together, it\u2019s just a very loose concept. And in the case of Final Days<\/em>, there are these tracks that are about a downfall of mankind, like \u201cIn The Dawn Of The AI\u201d, that is about the Artificial Intelligence taking over, or \u201cIt Is Over\u201d that is about the last asteroid impact on Earth and stuff like that. But what I also really like to do is taking a specific field of words \u2013 a semantic field \u2013 that belongs to the scenery and to the topic and then work with metaphors of these words. So for example, there\u2019s this track called \u201cBlack Hole\u201d on the album, which obviously is semantically connected to Science Fiction, but actually is not about a real black hole but depression and the feeling that the weight of your own depression is dragging you down. Or the track \u201cHeart Of The Android\u201d which was just released \u2013 it\u2019s not about an actual android, it\u2019s about the person who feels that they just have to function and people don\u2019t really care anymore about how they feel and what they do… they just have to be the one that always functions, like a robot. And I really love to do that, because some people think that these lyrics are about one thing and they\u2019re actually not at all. And it happens that people that really like the music and get into the lyrics start to understand them all of a sudden, after they\u2019ve listened to the album a thousand times… and they start writing to us on the Orden Ogan page, saying, \u201cOh, I\u2019ve just understood what this song is about! This is so great!\u201d (laughs) And it\u2019s always big fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely, and also must be a very rewarding feeling for a songwriter. So with this Dark Sci-Fi theme for Final Days<\/em>, are you personally a fan of this particular literary genre?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann: Yes, I would say that. I\u2019m a big Horror fan and also a big Sci-Fi fan. I\u2019m also a big Star Trek<\/em> fan. I love especially all the older stuff, but there are also great combinations of the two genres, like Alien <\/em>for example. So I would totally consider myself a fan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And as you\u2019ve mentioned two of the songs off the new album that talk about the end of humankind, do you think \u201cIn The Dawn Of The AI\u201d and the final \u201cIt Is Over\u201d are just pure works of fiction, or more of a probable future fate?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann: Statistically, there\u2019s a pretty good chance that we will get hit by a little bigger asteroid in the close future, so we should really start thinking about what we can do to prevent that (laughs). So that might happen. As far as the Artificial Intelligence is concerned, I\u2019ve read a lot of stuff about that topic and I watched some videos of experts on that field because I think it\u2019s super interesting. And what we have right now, at the moment, is just basically self-learning programs and this is not a real AI. So a real Artificial Intelligence is not yet there on this planet. But as soon as that is there and you have an intelligence that has got some sort of a self-consciousness and knows about itself and starts to developing itself because it develops its own motivation to do it, it can pretty likely be very dangerous for mankind. It could be that it\u2019s not that at all, because the AI would not just be interested in us, but it could also be that it turns out to be very, very dangerous. I don\u2019t think it will go down like Terminator and send rockets onto us, like nukes or whatever… but if the AI has some other plans with this planet and we\u2019re in the way, it might not care. Because in the end, I think, if you\u2019ve got an Artificial Intelligence that is self-developing, it will develop itself in a way that is so fast that we won\u2019t be able to communicate with it anymore in a matter of days. It will be just so intelligent that for the AI it would be like talking to a tree when it\u2019s talking to humans. So let\u2019s see \u2013 I think the threat is real. Even [Elon] Musk is warning about it all the time… He says we really need regulations and rules all over the globe for companies and people that are working on real AI, and I think he\u2019s totally right. It\u2019s one of the biggest risks that humankind is facing right now, and people just don\u2019t get it because they don\u2019t understand the concept of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Definitely. But on the other hand, musicians depend on technology more than ever now, especially these days with the COVID-19 situation. Do you think this technological expansion is more of a blessing or a curse?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann: It\u2019s totally more of a blessing. I mean, there will always be these people that are somehow locked in the past, and say, \u201cAhh, it was all better in the past and now the music studios are going down…\u201d You know, the thing is that when I think back a couple of years \u2013 like the 1990s… If I had had to produce an Orden Ogan album in the 1990s, that would have cost like ten thousands of Euros, because with all the stuff that we do \u2013 all these orchestral elements and choirs and stuff like that \u2013 if you had done that on tape, you would\u2019ve needed a real choir and a real orchestra. And that would\u2019ve been like super expensive, so we wouldn\u2019t have been able to record something like that. So that is great and also it\u2019s great for me as a producer, [in terms of] working in the studio. The plug-ins are getting better and better and you just need a computer nowadays and interface so that you could record your stuff on your own at home. And I personally think it\u2019s great. Like a lot of these bands can sit at home and record their stuff and work on that and that\u2019s just amazing. The people that are complaining that they don\u2019t go to the recording studio or that the studios are going down \u2013 these are the guys that are running the big studios or have been running the big studios. Of course, the big studios died, but I think this is just how it all goes. So I think it\u2019s a blessing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely, especially now. Recently I talked with Mark Jansen of Epica, who suggested it\u2019s possible for the virtual reality to replace real music experience \u2013 like concerts \u2013 entirely in the future just for the sake of comfort. What do you think about such a concept?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann: To have the same experience, you will have to be a lot further in the future… It will always be different to be in the same room with the big PA and loud music and a lot of other people than to experience a concert at home. You\u2019ll have to be a lot further in the future, so that you have the body experience of it. So I think that will be possible but not in the next ten years or something. And I really have to say I watched a lot of these streaming concerts last year and actually, personally I was feeling even more sad after I watched that, because there\u2019s nothing that is more sad than the band that is in a completely empty venue, playing in front of no audience (laughs). I mean, I did that for a couple of years in the beginning of our career and even before… (laughs) So this is really not what you want to do. And if we were to do a streaming concert, we\u2019d do it vastly different. I don\u2019t think we\u2019d be in a club on the big stage, playing in front of no audience. I think we\u2019d do it more like a concert movie or like a very, very long performance clip or something like that. But it would definitely look a lot different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Orden Ogan is usually classified as Power Metal and you\u2019d probably agree there\u2019s many misconceptions and stereotypes surrounding this particular genre. Do you think it\u2019s easy or challenging to avoid clich\u00e9s in this genre?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann: I don\u2019t think about stuff like that because \u2013 like I told you before \u2013 I\u2019m just doing that because I do what I love and what I want to do to express myself. Again, like I said before, I think Orden Ogan is a quality product (laughs), if you wanna put it like that. A lot of thought and effort goes into the lyrics and the music, so I don\u2019t think we qualify for a band that is overly about, like you\u2019ve said, a lot of stereotypical things. At least it doesn\u2019t feel like that for me, but everyone has to decide that for themselves. And of course, I would label Orden Ogan a Power Metal band as well, because journalists need labels for music to talk to people about it. Otherwise the readers don\u2019t know at all what they\u2019re talking about. But I\u2019ve heard it a thousand times, from journalists now as well, that people think we\u2019re not exactly a Power Metal band. If it\u2019s something \u2013 a particular genre \u2013 it is Power Metal, but it transcends the borders of Power Metal. There\u2019s so many modern elements in it, there\u2019s so many hard, modern riffs and parts that could be like Metalcore or stuff like that, if you put away the clean vocals and the choirs and the orchestra and stuff. So, maybe it is Power Metal, but it is not only Power Metal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Agree. But where do you think this diversity of influences come from?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann: Also, that\u2019s nothing that I would really think about. It\u2019s just what comes out of me when I\u2019m sitting down, trying to write music. And like I said before, we\u2019re all pretty open-minded in the band and for example, I studied popular music at the university as well… I listen to a lot of stuff too. In the studio, I\u2019m working mainly with Metal bands, but not only. There\u2019s all kinds of genres. So it\u2019s like the more words you have, the bigger your vocabulary is \u2013 and the better you can form your sentences. And it transfers to music. And I think the most important thing when writing music and being a producer is also to understand when something doesn\u2019t work. You can try out everything, but you would have to know if you do something that really doesn\u2019t fit. And this might be the hardest part actually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Right. So, usually the album release would have been followed by a tour, but these days nothing\u2019s certain obviously, so what\u2019s the current situation with Orden Ogan like? When do you plan to resume playing live?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann: Yeah, actually there are plans. When we wanted to release the record last year, there was a headlining tour planned for September with special guests Grave Digger and Rage, which would have been an amazing German Metal package… Maybe we can do that in the future again, let\u2019s see… So, we had to postpone it \u2013 first to April this year, and now again to February 2022. We changed the supports to Brothers Of Metal and Wind Rose, which is also great, because they are the young, fresh bands in the genre. And this is also one thing that I really like about Orden Ogan \u2013 that we can tour with the seasoned veterans in the genre, like Grave Digger and Rage, and that works, and we can also tour with very young, modern bands because our audience is like that as well. We have the old guys and the very young guys, and that\u2019s amazing. And I think in February next year it might be possible then. I\u2019m not sure if there are any concerts this year, but February 2022 could work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Fingers crossed for that. You\u2019ve just mentioned a couple of renowned German bands and obviously, Germany is one of the most important countries on the Metal map. What do you think is the reason for that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann: I have thought about that and I have no opinion on that (laughs). But it is like you say, and that\u2019s interesting. There are a lot of successful bands coming from Germany \u2013 a lot of successful Heavy Metal bands \u2013 but I don\u2019t know why. Maybe it is because our live scene works pretty well… or worked pretty well, at least, in the last twenty, thirty or forty years. And maybe it\u2019s easier for the bands to grow to the spot that they\u2019re interesting for the international market as well… I have no idea. But it seems to be like that there\u2019s a lot of successful bands from Germany and a lot from Scandinavia. You\u2019re right, but I have no idea why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Alright, so before we wrap it up \u2013 is there anything you\u2019d like to add in the end?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian \u201cSeeb\u201d Levermann: Yes, talking to fans I\u2019d like to add \u2013 people, please stay healthy and take care of yourselves and all the other people around. This might not be the worst virus ever, but it\u2019s still bad enough and you don\u2019t really wanna get this virus. And I really understand that a lot of people are really getting depressed right now and feel really bad, because a lot of them are also losing their jobs and stuff like that, but what I\u2019d really like to tell people is that it is not the end of the world. Even if you lose your job, don\u2019t jump out of the window \u2013 it\u2019s not worth it. It will all get better at a certain point. And especially it will all get better if you go and buy our new CD (laughs) and listen to that (laughs). This will make life more worth it (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit Orden Ogan online<\/a> and on Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska\u2014 Senior Columnist \u2014 All nostalgia aside, there\u2019s something about the humankind that makes us look forward \u2013 way beyond the predictable lifespan of one\u2019s own generation. That certainly explains the popularity of […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":69270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[8645,203,10904,15331],"class_list":{"0":"post-69268","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-interviews-recent","8":"tag-afm-records","9":"tag-interview","10":"tag-orden-ogan","11":"tag-sebastian-seeb-levermann"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}