Annihilator

June 2007 (L'Elysée Montmartre)

First we would like to thank warmly Verena Baumgardt for her great help, for both this interview and the pics from Lyon's gig(June 2nd ), and of course, Jeff Waters himself for answering these questions, in addition to the previously interview.We met with Dave Padden in Paris for a face to face interview which was very nice & Dave was more than cooperative. We also had a chance of a little chat with Jeff who told us he loved Paris’ Elysee Montmartre. : )Now we have a chance at some more questions for Jeff himself !

Canadave : As we are closing in on the end of the tour with dates throughout southern Europe, can you give us a little feedback on how things went? The first leg with Gojira in England ?
Jeff : The UK dates were amazing for Annihilator and we are very grateful to Corey and the guys for taking us there. We have not done well/not sold very many cds in the UK since the early 90’ so for Trivium to have us playing in front of their large crowds and such a young and new group of fans, it was great. We gained a lot of new fans on that part of the tour. It was also very cool for all of us to play with and watch Gojira, one of the tightest bands out there at the moment. The drummer is the standout but the band together is tight as hell!

Canadave : and the second leg through Northern Europe & Scandinavia?
Jeff : That was a bit different. The shows were not as big on the European and all of the bands had to work harder, so-to-speak. Annihilator is pretty well known in the rest of Europe so it was good to see our fans out and also meet the cool Trivium fans! Thanks again to Trivium for this tour!

Canadave : How’s the response to Metal been so far? Talking to Dave it sounded pretty good but it was shortly after the release in Europe. Have things evolved?
Jeff : Response has been awesome. Best selling cd for us, at this stage of the game, for many, many years. More importantly, it has attracted a lot of attention which is always a good thing!

Canadave :The METAL cover reminds me of Judas Priest’s British Steel. An influence so deep it goes all the way to the CD covers?
Jeff : Steel. Metal. All the same and all powerful and symbols of this great genre of music! Canadave : Favourite song on the METAL album to play live? Jeff : Operation Annihilation

Canadave : Trivium cites old skool heavy metal (including Annihilator) as their primary influences (they are 21 to 24yo). Is that a reason why you got to join the tour?
Jeff : Yes, for sure. They put their money where their metal mouth is. Many young bands today love to spout off that they are “metal” but the guys in Trivium REALLY love metal and actually stepped up and brought an older band like Annihilator on tour… Cheers to them.

Canadave : How was the gig in Gothenburg? Did “METAL guest” Jesper Stromblad ( In Flames) show up? Arch Enemy guests? Same in Helsinki, did Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom) show up?
Jeff : In Flames and Arch Enemy members showed (and Alexi in Helsinki!) but my good friend Jesper couldn’t be there… I think I might get to jam with him at Wacken this year though!!

Canadave : What was it like to play in front of a mix of kids and aging adults?
Jeff : Very cool. This usually happens at our gigs anyway but on the Trivium tour, there were way more 15-20 year olds! It makes me feel young in some ways and older in others! Hehe!

Canadave : Looking back on your career can you single out ONE thing you would have changed?
Jeff : Personally, I would never have smoked cigarettes (I quit 7 years ago!)…. Career/Annihilator-wise? I would have never hooked up with the 2 managers I ended up with… one in the beginning of my career and the other from around 2001 to 2002

Canadave : And for your future can you single out ONE thing that remains to be done? (Note that we are talking about you and not necessarily about the band even though both are hard to distinguish at times)
Jeff : Learn how to bend a note (guitar note) with feel! I can pick good and fast and I have some good left hand qualities but I have always wished I could have the feel that some players have when they simply bend a note… like Matthias Jabs form the Scorpions and Gary Moore, Schenker, Wolf Hofmann, etc… (hey, notice 3 of the 4 are German?!)

Canadave : 15 musicians in total have played with Annihilator and altogether produced 15 records. Whose new face will join you for number 16? ; )
Jeff : Hmmm. I do have one guy in mind but wait and see if I can get him! Hehe!

Canadave : In the end of 2006 you played on After Forever’s latest album. They are pretty big in France. How did you meet them?
Jeff : Met Sanders through the internet! Talked a bit and saw him at a show in Berlin in 2005… cool band and players

Canadave : Three decades are present in the line-up of the band. Is that hard to manage or is it good for you in terms of renewed energy?
Jeff : Technically on the Trivium tour we did, there are 4 generations/decades… bassist is 18, drummer 27, Dave is 30 and I am 40. Woohoo!

Canadave : You're from Ottawa (Canada), Senators team reach Stanley cup's ½ final (North America ice hockey championship).
Jeff : We lost, 4 to 2 matches ! Hehe !