by Kenneth Morton

What an honor it was to interview Mat Sinner, bass guitarist extraordinaire for Primal Fear as well as mastermind behind the underground rock and roll band bearing his own last name. The roots of the mighty Sinner go back all the way back to Germany in 1982, when Mat and his band released Wild N Evil upon an unsuspecting world. Crash & Burn is Sinner’s 15th studio album and these guys remain ready to rock your metal socks into oblivion – even after 26 years. While working on the new Primal Fear album, we caught up with Mat Sinner in the studio and spoke with the legendary musicians about all things SINNER……

Do you have a working title for the new Primal Fear album?
Yeah, it’s called 16.6.

When you joined Primal Fear back in 1998, were you ever worried that it would interfere with Sinner? And has it?
Aw yeah, from time to time. We have always some spots where I was not somewhere in the world or in the studio with Primal Fear- it’s always for me like a vacation that I can do music with Primal Fear and really sing by myself – it’s important for me. Primal Fear is my priority, but it’s always a nice thing for me.

When you write music, how do you know what will be a Sinner song and what will be a Primal Fear song?
Sinner is for my taste and vibe of metal – a lot more rock and roll. The direction of the new Sinner album was from the very first point – no keyboards – just rocking! Primal Fear is a lot more diverse. We have one on side real metal songs, which have nothing to do with rock and roll riffs – it’s really metal. This is a big difference. So Primal Fear is a real heavy metal band and Sinner is for me a rock and roll band.

Mask Of Sanity and Crash & Burn pretty much came out one right after the other? What caused this sudden creative renaissance in music?
It was just the band – the guys I’m working with. I think Mask Of Sanity was more of a try out – a little new start for me – it was more like a solo album. I had some free time and was going on tour in Europe, and put together a band under the banner of Sinner. And the vibe was so great and it came along good. We had a great time onstage and there was a kind of power I really, really enjoyed. Coming back from that tour, we were offered some new contracts from some record companies in Europe. We had a very good feeling that it made sense to do a new album. SO we were writing songs and going into the studio – the album was released in Europe in September I have to tell you. Now it’s a release in the US, and for us it’s a really nice thing that the album has been released worldwide. We got a lot of good feedback from everywhere, and everybody’s enjoying this rawness and this very honest kind of music that we’re doing at the moment. And we enjoy it too!

Is there any story or concept behind the Crash & Burn title?
No. No concept. Just rock! I will keep my concepts with Primal Fear and let it flow with Sinner.

That sounds good! So when you look back on Sinner’s Nuclear Blast material, what do you think of it? It’s almost a little different…
I think in the Nuclear Blast days for me – we came to a point where both bands sounded very, very similar. Primal Fear and Sinner, for me, were going in the very same direction – which doesn’t make sense for me anyway. Even if both bands were successful – all albums were in the charts in Germany or in Europe or wherever – in the end it doesn’t make sense for me at all to write the same kind of music for both bands. So I had to divide this – Sinner is the more rock and roll band and Primal Fear is the metal band.

When you look back on your early albums such as Wild N Evil and Fast Decision, what do you think of them now?
I’ve always had a problem with both these albums. They were started as demos. We were a very young band – very young guys – not a lot of skills in recording. When we recorded songs for the company, it was never planned that these songs would be released as an album. After we signed out first real contract with Noise Records in the mid 80’s, these guys released these albums and I never got paid for it. Those are demo recordings and they made some money out of it.

When you look back at some of pictures of the hair you guys had in the 80’s, what do you think of it now?
I’m very happy that I still have long and a lot of hair! (Much laughter) Regarding other people, my hairstyle is very similar – and of the curls and stuff like that – overall, I try to see everything positive. I can make a lot of jokes on myself – I’m very easy with this. So if you let people take photographs of you, you have to live your whole life with that shit. What can you say? Other times – other kind of looks – other kinds of dress. Look at the people in Hollywood – what they are doing when they play acting roles – I think some of them really think they are looking stupid.

I’m going to go back to another album. On the song Respect, you tacked a pretty serious subject matter for Sinner. Tell me what you thought about that song and album, and what do you think of the situation now?
It’s really calmed down. Of course from time to time you have this kind of matter, but I think the time has changed and people have other problems at this point. As I wrote the song and the lyrics, we had a lot of thing going on in Germany to get rid of this huge problem that people were getting beaten up because they were a different color or something. I’m feeling myself not as a German – I’m feeling like a European for example or like a human being – whatever it is. My chance as an artist and as a writer is to do something and write something that my fans are reading and thinking about. So I did my part on the thing.

Some of the early Sinner albums are super hard to find. Your solo Mat Sinner album once went for over 100 dollars on Ebay. What do you think of people paying such high prices for some of your early albums?
I’m feeling very bad. As you know, as an artist, you are always in a position where you can’t change it at all. Sometimes you are signing contracts and sometimes these contracts are forever. So you sold your soul on a record company, and you can’t do anything against it. To talk with record companies about re-releasing or doing something – sometimes it’s a pain in my ass. Cuz they don’t listen. They know it all better – they do what they want and in my view, I have to live with that thing because I can’t change it. And I really, really feel bad for the fans though. When we are coming somewhere, we try to have a little back catalog with us, and sell it for a cool price.

So is there any chance of Primal Fear or Sinner coming out here to the States some time this year?
We (Primal Fear) are already finishing this album now. We are talking with a lot of people. For example, a very special tour in August will take place in South America when Primal Fear goes on the road with a very special guest call Sinner!

Really!?!
This is the double package the fans in South America always wanted to see. It’s five shows in South America and I think it will be a great thing. We will see. Then we (Primal Fear) go on tour in Europe, and then I hope we can come to America. We will see if we can do something later this year.

With so many musicians coming and going within the Sinner ranks for so many years, what do you think has kept Sinner going after all of this time?
My energy. It’s that simple. I really enjoy doing this – I really have fun doing this. At the moment, both guitarists and the drummer are 100 percent behind me like a wall. We have a really good vibe in the band. I hope that if you crank up the stereo and listen to the Sinner album, you hear that these people are doing it because they have fun, passion, and they love that shit.

What advice would you give new metal musicians who are looking for a recording contract?
Practice, practice, practice. Having a great band together. If one guy in the band is only a friend and not a good player – replace him. Find good guys with good character who keep the faith. And write some great songs and try to act as natural as you can. Go onstage and rock it out – let it flow. The key to everything is believing in your songs, believing in your music – and have a lot of fun with it. As it gets to be only a job, then I think all the faith is lost.

Do you have any messages for fans who have been following your career for such a long time?
My message to people who have followed me for a long time is to say thank you. It’s always nice to be respected as a songwriter, as a producer, as a band member, and as a musician. For me it’s more than earning money. To have fans who are my long time fans – I know a lot of them in Europe have followed me for a long, long time and see me onstage and then drinking a beer with me. I really try to please them with a personal contact.

Mat Sinner links

Sinner on Myspace: The Official Myspace Page for Sinner!
Primal Fear on Myspace: The Official Myspace Page for Primal Fear!
The Highwire Daze Home Page: Return to the Main Page!

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