Photo: Manuel Schütz
Swiss melodic hard rock / metal band Gotthard probably is one of the most well-accepted bands in their style within their home country, mainland Europe, and other territories outside of North America. They’ve been releasing albums since 1992, headlining in arena-level venues while achieving number one chart status. Their 14th studio album Stereo Crush continues to supply listeners with a variety of catchy songs, some classic in texture while others venture into more modern elements – yet unmistakable to the band’s ethos in connecting to their audience. We reached out to vocalist Nic Maeder to learn more about the new record, the differences between the three primary songwriters, what it was like to replace the late Steve Lee, career highlights, future touring expectations, and advice for younger musicians.
Dead Rhetoric: Stereo Crush is the 14th studio album for Gotthard. How did the songwriting and recording sessions go for this set of material – and where do you see this record sitting in the discography of the group in terms of what you wanted to achieve?
Nic Maeder: I guess it’s got a sort of freshness to it. We haven’t made an album in five years. Prior to that we would make an album, then get in a cycle of album, tour, album, tour. COVID-19 came along, as it did for everyone else, and it was the first time we kind of had a break. We were signed with Sony Music at the time, and we finished with our contract, so we were free. We didn’t have a deal, and we didn’t have any kind of pressure. We had the itch to make an album. Probably the reason why there’s so much freshness.
There are a lot of different styles on this album. It’s very varied, and it’s quite heavy as well, but in a fresh way. I think it’s good for the times in 2025.
Dead Rhetoric: Do you feel like the extra down time because of the pandemic allowed you guys to dig a little deeper into the details of this record?
Maeder: Not necessarily. The detail stuff comes into play with the three main songwriters, we have very different musical tastes. Until we are all really happy with a (song), it takes a while. We started writing this stuff in mid-2023. By the time we decided, let’s make an album – we had a lot of songs, I think over twenty songs. We really picked which ones are going to fit the best on this album. We got quite picky with those details, going into the songs. There is a certain aspect I felt, we have already so many albums out, we have been around for quite some time, so I don’t know how many more (albums) we can make. In a lot of ways, we could keep playing, and in this day and age, we probably don’t need to do another album. It’s going to be very hard even to fit new songs into a set, because there are so many songs over the years that the fans have expected to see live. We will do it, somehow.
When you are thinking about ‘what if this is the possibility that this could be the last album’ – I’ve always felt like I want to get in and make sure everything is the best we can make it. We started in 2023, we had time to look at some of the songs, and those changed drastically. And some songs didn’t even make the record at all. But we recorded all of them, we recorded more than what is on the album. Which means those songs will probably come out at some point as well.
Dead Rhetoric: Considering the group has three primary songwriters, how would you assess the versatility and differences between each musician when it comes to their approach to developing a song? Do you sense a uniqueness in your songwriting philosophy and approach compared to Leo and Freddy?
Maeder: Yeah, I guess we all have our styles. It’s hard to explain. I tend to be a little more, for lack of a better word, modern. I tend to be melodic, and try to get out of the usual patterns, the usual vocal lines and things to move around a little bit. Which you can hear that in a song like “Burning Bridges”. I tend to push the boundaries a bit there with the melodies. Leo is more on the classic side so he’s going to reign things back in. We get a good compromise there. Musically I tend to be quite complicated, actually. A little too complicated. Freddy is very musical – he also will tend to simplify things. He will tell me he knows what’s going on there, but let’s try and make it a little bit easier to listen to. (laughs). I get these jazz things in there. Leo is more the real classic guy with a classic riff, real meat and potatoes. It’s the combination that works quite well, and it takes quite a bit of time between the three of us to get things right. To where we are actually happy.
Dead Rhetoric: Does that also present a bit of a challenge to decide what singles are going to be chosen off each album?
Maeder: Always. We all have different ideas. The person who wrote the song is always going to hold onto their ideas. We usually do a voting system, which also involves the record company and the management as well. At the end of the day, if they are really keen on pushing certain songs, if they are motivated, we listen to them. And in the end, we were pretty close, I think everyone was fairly happy with the choices there.
Dead Rhetoric: The band over the years has tackled a lot of favorite covers to make them your own. How did the idea to cover The Beatles “Drive My Car” come about – as it seems you made things a little heavier and more modern with your approach?
Maeder: Yeah. “Drive My Car”, we recorded that and did a demo version of that back in 2022. It was a while ago we did this, but we never released it. Actually, when we were giving the whole list of songs to the producer, Charlie, as demos, to listen to and decide what’s going to make the record – that song was actually on there. Leo must have put it on the list, the others had no idea. When Charlie came to the studio, he thought that we really should put that one on the record. We hadn’t thought of that, but I’m glad we did as it turned out to be a great cover, I think. It’s really fun to play as well.
Dead Rhetoric: Did you have any worries or apprehensions regarding your acceptance in Gotthard given the tragic circumstances behind the loss of Steve Lee? When did you know that things were going to be comfortable in both the studio and the stage for you?
Maeder: It took quite some time. You have to remember in Switzerland, Gotthard is mainstream, and we are a very big band here. Steve Lee was very famous, and really loved. When he died, his death was heavily covered with the major media. Of course, the new guy coming in, that was hugely covered by the media, I went from one measure to the next. I was on the news every day, it was insane. The first couple of years, I couldn’t go to the supermarket without being recognized, it was quite intense. I didn’t expect that. And of course, the expectations were huge. It took a while for me to find my feet, really there.
We were really lucky that the fans, they were very encouraging. They call it the Gotthard family. Everyone believes in us, and they wanted the band to continue and to succeed. At the end of the day, they decide – you can do the best that you can, but the fans decide. Luckily, they accepted me – and not only accepted me, but really encouraged me along. It took me, I’d say, a few years to really feel 100% comfortable and that it’s my band, and that I’m an integral part of this group.
Dead Rhetoric: Where do you see the state of the heavy music scene and industry today? What challenges do you believe are the biggest for Gotthard to overcome this deep into your career?
Maeder: The hard rock and metal world is still quite big, alive and kicking. In Europe in particular, it’s incredible. There are so many festivals in Europe – most of them all hard rock/metal festivals. It may not be the trendiest thing on the radio. There are a lot of rock radio stations here, and they are doing good things as well. As you know, vinyl is coming back, and I guess I hear cassettes are coming back as well. Which is fantastic. The state of guitar-based music is still very much alive, I think. I’m not worried about that.
The challenges are always going to be, technology. Musicians in general – when cassettes changed, things changed, then CD’s, MP3’s. Everything, we always seem to be bearing the brunt of it, you know (laughs). As creators, actually. There are still some issues there with regards to songwriting, royalties, things like that. In a lot of ways, the writers are not being paid in the way that they should be. It’s always the way in most fields where creators are never the ones that reap all the benefits from their creations. We are lucky that people want to see us play live, people want to get out and see us. And there are lots of shows, lots of old bands that are coming back again, even in the pop world. The basic thing is people really love to go out and see shows. It’s working well – that’s one aspect that AI won’t take away from us, yet.
Dead Rhetoric: What would you consider some of your own career personal highlights when it comes to your musical career – either within Gotthard or other bands/ projects, where you knew you were making an impact on the world through your talents?
Maeder: There has been many. One of the things that’s crazy to see is your name tattooed on people’s bodies. I’ve seen some Gotthard ones, but I’ve seen some others with my name on them. I thought it was very interesting. We are lucky with social media that the fans can directly talk to us, and some of the stories I’ve heard. People have gone through some really difficult times and things, heard our album(s) and said they’ve really helped us get through things. Of course, for us we are sitting here writing the songs and doing our thing, but when that song takes a certain journey and has a particular significance to help people get through whatever they may be going through, it’s amazing. People use some of our songs at weddings, things like this, it’s just like wow. You write a song, and once it’s out it takes on a life of it’s own. A few years later you are on stage and the whole audience is singing your song back to you, it’s crazy to me and I still get amazed by that.
Highlights – opening for the Rolling Stones and getting the chance to play in front of 80,000 people. This was a definite highlight. We run into bands that we’ve admired, and you get the chance to get to know these musicians. A lot of these bands I grew up loving, I’m now friends with them now. That’s amazing to have this kind of community.
Dead Rhetoric: You have some killer tours lined up across Europe with Y&T and Krokus among others. What are your expectations for these shows, and how does it feel playing with such legendary groups as these two acts?
Maeder: Yes, it’s great. Krokus, we know them very well, and we’ve done a lot of shows with them before. Y&T, a legendary band. I don’t know the guys personally, but always when you are touring with a band, you get to really know the guys quite well. So, I’m looking forward to making some new friends. I think it’s a great bill; they should be fun shows. I’m really happy that we are doing them in the spring too, getting out of the whole winter thing. We always tour in the winter, so I’m very happy to be touring in the spring for a change.
Dead Rhetoric: As you said, it must be a big challenge to figure out an ideal set list with fourteen albums now to choose from. Does it feel better to have five albums under your belt yourself to add a bit more of your material to the mix?
Maeder: That’s the thing. There are so many songs. We try to put as many songs as we can from all the albums. The list is quite big. It does pose a challenge. Every album that I’ve made so far, we are always putting one or two songs from those records – and we try to keep things fairly well balanced. This new one will be a challenge to get a few new (songs) in there. Maybe we will do some different set lists, so we are not playing the same songs for different nights. We start rehearsing the set list in a few weeks and we will see. We will rehearse the whole new album and see which ones are best live – of course the singles we will have to play. You try to put a show together that’s a little bit different, I guess.
Dead Rhetoric: How do you define success these days? Has the definition changed from when you started as a musician to what you’ve been able to achieve today?
Maeder: For me, success is to be able to make a living from music. As a full-time job, to be able to make music from your own songs. This is success to me. Any artist, to be able to live from your art is huge success. It doesn’t mean being a multi-millionaire flying around in private jets (laughs). As long as you can make a living from your art, then you are winning.
Dead Rhetoric: Did you feel like you went through a big adjustment period upon moving to Switzerland from your life in Australia?
Maeder: Not so much living in Switzerland. I’ve lived here, as I grew up here because I’m half Swiss. Even though I spent more time in Australia. I started to come back to Europe, every summer I was coming back more and more. With the work that we were doing with Gotthard for the first few years, we could have lived anywhere. It was so focused; we were not really home that much. The touring, South America, Japan, there was always lots of stuff. When we were home, there was a lot of press, television shows, stuff to do, it would not have mattered where I was living.
Dead Rhetoric: Has it always been frustrating to not tour North America considering your long history as a band?
Maeder: No. Perhaps for the other guys when they started in the first few years, they may have felt frustrated. I came into a band that was already like this – to me, it’s very good already if you can be successful. We can tour and make a living in certain territories. It would be fantastic to be successful in the USA and I would love that, but you know, you can’t have it all. We have a lot of fans there as well. I would love to tour there once.
Dead Rhetoric: Do people ever seek you out for advice regarding music, the business, or other aspects of life? And if so, what words of wisdom or ideas do you try to impart on them?
Maeder: Yes. Recently I just filmed a television show, a whole season of a television series here in Switzerland. It’s called Sing My Song – I don’t think you guys have this in America. Seven artists live together and sing each other’s songs, a little bit like a Big Brother situation, sitting together on a couch. One of us will go off and sing another song. A lot of the artists were really young, and many of them were newcomers. I got asked a lot of questions there. The question that came up quite a few times was ‘if you were twenty years old now again, what advice would you give yourself?’. Just keep doing what you are doing. Don’t listen to all the negativity around – you don’t want to be around people that tell you that you can’t do it. And don’t worry so much – you still have a lot of time. Because you always have this feeling in your early twenties or mid-twenties that things aren’t happening, I’m getting old. You have so much time (laughs), don’t worry, relax.
Dead Rhetoric: What’s on the bucket list for Gotthard to accomplish and achieve over the coming years? Are there places you would like to play that you haven’t been able to reach yet?
Maeder: Good question. Yeah, I actually would really love to do a North American tour, one time. That is kind of on the bucket list. And there are some odd ones out there too. We got asked to play India, we got asked to play China, sort of these things that haven’t happened yet. That could be good as well.