Dead Rhetoric: I’ve heard something special took place when Iron Savior played Headbangers Open Air a few years ago – I’m curious to know what happened, as well as what have been some of your favorite shows/tours through the years?
Sielck: I appeared on stage in flip flops and shorts, a regular shirt- that’s the way I dress in privacy. Some of the crowd thought that my look was a little bit odd. It was like 38 degrees Celsius outside (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit), hot as hell, and I wasn’t going to wear long pants now and dress up just for the guys to look like a heavy metal man. I hate this to be honest – I would also have to hate if I had to wear a suit all day long because of working for a bank. I hate having to dress up in specific clothes just because I play metal – that’s not working for me. I am aware of the fact that this Headbangers Open Air crowd is very, very traditional- it’s their problem to be honest.
Lots of great stuff- in the past three or four years I’ve found it very enjoyable to play with the original lineup again since Jan-Sören Eckert the original bass player joined back up in 2011. It’s something special when we play back together on stage again because we have known each other for such a very long time, so being on stage with Iron Savior is like being at home, you know? So much interaction between us, on a deep personal level so that I feel very happy when I am surrounded by my friends performing Iron Savior songs on stage. I can’t name them all- a very special tour was the first Iron Savior tour because everything was very new to us- I remember that of course very well.
Dead Rhetoric: How do you view the touring landscape in 2016? Are you concerned that acts may be overcompensating with live shows to make up for lower physical product sales – and possibly diluting the ‘specialness’ of concert performances?
Sielck: Yes and no. There is a lot of touring activity, as long as the people like it and attend the shows, it’s all good with me. If a band wants to be on tour or on stage 200-250 dates per year like for example my friends from Destruction, they really tour and play a lot and it’s where they make most of their income from, that’s okay. But for us, that won’t work for many things. It’s a good thing that we don’t play that often live, if we play the people are interested and you can’t say Iron Savior over plays (laughs).
Dead Rhetoric: Going to America to learn more about the art of producing, what are some of the biggest things you’ve applied to your own beliefs behind the boards?
Sielck: Yeah, well. I had a great time in Los Angeles but the problem was the school I was attending, they were really starting from the very, very beginning. After a couple of weeks I found out it wasn’t my thing- I had been working in studios for a couple of years already. Somehow they kept teaching me what I knew already- so I stopped going to that school, hung out in Los Angeles for half a year, went to the beach more than the school. I had a plan to go back to Los Angeles as I had found a better school which was more interesting for me. That never happened because the very first Gamma Ray album (Heading for Tomorrow) popped up and so I thought that was the best hands on training you could get in Germany.
Dead Rhetoric: What would be something surprising to learn about Piet outside of all your accomplishments as a musician and producer?
Sielck: Of course. I have a family with three children, and that draws up a lot of my time, besides music. I have a dog. I go on vacation quite often- at least three times a year. I need that, I recharge the most. In springtime I go skiing for a week, on summer vacation I go to France, to the border where I do boogie-boarding. I do the same thing in the autumn in Spain for two weeks. This is where I recharge my energy, I’m together with my family, the sun is up and everything is nice.
Dead Rhetoric: Where do you see the state of heavy metal in Germany these days- it always seems to be the strongest country for support in Europe?
Sielck: I think that is still the case. It’s just because of the size and pure amount of people who live in Germany. We have the most citizens and it’s a natural thing for the sales to be bigger here than in Sweden. They have a strong scene, but not as many people living in their country as in Germany so that’s why bands are popular there but not as much as in Germany.
Dead Rhetoric: Based on a recent social media post you put on your personal Facebook page, you seem to have some strong thoughts on the refugee issue that’s a big part of Germany these days? Would you care to enlighten the readers?
Sielck: Our government has maneuvered themselves into a strange situation. For the first few weeks they were saying that everyone could come, the refugees were welcome. This is totally correct if you ask me- if somebody is threatened by war and bombs and machine guns and death, definitely you have to find a sanctuary here in Germany. The problem is there are so many, Germany is the only country that lets people in, all other countries in Europe are saying , ‘uh, no thank you’. What can you do about it- you can’t just close the borders and say sorry we are full. Germany is a rich country, and even if people would have to cut back a little, that’s still better than letting people die. On the other hand, the German Tea Party (AFD- Alternative for Deutschland), an ultra-conservative power here in Germany, they gained a lot of popularity by saying that they don’t want all the refugees here. There are a lot of dumb people around who believe them, they are scared of foreign people and foreign ideas, strange religions. Our European partners are sort of backing out. We really took a lot, by taking a lot of them and the society is getting split up more and more. We have a contract with the Turkish people, it’s a weird situation.
Dead Rhetoric: What does the next year or two look like for Iron Savior in terms of activity and yourself behind the boards as a producer?
Sielck: Maybe we will look into Progpower USA for a return there. We had a great time there for Savage Circus and then again with Iron Savior, we would love to come again. We are doing some festivals, but we will do headlining shows as well. We love to play festivals, the variety of bands, it’s usually outside in open air. Playing a headlining show is the better thing, it’s your stage, it’s your fans. Most of our shows will be headlining shows. We will also go over to Japan and play in Tokyo for the first time as Iron Savior.