All hail Lagerstein! The Australian party pirates are coming to Hungary, they will be part of the VI. Nordic Metal Night – so we took the opportunity and we did a pre-show interview with the captain of the Australian pirates, CPN Greggargh.

“The band began with two brothers, our guitarists Neil Rummy Rackers and The Majestic Beast, and a dream” – the captain stated. “Beast was playing in a number of Brisbane based bands and wanted to create a fun band with a party attitude but not to shy away from metal! From there members were formed from around the Brisbane metal scene, which was booming with a lot of awesome underground bands at the time, and thus, in 2010, formed the beginnings of a party Viking hybrid metal mix, with the later addition of Ultralord (ex-vocalist) helping the band take shape and to stick to the one theme: pirates! The band has evolved and changed over the years when I joined the band as a vocalist in 2014, an extra keyboard was also added in Jacob and thus completing the 7 crew members of Lagerstein. The latest additions being Lucky the Great on bass and Rusty Timbers on drums who joined late 2018.”

“The English translation Lager is a beer and Stein is a large drinking mug, German style. Put together, simply beer cup…We are a ridiculous band.”

“The founding members played in a number of serious death and black metal bands in the Brisbane scene and wanted to start a band in where you could have some beers at practice, do beerbongs on stage and basically do what you want, what a party! We believe to be a pirate is a lifestyle, all the Yarrs and Ahoys aside, it’s about having the freedom to be yourself and spread happiness and party times all over the world! Also, pirates love drinking, especially Australian Pirates!”

“We are a very easily inspired band, as I write we are having a team meeting, listening to ‘Eye of the tiger’ getting pumped for a good band chat! As far as bands go, we are all very eclectic with our music taste. We all draw inspiration from so many different bands from Supertramp to Marilyn Manson, The Beatles to Amon Amarth and everything in between, not only for writing ideas but for inspiration to be bigger and better in everything we do, work hard and party harder! As a group we also like to watch and listen to podcasts and motivation speeches i.e Tony Robinson, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Andrew WK, anything that puts you into a positive mind frame is a step in the right direction. “

“Most of the music writing in the past has been done by The Majestic Beast with a lot of help from Mother Junkst, Violin & Keytar. It’s a long process with everyone chipping in as the album comes to life, especially in the studio as the final touches are being made.”

“I haven’t been overly interested in history. Mother Junkst would be the history buff of the band, although it’s more imagination then hard facts with Lagerstein. “

And what about the new material? “We have the release date for our third album, 25/7, set for 23rd of August of this year! We are beyond keen to release this to the world as we are all so proud of what we’ve created. We believe it’s a huge step up from the past two albums with some really diverse tracks and some exciting feature musicians! Currently, we have a huge treasure hunt happening to be able to release the album on time and we are commandeering crew members from all over the world to join us in completing 100 shoeys! A number of clues will be sent out throughout our socials in which you can follow us for the hunt of the greatest treasure in the world!”

Lagerstein is full of experienced and talented musicians – how does that fact help them during the working process? “It helped in us keeping to a responsible timeframe of releasing this album in relation to the last two. But I think we are all more talented and experienced partiers, haha. This album is definitely a lot more dynamic and diverse than the past two. There are some new live instruments featured, a mix of different genres spread throughout but with the same Lagerstein style. 25/7 takes you on a ride of a typical wild Lagerstein day whilst getting you drunk and telling a tale of great proportion.”

 

The fun part

MyTouche Blog: -If you would go back in time which era would you live and why? 

CPN Greggargh: -The 70’s! Free love, lots of drugs and great music! 

MyTouche Blog: -If you would be one of the most well-known pirates who would you be and why? 

CPN Greggargh: –Captain James Hook, because a fight with a crocodile that size is gnarly! 

MyTouche Blog: -If you could live anywhere on this planet which place would you choose? 

CPN Greggargh: –I would most likely live on a concluded island surrounded by amazing beaches, or on top of a mountain surrounded by the alps. I’m a big nature person. A houseboat would also be epic! I grew up in an amazing place of the world, we call God’s Country, otherwise known as Coolangatta, home to some of the best beaches in the world! 

MyTouche Blog: -It’s time for a funny story!

CPN Greggargh: –There are far too many funny stories that come to mind, the adventures we as a band have been on are endless. One that springs to mind is the time we were deported from Heathrow Airport in 2014 on our way to tour the UK with Alestorm, for having the incorrect visas for this specific trip.

We didn’t make it pass border control, we’re sat in a tiny room for over 8 hours -in which we sang Beatles songs and had acoustic jams-, had our fingerprints and photos taken and sent back to Dubai with our passports confiscated. But this didn’t stop us, we were able to retrieve our passports and boarded the next plane to France in which we caught the underground train into England and sorted out our visa issue along the way. We managed to only miss one show, and only by an hour, we got to the venue and ran on stage with Alestorm who greeted us all and we partied into the night! Also, we are notoriously known for shoeys, the act of drinking your drink from your shoe. On our last trip of Europe/UK in 2017, we once did 100 shoeys in one evening at a pub in Bristol, called The Gryphon, all from the one shoe, Neil Rummy Rackers stage shoe to be precise! If you visit the Gryphon, now you can ask for a shoey from the same shoe for only 2 pounds!”

“We can’t wait for this show and all the rest to come! We are super excited for what’s to come this year and we hope we can all party together! Cheers & Beers!”

 

Joins us on VI. Nordic Metal Night this weekend!