JAG PANZER Guitarist Talks About ICED EARTH, DIMEBAG And Possible Live Album

JAG PANZER's official web site has been updated with an online interview with guitarist Mark Briody composed solely of questions submitted by fans. A couple of excerpts from the interview follow:

Q: I know that you and Jon Schaffer [ICED EARTH] have been friends for a long time. My question is how did you're involvement with the "Gettysburg" DVD come about? And, can the fans look forward to future collaborations, especially musically, between two of the best rhythm guitarists in power metal?

Mark Briody: "My involvement started with me answering some questions from Jon and producer Jim Morris. They know that I had produced a commercially released DVD, which is very different from burning a home video. They had a lot of questions, which were the same kind of questions that I had to work through on the JAG PANZER DVD.

"Jon and Jim had put a lot of time into the surround mixes for 'Gettysburg'. Jon thought about the 5.1 mix as he was writing the songs. A large portion of the recording process was done specifically for the 5.1 mix. Basically, this was a much more involved surround mix then your typical music DVD.

"The original idea was to show some on-screen Civil War photos while the surround mix played. I explained to Jon that we could take that idea much farther with some motion graphics. I did a quick demo and he liked what he saw. Jon expanded on my ideas and we eventually spent over a year on the visuals for 'Gettysburg'. I'm very proud of my work on the project and I'm looking forward to the release.

"As far as a musical collaboration, I doubt that this would ever happen. The problem is that we perform basically the same thing role (musically) in our respective bands. We both enjoy songwriting and we both play rhythm guitar. This would make it very difficult to work together on a metal project."

Q: You recently picked up an endorsement deal from Dean guitars, the same guitars endorsed by Dimebag Darrell. I know that I am still bothered by the incident, but how much impact, both personally and professionally, has the shooting death of Dimebag had on you? Do you think this will have much of an effect on future JAG PANZER shows and/or the scheduling of shows?

Mark Briody: "What happened to Dimebag was a terrible tragedy. It's had a big effect on me; it made me realize how quickly everything can end. I think it's made me appreciate things a more.

"I had only met Darrell once, so I didn't know him personally. But I know people that were close to him. And they all said the same thing — that he was a warm and kind-hearted person.

"As a guitar player, he was incredible. He played with attitude. He could rip your face off with one note, or floor you with 1,000.

"I'm not sure what effect the death of Dimebag will have on our shows. Perhaps more security. I don't know. I'm sure I’ll have this tragedy in mind every time I go onstage. But I think it's important to keep playing."

Q: Where the hell is the JAG PANZER live album? And can the fans help get one?

Mark Briody: "Good question! That one needs to go to Century Media.

"We've been ready for a live album for three years. People keep asking for one. We have one in our contract, so I know that there will be one. But there are disagreements on the budget. The current budget we have been given is less then 1/20 of what 'Alive in Athens' [ICED EARTH] cost. I realize that ICED EARTH sell a lot more albums then we do, but you simply can't do a live album for what they proposed.

"I don't want to hook up a tape recorder to the live mixing console and say 'Here's our live album.' I'm no fan of bands that re-record everything in the studio, that isn't really live. But it needs to be properly mixed and not sound like someone snuck in a tape recorder.

"I'm hoping that these issues can get resolved soon and we'll record a live album in the near future."

Read the entire interview at this location.