Interview to Sigfried from DRAGONY: “I am very excited that we are now able to come to Mexico also with DRAGONY”

Now, we will chat with Siegfried “The Dragonslayer” leader of DRAGONY who will give us details of the upcoming tour in the Mexican country and the band’s short-term plans.

The Metal Family: Hello Siegfried! How are you?

Siegfried Samer: I’m doing great! The new year has started, and it’s shaping up to be a pretty busy one for DRAGONY, as we have quite a lot of shows lined up and also need to work on new song material for our next album.

TMF: Until a few weeks ago we knew that DRAGONY would cross the sea to give concerts in various cities in Mexico. How did the opportunity arise for DRAGONY to go on tour in Latin America?

S:This was really a big surprise for us, as a promoter from Mexico reached out to us last year and suggested the possibility for a promotional tour of Mexico for the band. Of course that’s quite a big opportunity for any band, so naturally we were interested – and luckily we were able to work out all the details and find a suitable timeframe to schedule the tour!

TMF: It was in 2021 when DRAGONY released their most recent work Viribus Unitis, an album that was widely accepted by the fans. What does it represent for the band to present this album now with the Latin American fans? What do you know about the Mexican fans?

S: While we’ve never been to Mexico wtih Dragony, I’ve played a show once before in Mexico City with Visions of Atlantis when I was still singing for them, and that was a quite spectacular experience! Even though we played at a smaller venue that time, the fans in attendence were super enthusiastic, and it was definitely a highlight for me during my time in VISIONS OF ATLANTIS. So I am very excited that we are now able to come to Mexico also with DRAGONY, and promote our current album Viribus Unitis there, which I think is probably the strongest album we’ve made so far.

TMF: For many European bands, Mexico is the gateway to other Latin American countries. What does this mean for DRAGONY, being able to play this country? Do you think that more opportunities arise from here to move to other countries?

S: I certainly hope so! As said, my memories of playing in Mexico are great, and I can imagine that the crowds in other parts of Latin America will be just as good – so hopefully this is indeed a “first step” into that direction, and that we will be able to travel to other Latin American countries as well in the future!

TMF: What can we expect from DRAGONY’s live show? Do you already have the setlist ready and fixed or are or will be changing according to the dates?

S: We pretty much have our setlist ready, but will include a few songs that we haven’t played live in a while, as a bit of a special treat to the fans in Mexico! It will also be quite a special tour, as we will be joined by drummer Roland Navratil (ex-Edenbridge, ex-Sirenia) for this tour, as unfortunately our regular drummer Frederic can’t make this trip due to scheduling issues with his job. But we’ve done several shows with Roland in the past, he is a fantastic and experienced drummer, and it will definitely be a high-energy show!

TMF: Speaking a little more about the album Viribus Unitis; Going into the lyrics, we find an alternative version of the history of Austria, can you introduce us to the characters and the story, let’s know a little more about this work?

S: Yes, that’s right! The concept of “Viribus Unitis” is based on the central figures of the Austro-Hungarian empire in the time between 1867 until WWI, focusing on emperor Franz Joseph I, his wife Elisabeth (known as “Sisi”), and their son archduke Rudolf. However, we put a bit of a twist on history as it really happened, and instead tell an “alternate history” tale of these characters, putting them into a steampunk-inspired setting, and also adding further characters from that period into the story, such as Nikola Tesla and magician Harry Houdini. In the end, the story basically centers around archduke Rudolf carrying out black magic rituals to revive his assassinated mother Elisabeth from the dead, but naturally, that goes pretty wrong, and Elisabeth returns as an Empress of the Undead with her mind set on world domination, and only her former husband Franz Joseph, now put into a steampunk body armor and turned into “Cyber Punk Joseph” can stop her. That’s the story in a nutshell – there is actually a more detailed description available on our website!

TMF: Listening to Viribus Unitis, we come across a mixture of power metal and opera of great musical quality. What was it inspired by?

S: Our songwriting is generally inspired by the legendary Power Metal bands of the early 2000s. When I was growing up, I first got in touch with metal through bands like Hammerfall, Rhapsody of Fire, Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica, Edguy, Avantasia, and Kamelot – and I think a lot of those influences clearly shine through in our music. Especially the songwriting of Tobias Sammet from Edguy & Avantasia has always been hugely influential to me, which is also why Dragony was originally planned to be more of a rock opera project, but ultimately turned into a more “traditional” band – but still keeps a lot of rock opera elements in its sound, as I’m also a big fan of Meat Loaf and the songwriting of Jim Steinman, which can be heard on quite a few songs of ours, like Alcador from our debut album, or Angels on Neon Wings from Masters of the Multiverse.

TMF: It’s been two years since Viribus Unitis was released. Is the band working on new material? Do you already have ideas?

S: Yes, we are in the middle of songwriting for a new album, and have quite an interesting (and also again a bit funny) concept in mind! This year we will be very busy with songwriting and production of the album, but hopefully the new album will be ready by early 2024.

TMF: The Metal Family is a Spanish website and one of the big questions we ask ourselves is: Have you played multiple festivals in Europe, and now in Mexico, but are there any chances of seeing you in Spain this 2023 or in the near future?

S: It would be awesome to go to Spain! Unfortunately, it’s not an easy country to tour for a smaller band like ours due to the distance to get there, but hopefully playing a tour in Mexico now can also help get the attention of promoters and bookers in Spain, and we will be able to play in Spain soon! I once played Leyendas del Rock festival with Visions of Atlantis, which was a very cool experience, so it would be absolutely awesome to return to Spain with DRAGONY as well! There are many fantastic festivals in the country now, like Leyendas, Barcelona Rock Fest, Resurrection Festival, Z! Live, and Rock Imperium, that all have tremendous lineups every year – it would be fantastic to be part of these festivals in the future!

TMF: We leave you here your word for your followers in Mexico and Spain.

S: We are very excited to be coming to Mexico this year and look forward to meeting a lot of crazy metalheads there! Hopefully this won’t be the last time, and DRAGONY will be able to come to other Latin American countries as well as Spain and Portugal in the future as well! Thank you for the interview, and see you on the road! Stay glorious!

TMF: Thank you very much Siegfried, good luck on the tour, see you in Puebla!