VICTORIUS toured the UK very recently and Power Metal Quest Fest was one of their stops. Rock Out Stand Out’s Lotty Whittingham sat with bassist Andreas ‘Triceratops’ Dockhorn and guitarist Dirk ‘Raptor’ Scharsich about the tour, mental health and fantasy adventures.
Hello Dirk and Andreas, thanks for joining us today. First of all as an icebreaker, who would be in your dream adventure squad?
Dirk: Batman would be cool and Joey DiMaggio from Manowar. Basically that’s it, a band of Batman and Joey Dimaggio.
Andreas: Same thing, if you can get members of Manowar and superheroes together, that would be cool.
Dirk: Oh and The Flash ought to be in the band, he can play the drums.
Am I right in thinking this is your first tour of the UK?
Dirk: It’s not our first tour of the UK, we toured here in 2018.
How has this tour been going so far?
Dirk: Better than the last one, it’s difficult for a non-British band to tour the UK. We’re having a great time.
And you’re with fellow warriors Warlock AD?
Dirk: They are super chaotic and lovely boys.
What can we expect from a Victorius live show?
Dirk: A lot of cool poses, stage acting, silly costumes and songs about dinosaurs. For forty minutes, you can expect action, speed and comedy.
Which songs have you found gone down the best with crowds?
Dirk: I think this is a subjective opinion but in my opinion, Super Sonic Samurai is good and Dynast Dragons. Everyone has a different opinion about this question.
Rumour has it people are dressing as dragons today. It got me thinking what dragon you would have? It can be from Game Of Thrones, Harry Potter.
Andreas: A dragon from Victorius’ universe.
One of the things we do at Rock Out Stand Out is spread awareness about mental health, keep the conversation going. What is awareness generally like in your local city?
Andreas: I think in parts of Germany and other parts of the world, the awareness is rising but it’s not part of daily life.
Is there anything you think we can do more of so people feel more comfortable reaching out if they are struggling?
Dirk: It’s always important to talk about these problems and to accept them. That’s the right way.
Andreas: If you know someone who is struggling with these problems then you need to go this person, talk to them and offer your help but don’t overwhelm them. The person must be in a situation where they can decide whether they need help or not.
Is there anything you like to do to unwind?
Dirk: We try to relax by doing some sightseeing and having a good time, that can be difficult when you are on tour.
Andreas: I do a lot of cycling and it’s really good for the health, particularly the mental health. When cycling, you get to think about things for a couple of hours on your own and when you’re doing an exhaustive sport, it’s really good.
Dirk: Our guitar player is into fishing, he’s always talking about it. Our singer is into gaming.
Andreas: Our drummer is a handiman, he likes to do a lot of craftswork. He is building an accessory for the costumes.
Going back to fantasy and sci-fi universes, which one would you most like to live in?
Dirk: I think I would never like to live in a sci-fi/fantasy universe because I would die in the first few minutes. If I could pick however, I would love to live in The Walking Dead world because I want to slay zombies all day. I guess it would be relaxing for me to grab a sword or an axe and to slash their heads off.
Could we potentially see zombies on the next Victorius album?
Dirk: I don’t think so because there are some bands that have done that already.
What dinosaur would you keep as a pet?
Dirk: Dinosaur’s are very dangerous, if I had a pet raptor it would kill me [laughs] Science shows that dinosaurs had feathers, so prehaps they were just chickens.
Any message for Victorius fans?
Dirk: Thanks for the support over the years and hopefully for the coming years.
Andreas: We had a lot of fans coming back to us on this tour who we haven’t seen for years and they have come back. That’s nice that they still think of us and they still party with us.
Thank you so much to you both for talking to Rock Out Stand Out today and enjoy the rest of your day.
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