INTERVIEW – RICKY WAGNER – REZET (GERMANY)

Ricky Wagner of German thrash outfit REZET takes some time away from recording their 6th album to answer a few questions…

TheNWOTHM: Can you introduce yourselves for our readers, and tell us why you do what you do please?

Ricky: I’m singing and playing guitar in REZET, formed the band in my early teens and am still sailing on that ship thru all waves and tides, ups and downs, days and nights… I’m also CEO of my own studio “Rad Toad Studios“ and am giving instrumental lessons, too.

Why? Well, basically because of my love for music and because I can’t imagine doing anything else than being an artist, producing bands, teaching guitar and and more music related things. Music is my life.

TheNWOTHM: For those discovering you for the first time, can you tell us how did REZET come about, and is there a story behind the name?

Ricky: I formed the first formation of this band a long time ago, together with my good friend Thorben Schulz (now playing in a new band called LUNATIC). We were about 11 or 12 years old when we started playing the guitar and immediately got together and jammed. There is no real foundation date of REZET, but it must have been around that time. We began saying that it somehow started with our first Demo – if you can call it like that – that was released to a bunch of friends on Halloween 2004. To be honest, we didn’t have a real concept behind the name of the band, it just sounded cool to us, the word “reset“. We just got rid of a letter and exchanged it to look more fancy or so, I don’t really remember. Cool thing today is, we can give several meanings to the name. Since the style of the band has always been very special, the name of the band gives it an unique blend too, I think.

TheNWOTHM: We know there is a new, 6th album in the works. What can you tell us about it at this stage?

Ricky: That we all agree that this is by far the best record we’ve made to date. Everybody’s saying that in our camp, so there must be some truth about it.

TheNWOTHM: Ex-AGENT STEEL guitarist Nikolay Atanasov has recently joined the REZET ranks. How did this come about, and how has this affected the writing process for the new album?

Ricky: Nikolay got interviewed already in 2018 when we were looking for a guitar player before Heiko Musolf joined. There were a couple of candidates and Nikolay already stood out. I think one of the main reasons he didn’t make it was, that we wanted to have a member from Germany. Since Denmark, where he lives now, is just around the corner basically, it wasn’t a real problem at all, to be honest. But somehow Heiko got the job and Nikolay made it into Agent Steel. Everything at its time, they say, and so he just came into our lives perfectly timed again. There’s no one who could fit that current lineup better and yes, although the record was mostly written before he joined, he still made an impact on it. So much so, that he even wrote two songs with us that made the record even better as it already was…

TheNWOTHM: There’s a huge amount of quality old school metal bands, from all around the world currently active. Can you tell us what it takes to stand out from the crowd?

Ricky: I think to stand out is very hard nowadays. There’s no real option to fake anything that you aren’t because people will notice that. Just be yourself and give all you got, trying your best. Consistency might be the key today, but I’m not sure, nor do I make the game’s rules.

TheNWOTHM: What’s the metal scene like in Germany? It’s renowned for spawning legendary thrash metal bands but is the scene still fertile?

Ricky: Yes and I think it will always be very active. It’s probably, compared by size to other countries, one of the most Metal countries there is.

TheNWOTHM: If you were to recommend one album to anyone to has never heard of heavy metal before, which would you pick and why?

Ricky: First Master Of Puppets, and when you got it, Peace Sells… no need to explain why!

TheNWOTHM: Heavy metal is all about passion and community. Recommend some fellow bands for us to check out that we might not of heard of!

Ricky: Lunatic and Outburst pop up in my mind. I mentioned the first already, Thorben’s new band, and the second is another Speed/Thrash hopeful from my area, that I’m producing currently.