We all know Germany is a country renown for giving the world some amazing metal bands and one of the hottest and newest bands to come from the countries region of Bavaria is the one and only Savage! These guys are celebrating the release of their album “Glory Riders” and so we thought it would be a great time to have a chat with the band and find out what else has been happening!

The Nwothm: Hey guys thanks for the interview! First of all please introduce us to the band and where your from!

Savage: 1. Tommy: Savage are Pawel Nemkovic (vocals & lead guitars), Axel Warrior (rhythm guitars), Kevin Steelrider (bass guitars) and Tommy Z (drums). We’re from the most beautiful region of Germany: Bavaria!

The Nwothm: You guys came on to the scene back in 2019! How did Savage come to form?

Savage: 2. Tommy: Originally the band was founded by me and Kevin, so we still needed a singer and a guitarist (or both in one) to get things going. At Keep It True festival 2019 we met Pawel and instantly knew: he’s the one! Shortly after, we did our first rehearsal together, covering songs by Mötley Crüe, Manowar and W.A.S.P. to find out if this will work out together, and it did! Then we quickly started writing our first own songs.
As the songs were written for two guitars, we needed a second guitarist of course to be able to perform them live and that’s why we asked our good friend Alex “Axel Warrior”, who we first got to know in summer 2020, to join. He’s officially a full band member since the beginning of 2023 and also not just a live guitarist, but a very important part of the creative and recording process.

The Nwothm: When you were carving your sound who did you take influence from? Was it purely from music or other things as well?

Savage: 3. Pawel: Mainly when trying to craft the right sound that represents our music the best way I was thinking: what is the most iconic sound element of the bands I like from the 80s (where everything that I like comes from)? I answered to myself: it’s the snare drum! Deep, heavy, endless reverb. Like an M60 fired inside a cave. So I ended up with one mission: try to get the snare sound like in the first seconds of ‚I wanna be somebody‘ and build the rest around it because such an important element deserves only one special way of companion instruments: more reverb, more delay, more heavy, more sustain. Wasn’t that easy and cheap though as we got us a high quality brass snare drum for recording purposes, but I cannot imagine an 80s sound without that snare! For live gigs Tommy uses an 8 inch deep steel snare drum at the moment, which also sounds pretty heavy. 

The Nwothm: How would you describe the metal circuit in Bavaria? And do you think Germany is one of the best countries for metal music as a whole right now?

Savage: 4. Tommy: It definitely is! German Heavy Metal has always played an important role from the very beginning, having phenomenal bands like Scorpions, Running wild, Warlock, Accept etc… you name them. This could be the reason why such a strong and loyal Heavy Metal scene has formed in Germany over the decades, which is still very dedicated and vivid nowadays.
In Bavaria, the epicenter of Heavy Metal might be Nuremberg, where Tommy and Axel live. It has a very strong scene consisting of total maniacs who also organize many concerts and events and mostly play in bands themselves!

The Nwothm: What influenced the bands image? Would you say the 80’s had a part in it?

Savage: 5. Tommy: You basically already answered the question haha! Yes, the 80s truly are our biggest inspiration when it comes to music, outfits and the lifestyle in general. It just was the best decade in so many different aspects.

The Nwothm: Last year you release you debut self titled EP! Can you tell us more about “Savage” and how those first songs came about?

Savage: 6. Pawel: The EP was a kind of proof of concept for us to see if we are able to work together and ride the same wave regarding songwriting and composing. So we threw everything into the melting pot of ideas and ended up with “yeah let’s try“. After all the EP became a mixture of some groovy rock and dirty heavy metal. And inside that mix you can find something about rock n roll lifestyle as well as my favorite adult movie actress. Our creed is “if it sounds good, it’s
good“.

The Nwothm: Heavy metal is known for its passionate and dedicated fanbase. What’s the most memorable or unique fan interaction or experience you’ve had?

Savage: 7. Tommy: At this point we haven’t had that single, memorable, outstanding fan interaction yet, but what we can say is, that we’re extremely overwhelmed and thankful by all the positive feedback we get in general. So many people let us know in person or on the internet that they love what we do. It really encourages us to put even more effort in to deliver the best possible songs and live shows. 

The Nwothm: You are working with Dying Victims Productions! How does it feel to be working with those guys?

Savage: 8. Tommy: Working with our label Dying Victims Productions and especially with Florian, the label boss, couldn’t be better! He’s an absolutely kind and professional dude who really knows what he’s doing. Big shout out to him! It really makes things so much easier for us, as we now can focus on songwriting and playing gigs.

The Nwothm: You have just unleashed your brand new album “Glory Riders” (9/10 from us) and the artwork I must say looks killer! Can you tell our readers about the album, the writing and recording process and if you each have a favourite song?

Savage: 9. Pawel: During the EP engineering process I was already working on some new material for the album because the EP songs gave us the confidence that SAVAGE is something special and people really love it. In this spirit I wanted to follow the idea that our music, the looks and the scenery can be built up together. That’s why I decided to give some of the songs of Glory Riders the spirit of the common wasteland scene like Mad Max and Fallout. We started the first recording session shortly after the EP finalization and the last recording session half a year later. The engineering process of the album was the part with the most effort because we and our fans had a lot of high expectations regarding the sound. Some re-recording of guitars and vocals and a lot of fine-tuning sessions were needed to finish the album as you can hear it today. It was finished half a year behind our actual timetable plans but good things take time.

Our favourite songs would be:
Axel: Glory Riders
Kevin: Glory Riders
Tommy: Life in Chains
Me (Pawel): Nightmare Invaders

The Nwothm: Who created the awesome artwork and is there a story to it?

Savage: 10. Pawel: The artwork was painted by John Quevedo from Venezuela who does a lot of album artwork painting for bandsmostly in the underground scene. We found him because he painted some artworks for the German Manowar cover band Defender which was really awesome and very close to Ken Kelly! The concept of the artwork has been created with some thoughts like “crazy guys with weapons in the wasteland leading some other guys on crazy rides“. This is what I imagined when I was thinking about the term “Glory Riders“. So I just told John that the four guys in the foreground should look like us with our stage clothes and some weapons in our hand like Toecutter would love it and „the rest is up to you“. He told me that a post apocalyptic scenery he would really like to paint. What makes it so authentic is that the front and back cover have been painted on real canvas with acrylic paint. Awesome!

The Nwothm: So now the album is out what are your touring plans for the rest of the year and 2024?

Savage: 11. Tommy: Our touring for this year is basically done, as we played our last show mid of October. For 2024, we already have gigs planned in Switzerland and Austria so far, which will be announced soon. Also, we’re working on making something happen in Czech Republic, as well as in Germany of course. In Germany we’re aiming for a tour together with the band Stolen from Essen, who were on tour with us and Tailgunner few weeks ago. They’re an amazing Sleaze Rock band and the best guys to hang out with, check them out!

The Nwothm: Where can fans buy your music and merch?

Savage: 12. Tommy: Fans can buy our music and merch world-wide from our label Dying Victims Productions (you will find the online shop on their homepage) and of course at our live shows!

The Nwothm: Anything else you would like to mention?

Savage: 13. Tommy: At this point we once again want to thank all the maniacs out there who keep supporting us, you’re amazing! With our debut album now being released, we’re ready to take the world by storm! See you on the road!