Mrrock.net scribe Marty Ogilvie recently spoke to EDGUY guitarist Dirk Sauer. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Marty Ogilvie: Last year, you came off a successful tour with HAMMERFALL, how was the fan reaction? I heard from several different cities that Edguy stole the show.

Dirk Sauer: "The tour was great. We had a great show almost every show. I think it's really a matter of perception, I mean, Hammerfall is a great band. Each city is different, but we had a great time everywhere."

Marty Ogilvie: One of the first things that I noticed about the new disc is that the band, while still retaining that ‘Edguy’ edge and sound, has been steadily progressing. Has this been a natural process for you? Progression can sometimes be a bad thing for a band when it comes to critics - if you grow, you're abandoning your style, if you don't - you become like AC/DC and release the same thing over and over. How has the reaction been to Rocket Ride?

Dirk Sauer: "Well, it's been a little different, there have been a couple of complaints. I mean, the fact that the album hit #8 on the German charts, and did well in Sweden, and is Top 50 in most of Europe; that tells us the fans are liking it though. Nobody wants to release the same thing over and over again, and I think most people are getting it."

Marty Ogilvie: A good song is a good song.

Dirk Sauer: "Exactly."

Marty Ogilvie: Rocket Ride was produced by Sascha Paeth (KAMELOT, ANGRA, RHAPSODY). How big a part did he play in the recording process?

Dirk Sauer: "He was mostly responsible for the sound in general. He's a really good guy, and that is really important to us. He is a cool guy and a great producer. He brought in new production techniques, and his overall responsibility was the sound. However, on the song 'Matrix' for example, that was one song that we said to him, 'let's do this one the way that you want to do it'. We did some different things for us on that song, like tuning the guitars down low, and I think it's probably the song that's the most different for Edguy. One thing that a lot of people don't know about him is that he's a guitar player too. It's very important for us that we get along with the producer, and I think it won't be the last time we work with Sascha."

Marty Ogilvie: One thing that I love about the band is your great sense of humor. With songs like ‘Lavatory Love Machine’ and now on the new album ‘Catch Of The Century’, do you find that people sometimes miss that angle of the band?

Dirk Sauer: "I think now, most people get it. In the beginning, it was a bit of a challenge because a lot of people wouldn't take us seriously. But know I think they realize that it's supposed to be fun. We're entertainers. If we're not having fun doing what we're doing, we wouldn't do it, or at least we wouldn't be a good at it. I think that's something that people shouldn't have to remember - they should just know. It's the same with anything, if you're going to be good at what you do, you should have fun doing it. That's the key to success."

Marty Ogilvie: Tobias (Sammet - vocals) was the primary songwriter on Rocket Ride, but I imagine that the band still has input. How different were the tunes that are on the disc from how Tobias brought them to you?

Dirk Sauer: "Well, in each situation it's different. Tobias will bring the songs to the rehearsal room, and sometimes we'll rework, change, or even not use certain things. When he brings us the songs, it's more of an idea. It's never really a finished song, and is usually something that we build on. 'Lavatory' for example, that song was written in the rehearsal room in about two hours. Everyone knew what they had to do to make that song work and it came together really fast."

To read the entire interview head to this location.