The official Brazilian ICED EARTH fan site, Brazil Under Ice, has recently posted an interview with guitarist Troy Seele. The following is an excerpt:

Q: What are your favorite bands and albums?

Troy Seele: "My five top bands are: LED ZEPPELIN, AC/DC, Old VAN HALEN (the first four albums), PINK FLOYD and PAT TRAVERS BAND."

Q: Tell us a bit about your life, when did you start do play guitar, and what bands did you play with? Did you record any albums, singles, EPs, or even something as a guest musician?.

Troy Seele: "I started playing guitar when I was thirteen. My first professional live show was when I was fifteen. I was in a handful of local bands that played cover music until I was twenty. My first original band was called THE CRIMINALS. That group slowly morphed into MA KELLY which lasted for eleven years, five albums and three record labels. We opened up for several national acts but never got a break ourselves. After that was over I did various side projects; everything ranging from rock to folk to bluegrass. I started playing guitar with a band called "THE WHY STORE for about a year before I joined Iced Earth.

Q: How did you join Iced Earth? Will you be a full member or were you just hired?

Troy Seele: "Jon was near the end of recording Framing Armageddon when Tim Mills had to bow out to run his business. Jon and I had been friends for a long time so I told him I would be happy to do some leads to finish the album. He would look for someone else to be the touring guitarist when he was ready to start doing gigs.  I picked up a few songs from his studio that he wanted to try me out on. I worked on them while I was out doing some short tours with The Why Store. I went to his studio armed with a few ideas for each song and it seemed to work. I ended up doing six or seven solos on the album. When it came time to do the shows I asked him to consider me. We talked about it for a week or so. One month before Iced Earth was set to play the Sweden Rock Festival Jon called and told me to pack my bags. I would like to think of myself as full of a member as you can be. It's no secret that Iced Earth is a vehicle for Jon to deliver his vision. As long as I've known him he has never excluded band members from the creative process. In most cases, Jon ends up doing it himself because they haven’t taken the opportunity to collaborate."

Go to this location for the full interview.