Oliver Weers is the “newest” Danish hard rock name. He had been around for quite a few years as a producer before his breakthrough on the Danish television-Show “X-Factor”. Since the Danish release of his debut album, ‘Get Ready’ in September 2008, OLIVER WEERS and his band have managed to establish themselves as one of Denmark's finest hard rock acts.

On May 1 the album was released in the rest of Europe through Target Records. Mister Weers has managed to add a number of impressive names to the list of guest musicians on this new record. Tommy Aldridge (o.a. Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy, Vinnie Moore, Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Motörhead, Ted Nugent) can be heard on drums and Marco Mendoza (o.a. Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake) takes care of the bass duties. All the more reason for us to get a little better acquainted with Oliver Weers!

Here you can read what Oliver had to say to the readers of Metal-Experience.com:

First of all, could you start this interview off with a short introduction of yourself and could you give us a little update about your career as a musician?

Oliver: I’m a singer/songwriter that has worked in Germany, Norway, Japan & Denmark resulting in a moderate release in Japan in 1996 and another one in Norway in 2001. Early 2008 I made an album in Denmark with my former band RIPE. In September 2008 my solo Album ‘Get Ready’ was released starting in Denmark featuring Tommy Aldridge (known from Ozzy Osbourne/Whitesnake) and bassist Marco Mendoza (known from Whitesnake/ThinLizzy).

I started singing in bands in 1983 (actually with Peter Maffay's guitarist Peter Keller) and have been part of the action ever since. I’m a "front man" that's been playing rock/blues/funk and progressive metal from small clubs to big festivals. .... My voice was trained for 7 years by a Hungarian opera singer in Germany while I was engaged as a hard-rock vocalist doing competitions, recordings and touring through-out Germany and Europe. ....
 

I found more interest in the Norwegian rock scene and their quality of musicians inspired me very much. It resulted in an excellent piece of work which was released in Japan: Diabolos In Musika - "Natural Needs" Get a sample of the music via following link: www.ronnyheimdal.com. After Japan not resulting in the big break through, the band members started to go in different musical directions. ....

Shortly after becoming a father I thought of actually enjoying music in a little more relaxed state and started in a blues band: (www.nobodysbusiness.no) who toured extensively every year. This also resulted in the album: ‘Blue Shoe’. It might be a bit different musically than my first release but it was still an enjoyable project that lasted until early 2007. ....

Living in Denmark since 2000 and stopping with Nobody's Business (Norway) early 2007, I wanted to try to get together with people that know their instruments, love creating music, enjoy performing and who work with an aim. I was very happy to have met Ripe (www.myspace.com/weareriperocks) and it was cool to be part of a good old 80's style metal band á la Iron Maiden, DIO. The first album was recorded early 2008: ‘At The End Of Time’. www.riperocks.dk RIPE has a new singer now after I started my solo career.

January 2008 I joined the Danish X-Factor TV show and was profiled a lot during the audition rounds and the finals. I joined the show to make contacts in the Danish music business. Coming from outside of Denmark I thought this was a fast way to build contacts. I was rejected just before the X-factor live shows for reasons the audience still has no answers for. The X-factor production manager didn't accept this and got me back into the show at the TV finals where I joined to sing Queen's: “The show must go on”! This resulted in so much storm on youtube and media that I was  contacted shortly afterwards by producer/songwriter Søren Andersen who is part owner of the well known Medley Studios in Copenhagen.....

 During the Summer of 2008 Søren Andersen and I recorded Oliver Weers first solo Album. I signed a record deal with Target Records for this album. And this will with no doubt be the most advanced production in my career and to make sure about this we hired drummer legend Tommy Aldridge who amongst many others has played for  Ozzy Osbourne and Whitesnake and bassist Marco Mendoza who has also played with Whitesnake and many other big bands like Thin Lizzy, Blue Murder. ....

On your album ‘Get Ready’ you worked with Tommy Aldridge and Marco Mendoza amongst others. How did you get in touch with them and how difficult was it to convince them to play on you album?

Oliver: Søren (my producer) was touring with them for some time. He had the idea to hook us all up. Tommy and Marco liked what we were doing and said YES!

How did you launch into writing material for ‘Get Ready’ and how much time did you spend on the songs?

Oliver: It was hard but we didn’t struggle for a second. Søren and I melted together as if we were meant to do this for a long time and now finally our paths crossed. The motivation level was of course driven by the fact of recording an album with the 2 legends Tommy Aldridge and Marco Mendoza. Also the fact of not even having a deal and record company backing us up was a driving factor. After about 2 weeks of intense writing we had something like 12 songs (+ the 2 covers). We chose to keep 10 of them and these songs developed throughout the project of 2 ½ months.

Did ideas come easily so that you just had to write them down or was it more of a careful composing thing?

Oliver: It was as if we had it all in our heads for a long time. It came straight from our hearts!

What were the goals you had in mind when you started to record ‘Get Ready’, any elements you definitely wanted to have on the album?

Oliver: It’s all about having fun doing what we live for……. which is music! I wanted to create something that is technically amazing and would still sound like it coming from the radio. On my previous projects there was always the limitation of not having all technical profiles in place, the studio limitations, the budget etc. so the only exceptional difference was to be as much of an artist as possible. This time I could just concentrate on bringing my voice forward and embedding it into a well balanced monster sound and production. It was also very important for us to write music which would emphasize our great musicians Tommy Aldridge and Marco Mendoza.

Was it a conscious decision to do it this way?

Oliver: The overall concept idea was there but the details developed along the way. It’s nice to have some surprises in the end!

Could you please describe the implications of the title ‘Get Ready’, what does it stand for and is there a special meaning behind it?

Oliver: Maybe the next albums will be called “Get Ready”….”Steady”……..”GO”! Haha. Who knows? It was the music that inspired me to the lyrics. The pumping energy and “wanting to jump out off your seat”, kind of thing. No special meaning other than what the lyrics bring to the listener. I’m not so analytic on my lyrics but “Get Ready” to stand up for what you are, “get ready” to be proud of yourself, “get ready” to show it and “get ready” to inspire others.

What about the lyrics, where do you get your inspiration from and can you tell me something more about them?

Oliver: I love floating on a thought, I love watching happiness, I love analyzing and I constantly look for answers. Writing helps me focus, collect, research and finally refresh.
 

Most of the time I write some lines when something comes to me, catching these random flashes is often the best way to build a baseline for a new song. Then when I listen and work on new music I always have a tool box with different lyrical sketches to kick off or pick from.

My inspiration is my surrounding and my experience through life. I’m very interested in people, the way we think, we learn, we communicate, we love, we hate and we mate. It’s a long list of inspiration there and always a big question mark behind it.

The hard work is then to make the lyrics seem simple. Remember a song is only 3-4 minutes long and it’s challenging to give each word something meaningful in the context. On “Get Ready” I like the lyrics because they come straight from my heart. I’m of course always very curious of what people think of my lyrics.  

Can you give us a little background about the songs on the album, is there a story behind them?
Oliver: It feels a little like the birth of a fine partnership for Søren Andersen and me. We agree on so many things, we often don’t even have to discuss them. They just happen! There is no background because it all started April 2008 and that’s when we hit the studio! I didn’t know Søren, Tommy or Marco before. I think that our positive, ambitious and highly professional attitude is reflected in all the songs! The lyrics focus on happiness, which isn’t always easy to achieve due to certain factors in life and in the world we live in. But they also try to define happiness, like when we live it! Cause then we miss it!

What is the utmost important ingredient for a song according to you and is there any typical way that your songs comes into being?

Oliver: The utmost ingredient is: “Does it make me feel good!”

About the song writing, how can we imagine you work on new songs, what's the typical writing process like for Oliver Weers?

Oliver: Well I never really work on my own when it comes to the music (I’m an awful guitar & piano-player). I do play the piano and guitar for myself but mainly just to come up with some lyrics and write stuff I haven’t released anywhere…..yet. With previous bands we created the songs in the rehearsal room but this time Søren was in the Medley studio recording some primitive sketches. He sent me the sketches that definitely had potential, others we listened to together. Some got discarded, others needed changing slightly and some were just cool from the first take. I took the music home and worked on lyrics and melodies. The melodies I took back to Søren and then we compared them to the melodies he had in mind. Some of my melodies we kept  but others couldn’t compare to Søren’s ideas and were discarded. The lyrics were slightly adjusted while recording. Sometimes words were too hard, too soft, too many words, too weak a meaning. I could spend 2 hours adjusting a simple line sometimes and sometimes I just started from scratch. The production is another story!

What comes first, lyrics or melodies? Is it like you sit down and write a new song because you need more material now or do you wait until you get an idea?

Oliver: Push the button and I’m ready. I love being creative, imagine all the stuff you put in your head during a day and you’re not letting out in some way. I can’t wait to get started again.

You’ve got two cover songs on the album, “The Show Must Go On” by Queen and “Army of Me” by Björk. Why did you choose these specific songs?

Oliver: Army Of Me: I played in a Progressive Metal band in Norway (Diabolos in musika D.I.M. http://www.ronnyheimdal.com/index.php?info=sounds) and we covered this song live years ago. This is where I got the idea. But it was also because I wanted a Nordic angle to the album and hey, Björk is so cool, I love her!
 

“The Show Must Go On” by Queen isn’t on the European release. In Denmark this was chosen because so many fans that followed me on TV were begging me for it. And it was so much fun recording it!

Who was responsible for the production, and did you run into any difficulties during the production process?

Oliver: Søren Andersen is the producer. We ran into challenges with regards to the first mix/master, we all decided to have someone else (Jakob Hansen) give it a shot. The first mix/master was great but we needed to be sure and it was really worth it!

Do you have any favorites on the album?

Oliver: “First Day Of Our Life”, “Crawling Back Again”, “Even Giants Cry” and “Angel”.

Have you received any feedback on the album yet?

Oliver: Yes and it’s been positive all the way. Melodic Rock.com 87%

Please also check my blogs on www.myspace.com/oliverweersband

Overall, are you pleased with the outcome of the songs or would you have liked to have changed anything in retrospective?

Oliver: Very happy indeed!!!!

Which element on the CD are you most proud of?

Oliver: To do this interview! (sorry mate……), but most of all to have Tommy Aldridge and Marco Mendoza with us!

What can we expect from Oliver Weers in the near future, any touring plans?

Oliver: All in the works! A Tour in Denmark is being planned for September/October. Before that we’re doing some festival jobs in Denmark and we are warming up for Mötley Crüe here in Copenhagen on June 10th. For Europe we’re currently working on a Tour to warm up for someone, who this will be is not 100% clear yet. I hope to hit the studio next winter for a follow up album.

Where do you see the band going within the next couple of years, and where do you see the band’s musical direction going for the next album?

Oliver: It’s all about giving it 100% and enjoying it. We will all go as far as it takes us keeping passion and work in a healthy balance.

Is there someone in particular you’d like to do a future project with, either a band or a solo artist?

Oliver: I’d like to use Tommy again, his drums are just amazing! A fascinating idea would be to write/record an album with Søren Andersen, Dough Aldridge (Whitesnake), Timothy Drury (Whitesnake), Tommy Aldridge and Marco Mendoza!! What’ya say?

Anything left to say to our readers?

Oliver: Music and writing is the only way I have to express what is inside my heart, soul and thoughts. I know that now!
 

I hope you all enjoy the album and I can’t wait to visit you and play some Rock ’n Roll!

Thanks for your time,

Eugene Straver

Members:

Oliver Weers - Vocals

Søren Andersen - Guitar

Marco Mendoza - Bass

Tommy Aldridge – Drums

Albums: