Rocks Off: Are you a classically trained pianist?

Bastian Emig: No, absolutely not. I like classical piano music very much but never learned to play the piano in a traditional way. I preferred to listen to the radio and play along with the songs I liked most.

RO: Who are your influences as a pianist?

BE: I don't consider myself as a pianist who wants to emulate others. I like pianists like Esbjörn Svensson. He was brilliant. Or Alfred Brendel in a different way - but In Legend is not about a pianist playing metal. It is about self-realization and my own way to express myself with songs being performed on a piano.

RO: What made you want to link acoustic piano playing with the metal style?

BE: I used to write songs for my former bands. By doing so, I tried to perform the parts I wanted the guitarists to play as true to the sound of a guitar as possible - of course it would never sound like a guitar, but by stressing the main features of the riff in a way a guitar would do, I eventually came to the point that I wrote stuff that I liked more being played on the piano but the guitar.

I had never the intention to realize a concrete concept - I kept writing songs, just changed the tools.

RO: How many pianos have you smashed and how much has that cost you?

BE: Unfortunately, my experience in smashing pianos is a rather poor one. Can you imagine, piano owners don't stand in line to offer me any more opportunities! It makes it even more difficult for getting a full piano endorsement. Coming to think about it, the pandemonium video was not the best application in that way... well - but actually I love those instruments - and I prefer playing, not destroying them.

RO: Any chance we'll see you in America anytime soon?

BE: Hopefully! We love touring and it would be great to cause sheer pandemonium in the U.S. That would be awesome!"

RO: Decibel Magazine had some very harsh words about you. Any response?

BE: Another poor soul wasting precious energy in things he doesn't like. But thanks for the free promo by being talked of.