Who are you and what do you do in Strange Land?
Chad Novell - Bass/Keys/Vox
Sean Gill - Guitar/ backing vox
Pete Schwarzenbacher - Drums

Where's the band from?
Milwaukee, WI


Who're your major influences?
Pain of Salvation, Haji's Kitchen, Zero Hour, Fates Warning...


What's your local scene like?
For the most part the scene in Milwaukee is fragmented. People are not all that into going out to see new bands. They go out to drink. Some of the club owners are good people and are supportive, but most don’t care.

However, the handful of bands that we have started to play with on a regular basis are a very talented and diverse lot and luckily some really good supportive and dedicated people.

Hopefully a lot of this will change after the first Wisconsin PROG show. The vast majority of thanks for organizing this has to go to Dave Burkowitz (Dimenson X). It will be a festival type show, and will hopefully happen on a regular basis. That show is January 12th. Anyone who wants more info can check out our website. So I’d close by saying that the bands are making thier own scene.

How can people hear your music?
They can download samples from our web site: http://www.strange-land.net/sounds.html or our MP3.com site: http://www.mp3.com/strange-land or there are albums available at our home page: http://www.strange-land.net


If you could play a gig with 3 other bands, who would it be?
Chad- Zero Hour, Pain of Salvation, Stuck Mojo (just because Mojo is so much fun on stage and to hang with)
Sean - Pain of Salvation, Rush, King’s X
Pete- Fates Warning, Battlestar Cadillactica, Event

What's your best gig memory?
Chad- Playing with KA and Battlestar Cadillactica at the Globe. A very receptive audience and I thought all 3 bands put on a great show that night.
Sean - Our first show with Battlestar Cadillactica. It was like finding our long lost prog brothers.
Pete- Summerfest with a different band.


What's your worst?
I think it would have to be the time we played in Waukesha and the whole place was filled with drunk middle aged folks that wanted to hear Zeppelin and Nugent.


Would you describe your sound as Hot or Cold?
I guess we’d like to be “cold” in the execution of our music, but emotionally we’re all over the map.

What are you plans for the future?
More songs, more shows, more recordings, more, more, more....


What song of yours should people listen to before any other?
Its hard to pick just one, but Not for this World and I Don’t Know You Anymore would give a listener a decent overview. We keep evolving so in 6 months we’ll have to change that answer.

If a label said they'd sign you for a 10 album, mulit-million £ deal, providing you got rid of one of your members (you can choose!), would you do it?
No.


What's your favourite album of all time, and why?
Chad - Queensryche - Operation:Mindcrime - I think it is the best concept album and has the best story and best flow from beginning to end of any I have ever heard. It's dynamic plot and dramatic music just places it way over the top of anything else for me.
Sean - Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force - The first album really changed the way a viewed the guitar, and my view of just being a guitar player vs. being a musician.
Pete- Fates Warning, Perfect Symmetry. Less is more, and its interesting to see how the band changed with changing personnel

What was the main reason you became a musician?
Chad - I wanted to be able to do more than just listen to my favorite songs, I wanted to be able to play along.
Sean - I wasn’t a jock, so I had to do something. The guitar just kinda took over and let my creativity out.
Pete- had to do it as a youth, and I was into the band/theater thing through high school

How would you like to be remembered?
Chad - As a halfway decent bass player.
Sean - a human being who left a little mark on the world
Pete- solid drummer, creative songwriting.

What's the first word that comes to mind when you see the word MANOWAR!
Big boots

What one location in the world would you love to play a gig at?
Chad - Long Beach Arena
Sean - Somewhere that isn’t a bar with a stage stuffed in the corner
Pete- some big outside venue

What do you think of the current metal magazines? Which rock, and which are shit?
Most are shit. BWBK is decent, the few Prog mags are good, but most lack depth and are little more than metal versions of “People”


Tell us 3 good reasons why people should listen to you?
1. We try to be original and not copy/rip off other bands.
2. We make a lot of damn noise for a 3 piece.
3. Everyone should support independent music.


Any message for your fans and the UM masses?
Thank You.