Interview conducted by Stefan Glas
"HEAVY" Magazine, Germany, 2010

- KROSSFIRE was found in the year 2001 under the name DARK NIGHT. Why did you pick this first name and why did you decide to change it? Why did you choose KROSSFIRE - especially if you think about the fact, that there were already many bands with the name CROSSFIRE (I assume, that you changed the first letter of your band name because of this)
Georgi Koushev (guitars):
Well, “Dark Night” was the first name of the band, which our founder and drum player Spas Markov came up with before he formed the band. We all kind disliked it and we knew that it will be changed eventually. And after a year or so, when things were getting more serious, we thought it will be a good time to do this and we started looking for cool names. Then our second guitar player at that time (Nikola Ivanov) came up with the name “Crossfire” after seeing it as a magazine article (“Metal Hammer”, if I remember correctly). We all thought it was really cool, it sounded great and that’s all about it. We had no clue back then, that there are so many bands using that same name and after we began to realize that we simply changed the “C” to “K”.

- So, do I understand this correct: For a short time your name was CROSSFIRE and than you changed it to KROSSFIRE?
Dimo Petkov (vocals):
Yes, correct. From 2001 to 2004 the name was “Crossfire”, then we chage it to “Krossfire”.
We found that another band from Turkey named themselvs “Crossfire”. They had albums released and everything, registered name and so on .

- From the beginning times only your "string players" Georgi Koushev and Georgi Driev are left. How was the style of the band in the beginning? In how far did the new members influence the musical direction of KROSSFIRE?
Georgi Koushev:
At the beginning our playing capabilities weren’t that high, so we began with some easy enough covers. Remember playing countless of times “For Whom The Bell Tolls” by Metallica. With the time passing we improved on our instruments and began doing more complicated songs. Then a huge step for us was when Nikola Ivanov came in the band as a second guitar player. He had years of music experience behind him and we all learned from him and improved a lot for a short time. He brought that hard-rock influence with him that pretty much directed our first ten original songs.

Dimo Petkov:
In Bulgaria, people whom go to clubs wants to enjoy, to drink some beer and to listen good music. Cover songs are good for that and people really have fun. That is why the band’s goal in the beginning was this type of songs. Later, when I joined the band, we began to turn our look over our original compositions. Until the end of 2006 we have ten songs – ready to be recorded in the studio. Unfortunately, just before that Nikola left the band.

- I can especially imagine, that the decision, when your second guitar player Nikola Ivanov left the band in April 2007 and you replaced him with your keyboard-player Peter Boshnakov, brought a change in the music of KROSSFIRE. Is this correct?
Georgi Koushev:
Yes. It actually changed the band completely. We always wanted to do more heavy stuff, but Nikola was really against it. After playing with us for a few years, he decided that he no longer wants to play in a band like this and wanted to travel out of the country on a job. Then he left the band taking that hard-rock influence with him. We decided that we would go for the thing that we actually want, a more progressive-like heavy sound and style. So, we started looking for keyboard player instead of a guitarist. That’s when Peter Boshnakov came to the band. We took on a whole new level. We scratched nine of our songs leaving only “Angels Cry”, and began from scratch composing new songs and doing the stuff that we actually wanted and enjoyed.

Dimo Petkov:
This was a perfect opportunity to go into heavy/progressive type of music – I’m a big fan of Kamelot/Conception and we wanted to go into that direction. That is why we decided to replace second guitar with keyboards. Peter also likes progressive music, bands like Symphony X, Kamelot, Dream Theater, etc. He brought into our music a different edge. He is a good composer, good musicians and good friend and we are happy to have him. This step, however, was risky one, because we can not use these nine songs anymore. In the end we took only “Angels Cry”. With Peter we decided to compose brand new songs, completely from scratch and completely in different style.

- Talking about your music: How would you describe your style? In my opinion your style is quite unique. Is it important for you, to sound different from other bands? Do you think that the fact that you come from Bulgaria was important for the development of your own style?
Georgi Koushev:
Ahh, nowadays it’s so hard to describe a style. There are so many genres and sub-genres that it’s confusing. If I really have to say, it will be something like power-progressive, maybe, but not the ordinary stuff. For example, we don’t do double bass on the drums from the first to the last second of the song. We don’t overweight the progressive stuff, just a little now and then to spice things up. We like to keep it interesting and in the same time not too weird. We’re trying to make things catchy and cool for listening not only for playing. As for how much the fact that we are from Bulgaria affected our music, I’m not quite sure. We have a few eastern influenced songs. One even got a topic close to our culture it’s about Alexander The Great, because it’s a kind of folklore to us.

Dimo Petkov:
In our opinion, the music is just heavy/progressive. We are trying to go into that direction and we are trying to develop our “Krossfire” style. In our country there are no many bands that play this type of music – on one side there are blues and hard rock bands, from the other – death, black, alternative. Of course, there some band in heavy style, but there are quite few.
We don’t want to be different from others just for that to be different. We want to play music that we like and we are trying to develop more and more.

- Until now you only recorded those two songs for your single properly. But it also looks like you don't have that many songs of your own: On the DVD there are four more original songs and there is also a live-version of a new song called 'Learning To Fly'. How come? Are you slow songwriters?
Georgi Koushev:
The songs from the DVD are actually from those nine songs that we scratched out so they don’t even count that much /? laugh /. Yes, we’ve recorded only 2 songs so far but we’ve got like eight, nine almost ready songs waiting to be recorded. The reason for this is because after “Touch Of Destiny” demo we decided that the next time to enter the studio would be when we enter to record the whole album. So, we are waiting until all the things about the songs are set and cleared and then it will be a good time for all of us to begin recording. As for the composing process it’s a little bit more difficult for us because every one has their everyday jobs - Dimo even works in another city. We basically trade ideas through Internet and get to rehearse three to four times a month. And it’s even harder when we have to prepare for some show or something like that.

Dimo Petkov:
I don’t thing that we are slow songwriters. In total we have around fifteen original songs, but we can’t use nine of them, because there are hard and heavy songs and we want to be more progressive. On the other hand these songs was composed some time ago and our vision for music has changed over the years and now I could say that we have better song ideas.

- Any plans for more recordings soon?
Georgi Koushev:
Yes, we hope that this summer we will record the whole album.

Dimo Petkov:
Until now we have eight songs ready to be recorded for our first album. When will it happen? I hope ‘till the end of this year. The big obstacle is “money factor”.

-What do your lyrics deal with? Maybe there are one or two special songs, which you would like to pick as an example and describe them.
Dimo Petkov:
The lyrics of the songs do not follow specific theme. I write about different things that surround us every day, something I made a strong impression of, some movie, myth or legend, or just historical facts. One of our songs is associated with Greek mythology - the story of Icarus and his father Daedalus both trying to escape the isle of Crete by flight, which ended in a fall to Icarus’s death. The other song is for one of the greatest leaders of all times – Alexander The Great. There is one song that deals with social side of our life. The song is called “False Reality” and is about how many people need help in different aspects, but do not receive one or receive much less. We have to help each other every day.


- Did the participation on our "Metal Crusade" help the band? In how far?
Georgi Koushev:
It did. We got new people showing at our myspace page teling us that they heard us in the Metal Crusade CD. Plus, not to mention the huge amount of people who heard our song during the „Bang Your Head Festival“. It’s good advertisement for us, i mean we’re from Bulgaria and this is pretty big for our standards.


- At least I saw that you have a separate section on your homepage about "Metal Crusade" and you did a trailer-video about it. Looks like you were quite happy about "Metal Crusade". And I also saw that Dimo had to give an interview about your participation on "Metal Crusade". What kind of a radio show was it?
Dimo Petkov:
Yes, we are very happy about it, because for Bulgaria this is quite big. I don’t know any underground band to achieve something like this.
We always want our fans to know what’s happening with Krossfire, so we’re trying to update our web site and social network profiles with latest news. We thought it would be great to make different section for “Metal Crusade Compilation” and also video trailer for YouTube and Vimeo web profiles.
About the interview. There was a proposal from a radio broadcast to do interview about our participation in the compilation CD. The radio station is “Radio Varna” and the broadcast is called “From the Other Side” with Martin Nikolov. This is radio broadcast about all kinds of metal music and about metal and rock life in Bulgaria. There are many interviews with different musicians and bands, a lot of rock and heavy songs played on the radio and in their web site there are photos and news from different concerts in Bulgaria.I did an interview with them by telephone.


- I saw that you just signed a "digital record-contract" with the company TOXITY RECORDS for their MusicSpace-plattform. How important do think are such digital-deals nowadays compared to a "normal" deal for physical albums?
Dimo Petkov:
Digital deals became very popular and used nowadays. Internet allows rapid promotion and sales of music. Ordinary CD-s need to more resources, covers, recording and distribution. For us it is more important to do physical disks and spread, but also must be given attention to digital downloads as an additional tool for advertising.


- Would it be enough for you to spread your music just as downloads or would you also like to do a proper CD?
Georgi Koushev:
We would really like to make a proper CD even if just to send it to major labels to try our chances.

Dimo Petkov:
Definitely a proper CD.

- At live shows you play several cover versions. Is it just, because you don't have enough own songs or do the owners of the clubs and the fans expect from bands like KROSSFIRE to play well-known songs?
Georgi Koushev:
A little bit of both. The standard playtime that’s expected from us for club show is like three hours, so that’s a long time. And the negative side of the things is that the Bulgarian audience is not used to going to a show to listen to the bands originals songs, only.

- You play songs from such different bands like IRON MAIDEN, KAMELOT, Axel Rudi Pell, SAVATAGE, RAINBOW, MANOWAR, AVANTASIA or even BON JOVI. Did you pick them, because you like them and because these bands are influences for you? Or is it just, because these songs are popular for the crowd?
Georgi Koushev:
Again a little bit of both. There are some for the crowd, there are some for our own pleasure.

- In 2008 you filmed a show for your "Seven Years On Stage"-DVD, where you also received a big birthday-cake for KROSSFIRE. Why are seven years so special, that you celebrated them in this way?
Georgi Koushev:
Well, every birthday is special to us. And if we got the chance we will celebrate every one properly, but this one was a little bit more special to us, because of our first demo CD “Touch Of Destiny”.

Dimo Petkov:
One more reason to celebrate in this way and to film the concert is that the first seven years of the band are like the first seven years from the development of a child - it grow, learn and build his character. I think that we learned a lot and build our own music style.

- I was surprised to see how close the two single-songs; 'Touch Of Destiny' and 'Angels Cry', in the live show were to the studio-versions from the single, especially regarding Dimo’s singing. Are you such a well-rehearsed band, or did you overwork the live-recordings in the studio very much?
Georgi Koushev:
No, we didn’t edit anything on that DVD. The sound was even taken directly from the camera it wasn’t mastered at all. We did wonder for a while if we should release this DVD, but the people kept asking about it so we did it for them. As for how well we are rehearsed, we basically learned to play on our instruments by playing together, so we kinda knew each other very well, but that doesn’t mean that if we don’t rehearse we will do well.

Dimo Petkov:
I try to sing the same way as on rehearsals, live and in the studio. It is not difficult for me, just adding a lot of time to rehearse, not only with the other members, but separately too.

- The venue in which you filmed the DVD looked to me more like a normal discotheque, but not like regular metal-club. How about venues for metal-bands to play in Bulgaria? At least you do quite many live shows.
Georgi Koushev:
Yeah, it’s actually a regular club, which has its one rock/metal night a week. And after playing a few times there we became really good friends with the owner who supported us, so we decided it was going be there. As for other clubs, in the past two years it was ok, but now with the financial crisis and all we barely get to play.

Dimo Petkov:
In Bulgaria there is no such thing like metal-club. In general, the places are music clubs with different music styles. Some nights there is live band playing, other just music from DJ’s. Not to mention, that there are few such clubs left in the whole country – may be 10 clubs at all. Such a shame.

- You have quite many video clips on your VIMEO-account - even from the cover songs. Is video an important medium for you?
Georgi Koushev:
Yes, everything that will catch people’s attention positively to us is important

- Also it looks like you invest a lot of time in making artworks for the band or putting up live pictures on the Internet. Do you get the positive feedback that you are hoping for, from your fans for this?
Georgi Koushev:
Yes, a lot of people congratulate us for our good web site and myspace page. All credits go to Dimo here

Dimo Petkov:
We are trying to promote our band in any way – web page, social network profiles (myspace, facebook), video channels (vimeo.com,youtube.com). A good design catch eye much easier. That is way we are putting a lot of efforts into designing staff. A lot of people registered in our web site newsletter to receive news about the band, also ask about pictures from live shows, etc. In general, we get positive feed back from our fans.

- Dimo now also sings for DEFENDER. In how far does this influence KROSSFIRE? They exist for some years longer than KROSSFIRE and I think they already released an album. Are they a "bigger" band than KROSSFIRE?
Georgi Koushev:
There is no such thing as bigger band among the local bands here. I mean there isn’t anything one band can get that the others may not eventually.

Dimo Petkov:
There is no such thing like influence – the musical style is different from Krossfire’s.
DEFENDER is one of the good Bulgaria bands, but with no luck with vocalists and drummers. Their front man left the band last April and I decided to help them. As for now, it’s not so difficult for me to be in two bands. Unfortunately, three-four months ago the drummer left also and for now the project is stopped. I also work with another guitar player for another musical project called FIRELANDIA. We recorded two songs for now with some others in project. So, I’m pretty busy.

- Talking about the scene in Bulgaria, which other bands are worth mentioning in your opinion?
Dimo Petkov:
There are quite good underground bands worth mentioned – Defender, Ivory Twilight, Extazia, Sickflag, OddCrew, Amaranth, Pantommind, Mystica, SJK etc. Of course, the old good bands – АХАТ (AHAT), Epizod, B.T.R, The Crickets, too.
It’s very difficult here for rock and metal music. People are not open for that music just like Germany, Scandinavian countries and so on. There are fans here, but most of them if they don’t know the band, they don’t go in the club – stupid thing, and don’t you agree? The most of the owners of the clubs don’t want to invest money to make a good club, with good sound and stage.

- The Bulgarian metal-scene is quite unknown over here. I know, that some of the first bands from your country were B.T.R., EPIZOD, ERA, TROTYL, IMPULSE, SOLARIS or CONCURRENT. Also I heard that AHAT (sometimes written AXAT) were a very important band for the scene in Bulgaria. I personally received demos from a band called ARTERY and during the years I wrote about bands like PANTOMMIND, MYSTICA or NIGHTSKY BEQUEST, but that's it. Tell us, what is important to know about the development of Heavy Metal in Bulgaria from your point of view!
Dimo Petkov:
It’s very difficult in Bulgaria to be in band and to manage to be on stage more than 2-3 years.
The living standard is very low; people have no money to buy good instruments. I thing that on west countries is much easier with that. Also, there are few musical clubs to play, but not everyone can play there. The club owners don’t want to pay the band proper fee and sometimes we have to travel on our own money. So, we pay to play.
The Bulgarian bands from 80’s and early 90’s - B.T.R., EPIZOD, ERA, TROTYL, IMPULSE, SOLARIS, CONCURRENT, ER MALAK manage to make their names outside Bulgaria, but that’s all. That was good bands with no future. Sad But True.
May be there is a future for Bulgarian Rock and Metal Scene outside and in Bulgaria.
We can only hope that good time will come.

- Why do you think that until now no Bulgarian band was able to reach success internationally?
Dimo Petkov:
I don’t know, really. May be it’s because so many years we were “Behind Iron Curtain”. Until 1989 everything “western” was forbidden here. Even we were persecuted for listening to rock music and wear long hair. There was no sufficient information about rock bands and this kind of music as a whole. Today’s kids cannot understand this. There is Internet and freedom of speech. Back then it was really difficult. Very few bands have managed somehow to reach Western audiences, and they understood that Bulgarians could make great music. One such band was AHAT. May be Western labels should turn their eyes into Eastern countries and they will find some cool bands. Bands in turn should record their demos and send it to labels. Interaction should be bilaterally.

- It seems to me, that your hometown Plovdiv is quite a marvellous town. When I did some research I found out that it is one of the oldest cities in Europe. Is it special for you to live in this town, or is it just like living somewhere else?
Georgi Koushev:
Ohh it’s a very beautiful town. I love it. It has some ancient remnants in it. A little coliseum and an ancient theatre where everything is carved out of stone. It has this part of the city that’s called “ The old town “ where everything there is kept as it was a few hundred years ago. It has the vibe of the city, but it’s very relaxing at the same time.

Dimo Petkov:
Simply, the most beautiful town in Bulgaria.