all right welcome everybody to another episode
of metal talk we are so excited and i remind you please hit that subscribe button so that we
can bring you more interviews and we can talk to more artists those artists that you love and you
want to hear about we bring you into their lives only here in metal talk today we have a very
very special guest i'm super excited i've been waiting to have him for a long time to be honest
with you i've been a fan for him for a while he is from sweden you
might know him from his work
with camelot sant wonder orion he's an incredible incredible singer and he's coming straight to us
here in metal talk tommy karevik how are you today tommy thank you so much for having me yeah i'm
great thank you um it's uh uh it's an honor to be on your show i've seen seen quite some episodes
of yours so that's cool thanks tommy we appreciate that thank you so much uh tommy we've been eager
to have you here obviously let's talk about your newest album out there
obviously camelot i am the
empire live at the o-13 just a sick six set list incredible production that camelot obviously has
us uh accustomed to what can you tell us about this latest latest live album did you enjoy making
it tell us about some of the highlights oh wow it was a crazy thing you know we we kind
of kicked off a tour with with playing uh with doing this recording this live dvd
so so it was uh you know usually recording a live dvd might be you know at the end of a tour
or some
thing like that when you're you know um kind of you know the machine is going uh you have
the songs down to uh to perfection and you know exactly what you're doing in all the songs and
you know have a flow but this was more like kind of the raw energy that was that's always there in
the beginning of a tour you know translated into to to the screen and it's kind of like you're
you're just eager and you know happy to get out there and do your thing you know and whereas
you know at the end of
the show at the end of the tour you're you know you're a little worn down
sometimes but um this was a fresh fresh thing for the whole band you know just get out there and
do it that's really cool it was full of energy tommy uh some of the guests i mean first of all
the set list was incredible some new songs there some all-time class and camelot originals but of
course uh you know those those those guests that you had on stage you had sasha great great
producer from avantasia you had elisa w
hite glass from arch enemy you had at least read
from obviously amaranth you know we know that camelot has brought some of these personalities
together for the stage how do you feel collaborating with all these uh different singers
on stage it wasn't it was it a fun experience yeah it's always fun i mean uh we try to look
at it also as a celebration of the years you know especially in the years that i've been in the
bands almost ten years now which is crazy and so so just this you know cele
bration of all the
you know the hits and all the the friends that we had during the years and the people that
toured with us and uh came on stage with us uh so it was just it was a cool thing to kind of
close that chapter and just now focus on the future you know in a way and it's always cool it
adds energy and and i think the fans were happy to see you know all of the all the people
that we collaborated with basically too so i like i like what you just said tommy focus on
the future and y
ou are right 2021 marks nine years since your inception into camelot and you joining
the band three studio albums one live album how do you feel after all this time of
almost 10 years and i have to tell you this um coming in and truly truly replacing someone
that we thought was irreplaceable like roy khan you really brought in your your style you
brought in your persona and boom camelot was once again refreshed renew and relaunched how
does it feel that happened 10 years ago tommy can you b
elieve it it's it's crazy i mean it
is really crazy uh it was a crazy time for me because uh um you know i had some experience
being on stage but not to that extent and and and um you know kevin is obviously a much
bigger band and and um i was just uh you know i never thought about it as i'm going to replace
someone to be honest i i thought about it as i want to honor the the legacy that was already
there but bring something new to the you know into the fold as well so i i thought you know
i thought it has a huge challenge of course but but my view on it was never i'm gonna go in and
replace this guy uh you know because i know he was loved and he is still loved in the middle
community and will always be loved because of his talent and uh what he brought to the
table with conception and and uh camelot so i i never thought that that was my job to go in
and replace him i just wanted to take on take take on what he had going for the band you
know and and just bring me you know l
ike my my personality like you said and my
energy and you know in many ways it's a different band because it's you know
you it's a little bit of a different energy now you know but it's still you know
people have all these other albums that they can listen to and and you know from from the
beginning and they have new albums and they will continue to have new albums and with uh with
great songs so yeah that's kind of my take on it you're absolutely right uh it's uh
it it transformed into a
a a tight amazing band i really like the second uh face
you leading camelot uh i i really really do and i think the the best i think the best testament
to this and that you are so good at what you do front in camelot is that the fans feel like they
never skip the beat it feels like you know uh the the legend of camelot carries on and i think
that's just fantastic tommy i think that's just great and it's something to applaud uh because
us metal fans sometimes a lot we live we live in the pas
t we like to live in the past and we're
presenting with new things and we reject them but uh from what i've observed on the internet on
me whenever when i listen to music tommy was welcome with open arms into the camelot
family we're just so happy that you are here oh thank you that means a lot it i have to say
it's not it's never an easy thing especially you know coming in after someone that was so
renowned you know and and i i'm just thinking back in hindsight it just like it couldn't hav
e
gone any better to be honest like and i'm so happy that the fans were so accepting and um and really
welcomed me with open arms so so i mean i have only positive things to say about that you know
what i what i actually thought was going to be um more i thought it was going to be more
stressful because of what you just said with the with you know the metal community
being maybe you know often maybe living in the past a little bit here and there you
know like you're like i if i think about
my favorite albums for example of my favorite bands
uh i i also i also live in the past you know let's just be real like i i glorify
some of the stuff in the past and and i think maybe that's never going to be
the same again and if my band my favorite bad hab to replace is saying i i don't know what i would
do like i so i come from the same thoughts so that's why i'm so happy that that everyone
or most of the people who are so welcoming so let's talk about you know about 10 years ago
on w
ebsites like blabbermouth and bravewards.com that i you know metal talk did not exist yet but
on those websites you know we hear tommy caravic singer from seventh wonder joins camelot
and i think a lot of fans including myself rushed youtube who's seventh wonder the
first song that i listened to was alley cat i listened to seventh wonder i freaking
love it it's amazing seventh wonder is such a fantastic band and in case you have a listen to
it guys listen to seventh wonder it's a fantastic
band how do you manage both tommy how do
you manage both bands and how did the guys from 7th wonder feel when uh they heard that
you know the front man was joining camelot well we had a really we all we have
a really close relationship still so and we're working on stuff all the time
but you know of course it they were really like they're my brothers they were really
supportive they still are super supportive even though you know the being in camelot of
course takes most of my time so so i
try to be mindful of that you know i try
to be there for them when i can and uh it's just a natural you know natural
order of things but uh that being said you know it took what took eight years for us to
release an album once i joined so so i mean it i'm just happy that the guys are still you
know supporting me and rooting for me and uh understanding that it might take some time you
know and i'm happy for the fans because the fans would all they were all over our new record and it
was li
ke we didn't skip a beat you know so i don't know how we we managed to do that but some somehow
everyone's stuck around and waited for eight years so that's pretty pretty amazing to say the least
you know we before that we always try to release an album like every second year every second
third year you know which is a lot of work because you know making an album takes energy and time
it takes a lot of energy and time so uh yeah but yes needless to say we we we don't want to wait
eight more
years until we release another album absolutely so tommy we've seen you in action uh i
i've uh obviously you know being a seventh wonder fan saw you uh uh saw you uh you know different
videos that you can find on youtube you playing some of the songs including alicat again it is my
favorite song my bad uh great escape is another one um so we've seen you perform those songs
obviously the seventh wonder stage is a more relaxed you know environment it's uh it's a
progressive music there's pro
bably like one girl in the audience out of a thousand
people uh whereas in when when camelot uh i don't know you're probably looking at 40
50 female uh uh audience because a lot of ladies love camelot so how would you how
would you differentiate and how do you uh fit fit into those very different worlds
that you uh float in between whereas like you know progressive music very relaxed much more
on the vein of the music and camelot theatrics uh wardrobe uh you're obviously your other members
of the band how do you feel about that well it's it's not the easiest thing uh and it's something
i had to learn for sure like coming from from seventh wonder going into camera
transitioning into camelot for the first kind of shows i mean the first show we played
was in front of 30 000 people with camelot so you know and and get myself into the mood and of
the music and and practice what i have this you know practice what i had to say how i'm how
i wanted to move you know it's a different
thing of course way more theatrical and way
more um a different vibe in the music right so so yeah that was we had i think we had four
or five days in the rehearsal studio before that first show just abound and we went through the set
full on twice a day uh so it's like four i don't know three four hours of performing and then going
over notes like what like it was it was actually like uh pretty intense though that week where
we were there in the in the rehearsal space and we set up a stage
you know and and just like
practice some stuff because it was it's a big part of the of the band you know like it has to be
interactive it has to be certain energy and a vibe and um the guys helped me out in the
beginning you know like thomas and oliver and and and everyone helped out you know this
is what we usually do this is this is how the tower works and but then really from
there i think just playing a lot of shows and just gradually trying to improve
presence and interaction and an
d you know to the point where i feel you know
very comfortable right now uh in the role of of the singer as the senior of camelot because we
played i don't know how many hundreds of shows but but now it feels it feels like my vessel and
my my way of expressing music you know so that's that's really um a big thing and then
then it was hard to go back to seventh wonder of course because that's a a big difference you
know as just going back to kind of whatever feel you know like i i just go on
and wear whatever
i want for for the day for example you know yeah but yeah if that being said too it turned out
turned into something more uh more professional uh in quotations with sound wander too because you
know we we had rewarded the same clothes we were we had we practiced in the rehearsal room exactly
you know we had some more gimmicks going on and i think it's just natural you know from also
from me just being more experienced you know so um yeah i mean it's hard also
the singing
going back and forth just seeing different singing
styles really really challenging for example i had last the last u.s tour we did
with the uh camelot before that i flew over to atlanta with south wonder and we played prong
power so i had to be up to date with all those songs seventh wonder songs in the seventh wondrous
way of singing and then kicking off the camelot or i don't know three days later so just go in
between remembering lyrics which i'm terrible at and i am honestly really ba
d i have to make
sure i have to practice at home because if i can for example do the dishes or vacuum or
something like that when i'm singing the songs that's that's how i know i'll remember the
lyrics but so i have to really sing the sing the songs at home you know which is which is
really funny it's not my not my forte but um yeah so you know going between those different
vocal styles and and performance styles are a little challenging it's a little challenging
for me i was going to tell
you with the lyrics too i mean it has to be so difficult uh learning
lyrics to an eight nine minute song and then uh going back and forth and uh i mean do you ever use
like an ipad or something right behind uh right by your stand or anything tommy no right that's
not allowed no i mean no that would be awesome sometimes but but uh no i mean in all fairness
it you know it's the first couple of shows you feel a little uncertain but then then once you
have once you have your confidence and onc
e you you know how the everything is going to work on
stage and everyone is in their mojo it's never a problem it's just it's more more a mind game
you know because i know i'm bad at it you know that's funny man let me ask you uh let me
ask you about your relationship with thomas uh thomas youngblood to me is a very
interesting character because a person uh because obviously uh he is american he lives in
florida uh there's uh very few power metal bands uh that are from the united states ori
ginally
um how and i'm guessing you covered some of this in our last in our last uh question but how does
it feel to work how is the working um i guess uh um the working style of an american band such as
and led by thomas you know versus a european band it said aligned with the same cell is thomas much
more professional i see that he's always followed uh uh uh a professional process when carrying his
band how do you feel about that like do you see a vast difference when working with an amer
ican
uh uh uh band leader perhaps not really i mean thomas is very professional like you said he
he's uh focused on you know uh he's focusing on the fans and and the you know bringing the the
fans the best version of camera they can ever get and also uh you know an entrepreneur in the in
the sense that he's always looking for new things you know new experiences new you know developing
the band forward not only looking backwards basically not ever looking backwards which
is uh yeah which is
uh i think that's a very positive thing and something that i
don't think is either north american or or european i think it's just a you know a sign
of a of a good leader you know like a good you know he's also a visionary like he has the strong
vision for for what he wants camelot to be in and he communicates it you know i've always wanted
to ask him tommy sorry to interrupt you i always wanted to ask him talking about vision how did he
find you um well it was that uh rare situ a weird si
tuation with uh with the previous senior then
that they they were going to kick off their um north american tour in 2010 in atlanta and
prog power and we just happened to be in prog power 2 with 700 you know same day but lower
on the bill so when he found out that that you know we don't have a singer to tour this you
know because roy uh he uh he clicked the bat yeah so um so i think you know the original
vision was to try to find someone quick and do the tour because as you know it's it's
just a crazy commitment doing a tour it's so much money and it's so much money lost
if you don't do the tour and absolutely so many uh disappointed people you know that
bought tickets so he was going to try to you know try to make that happen somehow and so
i think he called called around to a few singers that he knew was going to be in
the on the festival uh and he called me and asked me if i could help him out and i said i can
learn one or two songs and that's why i did um but the singer
that sang most of the songs were
uh michael erickson from from uh circus maximus oh in that show in the atlanta show yeah in that show
so he he um flew over just for that show but um wow yeah but i helped him up you know singing
one song which i think was even echo and uh yeah because it was like four
it was four days before this before i deliver you know some of that and i
i wasn't really familiar with all the songs so i said there's no way i can and i had
a bad cold of course as all sing
ers right couldn't in practice or anything so i would
say i learned the song in my head you know and then i just i never sang it before i i went
on stage with uh with camelot that night so so that's kind of how it started and then then we
um and we just kept in contact i think for almost one and a half years one year you know until
until everything was settled that i was going to be the new singer and uh yeah so it was kind of a
crazy crazy deal i i don't envy the situation the band was in
back then you know having a tour land
and everything like that but [ __ ] happens right and like all good stories you know they have a
crazy beginning what a crazy beginning i i did not know that it was it resulted like this i mean
uh uh you could you could have get you could have completely guessed that it was a careful thought
and consideration because it truly was but to have found each other there at proc power you is
staying in orlando is just fantastic and such a uh staple of of uh of
a festival
as well right fantastic fantastic yeah we played there for i don't know how many
times now three times with seventh wonder i think well yeah i have to think uh it
doesn't 10 14 yeah three times so uh wow yeah and it's just great people working there
and glenn that has the festival has always been really nice to work with and support it so
that's that's awesome actually and uh hopefully we get to go back there you know i played with
some with the one two there actually played th
e um can't remember the year now but it's just a
fantastic festival that you have to go if you're living in the united states definitely um so tommy
i wanted to tell you uh we're covering so much of your career you know we're talking about so many
bands that you've worked with uh obviously orion that's another one that you work with uh uh it's
insane tommy how in the last years i want to say what five six seven years your career has exploded
into what it currently is and you're obviously yo
u know being featured in this you are now uh you're
playing the the the the main role really and and orion's transitus album which is daniel which
is a very important role in the album uh again uh i think anything that arjun uh does is just you
know dressed with gold uh it's fantastic music how do you feel about it obviously we know that a lot
of these uh projects are uh you know sending in tapes and uh you know that stuff that kind of work
but how did you feel about being a part of this pr
oject as well i mean that was i was kind of a
little bit of a dream you know when he approached me the first time because of course i knew his
work and i knew that he reaches out to singers that he that he enjoys and that he thinks can
bring something to you know a new vibe or flavor to his album so i was i was really really happy
when he when he uh uh approached me of course and i said yes without hesitation then after and that
was the theory of everything uh i think it was 2013 right and
since i've done two more i
did the source i think that came out in 2017 around there yeah okay that i have
right here behind here yeah you do very nice real little note little thank you note
from aryan um so that i was a part of the live dvd too right like the um that we recorded in
uh 2017. so yeah it's been a lot i mean it's been a lot of fun uh thanks to aryan i mean
for inviting me and and you know honestly it's just it's just a really nice guy and i enjoyed
working with him the first
time and this so i was down at his studio the first time recording
the vocal parts for for the first album but then i didn't have time to go go down because of
my business schedule i couldn't go down to him and record um for the source so but then he uh
he let me record everything uh in my own studio as for the last one i also recorded everything
because yeah it's just hard it's just hard to to fly around all the time we do a lot of the
flying as it is and and i'm very comfortable working w
orking in my own studio with um
everything like i have always worked in my own studio when it comes to seventh wonder and now
i work a lot uh from from here too when uh talking about camels and stuff so so it's just it's just
uh you know it's just how i prefer to work anyway right it's uh the blessings of technology right
tommy and how we can actually uh produce an album even without being in the same room as it was in
the past you know uh i i think us fans we're lucky that we have uh that
now because obviously
we get more music out of the bands that we love which is fantastic so uh that that is great
we've spoken so much about your musical life uh talk to us about your personal life tommy you
know you're very you're living in canada you're uh you're you recently got married which is fantastic
congratulations what in the world are you doing uh to endure covid i mean i know it's a terrible
disease that has kept us indoors what are you doing and obviously you're a fitness guy u
h how do
you maintain uh your fitness while staying indoors and not being able to go to the gym what do you do
to survive tommy i'm a fitness guy too i try to be not as good as you obviously but we're there
nice oh yeah you're there for sure i mean uh yeah it's been a crazy year i mean for everyone i
think but for for me um i um quit firefighting um moved to canada after it was a little too uh too
much time on the plane to go every every day back but uh no it was just it was just time
for
me to to start focusing all my energy on the music because last at least 10 years
i've been a firefighter for 20 years almost but at the last 10 years were were
really was a lot of work because i worked full-time as a firefighter and
i worked i was doing all these albums vacations and nights and and um you know it
could be like coming home from work and then there was a deadline for a song and i had to make
a song for you know right after coming home from work in 10 hours and then um i uh s
pent the whole
night recording it and then in the morning i went to work again without sleeping like stuff like
that and sleeping in the studio on my vacation just uh it was just too much you know and
then flying back and forth um across the world a million times with jet lag and going back to
work and then yeah so it was just it's getting out of control and i was i was really getting tired
you know and also didn't feel so inspired to do anything because i was just tapped but but then
i th
ink this year really really uh put everything in perspective i i it took a card some time out
for myself you know to to get healthier and get you know more energy and and more inspiration
and you know so so for me you know moving here to canada code of course hit but nothing really
changed except for that we had more time to think and and value the stuff that we uh want in our
life instead of what we have to have in our lives slow down a little bit so um that was really
nice i mean and and
also i managed to get here before kobe hit so so that me and my uh uh
my wife nowadays cobra page we could we could see each other every day which was not the case
before and we saw each other a couple of times a year and and very short because we had so many
things to do you know we had and we didn't live in the same country so now you know we live on the
same roof and we see each other every day and it's absolutely wonderful um and now i can't think
of a life where we're not having it lik
e this so uh for me it has been it has been of course
sad to see the world fall apart but it's been a good year personally it's fantastic
tommy we see you happy we obviously follow you and your socials uh just earlier today
we saw how uh they made you into a mini uh with her which is fantastic uh shout out
to uh oscar he's a big friend of mine so uh yeah it's a big friend of mine so
uh he's a town guy i laughed my ass off when i woke up and saw that i was like
this is fun i want more of th
is in my life he's a big fan of yours as well uh we were
talking when i told him about that we were having this interview uh he got very excited and
he uh he uh he said you know what i'm gonna make him a mini because uh he a lot he does a lot of
uh players uh sports players around the world uh and uh uh he definitely said how he was gonna make
one of you he's such a big fan so uh we see you happy tommy we're very very happy for you that
um you know uh you've you've uh you've achieved so muc
h especially when you see a musician that
obviously again uh uh being liking seventh wonder when i first listened to it and this being so many
years ago and seeing your career flourish and grow is just fantastic you know it's uh it's
a great uh it's it's a great thing to see and a great thing to live and we're just very
thankful for all the music that you do uh tommy uh what if you could give a message uh to
your fellow musicians first of all your fellow musicians uh during these difficult
times uh what
would it be yeah it will be don't lose hope don't give up and and but don't stress there's nothing
nothing good comes from stress i mean i feel everyone and everyone's you know anguish a little
bit in this especially musicians because of how little we can do you know we're we're living
from the touring business especially nowadays you know and that that's where the main income comes
so so i know it's tough but we'll get through this and uh like like everything nothing bad last
s
everything goes in waves right so it's just it was a little longer wave than we thought but we'll get
back out there and uh we'll we'll have some fun you know awesome tommy uh let me let me ask you
something else um obviously uh we we've uh we've known that recently there's been a lot of activity
in your career but we want to know what's next what can we expect us fans of seventh wonder
camelot and tommy in general what can we expect what can your fans expect upcoming in your career
uh i
t's it's uh an exciting time actually because we have a lot of uh music written for the next
camera album and i think we all agree it feels feels exactly where we want to be you know so
you know we had some some more time to work on it which is never bad right right so so that's
um that feels really exciting personally and um when when that is all wrapped up uh there's a
new seventh wonder uh album in the in the making as well um and uh after that i mean or similar
like um uh uh at the same
time i have some all my own stuff too that uh that i'm working on so so
nothing concrete yet but you know stay tuned for for some news regarding my own stuff as well
like maybe maybe um a little solo thing coming out at some point yes fantastic fantastic i
would love to hear that tommy very cool to uh to finally and it's been a long time coming too
so um so that that's fun but then i also have me and cobra has something really exciting to
share very soon too that we want to we want to do a
nd it's not not the music related it's fitness
related so so um keep your keep your eyes peeled i thought you were gonna tell us that
you're gonna have a baby tommy i thought you were gonna tell us you're gonna become a
father we're gonna have a little fitness baby tommy i gotta ask you something my friend before
this interview concludes because um i must ask you how much do you bench oh my god oh my god i
gotta take my calculator let's see i don't know you have to start it up no i just kno
w what
i what i did bench when i was like 26. oh okay i don't know what i do you know like you
said that your question i actually didn't really answer it before um your question about how do
we you know stay fit during this crazy right uh yeah i mean it's been i've never taken
this time this long time off from going to an actual gym right so i always went to the
gym religiously uh even when i was working as a firefighter at the gym there and i had
you know membership to the local gym but t
his year hasn't been like that i think i've
been to the gym like 10 times maybe in a year so but but that being said that being
going to the gym is not the same thing as not as working out you know you work
out at home right so we have been uh actually doing a lot of hit workouts
if you know what hit it works yeah yeah so we're doing that basically
every day so um and you only need like 30 minutes right because and then you're exhausted
because it's it's all about functionality it gives yo
u strength it gives you flexibility uh and
it's all about the heart rate always being up so um that's what we do and uh and then i try to
just like uh do some complimentary training with uh with like two sets of dumbbells that i have at
home right but that's it you know and then i run the stairs we have we're living in a in a condo
building so i run up and down down the stairs and and that's working great to be
honest i don't really miss the gym a ton i gotta ask you how is it that you do h
it workouts
and keep those huge arms dude how do you do it because they're they're they're humongous man and
with uh i mean i used to do crossfit i lost my arms when i started doing crossfit because you got
to do a lot more focused stuff right like you said is that where is that how you when you do use the
dumbbells you focus a lot on bicep work uh it's just i don't know it everyone has like something
that grows more than other stuff too right like right it was always like my dad has big ar
ms like
and and i i did a ton of work on my arms when i was lifting a lot but i don't focus on it anymore
they just get in there with everything else no i try to be more functional nowadays instead of
just doing bicep curls all the time or doing bench presses or like i try to be more functional
i think about the future and i think about you know for me being strong was always
important and right now being strong for me is being able to pick something heavy up and
be like be the dad strong
you know where you can pick something up and just walk forever that's
right you know instead of instead of being like you know i i i just want to look good or anything
like that like for me now functionality is is way more appealing in my workouts right so right
that hit workouts just work out they work so well for that you you get conditioned you get strong
and flexible and and and yeah it doesn't take a whole bunch of time so from what i'm gathering
tommy it seems like you and cobra are p
utting together some workouts uh and i can't wait
to do it myself man is that what it is but sounds sounds intriguing yeah yeah yeah i
mean i would definitely follow your workouts man let me tell you uh tommy thank you so much
for such an incredible metal talk that turned into health talk into muscle talk i mean i love it
thank you so much for sharing all of this with us i hope you enjoyed it yourself
um and thank you so much yeah i mean it's it's cool to get out there and
talk a little bi
t about these things too because um because of the news that comes that's going to
come follow shortly you know with me and cobra for example it's this is a perfect thing to just like
to air it out a little bit before you know and uh and yeah so thank you so much for for
having me it wasn't was a pleasure it was our pleasure thank you so much
again fans subscribe and thank you for watching our interview thank you
keep on rocking my friend thank you
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