Some people that didn’t like us actually like us now, which is cool. The band are still making albums, we’re always touring, and the feedback for the latest album has definitely been good. (laughs) “I think things are generally going well. How’s the band and life been in the last near-decade? I remember about nine years ago when Ultra Beatdown came out, I got to swing a boom on an interview with Sam and (keyboardist) Vadim for a local radio station. We went to Australia a few times before Soundwave hit, so I guess it kind of replaced our shows back then.” It’s hard to say, I guess I’m not really in the know to tell you exactly how that works, that end of the touring (laughs). If you wanted to go, you had to go far away and at a certain time, which was Soundwave. “It’s hard to say… you could almost say Soundwave sucked the metal scene dry because every metal band was playing down there at some point.
Is it trickier to get down here for a tour now that Soundwave’s gone? I’m glad we were able to play it two times, and I’m sure it’s played a part in Dragonforce returning to Australia for a tour this time.” I’m standing in almost the exact place where I saw you guys play a few years back before Soundwave died. “Yeah, I remember that place! We had fun down there.” I’m great, thanks! I’m actually sitting in the Melbourne Showgrounds where Soundwave used to be.
Through the beauty of modern telecommunication, half this interview took place from Los Angeles, and the other from the verdant centre of Royal Melbourne Showgrounds home to the dearly departed Soundwave Festival many times back in the day, and sweet memories aplomb for Dragonforce over the years. I had the pleasure of chatting with an exceptionally humble Li prior to the band’s impending June headline tour down under in support of their blistering 7 th album, Reaching into Infinity (a review of which – by yours truly – you can also read here). It was an appropriate introduction to the mainstream from a band that sounds a lot like Ronnie James Dio’s Rainbow made sweet love to a glitching Super Nintendo on top of an exploding interstellar volcano… for infinity. Folks ensuring future arthritis attempting the dexterity required to clumsily imitate guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman’s incomprehensibly epic axe solos on five coloured buttons in order to clock the game became a pop culture phenomenon, and remain a hysterical YouTube watch this day. For many, Dragonforce erupted out of the Guitar Hero franchise a solid ten years ago.
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