[Archive 2008-02-27] Van Canto's Stefan Schmidt on a capella metal, Wacken, Nightwish, piracy & more

Historical archive — originally published 2008-02-27. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

That's how the official website of van Canto describes the band. Hailing from Germany, van Canto are what is called an a capella metal band, the pioneers of this new genre.

The band released their debut, A Storm to Come, in December 2006. Exactly a year later, van Canto announced a global signing to Gun Records/Sony BMG, and their debut was released worldwide on December 14.

Van Canto are now experiencing considerable success. They recently provided support for Finnish symphonic power metal band Nightwish, as well as receiving a slot at the internationally famous Wacken Open Air festival in Germany. The prestigious event sees them sharing the bill with acts such as Hatebreed, Sonata Arctica, As I Lay Dying, Soilwork, Children of Bodom, Nightwish, Lordi and headline act Iron Maiden.

Van Canto's second album will be recorded across this month and next, with famed producer Charlie Bauerfeind, although no release date has yet been confirmed.

In light of recent events, van Canto member and founder Stefan Schmidt has given the band's first interview in English, all previous interviews being in German or Italian. Wikinews now exclusively brings you that interview below.

After the split of my former band Jester’s Funeral I wanted to do something vocal oriented with a heroic attitude. It wasn’t planned to leave out all instruments in the beginning, it was an idea developed in the studio turning out to work great.

We are playing melodic metal, so my inspiration as a composer can be found in Blind Guardian and Nightwish. Metallica has always been a great influence for me, too. I don’t listen to many a capella bands, though. There’s a German a capella band called the Wise Guys which I like, but it’s pop and doesn’t have to do much with our style of singing or performing. Combining the metal style with the performing style a capella is the original part of the idea.

In the music world, as with all aspects of life, new or rare ideas often meet with difficulties. How hard was it to get people to take you seriously at first?

It wasn’t that hard because we did not do much for it. We just presented our idea and many people liked it, some others didn’t. We don’t put much time in convincing people starting their argumentation with “you don’t use guitars, this is no metal”. I think everyone who takes the time to listen to our songs or to visit us performing live can see that we really love metal music and love to sing.

Before you got your world signing, you changed drummers. Is the previous drummer still involved in any way with the band?

Source and licence

Text adapted from Van Canto's Stefan Schmidt on a capella metal, Wacken, Nightwish, piracy & more by Wikinews contributors under CC BY 2.5. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. Contributor history.