Interview by Daniel Dystyler and Larissa Catharine Oliveira.
Edited by Erica Y. Roumieh.
The Californian band Stryper The Final Battle last October . The album has just arrived in Brazil in physical format through the Wikimetal store .
In celebration of their new album and 40th anniversary, the band has prepared some surprises for their fans. Michael Sweet , vocalist and guitarist, discussed in an exclusive interview Wikimetal
Read the full interview below and click here to purchase your copy of the album The Final Battle.
Wikimetal: Let me start by congratulating you on Stryper's latest album, The Final Battle. It's fantastic. I love the energy, and that's my first question for you: how does the band maintain this fresh and strong energy after such a long and successful career?
Michael Sweet: That's a good question, and whenever I have to take a break, I think about it. I think the answer, the first answer to that, is that we still love what we do, you know, we enjoy it. We still love making music, going into the studio, the whole process. We appreciate the company of other people. And I think the day we don't enjoy it, people will know. And even then, OK, something's not right here, maybe the energy level drops. It's not going to be as good, it's not going to be the same. But we still love what we do. I think that's why we're able to consistently make album after album something that sounds fresh and good and that people like. And you know, I never take it for granted, and I just, personally speaking for myself, I'm a workaholic , you know, I love working, I love doing things, and I never stop, and I'm very grateful that I can still do what I do.
WM: One of my favorite songs from the new album is “Same Old Story,” and I’d like to know if you have a favorite as well.
MS: Oh yeah. I like songs that are a little more, you know, abstract in the sense that not everyone necessarily chooses those songs as their favorites. Songs like “The Way, The Truth, The Life.” That’s one of my favorites. I also like the song “Till Death Do Us Part.” And that’s probably right now the least favorite of all, because it’s just in the numbers, you know, the views. But I love that song. “Near” is one of my favorites, and I also love “Same Old Story,” for sure, because it’s a little more… If you had to choose a song that leaned a little more into modern territory, it would be that one. “Same Old Story.”
WM: Absolutely, yes. I think the final tracks on all albums, at least nowadays with all this streaming stuff, I don't think they ever get the justice they deserve. People don't listen to the whole thing, apparently.
MS: So true. I mean, back in the day you used to buy an album, you know, and hold onto the album, whether it was a CD or an 8-track or a cassette. And nowadays, because we live in the streaming world, people go and click on samples and then buy a song that's already the 23rd sample they think they like. And it's very sad because the music they listen to and maybe don't like that much might have some of the best performances. It's really a shame that the public doesn't buy albums as a whole these days. It's especially for the musician. It's very sad. It's devastating. It's heartbreaking.
WM: Yes, I totally agree. Even though I'm part of the streaming generation, I love listening to entire albums more than once, because you'll never understand everything if you only listen once. Well, you probably recorded everything sometime during the pandemic. So, all that confusion affected the final result for the record.
MS: The pandemic didn't affect us that much. Well, the album that was made and recorded during the pandemic was the one before this one [ Even The Devil Believes , 2020]. This album, The Final Battle , wasn't so much affected by the pandemic, but more by Oz [ Fox , guitarist, underwent surgery to remove cancer]. In my surgeries [Sweet needed eye surgery after suffering a detached retina], that played a significant role, you know, it made us think, like, OK, are we going to be able to do this and do it in the best way possible? We were. We got in there. We were a little slower and I was wearing an eye patch and had to take my time and Oz had to do the same. But that didn't stop us, you know. We still managed to do everything for the most part.
WM: Yes, and since fans are always trying to find meaning, hidden meanings and all that, this isn't the final battle. We can expect more and more music to come.
MS: Oh yeah. I mean, some people think that by choosing the title “The Final Battle,” it means it’s our last, final album. But I don’t think so. I mean, we haven’t discussed stopping or giving up, but you know, if you want to apply the fact that we don’t know what tomorrow brings. You know, we have no promise of tomorrow, so it might be our last album, but not in our minds.
WM: OK. That's good to hear. And this year you'll be celebrating 40 years of Stryper, right? Yes. So, few bands have reached that milestone. So, how do you feel about everything you've built together?
MS: I feel like we're definitely old. We're getting old. It's amazing. You know, if I were in 1985 and someone asked me, "Do you think you'll be around in 2023?", I probably would have said no. No way. It kind of surprises me that we're still here making music, and I personally think it's some of the best music of our careers. And it's humbling, it's amazing and all that. So it's really cool, and I'm grateful for the opportunities. I'm happy that we can still do this. And that people want to hear us. That we still have a fanbase and do shows.
WM: Yes, absolutely. And do you have plans to celebrate your 40th birthday?
MS: This year will technically be the 40th anniversary of when we formed, but the 40th anniversary of the first release, The Yellow and Black Attack [EP], would be in 2024. Yes. So, I don't know of any plans at the moment, but I'm sure we'll plan something that will be a little more monumental and, you know, make a little more noise and figure something out because we need to. 40 years is a long time.
WM: Absolutely. And OK, let's say you released an amazing album, another amazing album with a group called Iconic. So do you have more plans for this project?
MS: Well, not right now. But I'm sure we'll do something in the future. You know, it's certainly another album. Maybe more, I don't know. The hard part is that we're all in different bands. We're all in separate bands and it's difficult to get together and tour like this iconic band, but you know, I'm sure we'll be able to figure something out, and it's a great band with legendary musicians. I'm very grateful to be a part of this incredible thing. And then I have a new Sweet & Lynch coming out. And now I'm finishing another album that I'm working on that's coming out and I'm super excited about it. It's with Alessandro Del Vecchio and I'm singing, I'm just singing. And it's really cool because it's not a metal album and I'm very excited about it. I can't wait for people to hear it.
WM: Yes, that's amazing. So just to wrap things up, I know there's been a bit of discussion about this, but I don't think the Brazilian audience has had the chance to hear directly from you and explain why people like to label Stryper as a Christian band and you don't identify as Christian, which I think would be a limitation. Do you agree?
MS: Uh, the only thing I can say, and it's hard for people to understand when I say this, is that I don't see Stryper as a Christian band. Some people get upset when they hear me say that. And that doesn't mean I'm saying we're not Christians. We are, we are Christians as individuals. We are Christians. We have a deep faith. We all love God, we all serve God. We all sing about God. We all want to, you know, we want to represent God. All of that. And that's never changed. But I don't think we're a Christian band. We're a rock band formed by Christians. A Christian band, in my opinion, is the typical kind of band that's marketed to the church and you can buy their albums in Christian bookstores. And if that's just another Christian band, fine. But that's never been the case for us. Yes, we're just a rock band that became Christian and then continued.
WM: Yeah, the craziest thing about it is that we can deal with the fact that most metal bands talk about the devil and aren't devil worshippers. But if they're singing something about the gospel, then you have to be a Christian band.
MS: Yes, of course. A lot of bands that quote satanic sayings with images and pentagrams and all that stuff, you know them, they go to church. You like Tom [ Araya ] from Slayer . He goes to church, he's Catholic, he's up there with pentagrams, you know, and you think, wait, wait a second, you know. But with Striper, we're singing about God and we go to church, you know. Are we perfect? No. Absolutely not. You know, everyone knows I like bourbon and they're like, "Oh, what? How can you be a Christian? You drink bourbon. What?" Yes, I like hamburgers. I like the taste of bourbon. Yes, I like the occasional cigar. It's like I'm just a normal guy. But I try not to let those things control me, you know, I try to keep control of those things. But I'm a Christian and I love God, and I'm proud of that. And I'm not ashamed of it in the slightest.
WM: And that's rock 'n' roll, folks. That's rock 'n' roll attitude. Our time has come to an end. Thank you so much for this conversation. It was fantastic.
MS: Thank you. You've been great. It's so nice to meet you virtually and in person, I hope. Maybe one day you can come and see us live.
