Jeremy Wagner – heavy music meets dark fiction

Today I've got none other than Jeremy Wagner stopping by, and he's one of the rare breed who combines two of my favourite things: heavy music (the band, Broken Hope) and dark fiction (The Armageddon Chord). Welcome, Jeremy!

Heavy metal tying in with an infernal apocalyptic flavour is a theme that recurs often. You've added a dash of Indiana Jones with the Egyptian archaeology twist. If you had to sum up The Armageddon Chord in 16 words or less, how would you do it? 

The best summary is, "The Armageddon Chord is Indiana Jones meets Spawn with a heavy metal soundtrack."

If you could create a compilation soundtrack to accompany The Armageddon Chord, do you have a list of top 10 favourites you'd see on one album for folks to listen to while they read?

The soundtrack would have to have Slayer, Metallica, Steve Vai, Broken Hope (of course), The Cult, Dimmu Borgir, Sisters of Mercy, old Van Halen, Type O Negative, and some Skynyrd.

You've recently announced that Broken Hope is going full steam ahead. Tell us a little about the band and what 2013 has in store. 

We just signed to Century Media Records and we will release a new album in 2013. As I do this interview with you, I can tell you that we already have five solid songs written. Our goal is 10 to 15 new songs for the new album. Broken Hope will go on to play Extremefest in Germany and Maryland Deathfest—both of these fests in May 2013. After that, more summer festivals worldwide, US tour, album release, more tours, and from then on, Broken Hope is here to forever write/record/release albums and tour year after year! We are not going away again.

You mentioned recently that there's another book brewing. Is everything heavily under wraps or can you give us an idea of what the story's about? 

I have two new books done. The first of two is nearing the final edit/polish. It's a post-apocalyptic tale that's kinda like The Road meets Zombieland. The other novel is about a man-made monster and takes place in Chicago. Though I'm not saying too much, I can tell you that they are 100% horror...my brand of horror.

You wear the author and musician hats. How do you strike the balance between these two creative outlets?

I just try and make time each day for both. Writing fiction and writing music take a lot of time and creative energy...they both are needy passions, but having a schedule in place for both helps make it all work. When a new book is done, I have to dedicate time to promoting that, just as I need exclusive promotion and tour time for my Broken Hope albums. It all works out.

And, lastly, for the fun and somewhat creatively crazy question: If you had a big budget, and were given free rein to produce a movie, what would it be and who would be part of your creative team (cast and crew)?


I'd make an EPIC horror movie about something crazy (I have no idea what it would be yet...haha!) and I'd hire my favorite actors and actresses of course. Above that, I'd want a creative team of ME, along with Tarantino, Scorsese, Coppola, John Carpenter, and Spielberg to make this monster. Hey, you said "big budget" with "free rein" to produce, so I'm going ALL THE WAY.

Links:
www.Jeremy-Wagner.com
www.brokenhope.com
www.earthburner.com
www.TheArmageddonChord.com
Jeremy on Facebook
Jeremy on Twitter
Jeremy at Publisher's Marketplace