So does that create a rivalry within the band? Particularly between yourself and Sam?

“I guess it’s more like we’re complimenting each other. It’s hard to say what’s better. You don’t want to do both solos exactly the same with the same style. You want to do something different. ‘He did this thing so I’m not going to do that now…’” Anyway, he adds, slyly, “I’m way better than Sam! What rivalry?!”

If there is a gentlemen’s rivalry within DragonForce then it clearly pushes the band to ever higher standards of musical excellence, forcing each member to keep on climbing the mountain. Nor is it restricted to Herman and Sam. When asked if he’s still learning, Fred is quick to enthuse about the guitarists he respects.

“Recently I’ve got into Alan Holdsworth,” he says. “But that’s a different thing that I can’t play. I wish I could. He’s fast but it’s the way he moves through the scales, that’s what is interesting for me. Not particularly playing fast or playing with five fingers or tapping… I’m more into searching for the right notes. Or not the right notes but the ones that are disturbing...” Fred tails off for a moment before looking up, bleary eyed. “Did I say I didn’t sleep?” he laughs, before wandering off to find Herman and continue the roller-coaster of hard-partying and hard-playing that makes DragonForce so unique.

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