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05/06/2005 - Grave Digger’s proposal.
I finally arrived home from São Paulo, a very tiring trip, but with good proposals. I returned already knowing who to work with. In my e-mail box was an important subject, Chris Boltendhal, Grave Digger’s singer sent me a message telling that he was going to play in São Paulo, and would like to speak with me about releasing the Execution CD in Germany through his record company. I took a shower, slept few hours and went back to the Bus station. Two trips to São Paulo in 10 hours kills any one, but it was an excellent chance I couldn't miss, because the album hadn’t been signed in Germany yet. Before going I check my e-mails one more time, the album was in the best-seller pre-sale list in Japan. That news gave me energy to face this travel one more time. Sometimes it's very difficult to do everything alone.
08/06/2005 - Returning from São Paulo.
I got back from São Paulo once again, much more tired than before, but much more happy too. My meeting with Chris had been very pleasant; he's a very nice and honest guy. We spoke about shows and the heavy metal scene in Europe. Later then, I listened to the plans he had for the Execution CD and I liked them. We signed the contract and I felt that he would be a great partner in the European territories. In the same trip I left the master of the CD with Hellion that already sped the first press and the first part of the promotional campaign of the album in Brazil. Things were going well.
20/06/2005 - Prosperity and Evil.
The album already had been released in almost the whole world, in several countries the reviews and sales were above than what my Distributors and me were waiting for, all of us were very happy with the acceptance the album was getting, and for it all having been so fast. After making a record that consumed me so much as the Execution CD in such a way, I had a fear of the reviews because it wasn’t an everyday album, it was the workmanship of my life, and it depended on the participation of artists that had trusted me. I couldn’t fail, for them and for me. In Brazil were many interviews and summaries, all of them positive. In some parts of the media, we heard rumors that people were bothering with the success of the album. From there had been born my first "enemies" (laughs). People who I’ve never seen, but for reasons that only they can know, they decided to speak badly of the album and to try knock down it, but always without success. My Europeans labels also were working with total power in the media. I spent two entire days answering interviews by email and telephone for Europeans countries. In the European media schedule, were some plans that would need me in Europe. An excellent excuse to visit my good friend Chris Dale and to finish a conversation with Bruce Dickinson that we start in November of 2003.
18/07/2005 - European spreading .
I am in London, Chris already knew I was coming and already and make his welcome preparation for my arrival. I perceived it soon that I saw a coffee waiting for me, I know he doesn’t like coffee himself. We chatted for hours; I listened to the new album of his band “Sack Trick”. It was a really good tribute to Kiss that he had mixed a few days before my arrival. He told me that he already had marked with Bruce a meeting in the following day after my interview in the Total Rock Radio show. So, our first day was one of tourism. I knew some points of the city and took off many photos, and by coincidence, in the markets of the city we met Bruce’s wife, a very nice person. At night when we returned from the market I knew a new and dear friend, Dawn, Chris’s fiancée, very sweet and always speaking as if I was retarded and incapable of understanding her Northern English accent. She spoke slowly and with many gestures then Chris explained me that she worked in a record company, and that she dealt with international artists, then, she was accustomed to speak like that with people who were not native of the United Kingdom or United States, because not all of them understood her very well. It was force of habit, but I was very amused.
19/07/2005 - Interview in London.
I was in the Total Rock Radio Show for my interview, the presenter of the program happily was Chris Dale, and it was one of the funniest interviews that I have made. During the program, we played some tracks off the Execution CD and we interact with the listeners, one of them that I do not remember the name at the moment, only asked for me to say curse words in English that I had never heard before, and I spoke without thinking. I guess Chris had a quarrel with the owner of the radio in the day, my fault, but he laughed and left me to say the cursed words again, our fault now!
20/07/2005 - Meeting with Bruce.
We spoke with Bruce by telephone, all was right; we will find him at the night in a Pub close to Bruce’s home. We scheduled to 20:30, me and the Chris arrived around of 20:10, we bought a beer and I got a coke, I do not drink alcohol. At 20:30 more or less, I looked out of the window and saw Bruce arriving on a bicycle and speaking into a cellular phone. Then he sat at the table with us started to speak about many things and was very curious about how things were going with my album. We had a great chat, and then I asked him "Do you remember you spoke to me about you going to play with me in Brazil if I was really to make the concert of the release of the CD?" He answered "Yes, of course I remember", I said "I will make it, when you will be able to go?" he took a time looking at me, I guess he was taking me as the most crazy guy in the world at that moment and said "November". Done, I already had a date, now was hour to mark everything as soon as I arrived in Brazil. We scheduled a new meeting for October, because I would need to back Europe for important meetings with record companies.
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