Barnabas Sky

Further Exploration Into A Barnabas Sky

Interview by Ken Morton - Photo by Christian Esche

The melodic hard rock all-star project Barnabas Sky, led by German guitarist and songwriter Markus Pfeffer (Lazarus Dream/Winterland), has returned with a brand new endeavor entitleds What Comes To Light!”

Once again on board are Tyketto’s Danny Vaughn as well as Silent Rage’s Jesse Damon, whereby the former impresses with energetic vocals on the title track and the latter is supported with choirs by AOR legend Paul Sabu on the elegiac earworm “Grant Me A Wish From Heaven”. Other adventurers to be found within the second Barnabas Sky magnum opus include Doogie White (Rainbow, Alacatrazz, Rising Force), Dan Reed (Dan Reed Network), Roy Cathey (Cold Sweat, The Fifth), Dirk Kennedy (Hittman), Carsten “Lizard” Schulz (Domain, Evidence One), Lee Small (Sweet, Lionheart, Phenomena) and metal legend Alan Tecchio (Watchtower). In addition to these already established singers, the exceptional vocal talent Deibys Artigas Venegas (Preincarnation) from Venezuela, who is just 30 years old, is on board as an insider tip.

Highwire Daze recently caught up with mastermind and commander Markus Pfeffer for further exploration into the magic and intrigue that is Barnabas Sky. Read on...

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Barnabas Sky, and how long the band has been together.

My name is Markus Pfeffer, I am 49 years old, live in Kaiserslautern/Germany and am the “creative head” of Barnabas Sky, I write the music for all of the songs

and play guitar, bass and synths. The project itself was founded in early 2021.

Is there any overall story or concept behind the album title “What Comes To Light”?

There was no concept per se. Danny Vaughn had written the lyrics for a song with that title and I quickly realized that the song was the perfect opener for the album. In addition, I immediately had a suitable artwork for it in mind. Specifically, the bombed city in the background combined with the cornflowers (which, by the way, generally symbolize “hope” and in some cultural circles are used as a symbol for war victims) in the foreground. Stan Decker has done an absolutely stunning job with this.

What do you think has made you and Danny Vaughn of Tyketto work so well together on both the Barnabas Sky releases?

I think Danny feels very well how much Tyketto’s music has influenced me, so it’s obviously not very difficult for him to find the right melodies and lyrics to my music. We even wrote two new songs together, but the second one (“Fire Falls”) will be on the next album.

How did Jesse Damon of Silent Rage become involved with the Barnabas Sky project?

I always liked his rough voice very much and had simply written to him via Facebook. By the way, he already has songs from me for the next album.

Doogie White of Rainbow also appears on the new Barnabas Sky album. How did Doogie White become involved?

Here the song was decisive. I had recorded a demo (later called “Circus Of Delight”) that sounded pretty “classic rock”-like, with driving drums and prominent Hammond parts. It immediately made me think of late Rainbow, but also the current Alcatrazz stuff with Doogie on vocals. So I thought to myself “Hmm, his voice would really be perfect for this.” No sooner said than done, haha (laughs).

Roy Cathey from Cold Sweat and The Fifth also appears on the new album. Talk about an epically underrated vocalist! Are you a fan of Cold Sweat and what was Roy like to work with?

In September 1990 I was 17 years old and the first time ever at a REAL big open air, the “Super Rock 1990” in Mannheim, headlined by Whitesnake. Cold Sweat were on tour with DIO at that time, because they were managed by Wendy Dio and both bands also played at the festival (DIO with Rowan Robertson on guitar by the way). I remember very well that I was immediately “blown away” by Roy’s voice. I didn’t find Cold Sweat’s songs that mind-blowing (sorry Roy, haha), although Marc Ferrari’s guitar work was also remarkable. But the voice - that was what I remembered. Decades later I remembered it, found Roy, contacted him and here we go. A fantastic singer and incredibly nice guy, with whom I would like to work again in the future.

And let’s talk one more vocalist on this album – the amazing Lee Small of Lionheart. Have you seen Lionheart live and what did Lee contribute to the new Barnabas Sky album?

In fact, I discovered Lee through the last Lionheart album (not seen them live yet, unfortunately), and his voice directly inspired me. I then directly got the two Signal Red albums (insider tip!) and then contacted Lee to collaborate for Barnabas Sky. For the next album, he will contribute two songs again.

Your previous album Inspirations had Steve Grimmett from Grim Reaper as a participant. What was that experience like and what was your reaction when you found out about his passing?

Again, there was a song first and I immediately thought

of Steve’s voice (later “Never Enough”). Saturday morning at 7:30 I wrote to him via Facebook and sent him my demo, he replied within minutes and a few weeks later the song was signed and sealed. In July 2022, he had wished me a happy birthday, and a month later he died completely unexpectedly, it had really shocked me. It took half a day until I could really believe it and it still makes me very sad.

What is currently going on with your other band Lazarus Dream?

We pause a little bit, because we had released two albums relatively fast one after the other.

Are you involved with any other bands or projects outside of Barnabas Sky or Lazarus Dream?

Yes, my actual regular band Winterland and additionally a new project with the deliberately eighties-sounding name “Atlantis Drive” with the fantastic French keyboardist Jorris Guilbaud from Heart Line and Devoid. I wanted to have some fresh artistic input from another musician and it really paid off. Here, as with Lazarus Dream, there will be only one singer. The music of the album is already finished and the singer is currently writing lyrics and melodies. I can’t reveal more at this point.

Any live shows on the horizon for any of your bands?

Unfortunately nothing concrete at this stage.

Any final words of wisdom?

Yes, whoever likes melodic rock music with guitar riffs and cool voices should lend an ear to Barnabas Sky. The whole thing is a project with a lot of heart and soul and I think you can hear and feel that (http://www. facebook.com/barnabasskyband).

What Comes To Light by Barnabas Sky will be available January 20th via Pride & Joy Music!

https://barnabassky.lnk.to/whatcomestolight

The Drop The Bomb “Bat On My Back” B.O.M.B 2023 Tour

Fri.Feb 10 2023 7:30PM w/Bang Tango Fri. May 12 2023 7:45PM w/Lynch Mob