Interview by Cesar Rosales.

MM: Please introduce yourself JK: Hi, this is Jeff Klingbeil (singer/lead guitarist) of the Heavy Metal band Betrayer. MM: How would you describe Betrayer to someone who hasn’t heard of you? JK: The two most common comparisons are Iron Maiden & Megadeth, both of which I do agree personally MM: How was betrayer formed? JK: I met Shawn (drummer) in the summer of 1996 though a friend of my sisters who happened to know Shawn. I started jamming with him that summer and as of now we are the only founding members left in the band. We've gone through so many members since then. MM: could you tell us about your biggest infuences? JK: Sure, first i'll mention my influences on guitar. eddie van halen was the person who inspired me to want to play the guitar. after seeing the van halen video "live without a net" i decided what it was that i wanted to do with my life which was be a guitarist in a rock/metal band. my other influences at that time included scorpions, metallica, megadeth, motley crue and to a lesser extent many other rock/metal bands. since then i've gained many more influences guitar wise which inlude Yngwie Malmsteen, Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, Edguy, Helloween and so many others. Vocally speaking, Dave Mustaine was my main inpiration when i first started singing. Since then i've been heading for a more operatic style.

MM: At what age did you start listening/playing music?
JK: at a very early age. in fact as far back as i can remember. in my old house we always had a piano in the basement and i would constantly try and figure out things by ear and make up my own stuff, i never learned how to play the piano properly but i think that it definitley trained my ear. it wasn't until the age of 17 that i got my first guitar which was shortly after i watched that van halen video.

MM: You guys have played many shows, any crazy stories?
JK: ya, probably our wierdest show experience (thus far) was at this place called the richmond hotel in london ontario. it's a pretty small place and the bands have to play on the floor. when we got to the place earlier on that day it was filled with older people like 40-70yrs old. we were thinking "is this the age group we're going to be playing to?". and sure enough it basically was. there were so many "characters" in that bar, a fight broke out, people we're kicked out, no security for us and drunks not wanting to leave the bar at the end of the night. it turned out to actually be a pretty good/fun show though. nothing too crazy has every really happened yet (i'm sure that'll change).

MM: If you could create you own festival, which five bands would you like to play alongside? JK: iron maiden (now), metallica (cliff era), megadeth (menza, friedman era), scorpions (80's era) and ozzy (randy rhodes era). MM: What do you think of music on the internet and about webzines? JK: i personally like the idea of music on the internet. i can understand some record companies/artists viewpoint of how it may hurt them finacially but i think in terms of a heavy metal band it will only help them financially. it gives the consumer a chance to sample a bands music before deciding to puchase it. if that consumer (especially in the world of metal) likes what they hear they are more likely to really get into that band and continue to support that band finacially whether it's through merchandise, cd, or concert ticket sales. MM: and lastly, What's in the future for Betrayer? JK: my goals are set high for this band. i actually do want to make a lot of money for this band. not for ourselves but to put back into the band in order to accomplish certain things such as great studio recordings and elaborate stage shows. so we'll just keep working hard at writing the music we want to write, promoting the band, and playing shows which in turn will hopefully lead to us achieving these dreams.

you can check out betrayer at http://www.betrayer.ca , and if you're in the canada area don't forget to check them out opening for Iron Maiden, Dio, Motorhead on 03/08/03