Unzucht Interview 2016

German Dark Rockers Unzucht’s fourth album “Neuntöter” was released on the 2^nd of September. In the spring, when they were touring with OOMPH! around Europe, I met them in Paris to discuss it, tour stories and some politics. This time bassist Alex Blaschke also joined in together with vocalist Daniel Schulz and drummer Toby Fuhrmann.

We started by talking about their latest single “Kettenhund” and the harder sound on it.

-       It’s always been there, says Schulz. In “Unendlich”, for example, there is a very brutal section. We wanted to explore that and take it further with “Kettenhund” so we can express all different directions of feelings. That’s how you recognize us, atmospheric with a lot of heart and then just insanity. We are simply stretching our borders a bit further. You have already heard our evocative sides in songs like “Schweigen”. All of these are different facets of Unzucht and we now want to show that we can do something different. The song is about restlessness, constraint and force from religion. More than this I don’t really like to say. There are many ways of interpreting the lyrics and I don’t want to limit and restrict any of the imagery you can create in your mind. We say what we want and most of the clues to our meanings are in between the sentences. You can also say that the significance of the song is: “They say we have this life and it’s just shit but then we have another one and it will be much better.” This thing with “Ich Bin Gott” (I am God) can also be something completely different like: What is God? Is it TV, media, money or Satan?

-       The core of Satanism is that you put yourself in the centre, adds Toby.

-       Who doesn’t know the feeling of “Ich Bin Gott”, continues Schulz. Everyone feels like that sometimes, be it when you are drunk, stoned or just cycling through a forest. Whatever it is that makes you happy! When you are playing on the flanks and manage to score points, then you might think: “Ich Bin Gott”!

-       Football god or any pronoun, says Alex. All of us in the band have different interpretations and we exchange them between ourselves and then relay them to the audience.

-       For me anyway the core of the text is: “When death liberates me from my body, I am God”, continues Schulz. I don’t know exactly the meaning since it’s our guitarist De Clercq who wrote it. In the UK, by the way, “Kettenhund” has got a great response!

The band have developed a special relationship with the UK, which is very unusual for a band that sings in German. Last year they played their first shows there and at the beginning of this one they toured there with Puddle of Mudd. They also played Scotland and they will return there this autumn and winter for a headline tour. Because they are getting so familiar with the place, Schulz wants to clarify the difference between Great Britain and the UK. Well, Great Britain is the islands and the UK is the United Kingdom of Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland.

-       Yes, it was really cool, continues Toby, and fun because we met a lot of people we met the first time. Like the singer from Maleficient who played support to us in London. She was there this time selling T-shirts.

-       I didn’t know she was there, says Alex, but it really was a wonderful tour. Like something I have always wanted since I was a child.

-       It was really insane with how much attention we got in the press during this tour, adds Schulz. During the first days we had a bit of a scandal!

-       Wes Scantlin, the singer in Puddle of Mudd, was so drunk that he couldn’t perform properly, explains Toby. The band had enough of him and left the stage. Everyone thought it was over and went in to the disco next door. After a while Wes came back, sat down and started rambling to the audience that his band had abandoned him. Even though it’s his band. It was really admirable of them to finish the tour without canceling. We had been home for over a week when the videos from that night went viral. All of a suddenly it was in the big music magazines such as Rolling Stone and Billboard. They all wrote that Wes had been fired from the band but that wasn’t true. I was also asked to make a statement on the incident but by the time I reacted, the article was already out.

-       In spite of all this we met some really nice people, says Alex. The musicians were top and even though Wes was constantly drunk he managed to sing the songs you wanted to hear. We achieved what we wanted by reaching out to a new audience and music promoters.

-       To win over the audience in the UK is something we think we succeeded with, continues Schulz. They were fantastic and really opened up to us. In Doncaster they were requesting “Nur die Ewigkeit” because they’ve seen it on Youtube and they were all singing along in German. Completely unexpected and so cool! We were touring with an alternative band and even though we are Dark Rock we complemented each other perfectly.

They also toured with Eisbrecher at the beginning of the year, a band that belongs to the same genre as them.

-       Another wonderful tour, adds Schulz. We played in front of 4 000 people in Munich. Our biggest indoor gig so far.

-       To play with Eisbrecher was a perfect match, enthuses Alex. The band and crew are so nice, you feel like you’re welcome and the food was also good!

When I did this interview in April I was wondering when their new album “Neuntöter”, that is now released, would come out and at that point they didn’t have a clue.

-       It’s really cool that the album has been announced even though it’s not ready yet, says Alex.  It puts us under pressure to work harder and better. First time in our history that we do that.

It seems like pressure works well for them. They have just produced an incredibly diverse Dark Rock album. Heavy, sensitive, brutal and melodic at the same time.  The name of it “Neuntöter” (Nine killer) is the German word for the red-backed shrike bird.

-       It’s all about the words like our album “Rosenkreuzer” (Rosicrucians), explains Schulz. We thought Neuntöter was such a cool word and then we saw that it was just a small bird. It impales its victims on long thorns in the bushes and then it eats them. In the olden days they used to say that it needs at least nine victims per day and that they ripen them for a while on the thorns before they consume them. A really sweet bird that doesn’t just eat insects but mice, lizards, frogs and other birds.

-       A perfect bird for us, says Alex. A nice killer!

-       Have you seen the promo picture, asks Toby? Around the bird you can see body parts and bones impaled on the thorns. We wanted people to first notice the cute bird and then the carnage around it.

-       Once again it was designed by Stefan Heilemann, who made the cover for Till Lindemann’s solo project’s album, adds Schulz.

-       Incredible artist, exclaims Alex.

Heilemann’s pictures looks like paintings but when you observe them a bit closer you will notice that they are digitally enhanced photographs. The band told me that the model for their cover of “Venus Luzifer” is the same one as on the EP “Schweigen” even though it looks like she is 15 on the latter. She is actually in her late 30s.

On the EP of “Kettenhund” they also got help from German NDH legends Die Krupps, who did a remix for them.

-       We are so happy and proud, says Schulz! Such a good remix! I had goose bumps!

-       They live in Texas now, continues Toby. So we had to send over our material to them, that they then worked on in their studio.

After having collaborated with Die Krupps they played support to OOMPH! on their European tour. Which of the two do they consider as being the original inventors of Neue Deutsche Härte, the musical genre Rammstein brought to the masses? They think both are, which bodes well for these future heirs to the throne.

At the end of our chat we got in to more serious subjects. Dero the singer in OOMPH! spoke about the terrorist attack in Paris at the Eagles of Death Metal concert, during their show that night. He gave an impassioned speech about freedom, solidarity and the strength you can get from rock and roll.

-       He did it so well, says Schulz. It was great to see how people kept on celebrating and showed the terrorists the finger! Even so we couldn’t help but think of it during our performance. It’s so close to us, Toby knows someone who was there and he found out about it through Facebook. Heike, my wife, also had friends there and Toby had also worked there with Volbeat two years ago. The terror had all of a suddenly entered a new zone. The audience that were there that night were alternative people that had never done any harm or would have differentiated the terrorists from the rest.

I was wondering what they thought about Jess Hughes’ statement that it would probably had not been able to happen in the US because people can carry guns and defend themselves.

-       I don’t believe that any one goes to a concert with a gun, exclaims Schulz!

-       Yes, I heard it, adds Toby. First of all, I think he feels guilty over what happened and secondly he was thinking about them stopping a gunman ten years ago because they shot him. It saved a lot of lives! I hate guns and are very much against them but even so, I can understand how he feels. If someone had shot down the terrorists, over 50 people would still have been alive. When someone walks in to a concert with a machine gun it’s no longer about Peace, Love and Harmony.

-       But isn’t it also the case that if more people have guns there will also be more crazy perpetrators, interrupts Schulz?

-       I am not too sure, answers Toby. It’s a question about different societies in the end. If you look at Switzerland for example, they have more weapons per person than in the USA. In spite of that they don’t have any problems with mass shootings!

-       All I have to say is, stop all the violence and enjoy life instead, exclaims Alex!

Since we had talked about Wes in Puddle of Mudd’s alcohol problem I was wondering if the song “Mein Grab”, about drinking yourself to death, was based on personal experiences.

-       Of course, we are rock musicians and we know many who have problems with it…prost! toasts Schulz! It’s simply just so much fun. It can be difficult to regulate yourself when you are out on tour. I like getting drunk sometimes, like the first time we met when I was so inebriated that I made up a new language. Even so I felt it was necessary to write a song about this theme and how you can’t let it take you over. In the end everyone is walking their own path and we can’t do anything about it.





Photo & Interview: Maria Bergman

Dero Interview 2015

Link to original articles in Swedish: http://www.slavestate.se/?e=2913
http://www.slavestate.se/?e=2914

OOMPH Interview 2015

Oomph! are one of the biggest and most influential bands in German Industrial Metal. They are even considered to be the founders of Neue Deutsche Härte, the music genré that Rammstein made world famous. They haven’t stuck to that but instead explored other styles and developed over the years, something that has led to some criticism from older fans. Their last album “Des Wahnsinns Fette Beute” had a lukewarm reception because it was more lighthearted and poppy. With their new album “XXV” they return to a darker rock sound but without repeating themselves. I managed to meet the frontman, Dero, for an in depth conversation about the album, politics, ageing and a lot more. The band also consists of Flux (guitar) and Crap (guitar, keyboards).

First I asked Dero about the new album.

-       I think it’s pretty versatile even though there is a dark line that goes through all the songs. They are more rock oriented and we developed them with how they were going to sound live in mind. We went back to the basics of rock music and reduced the electronic influences a lot. I’m looking forward to perform the songs on stage with two guitarists, a bass player, drummer, percussionist, keyboardist and me as the singer. That’s what Oomph! is about! We don’t cling to the old album and repeat it with new lyrics. We can’t please everyone and if we had to think about what some fans would like, we would lose the main thing with art: to be creative and authentic.

 Fourteen Shades of Black

When I interviewed Dero two years ago, he said that they already had 30 songs and that the album would be out soon. Why did it take such a long time?

-       It was so difficult to choose the right songs. We also added a few more after some jam sessions. The whole writing process took such a long time because it was hard for us to feel satisfied. The result is really cool and reflects different facets of darkness in life. The album is “14 Shades of Black”. There are so many different ways to approach darkness, so there are up-tempo, groovy, medium heavy and slow ballads on the album. We want it to be like a rollercoaster and always surprise you.

The earlier albums had filmic interludes in between the songs, such as quotes from “Psycho” and the “Exorcist”. They also had instrumental atmospheric pieces that could have been from a soundtrack for a film.

Is this something we could hear again?

-       Not directly but Crap is still doing similar things for the intros. We wanted, as I said, to reduce the electronics, so it’s now more orchestral, with choirs, strings and similar real traditional instruments. In the future we might do something similar but on this record it’s all about songs with lyrics.

The new album is co-produced by Simon Michael from “Subway to Sally”. In the past Oomph has collaborated with quite a few German big names like the Punk legend Nina Hagen.

-       We just called her up! At that time she was living in Ibiza. She said that she knew of us and that our music was cool. We sent her the song and two weeks later we were in the studio recording it. She was so professional and versatile with her voice.  She can sing everything from rock, punk to opera. There won’t be any more collaborations on the new one. We are open for everything but you can’t force these things, they happen naturally.

2014 was actually Oomph!’s 25th anniversary but this year they celebrate the fact that they started playing live as a band in 1990. So, the cover has “XXV” in Roman numerals.

-       That’s right! We think that’s more interesting because you never know how you can interpret it. It could also have something to do with “X” and “Y” chromosomes.

The importance of trying new things 

Last year Oomph put on a live performance at the Wave Gothic Treffen in Leipzig. Earlier Dero had posed half naked and tied up in some artistic bondage pictures by the photographer Ronny Zeisberg. He helped them to stage a special show with fully naked body painted dancers. Is this a new direction for the band and didn’t Dero himself say that society is over sexualized?

-       We had the chance to do it so we went for it. It’s what we stand for: to always try something new. You try not to think too much about what is good, right or wrong. Just be free as an artist and not create your own mind traps, because music has to come from the heart. When there are too much mind and logic in music it gets too technical but if it’s too much the other way it can also get a bit boring. So, you have to try and find a balance between everything and that can be hard. I said and still think that society is over sexualized but that’s how it is with Oomph!,  to be ambiguous, you never quite know what we actually mean. You are supposed to question if we are serious or if we are making fun of it. The more question marks it raises, the further it reaches as art. Too many exclamation marks are boring. I think the dark side of sexuality has always been there in my soul, so I thought it was time to let it out. But as I said, I think repetition is boring and I have now shown that side of me. There are many more to come. We are not going back to something we have already done like the more humouristic side of the last album. Maybe some black humour but this time it’s more like a nightmare than a fun LSD trip.

Is it still possible to shock?

-       I think you first have to build new walls so that we can tear them down. In our society there are none left, so perhaps we have to create new taboos because it feels like there are none left to break. There are in other societies but religious fundamentalism is an old thing, you know. It’s as old as mankind, so it will remain forever. This seems shocking to us because we think we are free but our kind of freedom scares other people. It’s not understandable for everybody. We can’t make the mistake of judging them and try to impose our kind of democracy on each society. That’s impossible in my eyes, because there are many societies that don’t want to live as free as we do. We have to accept that but not if they try to stop our way of life. That’s when we have to tell them “Stop, not with us!” It’s a very dangerous balancing act like after what happened in Paris with the terrorist attack on the magazine Charlie Hebdo. They needed a scapegoat and people always want to generalize so they started hating Muslims. Like most of us know there is only a minority of them that will react so fundamentally. The media is constantly reporting about atrocities from these countries to scare us. It’s the same with America where we only see black people committing crimes. We have to be careful and skeptical with what the news is trying to tell us. Our children must learn that they are constantly being manipulated even in a so-called “free” society like Germany.

I have only included a fraction of his long statement about the corrupt media, prejudices and religious fundamentalism here. Dero likes to go in to big political and philosophical arguments, something he does frequently on his Facebook page. Unusually for a rock star, he sits there for hours, discussing with fans from all over the world.

-       I think it’s important to ask questions more so than to receive answers. There are so many people, especially politicians, who suggest they know the solution but I don’t think they have a clue. There is no final answer but rather seven billion! In our modern world where we are all connected through new media, we have to realise that it’s very hard to find a truth. We have to ask ourselves who is making us believe in their version and who created it. All I know is that I want to keep this level of freedom because I remember the time when Europe and Germany were divided. When we in one country had borders and different currencies. I want to continue to live in a united Europe. Of course there are problems like those with the financial sector but I am so grateful that I can move freely in the union. It was so amazing for me to see Germany grow together again. As we all know, you can’t divide a culture forever, that’s impossible. I think that North and South Korea will eventually be re-united. It might take 50 or even a 100 years but the border will open.

 Relative freedom

Sometimes it really heats up on the net when Dero is holding court. Many conservative fans don’t approve of his liberal views and some female fans attack each other out of jealousy. Can an internet addiction be as dangerous as a physical one?

-       Of course, all addictions are and there are people who are on-line the whole time. They start to take things too seriously and attack others. It’s also about cultural differences and that many come from countries where you can’t criticize your government. They think it’s not possible to express yourself against what they’ve been taught by the media. The net is a good place to rehearse standing up for your rights. There is still a certain amount of freedom there and we have to try and keep it like that. As we know, there is no ultimate freedom because that might mean you violate someone else’s. We have to be careful though, because, as we know, there are always people in the background trying to push us in one direction or the other. In the end it’s all about money. As we know, nothing is free. Politics is not as complicated as they want us to believe, because it’s all about territory and profit.

 For a diverse world

One of Oomph!’s songs “Wer Schön Sein Muss Leiden” is about the insanity around plastic surgery and how people are doing anything to try and stay young. Dero is indisputably a very good looking man but he is now 45, so I wondered if there is any pressure on him to stay young through surgery.

-       I don’t want to point the finger at those who do it. If they think it looks nice, it’s up to them. Personally I don’t want to live in a world where everyone is doing the same things because they feel pressured. I want to see old, young, ugly and different faces. The world should be as varied and colourful as possible. Everyone should be accepted and people should be allowed to age their way, not the way society dictates. Of course, if you can’t stand getting older, you should be able to do what you want about it. As we know though, they don’t look young but ridiculous. It’s a part of life and would it be possible to look young at the age of 90? It would be strange. You would look in the mirror and think “No, I don’t want to die because I am looking young!” It’s kind of sick, because you see yourself getting old and then you are fine with the fact that we are all going to die. I don’t have anything against death, it shows us how precious life is. Without death we would be like zombies or vampires who long for death. The whole universe is full of counter parts and ambiguous stuff. It’s important to have that balance between the two sides. It’s plus/minus, cold/hot, light/dark and so on. Some think they can defeat death but that’s impossible and ludicrous to even think so. Everything nowadays is so fixated on youth and health. Society tries to tell us that if you are young and strong you are successful. As we know, we are that just for a short amount of time. I think we have to find a new way to relate to ageing. There used to be so many cultures that adored old wise people. The oldest were the smartest, not like here where they try to suggest that the youngest are. You need experience to get wise so a twenty year old can’t be, in my eyes.

No labels

Dero also has a side project, What About Bill?, with the producer Chris Wolff. They play swing jazz covers of famous heavy metal songs dressed up in American police uniforms. This year it has been on ice because of Chris’s health problems.

-       He had a serious disease but he was cured and is now recovering. The project is still alive even though it’s just for fun. We want to shoot some more videos and try to play some gigs but we’ll see what time will allow.

When we were talking about different music genrés I asked Dero how he feels about some people crediting Oomph! as the inventors of NDH.

-       It’s really funny to read and hear that because when we started there wasn’t anything called that. I think it was after five or six years that we first started to hear that we were the inventors of NDH. At that point we were no longer so “Neu” and not really “Deutsch” either. We are bastards from all over Europe. People always seem to want to label everything but if they are happy with it, why not?

A few years ago the Schlager singer, Heino, did covers of Oomph!’s biggest hit, “Augen Auf”, and Rammstein’s “Sonne”. Heino, at the age of 72, had such a big hit with this cover album that he has now released one with heavy metal versions of his own songs. Dero’s fellow band members Flux and Crap produced some of them.

-       Ha ha, that was their revenge! He did our song, so they did his. It was good to see that he has a sense of humour.

Are there any new bands he likes?

-       There are quite a few, like Hozier for example, they are cool. I also like a lot of German bands like Kraftklub or Deichkind. The latter have very funny lyrics and I appreciate how they use the German language. Hip Hop and Rap write their texts in a completely different way. These guys are really creative and invent new words. Unzucht are also good. Their singer Daniel Schulz is doing a great job and he is such a nice guy.

No German Clichés 

Dero is completely teetotal, something that is very unusual in the rock world. He says he has no problems with resisting temptation and that no one tries to pressure him to drink.

-       I have grown out of that stage in my life. My life is all about changes, so I am done with it. It just became boring, that’s all.

When he is not playing Rock ‘n’ Roll and discussing politics he likes to go scuba diving. He has had a sports diver’s license for 20 years but he also likes to go on more cultural trips to places like Seville, Paris and Rome.

-       There are so many ancient, historical places with different cultures.  I love to explore and it’s also important for our own development to see how much they already knew back then. Even though we think they were so dumb, they definitively weren’t. Without computers and technology they managed to calculate and figure out how to shape their societies. Hopefully we can learn from our past.

After having warmed up with a few festivals such as Wacken Open Air over the summer, they will take the new album out on tour. Gone are the camp sailors from the last one. Now it’s serious with black leather instead. Will they also have a big stage show?

-       Yes, like the Eurovision Song Contest! Congratulations to Sweden by the way. He really did a cool performance. I like the idea with the video screens, it must have been hard to create and stage. The song was also good even though it’s radio pop. I am not completely against pop! Some of the best songs ever made are that, like Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” (Actually a cover). No seriously, we’re not going to dance around with animated stick men. That belongs to the Eurovision. We are mainly a Rock ‘n’ Roll live band and we don’t want the visuals to take over. The focus should be on us and the music, or people will leave and say that the show was great but they can’t remember the band. Rammstein do it but you can’t compare us. We never had the intention of playing on German stereotypes and clichés. They were big in America before Germany, because they delivered what they wanted. I think it was Richard who said that Rammstein are not a band but theatre. Which is perfectly ok and they do it very well but we won’t ever roll with the “R’s” or play with fire.

Photos: Ronny Zeisberg

Live Photos: Maria Bergman

Unzucht Interview 2015

Links to original articles in Swedish: http://www.slavestate.se/?e=2834 http://www.slavestate.se/?e=2835

Unzucht Interview 2015

German Industrial band Unzucht celebrated their five year anniversary this year. They marked the date with two special shows in Hameln and Goslar where it all started. I managed to get to talk with the guys before their first ever gig in London. Their drummer, Toby Fuhrmann, is also their manager and has his fingers in many pies, such as working for Rammstein, but he always seems to miss their UK tours, so it was his first time there as well.

-       We are playing here today because our tour manager knows the promoters. It was him that asked them if they thought it would be cool with a new band, says Toby. They’ve treated us so well and through them we have already got new contacts. One DJ from Sheffield wants us to play in his club. Next time we come here, we can play in more places than just London.

When it comes to rock music the UK and the USA are considered the most influential countries. Which one do you think is the most important?

-       I think it’s 50/50, says the singer Daniel Schulz. We are mostly inspired by the US but also by classic British bands like The Beatles, Rolling Stones….

-       …and of course Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, interrupts Toby.

 Heart and Soul

The night before, when they and their support band Death Valley High arrived, they walked over the famous crossing at Abbey Road like the Beatles did.

-       It gave me goosebumps when I crossed over, says Schulz. But it was too cold to be barefoot.

-       You should have done it naked with just a “Cock sock” like Red Hot Chili Peppers, adds Toby.

-       He he, Red Hot Chili Beatles, continues Schulz. People applauded when we crossed. They didn’t have a clue of who we were but they must have thought we seemed cool.

That was the only touristy thing they managed to do in London because they partied too much on their tour bus. With them on the tour they have the American dance-punk band Death Valley High, which is a bit of an unusual choice for a German goth band.

-       I knew of them before because I am a big Deftones fan, explains Toby. Through them I discovered other bands from Sacramento like Will Haven and Tin Shed with the former singer of DVH. They started a while back when MySpace was still “The Thing”. You could have songs on your profile page and I had DVH’s theme song on it. I think it was 2008 so it’s fun that several years later we are touring together. They are great guys and we hit it off immediately.

Surreptitiously Critical 

On their latest album, “Venus Luzifer” they have a striking picture of a beautiful woman covered in blood with devil horns on the cover. Are they trying to tell us that women are a bit evil?

-       No, not at all, assures Toby. Even though it is an interesting interpretation. It’s more about opposites! Venus on the one hand who is good and loving. Lucifer on the other, who is evil and hateful. Even so they are both names for the morning star! Two different words for the same thing. The difference is what time in history you refer to.

-       That’s right, continues Schulz. Because Lucifer, Luce in Latin, means light. Two different words for the same thing. He was the angel of light, the light-bringer, before he fell into darkness. It was totally Toby’s idea.

-       Yeah, and then we talked to the designer about it, says Toby. He came up with a few different suggestions and really liked the idea of having a woman on the cover. We don’t have a woman in the band so it’s perfect to have one on the cover. We are really happy that we got to work with Stefan Heilemann. He recently made the pictures for Till Lindemann’s side project with Peter Tägtgren from Pain/Hypocrisy.

All of the band are involved in the complete creative process. Schulz for instance is credited as the script-writer for their video “Unendlich”.

-       No, we did it together, says Schulz. I wrote down the idea and our friend Christian Baer who makes all our videos added a few suggestions for locations. We got together with the designer and also the model, Missy Queen. It was her first video, before that she had only done photographic work. They made a very expensive and beautiful dress just for her. The whole concept took a week to plan, three days to film and two weeks to edit with a lot of quick cuts.

The band have established themselves with the frequent use of social media. On their Facebook page, they frequently post funny mini-films of their adventures on and off stage, called The Gothic Internet.

-       It’s Alex Blaschke our bassist that edits them and posts them, says Toby. One day we might cut together the best bits and put them on a DVD but it would be problematic because we have too much material. We do one for almost every show and we can’t save them all.

Schulz is also using social media as an outlet for his political views. He is keeping it separate from Unzucht since they are not a political band. However, if you read between the lines you can find some hidden meanings. Sometimes he feels that he has to write something so he has worked together with German punkbands like, Das Frivole Burgfräulein and protest singers like Joachim Witt. For his solo project, Der Schulz, he also writes political lyrics like “Die Wahren Azis Seid Ihr Da Oben”, “The real asocials are up there at the top”.

-       Many people are angry at the government and then they follow the wrong kind of leaders, explains Schulz. They think no one understands what they feel so it’s my responsibility to write about it.

Most of the lyrics on the last album were written when Schulz walked the Pilgrimage route, Camino de Santiago, last summer.

The route is over a hundred miles long and leads to Santiago de Compostela in Spain where the remains of St James are supposedly buried.

-       First of all it’s because my mother comes from Galicia, says Schulz. I grew up with this way of life and I like to walk and be out in nature. It’s not about religion but to clean the air and reset the body. A good opposite to the Rock ‘n’ Roll lifestyle.

The lyrics are quite philosophical and the pilgrimage has also inspired other people like the author Paulo Coelho.

-       His book about it is very different, adds Schulz. A completely different perspective with a secret society. Very unique and I really like it.

How did they manage to record an album so quickly while their vocalist was wandering around in the mountains?

-       We started with the pre-production , says Toby. Me and Alex (Bass) lived in the rehearsal rooms for three weeks. Our guitarist Daniel DeClercq who also does the electronics was in front of the computer the whole time. We puzzled it all together when Daniel came back.

-       As soon as we finished the Rosenkreuzer tour we started to write the material for the next album, continues Schulz. When I left Germany for the pilgrimage I already knew we had a cool record. The basics and the electronics were there and we had the ideas for the lyrics as well. All I needed to do was to finish them while I was on my way.

 Hardworking

The band have been very busy the last three years and managed to release a new album every winter. Because of Unzucht taking up all their time some of their side projects have fallen behind. Toby wrote a book called, “Ich Träg Ein Massengrab Im Herzen”. He has been working on a sequel for the last two years. It will be published and he is almost done with it but at the moment Unzucht is taking priority. The same goes for Daniel Schulz’s “Der Schulz” project even though he has managed to squeeze a few shows in between the Unzucht ones. Eventually he will also try to make another album under that name.

It’s progressively getting more difficult to try and establish yourself in a music business that relies mostly on commercial manufactured pop or cheap gimmicks and shock effects. Toby says they would never betray their ideals and do something controversial just to sell albums.

-       That’s not what we are about, explains Toby. Basically we are just a rock band and I think people are starting to appreciate that more now we have been going for a while. You won’t understand it until you listen to our music. What makes us a bit more unique is the mix between the two Daniels. It sets us apart from the others and thanks to that, many people go and see us live and they usually say: Wow, cool!

Half-breeds 

It’s the combination of heavy, melodic and electronic that makes them stand out and the band themselves are also mixed. Daniel Schulz is half Spanish/German and Daniel DeClercq Belgian/German.

-       We are all half-breeds, laughs Schulz. I think it will come a time when we don’t think about which country we are from because it’s not interesting. Ok, Rammstein did it 100%.

-       I do like their approach of not taking things too seriously, adds Toby. The music is serious but they can still laugh at themselves. The problem nowadays is that a lot of people can’t do that. Take for example the thing that happened in Paris when the magazine Charlie Hebdo was attacked. You should be able to joke about everything. Censorship and political correctness is something we don’t agree with. What is actually wrong? It’s just a matter of taste! If you want to see a splatter film like “Cannibal Holocaust” you should be able to do that. Some say that it’s not good to see people being murdered on the screen but if you don’t like it, you don’t have to watch it!

-       I don’t think people should judge others on what they want to watch or listen to, says Schulz. There is no point in censorship! In the countries where they have banned porn, you can see that it’s them that watch most of it illegally on the net. In Austria it’s allowed to show almost anything in films, not like here in Germany where they are worried that you won’t be able to handle violence on the screen. If that is true they would have more criminality than us but it’s the opposite. When I was in Canada I was surprised that you couldn’t buy alcohol in regular shops and that the liquor stores closed around 8pm. People were still drinking! It’s like with everything, the more forbidden it is, the more interesting it gets.

He was obviously never in Sweden! The London gig was a success and the band have just released an EP Schweigen/Seelenblind in August. They keep going from strength to strength and I think we will see a lot more of them.

Photos: Axel Jusse, Ronny Zeisberg and live Maria Bergman