Featuring SKIP INTRO and ME CHA from REIZSTROM Interview by Ruud Dreessen aka ebm-industrial.nl | 22 december 2009 22:37
Thanks SKIP and ME that you have found time to give answers to these questions,
1- For the first question will be - do you know the netherland?
SKIP: Isn't it the country, that won't exist anymore if we don`t stop the global warming ;-) Just kidding, sure I know the netherlands, I went there a few times. Great country and great people, but it's interesting to see how the country changed since VAN GOGH was killed on the street.
ME: I've been there twice, but it had nothing to do with music :-)
2- Do you follow the electronic music scene, do you have any other favourite bands?
SKIP: Everyday, but I am not so happy with the result, most of them are too boring. There are some good new styles in Industrial, that sound fresh such as HEIMSTATT YIPOTASH, NOISUF-X, SAM or BLACK LUNG. In regular electronic music are also a few good bands like RABIA SORDA, KLOQ, FADERHEAD, MODESELECTOR or KLANGSTABIL, but these are only a few special cases. My actual favorite is LA ROUX :-)
ME: It changes by and by. I Like LOLA ANGST a lot and some others. But most of the time there are just single songs which please me.
3- Greetings Skip and ME could you please shortly introduce our readers your
music project REIZSTROM Please fill also a biographical resume about how,when and where...give us a more background information?
See the Promo Info (Attachement) We met us middle 2008 and spring 2009 was the first record finished
4- How did you start to make Electro / Electronica / Industrial and what is Electro / Electronica / Industrial for you?
SKIP: Since I was 5 I wanted to make music...but that's live, I always had something better to do. I actually began 4 years ago, but from that day on I made music everyday. Electro and Industrial is the perfect way to feel my style of emotion
ME: I started in the 80's and it has always been electronic music. When I heard my first New Wave song it was clear that this will be the sound I want to do. Later there was a need to grow harder but also melodic.
And here we are now.
5- What and who are some of your influences in Electro / Electronica /Industrial?
SKIP: These are the normal idols like NITZER EBB, BIGOD 20, X MARKS THE PEDWALK, KLINIK, DIVE, PLASTIC NOISE EXPERIENCE, but I am influenced by every Song I heard, even PRINCE or BACKSTREET BOYS :-)
ME: Yeah, The Backstreet Boys taught me how I never want to sound :-)
6- What are your top ten favorite Electro / Electronica / Industrial Club
Songs of all time? Who are you influenced by? What would you consider your
favorite cd's?
SKIP: All time favorites are too much, but I still like „
Getting Closer“ by NITZER EBB,
Assimilate“ from SKINNY PUPPY,
Moving Hands“ by KLINIK
Leihermann“ by COVENANT. They are all emotional and intelligent in their special way.
ME: Without ranking:
- "Headhunter" FRONT 242
- "Hours and hours" THE KLINIK
- "The sun and the rainfall" DEPECHE MODE
- "Das weiße Licht" OOMPH
- "Die in winter" WUMPSCUT
- "No permission to live" LOLA ANGST
- "Radioaktivität" KRAFTWERK
- "Warsaw Ghetto" NITZER EBB
- "Reincarnation" DEINE LAKAIEN
- "One millionth happy customer" CASSANDRA COMPLEX
7- Do you have a favourite track and album?
SKIP: My favorite cd's are not so usual, but I will tell 10 perfect records without any ranking.
- TEARS FOR FEARS/The hurting
- BOYTRONIC/The working model
- KLOQ/Move forward
- NITZER EBB/Belief
- FADERHEAD/FH1
- AND ONE/Spot
- FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY/Caustic Grip
- VNV Nation/Future Perfect
- ROBYN/Robyn
- THE PRODIGY/Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned
ME: At present it's ...ähh... I don't know. I'm focused on our new album
and also on my solo project.
8- So tell me a bit more about yourself, such as musical?
SKIP: I'm only human with every bad and good sides and I often can't believe how stupid mankind could be. Oh, and Im interested in every kind of art.
ME: I'm singer, I write lyrics and songs and I'm a pessimist.
9- By the way do you like my questions? tell me what you think about it! ;-)
SKIP: They are good, but I can't explain everything in a simple way ;-)Normal, right!?
ME: I guess the questions where ment for SKIP only, so I hope you don't mind my answers
10- What is the main idea, the message you want to leave to people who listens to you? What is your motto?
SKIP: Only feel the music and the meaning, that's all. Be emotional, feel the animal in you.
ME: I try to be the mirror of the society like every artist. And I try to make people happy like you should be when you hear good music.
11- What’s the name of your band? What’s the origin of that name? Have you changed the band’s name before?
SKIP: REIZSTROM was the first name we chose for this project and we never changed it. A simple translation for stimulating energy, in many ways. We want to stimulate the people :-)
12- Debutalbum "Zettel am Zeh"where did the concept come from? and whats planned now that your album is finished? or anything else you're working
on? Tell me why this title,"Zettel am Zeh"" Tell us a few words about the concept of this?
ME: There is no concept about this album.We don't have concepts.It's just a symbol for death,which is always part of my lyrics ... or most of the time.Currently we work on our new album which will be called "Logical disease" And there won't be a concept either.
13- When's the new album coming out?
SKIP: Maybe spring or sommer 2010, but we work slowly on the new songs, they should be getting better.
14-How is the current promotional tour going for supporting this album?
SKIP: MySpace, friends, Djs and magazines and a concert in february 2010, we make everything that's possible without spending money.
15- What do you think of a modern Electro / Electronica / Industrial and about Electro / Electronica / Industrial scene?
SKIP: I miss the energy and the openness of the old scene, but on the other hand it's scaring that some things never change. Weird.
ME: It contains a bit too much Techno in my oppinion
16- Our usual question - what is Gothic for you?
SKIP: A way for romantics, I am not a big fan, I don't need to show my melancholy, it should be just a private feeling in your heart,nothing to show the rest of the world.
ME: It's a new word for an old scene. In my youth it was called "Wave" and there was much more freedom.
17- What was your best live experience so far?
SKIP: I can't remember each concert, but IAMX, FISCHERSPOONER, NITZER EBB and DIVE were fantastic.
ME: For me it was my own concert together with KLANGSTABIL and DIVE. It was a strong experience.
18- Please list the name, age, school, and respective instrument of each
band member
SKIP: My name is SKIP INTRO, the rest is private, but we both play computer ;-)
ME: My name is ME CHA, I'm thirtysomething and I'm oldschool ;-)
Oh, and my instrument is my voice.
19-What are your views on the current state of this Electro / Electronica /Industrial scene in Württemberg Duitsland.in terms of creativity and audiences? And the scene in other countries?
SKIP: The scene in Württemberg is a little bit strange and cold, but we have very good musicians like KLANGSTABIL, DIARY OF DREAMS or 18SUMMERS, I think our bands are more harmonic musicians if we talk about the best and most famous bands. It must be the good food in Württemberg lol
Every scene and area has it's own spice, I visited most of the european scenes and also the USA, and it's never the same, but everytime it was exciting. Sweden or Norway is very fantastic in many ways, GRENDEL from NETHERLANDS are great too.
ME: It's a bit too dull. It takes a long time til something new is accepted. I don't know the scene in other countries. But I heard it's a little bit different.
20- you have very nice EP "Ghost"......tell me about lyrical compositions what you can tell about the done work? How does your music creation process work? How do you create a song?
SKIP: I can't tell anything about the lyrics, but our process is simple, I make the music, and ME makes the lyrics and does the vocals, but sometimes we mix these processes, everyone has the right to do his own creative work.
ME: You have to listen to find your own interpretation. The title gives you an idea. But I can tell you, there are no happy lyrics and no love songs.
21-What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?
SKIP: Absolutely no influences, my music should only sound electronic and I don't want to be a copy of the 0815-bands, we search for our own way.
ME: It's hard to estimate your own music. I leave this to other people.
My influence is always my current taste in music. Sometimes I've heard enough of a particular sound and I want to do something different.
22-Since the music industry is more open now to purely electronic music has this made things easier for you?
SKIP: The music industry is more open now to purely electronic music? That sounds like a new fact to me, we don't feel this point. It's more the opposite way, the guitar bands like Metal are growing more and more. We are only a little fighter for electronic rights, and it's a hard fight day by day.
ME: There are more bands doing electronic music, but there isn't more acception. And if it's so, we don't realise it because there are more bands doing electronic music. The music industry is dying anyway.
23-So what are their main influences as a band at the moment?
SKIP: It's how I said, everything and nothing, but the new songs are more danceable and have greater sounds. And I'm still searching for the perfect bass sound ;-)
ME: I refer to question 21
24-What is currently inspiring your material as an artist? tell me all about the Electro / Electronica / Industrial scene of Württemberg Duitsland?
SKIP: Sometimes as an artist I like to listen to good and intelligent sounddesign and arrangements, but this is only a technical thing and shows my part in the band :-)
ME: My life, and I refer to question 19 ;-)
25-Do you think that people from the music press didn't expect you to grow up musically?
SKIP: Hmm, I'm not sure. Though we have many supporters, they are more focused on bands who pay for advertisement, spend money for promotion and make a sound for the big crowd. Most of the time it's only a question of money. Very depressing.
ME: I think the magazines don't even know who we are.
26-what is the key to making music from REIZSTROM and what inspires you to keep growing as a musician?
SKIP: The songs have to be the perfect harmony of Pop and Noise, my inspiration is daily emotional life, in good and bad ways.
ME: What inspires me? I think it's the feeling you get from a song of your own. But this feeling usually won't last very long, so I'm always forced to create new songs. Like a junkie. When I make other people feel the same about my music, this is the inspiration that makes me want to grow.
27-How do you see the future of download / Copyright in area of goth-Electro / Electronica / Industrial music ? What are the best ways to develop it in your mind?
SKIP: It's no question, the digital download is the future, maybe for collectors some homemade cds, but the normal cd dies. Many people miss the old times and they still believe in the cd, but I think the war is lost, but many people didn't realize it.
ME: Let's see what time will tell. If I new the future, I probably was rich :-)
28-If there was one thing you want people to know about your band what would that be?
SKIP: We don't give up and we never would make a special music for a special scene, we don't like trends, we want to be trend.
ME: I would let them know we're existing.
29-Please let us know about your upcoming plans, some new releases you like to confirm here
SKIP: We will release our next record „Logical Disease“ in spring next year, I think many people will be surprised. At the moment we make the new songs and plan the next photos and design for the cd and homepage, but it takes more time.
30-It has been a pleasure to interview you on your musical activity,Well,any last words to your ebm-industrial fans?
SKIP: Stay brutal, stay hard and don't give up.
ME: Be calm and be kind. Music is the only aggression.
31-and what is next on Württemberg Duitsland agenda?
SKIP: Welcome the new year 2010 and make some rehearsal for our first gig in February :-)
ME: Jo!
32-thanks for your time! great work on the albums and good luck with everything.any How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a
website with sample songs or a demo CD?
33-Were you asked to play or did you have to ask for a slot?
SKIP: We alraedy denied requests for cool concerts because I became father. But we will change this next year and search for gigs.
ME: And again it's a question of money. We can't go that far when we are just paid with free drinks.
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