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Featuring Zeon | Schwarzblut | Interview by Ruud Dreessen aka ebm-industrial.nl | 19-aug 2009

Could you please shortly introduce our readers your music project Schwarzblut?

Schwarzblut is an industrial gothic band and we hail from the East of The Netherlands. We are 5 musicians with various musical backgrounds, which explains the variety of atmosphere’s and styles within our music. We recently released our Sehlenwolf EP, which was well received in the scene and got us signed to Alfa Matrix. For lyrics we use 18th Century German poems that have a dark touch. We rehearse in a bunker dating back to the early cold war era. Quite inspiring I must say…

How did you start to make music and what is music for you ?

Schwarzblut was founded when Sturm, Angelika and I decided to work on some songs that laid around at Sturm’s place. Since they turned out quite nice we

agreed to release them. Since we all love doing live shows we decided to also bring the music to the stage. We invited some cool people that would fit on a

personal and musical level to play bass and drums. Thus Schwarzblut became a full-on band. We brings together music, video and poetry. Our band is a platform

for creative experimenting with various forms of art. Come and see a live show,then you’ll know what I mean.

What and who are some of your influences in music

All Schwarzblut members bring their stuff to the table when we write and play live shows. We draw inspiration from various movies, poets and artists. Music wise we love to spin cd’s of VNV Nation, Helium Vola, Skinny Puppy, Feindflug,Frontline Assembly, Estampie, Front 242, Yazoo, Opeth, Qntal, Peter Gabriel, Ministry, Strapping Young Lad and Sonar.

Tell one secret about Schwarzblut that you have never told to anyone?

Sorry…that’s classified.

What is the main idea, the message you want to leave to people who listens to you? What is your motto?

The motto of our latest EP Sehlenwolf is ‘’Im Krieg und in der Liebe ist alles erlaubt’. It means: All is fair in war and love. It refers to the poems used on this EP. I love to use poems that explore the extremes of human emotions and behaviour.

Tell me more about "Sehlenwolf".

Sehlenwolf is our first release. It’s an EP with 5 songs that represent the sound of Schwarzblut. Initially we released it by own management. We sent some copies

to magazines. One of those magazines, Side Line, is partly run by the people of the Alfa Matrix label. They came across Sehlenwolf and liked it very much. They offered us a record deal for our forthcoming full length Das Mausoleum. Besides that they also re-released Sehlenwolf worldwide. It is very well received in the scene. Read the reviews at www.schwarzblut.com to learn what others think about it.

How is the current promotional tour going for supporting this album?

Since we are a true live band, we love to play gigs. We are now doing gigs in Holland and Germany. Gigs are being very well received. We did club and festival shows. In support of Sehlenwolf we also did interviews with Gothic Magazine,Orkus and Sonic Seducer. Check our website to find out more about those.

What was your best live experience so far?

Difficult one. We very much enjoyed the Summer Darkness show we did. Tivoli de Helling is a great place to play and the audience was very welcoming. Our show at Bevrijdingsfestival was extremely nice too. It was outdoors and the square was dancing like crazy when we played Das Mandat.

Our usual question - what is gothic for you?

A creative versatile underground culture.

What are your views on the current state of this electro scene in The Netherlands / Germany in terms of creativity and audiences?

We have always gotten a warm welcome at any show we did. We deeply respect all people who contribute to keeping the parties, bands, festivals, magazines, etc.

going. The scene is small, yet filled with a lot of creative creatures.

What do you do to chill out?

I love to read books, listen to classical music or enjoy having beer at the riverside.

What is the key to making music from Schwarzblut? And what inspires you to keep growing as a musician?

Music is my favourite way of expression. I love to play various instruments.Sturm and I fool around a lot with our synths and drum machines. We discuss our ideas and exchange songs to work on them in our private studio’s. Pushing one another to improve in skill and song writing makes that we come up with new ideas. That positive energy keeps you growing as a person and musician.

While electro is your main musical pallet, what other music do you listen to?

I have a broad taste and ditto cd collection. My latest addition is Abnormally Attracted to Sin by Tori Amos. Before that one I bought Watershed by Opeth. Generally my mood is leading in what cd to play.

Please let us know about your upcoming plans, some new releases you like to confirm here

As mentioned we signed with Alfa Matrix. They will release our forthcoming album that we are currently working on. It will be entitled ‘Das Mausoleum’, as this

album is a tribute to long gone German poets. It will feature 9 brand new songs and possibly a remake of an older song. This album will cover the wide spectrum

of sounds and atmospheres that Schwarzblut is all about. You can expect pounding industrial, angelic female voices, harsh male vocals and heavenly orchestral arrangements. To mention some songtitles: Sterbelied, Die Gunst Des Augenblicks, Wehmut, Das Mandat. Expected releasedate is first half of 2010.Keep your eye on www.schwarzblut.com for the latest info.

When you start to record a new album, is all the writing done or does it continue in the studio?

All the writing and recording is done in our own two home studio’s. We find this is a convenient way of working because there is no time pressure. Most songs are a

hundred percent ready when we record our vocals. But we allow ourselves to make some last-minute additions or changes if needed. For mixing we have a

great producer we work with. We do all final mixing with him at his studio.

How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a websitewith sample songs or a demo CD?

At our website www.schwarzblut.com you can hear streaming versions of all 5 Sehlenwolf songs to get a picture of what we are about. You can order our cd Sehlenwolf online at the webshop of our label at www.alfa-matrix.com .Besidesthat you can purchase high quality MP3 downloads at www.amazon.com or www.itunes.com. And off course the best way to experience the full Schwarzblut how is to attend a live gig.

Any famous last words for your fans that read this? and any last words for www.ebm-industrial.nl

Come and see a show, you’re invited to party along with us!