This "interview" was conducted with Eli and Homer of Combat Company on 12-Aug-2010 Thanks Eli and Homer

 

From which country / town do you come from?

Eli: We are a German band coming from the northern part... a cute city call Osnabrück.

 

How are you doing? Where are you currently?

 

Homer: We are in the studio again.

 

Eli: Yes, we had a rehearsal tonight for our upcoming shows.

 

Could you briefly summarize Combat Company and what you guys are about?

 

Eli: Combat Company is meant to be a modern band performing Oldschool EBM.

 

Homer: Sex and violence!

 

How's the start of 2010 been for you thus far?

 

Eli: Homer is staring at our wall right now. He is wondering why there stands his name on a piece of a thing I really don‘t know what it is made of or for. Could be a drumskin...

 

Homer: A great gig at the Familientreffen in Sandersleben. We played with Schwefelgelb and Container 90 for example. It was a amazing time we had there!

 

Tell me about this single Homo Superior?

 

Eli: It was a real single from the first moment we produced it. We knew that somehow even before we wrote on that song. It is typical for us to write a concept for a song first and then write the song with the thoughts and emotions I created awhile. It was in late 2008 when I rode some stuff from Nietzsche... Homo Superior is a direct link to him. I‘m loving the ideas Nietzsche wrote for his Homo Superior.

 

Homer: The song is on our coming album, too.

 

If people don't know what you and your music are about where have they been!? How would you describe yourself?

 

Homer: Young and dynamic.

 

Eli: Yes, we are the youth.

 

If you could play a show anywhere in the world where would it be?

 

Homer: CBGB‘s New York.

 

Eli: I would love to play in England, a gig in London would make me lucky at all. But there more countries

and places than this, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome and in Russia. Russia, that‘s for sure!

 

What is your music background? Who are you and your bandmembers? Tell your story!

 

Homer: I have played in a lot of bands before. There was the orchestra of my hometown next to Osnabrück where I played a horn or the Royal British Legion Osnabrück - bagpipes! And I played as bassist in some other bands.

 

Eli: I learned to play the piano, electric guitars and some drums before. Even if I had some bands (most of them were progressive) and I never saw myself being a normal guitar player, I had to do more than that. So I came to the electronic music some years before there was Combat Company.

 

What do you do when you're not partaking in band activities?

 

Homer: Working! And I am learning Ninjutsu since some months.

 

Eli: Yes, working all day and night. But there is also some other music I am producing and there are my friends and my girlfriend I am trying to spend some time with.

 

Back to your roots, how did you first come to music?

 

Eli: Rage Against The Machine. 1992!

 

Homer: I think it might have been Roxette.

 

If you weren't a musician what would you be?

Eli: Punks or artists perhaps.

 

When did you form Combat Company? What inspired you to make music together?

Homer: It in the summer of 2005. We have had a lack of band activities and somehow we met in a church in Osnabrück.

 

What are your top ten favorite Electro / Industrial / EBM / Gothic Club Songs of all time?

 

Homer: Ausgeblutet of Relatives Menschsein.

 

Eli: I like the oldschool stuff. Almost all songs of Nitzer Ebb would do it best! Or Massive Attack. That‘s it.

 

Do you keep up with how the record has been selling? Is that really important to you?

Eli: Our single is near to be sold out. And what the coming album will do, we will see!

 

What? They didn’t want their friends to see them buying your record?

Eli: No, we don‘t care. If they love us they wouldn‘t care either!

 

Who is your favorite band at the moment?

 

Homer: Rummelsnuff.

 

Eli: Nitzer Ebb.

 

What band or bands would you like to tour with and why?

 

Homer: Leæther Strip. Claus is an amazing guy!

 

Eli: I don‘t know. Die Krupps, DAF or something like that. But Leæther Strip is an all time favourite.

 

Is touring a pleasure or a necessary evil?

 

Homer: Pleasure!

 

Eli: Wow, I have never thought like that.

 

And that's how you came up with the name of the band? How did you come up with the name Combat Company?

Eli: It was me, but I can‘t remember how I came to that name. It was a nice sound.

 

How did you come up with the title "Guardian Angel" (Combat Company coming CD/LP)?

Eli: It is a song, too. We wrote it in the last few weeks of the two years of production for the album. It was the great time of supporting Leæther Strip and the end of an awesome year 2009. We had played so many shows. And the title and plot is about a personal story which happened to us or furthermore to me at that time. If somebody likes to know more, please feel free to ask!

 

What are you currently listening to on your mp3 player? What artists have you been listening to these days?

 

Eli: We don‘t have any mp3 players. We only listen to cassettes!

 

Homer: What is a mp3 player??

 

Is your family pretty impressed with what you've done?

 

Homer: Indeed my family is.

 

Eli: I don‘t think they care a lot.

 

Have you recorded any previous cd`s or posted any audio files on the Internet? What type of recording process did you use? Who produced your recording?

 

Homer: We produce the songs ourselves.

 

Eli: Yes, I have a little studio. So it is easy for us to record the songs. As I said before, we write a concept for

a possible song and then we begin writing the text and the music.

 

What are your views on the current state of this Electro / Industrial / ebm / Gothic scene in Germany.in terms of creativity and audiences? And the scene in other countries?

 

Homer: There are too many cybers in Germany.

 

Eli: Yes, the point of deep themes is missing everywhere. But there is a trend back to the roots.

 

How did you sell your CD’s/Audio Files? (Consignment? Live sales? My space, iTunes,Distributor?)

Eli: Our first recordings were distributed by ourselves - on concerts and on the internet.The coming album will have a real distribution. We are under contract at Electric Tremor Dessau, so you can easily buy the album on their webshop for example.

 

Since the music industry is more open now to purely electronic music has this made things easier for you?

Eli: No, I hate the modern thinking. It makes music worse. Nowadays almost everybody tries to create music, but most of them are as bad as hell.

 

So what are your main influences as a band at the moment?

 

Homer: The EBM artists of the first generation.

 

Eli: Word!

 

Do you see the Internet as a benefit for bands like Combat Company? Does the growing possibility of someone downloading your material, rather than buying it, worry you?

 

Homer: Yes to both questions.

 

Eli: I am a fan of buying CDs or even Vinyls... collecting them is my favourite hobby!

 

How do you see the future of download / Copyright in area of Electro / Industrial / ebm / Gothic music ? What are the best ways to develop it in your mind ?

Homer: Music has to be paid. If downloaded or bought as a normal record doesn‘t matter.

 

What about all the big festivals? Summer Darkness in the netherlands? Mera Luna in Germany and Wave Gothic Treffen in Germany and many more?

Eli: We played at the Wave Gotik Treffen 2009 and we would love to have another chance to play thereagain. But M‘era Luna would be so amazing... as it was last weekend and I am so in love 

 

What is the key to make music for Combat Company and what inspires you to keep growing as a musician?

Eli: Sex and violence. All day, all night.

 

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

 

Eli: We are going to play at the Essen Original in Essen on September 11th, at the Gothika Exhibition on October 3rd and at the Project:Assault Festival in Osnabrück on September 24th. It will be our homecoming show this year!

 

Homer: Our album Guardian Angel will be release on September 6th on Electric Tremor Dessau. You are getting all the information on our myspace account www.myspace.com/combatcompany

 

Do you think the music industry is dead?

Eli: Nothing will ever be dead.

 

Where would you like to see Combat Company three years from now?

Homer: Show after show. And perhaps another album.

 

 

What's the band's favorite song to play live?

 

Homer: Warhead.

 

Eli: In Single File and Guardian Angel.

 

What was it like the first time you heard one of your songs on the radio or internet or clubs? Who was the DJ that played your song?

 

Homer: DJ Chino might have played our first version of Life Is War. Then it came to the Hyde Park Osnabrück, a wall no other band from Osnabrück have walked through before us.

 

Eli: It was curios listening to our own songs in the Hyde Park.

 

 

And, finally, what does the next twelve months hold for the band?

 

Homer: Playing shows and working on some new songs.

 

Eli: Promo. Time doesn‘t stand still.

 

By the way do you like my questions? Tell me what you think about it! ;-)?

Homer: It was the first time the questions gave a little deepness. Not a standart thing. Good work!

 

Thanks alot for your answers! We wish you furthermore great success.Any final thoughts for the people out there?

 

Eli: EBM united!

 

Homer: Stand up for your rights!