This "interview" was conducted with PS and JINXY of Santa Hates You on 30 july 2010 Thanks PS and JINXY
We are happy to get the chance to ask you a few questions For the first question will be Thanks Santa Hates You that you have found time to give answers to these questions,
JINXY: No problem! It's a pleasure.
Santa Hates You how are you doing? Where are you currently?
PS: We're doing great! Right now we're both in Hamburg (Germany)
Could you briefly summarize Santa Hates You and what you guys are about?
JINXY: Well, let's just say that you don't have to be crazy to love Santa Hates You, but it helps! We are definitely not an ordinary band. We want to shake you and awake you. We are the soundtrack to your rebellion, your rage, your triumph, your ecstasy.
what noise do you make in Santa Hates You?
PS: We make juicy electronic gothic industrial music deep and rebellious lyrics. Irony and craziness are our weapon of choice.
How's the start of 2010 been for you thus far?
JINXY: It was AWESOME! On February we released our second album "Crucifix Powerbomb" and we are really happy and overwhelmed with the response we are still getting to this day. 2010 is loving Santa Hates You so far!
If people don't know what you and your music are about where have they been!?
JINXY: Now that's a good question! How could anyone possibly not know us? :D Where the hell have they been? Are they living in a box? Are they hiding from the police? Are they monks or nuns spending their lives in a monastery? Who can tell?Do we care? Not really. :)
how would you describe yourself?
JINXY: We are surprisingly juicy and suspiciously tasty. Not for the faint of heart!Our art is not created to please the masses. Santa Hates You is substantially like a David Lynch movie: either you get it (this means it reaches you deeply and instantly) or you don‘t (this means you just keep asking yourself: „what the hell is this?“).
If you could play a show anywhere in the world where would it be?
PS: We'd absolutely love to play in Mexico! We know we have lots of fans there who cannot travel that easily to Europe, so it would be great to bring our musical madness directly to their country! Japan would also be nice.
What do you do when you're not partaking in band activities?
JINXY: Basically I try to stay alive, I write new lyrics, read tons of books and watch hundreds of good films. Oh, and I collect shrunken heads…
PS: I'm pretty busy with my other musical projects (Project Pitchfork and IMATEM), so I'm constantly immersed in music. When I'm not composing I answer interviews, then I answer some more interviews and in between I deejay in some german clubs where I often spot Jinxy engaging in drinking challenges with hairy sailors or playing strip poker completely dressed in a naked round.
JINXY: Mmh, that's true: I do that, too.
Back to your roots, how did you first come to music?
JINXY: My love for music literally started in my cradle. When I was a baby, the people who gave life to me always played Beethoven's symphonies to get me to sleep. Classical music was then also the soundtrack of my childhood… until I grew up and discovered rock'n'roll in all of its crazy facets
.If you weren't a musician what would you be?
JINXY: A foot model: I have really cute, incredibly tiny feet… or more probably I'd be a shrink, as I studied psychology.
PS: The best cook in the world and our part of the Galaxy.
When did you form Santa Hates You?
JINXY: At about 10.30 pm.On a Tuesday.In Autumn.In 2007 (a very good year for Tomasello’s Cabernet Sauvignon and its raspberry wine).
What inspired you to make music together?
PS: To make a long story short: we met at the Ohlsdorfer Cemetery (probably the most beautiful cemetery in Hamburg). We started chatting and we decided to get something to drink. It was a cold night and all we had was red wine and an insubordinate attitude. That's basically how Santa Hates You was born.After that, everything went pretty fast. It was like we were inebriated, almost in trance. Working night by night, we soon had enough tracks for our debut album "You're On The Naughty List". And the rest is history.
Do you keep up with how the record has been selling? Is that really important to you?
JINXY: Well, our label updates us frequently, so, yeah, we are keeping up. But to us that is only important as some kind of "thermometer" to check how our fans are receiving the record and how they are reacting to it. So far it's great, so we can't complain. :)The opinion of our fans is the most important to us, so we don‘t really care much about the rest.
What? They didn’t want their friends to see them buying your record?
JINXY: What? Who? What kind of people would these be? They'd be far too stiff-necked and reactionary to be wanting to buy anything from us. And we definitely wouldn't want them to! :D The people who buy our records are not that balls-less, on the contrary: they are proud to own our cds and to wave the Santa Hates You flag!
PS: … a quick advice for those who are ashamed to buy certain records in front of their friends: you should seriously change friends, quickly! … Or even better: you should change yourself! ;)
Who is your favorite band at the moment?
PS: Combichrist.
JINXY: Right now Otep and Arch Enemy.
What band or bands would you like to tour with and why?
PS: The London Symphony Orchestra, because I like difficult audiences.
JINXY: Tenacious D., because they defeated Satan in a "rock off" … (If you have no idea what the hell I'm talking about, just watch the movie "The Pick Of Destiny" and you'll understand).
Is touring a pleasure or a necessary evil?
PS: It's a necessary, evil pleasure.
How did you come up with the name Santa Hates You?
JINXY: Well, „The Madness“ was already taken, so we went for Santa Hates You! ;-) :DJokes aside, of course the name is a metaphor. We use it to represent symbolically our critical attitude against the ethic-less and fraudulent world in which we live.
How did you come up with the title "Crucifix Powerbomb" (Santa Hates You latest CD)
JINXY: Whoever saw how a crucifix powerbomb (the wrestling move) looks like and can imagine how it must feel, should get a pretty good idea of how our new album sounds. To us, there is no better name to describe the strength and dynamics of our songs on the new release. On this note, “Crucifix Powerbomb” is not only a title, it is a promise! :)
All right. You guys toured heavily after "Crucifix Powerbomb" came out. How did the whole touring, to support that record, turn out?
PS: We toured heavily in our arm of the Galaxy. Unfortunately, there were no gigs on this planet, but the audience on Aldebaran freaked completely out and the Sirius show was sold out.
How do you feel to hold the finished cd in your hands?
PS: It's like holding a baby for the first time.
JINXY: Of course it's a very sexy feeling, I'm not gonna lie to you "Bob". On the other hand it's also a little like touching your own boobs: yes, they're great, but you know them already so good! A part of you immediately wants more! Off to the horizon! Time to conquer new territories! Now we're harvesting the sweet reward, but at the same time we're making new, adventurous plans for the future. We cannot possibly be stopped
.Is your family pretty impressed with what you've done?
JINXY: I personally don't believe in the traditional meaning of "family". My real family are my friends… and Santa Hates You is my family! So, from this point of view, I'd have to say: yes, my family is pretty impressed!
What are your views on the current state of this Industrial / Gothic / Electro scene in Germany.in terms of creativity and audiences? And the scene in other countries?
PS: It's a constant growing and decreasing of creativity, new bands and new audiences. Everything is floating, but it is recognizable that the scene in other countries is growing, too, and that's so fantastic!
Tell me about lyrical compositions what you can tell about the done work?
JINXY: In my case, I write lyrics because it's an inner need. Basically I cannot help myself: I think all the time, weather I want it or not. There are so many things that catch my attention and so many things that make me angry and I have to denounce. My brain seems to be producing witty, unusual sentences almost by itself. Some of these sentences have the quality to haunt me and lurk in my head and they simply don't leave me alone. Only when I write them down and create a lyric playground for them I find my peace.
How does your music creation process work? How do you create a song?
JINXY: When it goes about the soul and the spirit of Santa Hates You we are partners in crime, so we are both equally guilty as charged.:) We share the same Weltanschauung and sense of humor, plus we're both completely bonkers, so this makes us a perfect team. Our songs are always created during very amusing and absolutely frenzy brainstorming sessions. PS is our master of the sound, as I call him. He's the composer and producer. I hope he doesn't mind me saying this (he's disgustingly modest), but he's quite a musical genius!
PS: Oh, please, go on...
JINXY: On top of that he's also a pretty great team player and always asks for and respects my musical opinion. When we meet in his home studio he plays this or that instrumental track and then mostly I'll come up with lyrics for it , or he does, or we'll write some together. Then we discuss about the vocals and how we both want the song to sound. We dive in the Santa Hates You universe all night and sometimes we only surface the next morning.
How did you sell your CD’s/Audio Files? (Consignment? Live sales? My space, iTunes,Distributor?)
JINXY: Our label Trisol is taking care of that, and we're very happy with their work.
Since the music industry is more open now to purely electronic music has this made things easier for you
JINXY: The industry is made of trends, which keep changing, so it doesn't really affect our work and it is not really important. At the end of the day, what is really important is the public! It's the listeners who actually decide what they want to hear, independently from any industry-trends. And that's a good thing!
So what are their main influences as a band at the moment?
PS: Life, The Universe and Everything. Other than that, we pretty much influence each other. We are both creative subversives, which is great. We always push each other to give our best, sometimes we are very strict but we always believe in what we're doing.
Do you see the Internet as a benefit for bands like Santa Hates You?
PS: Like all things, also the Internet has good sides as well as bad sides. It's not that different from the real world.
Does the growing possibility of someone downloading your material, rather than buying it, worry you?
JINXY: Not really. We know that if someone really loves our music, they will download it legally and the will buy the cd. Other people use the possibility to get to know our art through the Internet and that's a good thing. In some countries, for example in South America or Asia, it is very difficult to actually buy european cds, and if it weren't for the Internet some of our listeners wouldn't have discovered us. So, no, we're not worried. :)
How do you see the future of download / Copyright in area of Industrial / Gothic / Electro music ? What are the best ways to develop it in your mind?
PS: In the moment we are in times of "chaos", and as I am a musician I concentrate on creating new music, but as I am a consumer of music too, I appreciate the accessibility all around our planet. But the best ways have to be developed by business men. ?
What about all the big festivals? Summer Darkness in the netherlands? Mera Luna in Germany and Wave Gothic Treffen in Germany and many more?
JINXY: We're actually playing at the "Necropolis Festival" In Brugge (Belgium) on the 15th of October!But PS is going to play at the Summer Darkness with Project Pitchfork, so you'll be able to see him there, too!
If there was one thing you want people to know about your band what would that be?
JINXY: Santa Hates You is going to get ya!
Please let us know about your upcoming plans, some new releases you like to confirm here
JINXY: We're going to keep promoting our album "Crucifix Powerbomb" with an EP coming out in Autumn, which will include great remixes from bands such as Nachtmahr and Extize . Also, we've got a new video coming up, so watch out!
Do you think the music industry is dead?
PS: it's a zombie! :)
Where would you like to see Santa Hates You three years from now?
PS: We would love to play on Sirius again. And we're still hoping to get the one billion sold anti-matter-record from Pollux.
What's the band's favorite song to play live?
PS: All of them, sorry.
And, finally, what does the next twelve months hold for the band?
JINXY: We are working on a collaboration with our Straftanz buddies. We cannot reveal any details yet, but it's going to be awesome, this much is sure!
By the way do you like my questions? tell me what you think about it! ;-)
PS: You're doing quite alright! Not bad, not bad at all!
JINXY: But don't forget to ask the readers of your interviews how they like your questions! They are the most important judge!
It has been a pleasure to interview you on your musical activity,Well,any last words to your ebm-industrial fans? Any final thoughts for the people out there?
PS: Santa Hates You loves you long time!
JINXY: Several scientific empirical studies have confirmed that one of the most common last thoughts of humans is: "Oh no!"
Thanks alot for your answers! We wish you furthermore great success
This page,and all contents,are © 2003 / 2010 permission by ebm-industrial.nl
