Featuring carsten & tom |from [:SITD:] Interview by Ruud Dreessen aka ebm-industrial.nl | 21 december 2009 11:45
1- For the first question will be - do you know the netherland?
Carsten: Why certainly! We've played a several times in the Netherlands. Last time on October, 30th at the P60 in Amstelveen.
2- Do you follow the electronic music scene, do you have any other favourite bands?
Tom: Surely, most of all we like the good old EBM stuff. We also prefer a lot of classic electronic stuff like Kraftwerk or Depeche Mode and we like to listen to modern electronic acts like Underwold, Chemical Brothers or The Prodigy.
3- Greetings Carsten and Tom could you please shortly introduce our readers your music project [:SITD:] Please fill also a biographical resume
about how,when and where...give us a more background information?
Carsten: [:SITD:] consists of Tom Leczenski (Music, Programming,Sampling), Frank Francesco D'angelo (Keyboards) and me, Carsten Jacek (Vocals, Lyrics). The band was founded in 1996. In 2002, we got our first record deal (Accession-Records). Down to the present day we've released 4 full length albums ("Stronghold", "Coded Message: 12", "Bestie: Mensch" and "Rot") and a couple of E.P.'s and singles.
4- How did you start to make ,Electro Industrial, and what is ,Electro Industrial, for you?
Carsten: As I said before, in 1996. For us "Electro" is an attitude towards life.
5- What and who are some of your influences in ,Electro Industrial,?
Carsten: See above (2).
6- What are your top ten favorite,Electro Industrial,Club Songs of all time? Who are you influenced by? What would you consider your favorite
cd's?
Carsten: Not sure, what the best song of all time is, maybe "Enjoy The Silence" by Depeche Mode.At the moment my favorite cd is DJ Hell's "Teufelswerk".
7- Do you have a favourite track and album?
Carsten: See above (6).
8- So tell me a bit more about yourself, such as musical?
Carsten: Male, hetero, born under the sign of Libra.
Tom: Male, hetero, born under the sign of Scorpius.
9- By the way do you like my questions? tell me what you think about it! ;-)
Tom: Skill comes with practice.
10- What is the main idea, the message you want to leave to people who listens to you? What is your motto?
Carsten: We won’t look away and will express our point of view.Let’s take ‘Frontal’ from our latest albu, 'Rot' as an example.The song’s main topic is the growing number of intrusions of the state into the privacy of its citizens, often covered as counter-terrorism. Through data preservation of phone and internet data it is possible for the state in Germany since 2008 to trace back who was in contact with whom within the last 6 months. With the help of this data collected from all citizens, they can now create movement profiles, trace back business contacts, and identify private relationships. Also it is possible now to draw conclusions about personal interests and the private situation of the communicating person. Other measures like eavesdropping operations or the possible implementation of a Trojan program financed by the German government are another cause for concern. We’re always wondering about how passive big parts of the society react about this;
or better condone it.
11- What’s the name of your band? What’s the origin of that name? Have you changed the band’s name before?
Carsten: [:SITD:] stands for Shadows In The Dark, which is metaphorical expression for the music and lyrical content of the band. As we started in 1996 many people thought that we’re a Gothic band. So we have decided to write our bandname as short form in brackets to underline the electronic style of our music.
12- "Snuff E.P,Laughingstock MCD,Stronghold,Richtfest MCD,Coded Message:12,Odyssey 13 E.P,Kreuzgang Double MCD,Bestie Mensch,Rot " 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,'Rot" Tell us a few words about the concept of this?
Carsten: 'Rot’ is a strongly accentuated title which is expressing just what we’re connecting with [:SITD:]. ‘Rot’ (Red) stands for warmth and energy, joy and passion, but also for aggression, rage and a revolutionary fighting spirit. Everything we do, we’re pursuing with all our energy, joy and passion which is something we also want to convey to our listeners. Furthermore, ‘Rot’ is the traditional colour of the labour movement we can completely identify with as children of the German Ruhr area. The colour stands for our origin and roots.Furthermore, ‘rot’ is THE signal and warning colour. This, in turn, can be adapted on our songs, which you can interpret as wake-up calls with which we want to address social injustices in society.
Tom: Before we started working in the studio we set ourselves specific standards we never let out of sight during the creational process of the album. We wanted to make an album, sounding much harder and more direct compared to its predecessor. To achieve this specific, genuine immediacy and authenticity we focused on the bare essentials and removed needless dead freight. Furthermore, we upped the BPM count significantly. One basic concern of ours also was to create a certain
roughness production-wise, not heard from us in such consequence since ‘Snuff Machinery’ and ‘Laughingstock’.
13- When's the new album coming out?
Tom: "Rot" was published and released via Accession Records / Indigo on October, 30th, 2009.
14-How is the current promotional tour going for supporting this album?
Tom: The “Rot”-tour was a fantastic experience for us all. We were totally overwhelmed by the reactions of the audience.
15- What do you think of a modern ,Electro Industrial, and about,Electro Industrial, scene?
Tom: We see ourselves as a part of the electronic underground scene.
16- Our usual question - what is ,Electro Industrial, for you?
Carsten: See above (4).
17- What was your best live experience so far?
Tom: We had several good live experiences, no matter if we play big festival shows or in a small club. It's incomparable to stand on stage and look how the audience reacts to our music. It's a wonderful feeling to share your emotions with the crowd, to give something and get something back. We are very grateful to our fans!
18- Please list the name, age, school, and respective instrument of each band member
Tom: Uh?
19-What are your views on the current state of this ,Electro Industrial,scene in Germany .in terms of creativity and audiences? And the scene in other countries?
Carsten: The scene is very big and popular in Germany, especially here in the Ruhr-Area, from which we're come from. Lots of cool clubs and places, like the Matrix or the Zwischenfall in Bochum for instance.But I guess, the scene in the Netherlands is attractive, too. We have always a good time at the Summer Darkness in Utrecht.
20- you have very nice numbers`.............. tell me about lyrical compositions what you can tell about the done work?
Carsten: The title song 'Rot’ is meant for all those standing on the edge not knowing how to move on. ‘Rot’ is a positive signal, a rescuing hand meant to keep us away from the abyss. We’re purposely utilizing a pictorial language to make it possible for the listeners to find themselves within the song. The red colour of the skies described here are a metaphor for the positive associations with the colour “Red” like warmth, energy and love. In our darkest ours we often oversee the positive signals and are not susceptible to them.‘Redemption’ is about the loss of a loved person. We were under the impression of the amok run in Winnenden when we put ourselves into the situation of the grieving relatives. The events touched us deeply, so that we had to do something of this following an inner feeling. As we already dealt with the topic from the offender’s perspective on ‘Laughingstock’, with reference to the amok runs in Littleton and Erfurt, we wanted to approach the topic from a different side this time and that’s how ‘Redemption’ came about. Actually it wasn’t our intention to reveal the complete background; it’s less about the deed itself, but more about the general feeling of grief and loss. But maybe it’s also important in order to understand that no brachial song could come of this, but a song that’s creating goose bumps and which just sounds as emotional as it is.'Catharsis' is Greek and stands for “Cleansing”. Psychology suggests that living out inner conflicts and repressed emotions leads to a reduction of the conflicts and emotions. The film “American Psycho” was a main source of inspiration for this by the way.'Zodiac' is song, which refers to a serial-killer. We engaged ourselves with the phenomenon of the “Zodiac” killer. Besides movies we studied all available sources on the internet. Amongst them we found photographs of the original letters of the killer whose identity couldn’t be proven beyond doubt until today. The bizarre letters coded with symbols and signs, the killer sent the police and local press served us as an important source of inspiration. Thus, corresponding fragments can be found in the lyrics as well.'Stigmata Of Jesus' describes a crucifixion scenario, but from the point of view of a “Stigmatized” person who physically feels the sorrows of Jesus and is mentally going through them as well. Some cases report that the crucifixion wounds of Jesus appear on living human’s
bodies and that these open wounds wouldn’t heal for years just like they wouldn’t become infected. There are reports about a blood flow against gravity. Of courseyou couldn’t describe something like that medically. Therefore, are in dispute with theology, partly classifying “Stigmatization” as wonder. The first documented case of stigmatization is the one of Franz of Assisi (1181/82 - 1226). There’s a kind of thoughtfulness and spirituality which you can feel in many [:SITD:] songs. We don’t advocate any religion. We have our own spirituality, our own view of the universe and how it works. We respect religion and we are fascinated by religion and how it motivates people, but we’re more fascinated by what the beliefs are and the traditions, and how it becomes a social tool. We are sharing strong emotions with our audience and if it works for you, and it helps you, that would be great!
21-What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?
Tom: Electro. Influences? How many times will you ask this question???
22-Since the music industry is more open now to purely electronic music has this made things easier for you?
Tom: No, the biggest problem is ripping and stealing music. Like every single band in this scene, [:SITD:] is confronted with this problem. We wouldn’t be able to survive it without going on tour. We can only stand by, shaking our heads in disbelief, as we watch the music into which we have invested months or years of our lives being ripped and copied for free. Consider this example: If 75% of the audience at a concert gained entry with forged tickets, the promoter, the band, the concert agency, and the venue would all be broke in a matter of weeks…
23-So what are their main influences as a band at the moment?
Tom: See above (21).
24-What is currently inspiring your material as an artist? tell me all about the ,Electro Industrial, scene of Germany?
Tom: See above (21, 23, 5, 2) / See above (19).
25-Do you think that people from the music press didn't expect you to grow up musically?
Carsten: No idea.
26-what is the key to making music from [:SITD:] and what inspires you to keep growing as a musician?
Carsten: See above (24, 21, 23, 5, 2).
27-How do you see the future of download / Copyright in area of goth-,Electro Industrial, music ? What are the best ways to develop it in your mind ?
Carsten: See above (22).
28-If there was one thing you want people to know about your band what would that be?
Carsten: Our influences ;)
29-Please let us know about your upcoming plans, some new releases you like to confirm here
Carsten: In a few weeks we will talk with our label and our management about the plans for 2010 and then we’ll see what the future has in store for us.
30-It has been a pleasure to interview you on your musical activity,Well,any last words to your ebm-industrial fans?
Carsten: Thanks a lot for your support!
31-and what is next on Germany agenda?
Carsten: See above (29),
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?
Tom: Our management www.neuwerk-music.de is responsible for the booking.
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