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What inspired you to first start making music? And how did you come to be in your current incarnation? Or if you prefer, a brief bio about you.

The reason why I started with guitar was because I wanted to learn the solo in Master of Puppets (by Metallica). I thought if I could play it I could die and rest in peace. Only a few years later it came to my mind that I could write my own songs. There wasn’t really an external inspiration to do so. During my whole youth I was obsessed to get more and more cds that I would spend time to listen to on my discman. These days you couldn’t get easily access to new music via internet, so I went through the local library and randomly took cds out of their portfolio. You could only borrow, like, five cds at the same time so you had to choose carefully and afterwards you were, kind of, forced to listen to them. This might have influenced me in my hearing preferences. I still listen to a whole album rather than singles or compilations. I adore albums like “Dark Side of the Moon” for its conceptional grace as an album. So all this influenced me and the way how I wanted to do music and find my own musical voice. The logical next step was to find someone who could support me in playing my songs live. So it all began with friends in a crappy basement room. The members changed over the course of time and also the style of music, but not my ambitions.

Provide us with some info about your latest release…

For the latest EP we’ve chosen song ideas from the past 4 years which we thought would fit well together on a release. We had already played these songs live in different versions, so we had a good idea what would work and what not. Essential for the production was the participation of my friend Lemmy (from the band Jaguwar). Together we shaped up the songs to its actual presence.

Which ones would you consider your main influences both music-wise & non-music-wise?

Non-music-wise probably my interest for ancient history and humanistic ideas in general. I had quite a nerdy youth so I was into learning Latin, studying historical books and read literature and philosophy. Music-wise probably my local music liberary, more specifically brit/indie from the 2000s like Libertines etc. but I also got massively obsessed with the Manchester music scene of the 80-90s.

In what way does your sound differ from the rest genre-related artists/bands and why should we listen to your music? In other words, how would you describe your sound?

I would describe it as less dark in sound and gesture and not that ridiculously evil and we don’t use makeup and hairspray. We are more into leather, sweat and smell.

Please name your 3 desert islands albums, movies & books…

Concerning albums I would choose: The Horrors – Primary Colours, The Libertines – The Libertines, and Notorious BIG – Ready To Die.

In respect of movies I would say a good choice would be: American Psycho, Lost Highway, Star Trek – The Wrath of Khan.

With books it’s more difficult, but maybe: Houellebecq – The Possibility of an Island, Huysman – Againts Nature, Charles Baudelaire – Fleur du Male (all French, lol)

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Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?

Basically, both, cos both are different. Live it is about energy and sweating with the audience, get a resonance. In contrary, in the studio you have the full control to shape up the perfect sound and present the songs exactly like you wanna get them to sound like.

Is there any funny-unique story you would like to share with us, always in relation to your music ‘career’?

It was still in the very early days of the band, actually, it was the band before XTR HUMAN, but anyway, I had this idea to include some crazy psychedelic “lights” into the live show to get us a unique character. I just read a story about Pink Floyd and how they used light projectors in combonation with molten wax to create interesting shapes on the back of the stage. My budget was very limited so I bought an old school overhead projector and thought we could use it to get us some structures (mostly shadows) on stage. So we had this gig outside our hometown and were very excited about it. We put our stuff in place, also the projector that had worked fine during the test. We started the show and everything worked fine until maybe the third song or so when we all recognized a keen smell. All of a sudden it was not just some smell, but also a bright light appearing and… the overhead was set on fire. That all happened while we were still in the middle of a song. Half of the band tried to go on playing the song while I went for the overhead to get the fire under control. Later I found out that overhead projectors always get super hot and sends the light on a mirror inside. Unfortunately, I missed to focus the mirror well, so it was partly directing on some plastic that caused the fire.

Which track of your own would you point out as the most unique and why?

Maybe “Reflections” because it’s the last song of the latest release. Nah, honestly I don’t know. I am always most excited about the songs I am currently working on. So I would choose songs for my next album that are not even recorded and exist mostly in my mind.

Would you like to share with our readers your future plans?

I’ve been working on the new album since the beginning of 2018. Most of it is done at my home studio and I tried out some new synths and effect pedals. The next step would be a recording session probably by the end of December. But it’s still too early to predict when the whole album will be finished and released. Stay tuned. In the meantime, I also try to include the new songs into the band’s live set.

Free question!!! (Ask yourself a question) you wish to answer and haven’t been given the opportunity…

I rather would like to ask a question myself ⇒ Am I too old or how is it possible that “dad sneakers” are in fashion?

Curated by: Christos Doukakis

Recommended listening:

Connect with XTR HUMAN:

xtrhuman.de

xtrhuman.bandcamp.com

https://twitter.com/xtrhuman