Question: Naex, you're using traditional instruments such as uileann pipes and bodhran. Are you dedicated to folk music?

Näx: Yes, I can`t deny that I am dedicated to folk music, especially to the traditional Irish music. Sometimes I think that I'm even addicted to it.

When I got into contact with Antichrisis it became apparent that the sound of the Irish uilleann pipes would perfectly fit into Sid's music, so we started off to experiment with this mixture.

Beside of this musical aspect it is really interesting for me to play traditional instruments and music in a non-traditional context. I would like to make the traditional music and the uilleann pipes become known to people who have no special interest in this stuff. Everybody knows what the Great Highland Pipes sound and look like, only a bunch of people know that there are regional forms of bagpipes like the galician Gaita or Boehmischer and Maehrischer Bock in Germany, which may sound a bit crude sometimes. But there is another sound which is well known by films like "Braveheart", "Rob Roy", "Titanic" or musicals like "Riverdance" or "Lord of the Dance", and nobody knows which instrument creates this sound. They only know that non of the average bagpipes sound like this, but also no saxophone, clarinet or oboe. Perhaps a keyboard? Beside of making music with Antichrisis I want to show people that there is an bagpipe-instrument, which is held in high regard in Ireland and amongst folk fans, but which still can be discovered by the worldwide rockpopmetaltechnopunkgrungegothic- andwossisname-audience.

Frage: "Perfume" zeigt eine stark gewandelte Band: Weg vom ehemaligen Folk-Rock/Metal hin zu eher modernen Sounds, inklusive vieler elektronischer Elemente. Wie kam dieses Wandlung zustande, was war euch dabei am wichtigsten?

Sid: Wir haben lediglich unsere musikalische Basis erweitert und ausgebaut, was eigentlich eine ganz normale künstlerische Entwicklung sein sollte: Wir sind stets offen für Experimente, und wenn sich diese in Form guter Songs niederschlagen, setzen wir sie auch um. Dies war somit der einzige Bewertungsmassstab, den bei den Vorbereitungsarbeiten für "Perfume" anlegten: Betreiben wir hier Experimente um des Experiments willen, oder entwickeln sich daraus schlüssige Songs, die unsere Gefühle bestmöglich zum Ausdruck bringen und die dennoch neue musikalische Bereiche eröffnen? Daher empfinde ich "Perfume" weniger als Wandlung, sondern vielmehr als konsequente Weiterentwicklung - und das war schon immer eines der charakteristischen Markenzeichen von Antichrisis.

Question: “Perfume” contains very exclusive kind of music; with it's odour influencing all senses - this time your music is more rock-ish, psychedelic or even sensorical, but however it is still Antichrisis, thanks to Näx's characteristic instruments. Do you agree with this recapitulation?

Sid: Of course Näx' special uilleann pipes-sound has become some kind of trademark, but most of all it's the songwriting that provides the typical Antichrisis-touch: Though I may always use different musical ways of expression, I have developed a very characteristic "handwriting" if it comes to creating and arranging songs: there are no bagpipes on "Carry me Down", "Something Inside" or "Gates of Paradise", yet these songs still sound like Antichrisis... anyway: Näx is a brilliant artist and I just love working with him!

Question: In the booklets preface of "A Legacy of Love" you say that both darkness and light are given to us to make us prosper and grow. Do you consider composing and writing as an adventure and what are your inner conquests?

Sid: I'll have to admit that I haven't got the slightest idea why I had to go through all that tough shit during the time the album was written: O.K., the result of all these emotional misfortunes lead to a very heart-touching album, but if broken-heartedness is the price for the songs on "A Legacy of Love", then this price could be considered much too high! But no need to argue: These things have happened, and I'll have to deal with it somehow, whether I like it or not... There are good times and bad times in everybody's life, and accepting the interplay of both, the necessity of experiencing both to become aware of life's everchanging cycles, might be an important step on our path to self-awareness.

Composing and writing songs is just one part of my inner conquest: I would not call it an adventure, furthermore something like a gift that makes it easier for me to come to terms with life.

Question: When did your interest in music start? And how was your musical development?

Sid: My first-time acquaintance with music started with listening to Roy Orbison (him of the sunglasses at night and the angelic voice!) on the good old valve radio (those were the days!), subsequently superseded by Glam-Rock-protuberances like T. Rex, Gary Glitter. Slade, Sweet and (hold on!) The Kursaal Flyers (maybe that's why they call it the awkward age?). But shortly after my 14th. birthday, being on holiday somewhere in the outback of Bavaria (no rude comments, please!), some blessed DJ player "God save the Queen" by the later-to-be-awful Sex Pistols (them of the plugged bass-player) on the wireless , and from that very moment I turned into a punk (or a monster in my poor mother's humble opinion) without being kissed by your obligatory princess. Blimey, it was just my luck being a punk in a little quaint village that seemed to be bogged down somewhere between the Palaeozoic and the Precambrian era on the evolutionary scale!

As entering upon a punk career meant getting utterly fucked up almost every night, I thought I'd do a favour to my hepatitis if I went into that Dark Wave/Gothic-business instead, which to everyone's surprise served me pretty well during the next 5 years: The likes of Joy Division, Bauhaus, Killing Joke, Theatre of Hate, Christian Death (them of the good-looking singer!), Throbbing Gristle (them of the grotty singer) or Cindytalk weren't exactly what one would call a boisterous bunch, but after all they made me give up drinking (would have been too much fun, I guess).

A couple of years later I accidentally realized that Irish Folk could be even more melancholic and depressing than any CURE-album, and by getting myself an acoustic guitar, I turned out to be a Neo-hippie long before Tracy Chapman or The Walkabouts were invented - and I also found out that buskin' is a hard way of earning money as well as having some extra-ordinary one-night-stands....no wonder there was still no sign of the princess!

After one wicked weekend (we're talking about the golden age of every weekend being amazingly wicked!) I was feeling kind of sentimental and put on the dead-gorgeous "Pretty Vacant"-single by the later-to-be-unnecessarily-reunified Sex Pistols, but unfortunately the record player (that popular stone-age device for listening to music before CD-players were invented!) was on 33 1/3 rpm instead of the much more suitable 45 rpm - and that bungling of mine suddenly turned into pure enlightenment: Punk did sound so much more annoying if played at lower speed! But a few months later I had to find out that some creeps had nicked this brilliant invention of mine and called it "Doom Metal" - you just can't trust nobody!

To cut a long story short: Some time in the Nineties I thought it would sound quite nice throwing all my musical preferences in the big boiling cauldron and seasoning the strange dish with a strong dash of pop music - and that's the way Antichrisis got on the menu!

Question: Is there a concept behind the lyrics of “Perfume”?

Sid: No - both "Cantara Anachoreta" and "A Legacy of Love" had been concept albums, so this time I wanted to try something different, hence each song of "Perfume" is meant to be some kind of snapshot of my life: There are moments of joy and love (for example "Gates of Paradise", "Dragonflies" or "Like the Stars") as well as moments of being pissed off by human stupidity & cruelty ("Hole in my Head" and "Goodbye to Jane") and also some spiritual songs just like "We are the Witches" and "Carry me Down" - all in all a pretty extensive collection of my world of emotions.

Question: Perfume is released by Napalm Records, is it your real first release for them? I think in the past you have suffered by very poor distribution - not to mention promotion!

Sid: "Perfume" is actually our second and last album for Napalm Records - our contract is carried out now and we're free to find a more suitable label for us. I wouldn't go as far as to say that Napalm Records would have done "bad promotion”: After all, they're just a BM/Gothic-label, and they're used to promote bands and artists of that genre - but they've made the mistake of taking Antichrisis for a metal-act, so they were bound to fail in promoting a band that's simply beyond musical limitations! In the beginning of our cooperation with Napalm Records I had the impression that they were interested in entering new musical territories, and that signing Antichrisis was meant to be their first step in that direction - but in the end I realized that they would have been much more satisfied if we'd just recorded "Cantara Anachoreta" Vol. 2 and 3 instead of developing into those directions we've headed for with “A Legacy of Love” and “Perfume”: In fact, they considered both albums as being “too commercial”, but at the same time they're not capable of using this commercial potential for their own and the band's sake.

Question: What about the general atmosphere of Perfume?

Sid: Both "Cantara Anachoreta" and "A Legacy of Love" came into being during rather miserable periods of my life, whereas the songs of "Perfume" arose in a rather different situation; hence it sounds less gloomy or sad than its predecessors did. The quest that began with the debut-album and continued with the second release has found its end with "Perfume"; that's why these three albums do seem like a trilogy to me: "Perfume" is the final chapter of the novel.

Question: Would you like to talk about the genesis of “Perfume”?

Sid: I'm afraid the process of creating an album can hardly be put into words, as it's simply beyond intention - it's all about sitting around until getting hit by another idea for a new song. Some of these ideas remain and develop, whereas others are proven unworthy, hence they go straight into the metaphorical dustbin...

As soon as there are enough songs for an entire album - and in my opinion a proper CD should at least last something over 60 minutes, because customers should get value for money - one has to call the record company to bug them until they give in and send you to the studio, which is always the most difficult part, because some record companies seem to be mostly clueless (they wouldn't recognize a good song even if they'd got run over by one!), conservative (all they ever want is a precise replica of your last album, because it sold quite well and the new one might propably not!) and clumsy (you can always trust them to get everything wrong - even those things that cannot possibly go wrong because of universal laws of unthinkability; but record company executives in general seem to be completely out of any reasonable sphere of action!).

Question: You have just returned from the studio where you‘ve recorded your new album „Perfume“: Can you give us some impressions about the time you spent there, including the material you have recorded?

Näx: I can't remember too much of it. Yes, there were Sid and Dragonfly and my girlfriend Nicole visited us also. And then there was this big, big dog... A funny little man with long hair was also there, always sitting behind a window in a room. I think he was trapped there... Sometimes I saw a young woman with golden hair. And then there was a second big, big dog. And cigarsmoke I think. Well, that's all, sorry.

Sid: We spent 5 weeks at the Blue House Studio in Meerane: We had recorded „A Legacy of Love“ there, too, and as this had been a very pleasant and cooperative experience, we decided to record our new album there again. The Producer, Jens Bachmann, who also runs the studio, is a really great guy: He's not the sort of producer who tries to enforce his own idea of sound on a band, but someone who listens carefully to the band‘s conception and tries to transform their ideas as good as possible into music. Besides, he‘s a brilliant guitarist as well and we were glad that he liked our new stuff that much that he offered to join us for the recordings.

So this time, with the additional support of Kugator on Drums and Tilo Rockstroh on Keyboards, Antichrisis appeared as a "proper" band on an album instead of being just some kind of One-Man-project as it were on previous recordings.

We have recorded 10 songs for “Perfume”: "Something Inside" is a song about someone finding himself trapped in memories of the past, being forced to relive a traumatical situation again and again until he‘s able to let go off the past. Matching the lyric's character, this song comes up like a haunting nightmare, the accoustic equivalent to lying awake in sleepless nights with torturing thoughts banging against your head.

"Gates of Paradise" deals with the subject of being struck down by love but gettin' up again... it's also a song that I've especially written for Dragonfly, and it's the only track on the album where I've done all vocals on my own. The song itself is quite strange: It's based on a shuffle groove, which is normally to be found in traditional Blues or Jazz, but there's also a wall of sound by analogue sequencers, transforming this song into a rather "electronique" shape, whereas the electric guitars pick up the shuffle beat again - pretty weird!

"Hole in my Head" is one of the new songs that we've introduced also on last year's tour: It's about the ignorance and blindness of other people towards the things that really matter, about their predilection for self-righteousness and prejudice instead of thinking for a minute of being tolerant. It's a very groovy track, a mixture of TripHop-sounds and heavy guitars.

"Carry me Down" is our new interpretation of a song that appeared as "Baleias" on our first album and as "Baleias Bailando" on "A Legacy of Love": This song has become some kind of Antichrisis-theme over the years, and I like the idea to present it on every album in a completely different manner: Though it may still be the same song, it always sounds completely different in order to give some kind of musical summary of Antichrisis‘ current development. This time the song has turned into a bewitching blend of TripHop-Grooves, shamanic chantings and heavy guitars.

"Wasteland" is my vision of a perfect pop-tune: Catchy but yet unpredictable! It starts quite mellow and smooth, but as soon as the refrain appears, the guitars break loose. In my point of view, a good pop song shouldn't sound too clean - it always needs a certain kind of racket to disguise its beauty: That makes it much more interesting than offering everything unveiled!

With "Like the Stars" we've entered a completely new territory: Our first song coming up with vocals in Rap-style - but don't be afraid: They fit perfectly into the song, the song itself sounds just great and as soon as the refrain starts, you'll be blown away by Näx' enchanting pipes and Dragonfly's backing vocals - another fine example for a perfect pop-tune!

And for all of those who thought that Antichrisis would have turned into a bunch of sweet-toothed popsters, there's "We are the Witches": A song that picks up the pagan thread of "Cantara Anachoreta" again, sounding as if Black Sabbath had decided to kick ass again - but this time with bagpipes from hell! Heavy as a ton of lead - and equiped with a refrain that‘s based on a traditional english witches' Chant.

I've been always very satisfied with every Antichrisis-release - there was only one thing that has always bugged me, and that was the very bad version of "Goodbye to Jane" on our first album, because of the vocals that had been done in a very uninspired way by former singer Willowcat. I always wanted to re-record the song again. We did a new and much more powerful version, with brilliant vocals, splendid bagpipes and an absolute unbelievable amount of E-Guitars creating an amazing Wall of Sound.

As most of the new songs have turned into really powerful and energetic tracks, I wanted to create some kind of „breathing-space“ on the album as well - and so "Dragonflies" arose in my mind - and when listening to this song you‘ll find yourself easily at a pond on a warm summer's day, the reflections of sunlight on the water and Dragonflies dancing on its surface... and that's exactly the atmosphere I wanted to capture with this track!

The last song on the album and at the same time the first cover-version we‘ve ever recorded is Led Zeppelin's "Whole lotta Love": I always thought that doing cover-versions is a heavy burden, because one usually doesn't cover bad songs, and it's always hard to beat a classic original or even to match it up, especially if it's such a great song as "Whole lotta Love". So doing a cover version does not mean just to „replay“ an old version, but to show a renown song in a new light without treating it in an unrespectful way... but instead of merely repeating the original‘s somehow ridiculous machismo-attitude (although Robert Plant undoubtedly did one of his best vocal performances on this track), we've turned it into some kind of feminist-electronic-dancefloor-metal-with-lots-of-bagpipes-and-naughty-noises!

All in all, our new album has become a very powerful and vital record: Whereas "A Legacy of Love" was the perfect soundtrack for a cold autumn's evening with candlelight, "Perfume" is meant for dancing and headbanging, preferably in a crowded and sweaty discotheque...

Question: It took quite a long time to come up with Perfume, aren't you afraid of losing touch with the fans?

Sid: I'm not afraid of losing touch: Our fans have the chance to contact us via email, and we try to answer every email and every letter we receive as soon as possible.

As I'm doing most of the songwrighting on my own, it's quite understandable that Antichrisis works in a different way than a "normal" band does: I do create the majority of songs, lyrics and arrangements on my own, I do have to come up with the album concept, hence songwriting takes a bit longer compared to other bands where two, three or even more people are working together on the songs in the rehearsal room at the same time. Of course I could come up with new stuff much faster, but I'm quite self-critical, so I'm always waiting until I'm absolutely convinced of every track that's bound to appear on an Antichrisis-album: If I have the slightest doubt about a song, I throw it straight in the dustbin.

I'm also quite sure that our music is good enough that people will remember it even if takes us a while to come up with a new album: Just think of how long it takes Guns'n'Roses or Pink Floyd to come up with a new one!

Question: In which ways have you succeeded in mixing your obviously various background influences to such a wonderful and unique sound?

Sid: I do listen to a large variety of different musical styles, be it Punk, Folk, Metal, Classical Music, Dark Wave, Medieval Music, Country & Western, Reggae, TripHop a. s. o., and one can learn a lot just by listening carefully to different styles - hence theres a multitude of influences reflected in Antichrisis, which makes it quite impossible to describe the sound of this band without ending up with a slightly dumb expression like Medieval-Celtic- Folk-Doom-Black-Gothic-Britpop-Dark- Wave-Grunge-Ballad- Metal or something stupid like that....Antichrisis can't be described in musical terms except with adjectives like unique, refreshing or thrilling. I mean there are bands that do sound like Joy Division, bands that sound like Massive Attack or bands that sound like The Pogues - but there's only one band being able to come up with a compound of all these and many more musical ingredients while still creating its very own musical vision - and that's Antichrisis!

I don't bloody care about artistic limitations: Inspiration comes in any shape it likes, and it'd be a shame trying to restrict it to just one kind of musical expressiveness - if a song comes to me as a folk ballad, I'll translate it exactly that way into music; if it comes to me as a piece of gloomy doom metal, I'll have to let it happen that way! Musical limitation means standstill to an artists creativity.

Take "Forever I Ride" for example, where you'll find at least four different musical patterns within one song: It starts like an up-tempo folk-song introducing a medieval brass band in the bridge, then turns into a stirring metal-refrain, followed by a bewitching atmospheric ballad with fairy-like vocals, when suddenly a ravishing black metal-part with a powerful female lead and wistful Irish bagpipes emerges a.s.o. - there are bands who would make at least 3 complete albums out of the ideas that I've put into just one song!

All ideas for the songs of Antichrisis derive from the spiritual world, hence this music shows such large variety: Spiritual inspiration doesn't care about boundaries of musical style; it comes in any shape it likes and I am nothing more but an interpreter in the literal meaning of the word: If a song comes to me as a folk ballad, I'll translate it exactly that way, if it comes as a groovy TripHop-tune, I'll have to let it happen that way - and sometimes the contents of a song ask for more than just one kind of musical expression!

I do not actually create songs: They come to me like dreams or visions any time they want, they are prodigies of inspiration and that is why I actually cannot plan or propose anything - it's like sitting by a river-bank, watching the petals, leaves, boughs or other things floating by while picking up the most remarkable ones. To me it's a sacred act of inspiration, a gift of the Goddess, and I am most grateful being able to transform this divine inspiration into words and tunes. The songs do seem to create themselves as they go along, both musically and lyrically. All that's left for me to do is giving them a certain shape like a gardener trimming a tree!

Frage: Welche Wünsche/Ziele/Träume hast Du Dir für die Zukunft gesetzt? Was möchtest Du davon unbedingt erfüllen? Und bei was bist Du Dir sicher, daß es Träume bleiben werden?

Sid: Mit meiner Geliebten gemeinsam bis ans Ende unserer Tage in einem Haus an der Küste von Cornwall zusammen zu leben - Ich hoffe schwer, daß das nicht nur ein Traum bleibt.

Question: The lyrics on "Goodbye to Jane" deal with a girl being abused by her father. Is this just fiction or a true story of someone you know? And what's your opinion about child abuse?

Sid: Unfortunately "Goodbye to Jane" is based on that kind of real events that one can read about every day in the papers. It makes me sick to see all that male violence against women - I think that men committing crimes like rape are definitely emotionally deranged yet nevertheless menacing madmen who should get locked away forever!

I do think that the story behind "Goodbye to Jane" displays the typical outgrowth of a patriarchal system that denies female values and oppresses women thoroughly. As Marilyn French once put it: There's an unnoticed war going on, a war against women! Our western culture has lost respect for womanhood: Pornography, prostitution, sexual harrassment etc. seem to be quite common today, although all these occurances do indicate that society's out of balance, that we continually disavow our roots (i. e. respect for women, as each and everyone of us got birth by one!), and Jane is just another victim of a development where even children aren't save any more.

Maybe I had to write a song like "Goodbye to Jane" to do at least some kind of justice to the vistims, although my words surely fail to describe the terror, the pain, the fear and the hate that a girl like Jane must have experienced and suffered from.

The song ends with Jane's suicide - although I'd wish that it'd be the other way round, the victims of male violence don't often have a chance to survive: Either they get kI'lled or they are suffering for the rest of their lifes!

Frage: Sid, Du hast schon eine beträchtliche musikalische Laufbahn hinter Dir - könntest Du deren einzelne Stationen etwas erläutern?

Sid: Puh, wo fang' ich da am besten an? Also: Als ich im Alter von 14 Jahren zum 1. Mal über genügend finanzielle Mittel dafür verfügte, legte ich mir eine elektrische Gitarre inklusive Verstärker zu und stellte unverzüglich fest, daß eine Gitarre zwar über 6 Saiten, ich hingegen lediglich über 5 Finger an einer Hand verfügte, was bedeutete, daß das herkömmliche System des Gitarrenspiels - zumindest so lange es mir nicht gelänge, Akkorde mit beiden Händen zu greifen und die Saiten mit der Nase anzuschlagen - für mich nicht funktionieren würde. Um diesem Umstand Abhilfe zu schaffen, reduzierte ich den Saitenbestand meiner japanischen Les-Paul-Kopie zunächst von 6 auf 2, was die Sache schon wesentlich einfacher machte, da nun meine Finger die Lufthoheit über dem Griffbrett hatten und ich dank dieser Einsparungsmaßnahmen endlich in der Lage war, sämtliche Songs meiner damaligen Helden, der Ramones, nachspielen zu können, womit mein künstlerischer Ehrgeiz zu diesem Zeitpunkt völlig ausgelastet war.

Ausgestattet mit solch atemberaubenden technischer Fertigkeiten begab ich mich darauf hin nach London, da ich in der Abgeschiedenheit meines elterlichen Heimatdorfes beschlossen hatte, ein Punk-Rock-Star zu werden: Dummerweise hatten die anderen Punks von diesem Entschluss nichts mitbekommen, so daß ich mit meinen diesbezüglichen Ambitionen lediglich so weit kam, ein einziges Mal in der Vorgruppe für die Vorgruppe einer drittklassigen Punkband (an dieser Stelle grüsse ich Antipasti....die hießen wirklich so!) in einem heruntergekommen Pub im Eastend zu spielen. Und als es nach 12 Monaten des Starruhms statt jubelnder Fanmassen immer noch lediglich Pommes aus der Mülltonne vor dem Fish'n'Chips-Shop gab, kehrte ich reumütig und hungrig in heimische Gefilde zurück, besessen von dem Gedanken, die depressivste Musik aller Zeiten zu machen (lag wahrscheinlich an den Fritten!). In diesem Zustand der Verwirrung und unter dem Namen Assorted State of Decay veröffentlichte ich 2 Demos, die ihrer Zeit so weit voraus waren, daß sie von der Öffentlichkeit vollständig ignoriert wurden und infolgedessen meine Berufswahl ("Verkanntes Genie") wesentlich erleichterten.

Den Duft des kommerziellen Erfolges schnupperte ich zum 1. Mal mit dem von mir danach ins Leben gerufenen Soloprojekt Temple of Loki, dessen erstes und einziges Demo sich sagenhafte zweiundzwanzigmal (22!) verkaufte. Aus irgendwelchen unerfindlichen Gründen ermöglichte mir jedoch auch diese beeindruckende Erfolgsbilanz noch kein sorgenfreies Leben, weshalb ich weiterhin Lotto spielen und ins Allgäu ziehen mußte, um dort aus lauter Langeweile Cinnamoon zu gründen - wiederum ein Soloprojekt, dessen Symbiose aus Irish Folk und Punk die mit Temple of Loki erreichten Absatzzahlen glattweg verdoppelte.

Damit hatte mein kreativer Schaffensdrang jedoch noch längst nicht seinen Höhepunkt erreicht, da eine höchst originäre Idee anfing, in mir Gestalt anzunehmen: Ich würde einen gänzlich neuen Musikstil erschaffen, indem ich Punk-Riffs so langsam spielen würde, wie es noch nie ein Mensch zuvor getan hatte. Doch wie bei allen guten Ideen mußte ich auch in diesem Fall nur wenig später feststellen, daß sie bereits von ein paar langhaarigen, drogensüchtigen Bombenlegern aus England gestohlen und als "Doom Metal" verkauft worden war!

Durch diesen unverfrorenen geistigen Diebstahl ließ ich mich jedoch keineswegs beirren - im Gegenteil: Ich beschloß, etwas noch viel Ausgefalleneres zu kreieren und verfiel auf die bahnbrechende Idee, besagte Punk-Riffs stattdessen in irrwitziger Geschwindigkeit herunterzuschrubben und dazu skandinavische Volksliedtexte in meiner gefürchteten "Mr. Bean lost his Balls"-Tonlage zu rezitieren, doch auch in diesem Fall schreckten einige Stromgitarrespielenden und Haschischspritzenden norwegischen Pyromanen nicht davor zurück, sich meines Ideenreichtums zu bedienen und ohne Angabe des wahren Erfinders "Black Metal" in Oslo als Patent anzumelden.

Trotz all dieser Rückschläge veröffentlichte ich unter dem Namen Antichrisis im Jahre 1996 das legendäre Demo "Missa Depositum Custodi" - der Rest ist Geschichte...

Your music style has little to do with metal now, wouldn't it be perhaps more fit to play with different kind of bands, at least SKYCLAD, SUBWAY TO SALLY, IN EXTREMO or even better CHIEFTAINS?

Näx: No, I only want to play with bands that are really famous.

Sid: Although all aformentioned bands are very good, I'd prefer to play with bands/artists like Magnetic Fields, Hidden Cameras or Bruce Springsteen (no kidding!) if I had the choice... Of course Antichrisis is not a metal band, and I have been explaining in interviews again and again that Antichrisis can never be limited to just one musical style. We do use some metal influences as well as influences from every other kind of music that we happen to like - be it Folk, Dark Wave, Classic, Dancefloor, Rock, Pop, TripHop a.s.o., so calling us a metal-band would be just as wrong as calling us a Folk-band, Grunge-band or any other kind-of-just-one-category-band. In my point of view, we're nothing else than just a slightly different Pop-band!

Frage: "Goodbye to Jane" behandelt ein Thema, das laut Statistik jedes 7. Kind in Deutschland betrifft. Es ist mir unbegreiflich, wie sich Väter in dieser Weise an ihren eigenen Kindern vergehen können. Glaubt ihr, daß es eine Möglichkeit gibt, diese Mißstände einzudämmen?

Sid: Ich glaube nicht, daß sich unter den gegebenen gesellschaftlichen Verhältnissen in Bezug auf die sogenannten Sexualdelikte - egal, ob es sich dabei um Kindesmißbrauch oder Vergewaltigung handelt - im positiven Sinne etwas ändern wird, denn dies sind systemimmanente Auswüchse einer auf männlichen Wertvorstellungen beruhenden Gesellschaftsform. Bereits eines der Grundlagenwerke des abendländischen Patriarchats, die Bibel, rechtfertigt die alleinige Verfügungsgewalt der Väter über ihre Kinder: So bestimmt z. B. ein Vater seine Tochter zum gottgefälligen Opfer einer Massenvergewaltigung (Richter 19.24); eine weitere Vaterfigur, Abraham, ist auf Gottes Anweisung hin ohne zu zögern bereit, seinem Sohn Isaac die Kehle durchzuschneiden (1. Mose 22.ff), und schließlich ist da noch dieser ominöse Gott selbst, der im Neuen Testament seinen angeblichen Sohn Jesus einem qualvollen Foltertod preisgibt - wahrhaft beeindruckende Beispiele des patriarchalen Verständnis von Vaterliebe.

Daher erscheint mir die erfolgreiche Bekämpfung von Kindesmißbrauch und Vergewaltigung ohne eine radikale Infragestellung der patriarchalen Gesellschaftsordnung an sich unmöglich - es gilt nicht, die Symptome auszumerzen, sondern das Übel an der Wurzel zu packen! Wieviel die körperliche und seelische Unversehrtheit einer Frau oder eines Kindes in unserer Gesellschaft wert ist, läßt sich schon daran erkennen, daß ein Delikt wie z. B. Steuerhinterziehung oftmals ein höheres Strafmaß für den Täter nach sich zieht, als das bei Vergewaltigung oder Kindesmißbrauch der Fall ist. Hinzu kommt, daß eine Frau, die sich gegen den Versuch einer Vergewaltigung so zur Wehr setzt, daß der Täter dabei zu Schaden kommt, selbst noch mit Strafverfolgung zu rechnen hat.

Darüber hinaus erlauben die legale Existenz von Pornographie und Prostitution sowie religiös-moralisch begründete Diskriminierungsmechanismen jedem Mann, sich die Verfügungsgewalt über eine Frau bzw. ein Mädchen anzumaßen - und wieso sollte diese vermeintliche männliche Omnipotenz ausgerechnet vor der eigenen Tochter halt machen?

Würdet ihr im Fall von Kindesmißbrauch auch die Todesstrafe für angebracht halten? Mich hat in diesem Zusammenhang der Film "Die Jury" nach einem Buch von John Grisham ziemlich bewegt - kennst ihr zufällig diesen Film? Falls ja, wie hat er auf euch gewirkt?

Sid: Nein, ich kenne weder den Film noch das Buch, und ich bin mir auch bewußt, daß es in einer Gesellschaft wie der unseren niemals eine Patentlösung für dieses Problem geben wird: Wäre die Todesstrafe das alleinseligmachende Mittel, dann dürfte es ja z. B. in den Staaten der USA, in denen sie vollstreckt wird, solche Delikte nicht mehr geben....Gewalt mit Gewalt zu bekämpfen, ist leider ebenso paradox wie einen Krieg zu führen, um Kriege zu beenden! Nichtsdestotrotz muß wie gesagt dem Opfer Gerechtigkeit widerfahren, und Gerechtigkeit kann eben auch den Tod des Täters bedeuten.

Näx: Oh, beim Punkt Todesstrafe muß ich mich auch einschalten. Davon halte ich nämlich überhaupt nichts, auch wenn ich ab und an spontan Mördern und Kinderschändern den Tod wünsche. Grundsätzlich sollte bei der Bestrafung von Vergewaltigern und allgemein triebgesteuerten Mördern (was nur die wenigsten Mörder sind) die Sicherheit der Opfer und der Öffentlichkeit im Vordergrund stehen und nicht der Satz: Der Mörder (Kinderschänder) ist immer das Opfer. Die größtmögliche Sicherheit vor den gefaßten Tätern (natürlich nicht vor den noch unbekannten) wird selbstverständlich erreicht, wenn diese Täter kurzerhand selbst getötet werden, denn: weg ist weg. Wie man das ethisch/moralisch/religiös werten soll, muß jeder mit sich ausmachen, ich selbst habe mit dieser pragmatischen Lösung meine Probleme. Sie bestehen darin, daß ein Richter nur verurteilen darf, wenn er davon überzeugt ist, daß das, was dem Täter zur Last gelegt wird, auch tatsächlich geschehen ist. Die Richter haben in dieser Frage einen wirklich schweren Stand, und es kommt dabei entscheidend auf die Beweise an. Nun besagt ein Urteil aber nicht, daß der Verurteilte auch der Täter ist, sondern nur, daß der Richter davon, aus guten Gründen, die er alle benennen muß, überzeugt ist. Meistens haben die Richter recht. Was aber ist, wenn sich ein Urteil Jahre später als falsch herausstellt, weil ein neuer Beweis aufgetaucht ist oder weil es neue Beweismethoden gibt? Ein Urteil kann aufgehoben werden, die unschuldig im Gefängnis verbrachten Jahre sind zwar weg, aber man lebt noch. Nur der Tod ist irreversibel. Es gibt viele Fälle, in denen sich nach Jahren herausstellte, daß ein wegen Vergewaltigung verurteilter Gefangener gar nicht der Täter gewesen sein konnte, weil man mittlerweile in der Lage ist, genetische Informationen zu verwerten. Der wirkliche Täter wurde darauf bald gefaßt. Wäre dieser Gefangene aber hingerichtet worden, so hätte die Rechtsordnung und damit die Gesellschaft dessen Tod zu rechtfertigen. In meinen Augen kann fehlende Beweissicherheit aber kein Rechtfertigungsgrund sein, weil ein gleich großer Schutz vor dem Täter erreicht wird, wenn er bloß weggesperrt wird, was im Zweifelsfall aber auch wirklich lebenslang bedeuten sollte. Für einen zu unrecht Verurteilten ist das zwar immer noch bitter, aber es besteht immerhin die Möglichkeit der Entlastung und der Entlassung, was nach einer Exekution nicht möglich ist. Diese Alternative halte ich daher für vorzugswürdig. Kurz: für mich schließt die Möglichkeit eines Fehlurteils die Todesstrafe aus.

Was die Resozialisierung von Vergewaltigern und Kinderschändern angeht, bin ich sehr zurückhaltend. Die Sicherheit vor Menschen, die sich in gefährlicher Weise nicht steuern können, geht für mich im Zweifelsfall vor. Daß der Kindesmißbrauch zugenommen hat, glaube ich nicht. Glücklicherweise wird das Thema derzeit aber so enttabuisiert, daß sich die Opfer trauen, über das Geschehene zu sprechen und die Täter (meistens Familienangehörige oder Bekannte) zu benennen. Es werden heute darum einfach mehr Fälle aufgedeckt und öffentlich gemacht als früher. Diese Atmosphäre finde ich wichtig, damit die Opfer sich eben nicht zurückziehen müssen, sondern Hilfe erhalten können und damit die Täter aus dem Verkehr gezogen werden. Hieran zeigt sich, daß Kindesmißbrauch kein strafrechliches Problem ist, sondern ein gesellschaftliches.

Die Rechtsordnung ist in den Fällen zu kritisieren, in denen ein einschlägig bekannter oder gar verurteilter Täter in die Freiheit gelangt und rückfällig (was für ein harmloses Wörtchen) wird. Mehr als die Bestrafung und Sicherung bekannter Täter kann man von der Rechtsordnung jedoch nicht verlangen. Eine generalpräventive Wirkung von Strafe auf Triebtäter halte ich für Quatsch, so daß die große Aufarbeitung des schrecklichen Phänomens Kindesmißbrauch der gesamten Gesellschaft in allen Ebenen aufgetragen ist. Ein Lied wie "Goodbye to Jane" kann das Bewußtsein in der Gesellschaft vom Kindesmißbrauch zumindest schärfen. Ich finde es gut, wenn die Auseinandersetzung mit diesem Thema auf allen (auch musikalischen) Ebenen geschieht.

Question: What do you think about this folk/celtic renaissance in today's rock scene?

Sid: Well, I appreciate this a lot, because in my opinion it's a most exciting event to re-discover the musical roots of our European heritage and combining them with contemporary music. By the way: It's great to see that nowadays Celtic Folk seems to get the esteem at least that this soulful and heart-touching music always deserved!

Näx: For me it's interesting to see that every 20 years there is a revival of Celtic music. This proves that this music is quite vivid and also adaptable to other musical styles. I admire those musicians who have a huge background of folk music and who are now able to unite their instruments/voices with non-folklorical music, entering new spheres for folk music and rock, pop, classic or whatsoever. A positive effect on this popular mixture is that listeners become aware of musical styles beyond their favourite music.

Frage: Was hältst Du von emanzipierten Frauen?

Sid: Ich fürchte, mit dem Emanzipationsbegriff wird mittlerweile viel Schindluder getrieben: Wenn sich das Verständnis von Emanzipation lediglich darauf beschränken sollte, daß Frauen meinen, den gleichen Blödsinn wie Typen machen zu müssen (z. B. zur Armee gehen), läuft da meiner Ansicht nach etwas schief. Bedeutet Emanzipation jedoch, daß Frauen sich nicht mehr von Männern unterbuttern lassen und selbsbewußt und stolz ihren eigenen Weg gehen, Stärke zeigen und ihr Leben unabhängig von patriarchalen Normen selbstbestimmt in die Hand nehmen, dann kann ich das nur begrüßen: Solche Frauen sind mir äußerst sympathisch! Ich könnte mir jedenfalls nicht vorstellen, in einer Partnerschaft mit einer Frau zu leben, die dem traditionellen Rollenmodell verhaftet ist, denn gerade in einer Beziehung ist es wichtig, daß zwei gleich starke bzw. gleichwertige Individuen aufeinander treffen!

Question: What is so fascinating in folklore? I mean it's a dead culture after all...?

Sid: Dead culture? Oh dear, you should travel once through Cornwall, Scotland, some of the more remote parts of Ireland or even through some outback regions of your country to realize how lively these dead cultures still are! Celtic Folklore has survived for ages and is still alive and kicking! It's only our modern society's ignorance and the arrogance of an americanized cultural attitude that makes us think folklore's just something to be found in your average rural museum.

Näx: Many folklores, especially the Irish, are very vivid cultures, because they are part of the national and regional identity. Maybe the folklorical, or better the ancient way, of life extincts, but times change and nobody wants to live in the past. On the other hand, many aspects of folklore and cultures are not bound to single periods as for example language, religion, literature, crafts, art or music. And they survive in many cultures for centuries, deriving from a dark, mysterious past.

Frage: Hast Du Erfahrungen mit Drogen? Gab es da irgendwelche krassen Abenteuer?

Sid: Da ich in der Punk-Szene groß geworden bin, gab es zwangsläufig einige Erlebnisse mit Drogen, die sich im Nachhinein immer ganz lustig anhören - doch im Lauf der Jahre gelangte ich zu der Einsicht, daß Drogen keine Hilfsmittel sind, um sich lediglich 'nen netten Abend zu machen, sondern daß sie "Lehrerpflanzen" im schamanistischen Sinn sind: Richtig angewendet ermöglichen sie den Übergang in die Anderswelt sowie außerkörperliche Erfahrungen - doch da die Wenigsten von uns schamanistische Fähigkeiten besitzen (mich eingeschlossen) und wir darüber hinaus den richtigen und respektvollen Umgang mit Drogen verlernt haben, möchte ich den Gebrauch von Drogen in keiner Form propagieren; weder in positivem noch in negativem Sinn (Fragwürdige Kampagnen wie die "Keine Macht den Drogen"-Initiative eines Staates, der sich zu einem nicht geringen Teil über die Einnahmen aus der Alkohol- und Tabaksteür finanziert, diskreditieren sich von selbst!), noch möchte ich sie in irgendeiner Form zum Symbol eines scheinbar libertinär-alternativen Gesellschaftsmodells hochstilisieren. Wenn jemand mit Drogen klar kommt: Schön für ihn oder sie, denn es gibt genug Menschen, die das nicht können. Nach allen Erfahrungen, die ich gemacht habe, bin ich jedenfalls zu dem Schluss gekommen, daß die beste Droge noch immer ein klarer Kopf ist.

Question: But aren't you afraid that the direction you've chosen with "Perfume" may bear fruit of falling into excessive musical triviality?

Sid: Why should I? "Triviality" derives from latin trivialis, which means "to be found everywhere" or "commonplace" (from trivium, "crossroads", from tri + via "way")... so what's wrong with that? I'm just a songwriter trying to put his own experiences, which are not so different from those of other people who have fallen in and out of love, in words and music - pretty common, I guess. But again, this says nothing about the quality of music itself! I mean, Bruce Springsteen is a superstar with international chart success, and sure you would call him a fine example of "excessive musical triviality" - and still he comes up with brilliant songs like "If I should fall behind", "I'm on Fire" or "I wish I were blind" that would make you break down on your knees and beg for forgiveness if you were able to listen without prejudice only once.

I know also that you would like to reach wider horizons with Antichrisis' music, to go out of musical underground. You dream about charts, radio stations and (what I was mostly surprised with) people dancing to your music. I think you will admit that it is an unusual declaration in our music environment!

It seems to me that "our music environment" is simply not MY environment: As aforesaid, I'm just a musician, hence all I care about is music, and not any "environment" or "scene" - I'm simply too old for this shit! And what the hell is wrong with making people dance? Or are you by any chance a follower of the "serious-artists-should-make-their-audience-feel-miserable"-school of philosophy? Sorry, but that's not my cup of tea: Even in the most sorrowful Antichrisis-songs like for instance "The Farewell" or "Forever I Ride", there's always a spark of hope shining through! Life is hard enough, and it's not my duty as an artist to make it even harder!

Question: Antichrisis have played one tour so far, as far as I know: what were your impressions from playing live?

Näx: I didn't play on the tour because I was studying wit in Brazil down by the river Amazonas. Very interesting.

Sid: I do love to play live, but the technical and organizational circumstances hadn't been too good on the aforementioned tour. Nevertheless, talking to the fans after the show always was a pleasant experience - it was very impressive to see how much our songs meant to them... and I guess it was kind of surprising to them to see that the people behind Antichrisis are not your average semi-depressed Gothic-geezers, but a bunch of quite easy to get along with people, even if some of us were temporarily absent, pretending to do some quite dubious wit-researches down in Brazil.

Frage: Welche Autoren bzw. Bücher liest Du am liebsten?

Sid: Was die Belletristik betrifft: Alle Discworld-Novels von Terry Pratchett sowie sämtliche Bücher von Douglas Adams, Joolz Denby und Nick Hornby. An SachbuchautorInnen lese ich sehr gerne Marija Gimbutas, Luisa Francia, Gerda Weiler, Peter James Carroll, Nicolas Hall und Barbara G. Walker. Ganz besonders ans Herz legen möchte ich allen, die an Märchen gefallen finden, Saheta Weiks "Drachinnengesänge", die glücklicherweise neu aufgelegt wurden.