I sometimes receive emails asking me for an autograph -- and I have to say that I haven’t got the faintest idea why some people are so set on getting something so ordinary like my signature; in fact there’s nothing special about my signature (the only thing that distinguishes a signature from an autograph is simply the fact that a signature is written on an ordinary piece of paper whereas an autograph usually comes on a glossy photograph).

If truth be told there are myriads of people possessing a signature of me: my employer, the guy at the cashier’s desk, my health insurance company, the communist party, the credit card company -- my signature is so bloody widespread amongst all those authorities, companies and institutions that it cannot possibly be considered as something special.

But what all these aforementioned institutions and authorities assumedly don’t have is one of my songs: unlike my signature these songs are part of my personality, they contain a great deal of my spirit and soul, my creativity and my feelings. They are so much more personal than any autograph; actually they are something really special and the best thing about them is that you’re all welcome to download them for free here. As Steve Jobs would have said “Isn’t that awesome?”

Just two things to think about: in the past painters didn’t sign their artworks. Why the heck should they? A signature out of the blue would have spoiled the whole painting, and besides it was more important that the painting spoke for itself than its creatorship. Try to spot an autograph on one of Rembrandt’s portraits and you’ll see what I mean -- in fact that’s the reason why it’s sometimes so difficult for art historians to allocate certain pictures to certain artists.

And here’s another one: I once had the chance to attend one of Terry Pratchett’s excellent readings, and I’ll have to admit that even I was tempted to get a signature of my favourite author at the end of the event -- but then I saw the mind-bogglingly long queue of fans waiting for him to sign their books, and a considerable amount of them was not only handing over just one paperback to sign but their complete collection of discworld novels instead.

I really admired Terry for his braveness and friendliness, although one could easily see that he had severe pains in his right hand (mind you, the poor chap was doing lots of readings in these days). So I thought it would suit him better if he would not have to sign my book, too, and went off without an autograph -- because his spirit and his genius is in his novels, not in his signature.

So this is the understanding of politics of Germany’s conservatives: police violence against peaceful protesters in Stuttgart.

What’s happening there is simply a disgrace for every democratic society: citizens are protesting peacefully against a megalomaniac and sumptuous project that’s going to destroy a beautiful part of the city, and all of sudden children, old people and harmless campaigners get beaten up and violated by teargas and water cannons. Seems that Thatcherism is raising its ugly head again -- this time in Germany’s South.

I do hope that the people of Baden-Württemberg will remember that treatment of citizen concerns at the next federal state elections!

Just finished mixing and mastering “Adrenalin” which can be downloaded for free here. It’s the very last song that I’ve produced in our old tenancy in Zirndorf, because we’ll be moving to Renzenhof next week. This means also that I don’t know yet when we’re going to be connected to the internet again (dealing with german Telekom in such cases is never exactly what one would call a pleasant user experience), so there possibly won’t be any news from Antichrisis for quite some time. But as soon as we’ve sorted everything out we’ll be working on new tracks again.

In the meantime we hope you’re going to enjoy “Adrenalin” as much as we did when we were working on that song - and we also hope to be back on the track real soon!

By the way: New Antichrisis Interviews at www.hardharderheavy.de (in German only, also includes a very profound review of A Legacy of Love Mark II) and at www.lagrosseradio.com (in French only).

Awesome news: Antichrisis’ renowned demo “Missa Depositum Custodi” is finally available for free download at Tunguska’s website (and coincidentally you can also order the re-issue of “Cantara Anachoreta” - remastered by Harris Johns - there). Once you have registered you’ll be able to download all tracks of the original demo tape as well as some unreleased tracks from these early years for free from Tunguska’s website. Don’t miss it!

A few months ago Holger Warschkow of Dark Feather asked me for a contribution to his zine’s 10th anniversary edition, and I was more than glad to agree to provide a remix of “Crossing The Line” that I was working on at that time.

Maybe a lot of you might think something like “Duh - does the world really need another dispensable remix? Aren’t remixes just a bad case of flogging a dead horse with making some extra money from an already released song?” - and of course I can’t completely deny that attitude.

But there’s something else about remixes: In the older days (yes, I was born in the sixties, so I should know all about those good ol’ times!) a band recorded a song on tape and once it had been mixed and produced that song could not been altered any more - it was on tape, it was done, and the only thing you could do was a bit of remastering when you felt the need for it.

But these days are gone: Nowadays with all those hard disc recording-prospects there is no such thing like a “finished” track any more. Thanks to your software sequencer’s total recall-capabilities one can work on a project, finish it - and re-open it again 12 months later with all the proper settings just for adding an idea for a new guitar line. And me, I surely love that kind operation method.

Besides, since I’ve released the first version of “Crossing The Line” I couldn’t help but notice that this track needed a more powerful Techno beat to make it work - maybe there are some things that you’ll only find out after having “lived” with a song for a couple of weeks.

Anyway, that’s the reason why I picked up “Crossing The Line” again and revised it for Dark Feather No. 10 (by the way: you can still get the entire double-album here): the groove’s emphasis is now focused completely on danceability and there’s also a more aggressive midsection as well as additional vocals by Ayuma. You may download or listen to “Crossing The Line (Dark Feather Remix)” here. Enjoy!

Just uploaded a new song called “No Going Back”: Some of you may remember this track because its demo version appeared on this website long time ago. “No Going Back” was written during the time I wrote lots of other stuff for “The Legacy Remains” (i. e. the album that never was), but I wasn’t really satisfied with the original version.

But when Ayuma started singing that song I instantly knew that we were working on the real thing. I also noticed that my primal scintillation of recording “No Going Back” as a plain vanilla ballad without any drums and bass was a flop, as the song seemed to lack the sparkling brilliance that is now added by the rhythm section (thanks to Toontrack’s Superior Drummer and Spectrasonic’s Trilian).

I’m really proud of this version because Ayuma’s vocals bear that special kind of melancholy airiness that emphasizes the overall feeling of that song: the battle is over and you have lost - and there’s absolutely no way of ever going back. But at the same time this means that there’s no more burden on your shoulder: though you’ve been bereaved of something that once was so precious to you, you are now free from a situation that was only causing pain in the end. Let your tears flow for the past, but the future’s promise lies already ahead and it’s sounding like a sparkling waterfall from afar.

Maybe this is one of Antichrisis’ most catchy tracks so far - but don’t get fooled by the song’s overall easiness: still a deep sense of valediction is lurking under its surface.

Although I’m pretty occupied with watching the Football World Cup in South Africa these days, I’ve anyway found the time to upload a new Antichrisis track called “The Point of No Return” (click here to listen or download).

This song has seen quite a few transformations since I’ve written it sometime in 2002; at first it was called “The Way”, but I could never get my head around finishing it - until I played the demo version of that song to Ayuma last January: As soon as she heard the track she was instantly hooked to it - and after rehearsing a couple of times she came up with those great vocal lines you’re now hearing on that recording. Besides, “The Point Of No Return” contains also great performances by Frank J. Hennig and Näx, so thanks a lot for your contribution, guys!

But after I had finished mixing the 78 tracks that “The Point of No Return” consists of I swore to myself that I would never be recording as many tracks for just one song again - possibly!

You may have already noticed the new Flattr-badges at the end of every blog entry and behind every song on this website, hence here’s an explanation for that in a nutshell.

Working on Antichrisis’ music and on this website is a very time-consuming mission. Of course I do it simply because I love making music and fortunately many of you out there seem to like Antichrisis’ musical output. Nevertheless I’m doing all this in my spare time, and believe me: it really is a lot of work - just take a look at this screenshot of one of my latest songs in Logic Studio:

The songs you find on this website are distributed online for non-commercial purposes, but quite a few of you have asked again and again in the past for an easy way of contributing at least a little bit of money for Antichrisis’ songs - and this is where Flattr kicks in.

Though currently still closed beta (but you can already sign up for an invitation code), Flattr is a micropayment project started by Peter Sunde and Linus Olsson. Users will be able to pay a small monthly amount and then click buttons on sites to share out the money they paid in among those sites, sort of like an Internet tip jar. The minimum users will have to pay is 2 euros. Sunde said, "the money you pay each month will be spread evenly among the buttons you click in a month. We want to encourage people to share money as well as content.”

The following video gives you an idea of how Flattr works - and the very first moment I heard about this project I thought “This is the future for content payment on the internet: a fair spreading between users and content providers - and in the end it breaks down the barriers between these two groups. Now isn’t that exactly what Punk was all about in its early days?”

So if you want to be part of this new movement, sign up at Flattr and start the revolution now - and don't forget to click on any of the Flattr-badges on this website to get Antichrisis flattred, too.

Holger Warschkow has just released the jubilee edition of Dark Feather No. 10, including a previously unreleased version of “Crossing The Line”, specially remixed for this anniversary edition.

Dark Feather No. 10 comes as double CD and contains besides Antichrisis’ “Crossing The Line (Dark Feather Remix)”
also tracks by 7 Seals, A.Stray, Alexa, Alter Vocalis Ego, Apo Velation, At Daggers Drawn, Avatar, Avataria, Black Chameleon, Die Votion, Embercrow, End Of The Road, Ferment, Frozen Memory, Mirrored In Secrecy, My Lucina, Nion, Osiris T., Plastic Autumn, Shade Of Shambles, Stealing The Bride, Stormgarde, Summer’s End, Tharsys, The Exploding Boy, Via Obscura, Wort-Ton and Your Favourite Nightmare.

As this double CD is sold for 6,50 in Germany and 8,50 € within Europe (including postage and packing), it’s definitely a bargain - so don’t hesitate to contact Holger at Dark Feather to get hold of your copy of this really awesome sampler.

Find also Holger’s short interview with Antichrisis (in German only) here: This time not only Sid is answering Holger’s questions, but also Antichrisis’ female vocalist Ayuma.

Tunguska Records has re-released the eagerly sought-after debut feature "Cantara Anachoreta" including special bonus track "Beautiful Wolves" that didn't make it on the original release on account of playing time limitations back then.

So Tunguska Records proudly presents "Cantara Anachoreta" by Antichrisis not only as a double album (Yes, "Beautiful Wolves" is really that long!), but also remastered by legendary engineer and producer Harris Johns (Kreator, Voivod, Sodom, Einstuerzende Neubauten), glamourizing the album with delightful depth and tremendous warmth.

In addition to that the album's artwork got revised from scratch and now contains superb and exquisite illustrations by one of Germany's most talented and groundbreaking cover artists, making this new edition also interesting for those who already own the original release of 1997.

As this album is distributed by Twilight, international availability should be no problem. For further information see Tunguska’s website.

American journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson once wrote: “The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side” and he was probably right: so many people involved in the music biz are just in it for the wrong reasons, be it money, megalomania, fame, egomania or just because they simply don’t know how to cope with an ordinary life.

But sometimes one runs into people who are in it for exactly the right reasons: because they love music, because they get really excited when listening to a great new track by a completely unknown artist, because they don’t care at all about the charts but are more likely to search the unchartered depths of the world wide web instead for something new that nobody else might have heard of, and they love to share their findings with the world because they are absolutely convinced that the rest of mankind should listen to good music instead of all that piddling Top Ten drivel.

Such a guy is Holger Warschkow of Dark Feather: he puts so much effort and lifeblood into his Underground-Zine just because he believes in what he is doing and the bands he is supporting. And although Dark Feather’s subject is Gothic and Metal, Holger’s own musical taste goes far beyond these brands — and I’m sure that Hunter S. Thompson would have found much nicer words to characterise the music business if more people like Holger were involved.

Because of all that I decided to submit a previously unreleased Antichrisis song to Holger’s newest edition of his zine/sampler Dark Feather No. 9 called “The Point Of No Return”, featuring Ayuma on vocals as well as guest appearances by Frank Hennig and Näx. “The Point Of No Return” is Antichrisis’ latest track with a playing time of more than 9 minutes — and what else is there to say about that song as well as Antichrisis’ future plans can be read in the corresponding interview (which is in German only).

If you should be interested in purchasing that terribly recommendable sampler (containing 12 more remarkable bands apart from Antichrisis) just follow the instructions on http://www.darkfeather.net if you’re from Germany or send an email to contact@darkfeather.net if you’re from anywhere else in the world, because the CD-sampler itself is only 1,95 € (that’s definitely a bargain if I ever saw one!), but postage and packing may vary depending on what part of the world the CD has to be sent to.

And more good news are on the way — just wait until the 14th of May!

Dear Devotees,

A new year has arrived, and we still have to put up with the likes of Angela Merkel and Guido Westerwelle over here in Germany - but fortunately from now on Antichrisis isn't bound any longer to GEMA (German performing rights society), which means that all new tracks by Antichrisis can now be used for internet broadcasting and non-commercial purposes of all kind (under Creative Commons License). That's good news, I guess (especially for all those internet radio stations who couldn't play Antichrisis songs in the past due to these issues)- and as legal matters are sorted out now, some exciting new tracks will see their release in 2010.

Thus I've also added a download section to our website: Feel free to download those tracks there if you want to add them to your music library - they're all good quality mp3-files so they should sound alright on any mp3-device.

By the way: I won't be doing any blog-entries in German any more. I can see by the emails I receive that the vast majority of Antichrisis-fans seem to come from abroad, and I'm sure that our German fans will be able to understand entries in English as well. It's simply a time-saver for me if I only have to write entries once, so I hope you'll understand this decision (and it's also a good way of annoying gladsome Guido, our linguistically challenged foreign minister).

A few weeks ago I've met Jens, our former producer, again: He's now working for Laboga Amps and VIG Guitars, and we spent a very cool evening in Nuremberg with him and his endorser Tommi Denander, who turned out to be a really nice and folksy bloke - and one can really learn a lot by having a good time with such professional musicians.

My wife Ayuma also came up with some great new songs last year which I'm having the honour to produce. If you'd be interested in German music with a very special touch, check out her songs at MySpace or at Ayuma's own website. By the way: Ayuma also did the female vocals on "Here Comes The Night" and "Ocean's Too Wide" - and "The Point Of No Return” is already on its way.

And here's another piece of news: Julia Dobberstein is working on a re-release of "Cantara Anachoreta" with all tracks remastered by Harris Johns, new stunning artwork by Ben and "Beautiful Wolves" as bonus track. There's no release date yet, but as soon as this collector's item will be revealed, I'll let you know.

And if anyone out there would like to follow Antichrisis on Twitter, just look for http://twitter.com/Boscastle (Yep, it's "Boscastle" and not "Antichrisis", as everybody would have assumed. Those who know me will get the reference, anyway).

Bob Dylan was definitely right when he sang "The times, they are a-changin'" in 1964... and if it comes to music business, times have changed pretty much within the last few years. Having grown-up in the heydays of Punk, I totally and wholeheartedly agree that this change was indeed necessary, that it's about time that greedy record companies have to worry about their prospective revenues and realise that they cannot treat their customers like cash cows.

Being a musician myself, I'm torn between the two sides: on the one hand the internet and its possibilities of sharing and distributing music (but if we want to call a spade a spade we should include a term like "illegal downloading", too!) has turned out to be nothing less than a big "Up Yours!" towards the record companies' pricing policy, but on the other hand it has also caused a lot of severe problems for the kind of really devoted musicians and labels trying to make a living from what they're doing.

Experts affirm that today there's only 1 % of legal purchasing of songs and albums, which means that there is only 1 in a 100 songs that the artist or his record company actually gets paid for - and you can't run a business on that terms. That's why our label Reartone Records simply can't afford to release the long awaited Antichrisis album "The Legacy Remains": there's absolutely no chance of breaking even with new independent releases of that kind, hence I totally agree and understand Reartone's decision although I certainly regret that "The Legacy Remains" will now become some kind of "lost album", and that all the work we've put into its production so far was in vain.

Reartone cannot release any new albums as long as the aformentioned situation stays like this - and that doesn't affect Reartone Records only: Even a successful independent company like Chikago's Touch & Go Records with bands like TV On The Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs or CocoRosie has to reduce its output because they just can't cover the costs any longer. Mac McCaughan of Merge Records commented this with the words: "If a company that did everything the right way can't survive in this environment ... then who can?"

But what does all that mean for Antichrisis? Well, there won't be any CD or album releases in the near future at all (unless another label would be interested in signing Antichrisis). As aforesaid, I can understand Reartone's decision and I totally agree with them, hence there's no bad blood between Reartone and Antichrisis. If the economoical situation should change, there's no obstacle for resuming our collaboration.

In the meantime (or for the future - who knows) , Antichrisis will be stripped down to being a 1-man-project again like it used to be in the early days of "Cantara Anachoreta". I'll be doing everything on my own again including mixing and production, and as soon as new songs are finished I'll make them available on this website via streaming audio. I don't have any idea at the moment if there'll be a way making these new tracks available for purchase, because I don't like any of the current online distribution possibilities for independent artists: there are too many different internet platforms with too many different terms and conditions, which makes it difficult to work time- and cost-saving. But as soon as there's a proper solution on the horizon, I'll be trying to provide a good and easy way for acquiring Antichrisis' songs by purchase.

Anyway, I doubt that there will ever be an album by Antichrisis again, as I really don't believe in albums any more: they are a thing of the past, and the future's definitley in releasing separate songs as soon as they are ready and leave it to the customer which individual song he or she wants to have - it should be up to them if they want to burn it on CD or not. Online distribution is the future of any multimedia content, whether we like it or not - but it's all still in its infancy!

So "The Legacy Remains" will possibly never be released and Antichrisis will be reduced to being a 1-man-project again. I definitely won't stop making music, because it's simply such a vital and important part of my life. Of course I could now finish the songs of "The Legacy Remains" on my own, but to tell you the truth it just wouldn't feel right, because these songs were the collective achievement of a band that unfortunately doesn't exist any longer, and it would be quite unfair towards my former band members if I'd release those songs single-handedly now.

The reason that the band has now ceased to exist is due to the fact that we've never been a live group but a studio band. And as all band members are living far away from each other in different parts of Germany, the only occasion we got together was when we met in Reartone's Bluehouse studio for rehearsing and recording. So the end of the collaboration with Reartone Records implies the end of the studio band Antichrisis, too. But I'm glad that both Naex (uilleann pipes) and Frank (vocals) have assured that they would love to contribute their input to Antichrisis in the future, too, so there'll be still some guest muscians around!

Nevertheless my deepest gratitude goes to Jens Bachmann (former guitarist and producer), Tilo Rockstroh (former keyboarder and sound engineer) and Jens-Nils Kuge (former Drummer): these guys did such a great job for Antichrisis on "Perfume" and "A Legacy of Love Mark II", and I'm sure that "The Legacy Remains" would have confirmed what outstanding and unique musicians they are. It was an honour and great pleasure to work with them, and I sincerely appreciate the time we've been recording together.

A new chapter of Antichrisis is aborning - back to the basics, in a manner of speaking, and these basics will sound a lot like "Ocean's Too Wide" or "Crossing The Line" (already available on this website's Music section). And as I don't have to focus on album productions and studio sessions any more, there'll probably be some new tracks here quite soon... so stay tuned!

Last year was definitely a good year for softsynth-aficionados like me: first we had G-Force's significant update to their famous M-Tron called M-Tron Pro, which offers much more sounds and tweaking possibilities than one could have ever expected from a Mellotron-replica, then came Spectrasonics with their groundbreaking Omnisphere (which will receive another important update on January 26th with more than 2000 new patches - and don't ask me when I'll ever find the time to check them all out!), and finally in December Camel Audio released their long awaited sample manipulation synthesizer Alchemy, which I had the chance to work with during the last two weeks.

First I should confess that building sounds from scratch isn't exactly my cup of tea: I love to have a proper library of inspiring sounds that I can tweak and work with, and in these terms Alchemy is simply gorgeous even if not as packed and well-assorted as Omnisphere, but then Alchemy doesn't require 40 GB of free space on your hard drive like Omnisphere does, instead it just asks for reasonable 2 GB.

Alchemy is equiped with over 300 presets sorted in categories like Arpeggiated, Bass, Brass, Drums, Guitars, Keys, Leads, Loops, Mallets, Organs, Pads, Sound Effects, Soundscapes, Strings, Synth, Vocals and Woodwinds, but don't expect any "traditional" sounds: that's definitely not what Alchemy is all about, moreover it aims to create new and outstanding sounds - no wonder, because it allows you to tweak and manipulate every aspect of any given sound, and best of all it also allows you to import your own audio files and put them through its additive, spectral or granular grinder... only the sky is the limit of what you can do to any sound snippet loitering on your hard drive! To find out more about Alchemy's numerous possibilities take a look at Camel Audio's tutorial videos here.

I was most impressed by Alchemy's arpeggiated sounds, its drums, pads, loops and strings: these sounds are so unique and inspiring that I could hardly stop myself from fiddling about with them for hours and hours - really great stuff! I only wished the guys at Camel Audio would have equiped Alchemy with more than just 10 drum sets, because each of them is a case of sui generis and high musical quality.

Alchemy's sound effects and soundscapes on the other hand are the categories that I won't have much use for, but then it's a bit unfair to judge strange sounds like these after I've worked my way through Omnisphere's sound library just a few weeks ago: Sure Alchemy's soundscapes and sound effects do sound interesting and vivid, and there's also a lot of morphing going on, but I think Omnisphere remains simply unexcelled concerning weird and eerie atmospheres and sounds - but keep in mind that someone else might see (or hear) things different, because these categories are of much more use for composers & producers of movie scores and computer game tracks than for your average and humble musician.

All in all Alchemy is an extraordinary and wonderful softsynth offering myriads of editing possibilities that even Omnisphere can't provide. It works like a charm, contains hundreds of unique and inspiring sounds, is expandable (CamelAudio are currently offering 2 expansion sets on their website and there will be more to come) and put up for sale at more than reasonable price. It only took me just one hour until I had to realise that Alchemy will become one of my favourite softsynths! The only problem is that after working with Alchemy, most of my other software synthesizers do sound so bloody boooooring...

A very merry Yultide and a Happy New Year to all our fans out there - and thanks very much for your ongoing support: Hope to see you back again in 2009!



And as this is the end of the year, here are my favourite songs of 2008:

Bruce Springsteen - Dream Baby Dream
Duffy - Rockferry
Tindersticks - Boobar Come Back To Me
Kings of Leon: Sex On Fire
Silver Jews - Suffering Jukebox
Santogold - You'll Find A Way
The Ting Tings - That’s Not My Name
The Raveonettes - Yound And Beautiful
Vampire Weekend - M79
Glasvegas - Geraldine
Moby - Disco Lies
Bloc Party - Mercury
Dido - Grafton Street
Anne Clark - Full Moon
Amy MacDonald - This Is The Life
The Walkmen - In The New Year
Portishead - The Rip
David Byrne & Brian Eno - Home
Soko - I'll Kill Her

Just a few impressions from a beautiful full moon’s stroll that Ayuma and me did just a few days ago. The pictures were taken in our village and in a nearby little town called Herzogenaurach.

Spectrasonics, one of my favourite software companies, has recently released their new virtual instrument Omnisphere, which is really some kind of monster in a very positive way: It is the most inspiring and genuine software instrument I’ve ever come across, and within only a few days it has become almost indispensable for my musical work with Antichrisis.

Omnisphere comes with a vast core library of over 40 GB with thousands of sounds that can be tweaked, combined and manipulated in any way you want. The sounds are not just your average workstation core library sounds, instead some of them are entering spectacular new territories like f. e. the burning piano, which is - as you might have guessed - the sound of a piano being set on fire (which is exactly what those weirdos at Spectrasonics did to achive that special sound). Also the integrated arpeggiator is just brilliant and very easy to handle, the FX-Rack contains everyt bloody effect section you ever wanted and Omnisphere’s sound browser is simply one of a kind because it allows you to actually tag, sort and find the sounds that you’re looking for, which is something that no other virtual instrument has come up with so far.

You see, I’m really excited about Omnisphere and so I can only recommend it to every songwriter, producer or musician around. Check out Spectrasonics’ website for more information here.

By the way: G-Force have released a new version of their famous M-Tron, which is a very great and useful virtual instrument, too. It is my favourite “secret weapon“ for those moments, when most digital sounds are sounding a bit too clean: those old Mellotron soundbanks add exactly the kind of vintage dirt that will make your songs breathe!

Next thing I’m looking forward too is Camel Audio’s new synthesizer Alchemy: it’s not released yet, but the teasers on their website do sound amazing.

As promised a few weeks ago I just added two very early Antichrisis-tracks (demo versions of 'Nevermore' and 'Nightswan') from the archive. Strange stuff, indeed - but for more infos you’d better click here.

Ayuma and me had a really wonderful wedding in Nuremberg (strange enough it took place on Lammas with a New Moon and a Solar Eclipse - that’s what I call Good Omens!) with an amazing party the day after (thanks to all our friends and acquaintances for making our wedding party such a great and beautiful event) as well as a more than brilliant Honeymoon in the Swabian Highlands (special thanks to Franky’s in Tuebingen for providing a splendid and hilaious evening).

As soon as we’ve returned from our honeymoon I’ve started working on some new tracks: one of them is called ˮCrossing the Line“ and can be found on this website’s Music-section - hope you’ll like it (even if its lyrics don’t deal with the subject of marriage at all).

I've been pretty busy during the last weeks working on lots of new songs and preparing things for our wedding day. Yes, Ayuma and me are getting married on Lammas, and I'm really looking forward to the ceremony as well as to our wedding festivity the next day... and of course to making this noble woman, entrancing inamorata and faithful friend my wife!

I’ve also started digitalizing all my old tapes, which means that heaps of previously unreleased material still has to make its transition from ye good ole analogue tape to the digital shelves of my Mac. As soon as everything’s indexed, transformed into mp3 (Sorry for that, Harry: I know you would have preferred Ogg Vorbis for some strange reasons, although I think you just love to have audio data with a file extension that bears resemblance to the name of a mad Klingon high priest!) and thoroughly inspected in terms of aural tolerance, I’ll be putting a reasonable amount of Antichrisis’ early stuff on this website.

In the meantime I’ve received some very nice and interesting emails from Arseny from Moscow and Robert Negut from Bucharest which I haven’t replied to yet: Just a little more patience, guys - as soon as Ayuma and me have returned from our honeymoon, I’ll be returning to you, too.

I’ve also had a few requests for my current top ten which accidently turned into a bloated top sixteen - but that’s personal charting for you:

Soko - I’ll Kill Her
The Killers - When You Were Young
Royksopp: What Else Is there?
Silver Jews: Suffering Jukebox
Flooging Molly - Punch Drunk Grinning Soul
Attila the Stockbroker - And I Wont’ Run Away
The Raveonettes: The Christmas Song
Franz Ferdinand - Walk Away
Jens Lekman - Black Cab
Santogold: Say Aha
Midnight Choir - The Train
Bruce Springsteen - Long Walk Home
The Pack: King Of Kings
The Monks: He Went Down To The Sea
The Thermals: An Ear For Baby
The Mountain Goats: Hast Thou Considered The Tetrapod

And one last thing: Next month we’ll be proceeding with the recording sessions to 'The Legacy Remains' with Steffi, our new singer, so this long postponed album will be on its way, too.

The only answer to China's oppression of the Tibetean people would be:

1. Cessation of all trade relations between Europe and China
2. Boykott of the Olympic Games 2008 in Peking

It's time for any European politician to show which side we're on: either support a nation's struggle for self-determination and democracy, or forget about freedom and democracy in the name of market globalisation!

Please support campaigns for Free Tibet at http://www.freetibet.org/ or http://www.tibet.org/.

We've published a new track in our "Music" section: It's called "Ocean's too Wide", and it's from the pre-production of our forthcoming album "The Legacy Remains". For more infos click here.

Finally we've found a new female vocalist for Antichrisis: Her name is Steffi Breiting, and we are most delighted to have her in the band. Steffi is an experienced singer and has worked with a lot of bands, her latest project being "Moods of Ally" (see also http://www.myspace.com/moodsofally). Steffi's entry means that we will at last be able to proceed with the recording sessions of our forthcoming and long anticipated album "The Legacy Remains", hence I am confident that this album (which got delayed several times due to the changes in Antichrisis' line-up in the past) will see its definite release this year.

Endlich haben wir eine neue Sängerin für Antichrisis gefunden: Es ist Steffi Breiting, und wir sind hocherfreut, sie mit an Bord zu haben. Steffi ist eine erfahrene Sängerin, die bereits in vielen unterschiedlichen Projekten und Bands mitgewirkt hat, unter anderem auch bei "Moods of Ally" (mehr Informationen dazu unter http://www.myspace.com/moodsofally). Dank Steffi können wir die Aufnahmen zu unserem bevorstehenden Album "The Legacy Remains" endlich fortsetzen, weshalb ich auch zuversichtlich bin, daß dieses lang erwartete Album, dessen Veröffentlichung sich aufgrund der Besetzungswechsel in der Vergangenheit immer wieder verzögert hat, in diesem Jahr endlich fertiggestellt werden wird.

Please visit this website and support the people in Burma!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Free Burma

Question: I've noticed that Katja doesn't appear on your website any more. Did she leave the band and does that mean that Antichrisis is without a female vocalist again? If so, have you already found a new vocalist or will the new album be without female vocals?

Sid: Yes, Katja has left the band a few weeks ago for personal and musical reasons, but without any hard feelings. We're still good friends and she's focusing on her work with Gaia Returns now, thus we've started looking for a new female vocalist, as the interplay of male and female characters has somehow become indispensable for capturing the spirit of many of our songs. Luckily a friend of a friend (big thanks to Markus Eck for his procurement) recommended someone he was sure to be just the right replacement, which is why I'm already in contact with the possibly new Antichrisis songstress - but we'll let you know as soon as everything's wrapped up. Anyway, "The Legacy Remains" will definitely contain female vocals...

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Line-up - The Legacy Remains - Vocals

Question: I checked your website, but I couldn't find any information about a new album with new songs. Are you planning to release such an album and will it be available in Poland?

Sid: Yes, we will be releasing our new album "The Legacy remains" as soon as possible. Although there have been some serious drawbacks in the past few months, we're still confident that everything will be ready and done just in time. Besides, our new distributor Twilight will take care that all future releases will be available worldwide as well.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Output - The Legacy Remains

Question: I live in Brazil and I can't find "A Legacy Of Love Mark II" anywhere in the record stores here. Is there a way to get it via mail order from Germany?

Sid : Of course - "A Legacy Of Love Mark II" is distributed world wide by Playbaker. You'll find the reasonably priced album at Playbaker's online store here.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3A Legacy of Love Mark II

If sunlight was floating like streams of honey
it still could not match your smile

If seaweed was made of gossamer lace
it still could not amount to your sweet caress

If clouds were as gentle as a butterfly's kiss
they could not compete with your tender lips

And even if I would lay in a bed of flowers
in the cottonwood's shade
this could not keep up
with that single moment
when I hold you in my arms

Together we walk through this garden of love
We dance on its funeral pyre
And I swear by the stars up above
that you are my only desire

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Poems

Love was like a pastel
in those days of yore
So delicate and flimsy
Feathery colours
like summer clouds in a Devon sky

But the first rain of autumn
made its colours run
and the tempests tore
our slender sketches apart

Thereafter I travelled
so far and long
in search of what was lost
until I realised
that pastels cannot withstand
the storms of life

These days
we are carving our love
into a statue of wood
More strenuous
than working just with brush and easel
Addlepated by its timberish tenaciousness
and irritated by splinters
few and far between

Though unfinished yet
this solid sculpture of ours
is rooted deep in fertile soil
thus we won't have
to shield it timidly
from gale and hail
because we can rely
on its artistry and firmness instead

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Poems

Dear Antichrisis-Devotees!

Bad news first: The release of "The Legacy Remains" will be delayed due to business matters! As the promo campaign for "A Legacy Of Love Mark II" has just started recently (which means that those being unfamiliar with Antichrisis up to now will perceive "A Legacy Of Love Mark II" as a brand new album release of May 2006) , it would be rather imprudent to present "The Legacy Remains" within the next few months. I'm afraid you will have to wait for X-mas or January/February 2007 for Antichrisis' new output...

Nevertheless this gives us the chance to release an album full of great material, as so many new songs have been written and recorded hence only the finest tracks will make it on "The Legacy Remains" - it will definitely be worth listening to!

Besides, everything else is working out fine. After a rather long and cold german winter, spring has finally sprung and I'm looking forward to some more recording sessions with Antichrisis as well as Blindflug, a german speaking project of Bernd and me.

As I do enjoy performing live, I've also put up another side project with Bernd, Flo and Katja, Antichrisis' new female vocalist, called Folkstone Gang. We're doing both cover versions as well as our own stuff, and if you should happen to live in the Nuremberg area, you might want to see us live at

4th July 2006, Irish Castle, Nuremberg
16th December 2006, Pegnitzbühne e. V., Nuremberg

Keep in mind that the aforementioned gigs are Folkstone Gang- and not Antichrisis-gigs, which means that only a few Antichrisis songs will be performed. Nevertheless I'm sure you'll enjoy a very special evening with good songs and a very "folky" atmosphere!

Those of you just interested in Antichrisis will have the chance to see Antichrisis Unplugged (i. e. Katja and Sid only) live on stage at the Balladentag on 24th September 2006 at the Kofferfabrik Fuerth. This event is organised by Florian Baessler, a highly appreciated singer/guitarist, and it'll give you an overview of the singer/songwrighter-scene of my home area. As it is some kind of festival, the playing time of each artist/band is restricted to 15 minutes, notwithstanding Katja and me will play a fine selection of old and new Antichrisis-material (By the way: Blindflug Unplugged will also appear on stage). Please note that Antichrisis Unplugged will already start at 3:20 pm; admission is free!

I guess that's all for today: A very merry Beltane to all of you and many thanks for your loyal support! And maybe I'll be seeing you at some of the aforementioned gigs...?

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3The Legacy Remains - A Legacy of Love Mark II - Blindflug - Folkstone Gang

Winter's last stand
adamantly defending his claim
but nevertheless
preparing to abdicate
as the first rays of sunlight
herald spring's advent

What a long dark winter it was:
Its petrifying coldness
stalling my heart

Germinating like early snowdrops
breaking the glacial deadlock
and memories fade like morning dew
leaving tracery on a frosted window

But with the light of a new day
only runlets remain
and the reminiscence of an afterglow
is all that is left
as I set out for higher grounds...

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Poems

Of course I've made mistakes
insignificant ones
as well as fatal ones

but then
I'm only human:

I believed when I should have doubted
I dared when I should have been cautious
I've been chasing dreams when I should have come down to earth
I got weak when I should have shown strength
I did surrender when I should have fought on

But there were also
a few things I did right:

I believed though I had my doubts
I dared where no one else had the heart
I tried to live up to my dreams even if it meant to overcome sanity and reason
I could be weak where everybody else expected me to wear a disguise
I did let go when hanging on would have caused nothing but pain and devastation

and even if I should fail again
it'll be with dignity

but then
who gives a damn?

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Poems

Staying awake all night
telling jokes and anecdotes
talking about
faith and music
love and death

I wish I could deal with all this
the way you do:
Waiting for a new day dawning
while relying on your friends
to help you make it through the night

And as much as I
enjoy your company
and our hopes and dreams and visions
I'm afraid it won't suffice
to accompany me through this darkness
and dry these cold and bitter tears

Milton was right
there is such thing as paradise lost
and once you've lost it
there is no going back
no more!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Poems

Snow-padded meadows
lie cold, clear and untouched;
An ultimate emptiness
like a world created anew

Out of this scantiness
arises new life
once springtime has come again

But how can I think of spring
when I don't even know
how to survive another winter?

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Poems

What remains
of a heart
that has been torn and shattered for too long?

What remains
and what for shall we endure
when pain is everything we've gained?

What remains
when everything we ever wanted
turns out to be just an illusion of love?

What remains
of hope and confidence
when our last resort has been carried?

What remains
and who will stand
when there's nothing left to fight for?

What remains
when we have to realize
that some wounds never heal?

What remains
when the memory of you withers
and my last song fades away?

What remains
when the last ray of sunlight disappears
and we're left in the darkness?

All that remains
like a whisper in the wind
is the legacy...

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Poems

Back on the stage again
Mister Tough Guy,
Mister Sid,
all dressed in black

With a body language saying
"Don't mess with me
or it'll be
five knuckle shuffle time!"

With a gaze
like a warning sign:
"Keep out!"
in capital letters!

Roaring like a beast
a red hot pumping power-pack
pale with fright inside
that someone out there
might detect
how fragile I am

But I have to protect
this heart of mine
so painstakingly
because you almost killed it!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Poems

Getting divorced today
almost 3 years after we parted
was a piece of cake

Getting you banned
from my mind and dreams
was the hardest part
and took so much longer
than it took the judge
to declare our marriage
as being dissolved

Quite a few things in my life
have turned out fine
since you were gone;
Some went even better
than I would have wanted them
without you

But I still haven't found
the peace of heart
and bliss that I felt
when you lay in my arms...

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Poems

All of a sudden
my life has turned
into one of Bruce's sad songs:

"I had a job, I had a girl
I had something going, mister, in this world"

"Our love has fallen around us like we said it never could
We saw it happen to all the others but to us it never would
Well how could something so bad, darling,
come from something that was so good?"

"Now those memories come back to haunt me
they haunt me like a curse
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true
Or is it something worse?"

He also wrote some wonderful love songs like:

"Should we lose each other in the shadow of the evening trees
I'll wait for you
And should I fall behind
Wait for me"

But I suppose he didn't write these lines about the both of us

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Poems

Fireworks paint the sky
with sparkling flowers of light
while I stand alone
amongst the cheering crowd

Someone's tapping on my shoulder
"Happy new year, mate!" he bawls
Another one shakes my hand,
and there's bear hugs and kisses

Of course they wish me well
"May all your wishes come true!"

Funny - but how could they know
that there's just one wish left
in the fathomless abyss
of my heart?

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Poems

Dear Antichrisis-Devotees!

A new year has arrived and we are getting on fine with the production of our new album "The Legacy remains", which will see its release in the first half of 2006 on our very favourite label Reartone Records. We have recorded 23 songs until now, but only 12 or 13 will finally make it on the album; yet a definite selection will be made not until all songs have been mixed.

Over the last year Bianca, our former singer, has left Antichrisis, but meanwhile we have found a more than equal successor in Katja, who has just received her baptism of fire at Bluehouse Studio and who really fits perfectly into the band.

Of course these line-up changes did cause some extra work, as all those tracks already recorded with Bianca have to be re-recorded by Katja, but nevertheless this won't affect our time schedule for the release of "The legacy remains" that much.

I am glad to introduce a new webmaster as well: Bernd has just taken over Jens' job (by the way: A big "Thank you" to Jens for his great work - he really deserved to be relieved). Besides, Bernd is also a very gifted singer and songwriter (check out his work at http://www.bew-music.de and http://bew-music.blogspot.com), and we recently brought a german-speaking side project named Blindflug into being, that already sounds very exciting.

Thanks for your feedback, your unfailing support and your loyalty!

Best wishes and a happy new year to all of you!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3The Legacy Remains - Blindflug

Question: Antichrisis were a band always sort of veiled in mystery as to the people behind the monicker. Your debut was a creation of one Moonshadow, while on the second record there are completely different people. Can you throw some light on your line-up development and also what's the line-up now?

Sid: Well, It may come to you as a surprise, but Moonshadow and me are just the same person! Moonshadow was my pseudonyme on "Cantara Anachoreta", but because of some drastic personal experiences I decided not to use this name any longer and picked up my "normal" name again. I also wanted to make clear that the audience shouldn't focus on the people behind Antichrisis, but on the music of Antichrisis itself, and with letting Moonshadow "die" (on a metaphorical level) I tried to make clear that I do not want any idolization or anything like that - All that counts is the music itself!

So "Cantara Anachoreta", Antichrisis' first album, was done almost on my own, with support of former guest-singer Willowcat. That cooperation wasn't very satisfying on the long run, so I was searching for a new female singer who I found in Lisa. She did a very good job on Antichrisis' second album "A Legacy of Love", but as she had been just a guest-vocalist as well, the search for a permanent member went on and found it's end when I met Dragonfly, who turned out to be the female vocalist on “Perfume”.

Näx, the "Prince of Pipes", joined Antichrisis shortly after the release of "Cantara Anachoreta", and we got on together very well from the beginning, musically as well as personally. He is a great and gifted musician who has become a vital part of Antichrisis since then and who likes to do weird interviews.

While Dragonfly left the band in 2003, being replaced by Katja Bartsch in 2005, the other guys appearing on "Perfume" (Jens "Gnu" Bachmann on guitars, Tilo "Waran" Rockstroh on Keyboards and Kugator on drums) mneanwhile have become permanent members of Antichrisis, too, and appeared on "A Legacy of Love Mark II" along with classical singer Frank W. Hennig.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Moonshadow - Line-up - Cantara Anachoreta - A Legacy of Love - Perfume - A Legacy of Love Mark II

Question: What do you think of politicians?

Sid: Let's have a look at good old Douglas Adams, for he has always a lot to offer concerning life, the universe and politics:

"One of the major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather who manages to get people to let them do it to them.

To summarize: It is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made president should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: People are a problem." (taken from "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe", Chapter 28, by Douglas Adams).

There's not much to add to this...I deeply distrust every politician, because I do distrust everyone - no matter if left- of right-wing - who think that governing people is their vocation - in many cases they turn out to be just a bunch of power-hungry villains... as Bob Dylan once put it: "Don't follow leaders - watch the parking meters"; or even more radical with the words of Kevin Rowland of Dexy's Midnight Runners: "The only way to change things: Shoot people who arrange things!".

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Politics - Douglas Adams

Dear Antichrisis-Devotees!

Life is a peculiar thing: somehow it always seems to turn out different than one thinks. Everything that appeared so consistent and inextinguishable yesterday will easily vanish like morning dew in tomorrow's sunlight. Stupidly pain has the vice of firing artistic creativity (at least as long as it doesn't exceed a certain level where it turns into plain agony - been there, done that, threw away the T-shirt...), so that Antichrisis' musical inspiration will be provided for much more than just the next few albums (beware of sarcasm here).

But apart from your mastermind's emotional life Antichrisis is developing magnificently: The reason for the delay of this website update was primarily due to the fact that I moved from A to B and that it took me a while to get everything sorted out and reconnect to the wondrous world of the wide web again. But now I'm back on the track working vigorously on the production of our forthcoming album "The Legacy remains".

In this regard there'll be a quite a few surprises and exciting news withing the next few weeks, but I'll hold that back until the next update for reasons of anticipation.

Due to your requests comes my current Top 10-list that accidentally turned into a Top 30-list because of my musical indecisiveness:

"Teignmouth" - Patrick Wolf
"I'm waking up to us" - Belle & Sebastian
"Turning of the Tide" - Midnight Choir
"Love hurts" - Emmylou Harris & Gram Parsons
"We oh we" - The Hidden Cameras
"Smile at Everyone" - Minor Majority
"Understanding Jane" - Icicle Works
"Balkon gegenüber" - Kettcar
"I lost it" - Lucinda Williams
"One thing" - Runrig
"So called Friend" - Texas
"When you were my Baby" - The Magnetic Fields
"Head on" - Pixies
"Uncertain Times" - The Raveonettes
"Serenade" - Dover
"Goodbye Horses" - Q Lazzarus
"If I told you you were beautiful" - Minor Majority
"I will not forget you" - Sarah McLachlan
"To win just once" - Saw Doctors
"The last Beat of my Heart" - Siouxsie & The Banshees
"Live before you die" - Social Distortion
"Reconsider me" - Moneybrother
"Buried Bones" - Tindersticks
"Neon Moon" - Midnight Choir
"Common People" - William Shatner
"Please don't leave" - The Ramones
"Like a Cannibal" - Mila Mar
"Ode to L.A." - The Raveonettes
"Landungsbrücken raus" - Kettcar
"Come back from San Francisco" - The Magnetic Fields

And don't forget: The limited digipack edition of "A Legacy of Love Mark II" is still available at Playbaker at a bargain price!

In the end there's a quotation of victorian poet Alfred Lord Tennyson that crossed my mind while I was going through recent occurrences:

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809 - 1892)
"In Memoriam" (1850)

Best wishes to all of you - and stay tuned!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3The Legacy Remains - Favourites - Poems

Dear Antichrisis-Devotees!

Finally the time of waiting is over!

“A Legacy of Love Mark II” has been released recently on Reartone Records.

All songs have seen a vast musical enhancement, they've been re-recorded and re-arranged from the ground. Both cover and booklet habe been re-designed to match the songs and their contents in a much better way. The new editing of the entire album allowed us to add the formerly unavailable “End of December” as bonus track.

Overall the album sounds much more consolidated now: The new interpretation of its songs has succeeded in taking the exhausted predecessor “A Legacy of Love” to a new level of musical and emotional experience.

In order to avoid the the price policy of the greedy music biz, we have chosen a different kind of distribution channel, hence for the time being “A Legacy of Love Mark II” will be available through www.playbaker.com only. This allows us to offer the album much cheaper than your average digipack edition.

That’s all for today - we’ll keep you informed about further developments!

Best wishes to all of you!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3A Legacy of Love Mark II - Reartone - End Of December - A Legacy of Love - Bonus Track - Playbaker

Dear Antichrisis-Devotees!

Mission accomplished: We've just finished re-recording and remixing “A Legacy of Love”! The album will see its release within the next few weeks (digipack with bonus-track); we'll let you know in due time about its definite release date.

The album will be called “A Legacy of Love Mark II”, because it's actually meant to be an update to the original “A Legacy of Love” album of 1998. We just left the vocal parts and a few instrumental solos untouched, whereas everything else got completely rearranged and re-recorded by the new Antichrisis line-up.

I was never completely satisfied with the original "A Legacy of Love"-album because Antichrisis didn't sound like a proper band at that time (of course it couldn't because I had to play most instruments on my own). But as the songs on this album deserved a second chance, I thought that it might be a good idea to let the recent Antichrisis line-up re-record the entire album so that you'll get an idea of what Antichrisis sounds like today. And as our fans demanded a re-issue because "A Legacy of Love" got out of stock a long time ago, we'll be killing two birds with one stone.

My gratitude goes to Jens, Tilo, Kugator and Näx: “A Legacy of Love Mark II” wouldn't have become what it is without your artistic skills and creative input!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3A Legacy of Love - Re-Recording - Bonus Track - A Legacy of Love Mark II - Line-up

Dear Antichrisis-Devotees!

We’ve been working busily on the final completion of the pre-production to our new album as well as on the re-release of “A Legacy of Love” during the last weeks, although I have to say that “re-release” doesn’t quite take the bisquit as we’re not just doing your average remixing and remastering-job, moreover we’re re-recording guitars, drums and keyboards completely: The E-Drums we used in 1998 got already thrown out and were replaced by Kugator’s excellent drumming.

All in all “A Legacy of Love” will be completely revised, edited, restored, remixed and remastered before it’ll see its re-release by the end of the year. Those who already liked the original album will presumably go haywire with this new edition!

Many of you have written emails in which they were complaining about the missing “My favourite Top Ten”-section that was part of our old website, hence a selection of my current favourites right here:

Life fades away - Roy Orbison
Don’t play that Song (You lied) - Ben E. King
Levi Stubb’s Tears - Billy Bragg
Warning Sign - Coldplay
Brand New Start - Paul Weller
Love is Only a Feeling - The Darkness
Mary’s in India - Dido
With Whom to dance - The Divine Comedy
Duke of Earl - Gene Chandler
Boys of Melody - The Hidden Cameras
Sleep Well Tonight - Inspiral Carpets
Ascension - Kirlian Camera
Du sälde vära hjärtan - Lisa Ekdahl
Pillar of Davidson - Live
The Gift - Midge Ure
Dark Island - Mike Oldfield
Whale - Rescue Mission
Hear My Song - Vernon Midgely
Ring on the Sill - Cowboy Junkies
Until the Morning Comes - Tindersticks
Ciega Sordomuda - Shakira
All My Little Words - The Magnetic Fields
These Arms of Mine - Otis Redding
Shakin’ all over - Johnny Kidd & The Pirates
Say Hello Wave Goodbye - David Gray

That’s all for today - we’ll keep you informed about further developments!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Re-Recording - A Legacy of Love - Favourites

Question: What comes to your mind when you think of the following items:

God?

Sid: A hoity-toity nincompoop who should be voted out of office straight away as he does obviously a lousy job!

Goddess?

Sid: The promising opposition candidate I'd be voting for!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3God - Goddess

Question: Many gothic metal bands have used female vocals very well but also in excess nowadays. How do you feel about it? What is the main difference between a female and a male musician to you?

Sid : Yes, it seems that the Nightwish-syndrome has taken over the gothic metal-scene, quite often in order to disguise the male singer's incapacity, but that point doesn't concern us at all: I am a pretty good vocalist myself, but I like the idea of integrating a female voice because of the different colour that this vocals provide to the big picture of Antichrisis.

This doesn't necessarily mean that I'd prefer the male voice being responsible for the aggressive or powerful parts of the music whereas the female singer does all the soft and lyrical bits - this kind of stereotype is much too predictable and boring, hence I'm simply avoiding this mode of operation.

The difference between a male and a female musician? I don't see any difference in general because in my book musicianship doesn't depend on sexual categories, just on artistic ones - and if it comes to singing, it's merely reduced to the fact that there are not that many men able to sing soprano, whereas women hardly reach the pitch level of the bass.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Vocals - Stereotypes

Question: What comes to your mind when you hear the word christianity?

Sid: Christianity means nothing to me but a religious fraud: Though it is pretending to be about love, it sows the seed of hate and intolerance - and a damn lethal seed it is as one can tell by the track of blood christendom has left in history!

That doesn't mean that I'd disdain any person who's a christian believer...nope, everyone's free to believe what he/she likes as long as they're not harming any other living being; and if they think christianity's their cup of tea then good luck to them: It certainly isn't mine!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Christianity - Love - Hate - Philosophy

Question: Do you think that love is far away from hate? What is more difficult: to love or to hate?

Sid: I think love and hate cannot be put on the same level with each other, because while both being undoubtedly powerful emotions they are nevertheless of completely different derivations: You have to have a reason for hating someone, but you dont have to have a reason for love! On the other hand, love can easily turn into hate sometimes, as I've tried to explain in "Trying not to breathe" with the line "I hate you and I love you for what youve done to me": If the one you love leaves you, then two strong emotions are fighting against each other within yourself, and this is nothing but a horrible outburst of devastition! Being torn apart between love and hate is a most dangerous process, because it can easily end in self-destruction: Someone broke your heart, but you still love her/him because of the good times you've shared, and at the same time you hate that person because she/he has the power to make you feel so tremendously bad - it's like being a small iron particle in the centre between two strong magnets: Unable to move and unable to escape... Nevertheless I think it's much easier to love than to hate, although I don't deny the fact that hate is a very vigorous and vital force in human life; but as you have to have a cause for hating someone or something - unless you're a complete weirdo - hate is a rational-based state of mind, whereas love with its ability to strike you sometimes out of the blue is definitely a spiritual force. If you have a reason to hate someone, then do it - justified hate has to be lived through with all its consequences in order to keep your inner equilibrium, and you'll feel a whole lot better after you've gone through it. But hate can only be an ulterior motive for a certain time, it has to find its end at some stage, at the latest when it's achieved its object - otherwise it'll burn you out and leave you all barren, whereas love can go on forever and ever without doing any harm at all: There is no end to unconditional love because it is the divine impetus of life itself: The more you love, the more you'll obtain!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Love - Hate - Trying Not To Breathe

Question: People say that when you fall in love you do not notice anything around any more - was it the same to you when it comes to your first love?

Sid: To me it's exactly the other way round: When I am in love, I perceive everything around me much clearer - as if I had lived in a two-dimensional world before and now suddenly entered a three-dimensional reality! The sun seems brighter, the nights more enchanting, the moonlight much softer, the air sweeter... everything seems more intensive, more real - but at the same time more magical as well.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Love

Question: How do you feel when you hear about pornography with children through the Internet nearly every day? Do you think that one day it will be common to watch those pictures on TV?

Sid : I do hope not - but this male dominated society is a rather sick system, and there's already enough abominable pornographic stuff in the internet and on TV right now! In my point of view, pornography in general is the documentation of the abuse of every female being; and the fact that not only a few men are turned on by pornography and prostitution shows that a majority of the male gender is neither able to develop a healthy sexual self-awareness nor to perceive women as autonomous human beings.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Pornography - Feminism

Question: Which are the main feelings you want to transport through your music? Would it be melancholy or beauty - or both?

Sid: The main idea behind Antichrisis is that music and lyrics as an undividable entity should be a reflection of my soul, a mirror of my dreams, my visions, my desires and my emotions. Hence this music is of very personal and intimate matter, for it reveals my inner self completely.

Melancholy and beauty are both part of my world of emotions, as well as love and hate, sadness and joy, fear and hope, strength and weakness, desire and lust, depression and confidence... it would be impossible to list all the emotional states I am or have been going through, but nevertheless they're all reflected in my songs - and that's exactly what I want to transmit to the listener: The heart and soul of me, my emotions with all their shades and nothing else.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Melancholy - Love - Hate

Question: Antichrisis has released 3 excellent albums so far, but hasn't achieved that much recognition. Do you have an explanation for that phenomenon?

Sid : Thanks for your compliment. I guess the point about Antichrisis being not that popular as it deserves to be (at least in my humble opinion) is that Antichrisis is not "trendy" enough! It's not easy for the audience to "consume" our music, because the music itself challenges a listener's open-mindedness! If you listen to a Cradle of Filth-album for example, you'll always know what the next song on the CD might probably sound like, because bands like CoF as well as many others are strictly limited to just one musical style... but if you listen to an Antichrisis-album for the very first time, it's simply impossible to predict what'll come next - or would you have expected a Pop-tune like "Nightswan" after the Intro ("How can I live on top of the mountain?") on our 2nd. album? And even if you think you might have got the idea behind Antichrisis, then the next album will be completely different from the last one...

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Nightswan - How Can I Live On Top Of The Mountain? - Variety

Question: Have you ever played live? I would be really interested in your gigs which must be a great experience. Another band I know once mentioned that their dream would be to play in an ancient church. Have you ever thought similarly about this as well?

Sid : We have actually been playing live when touring Europe (Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands) together with Tristania, The Sins of thy Beloved, Siebenbürgen and Trail of Tears in spring 1999, but it wasn't exactly a satisfying experience for us: poor organisation, lack of essential equipment, bad promotion and other unpleasant circumstances made this some kind of "Tour de Force" - 19 gigs within 3 weeks without a day off, surrounded by a horde of permanently drunken Scandinavians wasn't that much fun! Anyway, we tried to make the best out of it and act as professional as possible (quite tricky if you haven't the chance to do soundchecks!), so we could at least prove the audience that Antichrisis is also a splendid live-act! Unfortunately Naex couldn't be with us on that tour, as he had to pass his exams at that time, so the tour-band included just me, Dragonfly, Brown Jenkin on Guitar, a mad session drummer and our japanese friend Roland on Keyboards and Sequencer.

Nevertheless I do enjoy live performances, although I'd prefer an old pagan temple to a Christian building for an Antichrisis-gig - as long as there are enough sockets somewhere: Otherwise it'd be a rather "unplugged" experience (which wouldn't mean a serious problem to Antichrisis either, as we're capable of doing an acoustic set as well).

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Tour - Line-up - Live

Question: You do seem to be fascinated by ancient cultures, am I right?

Sid: Yes, you are: I'm interested in matriarchal cultures all over the world, especially in those of Northern-European, pre-Celtic origin.

I do also admire Celtic Art: I remember having seen photographs of early Celtic Art when I was about 14 years old, and from that very moment I've been fascinated by the rich symbolism and the beauty of that artistic school; and so I tried to go deeper into Celtic Culture, reading every available book that I could lay my hands on. I spent about 10 or 12 years on reading and learning until I began actually understanding the spirit of all I've read about, which goes far beyond plain knowledge - spiritual awareness cannot be learned, it has to be experienced. Of course it was of great importance to me to gain knowledge through literature, but really experiencing the Celtic Spirit happened when I visited some of the ancient quoits in England and Ireland and listened to the old ballads not only with my ears, but with my heart!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Ancient Cultures - Matriarchy - Celtic - Spirituality

Question: In which ways have you succeeded in mixing acoustic and electric music?

Sid: When I wrote the songs for "Cantara Anachoreta" and "A Legacy of Love", I usually started with evolving the basic chords on acoustic guitar, but for "Perfume" things were different, because of its emphasis on electronic sounds and grooves. I started with just some basic rhythms and bass lines when working on the "Perfume"-material, which was a modified way of creating and arranging songs. causing the tracks to develop in another musical direction than those of "A Legacy of Love", which was just what I wanted.

Personally, I don't see any reason for drawing a parting line between electronic and acoustic instruments: They both have their advantages, and they're both wonderful tools for creating the musical soundscapes of Antichrisis.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Crossover - Cantara Anachoreta - A Legacy of Love - Songwrighting - Perfume

Question: What does the word love mean to you?

Sid: Love is pure magic, and like every magical power it contains both creative and destructive energies. Come to think about it, the most miserable periods in my life were always caused by the negative outcomes of love (i. e. broken relationships), but at the same time I'm aware that the most beautiful moments were also because of love. If wanting to experience love, one has to be strong enough to face both heaven and hell: The higher one rises, the deeper one falls! In order to avoid all that trouble, you'd have to stay mediocre - but despite of all that I've gone through, this would not be my cup of tea, anyway!

There's a wonderful song by Hazel O'Connor that goes: "If I had another chance, I would have the same romance with you and life, the happiness and the knife. If I had that time again I'd change it not another way..." - and I guess the same goes for me: I'll never regret to have loved, even if it always ended in tears. But there's no price to high for love, and if you do love, you have to accept the fact that it makes you very vulnerable, that it might even kill you. It's a question of all or nothing, I'm afraid. Edna St. Vincent Millay once wrote about this: "My candle burns at both ends, it will not last the night; but, ah, my foes, and oh, my friends, it gives a lovely light". Or, with Tennyson's words: "Tis better to have loved and lost than never loved at all".

To me, love is the most sincere and honest feeling, a divine power that can make us goddesses and gods, a feeling that is equiped with closeness, truth, respect and unconditional faith. I don't know if this is just an ideal that'll never become reality, but even if the quest for true love should be bound to fail: Wouldn't life be rather poor without this dream?

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Love - Poems

Question: What is your definition of true love?

Sid: That's difficult to explain: To me, love is like the most beautiful song ever heard, like dissolving in an endless sea of light and passion, having found what you've been looking for all your life, drowning in your lover's eyes, a blissful dream without end - but also being there whenever you're needed, always standing by your lover's side whatever may come, always being sincere and true to the one you're with etc. There are too many facets to true love than can be mentioned, I'm afraid.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Love

Question: Some individuals seem to find erotic literature and pornography (I'm talking about the legal stuff here, not snuff or paedophilia etc.) to be showing women as inferior, while others believe that it's a positive way of portraying the female body, making women more worth in a man's mind. What do you think about this?

Sid: As the term "pornography" has derived from the Greek term for "presentation of whores", it's quite obvious that pornography doesn't deal with respect for women. Pornography doesn't intend to show women as individuals or subjects, but as sexual objects of men.

Pornography is unable to portray the female body in a positive way, even in cases when it tries to hide its true aim under the cloak of "fine arts", because the standards defining the female body are made up - Surprise! Surprise! - by men: They define what or who is to be called "sexy", "beautiful" or "erotic" (although men talking 'bout eroticism is always a bit like a blind talking about colours!)....and after all men have decided that women always look best when being victims: Either victims of male fantasies of rape and violation, or "just" victimised by the way they have to expose and exhibit themselves in front of a camera.

Referring to sexuality itself, the majority of men are a bunch of ignorant creeps. Their only sensual interest seems to be reduced to some mindbogglingly obscure movements of their naughty bits, while their sexual stimulation seems to consist of goggling randy at some gynaecologically exposed parts of the female body. They don't see that sexuality is some kind of erotic "culture", which is much more than quick movements of the pelvis.

Pornography is nothing more than the product of the sick minds of those scruffy wallies we call "men", and it's jolly obvious that it was never meant to be for the sake of appreciation or adoration of women, but for degrading, abusing and exploiting them.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Women - Pornography - Erotica

Question: I think I can easily say that "A Legacy Of Love" is a manifesto of love and friendship: do you think that people influenced by this album have changed their view on these issues or have perhaps discovered a new truth for themselves?

Sid: We've received lots of feedback to this album, and the reactions to it were quite peculiar: In the beginning, after the album's release, most people were puzzled and confused because they expected a gothic album similar to our debut, "Cantara Anachoreta”, so they were not at all prepared for the Folk Pop-experience of “A Legacy of Love”. But after a while they seemed to understand more and more the album's deeper meaning: Gothic Metal would have been a too limited musical diction to express all the feelings I wanted to manifest on that album. My ambition was to create an album that would outlast time, both in form and content, and I think we have achieved that goal: One can tell this easily by all the requests we receive for a re-release of "A Legacy of Love” (the album is meanwhile out of stock); seems a bit like if this album was too far ahead of its time and that just now people become aware of its emotional and musical value (and I'm sure it'll be exactly the same with "Perfume")... Many people were touched and moved by "A Legacy of Love", because this album reflects the most primary human experiences of love and loss in an almost painful yet simultaneously beautiful way: Maybe one of its main effects was that it made people realize that they were not alone: No matter if you're in love or if you'd just lost someone you've loved - when you got home at night, there was always this album to provide confirmation and bliss, or consolation and hope. I doubt that "A Legacy of Love" changed anybody's life, but it made them see things in a different way: It made them realize the beauty of love as well as the importance of holding on to one's dreams even if having to face drawbacks from time to time. In the end, that's what art of any kind is all about: to create the state of catharsis for the audience that makes people feel better instead of dragging them down.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3A Legacy of Love - Love - Cantara Anachoreta - Folk - Pop - Gothic - Metal - Perfume - Crossover - Dream

Question: With your sort of pagan influenced view of the world, how do you see love and life as opposed to war and death?

Sid: Death belongs to the natural cycle of love and life, whereas war is a destructive force made up by sick human minds. According to my point of view, death is not the end, but the transition to another level of existance. Love is the ultimate source of everything, a power that brings growth, splendidness and fruitfulness. As long as love exists, there is always hope and faith and beauty... of course there's also a dark side of love, but this aspect only arises from disappointment and betrayal by humans; i. e. the lack of the pure energy of love - but I guess I've said enough about that darker side in some songs like "The Sea" or "The Farewell".

Näx: I like love more than war and death. Death is a part of the big game and I don't fear it. Just trying to be prepared.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Paganism - Love - Death - The Farewell - The Sea

Question: I have got a feeling that the cover of "Perfume" was prepared in a hurry: It looks so very poor and its content inside is also very modest. What sense does it make to put your lyrics at the Website only? Don't you think that a buyer deserves its printed version in the booklet?

Sid: Point taken. First: I'm a big fan of the cover artwork that Peter Saville and Martyn Atkins did in the early Eighties for Manchester-based label Factory Records, esp. for Joy Division. No naked female vampires or fake plastic skeletons or what else you have on your average contemporary goth-covers, but plain and straight, Bauhaus-inspired (not the band, but the famous school of arts in Dessau) artwork that didn't draw the listeners attention from the music. And as I do like that style a lot, I wanted to have something similar for "Perfume", and so we did the booklet-design together with Guido Meyer de Voltaire, who - even though he's always missing the deadline - did a great job. Whether you like it or not, the cover of "Perfume" was done with purpose and care - and most of all it does look neither "gothic" or "metal". Proper job.

Second: We didn't put the lyrics in the booklet due to objections of Napalm Records. They've had lots of problems with the rather thick booklet of "A Legacy of Love" that caused many complains by record dealers: Peasants browsing through the CDs in the store did take the booklet out and had to fiddle about like hell to get it back in the case again, most of the times in a very crinkled or even ripped condition.

So we had to find a way to let buyers have all the lyrics either wedged on 4 sides of a CD-booklet, which would have only been able with using a font not larger than 4 points and hence causing serious sight-damages to the innocent customer, or putting them on properly lay-outed and more easily readable pdf-files on our website, which allows even non-CD-purchasers to get hold of the lyrics. By the way, the download's for free; we do neither charge anything for it nor do we demand a voucher of purchase or any serial numbers for it, so I don't really understand why you're so upset about this - nowadays even people without internet-connection do at least know somebody who has a PC (or preferably a Mac) and a modem. But maybe that's another case of being "too modern" again... I only wished all Antichrisis-fans would be that worried and concerned about when it comes to loading illegal mp3-files of our albums up and down!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Perfume - A Legacy of Love - Macintosh - Booklet

Question: Do you think Perfume has met the expectations of your audience? Will Antichrisis ever hit the airwaves of commercial radio station or do you consider yourself as being not "mainstream" enough...

Sid: To be honest, I don't care about our audience or its expectations very much: First of all, my music belongs to me and no one else - if other people like it as well, then this is just a lucky coincidence and not the main reason for my musical output. That's why I don't want to push Antichrisis in any way whatsoever: As a human being, I'm constantly developing, and these developments will cause effects on Antichrisis' music as well. At the moment our music is published by a record company - maybe one day we don't need record companies any more, but who cares? I got some recording devices at home, and I certainly won't stop writing and recording new stuff anyway, may it get published or not. I'm not in this business for fame or money...in the end, I'm just a songwriter who simply does what he has to do - although I think Antichrisis does provide a certain commercial appeal as well: Songs like “Goodbye to Jane”, “Our Last Show”, “Wasteland” or “Like the Stars” could - with some proper support - easily enter the charts, as they are both catchy and mainstream-compatible, though still maintaining that special Antichrisis-touch!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Perfume - Expectations - Goodbye To Jane - Our Last Show - Like The Stars - Audience

Question: So we've got the third album of Antichrisis. I have to tell you that while listening to this album for the first time I had a feeling that the album sounded too modern, that you drift towards pop music too dangerously. My feeling was for sure influenced by the fact that the songs form “Perfume” were easier and somehow nicer; they fell faster into your ear. But after listening to it few times you realize that it is the same band, only refreshened and more "cheerful" Do you agree?

Sid: First of all let me ask you a question: What kind of complete nonsense is this to evaluate music by criteria like "too modern" or "drift towards pop music too dangerously"? Do these terms say anything about the actual QUALITY of music? No, not at all - it's just the sort of pseudo-know-it-all-terminology used by people who have stopped listening to music with their heart but trying to analyze it with their so called brains instead! Either you like a song or not, either you find it awful of great - but trying to evaluate music with terms like being "too modern" is nothing else but a sure sign of utter backwardness! When Richard Wagner first hit the scene back in 1841 with his opera "The Flying Dutchman", critics laughed at him, calling his music "too modern" as well - guess who's the laughing stock now?

But anyway: As you've already found out, "Perfume" may sound different from "A Legacy of Love", but it's still Antichrisis - even if it's another side of the same band! We just used a different form of musical expression, as we do consider repetition as dead boring - we're musicians, not parrots!

"Perfume" 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, preferably in a crowded and sweaty discotheque... maybe that's the more cheerful side of Antichrisis you're referring to.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Perfume - Pop - A Legacy of Love - Dancefloor

Question: Sid, you were born in 1962: What makes you continue in the fields of music after all these years. Perhaps music is such a large part of yourself and your life that you simply couldn't live without it?

Sid: Yes, music is one of the most essential gists in my life - it's like a prayer to me, a divine gift of the Goddess allowing me to express my feelings, my visions and dreams that would otherwise be unutterable...

Music is so much more than just a hobby to me: It's the rhythm of my life, and I always feel like a dancer between the worlds when performing my songs.

I do not think that music is a matter of age: It only depends on how devoted you are. If it's just a pastime, then you'll lay down your guitar as soon as you've settled down and other things have become more important. But if you're a passionate musician, nothing will stop you from expressing your emotions through melodies, harmonies and rhythms.

Of course my musical taste has changed through all these years: Although I still listen to that old school of '77 Brit-Punk (Those were the days... sigh!), I'm nowadays also listening to classical stuff, Irish Folk, TripHop, Country & Western and Reggae (just to name a few): As long as it is a "good" song, I don't care about any musical styles...

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Goddess - Influences - Favourites - Classic - Irish Folk - TripHop - Country & Western - Reggae

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.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Uilleann Pipes - Folk - Pop - Metal - Punk - Gothic - Instruments

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!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Perfume - Uilleann Pipes - Carry Me Down - Something Inside - Gates Of Paradise

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.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3A Legacy of Love - Songwrighting

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 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 The Kursaal Flyers. 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 myself a favour 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.

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 making some extra money.

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 anybody!

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 how Antichrisis got on the menu!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Favourites - Influences - Punk - Irish Folk - Doom Metal - Pop - Crossover

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.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Perfume - Cantara Anachoreta - A Legacy of Love - Gates Of Paradise - Dragonflies - Like The Stars - Hole In My Head - Goodbye To Jane - We Are The Witches - Carry Me Down

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.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Perfume - Promotion - Metal - Gothic - Cantara Anachoreta - A Legacy of Love

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.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Perfume - Cantara Anachoreta - A Legacy of Love

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!).

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Perfume - Songwrighting

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...

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Perfume - A Legacy of Love - Line-up - Something Inside - Gates Of Paradise - Hole In My Head - TripHop - Carry Me Down - Baleias - Baleias Bailando - Wasteland - Pop - Like The Stars - Rap - Uilleann Pipes - We Are The Witches - Cantara Anachoreta - Goodbye To Jane - Dragonflies - Whole Lotta Love - Electronica - Dancefloor - Metal

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!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Perfume - Songwrighting

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, 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 Antichrisis’ sound without ending up with a slightly dumb expression like 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.

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.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Influences - Punk - Folk - Metal - Classic - Dark Wave - Crossover - Medieval - Country & Western - Doom Metal - Gothic - Britpop - Forever I Ride - Songwrighting - Black Metal - Uilleann Pipes - Spirituality - Inspiration - Reggae - TripHop

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 harassment etc. seem to be quite common today, although all these occurences 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 victims, 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 killed or they are suffering for the rest of their life!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Goodbye To Jane - Pornography - Suicide - Feminism - Women

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!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Live - Metal - Folk - Dark Wave - Classic - Dancefloor - Pop - TripHop - Crossover

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.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Folk - Celtic - Pop - Classic - Crossover

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.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Folk - Cornwall - Celtic

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!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Perfume - Love - The Farewell - Forever I Ride

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.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Live - Tour - Gothic

Question: What is your preferred music today and do you listen to underground bands as well?

Sid: I listen to a large variety of music: Classical stuff, Dub Reggae, Country & Western, Celtic Folk, TripHop, Punk (hence I love internet radio, as it gives me the chance to listen to stuff that would never be played on the ordinary airwaves!) - just to name a few: I don't make any differences between underground or commercial bands as long as the music itself does send shivers down my spine (which is quite hard these days, as I have to admit!).

Näx: I listen to Irish Folk Music and latin-american stuff from Cuba and Peru a lot. My favourite underground bands are The Chieftains and Afro Cuban All Stars... oh yes, and Buena Vista Social Club is also fuckin‘ great!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Favourites - Reggae - Country & Western - Celtic - Folk - TripHop - Punk - Irish Folk

Question: When listening to your vocal performances, I can detect a certain passion and also an ability of acting in different characters. It seems that you're identifying yourself with each song. What do you think is the quality of a good singer? And don't you think that many young bands of today's scene do not feel real passion for what they're doing?

Sid: Being a good singer requires the ability to re-live the situation of the song you're singing: Song and singer have to melt into one, the song's story has to become part of the vocalist's emotional world. This is only possible if the lyrics do reflect your feelings and experiences - then singing a song can become something similar to playing the leading role in a drama: Like every good actor you have to become another character, reveal other facets of the human soul. A good singer is always able to immerse into a world of its own when singing a song.

A musician - just like every proper artist - has to be a visionaire; if not, his art would be nothing more than mere craftsmanship. Many young bands seem to care more about meeting an audience's expectation or copying their idols instead of developing their own musical language - that's not vision, but a frame without a picture! All that matters is musical inspiration, the artist's vision - and not image or outfit!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Vocals

Question: In Summer 1995 the debut demo "Missa Depositum Custodi" was released: Seems it was a great success in the underground, but it seems that it was mainly sold in Germany. What do you think about the demo nowadays? Should you have worked longer on the material before recording it or is it exactly the way you wanted it to be?

Sid: There has been an edition of 500 copies of "Missa Depositum Custodi", and it has been sold-out within 6 months after its release, which is quite good for the first demo of a newcomer. You are right: Most of the copies were sold in Germany, just a few in Greece and Italy. There hasn't been a 2nd. Edition because as the demo got Antichrisis a record contract, it had fulfilled its purpose and is now simply a collector's item.

I still like "Missa Depositum Custodi" because whereas the sound of the subsequently released album "Cantara Anachoreta" is much better with the songs being performed much straighter, the demo with its more "baroque" attitude and insufficient sound (that's homerecording for you!) nevertheless manages to create an own special atmosphere. Of course many things could have been done better, but I consider recordings as some kind of snapshot: The attraction lies in the spontaneity and not on some perfect technical standards - true feelings are always miles away from being immaculate, I guess! "Missa Depositum Custodi" is simply the best I could come up with at the time I recorded it.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Missa Depositum Custodi - Cantara Anachoreta

Question: Your reference to classic characters like Romeo and Juliet in "Our Last Show" gives a theatrical aspect to the story: Would you consider yourself as a modern Romeo?

Sid : No, I don't think that I'm a modern Romeo: I may be a very romantic person and though I sometimes felt like one of those star-crossed lovers that Wiliam Shakespeare mentioned, I'm not a victim of misunderstandings and intrigues like Romeo was. I just think that we're nothing more but actors on life's badly illuminated stage, forced to take part in comedies or dramas without any chance of getting to know the script or to rehearse.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Our Last Show - William Shakespeare

Question: What causes your fascination of Celtic music or folk stuff in general. Don't you wanna pick up some german folk influences?

Sid: Well, there's nothing wrong with German folk music (by the way: The Celts have settled and lived in Germany, hence there are also traces of Celtic folklore to be found in our musical heritage!) and if I had the hang of it I surely would assimilate those musical traditions of my native country (and there are bands around here who are doing suchlike stuff like f. e. Zupfgeigenhansel, Biermoesl Blosn, Alpinkatzen or Hans Söllner and many more), but somehow I seem to be connected to and deeply rooted in English/Celtic culture. It's something I can't explain logically - it's just that every time I'm setting foot on English soil, it feels like sort of homecoming; like I had been living there for ages, and it also never occurs to me as if I was a foreigner there: Everything about England seems so damn familiar to me!

The same goes for Celtic folk music: If I listen to an English or Irish folk song it seems to me as if a voice from afar would be answering the yearning call of my soul...it just makes my heart dance! But there's absolutely no reasonable explanation for this kind of fascination - maybe it's a matter of the heart like falling in love with someone.

Näx: Whenever I listen to music, I usually judge it by the following three measures: Does the music touch me? Is the music composed intelligently? Are the Instruments well played?

Celtic Music touches me inside and the musical part of my soul is addicted to this Celtic stuff. Now, there is one point that is really fascinating to me: The enormous diversity of a music which is passed on just by listening and learning. When you try to understand this music, to play or to analyse it, then you start to think about who composed these complex songs or tunes. When were they composed? Who played this tune which you are playing at this moment before, and who danced, cried or loved to it? And which rules make a tune last over centuries? Then you feel that this music has a deep peacefull power inside which can fill your veins if only you let it. Other people may have these feelings with other kinds of music, but most of them have never experienced the mysterious fascination of traditional music. In addition traditional music does not depend on written notes or recordings in general, in contrary to classical or rock-, pop- or metal-music. This makes traditional music so resistent against fast moving trends. Although reality sometimes proves the opposite (as in Germany), traditional music has a touch of immortality.

It is sad that there is no widespread german traditional music any more. Traditional music is still alive in some regions where regional culture is maintained. But the biggest part of this music became a victim of the success of classical music. When classical music became modern in Germany, people lost interest in their own traditional music and so it died.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Celtic - Folk - Irish Folk - Love - Pop - Metal - Instruments

Question: Where can I find Planet Kyrah that you sing about so beautifully? Does it have something in common with the novel "Little Prince" by Saint-Exupery?

Sid: Kyrah is a fictional planet of unconditional love that can only be stepped on by lovers. It's a symbol for true love's purity, chastity and innocence, hence I do like the comparison with the little prince's planet, as it shares the same bittersweet aura of transitoriness. Blissfulness and sadness are sometimes almost the same, and the older we get, the more we become aware that nothing, not even the most wonderful moments, do last forever!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3A Legacy of Love - Planet Kyrah - Love

Question: What's the meaning of the cover and the artwork in the booklet of "A Legacy of Love"?

Sid : The pictures show neolithic paintings and statues & figurines of European Goddesses to emphasize the spiritual aspects of Antichrisis, because all songs on this album are dedicated to the Great Goddess, and to a certain extent "A Legacy of Love" can be seen as a tribute to her.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3A Legacy of Love - Matriarchy - Booklet

Question: I'd like to know the reasons about your choice of Antichrisis as monicker...

Sid: Antichrisis is a greek anagramm meaning "Sacred Dances to honour Queen Isis", and it stands for the pagan-matriarchal tradition that Antichrisis was and still is connected with. There's absolutely no satanic or whatsoever background as quite a few people presumed who misspelled the bands name as "Antichrist".

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Monicker - Isis

Question: Why do you think is Ireland, the cradle of such beautiful music, torn apart by such stupid religious conflicts?

Sid: Because this country is a perfect example for the fatal combination of religious intolerance, historical injustice, and human stupidity! This conflict will never find an end as long as it's so much easier for some to hate than to forgive, and as long as there are always a few who stand to gain by the suffering of the people! Fancy that those who preach war and violence and who try to instigate the masses to carry on fighting are never those who have to bleed or suffer from destitution. But people love to follow leaders instead starting to think for themselves...

Näx: The Irish conflict is a political conflict hidden behind former religious problems, which are the result of the migration of people forced by English policy. As the Irish majority is tired of the civil war, I hope that the extremists of both sides give up their out-dated opinions, get into dialogue and finish their bloody fight that is of no use to anybody.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Politics - Hate

Question: What comes to your mind when you think of Black Metal?

Sid: Just another fake teenage rebellion by predominantly male middle-class nitwits going through puberty, obviously taking pulp literature, b-movies and themselves much too seriously.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Black Metal

Question: The sound of "A Legacy of Love" seems more direct than the one of "Cantara Anachoreta"...

Sid: Thanks for that compliment... but I'll have to admit that we'd spent more time in the studio than we did when recording "Cantara Anachoreta", and we had better equipment, too. Besides, theres also a mental difference between those 2 albums: The emphasis of "Cantara Anachoreta" was a more spiritual one, whereas "A Legacy of Love" is mainly determined by emotional values. But maybe it's also a question of musical matters, because there are hardly any manipulated sounds to be found on "A Legacy of Love": About 80 % of the sounds we used were created by acoustic instruments, recorded almost without any special sound effects - that's why this album sounds as if you had a strange kind of folk-band in your living-room.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3A Legacy of Love - Cantara Anachoreta - Folk

Question: I suppose you are one of few bands that decided to include the notes in their booklet. What was the reason for doing this?

Sid : It's just that after the release of "Cantara Anachoreta" many fans have asked for the guitar chords to the songs... but including them in the booklet of "A Legacy of Love" would have made it twice as thick as it already is - and so we thought it'd be nice (and also quite provoking) for all those guitarists to have the pipes-notes instead. As aforesaid: We do have a rather challenging attitude (and also a weird sense of humour) sometimes!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Cantara Anachoreta - A Legacy of Love - Booklet

Question: The band is located in Germany, however your names do not sound German at all - what's your / their origin?

Sid: We're definitely of german origin, although I don't care that much about nationalities....I used to live in England in my teenage days where I caught my nickname "Sid" (because of my predilection for the later-to-be-stone-dead Sex Pistols bass player Sid Vicious) - and somehow I got used to it.....

Näx' real name is Alexander, but he never revealed the mystery behind his nickname to me... I guess it has something to do with his sometimes very wicked sense of humour!

Näx: The origins of the name NÄX lie in the very old past. It was created by a shamane named RENREW, when he went into mystic trance (caused by wodka, I think). The myths around this name are some of the last unanswered questions of this word.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Origins - Germany

Question: Your answers in the interviews I read are usually very witty, do you need some time to make up an answer or are you able to answer right away?

Sid: I wouldn't consider myself as being witty, but I do try to answer interview-questions as conscientious as possible without taking myself too serious... usually I'm answering questions right away: That's why I prefer telephone interviews, because they are much more of a dialogue.

Näx: I have studied the very young science of wit for some three or four years in Bologna, Lissabon, Calcutta and Nowosibirsk (a town which is very famous for the wit of it's citizens), etc. Unfortunately I neither speak any of the languages spoken there nor do I understand them. I also have to admit that I was no good student. Knowing only little about the theories of wit, it takes me a lot of time to write witty answers and I'm very poor in doing that. In fact, I don't like wits - they only make me laugh.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Interviews

Question: Do you still believe that your music - or just music in general - might change the cruel world or people?

Sid: No, not at all: The only thing or person that I can change is myself - and working on or performing the music of Antichrisis always causes vast changes within myself; it's like communicating with my deeper self, like encountering my ancient soul's wisdom!

People may be influenced to a certain extent by Antichrisis music (or music in general), they may even find themselves reflected in my or anybody else's songs, but my songs are not meant to change anyone and it's also not in my power to cause such effects! People can only change themselves if they have the will and the ability to do so, and sometimes certain songs may enhance social awareness or can be sort of guidelines... but nothing more!

Näx: Neither literature, drama, music nor other arts are able to change the cruelty in the world or cruel people. This can only be tried (unsuccessfully) by a strong community of upright people. These upright people may find recreation and power in arts, but art itself changes nothing.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Change

Question: What is the hidden message of the raven's cry on "Forever I Ride"?

Sid : In Northern-European mythology the raven is the bird of death and rebirth (just like the vulture in Egyptian or African myths) that calls forth the end - and so the raven in "Forever I Ride" is the harbinger of love's decline, forcing the fool to saddle up again...

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Forever I Ride

Question: I do sense some anti-Christian undertones in some of your lyrics. Do you have an opinion on religion in general?

Sid : As I am a very religious person myself I can't see anything wrong in believing in "higher" powers, but organized religion like Christianity is always a dangerous thing: I mean, who needs to have his or her personal beliefs organised by an institution? It's utterly senseless! Go and think for your own (as Granny Weatherwax would say), believe whatever you want to believe, but never try to force your religious point of view on others! The Goddesses and Gods are among us, they are in the wind, the trees, the fire, the earth and the sea and they'd also talk to us if we listened closely - but they most definitely don't write books and are not interested in anybody's sexual preferences (at least proper deities aren't!).

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Christianity - Goddess - God - Terry Pratchett

Question: You don't feel shy about expressing your most peronal emotions in this naked form. Do you want to confess all your sins? Does the audience have a totally passive role?

Sid: I don't think in terms like guilt or sin: they mean nothing to me - and as there's no such thing like sin, there's also nothing to confess! I don't think that the harrowing affairs I've experienced are some kind of punishment for something I might have done wrong - they are simply something I had to experience to fulfill my karmic destiny, and it's on me to learn or to reject the learning objective...

Of course the audience has a passive role insofar as listening to music on tape or CD isn't exactly what one would call an interactive process - and after all I don't care what kind of expectations an audience might have.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Audience

Question: It seems to me that sometimes in your music you wanna appeal to a metal audience like on "Trying not to breathe".Why is this so? I mean you should rather stick to that beautiful quality of songs like "Baleias Bailando".

Sid: I never try to appeal to any kind of audience! If this would be the case then I'd certainly do completely different stuff! All I'm trying to do with Antichrisis is meeting my own expectations which is to come up with the most approbriate musical expression that the idea behind a song requires: Sometimes it takes the shape of a soft piano ballad, of a folk song or even of a metal-like piece of music as it did on "Trying not to breathe". It's the song that asks for its proper musical manifestation, not the audience's anticipation!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Audience - Metal - Trying Not To Breathe - Baleias Bailando - Expectations

Question: "The Farewell" can be considered as a summary of all the songs on "A Legacy of Love" with a ray of hope at the end, right? Anyway, I cannot understand the last line (due to my ignorance of German language): Would you mind to translate "Ich liebe Dich fuer immer"?

Sid: "Ich liebe Dich fuer immer" simply means "I love you forever": The most beautiful thing someone can say to you, but eventually also the greatest lie of all! There is no ray of hope at the end of "The Farewell", but a yearning for everlasting sleep and tranquility.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3The Farewell - Love

Question: Although love brings happiness (and sometimes sadness), "A Legacy of Love" is full of sorrow. Did you want to describe the sad side of love?

Sid: It wasn't my intention at first place to record a mostly desperate album, but fate turned out to be just that way: I lost a wonderful and precious love at that time, and divine ordinances of that kind are not supposed to make you write happy songs!

I felt so incredibly sad when I wrote those songs, and the process of writing them was like building up some kind of armoury against an engulfing darkness. Nevertheless I've also tried to show that there's more to love than just sorrow and despair, and so I put 2 songs on "A Legacy of Love" to picture as well its unbelievable beauty: "Nightswan" and "Planet Kyrah". Both songs were originally written at a time when I was still together with my former girlfriend, and so they accidently became aural sculptures of this love's chastity, innocence and virtousness.

Maybe it was the hardest part for me to perform these 2 songs in the studio, because they reminded me too much of what I had lost, but at the same time they are reminiscences of a very beautiful time in my life!

No, really, I would have wanted this album not to become as sad and sorrowful as it did, but sometimes one just cant help it.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3A Legacy of Love - Fate - Nightswan - Planet Kyrah - Love

Question: It seems to me that the perfect time for you to live in would be England in XI. Century, Sherwood, Robin Hood thing like that... am I right?

Sid: Funny that youre mentioning England, because it really is my favourite country (especially Cornwall), no matter what time or age. But I'll have to admit that I'm not too much into all that medieval stuff like Robin Hood or King Arthur; moreover I'm interested in neolithic cultures and religions as presented in the booklet-illustrations of "A Legacy of Love".

Näx: Yes, I am fascinated by the middle ages and of course by the celtic countries at that time, but there is a litlle problem that makes it impossible for me to wish to have lived at that time: The Uilleann Pipes were developed in the 17th. century! This means I would have been forced to play an ancient, simpler and more shrill sounding form of bagpipes, like german or galician bagpipes or others. Oh no, I wouldn't want to miss my Uilleann Pipes.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Ancient Cultures - Cornwall - Celtic - Uilleann Pipes

Question: You've used a couple of french expressions in "The Sea". Have you chosen them to create a special feeling? Why?

Sid: I've chosen these french expressions just because they sound more poetic to me than the english or german ones: I'm always choosing words for the lyrics with great care, because words are not just a chain of vowels and consonants, moreover they possess sounds and images of their own that have to fit perfectly to the corresponding song.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3The Sea

Question: Will I make you laugh if I said that you have a possibility to become as good and well known as MIKE OLDFIELD or CLANNAD? Of course in the future...

Sid: No, you won't...although I think it's a bit tricky to compare a young band like Antichrisis with renown and established acts like Mike Oldfield or Clannad (By the way: Mike Oldfield's "Voyager" is one of my favourite albums - highly recommendable!), because they've already proved their firmness and continousness throughout the years, whereas time has to tell if Antichrisis will achieve the same capability - but I'm quite confident, anyway...

Näx: Well, I personally think that it is nearly impossible to reach Clannad's standard, but be assured that we're working on it.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Inspiration - Favourites

Question: Do you think the imposition of the EU laws and standards will help with things like sexism, racism, disrespect for nature?

Näx: Oh, I like EU laws. They have great effects on the measures of bananas and condoms - two things that definitely belong together!

Sid: I do hope so - but as laws are made by politicans who are not exactly the kind of good samaritans they pretend to be, there's always the chance that things can even get worse. Although I'm very glad we got rid off these national-border-business, I'm also aware of the negative consequences - look at the things happening on the german-czechoslovakian border: prostitution, organized crime, child abuse (and I don't blame just the Czechs for that: It's the german wankers that invade towns like Cheb or Teplice to satisfy their so-called "needs")... it would be great if these things could be changed by EU-laws, but unfortunately racism, sexism & denial of nature are just the outgrowth of (mostly male) human stupidity and narrowmindedness - and there's no EU-law aginst that!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Politics

Question: Where would you go if you were able to fly with no limits of space or time? Who do you think have you been in previous lifes?

Sid : Hmm... though I'd like the idea of living in the matriarchal eras of Crete or Egypt, it seems quite reasonable to me to live here and now, which doesn't mean I'd be supposing we'd be living in the best of all worlds - but there is a spiritual purpose for us living exactly when and where we are, and I certainly don't want to mess around with universal orders!

Nevertheless I'd like to be able to live without any restrictions in freedom, peace and tranquillity somewhere by the sea (preferably Cornwall), and I hope I'll make it in this present incarnation... but most of all I'd like to live with the one I love, no matter what time or space as long as we are together forever! Maybe I'm just one of the last remaining hippies (although black-clothed and short-haired) because I still think that love, peace and understanding aren't such bad ideas.

I've received fragments of previous lifes in dreams and visions, and so far I've never been someone significant in historical terms. Best thing in social standards I've ever achieved was being an abbot in a little monastery in medieval times... seems I'm leaving all those V.I.P.-incarnations to other people.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Cornwall - Love - Medieval - Egypt - Philosophy

Question: I find your lyrics to be great pieces of poetry. You must have put down a lot of time and effort into them. Do you think it's easy to write lyrics with substance? Isn't it hard for you as a German to express your feelings in English?

Sid: As I am more of a musician than a poet, it takes me more time to write the lyrics than the music itself: While I don't have to think at all to create music, it's definitely some kind of intellectual effort to find the right words!

Nevertheless it's not too difficult to me: My lyrics are based on my own emotional experiences or on my philosophy of life. I'm free to write about everything that is important to me, as I'm not limited by attitude, image or genre-affiliation.

I think I'm getting along with English quite well: I love the musical quality of this language and its multitude of expressional subtlety (something that's hard to find in my mother tongue), therefore I consider English as being the most suitable linguistic medium for my purposes.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Language

Question: What do you think happens to us after we die? Do you believe that there's a heaven and hell or do you think that "hell" is where we are now and "heaven" (not the christian idea of heaven) is a place that we will be granted after our physical death?

Sid: I don't think that there's something like heaven or hell according to Christian mythology: Damnation or salvation are not being granted or caused by some weird deity, but lie within us.

I don't consider this world we're living in as some kind of hellish place, although some people are trying very hard to make it exactly like that: Of course there's injustice, malevolence and cruelty - but there's also beauty, love and magnificence, and maybe it's one of the most confusing experiences to realize that both heaven and hell seem to exist on the same planet at the same time, It's up to us to a certain extent whether we do open our hearts and souls to misery or to happiness, which isn't always easy, but I know too many people who love to play the part of the "poor miserable bugger" instead of opening themselves to the beauty and the kindness that's also on this life's menu: It seems much easier to arrange oneself with being perpetually victimized instead of taking responsibility for one's destiny!

If we really wanted to create heaven on Earth, we could do that easily... but that goes also for hell!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Christianity - Philosophy

Question: Is "Cantara Anachoreta" a concept-album? And could you explain the title?

Sid: "Cantara Anachoreta" is a latin-portugiese term meaning "The Chants of the Hermit". I've chosen that title because "Cantara Anachoreta" chronicles the last hours in the life of Ariman, the anchorite, who is aware that his time has finally come: Darkness embraces him ("Prologue"), and while he's on the threshold of twilight, he recollects occurances of his present life and past incarnations. Thus he relives the dark age of witchhunt ("The Endless Dance") as well as the tremendous distress of losing the one he once loved ("Requiem ex Sidhe"). He also remembers a little girl he once knew who committed suicide after being abused by her father, and Ariman's still able to sense the rage, anger and fury her ghost emanates ("Goodbye to Jane").

Images of long gone days do arise, and the anchorite recalls the moments when he had to withstand to remain true to his principles and beliefs ("Baleias"). It wasn't always easy to follow the path of the Goddess and to obey her advice, but whenever he thought that she might have left him in the lurch, she was in fact with him for guidance ("Her Orphaned Throne").

So he dreams of her return: A return that'll bring an end to injustice, intolerance and the lies of the false prophets - the dawning of a new golden era ("Descending Messiah"). Thereupon Ariman floats downstream to Cerridwen's realm, the garden of eternal dreams, where his seeking soul will find peace and tranquility at last ("Epilogue").

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Cantara Anachoreta - Concept - Prologue - The Endless Dance - Requiem Ex Sidhe - Goodbye To Jane - Baleias - Her Orphaned Throne - Descending Messiah - Epilogue

Question: Human race has destroyed large parts of nature. What do you think about this abuse? What do you think will the world be looking like in another 10 years?

Sid : It makes me sad to see that most people don't give a damn about environmental problems! We're consequently destroying what we depend on, and sooner or later we will be running out of resources completely.

We have lost our respect for Mother Earth; instead of venerating and honouring her for being our source of life, we're exploiting her until the bitter end... but we do depend on her, not she on us; we are - all in all - weak children needing HER nourishment, HER shelter and HER fertility, but we have lost this awareness because of our mindbogglingly stupid presumption! I don't know what the future might bring, but I think quite soon the Earth might just get rid off us like from some insignificant cosmic pneumonia: Earth will bloom and flourish again long after humankind has fallen into oblivion.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Philosophy

Question: What's your opinion on alcohol - not just as a drink, but as a social phenomenon?

Sid: People who are not satisfied with their lives will always try to replace the emptiness within themselves with external stimulations, be it alcohol, ecstasy, TV, religious or politcal fanatism etc. And as alcohol is a very easily accessable (and socially tolerated) kind of drug (By the way: It's one of the few drug you pay taxes for so the government profits from its abuse!), it's quite understandable that so many people are addicted to it, because a vast majority of people seems to be a bunch of miserable bastards who are not satisfied at all with what they're doing - but at the same time are much too cowardish, blind or ignorant to change anything about their situation!. It's always easier to get pissed than to face reality... Don't get me wrong: I really enjoy a good pint from time to time, but that always goes along with a good meal. I've had my time of heavy alcohol abuse in the early days of punk, and me and my liver have learned quite a lot from that.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Drugs - Philosophy

Question: What do you think about the Christian definition of love?

Sid: The Christian definition of love is a contradiction in itself: One can't love everyone! You may forgive your enemies if you're able to (which in my book is saintly enough!), but you'll never love them for what they've done to you (given that we're talking about real enemies (fiendish ones!) and not just some daft dorks you accidentally happen to have a slight grudge against!). Really loving someone however is divine in all its aspects, which includes sexuality as well - there's nothing ungodly or immoral about it: If love is of divine origin, then our bodies are the temples and making love is our prayer!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Christianity - Love

Question: What comes to your mind when you thing of Death?

Sid: Definitely one of my favourite characters in Terry Pratchett's Discworld-Novels. Speaks in capital letters most of the time.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Death - Terry Pratchett

Question: What is the sense of life/death in your point of view?

Sid: The sense of life? To love and to be loved. The sense of death? To learn, to grow and to let go. To live is like being a drop of rain that falls down to earth, and to die is like floating back into the ocean again...

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Philosophy - Death - Love

Question: What comes to your mind when you think of Germany?

Sid: Could be a lovely little country if it weren't for those blasted Germans...

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Germany

Question: What comes to your mind when you think of the night?

Sid: Quite useful device as it helps to save daylight.

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Night

Question: Were you born as a gifted musician or how did you manage to play so many instruments?

Sid: I wouldn't say I'm gifted - I've never learned to play any instrument properly, and I'm not at all a "good" musician if it comes to technical skills: All I know is how to hold a guitar (pointed end in the air, right?) and how to play a few basic chords - that's it. My so called talent lies in writing and arranging songs so that they sound as if one had to be pretty smart to perform them...

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Instruments

Question: According to you, what distinguishes you from the average gothic-metal stereotype?

Sid: The mere fact that Antichrisis ain't a gothic metal band! Like a painter uses a multitude of colours to create a landscape, I'm using different musical ingredients to form the soundscape of Antichrisis - and Gothic or Metal are just two shades of a thousand and one musical colours of my palette...

Antichrisis can only be categorized by emotional values, not by any assignments of musical styles!

Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3Gothic - Metal