Folk
Dead Culture?
24/03/2000 17:16 Filed in: Miscellaneous
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.
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.
Celtic Fascination
12/06/1999 17:09 Filed in: Music
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.
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.
Folk Renaissance
21/04/2000 17:06 Filed in: Music
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.
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.
Dedicated to Folk Music
03/12/2000 16:59 Filed in: Music
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.
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.
Sound
28/02/1999 11:54 Filed in: Albums
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.
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.
Manifesto of Love
03/09/2001 10:38 Filed in: Albums
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.
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.
Background Influences
02/09/2000 16:42 Filed in: Music
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.
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.
Preferred Music
11/10/1999 21:39 Filed in: Miscellaneous
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!
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!
Playing Live
03/07/2000 21:33 Filed in: Questions
Question: 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!
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!