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Interview with Serenity, Bochum 3.9.2007
Larissa/MEM: “First of all your name – how would translate it into German? Does ‘serenity’ refer more to happiness/joy or to equanimity?”
Georg: “It has several meanings, as you probably found out already. ‘Serenity’ means happiness/joy, which we found quite fitting for us as we usually are in good spirits. But it also means exactness, which we want to mirror with our music, as it has quite a progressive side as well. Which then fits with the meaning of exactness.”
Larissa/MEM:“And what are your favourite bands, who do you like to listen to personally and who would you say particularly influences you?”
Georg: “Right, this is both an advantage in the band and also a difficulty we have several different bands who influenced us or who we liked. For example our bass player, what music do you listen to?”
Simon: “Er…on the one hand more melodic black metal, and on the other melodic rock/metal.”
Georg: “On the whole it’s bands like Kamelot, Sonata Arctica, Nightwish who influenced us a lot. Symphony X definitely. Threshold, certainly also an influence for us. Right, and for our guitarist, for example – Yngwie Malmsteem.” *laughter*
Mario: “Yea.”
Franz-Josef: “Or even Queen.”
Georg: “Queen, yea, of course.”
Franz-Josef: “With their pompous choirs and stuff. And as Andreas said, several bands in the rock area, and, not to forget, classical influences as we are familiar with classic music and symphonies, great choirs.”
Larissa/MEM: “Do you plan to use classic instruments some time, or maybe play with an orchestra as well?”
Georg: “We have worked with orchestra samples on our current album, “Words untold and dreams unlived”, because a real orchestra is simply too expensive at the moment. Of course it would be our dream to work with an orchestra at one point in time, but that is really in the far future right now. But the next album will certainly contain even more orchestral parts than WUDU, that’s what we can say definitely.”
Larissa/MEM: “And do you have plans concerning the heaviness for the next album?”
Georg: “Yes. More bombastic and classic elements, and more heaviness. So both sides will be increased, really. We just want to make an even better album than the current one. Which should always be the goal of a musician.”
Franz-Josef: “In comparison to other bands, we also try to produce an authentic piano sound, so we try not to keep using always the same piano or an electric one. To have an authentic piano sound.”
Georg: “That means in the studio we also work with a real grand piano and not with samples.”
Larissa/MEM: “And how do write lyrics? Do a few of you write the lyrics and the others the music, or does it flow together?”
Georg: “Mainly it is two people of the band, me and our keyboarder, who are responsible for the lyrics, but the music is written by all of us really. Of course, it always happens that one of us, guitarist, keyboarder or singer, has an idea, develops it and presents it to the others, and we work out the whole song together.”
Larissa/MEM: “So it’s not like you have the lyrics before writing the music.”
Georg: “No, it’s rather the other way round, the music comes before the lyrics. That is usually the case. That makes it possible to judge by the melody if it is more of a light-hearted piece or a more melancholic one, and to adjust the lyrics accordingly. Or to see what topic you want to treat in your lyrics at the moment.”
Larissa/MEM: “On your current album, did you consciously emphasize themes like death or “lost love”?”
Georg: *laughs* “Yes, curiously those things crop up repeatedly. If you take “Forever” with the line “forever your eyes will be closed”, or “standing at your grave, on a sleeping bed of roses”, there is a lot about death, when on the other hand we are also Serenity! But yes, I think the lyrics are quite suited to allow you dealing with the depressed side every human being has.”
Franz-Josef: “That often lies close together as well, death and life.”
Larissa/MEM: “So, and what about the cover illustration? If, how is it related to the lyrics?”
Georg: “It is not directly related to the lyrics but rather to the title. The title was born at a time when we did not yet have a deal, but after we had released the demos and gained excellent critiques and votes, without receiving any offers from labels, though. At that time the words of the title were extremely fitting. As in respect to “words untold”, as band we still had so much to say and great plans, and those “dreams unlived”, when you opened magazines like Rock Hard and saw Kamelot and Symphony X, that was where we wanted to be as well. So that is the situation we wanted the cover to reflect, this dream-world with the butterflies and beautiful landscape, and the circle with the fire as the reality in which we lived while things didn’t look that rosy for us, that is, while we had no offers from labels.”
Larissa/MEM: “Are the illustrations within the booklet arranged in a sequence? Because it seemed like that to me, first you have these rather torn images and in the end a whole face surrounded by butterflies? Or did I imagine things and it was just chance?”
Georg: *laughs* “That was chance, really.”
Larissa/MEM: “Uh, okay. And do you have concrete plans for the next album?”
Georg: “Yes, we have concrete plans. That is, we have four songs basically completed, though the lyrics are not yet fully finalized. As for the direction, it will be more bombastic, heavier. We also have plans in respect to the production, but I don’t want to say much about that yet as we do not yet know if we can get the producer we want to. Which is also a question of budget. In any case we will do the orchestral part in
Larissa/MEM: “And the current tour…?”
Georg: “Of course it’s a wonderful opportunity to tour with a band like Kamelot, firstly because we can play in venues of 1200 to 1500 people every night, and we get to countries like
Larissa/MEM: “Is it two separate tours, one with Kamelot, one with Symphony X?”
Georg: “Yes.”
Larissa/MEM: “Chances that you’ll headline a tour?”
Georg: “That seems to have little merit at the moment. A lot of people come to us each night after the show, going ‘Hey, I had no idea you existed at all. It was a great show, I bought a CD and a T-shirt, I will certainly come back for the next gig!’. It will probably make sense only when you have done three or four tours, then you can try. But I think even with the second album it will be too early. Maybe with the third…depending how it sells – we still don’t know how the current one will sell, so…*laughs*. At the moment it looks quite good, also in
Larissa/MEM: “What are the chances that you will go to
Georg: “We don’t know yet, either, because it quite a financial enterprise. The Japanese label would have to cough up a lot of money to pay for our flights, accommodation and stuff, so…”
Larissa/MEM: “So the Kamelot-tour will cover
Georg: “Yes,
Larissa/MEM: “How did you get into contact with Kamelot?”
Georg: “Through our booker and our management respectively. I also know the guitarist of Epica, who were on tour with Kamelot for quite a while now, and he put me in touch with Kamelot’s guitarist directly. So it went rather smoothly.”
Larissa/MEM: “Will you play festivals as well?”
Georg: “Yes, next summer. We are confirmed for the ProgPower UK, with bands like Evergrey and Vanden Plas. We will certainly play some summer festivals, though there are no fixed schedules yet. We have a few offers for
Larissa/MEM: “Okay…*fidgeting*…are there any ‘last words’ you’d like to get rid of? Because I have run out of questions.”
Tina/MEM: “I have one left! – What is it like to tour with so many bands? Do you get along with each other, are there rows?”
Franz-Josef: “Well, there are no serious rows, but of course it takes a few days to get to know each other – or not…*general laughter* You know that the European and the Scandinavian – or Finnish - mentality is quite different…so naturally it takes some getting used to each other.”
Georg: “It’s just strange to get up early and wish someone ‘good morning’, and they look at you and just say nothing. But that’s okay, I mean, that’s them. They tell you that, and they are like that among themselves – just looking at each other saying nothing!”
Franz-Josef: “Unless they are sort of tipsy.”
Georg: “Then they are party guys.” *laughter*
Larissa/MEM: “So what percentage of the time are you sober? Or drunk?”
Franz-Josef: “Do we appear drunk?! *laughter* I think you wouldn’t manage this if you were drunk each night, because usually we head for the next location at two or three o’clock each night. Unless we have to leave later the next day, then we might seize the chance and hang out after the show, maybe go to a pub. Basically it’s show over, take down the equipment, stow it, and go to sleep afterwards, and wake up in the next town.”
Larissa/MEM: “So you don’t see much of the cities you visit?”
Franz-Josef: “Not that much. Though we try to have a look around for a few hours each day.”
Georg: “It also depends which job you have within the band. I mean, I haven’t been drunk on this tour yet and will not get drunk in the future either, simply because I could bin my voice the next day. So there are a few unlucky jobs.” *laughs*
Franz-Josef: “Though this doesn’t apply to all musicians here.”
Georg: *pointing at drummer & bass player* “Those two are our specialists concerning alcohol.”
Andreas: “We’re always sober.” *laughter*
Larissa/MEM: “Okay…”
Georg: “Well, thank you for interviewing.”
Tina/MEM: “Quite spontaneous.”
Georg: “So what, you have to be spontaneous, right?”
Larissa/MEM: “Apologies for the disorganization, though.”
Tina/MEM: “I’m going to zoom in on you again, you said nothing at all.” *zooms at Mario*
Georg: “He’s handicapped, but still our friend.” *laughter*
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Interview: Tina Makiolczyk & Larissa Budde
© MadEyedMoose.com 2007
