Interview с EverEve : DARKSIDE.ru

On your website you call the recording process of “Tried & Failed” the longest and most intensive in the band’s history. What was so different in working in this studio this time? What made this process so complicated?

First of all the song-writing took us very long this time, about nine months. Afterwards there have been another few months for the pre-production. This time a good pre-production has been essential because of all the additional work with orchestral tunes, etc. And then we had some kind of “break” as we composed another cover version for a cool The Cure tribute-album “Our Voices”. This took us some weeks for writing and recording a special Eve-version of “Cold”. Cool stuff… check it out. (smiles)

So we worked very hard for “Tried & Failed”, and especially all the orchestral arrangements took a lot of time and work. The “real” recording and production of the album took us another three months. So all in all the process of producing took us over one year of constant working, arranging, re-arranging, etc. Once again we worked together with our usual producer Gerhard Magin (e.g. Theatre of Tragedy, Crematory, Totenmond, etc.) at his new studio in Southern Germany. Gerhard also produced our last three albums so we knew each other quite well. Working with him has been cool as usual because he is a real EverEve-fan and he has a strong “relationship” with EverEve and our music. Actually EverEve is a band who consists of four producers (ourselves) so the influence of a producer is not as big compared with other bands. But Gerhard’s ideas and suggestions concerning the arrangements, etc. have been really helpful. So we were well-prepared before entering the studio but Gerhard added some cool creative input, too, which helped making the songs even stronger…

Could you tell me about the songwriting process in the band? As long as all the EverEve members are mentioned as songwriters, how do you work together? What are the basic thoughts you wanted to send through the new songs?

When we start writing new songs we do not have any strict plans or concepts – we just focus on the “heart” of EverEve, this means our basic feeling and attitude shared by everyone in the band… Then we just start making melodies, looking for some ideas, thinking about arrangements, etc. Usually one member of the band prepares one special theme or musical idea, and then we all start “playing” with this idea. Sometimes one member even creates a basic concept for one song before meeting with the others (actually this is my favourite way of working, I prefer composing a whole song by myself) but finally ALL the Eves take part in creating the arrangement and all the final details for the songs. Afterwards the members of the “E-team” (especially Joerg) add their creative input to our basic tracks.

Concerning the lyrics there is less “teamwork” It is me writing all the words, and once again I tried to create images that represent some psycho and emotional states that are related with the album concept – and maybe with my personality as well. An inspiration for “Tried & Failed” have been the poems of 18th century poet Emily Dickinson, but also some everyday experiences and some input I got from motion pictures as well. World is full of inspiration if you open your ears, eyes and your heart…

You used poems by Emily Dickinson in several tracks on the new album. What was the purpose of doing it? And how did you choose what poems to use and in which song?

I discovered Emily Dickinson by coincidence and I was deeply impressed by their work. It has a strong poetical power and expressio

n so I decided to include some of their poems in the new songs. The choice of songs and the placement of the poems has been some kind of “musical decision” but of course I tried to look for some poems that have some kind of conceptual connection with the song’s meaning and lyrics.

Your previous CD “.Enetics” was stylistically defined as cyber goth metal. In your opinion, is this definition also fitting for “Tried & Failed”?

I do not know and I do not care… but I think this definition is still true for EverEve. We never had the intention to fit into certain categories or styles. One day a journalist told us: “Hey this sounds like some kind of cyber goth metal”. So we used this term as we liked the creation of a new genre. But words can never describe music. I am not against press or critics but in my opinion it is not possible to use words to express music. The same goes for art. You just have to listen or look and then you have to FEEL. Writing words is often (not always!) a more rational thing…

For EverEve it is extremely important to be open-minded without any stylistic or conceptual boundaries. This might be the reason why every album is more or less different from the other ones. Every new album is like a journey… You pack your stuff (i.e. the new musical ideas) and then you start walking, so every EverEve album is some kind of “natural development” as we do not make any “plans” or “strategies” how an album should sound. Of course you are influenced by the experiences you have made during former journeys, but the most interesting and exciting trips are those taking you to new shores, and with “Tried & Failed” this has been the case, too. It turned out to be an epic, orchestral album. I think the new album is less “aggressive” than “.Enetics” but it has become a really intense and emotional album. Its basic feeling is deep, desperate sometimes, suffering, yet at the same time smooth, warm and infatuated. It is like a soundtrack made for full moon nights…

How do you like the responses on “Tried & Failed”? Doesn’t it seem that “.Enetics” was somewhat better accepted by people?

For us “Tried & Failed” has become a very intense album, an album that takes a lot of emotional and mental energy and time for the listeners. So we felt that it will not be some kind of “easy-listening” album, but if you take part in the journey and open your heart for the songs you will be rewarded by deep emotions… First of all this is the most important thing about a new album for us – fulfilling our creative needs and getting the feeling it is “finished” – some kid of mental therapy. You have to be satisfied for yourself as a musician, and afterwards you sit back, wait for people’s reactions, being nervous and happy about the responses by the rest of the world…

In fact it is still too early to give an exact estimation about the “success” of the new album. But definitely press results have been very extreme this time, more than ever before… in both directions. There have been some really positive reactions but also some rather critical reviews, especially in German press. But on the other hand we got more enthusiastic mails, letters and personal response on gigs by German fans this time. So the range of different opinions seems to be wider this time, we have been even “album of the month” in some media, and others did not like the new album at all, either you love it or you hate it. There seems to be nothing in between. This is something we can accept quite well, because it means that the album “demands” a lot from the listeners, you need a lot of time and emotional attention to “feel” this album. As I told yo

u it is no easy-listening sound… Love it or hate but do not ignore it!

We have a long and difficult band history as you might know. There are some people preferring the “old” EverEve and some other people preferring the “new” EverEve. I do not regret any decision we made, any line-up change or any song we have created. This is how it all has come so there is no need for excuses or laments. (laughs) And above all… of course I am happy if the press results are good but more important for me is the opinion of the people out there buying the CD and listening to it carefully and with a lot of patience and devotion. And these reactions have been really really good so far, the fans seems to like the new songs a lot. Some of them even consider “Tried & Failed” being the best EverEve album so far. So this is what is important for me, not the results of press critics and soundchecks…

Why did you decide to call the album “Tried & Failed”? Aren’t you superstitious about such a title?

Every time we write new songs we try to capture our latent-melancholic, to the core cynical and sarcastic, awareness of life and pack it into some hard, intense music. Life has many colours and though being rather “dark-greyish” and focussing rather on the shady side and not on the sunny side of life most of the time EverEve is not depressive. We try to catch the images of life and create a musical vision.

“Tried & Failed” is another part of this vision. The title might sound pessimistic or depressive but in fact it is not. The words of the songs deal with the bittersweet aftertaste of failure. Human beings are always driven by an also unfulfilled urge for sexual, emotional and spiritual comfort, contentment and domination. Although often resulting from failing the scheme of life is new strength. Self-pity turns into comforting woefulness, and ultimately into defiant energy. So once again clouds turn to sun, but we wanted to catch the moment right before this transformation, as the way you feel being torn between despair and new hope is one of the most intense emotional states of a human being. So “Tried & failed” is an expression for an emotional state, but we could have titled the album as well “Try & Fail & Rise Again”, as every downfall is a new beginning. This is a fact that is deeply connected with EverEve and our way of thinking…

There are a few outside people who were also involved in work on the new album. One of them is Joerg Huettner. What was his part in recording of “Tried & Failed”? When and where did you get acquainted with him?

Actually he is a long-term friend of mine. I know him because we both have been active in the German goth scene and we liked the work of each other. And of course there is a lot of sympathy and mutual respect, too. Now Joerg is an important member of the “E-team” and he is definitely our “electronic master”. Since we started to do some sound experiments with synthetic elements on “Regret” (1999) he has been involved in preparing and arranging all the keyboard stuff together with me. And this time his work has even been better than ever. We told him about some more “organic” and orchestral work this time and he worked hard on producing all this stuff in addition with all the usual electronics. I also performed some piano tunes once again as I felt the wish to play some tracks on my “usual” instrument. There are also some nice choir arrangements. Joerg spent a lot of time editing this sampled voices to transform it into a “real” choir, and that´s the reason why it sounds so good. Joerg has learned a lot during his work in the film-industry taking part in major motion pi

cture soundtracks (e.g. “Catwoman”, “The Ring 2”, “Batman begins”, etc.). He has become a real sound genius, and of course this is perfect for EverEve. Of course we would have liked to work with a real orchestra and a real choir, but if we had the money to do so I would have my own helicopter, too. (laughs)

Another one is Alexander Zivanov, the artist who worked with you for some years. His surname sounds like Russian, but I heard he’s from somewhere in the Eastern Europe. Could you tell us how you met him and what his part is on the album?

He is from Croatia. He is a long-term fan of EverEve and he liked all the different steps of our development. He is also a very cool graphic designer. So one day he sent me a letter asking for an autograph. In addition he sent some of his drawings and designs he had made. I was very impressed by his work and asked him for more stuff. So the connection was being built up, we stayed in contact and finally he made some designs for EverEve, too. He has created our famous “E“-logo, that we like a lot, and of course he has created album covers, merchandise etc. This time there is no real work on the album but he will be involved doing some designs for merchandise and for our website. A few years ago we played in some places in former Yugoslavia and we had the chance to met him personally. This was really cool!

On your website there is information that Alexander Ivanov (the leader of the Russian band Amulet) was supposed to do guest vocals in one of the songs from “Tried & Failed”. It was also said that you are going to shoot a video for this song in Moscow. What is that song? Do you still have such plans?

Unfortunately we had to cancel these plans because Alex had some major problems with his visa. He also had an accident so there were more and more problems. It was not possible for him to come over to Germany recording his tracks. As we have a strict schedule while working in the studio there was no chance for us featuring some Russian vocals tracks on the album. As the idea of the video shooting in Moscow has been strongly connected with Alex’s appearance we had to cancel these plans as well. The song we intended to do a video for is “You’re Mine”. There are no lyrical reasons but concerning the music there would have been nice possibilities for a Russian-English duet…

In fact we had to do some other plans and finally we got the chance to produce our first official and professional video clip for this album. It is finished right now and it will be served to all TV stations European-wide within the next weeks. We are looking forward to the final video clip and to the reactions because the result seems to be not bad. We work together with a small but cool German company who has also worked together with acts like Destruction or Rage. Director Marco Schirmer is very cool and the recording of the video has been real fun.

Music scene sucks. Especially the music video scene that features more or less only the plastic music, easy-listening shit and all the stuff like that makes it difficult for “real bands” to do a video. But we also made the experience that there are some countries where video clips from hard and dark bands are promoted by smaller TV stations or even by national broadcasting stations. In some countries EverEve is quite popular (especially in Eastern and Southern Europe) – and in some of these countries there is the possibility for us to be featured in some TV “underground” shows…

You are going to take part in the “666-Party” in Vienna soon. What is it about and what will be your part in this event?

This is one of Europe’s biggest underground parties. It is quite famous (check out www.from666hell.com) and it is an honour for me taking part in this spectacular event as a DJ. So my part will be easy and cool. Together with some other VIP DJs (e.g. some famous DJs from England, Finland, the USA, etc.) I will present the audience some nice stuff featuring my favourite tracks and I hope they will like it. And there will be a big party of course. My part is to be a DJ for about one and a half hours so afterwards I have free time for meeting some fans, girls and freaky people…. And get me some drinks of course! (laughs)

Your songs as a rule are not about joyful and any happy things, but in interviews you seem to be the people with a great sense of humor. Do you like to cheat on each other? How do you like to have a good time?

As I told you above, life has many colours. With EverEve we express one side of life, our darker, emotional and melancholic side, but we are not depressive and we do not have any suicidal tendencies. Of course it would be cool to present people some kind of “Gothic” image all the time and of course this music and the goth scene are something we are strongly connected with, but it is not our only philosophy of life. So the main point is to be AUTHENTIC for this band. When we have the need to be “funny” we do it, if we feel melancholic we do it, if we feel sarcastic about ourselves and the other people (which in fact seems to be our favourite state) we do it. Especially press conferences where we do interviews together are real fun for us. We take our music serious and there is a lot of conceptual work behind it but in the end it is all rock’n’roll, so do not take yourself to serious all the time. We have had some really cool appearances at Swiss national TV recently what was absolutely fun. People liked it a lot because we were cynical and without respect, and the journalists and the viewers were happy about it. They were afraid in advance to get some usual “boring” interview and we managed to give them information and entertainment… but such things have to be spontaneously. EverEve as a band and we as personalities can never be “tamed” and you never know in what kind of mood or mental state we are. So get surprised while meeting us. Life is serious enough anyway…

How did the departure of guitar player SK Kiefer Durden influence the band? What is he occupied with now?

Of course we are still in contact with SK as there are no hard feelings, no arguments or whatever. We would have been happy to continue working with him for sure but there were some major changes in his life so we all came to the conclusion that it is better for both sides going separate ways. In fact he was offered an opportunity concerning his work as a computer specialist which he could not refuse. So we are sad – and so is he – but we can understand his situation. His new job means a lot of work and there would be no more time for EverEve anymore, so we altogether decided what is best for the band. Of course we thought about recruiting a new guitar player but we also made some experiments with one guitar only, and after some rehearsals with one guitar we made the decision to go on with Havoc only. Together with the mighty bass thunder created by OQ there will still be a “wall of sound”. We played one festival show recently as a 4-piece and it worked really good.

In one of the interviews you said your stage names had meanings behind them. It would be interesting to know what those meanings are about and why you changed (or rather

modified) them on “Tried & Failed”.

The meanings behind the artist names are not for the “usual people”. There have to be some secrets left. It is the same as for the number “51” that was really important some time ago and for some “symbols” we use. These things reflect some conceptual background and they are open to your individual interpretation. During the last months we evolved as musicians and as personalities so we modified the names a little bit. But it is no big thing behind it. People used to call “T.he H.avoc W.reaker” “havoc” anyway so he stuck to this short name. There have some major misunderstandings concerning the term “w1febeater”, too, so Martin decided to change the name as well. No big thing, just short forms, and a sign for us that we reached another step of musical and conceptual evolution in our band’s history. Remember: EverEve is always UNPREDICTABLE. This is one important feature of this band - we do what we want and when we want to do it. This is important and it prevents you from becoming a hypocrite or a cheap copy of yourself.

How many shows have you played after the release of “Tried & Failed” and where are you going to play soon? Will you perform a new show – I mean, new decorations, new visual effects instead of dolls, cages? Maybe some new extraordinary costumes?

Playing live shows is very important for EverEve but doing extensive tours has become more and more difficult these days. The music business is on its knees and so are the concert promoters. So for the last years we have had a new strategy. We do not play unless the conditions are adequate. I do not refer to money! We do not do this whole thing to get money but we want to give the audience a full professional EverEve show because THE FANS have paid to see a professional show, so during the last years we only played when the shows are well-organized and planned (e.g. light, sound, etc.). This means that there have been less EverEve shows in the last years but most shows have been really better, being a big party for the fans and for us giving them one hell of a performance. So we will see what happens next in autumn and in winter. So far we have played some festival shows in Germany for “Tried & Failed” that have been quite well as people seemed to like the new songs and we also got some really cool offers to play some shows in England and Spain…

Soon you are going to play your first show in England. What do you expect from playing in the cradle of gothic culture?

We have never played in England so far so we are looking forward to it. Actually when travelling to new countries we are always happy meeting new people, a new culture and visiting places where we have never been before. I was in London in early 2005 to do some promotional work for EverEve and it was great. We have some “die-hard” fans there and it was a pleasure for me meeting them…

About the show: there will be some typical EverEve elements like dolls and cages. But we have also created some new ideas concerning decorations, effects and of course there will be a new outfit concept, too. The visual side has always been very important for EverEve so we think about our life shows as well… get surprised when you get the chance to see us live with the new show. Unfortunately it is always difficult to bring all the stuff with us when travelling with a plane (as last year in Russia). But maybe we will be able one day visiting your beautiful country with a “full” EverEve show. I think you will like it. (smiles)

You all come from a town called Baden-Wuertemberg. Do you still live there? Aren’t big city

lights attracting you?

We have “big city lights” here as well. Of course it is not Moscow or New York but for example the city I live is perfect for me. There is a cool gothic and metal scene with many clubs and many parties. I have an airport, a subway and without problems I can reach other countries like Switzerland or France within one day by car. So for me it is perfect. From time to time I also travel to Hamburg or London (two of my favourite towns) to visit friends etc. It is important for me to have some kind of “haven” as we travel the whole world with EverEve. Here I have my friends and my favourite places for Indian food. (laughs)

Where did you find girls to be present on the cover? Whose idea was to make the cover and the booklet of “Tried & Failed” and what did you wanted to express through it?

With EverEve we always want to create a unit - with the music and the design fitting together perfectly. And for the new album the music is more “romantic” so the pictures have to reflect this mood, too. I think they are rather romantic and erotic, not pornographic or hard S&M-style so it works well. This time we also put even more emphasis on the visualising of the musical and lyrical content. By coincidence we managed to work together with Markus Richter and Cane Hoyer, two internationally well-known artists of avant-garde and erotic art, who participated exclusively and for the first time in a music production. We are very proud of the visual concept, creating a unique atmosphere of dark erotic that is deeply connected with the content of the lyrics. We knew that some people would react in a negative way, especially our “friends” in the press, because of the “sexual” approach to the artwork but we do not care about that. It fits perfectly to the sound and the words so why being “politically correct” just for the sake of itself?

The photo shooting has been “hard” work of course. (laughs) There were some nice ladies posing naked together with us… It was a torture but someone got to do it. (laughs) The girls are two professional models. We did not know them in advance (just the set cards with the photos) but it worked well and they turned out to be EverEve fans in the end. We are still in contact with these girls. Maybe one day we will feature them on one special live show or something like this but no plans have been fixed so far…

How did you like playing in Moscow last spring? What would you like to say to your Russian fans who attended that gig and to all our readers who are waiting to see your show one day?

It was fantastic!! This was a very intense experience so it brought us a lot of inspiration and creative input, speaking about mentality, emotion and contact with other cultures and people. As we went to Russia we did not have the slightest idea what it will be, how “popular” we are, etc., and it was overwhelming, passionate reactions and wonderful people. I would like to express my deepest respect to all the people we met there being nice and respectful all the time and freaking out at the show. Hope to see you again! We want to come back so keep on telling all the guys from AMG and Alive Concerts. Keep on writing emails and letters etc. to the media, magazines and e-zines… We appreciate it! Actually being a classical piano player, for me Russian composers always have been important. There might be some influences on “Tried & Failed” – e.g. concerning the orchestral arrangements – by Russian classics like Rachmaninoff, Prokofjew or Chatchaturian who I like a lot. And above all the basic “way of life” in Russia is closely connected with EverEve. It is

a feeling of melancholy, emotional depth, but not depression, so we felt like “coming home”. (smiles)

Last but not least I want to thank YOU for this interview and your never-ending support!!! And on behalf of the band I also want to say a big hello to all our friends in Russia. Check out our official website www.evereve.net or visit www.evereve.ru. We deeply appreciate your support and we really hope that you will like “Tried & Failed”!

Special thanks to Art Music Group for arranging this interview

Anna Babicheva
October 11, 2005
21 ноя 2005 the End

EverEve

Art Of Creating Melancholy