Interview с Axxis : DARKSIDE.ru

Axxis have been on stage for nearly 20 years. How do you manage to keep the passion for writing and performing music after all this time?

Oh, it’s a good question! (laughs) We started in 1989, it’s a long time ago, and for us it’s wonderful to work in the music scene. It’s a wonderful life situation – to live for music and to make music and to see what happens with every CD, because every time it’s a kind of surprise for us. Making music is wonderful, not only if you are a musician, but also if you are working for a magazine or at a radio show. It’s a wonderful advantage for me.

Which were the most difficult and the easiest periods in the history of Axxis? Which period was more favorable for the band – the ‘80s, the ‘90s or the current decade?

The beginning was wonderful for us, because we never expected such a success in Germany. But the music we were making fit perfectly into that period of time, it was very modern. Then everything changed a bit, the grunge was coming up, and Axxis lost orientation, because we didn’t know what heavy metal is any longer. Is Nirvana heavy metal, or is it grunge? For me it was a new style, a crossover that was coming up. It was very difficult for us to go our own way. We had two albums – “Matters Of Survival” (1994) and “Voodoo Vibes” (1996) – that were very influenced by this scene, but those were a bit strange, because people who expected Axxis didn’t get Axxis on these CDs. After that period we went back to our roots with the “Back To The Kingdom” CD (2000), and now everything is wonderful again. OK, the business has changed, now we have the Internet, the mp3 problem and whatever, but at the end of the day, now it’s a wonderful time, just like the beginning. But the mid-1990s were a bit strange.

Your latest album “Paradise In Flames” is probably the heaviest record you have done so far. Why did you decide to make such serious changes to your music?

I don’t know. (cracks) We just write songs, and we don’t have a plan to make a hard rock or a metal album or whatever. I think “Paradise In Flames” is a very song-oriented album, we just write songs and don’t make plans. Maybe it was by accident, I don’t know. (laughs)

The album has not yet been released, so you don’t know the fans’ reactions to it, but do you expect it to appeal to your old fans or do you mostly intend to conquer new ones with it?

We just release CDs and we see what happens. I’m living for music, and the most important market for me is the live situation. Axxis is a live band, and even if a CD is very successful, for me it’s not important, what counts most is the live thing. There we get to play all the songs, and we have the contact with the fans. During the CD recording you are very close to each other in the band, but you are not close to the fans.

“Paradise In Flames” is also much darker than your previous records, especially such songs as “Dance With The Dead” and “Take My Hand”. How much does this darkness in music reflect the events in your personal life?

Every album has its mood, and this time there have been a lot of political problems in the world – the U.S. foreign policy, the war in Iraq and whatever. That’s the reason why we sometimes write in a darker or more mystic mood. But on the other hand, “Time Machine” (2004) contained a song called “Angel Of Death”, which was in the same mood, in my opinion. And on the new CD we’ve got a ballad, so there’s a wide range of moods on it. I think the CD is not boring, it contains a wide range of songs. Axxis are just writing songs, that’s it. I like to play with dark mystic stuff and with fun happy stuff too. But Axxis on stage is still power, sun and happiness. That’s the reason why people go to see a gig – they wanna have fun and to see a party onstage. If you listen to “Dance With The Dead” or “Take My Hand”,

they sound very powerful live. I don’t think it’s a dark album, we do play more with keyboard lines and mystic stuff, but we still have powerful chorus lines and all the other Axxis trademarks.

We know that are interested in politics a lot, and it’s not the first time you write songs about the wars, for instance, at the Balkans and in Iraq. Do you think it is possible for your songs to somehow help mankind stop the wars and live in peace one day?

I must say that when I write songs about war, I don’t think that they will change something in this world. I just can sing my own opinion and my own emotions and I put them on a CD. That’s my advantage over other people – they face the same situations as me, but I have a chance to write a song about them. On this CD we have a song called “Don’t Leave Me”, which is about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A Palestinian girl and an Israeli guy are in love, but they are on two sides of the conflict, and they have no change to get a relationship. We have been invited by an Israeli promoter to play this song in Israel and to sing it along with Palestinian and Israeli artists. That’s wonderful for us, maybe we can open a couple of pairs of eyes with it. But I don’t think we have the might to change something, we can only write songs about it.

On this album, female singer Laconia is featured much more than on “Time Machine”. She is even on most of the promo photos with the other band members. Does it mean that she is now a permanent member of Axxis? And why did you decide to incorporate so many female vocal parts in your music?

When we started the production, we needed a new ball into the game. For me it’s very important not to copy myself again and again, I wanna make new CDs with the Axxis trademark, but with a new point of view. For “Time Machine” we got the plan to work more with double-bass-drum stuff and power metal riffing, and for this CD, we wanted to see what happens if we write songs with a different singer in mind. Laconia is one of the best singers in Germany, in my opinion, and we decided to write song with her together, so it was a challenge for us, because we didn’t know what would happen as a result. Laconia is very proud to work with us, because it may make her more known in Germany. In the middle of this year she will release her own CD, and it’s a good offer for both sides – we got a new point of view for our album, and she will get extra promotion because of it.

Speaking about line-up changes – what happened to your bass player Kuno Niemeyer? And how did you get Rob Schomaker from Cyberia in the band?

Kuno got an offer from a company to work in Saudi Arabia, and he was offered so much money for this that it would be silly to stay in Germany. Now Rob from Cyberia is playing the bass for Axxis, and he fits perfectly. Maybe Kuno will come back, but for the time being Rob will play with us.

When a band member leaves or a new one joins, how much does it change the band – the relations within it, the music, etc.? Did Rob have any influence on “Paradise In Flames”?

Yeah, and it’s a good thing. Every change in the band has an influence on its music. If singers change, for example, that’s sometimes very difficult for a band, but if other members change, not so much will be different. But Harry (Oellers, keyboardist) and me have been working together for 17 years, and for me it’s always very interesting when a new member joins. We get a chance to get fresh ideas and fresh enthusiastic power into the band, and that’s very important sometimes. A new guy must fit with the chemistry of the band, which is not always easy, but now I’m very happy with all the musicians, because they are very enthusiastic and very much into this kind of music. In the beginning they were fans of Axxis, and now they play with Axxis.

By the way, have you found out wh

at happened to your former drummer Richard Michalsky? We know that he went missing, and you even asked the police for help, but did they achieve any results?

Nobody knows where Richie was, he left the band, and I don’t even know why. We don’t know where he was living, but what we know that he had a real drug problem, for five years he was taking hard drugs. Now we have found him, he’s in a kind of rehabilitation center, sitting in a wheelchair. He cannot walk, his legs are totally dumb, and his skin is extra-sensitive - if you touch him, he’s crying, because he feels the pain very fast. He’s totally sick, and I don’t know what will happen to him in the future. He’s still alive, and that’s good news, but he’s very sick. That’s why Andre Hilgers from Silent Force is playing with us now. He’s wonderful, he fits in the band perfectly, and he’s very enthusiastic.

Apart from recording the new album, you have also been working on an acoustic CD. When can we expect it to be released? And what songs have you chosen for it?

We chose all the songs that are important in our history, such as “Kingdom Of The Night”, “A Little War” and other songs up to “Paradise In Flames”. We are now in the phase where we want to collect everything, and then we’ll see what happens. It will be a kind of best-of acoustic CD, but we don’t have specific plans to release it yet, it’s just an idea. When we need to release a CD, maybe we will release this acoustic album. At the same time, we are trying to produce a DVD, but the problem is that we have so much material on videotape, that the cost of transforming this analog material into the digital format is very high. We are looking for a company that wants to invest money in this production, and if we find someone, maybe we will release a DVD in the future. But once again, we don’t have real plans for this, only ideas.

“Paradise In Flames” is your second album for AFM Records. When you got signed to AFM, you said in interviews that you wanted AFM to promote you more on the international market outside Germany. In your opinion, how much have they succeeded?

It’s very small steps that we made in the past. During our time with EMI Records, we were very big in Germany, but we always had the problem to play outside Germany. With Massacre Records, a smaller label, we for the first time got the chance to play in Spain or Italy. Now we are with AFM Records, and they support us, they will help us play with Helloween in Italy and Belgium. Now we have a chance to put our career up in Europe in little steps, very slowly. It’s very expensive and exhausting, but it’s a lot of fun, because in those countries we are a newcomer band. But at the end of the day, it’s great to work with smaller companies, because they are very enthusiastic, and they are working for us more as fans than as businessmen.

On January 7 you played at the AFM festival, which was organized in the memory of the company’s former president Andy Allendorfer. Can you tell us a bit about this event? How did you like it?

In the beginning I thought that it was only an event for AFM Records and the insider people, but the venue was stuffed with people, it was sold out, and I was very surprised about this. When Andy died last year, it was a shock for all of us, and when the label asked us if we could play this gig for free, we said, “OK, no problem.” It was for us a very emotional thing – the gig was wonderful, but it was also quite difficult, because we got to talk with Andy’s wife and children. Eeh, very difficult!

During the upcoming tour you will play with such different bands as Helloween and Krokus. Does it matter for you what bands are you playing with?

I like both bands, and for us both things are very important. I think Krokus is a band that was very successful in America years ago, and Helloween are very successful now in Eu

rope. Playing with these bands may get us new fanbase, more fans from the other side of the metal spectrum.

Do you have any favorites, the bands that you especially enjoy touring with?

Oh no! (laughs) Helloween are our friends, we know each other a little bit too much, I have known Andi Deris very well since the Pink Cream 69 times. We have the same management, our producer Dennis Ward is the bass player of Pink Cream 69, so we are a very small family. Krokus are not familiar to us on a personal level, I know this band because they are a cult, and were successful 20 years ago, but we don’t have a close personal relationship. This will grow on tour, I think.

A couple of years ago you wrote a song (“The Battle Of Power”) for a car race in Germany. How did it happen? Are you interested in Formula 1 and stuff like that?

We got an offer from a car company called SEAT, they had a race in Germany, where they wanted to promote their cars, SupaCobra was the name of this car, and they were looking for a band that could write a good song for this race. In the beginning we just wrote a song for this race, but later on they got a TV spot with this song, they got radio promotion with this song, and that was very good for us. All the guys that forgot Axxis in the past know Axxis now again, they say, “Oh, great, Axxis are still alive, I didn’t know that!” And that was very important for the success of the “Time Machine” CD. You know, such promotion costs a lot of money, but SEAT is a huge company. Unfortunately, such things don’t happen very often. Sometimes, maybe every two years we get an offer to make a jingle, because we have our own studio here in Germany, and I’m producing some other bands there as well.

It seems like your whole life is connected with music. What do you do in your free time?

Watching TV… (laughs) Playing with my daughter… Diving! If you ask me what hobbies I have, it’s diving. I’m diving in every water hole I can find! (everybody laughs) I also enjoy motorcycling, but not so much, because it’s always raining in Germany, and it’s not so much fun to ride a motorcycle through the rain. My main hobby is diving, and this is very important for me, because there’s a huge world underwater, totally silent, no music, nothing! (everybody laughs)

As a musician, you have to spend a lot of time in studio and on the road, but you also have a wife and a daughter. How do you manage to balance the family life and the life of a rock’n’roller?

(cracks) You have to ask this question to my wife! I think she has this problem, not me! (laughs) To be honest with you, it’s not easy sometimes. Last year, my wife’s mother died, and I was on tour. The year before that, a friend of ours died, and I was on tour. All these things in real life always happen when I’m on tour, and that’s a bit problematic. But at the end of the day, maybe that’s the reason I’m still getting along with my wife – because we don’t see each other too much. (everybody laughs)

Before Axxis you used to play in a couple of punk bands. Can you tell us a bit about that period of your career? And how did you switch over from punk to melodic hard rock?

You’re right, I played punk, this band was called Shift-In, and there was another band playing a kind of new wave/punk stuff. I like this kind of energy and power, but the problem is that there’s no melodic lines, nothing I can remember, and when we played those songs, it was for me kind of boring. The challenge to write good songs is much greater. It’s not so easy to make a three-minute song very interesting for the people, and that was a challenge for me to work in this kind of songwriting. That’s the reason why I changed my mind and went into the heavy metal scene. In those times, 1989, our music was heavy metal, and now

it’s more hard rock, borders between music styles have changed totally during this period of time. Axxis were one of these bands that had an own PA system, there were rows of guitars standing in the rehearsal room, and I was 18 years old and I was very impressed by this huge band. They had no record deal, but they were playing everywhere, in every toilet, and that was wonderful for me. I was 18 years old, I was a singer with no experience, and I was growing up with Axxis. For me Axxis is a kind of family. OK, members sometimes change, but at the end of the day, I’ve been together with Harry for 17 years, and no woman has been able to stay with me for this period of time. Unbelievable! Axxis for me is more than making music, it’s a kind of lifestyle.

Let us ask you some questions about your old songs. The song “A Little Look Back” is very unusual – you have this nice optimistic melody, great rhythm, and at the same time, the lyrics are not funny at all, they are quite sad. Can you recall how you wrote this song and why it turned out in such an unusual manner?

I like this contrast between the meaning of the song and the music. I wrote this song when I was in a very strange situation with my wife – on the one hand, I loved her, and on the other hand, it didn’t work. Everything I did was wrong, and everything she did was wrong, but at the end of the day we loved each other very much. We didn’t know in which direction we wanted to go – left or right, and this song is totally in the same mood – the melody is very happy, and the lyrics are a bit different. These are the emotions I tried to express in this song.

Another great song is “Why Not?!”. Was there anything particular that inspired you to write it? Was it the addition of new members – Guido and Kuni, or was there anything else?

We have very good friends in Germany – a band called Die Toten Hosen. They are a German-singing punk band, and they are very big in Germany, bigger than us. We wrote this song together… not really together, but they influenced us during the songwriting. “Why Not?!” also deals with the relationship that I had, but hey, love is so complicated to describe, (laughs) and that’s the reason why I wrote this song. I always have problems with girls, I don’t know why, but girls are very difficult. (everybody laughs)

And one more song – “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye”. It’s a cover version, but it fits Axxis perfectly. Whose great idea was it to cover this one?

Well, what should I say? It was my idea! (cracks) I knew this song and was in contact with the songwriter, because he did a musical in Germany. I asked him about something, and we stayed in touch, and one day I thought, “Hey, this is a perfect song for Axxis, because it’s happy, it’s cool, it’s got a great power of life, and since we released this song it’s the last tune in our show. It’s perfect for the end of the show.

By the way, why did Axxis stop doing covers after the album “Eyes Of Darkness” (2001)?

In the beginning we said that we don’t wanna make covers, because we’re not a cover band. Usually I hate covers, because everybody is doing it. But sometimes if you try to add another color to the song, approach the song from a different point of view, that’s wonderful. We have only had two situations where we used covers – “The Four Horsemen” by Vangelis and “Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye”. We’re not a cover band, and it was like an experiment for us – to see what happens when we offer the fans that fits us. That was all.

And finally, is there a chance to see Axxis in Russia???

(laughs) We have been 17 years in this business, and we have never had a chance to play in Russia. I don’t know why, to be honest with you. We make offers to promoters in Russia every year, we say, “Hey, do you wanna get Axxis on stage?” But the problem is that nobody knows what to expect from this band, they are a bit scared to take the financial risk, and maybe that’s the reason why. We always get this problem outside Germany, it’s really very hard to get to play in new countries.

Special thanks to Irina Ivanova (CD-Maximum) for arranging this interview.

Interview by Natalie “Lynx” Khorina, Ksenia “Wolfin” Khorina
Questions also provided by Roman “Maniac” Patrashov
January 17, 2006
25 фев 2006 the End

Axxis

Heaven In Black