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| Photo credit: Nick Harvey |
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: I’m fine, thanks!
๐ต.๐ญ.: Do you remember, we’ve already met once, I interviewed you before the concert in Moscow!
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Oh yes, I remember, of course.
๐ต.๐ญ.: Will you probably visit us again this year?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Well, I hope so. I think we can even do it before the end of the year because we cannot forget Moscow! Those few days that we spent in your city were fantastic. It was a great honour for us to play in Gorky Park. Such a historic moment! We generally felt like the Beatles when we were in Moscow. It was kind of madness, like one incessant race!
๐ต.๐ญ.: Brian, your new album is called “Sleeping With Ghosts” and it will be out in March, right?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Yes, that's right.
๐ต.๐ญ.: Is there a difference between this record and your previous work “Black Market Music”?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Of course, there is. First of all, in terms of sound. Because we worked on the whole previous album at once. And we produced it ourselves. Plus, we used the same instruments and the same sound solutions for every song. The approach of real egoists. And this time we decided not to do everything at once. We worked on each song separately, approached individually. Therefore, the disc turned out to be different and more colorful. Then, you can hear, the sound engineers did a good job on it. In terms of production, this is a flawless recording, it surpasses all our previous works by several levels. In addition, this time we listened more to each other's opinions. The album turned out to be more collective. And the mood of the album is different. “Black Market Music” was a cold album, angry and even political, and “Sleeping With Ghosts” is warmer and more vital work. It's melancholic. We seem to look into people's souls and explore the darkest corners of the subconscious, love ... this album turned out to be more human.
๐ต.๐ญ.: I have already heard the album and it reminds me of your debut record.
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Debut one? That’s interesting! It reminds us of ‘Without You I’m Nothing” [second album, most successful]. But the most valuable thing about “Sleeping With Ghosts”, in my opinion, is that it’s a mixture of all our work. It's great, it’s like a good gift for our fans. For all of them.
๐ต.๐ญ.: By the way, about the fans. I know that many fans were not looking forward to a studio album but a B-side compilation.
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Yes ... but what can we do?
๐ต.๐ญ.: Is the release of such a collection still in your plans?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: I guess, yes. We are already thinking about a live album and DVD. But I don’t know for sure yet, maybe it will be acoustics ... Basically I think that we are not yet ready for this kind of collection. We probably won't do B-sides or best yet. We just don't have enough good material for this.
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| Photo credit: Jeffrey Delannoy |
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: That’s a very difficult question. We still live with this album, because we finished mixing it just a few months ago. We kind of haven’t decided yet. And actually it’s difficult to choose ... it's like trying to answer the question which of your children you love the most!
๐ต.๐ญ.: Brian, tell me please, are any remixes coming?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Yes, we are planning to do something about it. First, our friends Rammstein will remix us. And also, I really hope that a German band called Council will do the remix for us. We really like what they do.
๐ต.๐ญ.: Are those remixes going to be in a dance style?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: I don't think so, especially the one that Rammstein will do. I guess it will be a hard, industrial rock remix! Well, the Council remix will be rather more electronic.
๐ต.๐ญ.: What about Timo Maas and Brothers In Rhythm?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Well, we have already worked with them. We are interested in looking for new people and building new contacts. It's the same with David Bowie. We recorded a great song with him, but I don't think this experience will be repeated.
๐ต.๐ญ.: Brian, what does the title of the record, “Sleeping With Ghosts” mean?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Well, for me it's about memory and how you find a common language with your memories. And of course, it's about ghosts. The ghosts of people with whom you communicated and the ghosts of the relationships that you had at a certain period in your life. Sometimes these ghosts of memories can hurt you, sometimes you can't control them. It was interesting for me to reflect on this topic. It's like getting to know yourself in a new way, building relationship with yourself!
๐ต.๐ญ.: Brian, how many copies of the record do you have to sell to be able to say, ‘Oh yes, this album can be considered a success’?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: One more copy than “Black Market Music”!
๐ต.๐ญ.: Is it important to you? Criticism, the sales?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Of course, and we cannot ignore it. It's nice to hear and read responses to your work. We are very interested in the effect our music has on the listener. It happens, however, that we are not understood correctly, but every artist goes through that. Sales are also important. Not every artist counts the number of copies sold, but everyone is interested in good distribution. After all, everyone wants their work to touch as many human hearts as possible. An artist needs an audience, an artist needs it to keep growing, it’s about the professional development of an artist. So I’d lie if I said that I’m not interested in sales ... but on the other hand, I don’t want our new album to sell 20 million because after that it will be very difficult for us to move on. Just think of it! Of course, it would be great, but it would be very difficult to record the next album after such a success. We are not ready to become U2 ... I think we’re going to wait a little bit!
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| Photo credit: Franck Courtรจs |
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Ah, come on ... we still want to be a band and stay true friends! We have been together for 10 years and we feel good, I don't think that things will get better when we get super popular. And we’re still about to do more. We are kind of a family now, and we want to keep our relationships.
๐ต.๐ญ.: Brian, how did you come up with the idea for the song “Carbon Kid” which you recorded with the British duo Alpinestars?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Alpinestars did remixes for us. We met. Became friends. We actually were neighbors; our studios were close to each other. And we didn't have a washing machine, so we often ran to them like to the laundry. Well, they were working on a new album at the time. The idea to do a song together came by itself! They wrote the music, played it to me, I said it was great and we teamed up!
๐ต.๐ญ.: The song is great, and we play it on our radio!
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Great, keep playing it!
๐ต.๐ญ.: We also play “The Bitter End” and this song is already #5 in our Top 20!
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Wow amazing! Great news, I’ll definitely tell the guys! Thanks. Thank you and all our Russian fans!
๐ต.๐ญ.: Have you heard anything about the success of the Russian project Tatu? How do you like it?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Yes, we’ve heard. We watch MTV, and they play their video all the time. We first saw them when we were in Germany recently. Great work, although it's pop of course, but well done and very professional. I’m sure that this is a great merit of Trevor Horn, the producer, I know, he also worked with Tom Jones and Frankie Goes To Hollywood. And to be honest, I would rather see Tatu popular than some fucking Pop Idol. And of course, the video is wonderful, everything is very well thought out - it's nice to watch and that's about it. And it's nice that MTV, often very heterosexual, took such a risk and gave something spicy on its air!
๐ต.๐ญ.: What do you think of their lesbian image?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Great, I think. Good luck to them! But it doesn't matter to me whether it’s true or not. It's just something nice to look at!
๐ต.๐ญ.: Brian, you are gay, and you never hide with it.
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: I'm actually bisexual.
๐ต.๐ญ.: Me too.
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Well, great, happy for you. I'm bisexual, Stefan is gay, and Steve is straight. And we never really hide with it. What for? After all, it is who we are, and going against ourselves would a crime. We are not ashamed of this. At the same time, there is no need to show and prove it to others every day. You just need to be honest with yourself and others. Mutual understanding is a very important and valuable thing. And we are against homophobia and racism. We are ready to fight this and speak for tolerance. It would be very good if we succeed in that. We would very much like to change people’s attitude towards homosexuality.
๐ต.๐ญ.: But many people don’t understand this, and it hurts. Can you give me some advice how to live with it?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: The first thing you must learn is to live in peace with yourself. You need to accept yourself for who you are and ignore the opinions of others. If you are gay, everyone tells you that you are somehow different. That you are sick and you need to be treated. Parents, society, church ... but you are not like everyone else. No need to fight with yourself, you need to find yourself again, gain faith in yourself. You should only listen to yourself, your soul, and your heart. And for many people, that could be is a big challenge. But there’s no need to be afraid because it will definitely be accepted. You deserve to be happy, and you shouldn't be afraid to achieve it.
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| Photo credit: Tim Roney |
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: No, not at the moment.
๐ต.๐ญ.: What kind of guys do you like?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: I don't know, probably I pay little attention to sexual attractiveness. In general, people often judge people by their clothes. First impression is very important to them. Not for me ...
๐ต.๐ญ.: Well, what about the girls? The same?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Yes, I think so. I just like boys and girls, both…. Although, I like Jane Birkin.
๐ต.๐ญ.: Well, great. What's been your biggest fee?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Fee? Oh, sorry, it's not a good idea to talk about money on the radio.
๐ต.๐ญ.: Oh please!
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: I can't tell you, really.
๐ต.๐ญ.: Ok, do you like to go shopping?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Yes, I really do. I like buying clothes the most. But I like to go shopping with someone, otherwise it’s boring. It’s good to have a person whose opinion you can listen to while you try something on. Sometimes I go shopping with my stylist, especially when it’s about some very expensive places. Well, it's cool to go with friends, too, with the same mods as myself.
๐ต.๐ญ.: Hehe. Well, what did you buy recently?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Ahh ... some clothes ... if I buy something, it’s mostly clothes.
๐ต.๐ญ.: Ok, what are you listening to now?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Well… a lot of German electronic music. There’s such a guy called Council, he’s doing remixes for us now as I said. And another band, Schneit TM, and I am a big fan of the American band Low. By the way, I can recommend this band to all our fans. Well, we really like the last The Flaming Lips album, it's fantastic. Is that enough?
๐ต.๐ญ.: Well, do you like Massive Attack?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Yes, I’m listening to their new album now, gradually getting into it, listening attentively. It's very dark and political which is cool.
๐ต.๐ญ.: How do you think what one can do while listening to their music?
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: I don’t know… their music is very seductive, isn't it? You can seduce with it ...
๐ต.๐ญ.: Maybe.
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐: Sometimes it’s hard to say, music is an atmosphere, you know, a separate universe, something like that... Ah you see, I’m just being called, I have to go now, bye!
(๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ’๐ ๐๐๐โ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐, 2003)
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐ข๐๐๐๐๐
Post by Olga
