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Following on
from the release of their excellent new album 'The Rauber' and the
announcement that Bonfire will be performing in the UK again later this
year at the Z Rocks Festival, we catch up with lead singer Claus
Lessmann to touch base with how things are going with the band
...
MM - Firstly, thanks for taking time out
to talk about the new album 'The Rauber'.
Claus - Thank you!
MM
- How did you first get involved with the project The Rauber?
Claus - Well we got an email from the
boss of the theatre in Ingolstadt,
he asked if we could have a conversation and we were very astonished by
this because we did not know what he wanted from us. We had a
meeting with him and he asked us to work on a classic work from Schiller
and we said why not, it sounds interesting. We’ve never done
anything like this before so we came together and met the director and
starting working on the play.
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MM
- How familiar were you with the Schillers play Die Rauber
before this project?
Claus - I
knew it from school and that was the first thing I said in the
meeting, that I hate theatre. The teachers weren’t able
to bring in the point where you started loving it. All of
us hated it, but this was so different and it's very very
interesting and the shows that we're playing right now, they
show the people like it very much.
MM
- How have the shows been going so far?
Claus - Yes they're going down
very well. It's always a good thing to get people into
Bonfire music, they would normally never come to a show but they
are very astonished when the show starts and the whole stage
crashes, it's all very interesting to them.
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MM
- The Director Pierre Politz wanted you to remain true to the Bonfire
sound, did that make it easier or harder to write the songs for the
album?
Claus - Ah well no, they said be as you
are and write as you would, that's what we want from you. So
it’s a typical Bonfire album.
MM
- How long did it take you and Hans to write the album?
Claus - We started writing in April last year and finished the
writing around August, then we wrote the lyrics, very close to the
original, then we started recording the whole thing.
MM
- I know when the band play a live show there are also actors involved
in the shows.
Claus - Yes.
MM - So the band plays live alongside
these actors?
Claus - There are
a couple of songs sung by the actors. It’s a very interesting
mixture.
MM
- After this venture will you be taking on any more of these types of
projects?
Claus - We don’t know yet. It's
interesting and very intensive work, it takes a lot of time to do.
There's a lot of things you have to look after with the actors, the
director, the theatre and the band, it all takes a lot of time.
MM
- My personal favourite from the album have to be Bells of Freedom and
Blut and Tod (Blood And Death) do you have any favourite tracks.
Claus - I like ‘Refugee of Fate’
and also ‘Blut und Tod’. It's still very Bonfire.
Yes still Bonfire and there’s also a little Black Sabbath in there.
MM
- I saw the band last year at Firefest 4 and I must say you were one of
the bands of the day for me and many others.
Claus - Thank you very much!
MM
- What can we expect from the band at Z Rocks this year?
Claus - I think we will play some of
the songs from this new album as they work very well live, and I must
say we can't wait to play England again because it was such a fantastic
crowd and we're so looking forward to playing there again.
MM
- What do you think has been the secret to the bands 27 year success?
Claus - Actually
I don’t know. We just can't do anything else, we're still having
fun doing what we're doing. Even if the people of the press write
bad things saying it's old fashioned or whatever, Fuck It! You
know maybe it is old fashioned but there is room for everything so there
must also be room for Bonfire!
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MM
- When Melodic Hard Rock wasn’t popular in this country it was
elsewhere in Europe, particularly Germany and Scandinavia that
seemed to keep the flame alive. Why do you think this is
so?
Claus - We're kind of Rock N'
Roll missionaries!
MM
- Apart from the Rauber album are there any more plans for
another studio album?
Claus - Yes we plan to start writing for a new studio album
maybe October / November time. This also depends on how
successful this album will be you know. At this point it's
going down pretty good, so we might go out on tour with this
album.
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MM
- You said before that you're not a fan of the theatre, has this
changed?
Claus - Yes I hated theatre but now I'm
loving it! The main reason I now have respect for the actors is
because I already have problems going to the supermarket and having to
get eggs and milk, but they have to remember the words and keep them in
there minds.
MM
- Thanks again for taking time out for a very busy schedule to take part
in this interview lots of luck with the play and maybe I'll see you
again at Z Rocks later this year.
Claus - Thank you, Rock On! |