Artist: Xandria
Date:
31 january 2012
MM -
How would you describe the music you play?
Marco - Symphonic
and atmospheric metal with elements from soundtracks, folk and any other
rock or metal music that inspires us.
MM - Do
you have any themes that run throughout each album, or are they always
different?
Marco - Do you mean musically or lyrically?
Musically we always try to write atmospheric and imaginative stuff, this
is what all albums have in common. But Lyrically the themes are
changing, but ranging from very personal topics to a view on what´s
happening in this world.
MM - Is
there any type of music you would love to play but haven’t had the
opportunity as yet?
Marco - We always try to let every
inspiration flow into the music of Xandria, but of course it should fit
into. I think there is a big range of what can happen in Xandria, even
some Black Metal influences or folk dances, as long as it makes sense.
There surely are still something things I would like to try out, be it
in Xadnria or, if it doesn´t fit into, in other projects.
MM - What
were your influences growing up, and later, as a band?
Marco
- My first band as a fan was ABBA when I was seven years old. But I also
listened to bands like Pink Floyd, Alan Parsons Project or Black Sabbath
from that age on. It was the music my parents listened to and I
“stole” their tapes to listen to them on my tape player. Later, when
I started to make music myself, I was heavily influenced by bands like
Tiamat, Paradise Lost, Anathema or The Gathering, all those bands that
did some really interesting things with their metal back in the
nineties. That fascinated and inspired me a lot.
MM - How
do you feel that the European metal scene has changed in the past 14
years?
Marco - I got the impression that it was a hard time
for classic metal bands in the nineties, but they all came back in the
new millennium and also some other bands that went away from their metal
roots returned back to them, mixing all their experience to some
interesting new stuff. I have the feeling, that in the last years all
metal genres are more and more existing alongside, while before that,
only some have been modern or cool. And that makes metal stronger than
it has ever been before I think.
MM - Also,
how do you feel the music industry has changed during that time?
Marco - They have less money and invest less money in new bands,
which is a pity. But new bands today have so much more possibilities to
promote themselves with the internet. CDs are dying and mp3s are ruling,
which is also kind of a pity, cause more and more people just listen to
music on shitty mp3 players or computer speakers instead of enjoying
them on a good HiFi player.
 |
MM - What
is your next album about? In hindsight I realized that some of the ideas on the album are the same that Michael Ende had. He said that it is important that we keep the possibility to travel to our dreamworld, so that we get the strength to cope with the real world, when we are back. This is the key mentioned on the album, the key to your hopes and dreams you should never lose. |
MM - It’s
been five years since the last album, what has changed since then?
Marco - We have a new singer and
revamped our sound a lot. We wanted to push our music to a higher level
and not just do what we did before. We threw out many things in our
music that we didn´t like anymore, like too much “pop” sounding
stuff or electronic elements. We wanted to present a strong statement
when we are back that really shows what we are able to do, and we are
very pleased with the outcome. The new album is definitely heavier,
darker, more deep and complex than before!
MM - Do
you feel that the change in vocalist from Lisa to Kerstin to Manuela has
led you to adapt new techniques tailored to their voices?
Marco - Not so much
really, because we first thought about what way we wanted to go in the
future, what new things we wanted to explore, and then searched for the
adequate voice for it. And we found it – Manuela has a fantastic voice
with a beautiful colour, and she is able to not only sing powerful and
classical, but also very tender and emotional, even absolutely
non-classic and more rock. This variety was very important for us.
MM - How
did you feel when Lisa had left?
Marco - It was with
mixed emotions. On the one hand it is a serious cut, because Lisa has
been the singer for 7 years – and of course I had to think about all
the good and bad times we have experienced together in this band. On the
other hand the differences have been too big to go on together. So I
have the greatest respect for her decision that made it possible for us
to carry on, without getting stuck in a dead end which could have become
an even worse situation for everyone.
MM - Has
there ever been a moment when you did not want to carry on?
Marco - No, though it was very hard when we had to start searching
for a new singer the second time. After several months it became pretty
exhausting. But for me personally the vision of the new songs was so
strong that I wanted to carry as long as needed for them to become
reality.
MM - What
is your defining moment as a band and as a musician?
Marco
- For me it was the release of Tiamat´s Wildhoney album. I always
wanted to make music, and when I started learning guitar I tried several
things out, but this album gave me the direction of which type of music
I would like to make – metal music with a deep atmosphere - and that
was the initial motivation for me to found Xandria.
MM - How
does it feel to be one of only two original members of the band?
Marco - Today we don´t think about that really. We don´t look back
so often. The history of the band is so full of changes that it doesn´t
make sense to speak of “original” members anyway. There even had
been a predecessor of the current band in the mid-nineties that I
already had called Xandria, but it broke up, and when I started to
search for musicians again to found a new project where I could realize
my musical ideas in 1999, there have been lots of personal changes
before the first demo was recorded. But indeed, from that demo recording
in the year 2000 the only remaining musicians are Gerit and me.
MM - If
you had to choose 5 albums that define you, what would they be and why?
Marco - As a band (then of
course it would be our own five albums…) or me personally? Well I
could only name some that influenced me a lot, but even the influences
are changing over the years. Important for me as influences have been
Tiamat – Wildhoney, Metallica – Black Album, Pink Floyd – Meddle,
but also Albums from Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Paradise Lost, Pantera,
Emperor and some filmscores from composers like John Barry or Hans
Zimmer.
MM - Do
you have any parting messages for all our readers and your fans out
there?
Marco - Please give the new Xandria a chance! We
gave all of our heart and passion into this new album and we really hope
we can go on tour with it in the UK again! See you all then!
Interview by: Kerry H
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