How did the album come about? How were the recordings?
What were the challenges?
A: The album was created in our studio/rehearsal room at Wild At Heart.
Having your own studio is both a blessing and a curse. You theoretically have unlimited time, but that makes it "tricky." You have to discipline yourself extremely, otherwise you'll never finish. It's like a vicious circle.
Since we can handle that quite well, it was actually just a fun affair. The preparations took significantly longer than the actual recording process. First, I had to sift through material that was suitable. Then I try it out alone with the acoustic guitar. If I think it works, the song is tried out with the band, an arrangement is worked out, and so on.
Then we get to the recording. Since Markus is an absolute professional, the drum track is usually in after 2-3 tries. Then come the rhythm guitars and the bass. Then the vocals, and then the icing on the cake like acoustic guitars, percussion, guitar solos, etc.
I also want to emphasize that we work without computers. Nothing is edited.
So it's pure musical craftsmanship!
Q: CHURCH OF CONFIDENCE is releasing a pure cover album with the eighth studio album. Why?
A: After seven albums with almost exclusively original material, I just felt like tackling something like this. However, I have no interest in cover versions that are either played note for note or just played twice as fast. That's far too unchallenging for me, or it could even drive me away.
I find it much more interesting when you manage to give the songs a new twist. So we made "Church Of Confidence" out of "The Sweet," "Ramones" out of "Rubettes," "Lynyrd Skynyrd" out of "Jimi Hendrix," "Stranglers" out of "Slade," and so on.
Q: Musicians like Rod Stewart or bands like Smokie are a red flag for many. Why are songs by both of them on the album?
A: Precisely for that reason. Always doing what others expect doesn't correspond to my understanding of punk at all. Unfortunately, that's how it is nowadays. Almost everything that is labeled punk is overly correct, mostly musically mainstream, and always aims at the listeners.
As my sadly deceased friend and Berlin original punk Gerrit Meyer from the band PVC once aptly said:
"That's not punk, that's customer service."
Moreover, one must not forget that as someone born in 1964, I am a total child of the 70s culture. So what you hear on the new record is what accompanied me until '77. Until the Ramones and the Pistols came in with a bang.
Q: CHURCH OF CONFIDENCE was once described as the most underrated punk rock band in Germany. How do you see that?
A: Brilliant sentence. I picked it up from some review.
I totally like it!
Since I decided after two failed major deals in the 80s to only pursue music for fun, I can completely lean back and do whatever I want without competition. I have made myself completely independent through my own studio and my own label. However, this time the new record will be released by "Smith&Miller" because I currently lack the time to handle it myself.
Q: You have played more abroad than domestically in recent years. What is the reason for that? Do you enjoy playing in South America or the UK more?
A: Well, when you've played so many shows in this business for such a long time, things start to repeat themselves. That gets boring. And it’s not about money anyway. So we try to play in places we would never get to know otherwise. This has taken us to the USA, Argentina, and Brazil, among others.
Q: There have been changes in the band over the last few years. You are the only constant in the band. How is it for you to constantly find new musicians and shape them into a band?
A: By now, I have a relatively stable lineup, but since both the drummer and the bassist play in other bands, I sometimes have guest musicians with me. Sometimes that even does good, and for example, I was able to play a great show with Zip
(editor's note: Zip Schlitzer, also a bassist of the band Terrorgruppe) before he unexpectedly passed away.
That is very important to me in retrospect.
A: Clearly the tours abroad, but also the great concerts here in Berlin, with Social Distortion, The Damned, UK Subs, Supersuckers, and so on...
Otherwise, we let things come to us and hopefully seize opportunities at the right moment.
Q: How is the situation for bands and musicians now compared to earlier?
A: Nowadays, everyone complains about how bad the music business is, but it was just as bad before. I think the situation has improved significantly due to the internet, as everyone can present their music today without having to go through the process of being deemed worthy by a publisher or label as it used to be. In the early 90s, I booked a 12-day tour myself by walking to the phone booth every day at 8 PM for weeks, with an address book and a bag of coins, leaving messages on promoters' answering machines. No one can imagine that today. But it worked.
Q: What advice would you give to a young band?
A: Do your own thing and don't try too hard to sound like bands that already exist.
Try to be professional by not bringing rehearsal room problems to the soundcheck.
Play everywhere for a year, but then try to get out of the city. Even if it's tough, that's the only way to avoid becoming an eternal opening act and neighborhood festival band.
Rather work on your songs, arrangements, and backing vocals than fall into an equipment frenzy and collect effect pedals.
Q: Besides the band, you also have Wild at Heart, which is celebrating its anniversary this year. How is Wild at Heart doing? What is planned for the anniversary?
A: Wild At Heart is doing pretty much the same as always. There are good and bad days. But 30 years have somehow flown by. I can hardly believe it myself.
I don't want to miss them or trade them. We're still working on the anniversary celebration. Let's see what we can come up with.
Q: What highlights have there been in the history of Wild at Heart for you?
A: Oh dear, there are too many.
I once estimated that we have hosted around 20,000 bands. Sure, when "The Damned" played for our 20th anniversary, that was a kind of knighthood. But also concerts like that of the "Los Straightjackets," where almost no one was there, but the band was so great that I left my mixing desk and celebrated the band in front of the stage.
Q: Wild at Heart is a live club that stays open late, especially on weekends, due to aftershow DJs. Has anything changed when you look back at the time before and after Corona?
A: Corona was a drastic turning point. Even though the going-out behavior had already changed a bit before, afterwards, nothing was really the same as before.
After Corona, we moved the start times of the concerts forward by another hour. In the 90s and 2000s, we rarely closed before 9 or 10 AM. I have the feeling that many people somehow settled in with Netflix and Lieferando during the pandemic and prefer to stay at home rather than go out.
Q: Who gets to play at Wild at Heart? Are there guidelines and no-gos?
A: At Wild At Heart, we play what we personally like. My wife Lea primarily handles the booking. But we largely have the same taste in music.
If we don't like something, we won't do it, no matter how commercially successful it could be.
Q: What can interested visitors expect on March 22, 2025, when the record release party for “(S)hit Explosion” takes place?
A: We will perform the new record in its original order and additionally present other cover versions that have accumulated over 30 years of band history.
Of course, the new work will be available for purchase on vinyl, and there will be more special merchandise surprises.
