Q: First of all, congratulations on the new album. I think it's really great. How satisfied are you with the album?
K: I am very satisfied. I am as satisfied as I was when I recorded a record for the first time or during the times of “Survival of the Sickest“. I can fully identify with “Burn & Rise“, which was not the case with the last studio album. “Burn & Rise“ is real and authentic again. Since the living situation has been rather difficult lately, “Burn & Rise“ has also become what I envisioned in terms of the lyrics. The album contains a round of hate, but also a lot of positive and melancholic stuff. The album is honest! It is reality! I think that's good.
Q: So you processed the last year in the songs?
K: Completely! That's why it's called “Burn & Rise“. I wasn't the only one who had such problems. In recent years, good friends of mine have passed away.
People have seen how bad it was for me, for Hellvis and for Andy as well. Mad Pete moved to Berlin at the end of 2008. He had a completely new living situation because of that. For me, everything was really hardcore.
The creation of the new album completely accompanied me in 2009. It is a time document! The cover is also very successful. The artwork is great. It's simple but very to the point. I like that.
Q: There are also two German songs on the album, including the ballad “Für Immer“.
Did you have any fear while writing the lyrics that it might come across as too cheesy or too sentimental?
K: When I wrote the song… It wasn't even a MAD SIN song. It was primarily a poem. I wrote it when I was feeling very bad. At that time, my girlfriend had broken up with me. I had been with her for a few years. The breakup hit me hard. That feeling is probably known to everyone. Just because I have a few tattoos and weigh a few kilos more, I feel just like anyone else. I also have a heart that sometimes breaks or gets punctured. When I was writing, I didn't aim for it to be a MAD SIN song at all. I already had a melody in my head that was in the direction of DANZIG. I am a big DANZIG fan and really like the ballads. I am also a fan of Elvis and rockabilly. I have no problem with sentimentality.
It is a very honest song. Everything I wrote there, I meant just like that. When I then put music to it and it was clear that it could be recorded, I actually just wanted to have it for myself, and maybe send it to my ex. That was the actual aspect. I wanted to send her a song again so she knows that I meant everything honestly.
Well, it turned out that “Für Immer“ became a MAD SIN song because everyone thought it was a great piece! I was still hesitant about it. The argument was that the song is a snapshot, and if it doesn't make it onto the album, then there could never be love songs because you only have those feelings in that moment. It's like when you think back to your ex because, for example, you hear a song that reminds you of her, then those feelings come back up. That's how it is with “Für Immer“. The people are right. At the end of the song, you hear a gunshot. I added that again to leave it open whether the guy in the song shoots the girl or himself or whether the shot just metaphorically means a final point. I left that open.
I wanted the shot to make it more intense and not come across as too cheesy.
Q: When listening, it stands out extremely and you definitely have to pause.
K: I didn't record the song in the studio but just for myself with a small microphone. It's extremely honest! You can't record it more honestly than that. That's probably why the song turned out the way it is.
Q: When listening to MAD SIN songs, country always comes to the forefront for me.
How do you feel about country music? Are you a country fan?
K: Country is not just country! That's the first thing to say. I am primarily a rockabilly. Rockabilly comes from country and blues. Rockabilly is the origin of modern rock music. Country is the “White Man's Blues“ as they say. I've always been a total roots music fan and teddy boy.
I'm rockabilly anyway. Someone who plays psychobilly obviously likes rockabilly too. If a psychobilly didn't like rockabilly, it wouldn't work. I listened to Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, and Jimmy Rogers in school. I was always told, “Only my grandfather listens to that.” You grew up with that. Nowadays, it's cool to listen to Johnny Cash and especially the old rockabilly stuff.
However, I hate the new Nashville sound! It's terrible. I’m into country from the 40s, 50s, and early 60s.
I am an absolute country fan!
Q: Were there difficulties in releasing your new album since the distribution of your label PEOPLE LIKE YOU filed for bankruptcy and the label is now using EMI for distribution?
K: Not at all.
That’s also because I’m not a punk. I like punk rock, but I’m not a punk. I’m a rock’n’roller. I’m psychobilly. I don’t have to worry about how it’s going. I do think about it, though. I know what’s cool and what’s not, but I think in the world we live in, you can’t do without commerce. The interview we’re doing is commerce! Everything we do is commerce! If someone were to accuse us of being with the evil major label, that would be total mockery. MAD SIN was once on a major label. They really took us for a ride back then.
I think it’s great when people do their thing and believe in something. I do that too. But it also means that sometimes you have to make a deal with the devil. You can’t exist in modern society if you completely disconnect. You can only do it if you have the money for it.
You want to reach people with your music. The more, the better. And if the record is now distributed by EMI, that’s okay with me. Besides, EMI is currently struggling itself.
We used to be with SPV. SPV was cool, but SPV was also big.
We all pay taxes. We are ruled by a bunch of idiots, so why should we worry about EMI now?
Q: You have a video for your song “Cursed” out. What stands out to me is that there are a few well-known psychos in it, but what I want to ask first is, how did you come up with the story and why exactly that song?
K: The story was my idea. The implementation was done by Tribal Area. They have a lot of experience in that area. Tribal Area has been around forever. They do their thing. I don’t know if they can really live off it, but I don’t think so.
The guys love what they do, and that’s why we made the video with them.
We shot the video in Essen. The recordings took place a day after a concert we played in Essen. In Berlin, we shot some additional footage because I wanted all the Berlin buddies to be in the video as much as possible. For that, we rented the “Cortina Bob”.
You could have come too. It wasn’t just psychos there.
Overall, I think the video is very, very good.
The girls who participated are also very satisfied with it, but the girls are really great. I initially had concerns that it might become too sexist, but I think the opposite is the case. The girls were thrilled. They thought, “I want a doll like that in real life too.”
Q: That certain feeling of power.
K: Of course!
Q: I also think that the psychobilly scene is quite relaxed regarding accusations of sexism, at least when it comes to revealing clothing.
K: Yes, that too. The revealing clothing is part of it. But I think just because someone wears high heels doesn’t mean they are not emancipated. You can be a feminist without walking around with a meter of bush under your arm.
On the contrary. I think a woman in high heels can exert much more power. I speak from experience!
Q: Is there a movie you would like to act in?
K: Sure. Any Quentin Tarantino film!
I’m into trash, but I’m not a big B-movie fan. I like things that convey a certain aura and flair. Stanley Kubrick comes to mind.
There are a ton of movies I would love to be a part of.
I should mention that my mother is an actress. As a child, I was always excited when there was theater and I could rummage around there. Although, some actors have a very sick way about them, but if the script is good, I would be in the film anytime.
Q: On June 13, 2010, you are playing a gig in the USA. Is it worth it for you to fly over for one gig, or are there more concerts to come?
K: In October 2010, we are doing a tour over there. It’s a pretty short tour, only lasting 2 weeks. We don’t do month-long tours that often anymore. Maybe once every 2-3 years. On a month-long tour, you drive from the East Coast through the Midwest to the West Coast. That’s a long way.
For the show on June 13, 2010, we are getting a lot of money, so it’s worth it.
We are the headliners that day.
Q: How does a heavily tattooed and pierced psychobilly get through American security checks at the border?
K: That’s not a problem! At first, I thought it would be harder.
After the attacks on September 11, I thought it would be hell, but it wasn’t that bad at all. The people at the border can see that I’m a musician, a rock’n’roller. They can distinguish between who is a rock’n’roll fan and who isn’t. Rock’n’roll is American; that’s their thing.
The people at the border are sometimes not as bad as you think. I have to say that, even though I find a lot of things going on in the USA terrible, there are also many cool things.
Last year, I was in the USA in the hospital. They asked me how I wanted to pay the bill. I would have had to pay $8000. It was a hospital in a predominantly black neighborhood. At first, I thought it might be problematic, but they were super nice.
We then agreed that when we play in Chicago next time, we would organize a benefit concert, and then everything would be fine.
That was fine. I would like to experience something like that here!
Just trashing America is just as wrong as praising everything.
What the people at the border don’t want are tattoos with satanic backgrounds, for example. I have a spider tattooed on my neck, so I wear a scarf over it at the border. A spider is not satanic in the classical sense, but you never know. With rock’n’roll tattoos, you have no problems.
Q: How do you react when things get violent at concerts? When dancing turns into fighting?
K: I am very experienced in that regard since the 80s. I was one of the tough guys at the beginning. I used to be very antisocial, I have to admit. Only over the years has that changed. I believe I can handle people who cause trouble. If I notice that something really intense is happening at a concert, I go into the audience myself and tell the people that if they want trouble, they should settle it with us as a band. I’m not afraid of that. If it gets violent, it’s the band’s responsibility to act.
You either have to stop or keep playing and say something about it. Of course, you can also let it go. To be honest, there used to be a fight at every concert.
Q: In the past, the psycho scene had the reputation of being full of mentally disturbed thugs.
I find it softer today.
K: What you’re saying has some truth to it. It used to be like that. However, I wouldn’t claim that psycho concerts were harder than skinhead concerts.
Nowadays, I don’t see the reputation of the psycho scene that way anymore. Nowadays, everyone is super nice. Nothing really happens at concerts anymore. People do their thing, but if you come at them stupidly, it can happen that someone gets hit, but my God.
What I really don’t like is when guys in the pit have to hit little kids who also want to have fun. I can’t stand that! I get really angry about that! When an old guy starts messing with little kids, I get really mad. I can relate to that because when I first went to psycho concerts around 1981, I had to take a lot too. I was also messed with, but I was really tough and became a real nasty fighter to prove that I could do something. I was about 11 or 12 years old. I wanted to show as a Ted – rockabilly what a tough guy I am.
In such injustices, I do say something, but if two guys of the same age are just messing around a bit and not pulling anyone else in, then you can let that go too.
Having stress at concerts happens super rarely worldwide at our concerts. Out of 50 concerts, we might have some stress at one gig.
Q: I have been going to psychobilly concerts for years, and nothing major has ever happened to me personally.
K: You can have fun at the concerts!
You’re not being messed with at the concerts anymore, are you?
Q: Not anymore. There used to be a few jabs here and there.
K: I was once messed with at a Motörhead concert. The guy was puffed up, acting like a weird psycho type. If he had come at me really stupidly, I would have shown him what’s what.
I really think it’s great that the scenes are no longer fighting each other but that the underground hangs out together.
In any case, it’s important to still know where you belong politically.
There can hardly be a better closing statement, because not only in the psychobilly area but also in other scenes, there are always discussions about this.
All I can say is that anyone who doesn’t own the current album “Burn & Rise“ should get it quickly, because the album is really great and a milestone in modern psychobilly / punkabilly.
