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Tell us a bit about your new EPCD. What can someone expect who hasn't heard the good piece yet?
Last autumn, we decided to record the essence of the songs that had been written at that time, so as not to let another year pass without a new release. After careful consideration, we ended up with the 6 songs that we recorded in our studio without much fuss. All of them are brutally fast old-school grenades, which was to be expected, right!? The fastest number has 220 BPM and the "slowest" song only 198 BPM....
How did the work on the new songs go for you beforehand?
One person comes up with an idea, usually a guitar riff or a bass figure, and then we jam with the idea and see what comes of it. We have the opportunity to record right in our rehearsal room, and that's how the framework grows. We let the song rest for a while, and if we still like it the next time we touch it, we go into more detail, and then vocal arrangements and lyrics come in, and if all goes well, a new song is eventually finished.
Is there a creative mind in the group who takes on most of the songwriting, or do you share it?
Unfortunately, that was my part in the last productions, but hopefully it will change with the new lineup, grin...!
How did you actually come up with the title "F.T.W. And no Regrets"?
I had already written the song "No Regrets" and we felt it was suitable as a title track because of its cool hook line. "No Regrets" alone sounded a bit too cliché and not very meaningful. Since we are quite fed up with the current political events and the increasing deception by our leadership, we decided on the double name "F.T.W. and No Regrets". The name is the program and describes the context: a personal willingness to keep going despite massive social grievances and the powerlessness to really change anything, almost to the point of resignation... (too philosophical???)
Your new EPCD is a successful mix of hardcore with punk rock and rock 'n' roll influences, there's nothing to complain about. I will go into that more in detail in the review. But why are there only 6 songs on "F.T.W. And no Regrets" or just an EP release? "Back to the Roots" was released 4 years ago! Can we expect an album release and more songs from you in the near future?
I already explained why only 6 songs made it onto the new CD, and YES we are already working on a new album, although lineup changes unfortunately keep slowing us down.
One can imagine that it takes a while to get musically accustomed to each other to be able to write good songs. Our strong live activities and the increased time commitment unfortunately collide here and there with professional and family interests, and that has been the reason for the split in most cases. We live on the edge of the republic and always have long distances to travel to our gigs, but even after all these years, we are still extremely eager to play, which is why there are frequent lineup changes and the "few" outputs compared to the time the band has existed. I hope that suffices as an explanation. Regardless, there will be something NEW from us very soon!
What personal "highlights" do you have planned for this year's tour? Do you prefer playing at big festivals or in small clubs where the sweat drips from the ceiling?
We enjoy both equally. We played 3 very cool shows in Croatia over 14 days, which were very successful and sweat-inducing, and we are just as excited about Hell Fest in France, where we will be playing this weekend and get to see and "support" Black Sabbath, ha...!
What were your reasons for releasing on PUKE MUSIC this time? Previously, you were with NUCLEAR BLAST and DRITTE WAHL RECORDS. The Rostock Deutschpunk legends from DRITTE WAHL are apparently good friends of yours? Why the switch?
Dritte Wahl were just working on a release themselves, so we couldn't come together because the guys didn't want to get tangled up with 2 productions. We had previously released a split CD with COR on Puke Music, so it was natural to ask Bernd if he was interested in releasing our EP. However, we were never with Nuclear Blast.
What were the early days of CRUSHING CASPARS like, and what has changed between then and now? Was it difficult to get gigs in the early days?
It sounds really metaphorical to say it was a rocky road, but of course it was different when we founded the band in 1985 during the GDR era. There was no internet, our musical skills and abilities were rather modest, and we had to work hard for every gig.
Before that, we had to obtain a performance permit from a commission that checked us for political correctness and musicality. Yes, one can say it was not the same as today, where everyone can research performance opportunities on the internet and put together music on their computers and record it in high-tech quality.
Snoopy, has your work as a booker for MAD-Tourbooking made things easier for you, or did you find it easier and quicker to contact promoters in the scene, and have the CRUSHING CASPARS benefited from that?
The Caspars have certainly benefited from my job here and there, and one or another opportunity to play might not have arisen otherwise, that cannot be denied.
However, I can clearly deny that my job has made everything easier for us as a band. Imagine the situation where a promoter is looking for a band for date X, and I offer him all the bands I have available at that time. The promoter will certainly choose the one that fits best into his concept or the one he knows best, and that is definitely not the Caspars. Regardless, one can also imagine that it is not easy to offer oneself, which is probably the main reason why most bands prefer to have an external booker.
A lineup change is always something quite unpleasant, especially since a band is like a big family.
How do you deal with the fact that after 5 years your guitarist Timmer has to leave for professional and family reasons?
We are of course not very happy that Timmer is leaving after next weekend, but we accept his decision, as he didn't take it lightly, and he is not leaving because we no longer like each other. He will thus always remain part of our "family," as you so beautifully put it, just like almost all of our former musicians. Together with Tim, we have searched for and already found a suitable new guitarist, hell yeah!
What does the new guitarist need to bring to fit into your group? Feel free to advertise here ;-)
He should have a guitar and know how to play it. It would also be nice if he shares our musical preferences to some extent and, like us, is eager to be on the road with the band as much as possible. As I said, we have already found him and are very happy about it and look forward to what will happen musically now and to many great shows.
Then I thank you for the interview and wish you much success on the upcoming tour and with your new EPCD!
We have to thank you and hope to see you on the road...!
Cheerio and best regards from the waterfront, your Caspars.
You can find the review of "F.T.W And no Regrets" on Ramtatta.de at this link: http://www.ramtatta.de/s/reviews/f/details/id/6593/
