So, you have the first release party today at Rülps in Kirchheim and the second one tomorrow in Berlin?
Lizal: Yes, because over the last few years we've made many friends in the East, and when we were recording the album, we thought: Why not do two release parties? One in Bavaria and one in the East with our buddies. That way, everyone benefits; the fans don’t have to travel far for the gig, and the Tommyhaus was also immediately excited about the whole thing...
You released a new album that sounds quite different from the previous ones. That was a big step forward. Did you work differently in the studio?
Lizal: Yes, I was actually the main driving force because I said I didn’t want to record with Stummer Franz anymore (Note from the author: All previous albums were recorded here). While it was a good collaboration, I said we could get more out of the recordings to make the vocals clearer and approach the whole thing more professionally than before. That’s how we ended up with Lukas Haidinger. Lukas has experience in six of his own bands, which are more from the hardcore and metal scene, and he has recorded a lot of stuff. Working with him went really well.
Wastl: Franz made live recordings, and it sounded like in the 80s and 90s...
Lizal: The old stuff also lacks the guitar pressure; it’s just not the same as when I see the band live...
Wastl: With the new recordings, we could also work much better with frequencies because everyone recorded on a separate track, and then it was combined. All the details like two-part electric guitars or the bass drum come out much better now.
Bons: We also recorded with a click.
Pascal: You have a lot of possibilities now. When you record as a group, you always have a guitar on the drum sound and no way to change anything. Now you can make the snare drum louder or quieter. We had more options to mix things afterward.
Lizal: I also say, even if it’s punk rock. D.I.Y. is all cool and I think bands that do everything on their own are awesome, but the recordings you pay for don’t have to be terrible. Because punk and being a musician shouldn’t be mutually exclusive, and it’s important to develop further. It’s important not to stand still.
That was probably a completely different experience for everyone
Wastl: Of course, it was much harder.
Lizal: It was very exhausting. It was 7 days, and they were the most intense days of the whole year, you could say. You’re just in there playing for 12 hours.
Maddin: For whom it was really intense, it was for Bons.
Bons: Actually, the hardest part was for Lizal, but I recorded all the songs in one day for 70 minutes of playtime this time. That means I played between 11 and 12 hours. Which is already enormous for our songs, as it was relatively quick for our standards.
Lizal: This also had the advantage that we were sound-wise better because we recorded it in one day. Because then you have to painstakingly recreate the drums, and it can be minimal that you have a different sound. On an album, the drums should sound the same, in my opinion.
Wastl: That’s physically and emotionally stressful in the studio.
Pascal: (cries)
Maddin: I have to say, it was the best recordings we’ve ever done because I’m the second singer and this time I had the chance to hear myself better. For me, it was easier and nicer. But I’m the exception in the band.
Pascal: You have a lot of options when you record as a group; you always have a guitar on the drum sound and no way to change anything when it’s live. You have fewer options to mix things.
Denni: With the guitars, you can hear a good trace of metal and rock, and the drums are heavier. You’ve also developed further in rehearsals, right?
Lizal: We are better rehearsed, but I think that’s a normal process when you do it over the years, and everyone works on themselves. Then it can develop, and it automatically gets better.
Wastl: I have to say Lizal really drives us hard. She mainly writes the lyrics and melodies. A few lyrics also came from Maddin.
Maddin: The better lyrics… (grins)
Wastl: For example, 'Mit Bier gefüllte Deutsche' is a political anti-Nazi song, or 'Flaschenpfand' is a nice drinking cover, and something also came from Donald, our comic artist. In any case, most things come from Lizal, and she really drives us in the rehearsal room.
Lizal: I also mostly arrange. I try it out; sometimes you have an idea in your head that doesn’t always resonate, but that’s normal. But I’m also excited when the others come up with: "Hey, I’m playing a bass line here and there!" Passi can improvise wonderfully, which I can’t do at all. I really take a lot of time to make it 100% perfect, and he improvises, and that complements each other.
What are your favorite songs on the new record?
Pascal: 'Alzheimerarmeefraktion' and 'Photosynthese'
Bons: I find it really hard; I actually like them all.
Maddin: 'Gib mir dein Wort' and 'Alzheimer Armeefraktion'… 'Mit Bier gefüllte Deutsche' is also not bad, but you shouldn’t praise yourself.
Wastl: My favorite songs are 'Dreckige Saat' and 'Schmutz unserer Straßen'
Lizal: I have to say that I don’t find any song bad, unlike the previous albums. But if I had to choose, it would be 'Schmutz unserer Straßen' and 'Gib mir dein Wort'. They touched me the most at the time I wrote them. With 'Schmutz unserer Straßen', it’s all about gentrification in the cities, and with 'Gib mir dein Wort', it’s just a personal story.
Denni: What about the album title 'Duschen auf Staatskosten'? Is it related to the event in Vienna, or did you write the song more so?
Lizal: That was a coincidence. It was before that. I wrote it in December. It came to me overnight. It would be such a cool idea to go to the demo in swimwear, somehow... Exactly because we were talking about Hamburg... if you went to the demo in swimwear.
Wastl: We were at the Schanzenfest...
Lizal: No, that was already a year before. We played in Halle, and overnight it came to me, and I said to someone, "If... in Hamburg, there was that danger zone... if you went to the demo in swimwear..." and that’s how I wrote the lyrics. That’s how it was. (laughs)
Wastl: That people would come there with a shower cap and shower gel to clean themselves under high pressure... (laughs)
Well, when it comes to life philosophy, you can kind of hear that the scene has become lazy. That activism has somewhat been lost.
Maddin: Oh yes, unfortunately that’s true!
Lizal: Yes, that’s definitely the case. I feel more like a lone fighter, especially down here. I mean, we now live over 100 km away from here and are doing a release party in Munich because there’s simply nothing left down here. If there is, it’s at most pop punk with presentable lyrics, but there’s no scene. When you say, "Come on, let’s drive somewhere this weekend!"... "Yeah, that’s far enough!" And if it’s just 50 km. You can’t mobilize people for anything anymore. Not even one person comes by the rehearsal room. You have to say it’s somehow dead.
Bons: You also have to say that today at Rülps, almost only familiar faces are there. It’s true. It’s just a love-hate relationship. There’s little audience at normal concerts, but when people are offered highlights, the spectacle around it is simply hyped up, then people come. They are just too lazy to come out from behind the stove. You can’t lure anyone with average punk rock anymore.
Lizal: Especially when you’re in a band, you notice it even more. They are too lazy to do something themselves. I get requests: "Hey, you’re playing here and there, can you get us in?" I say: "Come on, move your ass and do something yourself. You have to go to the people. You have to show up when a band is celebrating a release, etc., then I’ll support you too. But if you don’t show up anywhere, it’s automatic that you won’t find any connections. Because it won’t be at your home in the village."
Wastl: And if you look at it all politically, there used to be many more demonstrations where things were really happening. And nowadays, due to this surveillance mania, many are afraid and don’t move. And many are satisfied just to add their two cents on Facebook. They don’t want to go out on the street anymore. There used to be much more occupation; the resistance was much greater. With the whole NSU scandal... we have reasons to politicize again and to stand up against all the crap that’s happening. Or NSA was a big topic, or the free trade agreement. There are many topics that affect the whole population and that no one cares about.
No one gets upset about it anymore. Everyone is just doing too well. It’s very sad that even in the punk scene, where there was significant resistance and creative ideas in the 80s and 90s. Even there, it’s enough to say: "I go to a concert once a month. I get drunk every weekend, and I wear a studded leather jacket!" But that’s just not enough for us. So this superficial fashion. At C&A, I buy my studded leather jacket, dye my hair green, and I’m a super punk. That’s just not enough for us. We have a much deeper attitude towards life, much more...
Denni: You also travel a lot in East Germany; do you notice differences between Bavaria and there?
Pascal: Well, in the East, there’s a lot more. In every fourth village, you have a venue. If you have a big concert in Bavaria, people come from a 100 km radius. In the East, they might come from a radius of 20 km. Optimal, the place is still full.
You have a much larger scene, you have much more to offer. You have many more venues, many more opportunities, and sometimes also much cooler people.
Lizal: It’s just a bit more open and with less stick up the ass than here in Bavaria. Everyone comes and talks; it’s just more casual. There are fewer rules, no curfew, and so on.
