http://www.slavestate.se/?e=2223
It is time for the rest of the world to be introduced to
Unzucht’s melodic, industrial, goth-metal. They were founded in 2009 when the
guitarist and electro programmer Daniel De Clercq lured the half Spanish
vocalist Daniel “Der Schulz” Schulz with him to a mysterious island somewhere
in the German East Fresian “Caribbean”. Somehow they found the bassplayer Alex
Blaschke and drummer Toby Fuhrmann along the way. They recorded their first
demo, and the mysterious island is now known as “La Isla Muerta”. Since then
things have been moving fast for the German industrial rockers. In 2010 they
were chosen to be “Newcomer of the Year” by the fans at M’era Luna festival.
Their debut album, “Todsünde 8” which was released in 2012, reached number
three on the German alternative chart. I managed to meet the hairy half of the
band, Der Schulz and Toby Fuhrmann, after a top gig at the M’era Luna festival.
This festival feels special for them, explains Schulz.
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The first regular show we played was M’era Luna.
The fans had voted for us to play as newcomers of the year.
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That was 2010, continues Toby. We have now
released an album and are back on the main stage this time.
Did you get a record contract right away?
-
No, it was a year later in 2011 that we managed
to get one with No Cut Entertainment. Meanwhile we played support for many
different bands like Mono Inc and Megaherz.
Have you started to get attention outside of Germany?
-
Yes, a bit, answers Toby. We have been receiving
mail from the USA, Italy and quite a lot from Russia.
They have already played outside
of Germany when they were supporting Mono Inc in Rotterdam, Holland.
-
That was a different kind of experience, says
Toby. A border really is a border! No one knows Mono Inc in Holland. They are
really big in Germany and we played big places with thousands of people every
night. Then we went to Holland and there were perhaps 40 people there, less
than what we pull in for our club gigs.
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That was very special for us, explains Schulz.
It was the first time for us and I thought that it is important for a band that
sings in German. We all know the history between our countries, so it was great
to get to play there.
-
Yes, we traveled thousands of miles, since we
were playing just by the Czech border the night before, continues Toby.
The band might be quite new, but
the bandmembers are veterans. Schulz and Toby have worked in the music business
for 20 years. They all played in different bands, and that is how they met.
Schulz explains the concept of the band.
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We all come from different musical backgrounds,
Heavy Rock and even House music. The idea was to get them together.
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It feels natural for us to mix up electro with
metal. The metal scene has welcomed us with open arms, not in the electro scene
though as far as I know. They just want electro without guitars, adds Toby.
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We are inspired by bands like NIN and Ministry,
says Schulz.
-
This kind of music has been around for 20 years,
so what we are doing is not a new idea. We hope we can give it a new twist and
that it sounds fresh, continues Toby.
What do you think of
the German dark rock scene?
-
It is really cool! We are like a big family!
Like today, Lord of the Lost, I love them, they are our brothers, Ost+front
fucking lovely people, Mono Inc great!
Schulz continues to praise almost
every German dark rock band there is.
-
Germany Rocks! We have finally got over our
difficult history, and can have some fun!
On the 4th of October
they released the follow up to “Todsünde 8”, “Rosenkreuzer”.
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It will be similar to the first one, but a lot
darker and more melancholic, explains Toby.
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We have just lost a friend, and we are expressing our feelings through the record,
adds Schulz. Our recording process is very fast. We started to write the songs
three months ago. Everyone writes all the songs, and we all bring something to
the table. We are a real band in that sense, where no one is more important
than the other.
Do you have an agenda
with your music?
-
For us it is mostly about feelings and having
fun, answers Toby.
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To have fun is also a political message, says
Schulz.
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It’s about our shows and to celebrate. What our
lyrics are about is not so important. We can celebrate together with the
audience even though it is a sad song. It is about experiencing the same
feelings all together, continues Toby.
Last year they released “Kleine
Geile Nonne”, “Little Horny Nun” complete with a soft porn video. It is a heavy
electro song with Kraftwerk like talk singing by De Clercq. The theme fits in
well with their name Unzucht that translates to “unnatural sex” in English.
Have they had any
problems with religious organisations after that video?
-
No, we are too much underground for them to
notice. Some think that song
is silly, but that one really is just
for fun, says Toby.
Their music has a lot of electronic
elements. Have they ever considered
having a keyboard player for their live shows?
-
We thought about it in the beginning, but then
we thought, no. It is better if the programmed stuff stays programmed. It gives
it a different feeling, and amplifies the industrial. Humans that play to a
machine.
Schulz takes over and starts to
praise electronic bands like Depeche Mode and Kraftwerk, whom he calls the
German Beatles.
Unzucht only sing in German. Have they ever thought of writing English
lyrics?
-
I have started to write in English, but there’s
a completely different feel to it. Not for this album, but there is a song in
another language, says Schulz.
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A song in Spanish, because Schulz is half
Spanish. Born in Germany but with Spanish mentality, explains Toby.
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It is a fuck up with languages! Wouldn’t it be
better if we all just spoke one?
-
Yes, Esperanto, answers Toby.
He continues to talk about the
Spanish song, which is a cover of Héroes Del Silencio’s “Entre Dos Tierras”.
They had the idea a couple of years ago, and they have finally recorded it.
After the album is out they are
going on tour, this time as headliners. For Toby it is the touring that is the
most important.
-
That is what we do. If we didn’t, there would be
no meaning in what we do. I have just read Al Jourgensen from Ministry’s
autobiography. He writes about how much he hates touring. All he wants to do is
create music, and not to stand on a stage like a monkey in a zoo repeating the
songs over and over again. That is not the case for me.
Toby the drummer is also the
band’s manager. He has written a book as
well, “Ich trag ein Massengrab im Herzen” which translates to “ I wear a mass
grave of hearts”.
-
It is about sex, drugs and violence! A little
Rock ‘n’ Roll, but mostly violence.
Is it based on personal experiences?
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I can’t say, my lawyers won’t allow it.
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It is like a mix between Bukowski and J. D
Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye”, adds Schulz.
Toby seems to have fingers in many
pies. Is there anything else he likes to
do?
-
Drink! I have made my own drink.
It is called Drink Darkness and
consists of tequila, lime, chili and mocha. Available to order in a skull
shaped bottle from nocutshop.de.
Does Schulz do anything else?
-
I mostly write songs and lyrics.
He also has a sideproject called
Der Schulz. It is an acoustic singer/songwriter project.
-
I don’t write all the lyrics for Unzucht. De
Clercq also writes quite a lot. It is cool to mix it up. We inspire each other.
He wanted to be a rock musician
since he was five years old.
-
I don’t play guitar very well, and I can’t play
drums or bass. My only option was to sing.
Toby does not know what the future
holds for Unzucht. They have a two year plan, but after that it’s hard to tell
what will happen. Unzucht is their main priority and they really hope it will
remain like that.
They have had some support and
encouragement from H.I.M.’s drum technician, an Irish man named Sean. His first
job was with the Rollins Band in 1984, since then he has worked with many big
bands and lives in Munich.
They met him last year when they
toured with Megaherz. He decided to stay on his free day after the H.I.M gig to
help Unzucht. It is not often that a soundcheck gets an applause, but Sean was
so entertaining that he got the audience going. Instead of the usual, “Testing,
one, two” we got “Fuck titties and
arse”. When he started working for them, he said that Unzucht’s star is rising
and he wants to be a part of that. Maybe they can persuade him to make an
appearance on stage as their “Kleine geile Nonne”.
The new video on the other hand is
not soft porn. Schulz describes it.
-
Since our friend died, the video is set in
nature, in the mountains and in Toby’s neighbourhood. It is very emotional.
On the question if they have a
family, they both answer no.
-
Rock music and touring are the most important
things in my life. But I don’t want to live a completely destructive Rock ‘n’
Roll life. I try to find a happy medium. My heart is half Spanish and every
year I go to Galicia in Spain where my mum’s family lives.
-
At least I managed to get hold of some beer from
Galicia for our video shoot, says the drink meister Toby. I filmed my part of
the video in the Spanish quarters of Hannover and there are a lot of Spanish
shops there. So I went and searched for Galician beer.
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Estrella de Galicia from my home, A Coruna, adds
Schulz.
They are starting to get quite big
in Russia, like so many German bands of that genre. Do they have any plans to
tour Russia.
-
We have a few dates outside of Germany planned
but we don’t know for sure yet, answers Toby. Russia can be a bit problematic
at the moment thanks to the political situation. Bloodhound Gang are banned
from entering Russia for at least five years because they desecrated their
flag. Russia is a bit like the USA during the 90s with censorship and morality.
Have you been to Scandinavia?
-
I have toured there with Rammstein, answers
Toby. Not played, but I sold merchandise for them. It was crazy to be part of
such a big production.
Who knows soon it might be Unzucht that will tour there with
a giant show.
Review of Unzucht Rosenkreuzer Album
Link to original article: http://www.slavestate.se/?e=2241
Unzucht –
Rosenkreuzer
No Cut Entertainment
(§ § § § §)
German band Unzucht stormed the industrial goth scene last
year with their brilliant debut album “Todsünde 8”. The expectations for the
follow up, “Rosenkreuzer” are very high. I don’t think any one will be
disappointed. Unzucht delivers and then some. When the first song
“Rosenkreuzer”, named after the mystical order that originated from the Knights
Templars (Rosicrucians in English) crashes through the speakers, it is like
being run over by a tank. Much more tempo and heavy guitars than on the last
album, which felt lighter and more electronic.
When you start to listen more intently after having
recovered from the attack of raw energy, you will notice how intricately the
songs are built up. A carpet of electronic rhythms and melodic licks that are
woven together with brutal guitar riffs. What makes this band so special are
the contrasts.
De Clercq gives orders in a typical gruff German way, and
Schulz balances it with melodic vocals. The album continues in the same heavy
way, but with melancholic lyrics in “Kind von Traurigkeit”, “Child of Sadness” in English. The song goes through several
tempo changes and develops into a wistful melody about sorrow. With “Triebwerk”
it gets brutal again with De Clercq’s talk singing, and once again Schulz adds
harmonics with the lines “There is no point in dying”.
This album is overarchingly melancholic and many songs are
about death and loss. The band lost a friend recently and this is their way of
expressing their feelings about it. The first single “Nur die Ewigkeit” is a
prime example of this. The album would have been worth a top grade for this
song alone. Everyone that has lost someone will understand the sentiments of
the song. Schulz’s light, passionate, mournful voice asks us if all our dreams
were wasted and if there is a bigger life than this one. He ends with “We
thought we had plenty of time, but only eternity has enough”.
It might sound sentimental, but this is not a “I might as
well hang myself” song.
The melody is uplifting, and there is hope in the lyrics.
After this beautiful moment we get atttacked again with
“Feuersturm”. The rest of the album continues with this genial mix of hardness
and sensitivity.
A cover of Héroes del Silencio’s “Entre dos Tierras”is also
included. Schulz now has an opportunity to sing in his mother’s language,
Spanish. The original is Spanish pop rock, and nothing special. But with
typical Unzucht keyboards, more tempo and gutsy guitars you suddenly realise
how good it is.
The album ends with “Mit Dir oder ohne Dich” a somber song
that starts heavy but becomes melodic with piano.
If you like Rammstein you should give this band a chance. It
is hard, heavy industrial metal, but with a soft warm heart.
It was Alex birthday on the 11th of August, so Schulz got the whole audience to sing for him.
Live Photographs: Maria Bergman
Interview photos: Krista Hoogkamer
