Link to original article in Swedish on Slavestate.se
Eisbrecher Interview
English version
Eisbrecher was founded in 2002 by the singer Alexander
(Alexx) Wesselsky and the guitarist Noel Pix from Megaherz - considered to be
one of the most important German industrial rock bands. They managed to become
even more successful with Eisbrecher. Their Album “Die Hölle Muss Warten”
reached number three in the German charts. They have just released their 6th
album, “Schock”. I met up with the charismatic vocalist Alexx with a bit of
support from the guitarist Jürgen Plangger and Bassist Rupert Keplinger to
discuss it, media national stereotypes and a lot more.
The band is considered as one of the leading bands in the Neue
Deutsche Härte genre, a title that they are not too happy about.
-
I have said before, that if people want to call
us NDH it’s ok with me, says Alexx, But we don’t see ourselves as that. We are
not very new. I am 46 so I am more like Alte Deutsche Härte. Everyone always
wants to label you. Something that we are not interested in. We are a rock band
singing in German and are just simply so fucking good. If people want to call
us the crown jewels, kings or gods of NDH it’s fine with us. It’s always the
recipient that makes the message.
At this point Jürgen speaks up and adds that they are
definitely more than just NDH. On the question if the new album will take
another direction, Alexx answers that it
won’t. They have found a style that works for them.
-
If you like the last five albums, you will like
this one too, continues Alexx. It’s not like all of a sudden we thought, We are
bored with this shit! Let’s make Motörhead instead….
-
“Without guitars”, Rupert manages to squeeze in
before Alexx continues with his explanation.
-
…or folk-music, Schlager, trip-hop or rap. No,
it will be the same but different. Newer, fresher, more good-looking and sexy.
If you like a good cocktail that is a mix of very hard music, touching ballads,
pop and have no problems with German lyrics then you are welcome to the world
of Eisbrecher. This is our recipe of Rock.
This kind of verbiage is typical
for Alexx. Poor Jürgen and Rupert hardly have a chance to say anything. This
might give you the impression that Alexx is a bit pompous but that is not the
case, quite the opposite. He says everything with a big dose of self-irony,
humour and charm.
When they started, the band was
basically just Noel Pix and Alexx with a live band that accompanied them. This
is something that has changed lately.
-
This time we have Rupert, our new bass player,
continues Alexx. He played an important part in the songwriting process. Me and
Noel are the known faces but behind the scenery, everyone can contribute with
ideas. If you, for example, had a good lyric that suits Eisbrecher, I would say
thank you and you are part of our team. There are a lot of people working on
our ship, we also have Achim Färber on drums and Max Schauer on keyboards. The
latter has been with us for a long time but he is not part of the recordings.
Noel and I have known each other for ages. He did a remix for Megaherz in 1996 and we
started working together after that. We left the band in 2000 and took a long
break from each other because we didn’t get along. The split was quite tough,
like in a relationship. We met one day and had a long nice talk and after that
we thought we had enough of this kind of NDH. So we got together and formed
Eisbrecher 11 years ago. Nowadays we are more open and the band is not just about
the two of us. It can be about five, six or even eight different members.
Everyone is important and a part of it.
Do you have a message on the new album?
-
Yes, we do but we don’t want to explain it,
answers Alexx. It’s more interesting to see how the people that listen
interpret it. I want them to listen and then they can decide what it means to
them. Of course we have a message and it’s the music itself and the listener
who makes up the story. It’s not a
concept album with a theme running through it. If you don’t count life as a
concept. We bring up nice, violent, critical and personal subjects. It’s
basically about what we have been through the last three years when we were
working on it.
You would have thought that Alexx
comes from a musical background but according to himself he only started
playing music to pick up girls. I don’t quite believe all this and after a bit
of pressuring he finally answered me properly.
-
My mother played accordion and when she did that
my dad and I always went for a long walk. No, seriously it wasn’t that bad. I
bought records and started to listen to AC/DC and then I started to learn how to
play bass. Just because it has four strings instead of six so I thought it must
be easier. I did the AC/DC walking bass E to A and it worked quite well. I
thought that it’s not that difficult to become a rock ‘n’ roll star. What was
missing was the singing but then someone was looking for a singer and I jumped
in as per usual and said; “Voila, look at me!” That’s my story now it’s your turn, says Alexx and
turns towards Rupert.
-
My heritage is that my parents are music lovers, answers Rupert.
There was always a lot of music around at home and we listened to it all day
long. It was all kinds, classical and rock mixed. Then I discovered heavy metal
bands like Iron Maiden and Metallica. I was impressed by their life style with
arena stages and big audiences.
-
…and girls! adds Alexx.
-
So, I thought that this is something I could do, says Rupert. I
wanted to write music and started my own band with some friends.
-
The Porn Kings of… interrupts Alexx.
-
I finally made my way through the music industry jungle and landed
with Eisbrecher, continues Rupert. It was because I had written a few songs for
their last album “Die Hölle Muss Warten”. Our collaboration worked pretty well
and after a while I heard that they were looking for a new bassist.
-
It was destiny, says Jürgen.
-
Yes it was no coincidence Pix called me and asked me. Normally I play
guitar but it works well with bass too.
-
Luckily for me or I would have had to leave the band, adds Jürgen.
He has been in the band since leaving Antikörper
in 2006 and has played a very big and active part in the band since then.
-
Alexx came to a concert of my other band, explains Jürgen. He liked
us and contacted me one day saying that he needed a guitarist.
-
He thought I wanted the singer in his band, says Alexx. When he
realised it was him, he said; “What me!?” Well, of course! I am looking for a
fucking guitarist.
-
So, I said I can do it and he still believes I can.
-
He can! We call him “Fast Hands Jürgen”, continues Alexx. I have to
make one point clear. The guys are too shy and humble. They deserve all my
respect because Rupert has his own international rock band, Darkhaus and Jürgen
has A Life Divided.
Alexx himself has several fingers in many pies.
When Eisbrecher is on ice he tours with his own band Wesselsky.
-
It’s not a side project! I don’t have any career plans with them. We
are not planning to release any albums or headline festivals. For ten years I
had my own band, Megaherz. A few years ago I thought that I really wanted to
play those old songs again. The music is mine, I wrote it! I got a few
musicians together to play some old Megaherz songs. It’s just for fun and a way
to relive that old feeling and share it with the audience.
Megaherz still exists. They continued with a new
singer, Alexander “Lex” Wohnhaas who is an exact copy of Alexx. Something that
he is not too happy with.
-
I was just at a festival when one of the organisers came up to me and
said; “Hi, how are you? We met a couple of years ago.” Excuse me but I have
never been here before. They guy replied that we were talking for ages in the
bar so I told him that he was probably thinking of the singer in Megaherz which
he replied to with: “Yes you!” No, I am not the singer in Megaherz but he looks
like me, dresses like me and even comes from the same city as me, Augsburg. If
I had what I wished for it would be that Megaherz didn’t exist anymore. We
split up and boom, that was it. They chose a new name and went their own way.
Obviously it is always easier to use an already established name. They found a
new frontman but it’s crazy with his style. It’s like he is trying to do
everything to look like me. I have met him and he is not an arsehole. Last time
I told him that I have a big problem because I can’t hate him. I have been
walking around for years wanting to punch him and then it turns out that he is
really nice. Where did all the hate go? Maybe I should write a song about it.
Now they have started to paint themselves like vampires or something. They have
finally found their own style and I congratulate them. He looks like a clown
now so there is no chance that people will confuse us. It is all ok and I don’t
want to talk about Megaherz anymore. You have to ask them what they think. That
would be interesting to know and something I would like to read.
Eisbrecher have a very typical German sound with
heavy rhythms, electronic accompaniments and guttural low speak-singing. One of
their biggest hits is “This is Deutsch” which lists all the stereotypes of what
is considered German. When you first see Alexx you might think he is not German
and his surname Wesselsky sounds more Polish.
-
My mother is blonde with blue eyes. She is completely German. My
father abandoned me when he saw me, bastard! I guess he realised that I would
become too big and awesome for him to handle. My step-father is from Eastern
Europe. Before World War II he was in Sudetenland, which was a part of Germany.
After the war they forced all the Germans to leave. So my stepfather has a Polish
name because of war confusions. Otherwise I am just like the other guys here.
My parents are normal working-class with no ambitions for: “Look at me! I am
super duper!” or something similar.
So,
where does all this self-confidence come from?
-
I am quite simply just a good actor. Since I was a child I always
wanted to be one but I didn’t want to go to acting school. It’s a problem for
me. I can’t stand it if people tell me how to do things. Which means I couldn’t
do military service. So, here I am playing the role of a rock ‘n’ roll star who
is a handsome professional supermodel. It works, look I am sweating because I
am so hot! I can pretend that I am very self-confident but there are moments
when I sit at home crying, being afraid of the world outside.
After he has explained about how German he is
and his acting ambitions, I ask him what he considers is typical German and if
he fits in to that perception.
-
What is typical Deutsch is everything in that song. It is about how
the rest of the world sees us. That Germans are always punctual and organised
is totally wrong about me. I am the complete opposite. Actually I am the
definition of chaos.
-
I am from Austria and I am more German than him, adds Rupert.
-
He can never be on time, continues Jürgen.
-
Never, it’s impossible, exclaims Alexx. If you want to date me you
have to put up with me always being late. You could try by giving me a watch
that has been set to the wrong time but I would somehow know this and be late
anyway. There is no such thing as typical German. The song is about stereotypes
and how the surrounding world defines us. Maybe it’s the hairstyles? Do they
have typically German hair? Alexx says and points at Jürgen and Rupert. Or do
I? Yes, welcome to skinhead land! I think Rammstein are so successful because
they embody all that the world thinks about Germany. They are like a living
cliché and manage to put it in to music and sell it. They are really smart and
I respect them a lot for that.
Alexx is
a well-known personality in Germany not just as a rock star but also as a TV presenter.
He has presented several German TV shows but the program that established him
was “The Checker”, where he drives around in an American checker cab and
restores second hand cars for various clients.
How
did he start his TV career?
-
I went to an audition where I didn’t care if I got the job or not.
The only reason I was there was because a friend persuaded me. I thought: “What
the hell! I just turn up and then I leave.” Everybody else there really wanted
the position. For me it was just a joke. I just did my usual blah, blah and
when I tried to leave they told me I had the job. There you see you shouldn’t
take life too seriously because that is when things happen. All of a suddenly I
was a car specialist which I am not, by the way. All I know is how to drive
one. The fact is I am a rock singer who has never taken singing lessons and a
car specialist who knows nothing about cars. It’s working pretty well so far so
I will continue like this.
In spite of all this talk he starts talking
about cars. His favourite is the Checker cab that he was given by the TV company.
It is possible that he will continue with TV but at the moment he feels like he
is playing at too many weddings at the same time. Since he is a celebrity how
does he feel about the media circus around personalities and would he consider
being in a humiliating program like “I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here”?
-
Yes, but first I want to see how well our album does, play in Sweden,
become number one in the whole world, get loads of money, diamonds and cocaine.
After all that I will go in to the celebrity jungle and eat worms so that I
will get back on the ground again. People will know that I am one of them and I
will suffer so that they can take pleasure in my misery. Of course not! What on
earth can make someone want to do that? It’s an interesting question. You don’t
even get that much money. My mother would never talk to me again if I did it.
I’d rather clean toilets. Something I can’t answer is why people are so
fascinated by celebrities. Personally I prefer to be the one on stage while everyone
is screaming. If you have a problem with that you should never put yourself on
a stage or in front of a camera. I am a much better frontman than a fan. Some
moan that they don’t get a private life. For me that is no problem since I
don’t have one. What you see is what you get.
Interview photos: Krista Hoogkamer
Live Photos: Maria Bergman
