Intervista con Battle Scream

By Promofabrik • Gen 24th, 2010 • Category: Interviste

After SICK (2004), STALKER (2007) and SUFFERING (2008) the five German electro-rockers of Battle Scream deliver their next album. We used the opportunity to ask frontman Alex a few questions. How it all started, what this has to do with a deo and emotional striptease, as well as many other band secrets, you can get to know in the following interview.

Hi Alex, we want to interrogate you now , hope you are ready for the torture. We are glad that you found the time to do it.

BS-Alex: Hello!

You have founded Battle Scream in 2001, and now your new album „SUFFERING vs. SALVATION“ has been released. First, I am interested how it came that Battle Scream was came into light…

BS-Alex: The birth of Battle Scream was not planned at all. I met René, with who i ever wanted to form a band years before. In spring 2001 we decided to do it out of the sudden after having some drinks. We met the next day at his place. After we got over the hangover, the band was completed by befriended musicians and other friends without musical experience. Without a proper rehearsal room and even without any equipment we slowly managed Battle Scream to become a project and on the run.

How is the bandname „Battle Scream“ connected to your band in regards of ist original meaning?

BS-Alex: We needed to pick a name very quick. It derives from a fragment of our lyrics for the first Battle Scream-song „The war“ (Prisoner EP 2003). Despite the fact, that the name reminds people more on a metal band, we are not unhappy with it. It reflects our musical and ideological attitude. We use the theme of war and it’s sequelae in some of our songs in a critical way. Stoming drums, driving guitars and melodic keys as well as the harsh vocas are a crucial trademark of Battle Scream, especially in the live setting.

Can you tell us something about the current line-up in the band?

BS-Alex: The tasks are quite well defined. René is responsible for guitars, composition, programming and backing vocals. Toni is doing guitars and the pyros. Simon adds compositions, arranges the keyboards and is doing backing vocals. Heiko is responsible for the drums. Me doing the songwriting and I am also the frontman.

And how does a normal rehearsal day looks like with Battle Scream? Do you meet on a regular basis to work together?

BS-Alex: Well, we try to meet on a regular basis quite often. Though we need to emphasis the word „try“. Most of the time, one or two band members cannot make it due to job or family obligations or the spatial distance. But especially before the shows or recordings we always get together in our rehearsal room. Then it is not as spectacular as many people might think. A rather small and smoky room with full ashtrays, empty bottles and six sweaty guys. And the PA fights the guitar amps as everybody wants to hear himself as loud as possible. After all, when everybody hears this decent tinnitus in his ears (except of the drummer, who is working with a simple „click“ on the headphones). we realise to stop and turn down the volume fader (laugh)… Bascially just simple Rock’n Roll…

You came from Dresden. How does the scene look like there?

BS-Alex: The scene is very diverse and also forgiving – like with our total laptop crash at the „Stalker“-releaseparty. Maybe this scene made us to the band that we are now. I can clearly remember our first impressions when I met the dark scene at the Müllerbrunnen, a underground club years ago, or the Bunker.
I have been and still am very very fascinated by the diversity and indivuality. Many friendships arose and more than one song has been inspired by nights in the clubs of Dresden. Furthermore we have played our first bigger shows here, e.g. with Cultus Ferox, Lacrimas Profundere, Nik Page, End Of Green,….). And our growing fan-base is giving us more and more attention in other parts of the country. Thank you Dresden!!!

The sound of Battle Scream is rough, edgy, harsh and melodic at the same time. How does a song come into live in your band?

BS-Alex: It depends and it’s hard to find words for it. The ideas for composition for Rene and Simon come from, as previously said, nights at the clubs or simply a normal day. The lyrics are written by me after I have listened to the roughmix. For me, the basic feeling is the crucial point to write. Sometimes I have no ideas for weeks, but then suddenly there is some flow. As mentioned elsewhere, my car is often abused as rehearsal room during traffic jams – and I often embarrass other people by doing so (laugh).
But regarding the content, most of the lyrics are personal emotions that are meant to make people think, reflect and question.
The fine tuning of the songs is done at the rehearsal room during the next step. After the preproduction of a song it becomes evident quite soon, which one will make it on the album at the end.

What topics do you deal with in your lyrics?

BS-Alex: We describe our own emotional world and external influences to it. By this, the highly appreaciated multi-faceted lyrical framework is made. We talk about ordinary things of your daily life as sex or sorrow. More and more we think we need to sing about the growing creed and egoism. But we also want to point out to shady social structures of power and industrial supremacy.

How important do you think is to progress your sound and to improve your musical skills?

BS-Alex: Very important! I understand progress in a musical as well as in a technical respect, but also in a personal context. On our albums you can hear, that we have made a steady technical progress. But also in musical regards we have changed from metal and hardcore-orientated compositions to a mix of electro, metal and gothrock. This was caused by the fact that we never wanted to follow only one path and I was never fully satisfied with our results. It took me several years until I managed to talk the guys into our current Battle-Scream-sound. But at the end of the day we all are very happy with it and we love to make music together. Esp. with the CD „Suffering“ we set a milestone for ourselves.

You have become more electronic. What are the reasons for it? Do you want to address a broader audience?

BS-Alex: No, as just mentioned, we always want to create that kind of music and I just needed to convince my collegues of it (laugh).

What are you idols that you have admired in youth, that have influenced you style?

BS-Alex: Idols are for sure our „heroes“ of our early youth: The Cure, Sisters Of Mercy, Project Pitchfork, Calva Y Nada, KMFDM, Sepultura, Deine Lakaien, Tiamat, and many others. I don’t know, however, if they have really influence me. I rather tend to think they have inspired us and led us to new ideas.

Please name three trademarks for the band Battle Scream…

BS-Alex: Ich would like to extend this to four…….
1.) Earth – some of us lost it for the duration of a gig on stage…
2.) Fire – Pyrotechnics, we love it when we are allowed to.
3.) Water – flows down our cheeks in liters..
4.) Wind – long hair headbanging

Another trademark seem to be guest musiicans. On the album „Suffering“ you have worked with Cephalgy or Holly of Letzte Instanz . How did you get in touch?

BS-Alex: The cooperation arose from our friendships and the respect for each other. As we all are from Dresden, we necessarily run into each other from time to time and I was very tempting to work together. We always like to hear our songs in different colours and tones, as it brings a fresh breeze into our working routine.

Your current longplayer is named „SUFFERING vs. SALVATION“. „Suffering“ is the title of it’s predecessor. Is there any connection inbetween?

BS-Alex: First of all, we have been very satisfied with the reactions of the audience and critics about the album „Suffering“. However, we did not have a proper distribution to push the release in the expected extent and in the way it deserved. Furthermore, a new album was not planned for this year. After being asked by our promotional advisors and my first guitarist René to release a sequel for it, the idea for a mixed longplayer was born. This was meant to a hommage to „Suffering“ but at the same time to the scene in general, a scene we are thankful for the support we got so far. We reckoned that, in order to achieve that, we needed musicans that have influenced the scene over the past years. Thus, the compiled songs reflect our point of view onto the Dark Scene and our personal musical taste. The fact that bands like Project Pitchfork, Die Krupps, Das Ich and others agreed to contribute on our album, makes you very proud and thankful at the same time. The „Salvation“-part of the album is meant to be a counterpart and highlights the direction the band Battle Scream will pursue in the future.

And how did you feel when you were listening to the remixes that are very different from the orinigal tracks, for the first time?

BS-Alex: Well, I think that we good goosebumps more than once. And that’s the way they are supposed to be. It would not make sense to have remixes that sound just like Battle Scream, too. We wanted the bands to create their own interpretations in their style and musical taste. Thus, we did not give any restrictions to the remixes in regards of stlye, length or anything. The result shows the feedom we gave in a very impressive way.

And what remix did impress you the most in a positive way?

BS-Alex: Hm…. there has been no remix we had expect to be in a certain way before hand. Personaly I really love the remixes of Das Ich, Agonoize, Staubkind and Project Pitchfork: But we are curious to learn what remix will be the favourite of our fans in the end.

I just notice that all albums start with the letter „S“. Is this a pure conicidence?

BS-Alex: We will not reveal anything here now…

Too bad… On „SUFFERING vs. SALVATION“ we can find sixteen tracks. Among them the remixes of the above mentioned bands and six original new tracks plus an intro. Let us spotlight some of the tracks. I guess there are some stories behind each track, something to disclose – no matter if funny or serious… So come on, let’s talk about the material:

BS-Alex: I try to keep it short, ok?…

Unborn: A sad incident in my recent past, that would not be on the album without the OK of my girl-friend.

Secret Invasion: The title stands for itself. It is a view behind the scenes of the people in powers. Most of the time things are different from what they appear to be on the surface.

Ghost In The Machine: Have you ever been afraid of the things you had created?

Circus of Hope: All will turn out well. Sorrow will turn into happiness, problems will solve. Sit down and enjoy the show!

Salvation: The song will lead to salvation everybody who listened to it

Blood!: Originally planned to be an instrumental. But after an accident with some drinks in the studio and Simon cutting into his finger, we had found suitable lyrics for it.

In autumn 2008 you have played your first tour in Germany. What city did rock the most?

BS-Alex: Well, if we leave out Dresden as our hometown, the gigs in Bochum, Leipzig and Regensburg have been phantastic.

What does „faith“ mean to you?

BS-Alex: What kind of faith do you refer to? If you talk about religious faith, so we cannot sy anything about it, as in our opinion it lacks the adequate leaders for it. We believe in the power of friendship, family, the own possiblities and the universal power of communication.

And what feeling to you perceive when you think about The Church?

BS-Alex: Personally I think the entire story is wrong and the mistakes of the Church in the past are not well reflected and acknowledged by the Christian leaders. Esp. if you think about the fact, that the use of condoms in a country with an AIDS-prevalence of 7.2% is still reckoned to be immoral and ungodly. I cannot understand and accept that, no matter if I will end up in hell for it or not.

Will you do more live-touring in the near future? Are there any plans?

BS-Alex: A Tour is planned but nothing confirmed yet.

Talking about plans. What are you doing for New Years Eve?

BS-Alex: First of all we will celebrate the release of the new CD, then we will do our annual Christmas Party. After that we will stroll around Dresden Neustadt from bar to bar and will end up in 2010 at some point…

Many thanks for answering our many questions. We wish you much success with the new album „SUFFERING vs. SALVATION“. The last words we leave up to you..

BS-Alex: We want to use the opportunity to thank all bands, helping hands, Attack-Promotion and fans who have made the release of „Suffering vs. Salvation“ possible!
We want to recommend the album to all those who became curious now.
We thank you for the interesting interview!
Best

Alex and Battle Scream
BATTLE SCREAM @ MySpace

http://www.myspace.com/battlescream