Questions
by Marcin “Wildfire” Olejniczak, from Pure Metal Magazine
Answers
by: Tomi
Göttlich
Pure
Metal: Hi Tomi! Your label, Massacre Records, has announced a
compilation of songs from all the parts of 'The History of the
Vikings'. What's the purpose of it? According to the information on
your website, it will only be a mp3 compilation. Will it also be
released in the form of a CD?
TG: It will not be released as a CD, its purpose is simply to offer a variety of Metal Killer Trax for people who do not have any of our albums so that they may get a taste of the band and hopefully become fans.
PM: Was the song selection consulted with the band, or is it purely the label's decision?
TG: It will not be released as a CD, its purpose is simply to offer a variety of Metal Killer Trax for people who do not have any of our albums so that they may get a taste of the band and hopefully become fans.
PM: Was the song selection consulted with the band, or is it purely the label's decision?
TG: We
were asked about it and liked the idea, Michael and myself chose
thesongs.
PM: Some sad news from the Rebellion camp reached us in December 2010 – three musicians have left the band, including the co-founder and composer Uwe Lulis. What was the reason behind such a drastic decision? Was there some conflict inside the band?
TG: There was no conflict, it all went rather peacefully. Uwe simply had expected more success whereas I myself was rather happy. I did never expect the band to become as big as Uwe had hoped it would. Uwe’s accident with the motorcycle probably also played a role because all in all he seemed rather depressed then. The other members decided to join
Uwe, Gerd had joined Uwe in another project which unfortunately never became even as successful as Rebellion and Simone also had her own new band which to her mind seemed more promising than Rebellion, unfortunately this band has also ceased to exist by now Rebellion however is still going strong and we are looking forward to releasing the new CD on October the 26^th .
PM: Was there a time when you guys thought about disbanding Rebellion?
TG: Right after Uwe and the others had left the band we felt that this was the end of it all but then many fans from all over the world encouraged us to continue with the band. I had always wanted to develop the band in a different direction than Uwe and I thought that it might be worth a try.
PM: How long did the search for new musicians take? Was it hard to find people for the part?
TG: The most important thing I decided to change was that I wanted the Band to rehearse weekly. I wanted the songs to be written and composed in the practice room and not via mp3s. This of course makes it rather hard to find musicians for they would have to be local. It took some time but now we have a very good band together and since we play at least once a
week the band is tight as hell.
PM: Please tell me a little about the new line-up. Who are the new musicians and how did you find them?
TG: On guitars I have Oliver Geibig who plays in another band with me. Oli is an old friend of mine and we did already play very well together before he joined Rebellion. The second guitar is played by Stephan Karut who actually had never played Metal before but he is simply the best Rhythm player I know. He learned rather fast to play in steel and his style if different from Ollies but both do add very well and so we have a very strong guitar section.
The new drummer is called Matthias Karle, he is also a local guy, a bit younger than the rest of us but very ambitious and determined.
PM: Have you played any gigs with the new guys yet?
TG: We have played two shows so far and both have gone really well, especially the first show was really important for until then we did not really know how it would feel to BE Rebellion, but the fans were fantastic and after that show the new members felt that this was the beginning of a new band.
PM: Some sad news from the Rebellion camp reached us in December 2010 – three musicians have left the band, including the co-founder and composer Uwe Lulis. What was the reason behind such a drastic decision? Was there some conflict inside the band?
TG: There was no conflict, it all went rather peacefully. Uwe simply had expected more success whereas I myself was rather happy. I did never expect the band to become as big as Uwe had hoped it would. Uwe’s accident with the motorcycle probably also played a role because all in all he seemed rather depressed then. The other members decided to join
Uwe, Gerd had joined Uwe in another project which unfortunately never became even as successful as Rebellion and Simone also had her own new band which to her mind seemed more promising than Rebellion, unfortunately this band has also ceased to exist by now Rebellion however is still going strong and we are looking forward to releasing the new CD on October the 26^th .
PM: Was there a time when you guys thought about disbanding Rebellion?
TG: Right after Uwe and the others had left the band we felt that this was the end of it all but then many fans from all over the world encouraged us to continue with the band. I had always wanted to develop the band in a different direction than Uwe and I thought that it might be worth a try.
PM: How long did the search for new musicians take? Was it hard to find people for the part?
TG: The most important thing I decided to change was that I wanted the Band to rehearse weekly. I wanted the songs to be written and composed in the practice room and not via mp3s. This of course makes it rather hard to find musicians for they would have to be local. It took some time but now we have a very good band together and since we play at least once a
week the band is tight as hell.
PM: Please tell me a little about the new line-up. Who are the new musicians and how did you find them?
TG: On guitars I have Oliver Geibig who plays in another band with me. Oli is an old friend of mine and we did already play very well together before he joined Rebellion. The second guitar is played by Stephan Karut who actually had never played Metal before but he is simply the best Rhythm player I know. He learned rather fast to play in steel and his style if different from Ollies but both do add very well and so we have a very strong guitar section.
The new drummer is called Matthias Karle, he is also a local guy, a bit younger than the rest of us but very ambitious and determined.
PM: Have you played any gigs with the new guys yet?
TG: We have played two shows so far and both have gone really well, especially the first show was really important for until then we did not really know how it would feel to BE Rebellion, but the fans were fantastic and after that show the new members felt that this was the beginning of a new band.
PM: Every one of your albums so far had its theme - 'Macbeth' was an epic interpretation of Shakespeare's play. 'Born a Rebel' was a classic piece of solid, powerful heavy metal, and the three parts of the Viking trilogy were getting more brutal from album to album - from the epic part one, through the heavy/epic part two, to the raw, strong part three. Was the music a reflection of the happenings within the band, or was it just planned that way?
TG: It was actually neither of those, it just happened that way, I believe that one should allow songs to grow and find their own way, just like with children, the production of an album always develops its very own dynamics and to my mind it makes much sense to let things roll the way they do, this makes every single album different and unique. There are so many bands out there whose albums do sound much alike, I personally find that rather boring.
PM: In
April, a new song appeared on your website. Are you working on a new
album?
TG: The new album will be released in October, as mentioned above, so yes we are almost finished.
PM: The new song kinda reminds me of the times of 'Born a Rebel'. What direction will the band take now? Will concept albums still be a major factor, or will the stories now be unassociated with one another? The title 'Aptrgangr' implies that you're going to keep writing about Vikings. How much are you guys into that theme? Anyone in the band who's REALLY into it? Please say a few words about the fascination with the people of the North.
TG: As a studied historian it is my task to do research on the topics that we choose to cover. I did much reading on the Vikings, I think I have read most of the books that are available, from science books to historical novels I read everything I could get. Cultures that have vanished are always fascinating, the people of the North are of course also a bit of our ancestors because all Germanic tribes once migrated south to settle in warmer climate.
The upcoming album will be about the battle in the Teutoberg Forrest, about the decisive defeat of Varus and 3 Roman legions against a united force of Germanic tribesmen under Arminius a Cherusci chieftain in 9 AD. So in a way we stick to Germanic tribes but this time we move a bit south into the lands which today are called Germany.
PM: After Uwe Lulis left Grave Digger, the band lost a good composer, I think. Uwe was also one of the pillars of Rebellion. Will the new songs still have the 'spirit of Rebellion', or will the composition style change? How much are the new musicians involved in songwriting?
TG: The new musicians were very much involved into the songwriting and of course the band will sound a bit different but I do strongly believe that it will still be Rebellion which is due to the influence of Michael and myself. Uwe could not have been adequately replaced by a single person but we managed to distribute the workload of Uwe onto various shoulders, the band is more a team now than it ever has been before, also something I had always wanted to change for I do believe that many brains and ideas will create a broader variety.
PM: Uwe was not only a co-writer, he was also the co-producer of your albums so far. Who will produce the next one? Will you record at the Black Solaris Studios in Frankfurt again?
TG: Oli our new guitar player has worked as a professional producer for more than 15 years, he will produce the new CD together with myself, we will produce it in Ollie’s studio. Of course it will not sound as the last rebellion CD but I am very positive that it will sound very good, I have just listened to the first final mixes and I can honestly promise that it will be a major killer.
PM: How are your relations with the ex-members - Uwe, Simone and Gerd? Do you guys talk or is there a conflict between you?TG: There is no conflict and we have a loose contact but for my part I must admit that I hardly have any time for anything else but job family and music.
PM: How do you see the future of the music industry? New trends started appearing - Manowar officially released their new album in digital format firsthand, the CD version has been announced for fall. On the other side we are witnessing the renaissance of the vinyl disc. Is the release format dependent on the band, or more so on the say-so of the label? Can we perhaps expect Rebellion to release their next album on vinyl?
TG: The next Rebellion album will be released in vinyl but in the long run I believe that there will be a major change in the music industry. I do not know what will happen, nobody knows, but things are changing faster and faster these years, I believe we are still standing at the very
beginning of a new age, the internet will probably change as much as the invention of bookprintig once did.
PM: Do you live off music or is it just a hobby alongside your everyday jobs?TG: You must be joking, bands like Rebellion do not pay at all, it is my hobby and that is good for I do not have to rely on my music to pay my bills which allows me much freedom.
PM: I wish you guys to release another killer album and a lot of awesome gigs. Thanks for the interview.
TG: We definitely plan to do this, I hope you will like it, Greetz to everybody out there: Tomi
TG: The new album will be released in October, as mentioned above, so yes we are almost finished.
PM: The new song kinda reminds me of the times of 'Born a Rebel'. What direction will the band take now? Will concept albums still be a major factor, or will the stories now be unassociated with one another? The title 'Aptrgangr' implies that you're going to keep writing about Vikings. How much are you guys into that theme? Anyone in the band who's REALLY into it? Please say a few words about the fascination with the people of the North.
TG: As a studied historian it is my task to do research on the topics that we choose to cover. I did much reading on the Vikings, I think I have read most of the books that are available, from science books to historical novels I read everything I could get. Cultures that have vanished are always fascinating, the people of the North are of course also a bit of our ancestors because all Germanic tribes once migrated south to settle in warmer climate.
The upcoming album will be about the battle in the Teutoberg Forrest, about the decisive defeat of Varus and 3 Roman legions against a united force of Germanic tribesmen under Arminius a Cherusci chieftain in 9 AD. So in a way we stick to Germanic tribes but this time we move a bit south into the lands which today are called Germany.
PM: After Uwe Lulis left Grave Digger, the band lost a good composer, I think. Uwe was also one of the pillars of Rebellion. Will the new songs still have the 'spirit of Rebellion', or will the composition style change? How much are the new musicians involved in songwriting?
TG: The new musicians were very much involved into the songwriting and of course the band will sound a bit different but I do strongly believe that it will still be Rebellion which is due to the influence of Michael and myself. Uwe could not have been adequately replaced by a single person but we managed to distribute the workload of Uwe onto various shoulders, the band is more a team now than it ever has been before, also something I had always wanted to change for I do believe that many brains and ideas will create a broader variety.
PM: Uwe was not only a co-writer, he was also the co-producer of your albums so far. Who will produce the next one? Will you record at the Black Solaris Studios in Frankfurt again?
TG: Oli our new guitar player has worked as a professional producer for more than 15 years, he will produce the new CD together with myself, we will produce it in Ollie’s studio. Of course it will not sound as the last rebellion CD but I am very positive that it will sound very good, I have just listened to the first final mixes and I can honestly promise that it will be a major killer.
PM: How are your relations with the ex-members - Uwe, Simone and Gerd? Do you guys talk or is there a conflict between you?TG: There is no conflict and we have a loose contact but for my part I must admit that I hardly have any time for anything else but job family and music.
PM: How do you see the future of the music industry? New trends started appearing - Manowar officially released their new album in digital format firsthand, the CD version has been announced for fall. On the other side we are witnessing the renaissance of the vinyl disc. Is the release format dependent on the band, or more so on the say-so of the label? Can we perhaps expect Rebellion to release their next album on vinyl?
TG: The next Rebellion album will be released in vinyl but in the long run I believe that there will be a major change in the music industry. I do not know what will happen, nobody knows, but things are changing faster and faster these years, I believe we are still standing at the very
beginning of a new age, the internet will probably change as much as the invention of bookprintig once did.
PM: Do you live off music or is it just a hobby alongside your everyday jobs?TG: You must be joking, bands like Rebellion do not pay at all, it is my hobby and that is good for I do not have to rely on my music to pay my bills which allows me much freedom.
PM: I wish you guys to release another killer album and a lot of awesome gigs. Thanks for the interview.
TG: We definitely plan to do this, I hope you will like it, Greetz to everybody out there: Tomi
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