FALKENBACH – Interview

Hello my friend, I am Andrew. How are you?

Greetinx! Well, I´m fine, but pretty busy …:)

We had to wait way to long, since 1998, in order to get a new album from Falkenbach. What are the reasons for this delay?

There were several reason. On one hand I´ve been rather busy with building up my own label Skaldic Art Prod. On the other hand personal reasons which I do not want to explain more detailed. Of course a lot of people, mainly Napalm Rec. told me that such a long period of silence would harm Falkenbach. To me this was of no importance. To me Falkenbach was never a business thing, and to me the only aim was to release a new album no earlier than I felt it was the right time to do so. During the last years I got some insights in how this “underground” business works, and obviously 99% of all people think of money when they talk about music. This goes for labels as well as magazines. I wanted to show that to me Falkenbach would never be just a way to get money, and if this period of silence will lead to lower selling, it´s absolutely ok with me. This new album needed its time, and I gave it all the time it needed. Fortunately Napalm did not give me any pressure, and in the end the final result showed me that I did the right thing. Beside that I think people who keep the truth in heart do not forget after just some years…

So, we finally have “Ok Nefna Tysvar Ty” in our hands! Where did you record this album and who was the producer? Did anything weird happen during the recording process that we should know?

The new album was recorded at Tidalwave Studios in Karlsruhe, Germany, with the help of Mr. Patrick Damiani as sound engineer. It´s been the best studio experience I had so far, and I just can recommend this studio and the skills of Patrick to every band that´s looking for the best possible recording result. The whole process of the recording was exactly planed, there was no space for weird things 🙂

Your music style has not changed a lot since “Magni Blandinn Ok Megintin”. The epic atmosphere still remains in combination with mostly clear vocals this time and more acoustic guitars. Is this what you exactly wanted to achieve and is this also the reason you used some guest musicians in the album for the first time in the history of the band?

First of all I want to say that most of the songs are older material. Some of the songs featured on the new album are even older than the debut album, for example Homeward Shore or Donar´s Oak. So one cannot say that the musical style change to this or that direction due to the fact that time went by during the years. I never try to compose songs of a special kind of style. The album was meant to feature 9 songs all in all, and the two missing songs were a bit faster and raw compared to the now featured material. Due to lack of time it wasn´t possible to get them on the new album, too. The guest musicians I added to the new recording due to two reasons: first of all I know about their musical skills, and secondly I know them for years now, and I know about their attitude. Their appearance on the new album was a great experience for me personally.

Would you like to change anything in the album?

With some more time I´d like to see the two missing songs on it, beside that nothing should be changed I guess.

Everything became more than acceptable in my opinion, little details are always there after a while a musician wanted to change afterwards, but nothing of importance.

How important do you consider your lyrics to be and, what are the sources from which your lyrical concepts are drawn?

The lyrics are the main reason for why Falkenbach exists. They represent the truth about Falkenbach, and Falkenbach itself is there only because the message has to be spread. The lyrics themselves are inspiration, and everyone who reads them should be able to see where they take their inspiration from I guess.

“Ok Nefna Tysvar Ty” will be on the stores and in a limited edition digipack if I am not wrong. Does this edition include anything else than the normal one?

There is no bonus track on it or something like that. The only difference between the digi pack and the “usual” version is the layout, which is going to be something special. But even the booklet is added to the digi pack, so beside the digi-cover itself there´s no difference. With those 2 more tracks one of them may have been taken as a bonus for the digi or the LP version.

Would you prefer to be a great band in the underground scene or just an average one in the mainstream scene?

I guess every musician would at least say that he prefers to be a great underground band. A lot of bands sign deals with big label as soon as they get the chance to do so, and they all hope to grow as big as possible. They do a lot for it, and in the end most of them are nothing more than a little thing in the mass of bands. Falkenbach remained an underground band during all the years, because I never wanted to go on promotional tours or play live festivals or a whole tour. Falkenbach could have grown much faster and much bigger I guess, but to be it´s not important to be popular, but to be relevant, and this is not possible of you´re a part of the mainstream.

Why should someone prefer to buy your album than any other release of our days?

Who does not know a single good reason himself should buy mainstream products.

Are there any albums in your collection that would surprise some of your fans? What kind of music do you like listening to in your free time?

I mainly listen to the bands I released with my own label Skaldic Art Prod so far. I use to support young and very talented bands with outstanding attitude only. Everyone interested in it should have a look at www.SkaldicArt.de There you can find more details about this topic. Beside metal in general I listen to classical composers like Wagner or Groothe for example.

Do you think art is “stealing” (influenced from) life or life is “stealing” art?

In my opinion true art is not influenced by life nor anything else known from this world. True art is something divine and unexplainable. What we know about “usual” art, means the superficial way of creating, is definitely influenced by life. But both kind of art influence life.

I have nothing else to ask you. I just hope we will not have to wait so many years again for your next album! Thanks for your time! Closing is yours…

Thanx for your support and hails from the depths of my heart to all those who still support Falkenbach. Make up your own mind about the bands and individuals I support with my label Skaldic Art – www.SkaldicArt.de. Trust me, they deserve it!