DARKSEED – Interview with Stefan Hertrich/Vocals

The gothic metalheads from Munich/Germany released their 6th longplayer with 12 songs for Massacre Records on January 24, 2005. Heavy guitars without compromises, precise electronic work, which doesn´t come to selfpresentation, but always used for an atmospheric sound, melodic dark vocals in opposite to the aggressive sound of the voice of Stefan Hertrich – packaged in easy listening song structures – this is what „Ultimate Darksness“ is about.
Not blood and roses define the lyrical texts of the band, but problems of nowadays, universal and individual. DARKSEED politicise without getting imposing or teaching. Entertainment music with a good shot of thoughtfulness, criticism of our community, poetry. This all melts in “Ultimate Darkness” into a brutal musical wall, which wants to ask questions or just want to be enjoyed – this decision goes to the listener..
Singer Stefan Hertrich has been tortured 😉 and he tells us a few important things due to DARKSEED!

How did you get to know each other? How was the idea born to found a band?

Because Darkseed have been founded 12 years ago and there has been a few line-up changes, this question is a bit difficult to answer within an interview 🙂 Tommy Herrmann is the band member who has stayed with me in the band for the longest time. We first met on a concert in 1995, a few weeks before we phoned and we chose that concert for a meeting (not very logical, because it was very loud

The band was founded in the year 1992 by me and a friend from the neighbourhoud, just because why every band is founded: fun with that music and the will to be on stage. I have never thought that I am still doing that after one decade, as a job more or less 🙂

You don´t have female vocals in the band, which is classical for a gothic metal band. Why is that? I mean, did you want to go away from that classical way of gothic metal?

We wanted to write an album that represents the band for 100 %. We worked with female vocals a time ago, but nowadays that sounds like too “typical gothic metal” which we wanted to avoid. Our message on that album is „The name is Darkseed, and that album is 100 % Darkseed” (that refers to the work in our own studio as well).

And we want to present ourselves as a „male alternative“ (yes, that sounds stupid) to the up to date female vocals with a lot of heaviness in the gothic metal business.

Because we want to play much in 2005, this decision is better for our live action. I could imagine to rerecord a few songs of the album in shape of a mini disc, maybe a bit more darkwave and female vocals as the main point, not only the normal 3 – 4 sentences.

Sometimes you can hear a bit about Darkseed in the magazines, but not much. There was not one big story to read and so on, although you guys have always been at home on big labels. And you had a large influence on the gothic scene…

There you pick a good point. But there I have to say that this is our own fault. Our music had not very often a good production and also the songwriting was not good enough to get some attention. The material was not easy to listen to (it was much musical information, very heavy and dark and so on). The whole thing came together with non-touring. We have always been an insider tipp, but the fans that have found us, have been very loyal to us through many years. For those fans we have the bonus CD. It includes many old unreleased tracks that have not much to do with the nowadays Darkseed, but for the “old fans” it surely is a nice gift. With “Ultimate Darkness” we are going to get more people, because it is more picked with a catchiness and statement.

The less musicians are successfull with their bands. I didn´t have any other band before Darkseed. So Darkseed always was a musical course. And now we slowly come to a point where we are really satisfied with the musical development.

You are telling me at the moment that Darkseed is your first band. You have been in business since 1992 and you released 8 albums. Where is the big headliner tour?

“Ultimate Darkness” is the 6th full length album, before a mini CD and one re-release. A big headliner tour, well, I don´t think that this will happen in the near future 🙂

We are happy with returning to the stage and we surely are going to play a few headliner concerts. But we have too less publicity to play a headliner tour 🙂

But let´s see how the new record will develop. I am ready for every evil deed.

Generally, what about a tour or concerts? Are there any fixed dates or is nothing fixed yet?

With “Extratours” we have a good partner to book and organise concerts and we are expecting many single concerts, festivals included. At the moment there are no fixed dates yet, but our homepage www.darkseed.com is always up to date. I think that there will be fixed dates in February.

That sounds very good! Which festival would you like to headline?

To be honest, I am not a very big fan of festivals. I am looking forward to the small concerts, where you can feel the fun the fans will be having and not where you can see their tired eyes, because they slept badly while visiting the festival or the night before was too long 🙂

Therefore I don´t have any special wishes. Just give me a small club in a lost village, let there be 100 people and everything will be alright! 🙂

🙂 Back to your new album “Ultimate Darkness”. Where did you record your new album „Ultimate Darkness“? Describe the work when you write songs. How do you work?

The album was recorded in the bandown Helion Studios under Darkseed guitarist Thomas Herrmann. Tommy´s main interest was the production, mine laid more on the creative part. But Tommy wrote 4 songs for the album. I write my songs in my flat, one PC, many music programmes and a few extern effects, that is all first. First I build a skeleton of pure electronic (its sounds like Darkseed, but darkwave). Then I think about the guitar riffs (that takes the less time) and finally the song structure. When I work on that, a lot of electronic will be quit, because the songs will be too overloaded and the electronic often doesn´t fit with the guitars. When the 9 – 10 songs for each album are finished, I have a break for a few days and think about the vocallines and lyrics. When the stuff is ready, each song exists as a demo and afterwards it is studio time, where we play everything and the mix will be done.

The songs from “Ultimate Darkness” are pretty old, from the year 2000. Why did you record them now?

The „actual“ album (12 Songs) was written between July and August 2004, only the bonus Cd with unreleased tracks are partly from 1997.

Ok, I see! Does „Ultimate Darkness“ have a concept or a red line that goes through the whole album? Which subjects does the album have?

Lyrically seen we work with everything around the subject darkness in the real meaning. Not the abstract subject around myths and so on, but all other things that everybody has to work with during the days. Broken relationships, loss of importance in our western community, as well as the superficialty, human weakness like egoism, narrow-minding, destroying of the nature and so on. The reason for that is the very deep contact to our fans and we want to talk to them and we have the task to create that album in the way that the fans can see themselves in it. Or maybe to find the courage and say “they exactly sing about what I am angry about or what weakens me“. We pack clear statements in a lightly poetic jacket, because the aesthetic is very important for the gothic metal.

In one sentence: Utlimate Darkness is the general loss of importance which leads to things that I have described already. The snakes on the CD cover represent the temptation that encourages us to that loss of importance.

Very deeply involved and exactly that you demand from a band you like… Tell me, who has got which side project and why? Aren´t you busy enough with Darkseed? Shouldn´t you concentrate on just one band to get forward with it?

Basically you are right. You should concentrate on just one band to go forward with that one band. Well, I am very busy, but through the whole darkness I need a bit light 🙂 That is why I am doing minimum one ethnic project every second year. My last was Shiva In Exile, actually a pure home production, but anyway it was the “Best new age/world album 2004” at the Just Plain Folks Music Award. That album is a real untypical mixture of Soundtrack/Gothic/Electro with arabian/indian/thai/african vocals. I am very incentived through the prize I have won and in the year 2005 I am surely going to make another ethnic album. But then I have a fixation about the arabian culture. I hope there will be info on the darkseed homepage. The destination group for Shiva in Exile was not the gothic fan. That will definitely change with the next album (and I think, the esoteric shop owners are okay, hehe).

Why did you go into a one-year off-time?

After 10 years of metal, 8 years with CD releases, the air was just out. The work was more than the result. That is why I decided to do a normal job. I really enjoyed that time and I am now in the golden middle: On the one hand being a musician, on the other hand I am in the computer game business. Doing it like that, I can relax from the other half and my mind is free. Only computer games, music respectively would take away the fun. Music is fun as long as it is luxury doing that (for example spare time, vacation or for a half earnings like with me at the moment). When you begin concantrate on one thing, the pressure is going too big and the earnings too low. So: Musik should be fun to me! That is most important! Many musicians in the advanced career miss the feeling where they stand in front of the stage with blinky eyes.

That figures… What happened with Darkseed in the meantime?

Before I left the band we were three guys, after I split from the band, Tommy and Tom tried to have a completely new line up. That is why Martin (bass) and Armin (keyboards) are in the band. Unfortunately the muscial results were too far away from Darkseed. So they didn´t record an album during that time. In the end of my break my energy returned. This is why there must be a work and I returned to the band. Although I haven´t planned it. It was a decision that happened within a few days.

That definitely sounds that there is a lot of creativity and a will to work and I am looking forward to a tour (?) after the album, where I can feel your energy! Thank you very much for your time, Stefan!

You can find 7 samples of the new album „Ultimate darkness“ on the homepage www.darkseed.com in at vance, for example the title track of the computer game „The fall“ (Silverstyle Entertainment/Koch Media).

Tracklist:
1. disbeliever
2. my burden
3. ultimate darkness
4. biting cold
5. the dark one
6. save me
7. speak silence
8. next to nothing
9. follow me
10. the fall (title track of the computer game of SilverStyle Entertainment)
11. endless night
12. sleep sleep sweetheart
Line-up:
Stefan Hertrich: Vocals, Electronics, band leader
Thomas Herrmann: Guitars
Tom Gilcher: Guitars
Martin Motnik: Bass
Armin Dörfler: Keyboards
Maurizio Guolo: Drums
Contact:
darkseed@darkseed.com
Website:
www.darkseed.com
Label:
Massacre Records
Discographie:
Sharing the grave (demo) – 1992
Darksome thoughts (demo) – 1993
Romantic Tales (Mini CD) – 1994
Midnight Solemnly Dance – 1996
Spellcraft – 1997
Romantic Tales Re-Release – 1998
Give me light – 1999
Diving into darkness – 2000
Astral Adventures – 2003
Ultimate darkness – 2005