SPI-RITUAL – Interview with Stefan Hertrich (voc. in DARKSEED).

Stefan Hertrich, singer and head of the German gothic metalheads DARKSEED, has again created a music project. Meanwhile this is his second solo project besides SHIVA IN EXILE and a further project called BETRAY MY SECRETS that he has got with Christian Bystron in MEGAHERZ.
Hertrich uses ethnic and Eastern music elements for his projects. The special thing is the way of the connection from Western and Eastern instruments. The singer and songwriter knows how to create nearly perfect fusions.
With „Pulse“ – the mini CD of 6 tracks of the new project SPI-RITUAL, it is succeeded to fusion gothic metal with ethnic and hypnotic, esoteric sounds that absolutely operate fascinatingly.
The details and backgrounds of SPI-RITUAL and the aims behind the project you can find in the following interview:

Thank you very much, Stefan that you again find the time to talk about music with me. Around one year ago, we talked about DARKSEED. This time you do not call attention with DARKSEED, but this time you have decided to do a new project. You wanted to release a new SHIVA IN EXILE album first. After SHIVA IN EXILE and BETRAY MY SECRETS, now SPI-RITUAL begins. Why a totally different project and not a release of “Pulse” under the name of one of the mentioned band names?

I have to thank you for your interest 🙂 Well, to avoid the common confusion because of the multitude of my projects, here a short outline: DARKSEED is a relatively “normal” gothic/metal band. I released a couple of Cd´s with the band that I started in 1992. 1999 followed an experimental project that I first mixed up with ethno (BETRAY MY SECRETS – with: Christian Bystron in Megaherz). Unfortunately we haven´t found the time until that day to work at the second album. In 2003 I wrote my first own album under the name of SHIVA IN EXILE, where I fully left out metal elements. Instead, that album is ethno/soundtrack/electro stuff. Because I won a music award in California with that album, I wanted to go that way. And so that was the sign for my further personal way: I will keep fusioning metal and ethno. In the middle of 2005, it was again time to mix up metal with ethno, and because it still was difficult to find time to work together with Christian Bystron, I decided to finish BETRAY MY SECRETS and start a new project. Musically, you can say that SPI-RITUAL is the continuation of BETRAY MY SECRETS, but as I said with mainly my own ideas, because BETRAY MY SECRETS was just a baby of Christian AND me. But I can calm down the listeners: We do not talk about another new project. Now I have to work with three different bands: SPI-RITUAL, SHIVA IN EXILE and DARKSEED, but with focus on SPI-RITUAL and SHIVA IN EXILE.

How did you end up with the title „Pulse“ for your new record and what does it mean for you personally?

While DARKSEED basically is about the negative aspects of life (showing the grievance inside and outside the humans, for example in the community and so on), I want to go the positive way with SPI-RITUAL and give the listener a spark of hope for his way of life. Here it is essential to build a bridge between citch, yes, even religious beginnings and authentic metal. “Pulse” is a good name for that, because it sounds abstractly positive. “Pulse” is the name for life, energy. The beating pulse is known by most of the people because of the wave demonstration in hospitals. “Pulse” also stands for the steady up and down that everybody goes through day by day. Pure life 🙂

With „Pulse“ you let two totally different worlds collide, Eastern and Western music. How did you find the idea to connect these two music styles in your music?

We live in a time, where the fightings of the cultures are an every day subject (it will become worse in the upcoming years and decades). This is caused by both sides. The Western made collonies of the countries of the near and far Eastern and Africa and also exploited them economically for centuries. Optionally nations were founded, borders were drawn that do not accord to any ethnic attributes. Therefore conflicts occur inside the countries (for example in the Iraque through single ethnic groups, including Kurds), and of course also conflicts against the Western countries.

The near East carrys a complicity because of its famous religious fanatism.

I think, the music business needs a project that fusions both sides to harmonize. I have got friends and fans on both sides, no matter, if they are listeners that are in the US army or if they are fans from Libanon, Iran, Syria or Israel.

Generelly, the music is proper for the near/middle East and partly the music from the Indians for gothic/metal! You nearly can say that some harmonies are that heavy in the oriental space that even metal fans do not “consume” them. I think, that SPI-RITUAL is a good mixture of gothic and positive energy and I hopefully picked out the fitting attributes of each culture.

There were a lot of people working on „Pulse“, even you are the mental head of the project. Musicians from bands like EQUILIBRIUM, MEGAHERZ or your own band DARKSEED were able to work with you. But especially one person sticks out: the famous anthropologist and book author Dr. phil. Christian Rätsch. How did you end up working with him? In what relationship are you with him? What did he finally give to you for „Pulse“?

I have been friends with Christian for about 5 years now. We first met, because he wrote something about BETRAY MY SECRETS in one of his books. Since that time we have met a few times, and I still listen to his stories of his life very carefully. This man was everywhere, he knows everybody, and he will have to tell a lot in the future. He is the prime example for the combination of ethno and metal – because he spends his life for both subjects. He visits shamans everywhere in the world, he looks for exotic plants and so on (he wrote a standard book about psycho active plants that is content of the curriculum). On the other hand, he hangs out with rock and metal bands and sometimes he brings big rock musicians to play sponanously black metal riffings. Of course, the audience does not understand that, but it is a nice insider joke. You can see him everywhere. If in the Hamburg opera or in the Mexican rainforest, or at an underground concert of a black or death metal band. 🙂

He again and again provides me recordings from the rainforest, in this case it was some sounds of birds, but also flutes and percussion elements of the Columbian shaman Kajuyali Tsamani. For SHIVA IN EXILE, a shaman from Nepal had to give some samples, and he has also collected some material for the next Cd´s!

Which are your aims with SPI-RITUAL? Whom do you want to reach with your lyrics/with your music? What do you want to animate the listeners to? Which deep meaning does SPI-RITUAL have?

Actually there is more than just one aim. Once, to get to know fans with that kind of music, who have spirtitual abilities or show other attributes that depart from the things taught in school or the world view shown in the TV. There are many interesting things, but I keep that to myself, as long as I am addicted, if the media thinks, I am crazy or not, hehe. The second aim is that I just want to wake up positive emotions, although the music is aggressive and dark. Particulary the videoclip seems to contribute that the fans fuel positive energy! The deep meaning of SPI-RITUAL is an appeal for positive features: Courage, inner strength, the risk for adventures, to see problems as a guidepost and so on. Simply, to show the listener that you can see life through two glasses. A black and a white one. This glasses have the interesting effect that you do not only see the world black or white, but the world becomes black or white! It´s our own choice.

A further aim of SPI-RITUAL: it simply shall pleasure the people, even if they think the message is not that interesting for them. Music was, is and will be entertainment, hehe.

„Pulse“ is a full opus that shows me that you really took care with the CD and the contents and that you really thought about what you have created here. Six very mature songs and a very deep, diversified bonus part with a lot of information is offered with the mini CD. A special part is here your words about “Positive thinking despite and because of gothic/metal”, which impressed me much personally. It is also very informative. Why did you include such a text with that album?

Thank you very much for the praise! I have gone through the valley of tears for more than ten years now. I have tried to make the people think critically and so on. It is important that you do not stand still at a point. It is important to look critically at the world. The whole metal scene is principally seen a rebellion. Respectively, this is how metal started. Meanwhile metal is more an escape into ideals, for example dream worlds of folk metal bands, or also philosophical trips in the gothic/dark wave area and so on. One aspect seemed to miss here, and this is the aspect of critical thinking or the escape into a dream world (ethno somehow is a dream world for the Western, industrial and sometimes cold-hearted culture), but ADDITIONALLY also the trial to change the NOW AND HERE, let´s say our reality or the individual area of each single listener. Positive thinking is very important for that. Meanwhile there are many books about that subject, for example in the esoterical or psychological area that we really are up to create by ourselves. Let´s say: the one who thinks positve, changes his environment to the positive! How and why would be too much for that interview, but because of that I just wanted to write a text about it that you can find in the multimedia section of the CD.

Also part of the CD is a video for the title track „Pulse“. Which concept does that videoclip include?

On the one hand just to wake up positive emotions. An interesting citation of a guy of an American label: since years I finally know again why I listen to metal! Let´s say: he saw the video and although it is positive and not alleged black/dark, he looked upon the video as METAL. Metal namely is POSITIVE, euphoric emotion, even if the music that stands in front is ultra dark.

On the other hand, the principle „we have abilities to create“ should be shown. Thereby that „god“ on the one hand is for example inside a flower, but on the other hand later is sent out by the main actress. But that is a very abstract message that is not that important for the videoclip. Principally, the video has the task to – like I said before – be simply positive. Message yes or no 🙂

How is it that you release your album „Pulse“ with your own label?

I just wanted to try it out. Which forms do I have to fill in, if I want to release your own CD, which costs will you have that you does not see when you are just an artist to argue with the label that it might be greedy and that it does not do anything for the success of the band and so on. Each band blusters now and then about the label, partly surely deservedly so. On the other hand there are many thing that you do not see when you are in a band. And those aspects were the reason for me to found my own label. I wanted to experience that by myself. Generally you can say: in the music business you have to turn around every cent three times, before you can spend it. It is known that this applies for most of the bands. But for the labels it is the same… There are many conflicts between bands and their labels, organizers and magazines which the fan does not see. I affirm that mostly none of the two sides is responsible for that. The circumstances inside this business are just catastrophal. And where hardship is, there arise conflicts. I just do not want to be addicted to the success, but I want to have my Gallican village, where I can do my artistical stuff and where I can do what I want. At least, the release of „Pulse“ was very important for me. Now, where the result has been accepted by the listeners, I am very interested to work with other labels. Now, nothing can go wrong anymore, the CD is finished. And it is how it is. A little crazy, experimental, but done with much honest passion.

Will there be a further album for SPI-RITUAL after you have released „Pulse“? Which further plans do you have with SPI-RITUAL??

I definitely have the lust to record a full album after „Pulse“. Stylistically, there won´t be many changes, because the way suits me very well. But first of all I have to balance out the expenses, hehe. Until then, I will work on new material for SHIVA IN EXILE.

I guess, it will be difficult to see SPI-RITUAL live. Are there plans anyway to listen and see the music of SPI-RITUAL live on stage at a concert?

That would be awesome! But the efforts that come with that just works when the sales figures balance. Because of all the idealism, there has to come in so much money that I do not have to pay more, if a good live line-up with a person for the mixing and so on will be arranged. Unfortunately I cannot tell more about that at the moment. How SPI-RITUAL is going to develop, I can say in the middle of 2006 at the earliest.

From where do you take your creativity?

That comes by myself. There are periods/months, where I do not have a look at my music programming. But when it gets warmer outside, mostly in spring or summer, I definitely want to write songs. Don´t know why. 🙂

Do you try out things or do you follow a fix picture in your head?

Meanwhile I have a shape in my head, but that takes many years of active songwriting. In the metal area, the vision is very simple to tell (like Spi-Ritual sounds): mercilessly attuned down guitars, thus you nearly cannot hear the single tunes in the studio and Tommy (the producer) is near to break down technically and wants to kill me for that. Plus driving, groovy drums. They do not have to be fast, but they have to stamp. For that, Mauri in DARKSEED is the expert! Furthermore a breeze of my dreadful clamor and then smooth ethnic instruments and sensitive female vocals, attuned down percussion elements respectively and flutes with many effects. Done is the ethno/metal mixture! You do not have much space to try out things. But nowadays we say: “What can we do newly that hasn´t played before?” I think, with this weird mixture I have solved that problem pretty good, at least for me. I can keep alive creatively by that a few years. 🙂

Where are the main differences between your projects SHIVA IN EXILE, BETRAY MY SECRETS or your SPI-RITUAL in opposite to your main band DARKSEED?

There aren´t many differences between BETRAY MY SECRETS and SPI-RITUAL, actually. The guitars are attuned low, my vocals are a little more brutal and the production is much phatter. Besides, both projects are very similar to each other. Blessedly, Christian Bystron (MEGAHERZ, Ex-BETRAY MY SECRETS) now and then helps me with his great guitar solos and worthy tips. This is why the difference between those both projects is not very big. And so it doesn´t make any sense to carry on with BETRAY MY SECRETS.

SHIVA IN EXILE is in principle the same as SPI-RITUAL, but without guitars, drums and it is really specialized on female ethno vocals. More for the friends of soundtracks like Passion of Christ, The Crow or Black Hawk Down, enriched with a bit DEAD CAN DANCE.

DARKSEED differs from all of these projects, because that band totally exists without ethno elements. It´s a „typical gothic/metal band“, with its typical song structures and instrumentations. Sometimes that is not always bad 🙂

And what about DARKSEED for the moment?

2006 will be a SPI-RITUAL and SHIVA IN EXILE year, but maybe in 2007 I will have the time to write a solid gothic/metal album. Our fans have forgiven us our long creative breaks so far. Of course, we are very thankful for that, especially DARKSEED is not a media effective band that keeps its fans at it permanently.

That sounds like a creative year 2006 for Stefan Hertrich! Who knows what his way will give… Good luck for that!

SPI-RITUAL – “Pulse” CD Single/EP
Release date: January 2, 2006
Music: Ethno Metal
Website: www.spi-ritual.com
Country: Germany
Clip: www.spi-ritual.com/spiritual_pulse_clip.wmv
Tracklist:
1. This Battle Is Yours – 5:40
2. Symphony Of Life – 7:39
3. Nahash – 5:50
4. Pulse – 8:34
5. Save And Heal – 4:38
6. Nowhereness – 2:38
+ Multimedia section (videoclip,
text material) and sticker
Contact:
stefan@spi-ritual.com
Discographie :
SpiRitual – “Pulse” 2006
Shiva in Exile – “Ethnic” 2003
Betray my Secrets:
“Betray my Secrets” 1999
“Oh Great Spirit” 7” EP 1999
Sculpture “The Sculpture” 1999
Darkseed:
“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
Line-Up:
Stefan Hertrich: Vocals, Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Sampling
Dr. phil. Christian Rätsch: Textwork, Sampling, Consultation
Maurizio Guolo: Drums
Yana Veva: Vocals
Gaby Koss: Vocals
Kajuyali Tsamani: Flutes, Percussion
Christian Bystron: Lead Guitars, Solo Guitars
René Berthiaume: Solo Guitars
Markus Glanz: Solo Guitars