Psychotron
Psychotron is one of those
great bands that have faced many problems from the music industry, an element
that held them back and didn't allow them to make their name wider known.
However, they are determined to change all this with their very interesting
new work, "Pray For Salvation". If you want to find out more about them,
then all you have to do is read the chat we had with the band's vocalist,
Matze.
1. HELLO! SINCE MANY PEOPLE MIGHT NOT KNOW
MUCH ABOUT PSYCHOTRON, I WOULD LIKE YOU TO PRESENT YOURSELVES WITH A FEW
WORDS AND ALSO PRESENT YOUR CURRENT LINE –UP.
Hi Nikos! PSYCHOTRON was founded in 1995.
A year in which Power Metal and Thrash as we knew from bands like Exodus,
Testament, Anthrax … was not very fashioned. Soon enough a lot of fans
really got bored with that mainstream “metal” of the ‘90s and so came the
revival of the old-school style with the energy of real powerful
new bands, such as Nevermore and Iced Earth, who even surprised a new generation
of metal maniacs. It seemed to be perfect for a band like PSYCHOTRON to
be part of this “new” scene. And in fact things didn’t work bad in the
beginning. After a few months we had our first successful gig and we recorded
a first demo-tape which had some good resonances in magazines and more
important by the fans. In future time constant line-up problems have been
a steady company which stopped our progress again and again. So the birth
of our first full length output was in ’99 with “Chaos Cosmic Time”. Another
three years later, after times of real hard work, our next self financed
output “Open The Gates” has been released after we quit with our label.
The positive effect after all the anger and lost time because of all the
business affairs, has been that PSYCHOTRON got stronger through the years
and we grew as musicians, too. So, you can see we finally released the
third piece of metal “Pray For Salvation” on Sleaszy Rider Records who
trust in the potential of PSYCHOTRONs music. The line-up until the middle
of 2006 has been: Matthias Braun - guitar, Matze M. – vocals, Kai Huissel
– guitar, Gert Kopf – drums and Frank Herold – bass. After more than ten
years of being part of the band, Frank and Gert parted ways with PSYCHOTRON.
So we played a couple of gigs with session musicians. Now, we’re looking
forward to finding the personnel to fill the vacant slots really quickly
to promote the new CD and to work on new material.
2. “PRAY FOR SALVATION” IS YOUR THIRD ALBUM. BEFORE
YOU RELEASED THIS ONE YOU ALSO HAD 2 SELF-FINANCED ALBUM. I WOULD LIKE
TO KNOW WHAT MAD YOU DECIDE TO RELEASE YOUR THIRD ALBUM FROM A LABEL AND
IF YOU ARE SATISFIED WITH THE AGREEMENT SO FAR…
With PFS we wish to get our way of playing
Heavy Metal known to many more fans worldwide and we hope that we can concentrate
ourselves even more into playing gigs and practicing than to stick into
business affairs around the distribution of CDs and promotion in magazines.
3. DO YOU PLAN TO RE-RELEASE YOUR PREVIOUS 2 ALBUMS
FROM A LABEL, SO PEOPLE CAN FIND THEM EASILY?
I can’t imagine a re-release of CCT or even
OTG at the moment. Because our progress in writing songs and the quality
of recordings differ a lot from the possibilities we had in times of the
first releases. In fact a lot of our older stuff isn’t that bad, we really
enjoy playing some of the songs even nowadays, but I think it’s more important
to give the fans an impression of what means PSYCHOTRON today. Maybe we
will re-record some songs of the first CDs with new arrangements as bonus
tracks or whatever. If you are interested in one of the former releases
just get in contact with us. There are some of them left. But future plans
are more into setting a big fat exclamation mark in today’s scene in Germany
and getting a good name to fans around Europe and after all to solve our
current line-up problems.
4. YOU NAMED YOUR ALBUM “PRAY OF SALVATION”. DO
YOU THINK THAT OUR MODERN WORLD NEEDS SALVATION? WHICH THINGS ARE THOSE
THAT YOU ‘D LIKE TO SEE THEM CORRECTED IN OUR MODERN SOCIETY?
In fact most of the lyrics are written in
a kind of self-reflection. So you can ask me if I think that I need salvation,
haha! And for sure I do. Everyone is in need sooner or later, don’t you
think so? No one can be so self-assured that everything one does is correct
all the times! If you say so, I think you lie. Everybody has his times
of doubt!
At least I do think our modern, so called
progressive world needs salvation, too. Sometimes I think really nothing
ever changes and people don’t want to learn. Nowadays there’s just the
thought about ones own profit and we don’t care about the worth of life
in itself. What makes myself larger than another? For sure I am the most
important person. It’s me I have to question every single day. It’s my
very own ethics I have to live with. But I am not the only one. There are
many people around me. I’m living in some modern society that does not
stay alone besides others. We have one world to live in with everybody
has the same rights to share AND with its duties. That means to have same
chances, too. That’s what I believe.
5. WHO WRITES THE LYRICS IN PSYCHOTRON? CAN YOU
EXPLAIN IN A FEW WORDS WHICH THE THEME OF EACH SONG INCLUDED IN YOUR NEW
ALBUM IS?
It’s mine, the singer’s job to write the lyrics.
In the beginning of PSYCHOTRON we had the idea to create this metaphoric
creature of the PSYCHOTRON as a symbol of individual fears in an anonymous
surrounding. Humanity doesn’t count anymore and everything is in unbelievable
dependency to technical progress. Mankind has just to keep going. If you
don’t work … game over! Mankind is losing grip. We have this great intelligence
but we are mentally crippled.
Now, some short statements to the songs of
PFS. The concept of most of the songs is the question about your last days.
What’s the sense of living and dying, what about your ethical standard
in life…
At The Graves: In some kind of self-reflection
I’m at my own burial. Lying in the coffin and standing at the open grave
at the same time. I am talking to myself. In the end everybody has to face
the final truth and there we will meet again.
In The Arms Of Morpheus: Sleep the great sleep
and dream your final dream. These lyrics I have written in remembrance
of my grandfather who died a couple of days before.
Chasing Shadows: As the seasons change, so
does your life. Many faults you commit in life. But I think if you’re always
trying to give the best everything will be alright.
Traitor: Sometimes all of your thinking and
all your doing will concentrate on others. Nothing wrong with it until
you forgot and denied yourself and your wishes and hopes. Sometimes you
are loyal to those who don’t deserve it at all and they really know it.
But they don’t care.
Circle Of The Damned: We are the damned, sentenced
to death. There’s nothing we can do. We fight against our destiny as long
as we live. Now, we’re holding the flame of life right in our hands. In
that moment we are immortal. But in the end we must accept our fate.
The Hourglass: The end of all is the same you
see. But you deny it. In your agony you are searching for something or
someone you can blame. And so you blame on time, you blame on death himself.
The Grim Reaper tells you that it’s not his game and he even can’t escape
his own fate. The sense in anything to see lies behind the veil. So live
your life the best you can, don’t betray yourself. The end soon will show…
The Awakening: Reflecting yourself and finding
out your life is just some masquerade. Being yourself, that’s the thing
of importance. The world’s going round with or without you. It’s just one
life you’re living – so live it!
Life On Borrowed Time: Nothing more to say!
Shattered Illusion: Dreams not fulfilled, hopes
destroyed, love turned into hate and lost all sense in life… a fading flame
of life!
6. HAVE YOU NOTICED UNDER WHICH CIRCUMSTANCES
YOU BECOME MORE CREATIVE AS A BAND?
In former times it’s been the circumstances
that we are some metal fans who enjoyed making music together. A good way
to take the world with Heavy Metal Thunder, haha! We took the chance to
be in the right band with the perfect people to express ourselves on a
high level of common sense, as I think.
Today creativity depends too much, too often
on the circumstance of having the time to be creative. I think we need
to be relaxed, if we are relaxed we have the time to get our thoughts into
the right form. If we got a lot more of time, there’s a lot more of fun
and if there’s fun you like to do what you’re doing. That means you are
in a certain flow of creativity and that’s the best ability to aim for
great results.
7. THE COVER ARTWORK OF YOUR CD IS VERY BEAUTIFUL,
IT SEEMS SIMPLE, BUT IT IS COMPLICATED. WHO CREATED IT? DID THE PAINTER
LISTEN TO YOUR MUSIC IN ORDER TO CREATE IT?
Mike Schindler from Dragon Design created
the artwork. He does a lot of airbrush art and designed many cover artworks
for bands or underground fanzines, too. Well, I don’t know if he listens
to our music to create the cover of PFS but I think he likes our music.
He even does the artwork of OTG so I can imagine the band is more than
just a job to do. Maybe it’s an effort to satisfy the band’s visions in
combination with his creativity. For PFS we had some ideas which didn’t
work in the end. It seemed to be nothing new and was so trivial. But there
was another idea of Mike for the CDs label and it’s been perfect! We needed
something representing our meaning of PFS as a title and in a metaphoric
way for the whole lyrics of the record, too. Further it should stand for
itself. People should have the chance to think over it and find their own
meaning. After all it’s a trademark of the band. Each cover has its PSYCHOTRON
–some bionic creature, half man and machine- with some certain statement.
8. EVERY FORM OF ART TRANSMITS A MESSAGE TO THE
PEOPLE ADDRESSED TO. WHICH IS THE MESSAGE OF YOUR MUSIC THAT YOU WANT TO
PASS TO YOUR LISTENERS?
Well, I don’t know if we really have a message,
or that one message to tell all the people? Yes, I agree that art is some
way of expression. Every person has his very own style to express himself,
each time has a common sense of art and its individuals who have their
vision of creativity and art. For that the common thing of music and the
lyrics as part of it is to get into emotions, any kind of emotion, and
the possibility to share with anybody. Heavy Metal is a very strong platform
for each kind of feelings. As a union of fans we have the chance to share
them together.
I’m not the one to tell the people. But I
write down my own thinking, my experiences, my emotions, whatever and the
listeners can think over it or leave it. Take a book, read it, try to understand
it and yes, you will. As every single person who reads the same book, you
will! But every single thought is totally different to the other… or should
it be just the differences between the expressions of the same thought,
hm?
9. IN SOME REVIEWS THAT I READ THEY COMPARE YOU
WITH SANCTUARY, BUT I THINK THAT YOUR SOUND IS A 100% BAY AREA THRASH METAL.
DO YOU AGREE? HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND?
To us it’s a big honor to be compared with
such great bands. There have been comparisons with Nevermore, Testament
and Iced Earth frequently besides many others. Sometimes it’s very funny
to which bands reviewers find parallels in our music. Sometimes I don’t
see it that way, other times I even don’t know the songs they are talking
about or even worse I don’t know the whole band we are compared with. We
really love Nevermore and for sure the former Sanctuary. And we are really
in the Thrash Metal of the ‘80s like Testament, Exodus and many more. But
each of us has his own favorites. Many of them have nothing to do
with the bands mentioned above. Some bands have nothing to do with METAL
either. For example Pink Floyd is a band that is really expiring. There
is a great spectrum of music we are listening to. But the music we’ve been
growing up and still impressing us is and always will be Heavy Metal in
most of its facettes. I think you’re inspired by everything you’re listening
to. But we don’t copy anything. If there are similarities – may be. In
the writing process when we find out that some riffs sound like something
known, we try to keep it in another way. But a good riff remains to be
a good riff. Don’t you think so? In the end it’s not so much important
with what you are compared. It’s important to us if there is some good
emotion behind.
We don’t want to sound like Bay Area Thrash
or just like another German Thrash band. We just want to sound heavy! We
are PSYCHOTRON and if the band’s name will be a synonym of Heavy Metal
with all the variety of this kind of arts, yes, then we would be as proud
as anyone can be.
10. IS THERE A QUESTION THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO
BE ASKED IN AN INTERVIEW, BUT THEY NEVER DID? HERE IS YOUR CHANCE…
Oh yes! I would like to be asked: “Matze,
you are so sexy and intelligent, you really are a synonym of MAN. All the
girls just have eyes on you! What’s the secret of your charisma? Is there
anything I can do to get in touch with your divinity?” Hahaha!!! Just a
joke, goddamn. I can’t remember the questions I like to be asked!? Shit!
Wrong place, wrong moment! Any question is a good question as far as you
are interested in the answer, I think. …and certainly it’s very important
to me that I can talk a lot with nobody falling asleep, haha! What’s been
the question?
11. WHICH CLICHES OF HEAVY METAL MUSIC DO YOU
LIKE AND WHICH ONES DO YOU HATE…
Heavy Metal needs its clichés. Even
if the cliché is: to have none. Personally I like theatrical things
in music to visualize things. I like leather, chains and spikes and I really
love metal patches on the jackets. Most of the clichés I can handle.
I can’t say that there’s any cliché that I hate. What I hate is
the fact that a lot of people live clichés in meaning of being individual.
You should be an individual then it doesn’t matter if you’re using clichés.
It’s always the personality that makes you interesting to me. Arrogance
and ignorance is what I hate, too. These are the things Heavy Metal should
fight. Don’t be that way thinking that it’s cool, just use it unto people
who deserve it.
12. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME! GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR
NEW ALBUM. THE LAST WORDS BELONG TO YOU…
To you and all the metal heads out there.
PSYCHOTRON wishes you all the best for 2007. Keep it heavy and stay loyal
to those who deserve it. Thanks a lot for the interview. If you like to
get in contact with us, don’t be too shy. Visit us on our homepage www.psychotron.de
We hope to meet you some day! Yamas!
Nick “William_Kidd”
Parastatidis
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