I first learned about Le Mur (Janine Ficklscherer bass, Matthias
Graef guitar-vocals, Georgios Dosis drums) when they themselves posted one of
their songs on my facebook. I got interested in knowing them and they sent me
immediately their album. I was surprised to see that among the three people
making up the band, one of them was Greek. The sound being somewhat progressive,
somewhat psychedelic, and hard, and dark, and the drummer being from Preveza –
that’s how this interview got to happen. Don’t miss the chance to listen to
them!. Don’t miss the chance to listen to
them!
How
did you find yourself in
Germany?
I came in 1998 with my mother and sister due to
financial reasons. I was 16 years old, after some pretty crazy
times, military duty in Kastoria, schools, German lessons, and then I met
Janine and Matthias. Ever since I was a kid in Preveza I dreamed about playing
in a crazy Hawkwind-Sabbath-Metro Decay-Maiden-Floyd band and after some
concerts and many hours in the studio we recorded in 2010-2011 In Tenebris. An
English company wanted to release the album, but this proved to be a lie. They
left us waiting for a year, while we already had new material entitled Silentia
Nova, which was released from Tribal Stomp, thankfully.
What will happen with In Tenebris? Will it be released from
someone else?
We hope that in the beginning of the summer it
will be released from Tribal Stomp, AT LAST!
How did you come up with this sound? I mean it’s as if every
single song comes from a different musical style. Which are your influences and
how are those shown in your music?
Our influences are many…
Each of us has their own.
Janine grew up with lots of punk, mostly from America… She used
to listen lots to The Distillers or Blink 182 when she was a kid. Then she
discovered Anathema and started to change. She’s also a fan of Dead Can Dance
and of Hawkwind. Matthias started with Jimi Hendrix, The Doors and Deep Purple,
then listened to Black Sabbath and, as he’s told me, his life was never again
the same! For me, my first album was from Trypes – Ennia Pliromena Tragoudia.
After a while I ordered Iron Maiden’s Number of the Beast from Rock City. Lots
of metal and rock, Pink Floyd etc. Our sound became tight after lots of
rehearsal, nothing strange, we’re just a band which turns on the amplifiers and
plays without external aids, like triggers etc.
Nice stuff… What kind of elements did you add to the group? Does
“Technical progress and other suicidal stuff” has something of Greek new wave in
its sound, like from Villa 21 of the first two albums, or is it just my
impression?
To be honest, I had Metro Decay and Stereo Nova
in my mind when we were writing this song. Indeed in this album I included many
elements of Greek music. Tolios from Trypes was one of the reasons why I started
playing drums… chaotic but also very straight. But in general I like this
atmosphere lots… of course the darker the better… that’s why I listen to lots of
metal, for example Celtic Frost, and I become the uneasy spirit of the group…
and that’s how various contrasts are created in our music and in our sound.
Things in Germany are insanely difficult for a group like us… particularly in
the region we come from… but you can 1-2 good festivals per year and all
generations come join them. Stoner Psychedelic space rockers… stuff like that.
Nowadays the term neo-krautrock is being heard lots, and we’ve been included in
it. This is good, since it might create a new scene.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/456428187802430/?fref=ts
Now that we’re talking and I’m listening to your album wearing
headphones, I noticed that the third track has Greek lyrics. When I listened to
it from the speakers, I didn’t get that. I can’t understand everything now, but
tell me the title of the song and what it says.
In the first two albums there will be a ghost
track, this has to do with the story of the trilogy and we’ll reveal it in the
third one, which we’re working on as we speak. In Silentia Nova we’re talking
about a life period that’s full of loneliness and despair. That’s what I’m
talking about on the third track. “I’ve made a huge web which protects my life,
but the days drift by aimlessly, enlarging my wound, unexpected visitors are
trapped following my breath, but me, I hide again from my fear inside my cage”
etc.
How do you write your songs, your lyrics? What is it that in
general affects/inspires you in writing music?
We all agree that the greatest influence on our
music and lyrics comes from life itself, everyday life. This sounds a bit
cliché, and maybe it’s a bit romantic, but all three of us work in heavy
industry every day, go from work to home etc., and some of us in various shifts…
The only place where we are free and make no compromises is the rehearsals.
Every one puts together what we think is the best for the song at that moment.
If it works, that’s great, if not, we move on… Playing around with the guys is
done through team work and that’s why we always feel like it – even if the
timetables are… German!
A question on your personal life… How’s life for a Greek in
Germany? I mean, in a country where things, I imagine, are more “square”, the
sun doesn’t shine that much etc.
I like it here lots. Yes, in the beginning it was
hard, but Germany embraced me and offered me lots of opportunities and CHOICES.
The past years I’ve built my own little world, with my girlfriend, my friends,
the job, and of course the band, and I’m very happy for that. The German system
is indeed a square one, but at the same time this provides with an unbelievable
sense of security, for example with the health system etc. No country is perfect
and I know that, because in the past due to my work I got to know half of the
world. But for me Oberhausen in Germany is the most appropriate place… Regarding
the sun, I don’t mind it at all… It’s better for me if it doesn’t come out at
all, in any case I’ll be in rehearsal… If I want the sun, I come down to Preveza,
in its beautiful beaches, and I recharge.
How come your album cover is made by Helmut Wenske?
Wenske is god. The entire album would never come
out without the help of Underground Äxpärten. It’s an organization with a
Psychedelic-stoner rock radio, festival etc. One of them, Dieter, arranged
everything for Silentia Nova to be released. Wenske was an old friend of his. We
sent him a demo and after a while he replied that he liked our music a lot and
that he would gladly give us one of his works. This touched all of us a lot, but
especially for me, it was a landmark, because when I was a kid I loved his work,
and a friend of mine had this huge poster in his room back in Preveza… And then,
after a few years, I’m on the phone with him and he graces our album.
UNBELIEVABLE.
It’s the beauty that comes our way and sends our minds journeying
(do we ever return?). What about the concerts? Is there an audience for this
music? Is it easy to play often?
It’s hard with the live concerts. There’s no
scene, so very few possibilities. Especially here where we live, in the Ruhr
valley, which is an industrial area and people don’t feel like listening to this
kind of music… They listen to what’s on the radio. In general the music culture
has declined in relation to the previous decades. We have 4-5 live shows a year,
but they are good shows, I mean shows in which people come to listen to that
kind of music. In my opinion, I have the impression that something is changing
gradually and maybe we’ll have more shows. At the time being, we’re happy with
what we’ve got.
How are things with the album’s distribution? Did you work on it
as well or only the company? Are there copies left or is sold out? Do you know
if any shop from here has ordered it?
Both us and the company worked on the album’s
distribution. The company worked mostly abroad. The album went very well. The
first copies are almost sold out. In Greece I think that Anazitisi Records had
our album. I remember that in our last contact with the company, they told us
that the copies in Greece were sold very quickly, and this was especially
pleasing for me.
That’s great! I unfortunately got to know you only when you
posted a song on my page! So, basically, the album has sold without you holding
any concerts. How come this happened? Do you think it was in part due to the
Internet?
The Internet is an unbelievable medium. It’s
responsible for the fact that the music culture is in decline, that the small
concerts and scene don’t exist anymore (at least here), but it’s also
responsible for what’s happening to bands like us. There are pages (like yours,
for example) where one can learn about DIY/underground bands like us and this
creates another kind of culture – I won’t analyze its advantages and
disadvantages. It remains a fact that through the Internet we attracted the
attention of a group of people which are obsessed with music, as we are.
Underground contacts such as Underground Äxpärten, who are old rock folks and
who are on a quest for music and come to our few concerts to support us.
Which Greek groups do you know of? What are your next plans? Is
there anything else you want to add?
From Greece, I like Planet of Zeus. I like to
listen to Greek jazz, like Takis Barberis. In Tenebris will FINALLY be out in a
while! It’s normally our debut album, but it got stuck in England in 2011. In a
while we’ll start recording our third album, which will conclude the trilogy. We
also have some concerts scheduled for the summer. If more people in Greece get
to know us, perhaps someday we’ll come play there as well. This would be insane
for me. Thank you a lot for your time and support!
