Sielwolf

Interview by Tommy T.


T: Give us a history, and who's in the band?

S: We started in 1989, there are 3 other people, a bass player, a keyboardist, and drummer, they are all live but they don't have much to do with the music. The first Sielwolf was in 1989, in 1992 we brought out the Magnum Force in germany on KK and 1994 we brought out the one that will come out here in October. The next record was in 1994 Bewegliesch Animalish, and Metastasen came right after also in 1994. Then we had two more albums in 1996 and this year on KK records, produced by somebody from Skorn.

T: Most people don't know what a Sielwolf is.

S: It filters the dirt in a sewer. It is similar to the way we make the music cause we listen to old records of ours and take samples from horror movies, we sample them all and make a new style for ourselves.

T: You have a balance between heavy guitars and ambient noisescapes. What style do you tend to like more?

S: I would say we have industrial roots from the early 80s, bands like Chrome and Kraftwerk.

T: What influences your songwriting?

S: Peter writes the lyrics, what he did is write down his dreams after he wakes up in the morning, that's why it sometimes doesn't make sense, he just writes down what he remembers, but they are very personal, they are about Peter's feelings and conflicts.

T: What bands have influenced Sielwolf?

S: Chrome, Noibaten, Max Stewart. Now it's different, now we like Aphex Twin and the experimental new styles too.

T: Are you here in America on vacation or business?

S: We are on vacation first, but we wanted to meet Paul, we had only talked to him on the phone. He's a good cook. We've been staying with him and he is really great at cooking. He should open a restaurant. He said he might open one with Chase.

T: So what are some of your favorite bands from the 90s?

S: At the moment we like the German drum and bass movement happening there, the darker and heavier stuff. We've also got this really wide range of music collection, Peter has about 7000 at home. We listen to soundtracks a lot, and we like to listen to Aphex Twin. The last CD I bought was Filter. It's alright.

T: Why do you think the industrial music scene is so accepted in Germany and so commercial in the USA?

S: It used to be much bigger in the 80s, but at the moment it is hard for bands like us to be accepted. On one hand you have the darkwave stuff, and it's on everywhere, and you have commercial stuff like Nine Inch Nails, then you have Sielwolf which is somewhere in the middle. It's a very small market for us at the moment. The Magnum Force does good in the clubs, but it depends on the song structure and if the song will do well on the dancefloor.

T: Have you made any videos?

S: No, but we were on a television program about music styles, they put us in the club section, which wasn't right but o well. There was a mention of us, Sielwolf. Paul also got a Canadian guy to make a funny animation for the website.

T: Any other side projects you'd like to talk about?

S: We're planning to do a dark drum & bass project, but not on Van Richter cause Paul doesn't like it. Also a side project in the ambient styles we do. I like side projects, it's always a good combination with a small group. It's always Peter and me, but sometimes others. He always does the vocals.

T: What were some of the samples from "The Gun's Eye" from?

S: "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer".

T: What will be the next release on Van Richter?

S: In October, Nachswung. It is the followup to Magnum Force, it came out in 1993. We have new tracks too.

T: Do you do remixes for other bands?

S: Not yet, but if the band is interesting, why not?

T: What do you think of bands like Marilyn Manson?

S: I'm not too much into them. It's good for dancing sometimes, like Nine Inch Nails. At home I like something more interesting.

T: Do you like the other VR bands, like Testify?

S: Yeah, we quite like Testify, we don't know them but talked to them on the phone once. I think Testify's alright. I prefer Testify over their Fair Sex project.

T: What's one of the best places to play live?

S: Berlin is the best place for us to play live. A couple of hundred people show up for those.

T: I wanted to know what Metastasen means.

S: It's a cancer that destroys your body very slowly. That's Metastasen.

T: Is there anything you'd like to add?

S: Well, a question for you, how is it in New Mexico?

T: It's nice, it's pretty as far as weather, it's not as deserty as everyone thinks. They're really stupid about music here.


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