ZEROMANCER (ALEX/ KIM/ LORRY)

HELLO AND THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR TIME ANSWERING THIS INTERVIEW. THE NEW ALBUM „SINNERS INTERNATIONAL“ IS OUT NOW FINALLY. COULD YOU TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT FIRST FEEDBACKS? Alex: It’s been overwhelming and we’re really happy with the reviews so far!!! Getting such a positive feedback taste even better when Sinners International is 100% self made. Kim: It looks to me like the fans are really excited and that the general sense is that it was well worth the wait. Plus there is a certain understanding among several critics who previously didn’t think much of ZMR, that is the best album we have ever done. BETWEEN THE LAST PIECE OF ART „ZZYZX“ AND THE NEW ONE SIX YEARS HAVE PASSED. WHAT DID YOU DO ALL THE TIME? APPARENTLY MANY OF THE NEW SONGS HAVE BEEN PERFORMED OVER THE YEARS ON STAGE. HAVE YOU BEEN WAITING FOR THE RIGHT MOMENT RELEASING IT? Kim: Yeah it has been an eternity since ZZYZX. I can assure you it has nothing to do with laziness though. It has been a few crazy years. It started with me having a plan of releasing an EP with my new solo project, Ljungblut. It turned into an extremely productive period for me and I eventually released a double album by the name, “The Other side of all things” in 2005. At the end of the previous year we got an offer to reunite the band Seigmen that Alex, Noralf and me were a part of before Zeromancer. This was something we never thought would ever happen. But then we agreed on it and in October of 2005 we did a show at a place called The Valley of death in Norway for more than 5000 people. It was amazing and it turned into a very successful tour and we released a live album and a double DVD with more than 6 hours of material. Then in 2007 I released the second album, “Capitals” with Ljungblut. Then I became a father that same year, plus we got another offer with Seigmen. Again we said yes and this was a very special occasion. In the summer of 2008 we played the new Opera house in Oslo over two nights. It was extraordinary. Since 2005 we have besides this been working on Sinners International, and did a few tours with Zeromancer and released two limited edition singles. But the only reason we have waited all this time is because of the „excuses“ I now have been mentioning. THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE LAST AND THE NEW RECORD ARE OBVIOUS: YOU HAVE BEEN GOING BACK TO YOUR ROOTS AND YOU HAVE BECOME MORE ELECTRONIC AGAIN. WHICH ARE THE REASONS FOR THIS DEVELOPMENT? Alex: We needed to do some changes after ZZYZX. We always wanted to make a record that was totally self-made, but never dared to do that before. We did record a lot on “Eurotrash” and “ZZYZX”, but on “Sinners International” was the first time we did everything including mix. Zeromancer are control freaks and this time we had total control. We had such a great time in the studio. Extremely inspiring! The way it should be. We wanted to make a record with character and we are very proud of “Sinners International”. It’s like a new beginning. It won’t take long until we’re back in the studio recording a new album……that’s for sure! AND HOW DID YOU GET IN CONTACT WITH GERMAN LABEL TRISOL? ARE YOU CONTENT WITH THEIR PROMOTIONAL LABEL SO FAR? DO YOU CONSIDER GERMANY AS YOUR MAIN “MARKET” IN EUROPE? Kim: Through our booking company Neuwerk in Hamburg we were recommended to get in touch with Trisol. And we haven’t regretted that ever since. It feels great to have a relationship based on equal respect. These guys really care about ZMR. They also have great ideas about promotion and how to reach people in new areas. They don’t seem afraid of anything and now we’re suddenly label mates with acts like Project Pitchfork, Emily Autumn and Dope Stars Inc. We feel Germany is our main market alongside with the US. WITH “ZZYZX” YOU GOT TO KNOW THE “BIG BUSINESS” OF MAJOR LABELS. LOOKING BACK IN TIME: HOW WOULD YOU EVALUATE THIS PARTNERSHIP WITH WARNER/ WEA? Alex: Working with Warner was great and important for Zeromancers success. It was perfect in the beginning, but the constant pressure of hitting the charts and increased sales affected us to a certain degree. It’s hard to admit, but it did. The demos for ZZYZX sounded hard hitting and cool, but turned out a little softer on the album. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a great album, but some songs lost some of the character in the production. All that changed after signing with Trisol. WHAT MEANING HAS THE TITLE „SINNERS INTERNATIONAL“ FOR YOU? WHAT ARE YOUR PERSONAL SINS? Lorry: My personal sins are far too many to be mentioned here. But I know for sure that I am a lousy planner of time. I constantly find myself behind schedule, and wasting other people’s time. Hopefully I will be able to make it up some day. Kim: “Sinners International” is inspired by the infamous religious cult, “Children of God” who changed their name to Family International some years ago. I like to have a kind of backdrop when writing songs for an album and this time I decided to dig a little deeper into my fascination for religious cults. Alongside Family International you also have sects like People’s temple, Heaven’s gate, The end of the world cult, Branch Davidian and The Fundamentalists church of the latter day saints. All these have contributed by influences in one way or the other. But let me add this… they are all very screwed up people I think. I feel sorry for them who has been misguided by the deranged leaders who very often claiming they are the son of God. My personal sins I wouldn’t even dream of mention here:-) WHICH IS THE OUTSTANDING TRADEMARK OF „SINNERS INTERNATIONAL“ REGARDING YOUR WHOLE DISCOGRAPHY? Kim: Personally I have a weakness for “Sinners International”, “Doppelgänger I love you” and “Ammonite”. These are tracks that show the span of ZMR I think. WHICH EXPERIENCES AND TOPICS ARE THE INFLUENCES OF YOUR LYRICS, YOUR MUSIC, YOUR ART, YOUR MISSION? Kim: When I am on the move and far away from home. When the loneliness comes creeping in. That’s when I get inspired the most. Deceit, pain, desire, sex, sin and suffering. These are all vital elements in my writing. Of course there are more delightful themes as well, but these aspects always seem to end up in a corner. What drives me is the will to create. There are all these ideas in my head that just needs to be let out. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT INSIDE THE BAND EXACTLY? Kim: Well I write all the basics. All lyrics and pretty much all of the melody. I record the demos with Dan and Lorry. Then we get together rehearsing it all before we get into the real recording studio taping it all. I feel producing wise it’s mostly Alex and me who’s in charge. With Sinners Alex engineered and mixed the album. Additional recording were done by Lorry, Dan and myself. Alex has really grown a lot as he’s working as a full time producer beside the band. Weird enough Noralf is definitely the most musical of all of us meaning he’s helping out all along the way. The spirit of ZMR these days are certainly on a high. HOW DOES THE COLLABORATION WORK OUT, SINCE YOU DON’T LIVE AT THE SAME PLACE? DID YOU RECORD PARTS OF THE ALBUM OVER THE PERIOD OF 6 YEARS OR EVERYTHING IN A TENSE COMPACT PIECE OF TIME. Alex: Never expected that it would take five six years. The reunion of our previous band Seigmen was extremely successful and took a lot of time including a Live CD and a Double DVD. Kim released two albums with his side project Ljungblut. I produced a lot of other artists and spent some time building my studio in Oslo. When we started the recording of Sinners International we decided to take the time we needed to finish the album. No pressure, just doing what we always wanted to do… have total control. The actual recording of the album didn’t take much time. I live right outside Oslo and the rest of the guys live one and a half our south from Oslo. Most of the recording was done in our Studio in Oslo. For rehearsals and preproduction I travel to Tønsberg were the other guys live. ARE THERE ANY STORIES OR ANECDOTES ABOUT THE STUDIO RECORDINGS OR ABOUT WRITING THE ALBUM? Kim: Well the story about the Dead bug orchestra is a good one. During one of our demo sessions a few years back we collected all these bugs coming into our room. It was mid summer and we had a temporary set up at an old barn. We used these dead bugs as a percussive element like a shaker when they were put into a Pringles can. You can clearly hear it throughout the track Imaginary friends. “IT SOUNDS LIKE LOVE” (BUT IT LOOKS LIKE SEX)” IS AN INTERESTING TITLE. DO YOU THINK ONE CAN SEE THE LINE BETWEEN SEX AND LOVE? WHICH OF THE TWO IS MORE IMPORTANT IN LIFE AND WHY? Kim: Yeah I usually don’t like to explain every detail of a song. But this one contains inputs from several different aspects. The way I see it it’s much like Sex is love and love is sex. They are synchronized in a very special way. But to me love is a very complicated word. Sex is a hell of a lot easier. It is what it is. “DOPPELGÄNGER I LOVE YOU” SOUNDS TO ME AS IF DEALING WITH THE TOPIC OF NARCISM. THIS CAN BE CONSIDERED A PSYCHOLOGICAL PART OF THE GOTHIC SCENE. PAINFUL EXPERIENCE OR NECESSARY JOY? COULD YOU SHARE YOUR POINT OF VIEW WITH US? Kim: There is several layers of meanings here. To me it doesn’t really matter what people like to believe. It’ all up to the person listening to it. When I write I blend a lot of things together and often what comes out in the other end is a lot different from what I started off with. I think a lot of things brought upon us are psychological. I wish I could explain my own chronic migraines for instance. But it’s all a big mystery. I do also believe that there is a reason for everything in life. Sin is definitely a keyword in all this. It makes us all come together as one. ARE THERE ANY ARTISTS WITH WHO YOU WOULD LIKE TO COOPERATE WITH IF YOU HAD FREE CHOICE? ARE YOU IN CONTACT WITH THE NORWEGIAN EXTREME METAL SCENE? Kim: …Hmm I mean we are very passionate about music and we have so many influences around us. I have been a true fan of Depeche Mode since 1983 for instance, and I have always had the idea of doing something with their former member Alan Wilder. But to me David Sylvian is perhaps the artist above all others, and I would definitely also enjoyed a cooperation there. But when it comes to producers and engineers the line is endless. We don’t see much of the Norwegian extreme metal scene. We know Satyr quite well and The Kovenant since we were touring with those guys. But that’s about it. We know however for a fact that a lot of these bands are old Seigmen fans and some are even spotted buying merchandise at previous ZMR shows in Norway. YOU HAVE TOURED IN SOME CONTINENTS OF THE WORLD. WHICH ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE FANS? Alex: Germany and the US has been the two main markets for Zeromancer, but we hope to expand that in 2009. Our fans are extremely supportive and fantastic all over the world. Doesn’t matter what country we play….they are all cool. The biggest difference are promoters, not the fans. We get more personal with our fans now. That’s the beauty of the internet:) You can finally talk to people all over the world and listen to what our fans has to say. But nothing can ever beat a live show!!!!!!!!!! Touring is what it is all about!!! AND YOU HAVE BEEN TWO TIMES AT AMPHI IN COLOGNE. ONE INSIDE AND ONE ON THE MAINS STAGE. WHICH DID YOU LIKE BETTER AND HOW DO YOU LIKE THIS FESTIVAL IN GENERAL? Lorry: Oh, I personally love the Amphi festival. I especially remember the gig inside for one special reason. We started the gig, and the sound on stage was in a very poor state. We all felt very unsure about how the audience felt, but tried to play on. And after the third or fourth song, we suddenly couldn’t hear anything but the cheer of the fans! It was such a special moment, and shows how special the fans are to us. Will bring that moment with me until the end. TALKING ABOUT TOURS AND CONCERTS… HOW DO YOU FEEL BEING AWAY FROM HOME? WHAT DOES “HOME” MEAN TO YOU ANYWAY? Lorry: Home to me is all related to the people around me. As long as I have the people I love around me, it feels like home. And touring means being part of a very special family, so it makes being away so much easier. HOW DO YOU MOTIVATE YOURSELVES MAKING MUSIC REGARDING ILLEGAL DOWNLOADS AND PIRATED COPIES NOWADAYS? Alex: I don’t find it hard to get motivated. Rock is about fighting and as a band we are used to fight for every penny. You can’t change the development. Illegal downloads caused a huge decline in CD sales, but the interest for music is bigger than ever. Piracy doesn’t kill music it kills old fashion record labels. I’m not saying it’s easy, but you just have to find new ways to make it work. Be creative and start to appreciate your fans. Money is not a motivation for us. As long as we have the opportunity to make music and tour, Zeromancer will stay alive. LET’S HAVE A LOOK TO THE FUTURE: CAN YOU REVEAL SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR PLANS FOR THE NEXT TIME AND WHAT THE FANS CAN EXPECT FROM YOUR TOURING 2009? WHICH WILL BE YOUR GUESTS/ SUPPORT ACTS? Alex: First part of the Sinners International tour will take place in March/ April followed by some summer festivals. The club shows in March/ April includes two support bands: Essence of mind and Scream Silence. We are planning a Sinners International part two this fall. Not confirmed yet, but there will be more shows in the end of this year. Lorry: I think the audience should be expecting a great, energetic show. Playing live is what Zeromancer is all about. Meeting the fans, touring with the family, playing the songs we love. For me, this is the childhood dream coming true. We will be joined by Scream Silence and Essence Of Mind. AT LAST I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN HOW YOU KEEP YOURSELF FIT, DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL WORKOUT PLAN? YOUR BODIES ARE IN VERY GOOD SHAPE I BELIEVE… Alex: What kind of drugs are you on? 🙂 Non of us work out. We drink coffee… starbucks:-) Guess we just got lucky. Blame our parents… they made us this way. We are all wrecks and we should definitely work out!!! We did work out before a tour in 2001… …for 3 weeks, but that’s about it. Lorry: Ehhh…talking about sins, I believe I am the exception in the band concerning the shape of my body. I should be working out, I should be eating healthy, I should not be drinking beer, I should not be headbanging… THANKS AGAIN FOR TAKING TIME TO TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOU. NOW IT IS THE TIME, TO GIVE OUR READERS A PIECE OF ADVICE FOR THEIR LIFES…