Raaaaaaaawk on!

A while back we sat down with Strangelet for an interview. They are currently in the studio working on their second album, which they describe as “some real heavy, sometimes sleazy and even more aggressive stuff“.

Your first release is a raw mix of many classic heavy metal and hard rock bands. It’s like a mixture of AC/DC, Queensryche, Iron Maiden, and many other bands. Where you got the Idea?

Hi, my friend! I think, we are five individual members, everyone prefers a slightly different kind of music and bands… Jonas and Jessica the more melodic, mainstream based Hard Rock and Melodic Rock; Finn loves Pagan and “true” Metal acts; Tobi bangs to Machine Head, Testament or AC/DC as well as to his biggest inspiration Slash; I am collecting, breathing and consuming music since many years… so there are more obscure Proto Prog and Hard Rock acts of early 70´s, Modern Metal, Bowie, Queen, Genesis and many US Metal bands in my iPod.
This mixture is our “secret”. We bring in our ideas, we play together, rehearse and discuss… and in the end EVERYONE in the band is fins with the songs and style.

Let’s talk about your album, “First Bite”. Well, it sure as hell bit me. How you came up with that?

We decided to record the best songs, we are able to write. Sounds simple? Was that simple! No label, no management, No booking agency at the time… so: no pressure.
And we are still VERY proud and still in love with “our baby”.

Tell about each and every one of the band members.

Jessica is our beauty on drums! Such a pretty young woman, such a powerful punch! Really just amazing! She is also studying Music Business and will surely be a future band manager. Tough lady! Jonas plays (and at the time is fixing a real old one!) Hammond and keys as well as he produces and mixes. FIRST BITE was produced by Jonas! Finn is killing beers and a typical bass player – don´t speaks much, always smiles and loves his bass guitar, Tobias is our main songwriter, guitar-hero (yes, some guys REALLY say this, haha!) and studies very ambitious for his future job. Me? I am writing at our city hall for homeless people, write lyrics, try to enjoy every single day as happy, free man and do our promotion stuff.

After you conquered the first album milestone. What is on your mind to do as a band?

Well… write and record a next milestone, hahahaha! The second CD is in its songwriting-phase, and the new songs sound again strong, catchy, Dirty and will bring in some more new surprises! And by the way… we LOVE to play live and we are playing many shows at the time. So we are quite busy and (at the time) always on the run, haha!

What is your influence as musicians?

We are influenced by everything we hear, see or read! Okay, mainly by cool Hard Rock acts and Metal bands. We also love to see good and powerful live shows, especially from the golden 80s (such as from bands like Def Leppard, Alice Cooper, Iron Maiden and so on) and try to use this “magic power” in our own shows.

You have a unique sound as a band, a meltdown of a lot of Heavy Metal acts together, bringing you something new with synthesizers upon cutting solos and heavy rhythms. How you came up with the idea or mixing electronic elements with traditional heavy metal?

As told before, my dear friend, we are not the “true” to preclude “other” elements in sound just for the “codex of true classic Metal and Hard Rock”… We are not interested in playing music for a (mostly imaginary) mainstream-folk, we are interested in playing the tunes WE love. Whatever a song needs – we bring it in. Even strange key-sounds, haha!

What will be your recommendations for the readers?

We don´t recommend that much! We are just some friends who play the music we love! But ok, one thing IS really important, let me say it in the words of the great ORPHANED LAND: “We all are one!” Music is universal, no matter what or who you are! Listen to music and let´s have peace!

Any last words for the fans?

Please listen to our music! Spread, feel free to visit our page and leave a “like” or comment, come to our shows, get the CD and help us to live our dream! Vielen Dank!