Deine Lakaien

Thank you so much for doing this interview, we are all very excited about your new release 'Indicator'. How are you?
- "Thank you very much, we appreciate it a lot that you like our new album. At the moment we just finished our tour in Germany and wait for more concerts to come next year in February, Germany and some neighboring countries."

While talking about 'Indicator', it's your 13th album release, 8th if you exclude live releases and re-releases. What are your feelings about it?
- "We are very satisfied with the result and the reactions so far. It is not so easy to convince yourself with new works after all these years but we think that the new album was worth the effort and it is more than some expected routine. It is always a nice surprise to realize that in the end something unexpected happened."

You have done a few releases on EMI, but most of them on Chrome, what do the future looks like?
- "We are independent again and are happy that we can choose our team of people who work for us. More control is always better than less and you can decide what is worth to spend money for. We had good times with major companies but also some bitter moments. Now everything feels good at the moment."

You have been doing this for over 20 years now, how do you find the inspiration and motivation to continue?
- "The only fact which is important is respect and curiosity. We have to respect our audience and we must be interested in their reaction when we play our music. And vice versa, if people just expect the well-known classics and no new ideas then it is all over. Thankfully it is still working very well."

With your band name coming from an Einstürzende Neubauten title, are they in any form an inspiration for you, or at least was?
- "No, not really concerning the music, but concerning the fact to sound individually and not trying to copy any other bands."

Will we ever see a collaboration with Deine Lakaien and Blixa Bergeld or some other Einstürzende Neubeuten members?
- "You will never know what happens in life... could sound interesting."

How does the creative process look like for Deine Lakaien?
- "We have different methods of writing songs. Some are written by Ernst only; some are based on Alexander?s lyrics. Some start with a piano tune by Ernst. Many of the songs are composed in the purest classical way, the sounds enter the scene after the song got composed and that is why we can play our songs live on stage also as a duo with voice and prepared piano only."

Only a few bands last over 20 years, you must have develop a strong friendship over the years?
- "It is good combination of professionalism and friendship. We also share private interests, meet not only during typical working periods. It is always good to have different opinions concerning some questions. That keeps the whole thing alive."

It took you 15 years to come and perform in Sweden and what a magical show it was at Arvikafestivalen, a true 10 out of 10, will you be joining us up north soon again? Any tour planned for the 'Indicator' release?
- "We also remember the strange day when we played in Sweden. Rain, rain, rain, but the concert had a truly wonderful and captivating atmosphere and the audience was absolutely fabulous. We hope to realize some dates in 2011 in Northern Europe and hopefully in Sweden, too. So invite us... we will come! See you there!"

Any last words to our readers?
- "We know that sometimes it takes time to discover music, especially when it is from the "shy" kind, but you should always give it a chance . Hope you will enjoy!"