Interview with
S.C. Kuschnerus (drums) of Krypteria
KRYPTERIA released a new album ‘All Beauty Must Die’ in late April this year; the quartet combines intense music in fusion of Gothic Metal / Rock with symphonic elements. I had an opportunity to ask their drummer, S.C. Kuschnerus (Kusch), some questions…
Reflections of Darkness (RoD): You've said you like creating statements via your albums; 'All Beauty Must Die' does seem like an emotional sequel/consequent state of your last 'My Fatal Kiss' which had a lot to do with love and duality of human nature/fate. Is my hunch wrong? What were your own intentions for the album?
S.C. Kuschnerus (Kusch): We are quite an emotional and intense group of people with a tendency to incorporate our personal experiences in our music. ‘All Beauty Must Die’ tells the story of a person going through the toughest of times without ever giving up. It’s about persevering, pursuing your dreams. And just like our previous releases ‘Bloodangel’s Cry’ and ‘My Fatal Kiss’, this album oozes with autobiographical overtones, too. There’s a lot of rage and yearning involved, it’s about loss. But there’s also a lot of resolve, defiance and hope to it. See, we have been pushed to the edge a number of times over the last couple of years. It hasn’t all been peaches and cream, and I am sure that the most bands would have crumbled under the pressure, the backstabbing, and the attempted sabotaging we’ve experienced. Not this band! We fight for what we love, for each other, for our dream. This is what we do and we won’t let ourselves be destroyed by anybody but ourselves (laughs). Apparently, we again had a lot to get off our chest. That said we always make sure that our songs are not of the “woe is me” variety. It is important to us that our lyrics relate to people of all walks of life so they hopefully can identify not only with the music but with the words as well.
RoD: Can you describe the creative journey in composing of your newest album, from conception to completion?
Kusch: There’s four totally different personalities in this band and every single member is a vital part to its songwriting organism. But even after seven years together there is still no clear-cut recipe as to how a KRYPTERIA album comes to life. We write individually or in groups of two, three and four people, so everybody gets to express his or her ideas. If I had to name a difference in the approach to this, our latest album compared to our previous efforts, it’s the fact that we cut to the chase quicker than we used to do. We spent way less time in the studio. Everybody had done their homework as far as song ideas before we actually came together to make this album, so we were able to proceed quicker than usual. Plus, we felt liberated because prior to recording ‘All Beauty Must Die’ we rid ourselves of some semi-alive weight that was dragging us down. You can tell by the performances on this record: Ji-In is totally on fire, the riffage is extra spicy, the rhythm section is a fistful of danger yet still there’s catchiness galore. There, in a nutshell, you have the ingredients we always like to add to a KRYPTERIA album.
RoD: Two of your members have training in classical music, why do you think metal in particular as a genre, rock-metal fusion in your case, attracts so many classical musicians into it?
Kusch: Because they are sick and tired of the routine, of the discipline, of the replicating of somebody else’s music. Seriously though, I think classical and rock music share a lot of the same traits. If you listen to say Beethoven, Wagner or Shostakovich you can’t help but think “damn, this is some heavy shit!” Both those genres try to go deeper than your typical pop song or some self-serving jazz solo odyssey, and so I’d say heavy rock or metal is kinda like the evil twin to classical music.
RoD: You've started out envisioning KRYPTERIA as a "pop musical theatre" with a view to have seven singers on board then later on you've settled into the band format, is it something that you might still play with and may come to use as an idea in future or is it out of your mind completely? Where did the idea come from in the first place, how much are you inspired by musicals, theatrical plays...?
Kusch: “Pop musical theatre”? What the hell were we thinking? (laughs) Well, all four of us just love music and we try not to limit ourselves by religiously sticking to a certain genre. We are interested in a plethora of styles, even though what you hear on our records and at our concerts is what we love doing best. I absolutely think the world could use more theatre productions built on gothic metal or any type of metal, I’m not sure though if we are the ones to do it. Right now we’re perfectly happy with being a hard working rock group… but then again, with this band you just never know (laughs).
RoD: From your music and interviews it does seem you have an excellent chemistry together as a band, what aspects of your personalities and of your creative process & playing live experience help to create it and balance it just right?
Kusch: Balance? You’re on to something here! First off, in the beginning it took us a while to find ourselves as a band musically. And as far as the chemistry between us as individuals it’s a very unique combination of quite some characters. So sometimes we wonder how we made it into our seventh year despite the fact we are so very different to each other. I guess the experiences we made over the years, particularly the bad ones, as well as the band’s creative scope and the fact that we understand that we have something special here are some of the main ingredients to this tasty little soup that is KRYPTERIA. In the end it all boils down to balance, both individually as well as in the interaction department. So, as long as we are able to maintain this balance we’ll be fine.
RoD: You have raised money by donating proceeds from video for 'Liberatio' to the victims of Tsunami that happened in 2004, have you any plans of doing something similar in near future?
Kusch: I don’t think you can plan for something like this, but if there’s a chance we can contribute to a good cause with the one thing we know which is making music, we’re definitely open to the idea. Then again, between the Tsunami aid and the Championship Anthem for Borussia Dortmund some people might begin considering us an “event band” of sorts, so maybe we should keep a low profile in that regard, at least for a while (laughs).
RoD: What are your thoughts on music as a medium/expression for social conscience?
Kusch: Music is supposed to entertain first and foremost, so I don’t expect it or need it to be more than that. However, every time art does more than just entertain it has a chance to be extra special to maybe a certain cause or to a group of people. That’s cool with me even if I might not like that particular song, painting, movie or piece of literature. But again, in my book music makes the cut as long as it is able to affect you emotionally…unless of course it makes somebody jump out of a window or go on a killing spree, that we don’t like too much (laughs).
RoD: You've mentioned that your third album, 'Bloodangel's Cry', was inspired by a negative experience with your former Korean manager. What can you advise to bands that are stuck in a similar situation?
Kusch: Do your background checks before you sign! If an offer or a proposal sounds too good to be true, don’t fall for it, investigate! Some of those shady biz types know exactly what you want to hear and they’ll eloquently deliver. Make sure you understand not only what you supposedly have to gain, but what you might lose. And in case you already signed a bad deal get a lawyer. This advice ain’t sexy but unfortunately that comes with the territory that is called “the business of music”. This ain’t the Sixties no more, baby! (laughs).
RoD: What are your plans for the future regarding new singles, albums and touring?
Kusch: We need to get ‘All Beauty Must Die’ on the road and soon, it’s what drives us. So that’s exactly what we’ll be doing beginning this summer, followed by a tour throughout Germany later in the year - can’t wait! We have not yet discussed when we’ll start working on a new album but I guess it won’t be before winter or maybe later even.
RoD: Is there something you'd like to add for your fans and listeners?
Kusch: Watch, I’m going to go all philosophical on you here: Enjoy life cause it might well be the only one you have. And take good care of yourself cause we want our friends and fans healthy, so we will get to see you on tour. For those of you who haven’t listened to ‘All Beauty Must Die’ please give it a shot, this record means a lot to us. And come to see us live if you can, but make sure to stick around after the show cause we’d love to meet you! And bring a friend or seventeen (laughs).
Pictures by Martin Höhne
Comments powered by CComment