Interview with
Sascha Blach of Transit Poetry
All things are coming to an end sometime. In case of TRANSIT POETRY that is the elements cycle that is closing with the release of ‘Pedestrians In The Sky’. Information on whether or not there are further plans and about the new album is contained in that little interview below we conducted with Sascha Blach.
Reflections of Darkness (RoD): The elements cycle is coming to an end with ‘Pedestrians on the Sky’. Does it feel strange for you to see this chapter coming to an end now, or is it rather the beginning of something new?
Sascha Blach (Sascha): Well, at the moment I don't know what the future will bring. Of course I'm thinking about possibilities from time to time, since the work on the new album has been finished already one year ago. But I haven't made any definite decision yet. Everything is possible: to continue with what we've done so far, do some radical changes, start a new project or to bury Transit Poetry and keep it as a very special project in memory. Let's see. First and foremost it's a bit of a time problem for me at the moment, since I'm doing nearly everything for this band alone, for example songwriting, production, graphics, websites, merchandising, booking or promotion – that takes a lot of time, and since we don’t earn any money with the band I have to see if I will also find enough time in the future to make everything 100%.
RoD: Has the search for a meaning that has always been the basic theme of the conceptual cycle, come to an end with the last album as well, or is i going to continue in private?
Sascha: I guess it will go on till the very last day of my life. Every second in life is a part of a bigger search for a deeper sense and if I will ever stop searching, my mind is dead, I guess. But that doesn’t mean that this subject matter will be part of the lyrics so much in the future as it was on the four Transit Poetry albums so far – I could imagine exploring other lyrical themes, and the perspective to be a bit more free in writing the lyrics is quite seductive.
RoD: How did the whole idea of putting that search into music by reference to the 4 elements come about in the first place?
Sascha: How this idea came about I actually don't remember anymore. It was something that developed itself while writing the first album 'Themes From The Desolate Ocean', when I realised after a few songs that nearly everything I had written was dealing with water somehow. So it was something that happened subconsciously first. Maybe this concept wanted to find its way through me? Anyway, generally I like to create something which is more than just a 'normal album', something which is a challenge to make and has more depth to it.
RoD: What’s the history behind the album’s name ‚Pedestrians In The Sky‘ and what’s it standing for?
Sascha: The title creates the image of souls who are not earthbound anymore and are free from carnal chains. I like the idea that the soul without the body is immortal and able to roam free from time and space. And of course it's a hint to the subject matter 'air' that they're walking in the sky. The sky stands for liberty, which is also an important aspect. The rest is up to everybody's own interpretation.
RoD: The album’s front cover is showing shadowy figures covered by something that looks like a clock having strange symbols on it instead of numbers. Is it a clock and if so, how does it connect to the album’s theme?
Sascha: Yes, it is a clock. Important is the question why it is distorted? Well, as I said the 'Pedestrians In The Sky' wander free from time and space – they do realise that time is just an illusion, something that is attached to the physical world, but not to the spiritual world. And the figures you can see they are shadows – this can mean that they are anybody, and it can also mean that they are ghosts from another sphere. Therefore I think the cover emphasizes the title quite well.
RoD: Who has created the artwork for the album?
Sascha: It has always been a tradition to do the artwork by ourselves. So also the artwork for 'Pedestrians In The Sky' was created by me. And our new guitar player Svana helped me with the editing of the band pictures. This means that we are in the lucky situation to produce everything 'in house', so to say.
RoD: With Kantele and harmonium, or the African chanting in ‚A Prayer To The Planet‘ the album also contains some untypical elements. Were these essential to transport the song’s moods the right way or did they just fit the songs as merely supporting element?
Sascha: It depends on the song. 'A Prayer To The Planet' is based on these African ethno and tribal elements and in that track it was the first element which was there and I build everything else around. The kantele in 'A Drowning Man' and the accordion in 'Aeroplanes Into The Sun' have been placed on top of the final song – so they are not that essential, but they give the songs more colour. Generally I think it's important to have enough variation and new elements in an album to keep it interesting for the listener. That's why we also have a German song for the first time and a trip hop song. This guarantees that you don't know how the whole album sounds already when you just listened to the first track.
RoD: Who are the reactions to the ‚Little Buddha‘ single this far, which also contains a very special topic. I can imagine many people have their problems because they don’t deem the animal’s situation that important ort getting upset about it since it’s not as worse in their opinion.
Sascha: I guess you mean the song 'As The Animals Left The Earth' which is one of the exclusive songs on the 'Little Buddha' single and deals with the situation of animals in slaughterhouses. Since I'm a vegan I wanted to give a clear statement and this song is my tribute to all the animals that don't have a voice to speak to us. 'Little Buddha' itself is more a song about finding your own spirituality in yourself. There haven't been any concrete reactions on the song 'As The Animals Left The Earth',
except from the guys from PETA 2 who said that they really love it and listened to it quite often. But generally many people see it as an affront when I just mention being a vegan, and it's funny how strange prejudices some guys have. Therefore I try to inform people, but not to convert them. Everybody has to go their own way and I think becoming a vegan shall be a decision of the heart.
RoD: How did the contact to Leandra for the duet ‚Luminous Stars‘ come about?
Sascha: We got in contact when I did an interview with her some years ago and met a few times later when she was on tour or on festivals. The whole collaboration was rather unspectacular. I asked her if she wanted to sing on the album, she said yes, got a demo version, recorded vocals at home which I edited and put into the song – and that was it. But hey, in the end it doesn’t matter how it was created, but how it sounds, and I think it's incredible. This is exactly the way I like Dark Pop :-)
RoD: Are there any concrete live plans for TRANSIT POETRY at the moment?
Sascha: Our record release party will take place on March, 25th in Berlin, K17. We also have free tickets. So everybody who's interested to come should contact us via our websites. Of course we hope for more concerts afterwards, but at the moment there are no concrete plans or offers.
RoD: Is there anything else, you’d like to get off your chest?
Sascha: I want to encourage people to listen to our music at www.myspace.com/transitpoetry and watch the 'Little Buddha' video clip, which can be found as a HD version on Youtube. It's always nice to talk about music but the most important thing is that people listen to the music. We hope we have done an album which is worth listening to in this overcrowded release market and offers quite a lot to discover – musically and lyric wise. Thanx to you, Sebastian, for the interview and take care, everybody!
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