Interview withSchelmish
Now into their 11th year and 10th album it's fair to say that Bonn dwellers SCHELMISH have become more than the sum of their parts. With a diverse musical style that started steeped in Irish folk rock through Medieval to a sound all of their own, this band has something for everyone. After already reviewing their recent album, I had the pleasure of interviewing them earlier this month and it went down something like this...
Reflections of Darkness (RoD): Has the band's progression from music rooted more in Irish folk towards a more Medieval sound been a deliberate one or was it a more natural, ergonomic process?
Schelmish: It was a natural process. The roots of Dextro were in the Irish music and in the first years of SCHELMISH, there were a lot of folk and traditional tunes mixed with old traditional medieval songs and SCHELMISH started to write their own medieval tunes very soon.
RoD: You've done ten very different but very excellent albums. Which of those is your favourite and why?
Schelmish: We always think that the last one always is the best one. Our latest album ‘Persona non grata’ of course is our best medieval album. Musically it is one of the most fully developed albums we made. But there are a lot of songs on the earlier albums which we really love.
RoD: As a band that constantly evolves where are you going next musically?
Schelmish: Who knows? We don’t have any plans yet - at the moment we are working on our next rock album and it is a surprise - even for us - what it will be like at the end. (It is a fantastic status when you are not pressed into one direction. For some people it is a problem not to find one style on our albums but we always did what we wanted to.
RoD: Who would you most like to collaborate with (alive or dead)?
Schelmish: Every band member has its own wishes, but here are some. Our biggest wishes are Jimmy Page & Robert Plant - that would be amazing and musically it would be fantastic. Robert Smith (Cure), Pink, Slipknot, ACDC, Curt Cobain, Johnny Cash or Led Zeppelin would have been cool.
RoD: With more and more international success coming your way are there any unfulfilled ambitions for the band?
Schelmish: We think there are many things we would like to do. For example writing a no. one hit or playing the biggest festivals or doing a tour around the world, just become famous - that are all wishes every musician has - if not it would be funny. In Germany it would be ROCK AM RING! But to be honest - that are dreams. Realistic ambitions are to do what we are doing as long as our fans want to hear our music and having fun with every show we are performing…
RoD: Who have been your greatest influences musically?
Schelmish: There are a lot, too. Each musician belongs to another scene. So there are a lot of influences. Rock, Punk, EBM Bands, and Folk etc. any music that touches the heart….
RoD: Who are you listening to at the moment?
Schelmish: Honestly we are listening to everything and nothing. If you are doing music you are happy to hear the silence in between two gigs.
RoD: Do you have anything exciting planned during the next year?
Schelmish: In the next time we will celebrate our 11th anniversary and we will release a new rock-CD next year. I think that is enough for the moment (Maybe we will work on a complete show about the story of our last CD ‘Persona non grata’). We will see.
RoD: The last album was full of different styles and influences but one track particularly caught my attention. Can you tell us about the background to 'Persona non Grata'?
Schelmish: In this song we were supported by Maite Itoiz. Her voice was predestined for this song and we are very proud that we could collaborate with her.
RoD: Can you tell our readers something interesting about yourselves that they might not know?
Schelmish: Our message: be what you are and be proud of it and if there are people who are mocking you just laugh at them - because if you can laugh about yourself there is nothing that can harm you - that is the way - and that is SCHELMISH… And………… Luzi is not gay!!!!
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