Santa Hates You - February 2010

Interview with

Peter Spilles and Jinxy of Santa Hates You

Peter Spilles (Project Pitchfork) created this project in 2007 with his wife Jinxy. The debut release goes by the name of ‘You’re on the Naughty List’ and was released by the end of October 2007.Close to Christmas 2009, a gift came the way for all fans of the project with the limited EP 'Rocket Heart', but stil there wasl no second album on the horizon. Well, rejoice creepy Christmas freaks, it's been finally done. The second coming 'Crucifix Powerbomb' has been released in late February 2010 already. Let’s see what the duo has to tell about the album.

Reflections of Darkness (RoD): Hello Jinxy, hello Peter, once again we meet to chat a little. Your second album called ‘Crucifix Powerbomb’ is in stores now. How smoothly did your work on the new album go? Did everything go according to your plan?
Peter Spilles (PS): Actually quite good. We started in June 2009 and finished somewhere in December. It always takes a bit longer than expected.

RoD: Recently your EP ‘Rocket Heart’ was released. What kind of reactions have you received to it?
PS: Actually very good ones. As far as I know, the EP is sold out. It is, if at all, available only in few stores. Hence: A Great Success!

RoD: Ok, back to the present. Your new album is called ‘Crucifix Powerbomb’. What stands behind this bombastic title?
PS (laughs): On the one hand, an awesome album and on the other hand you see a wonderful wrestling move when you enter the term on Google. This was exciting for us. Jinxy came up to me one day and said that ‘Crucifix Powerbomb’ would be a great album title and then we made it one because it's true.

RoD: How do you see your personal development from your first album to the latest one?
PS: I haven’t had enough time yet to outline the development in principle. We are still too much in it mentally. Analyzing the development would be the next step. Perhaps Jinxy's voice is a bit more present in the songs than it was the case on the first album.

RoD: The tracklist sounds very exciting and makes me curious. Let’s chat a bit about the individual titles. What is the title ‘Hexenpolizei’ alluding to?
PS and Jinxy (laughing): Yes, it is about the witches.

RoD: Yes, that's clear, but what exactly is happening?
Jinxy: It's about persecuting thought criminals.
PS: And it is a symbol for a police state, restrictions and privacy, whether in public life or the internet.

RoD: ‘God Is Hiding Under My Bed’ is a really brilliant title. Actually, there are always evil monsters waiting under people’s beds as I recall from my childhood. My Dad always had to take a look under my bed. Why is GOD hiding under your bed? …. PS and Jinxy laughing…
PS: Because A) it is Jinxy's bed and B) God simply sits sometimes under a woman’s bed and waits to see what the Catholic Church does.
Jinxy: I don’t want to interpret the text and I don’t want to give a precise direction where it goes. Everybody should decide for himself / herself how to interpret it. I have got quite a critical opinion about the Catholic Church. We can see God as a little monster. I frequently repeat in the text "God is not a team player." I think I make it quite clear what I think of that guy.

RoD: Which song was finished the quickest?
PS: I would say ‘Rocket Heart’. We have played this song on various festivals.

RoD: And on what song have you worked the longest?
PS: Jinxy, is there one song that sticks out?
Jinxy: I don’t think so.
PS: Nope, all of them took us about the same time to get them ready. Slowly or quickly depending on how you see it.

RoD: Well then you are indeed a well-cooperating team, I would say.
Both: Yes.

RoD: On ‘Crucifix Powerbomb’ there are songs in German, Italian and English. How do you decide whether a story should be told in English, Italian or in German?
PS: That depends on a song. It feels very easy tell: Italian, German or English. It’s totally a gut-feeling. We like all three languages, I personally feel Italian as very sexy. Besides, Italian is a very new and refreshing language to be used in the Dark Electro and Industrial music.

RoD: Jinxy, how do you say "sexual disorder" in Italian?
Jinxy: Disordine sessuale.

RoD: Oh, that sounds very erotic. Awesome! …they all laugh ... Jinxy, if you were lost in a store, what would it be?
Jinxy: I think none.

RoD: You do not like to go shopping?
Jinxy: No… Peter laughs… I'm more the kind of a woman who likes music.

RoD: Peter, if you could be God for a day, what would you do?
PS: Probably the same thing, what I always do. Have a lie-in, then play music and this till late into the night.... aaaaaand yessssss I would perhaps reboot every person who is violent, to be three months old again in the moment when he/she acts violently. If someone in a war zone shoots for instance, he will be turned into a child again. Promptly!

RoD: Jinxy, suppose you'd sit at the back seat of a police car, what would be the reason?
Jinxy: Oh my God, I’m not sure I’m allowed to say that here! …All laugh….
PS: I think it would be because she would have ripped people off at illegal gambling.
Jinxy: Yes.

RoD: Peter, if you ever were to write a book, what kind of book would it be?
PS: That would be the Bible 2.0.

RoD: Ah, we will talk again in about 2000 years! …all laugh… Describe us a completely normal day in the house of SANTA HATES YOU.
PS: Well, where do I begin... getting up. Okay, about 9 clock the alarm clock rings. Then I have breakfast and I check my e-mails. Then I sit down with my keyboard and compose a little bit. Than Jinxy comes along and shows me her new lyrics. Than we have a lot of fun. In the late afternoon we will open a first bottle of wine and try to sing or I show Jinxy the new songs that I've made. This can sometimes go on until 5 or 6 o’clock in the morning. Maybe we need to go buy some groceries, too. On weekends, the course is quite different. In the afternoon we stop making music and consider to which club we want to go and who from our friends we want to meet beforehand. It is really quite normal, right?

RoD: How is your relationship with the fans like? Is it nice to meet fans or have you also problems with intrusive hysterical female and male admirers?
PS: The recent fans of SANTA HATES YOU who we’ve got to meet were the best fans that you can wish for.
Jinxy: Yes, the best!

RoD: So no incidents?
Jinxy: No.
PS: Not at all. But that’s normal in that scene, anyway. I can also speak from the viewpoint of my other band (Project Pitchfork - ed.). We can be proud of how we treat each other in our scene; be it how the fans treat the bands or vice versa.

RoD: How does it look with you concerts in the year 2010? Where will we see you live?
PS: I unfortunately don’t have it all in my head now but for all the people who are interested in this; have a look to our MySpace page www.myspace.com/santahatesyou. We will always post the latest dates there.

RoD: If you have something embarrassing that happened to you on stage, what was it?
PS: With SANTA HATES YOU, not yet.
Jinxy: Oh, yeah. Once my latex pants were one size too large… Peter laughs… And during the concert it gradually slid slowly down. It looked like little baggy pants.
PS: Rubber baggy pants.
Jinxy: But no one has noticed, except me.
PS: On stage anything may happen to you. You can stumble over a cable. The main thing is you don’t hurt yourself or others.

RoD: What about your dreams or plans for the future?
PS: We are waiting now to see the reactions for the new album. The first signs seem to look pretty good. Then we hope that we will play live often. And we are really looking forward for the next album already. Usually when you have an album finished you think to yourself: I still would like to do this and that. So now I have new ideas and new inspiration for new songs.

RoD: With you the creative ones it is no surprise.
PS: The muse smooches as really constantly. We are just nocturnal like were hamsters.
Jinxy: Yes, the hamsters of death.

RoD: Oh, hamsters of death… all laugh… Ok, many thanks for your answers and good luck with your second album! Maybe you still have a few final words for our fans out there, oops, I mean your fans, sorry.
PS: I would like to say the following to the readers: Thank you for supporting this scene. This of course goes to all online magazines, radios and so on, too. You all help to keep this scene pretty motley yet dark! This is a beautiful thing, and we are proud of you!

RoD: Ok, let's say bye-bye!
Jinxy: Bye.
PS: Ciao.

www.myspace.com/santahatesyou / http://www.santahatesyou.com/
Interview based on a transcript by © PromoFabrik (http://www.promofabrik.de/) - February 2010

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