Assemblage 23

You write the lyrics and make the music all by yourself, then during the live performances you get help, how does it feels to do it yourself and then don't get the chance to present it alone?
- "I think it's really necessary to have more musicians on stage. I think the days that you enter the stage alone are over. It was a choice I made because I need more musicians so that I can concentrate on the singing only and present energy. I also think that more musicians on stage make it look more visual."

But doesn't the live artist think it's boring that they can't work with you in the studio too?
- "They have their own projects and it's been eight years since we started to play together and we are just happy to travel around and visit different countries like Sweden, which we never thought we would get the opportunity to visit. They have their own projects to get their creativity out and this is just fun."

When you play live you get help from Paul Seegers and Kevin Choby who have their own band, Mahole Vortex. You have been a help for them, will there be any collaboration with them?
- "In their first album I sang a little bit on one of the songs. Now they're working with their second release and I will perhaps help them with the production and the mixing."

You have a side project with the name Nerve Filter, will you work more with that or is it put a side?
- "I would really like to work with it, but Assemblage takes up so much of my time. It's not just to record an album; you have to be on tour, remixes and productions for other bands and off course even programming new sounds. I would as I said like to work with it more, but I don't dare to take any guesses on when it could happen, when I get more time for it."

You have used samples in your songs, do you think this is something so important that you put a lot of time on just finding good samples, or is it just something you find along the way?
- "It's just something that hits me. A good example is the first track on the last album "Opened". I had finished the track but I didn't have a good intro yet. I didn't like the way the track sounded so I wanted something that smooth brought in the listeners. So I went from the studio and rented "Vanilla Sky" with my girlfriend and just at few seconds into the movie it said boom and I said "That's it! That's the sample I'm going to use". I don't want to exaggerate and use a lot of movie samples, it's just something I think is perfect and it gives the song something. If I find something I think I can use later I sample it and save it."

Do you spend a lot of time on remixing other artists tracks or is it something you do when you have some time over?
- "I spend a lot of time on it. Since I finished 'Defiance' I have probably done fifteen or sixteen remixes and that's more than I ever done before. I think its fun, but it also helps me develop knowledge in the studio when I don't have to concentrate on writing but just on the sound."

You have just released the album 'Defiance', has the feedback you've been getting compensated you expectations?
- "I try not to have any expectations. If you don't have that then you can't get disappointed. Often I am my own strict critic and the first thing I think about when I'm done with an album is that everybody is going to hate it. So when I get positive feedback I get happy. The response is divided into two parts. Some of them only want to hear an album like 'Failure', who says they like the first album, but not so much as they like 'Failure'. And then we have the people who understand just what I was trying to do. To do exactly the other way and not just continue to give put the same album over and over again. So some people appreciate it and are happy that I developed my sound."

You have a pretty full schedule with live performances, when will you sit down in the studio again? Any planned release?
- "It will be released a single before the summer, so that's what happening next. When we are done with this tour I will take a month off and then we will be on tour for five weeks in USA. After that I will start working on the next album, but I will probably put more time on the next album than the earlier, so I won't say a time for release. It's released when I'm satisfied with it. I want every album to be built from the earlier one and hopefully it will be better so it will take more time."

Where do you think your music get the most success? In the USA, England or the rest of Europe?
- "It's hard to say. In the beginning we had much stronger response in Europe but now it's getting more even. The last year our gigs in USA have been bigger than the ones in Europe. I think the stage is bigger in Europe and we have more fans in Europe but when it comes to audience size and reactions it has been more even now. Which is good. There are some bands, like And One which are so big in Germany but when they come to USA they play as support to another band, so I like the fact that it's more even now."

You have for a few years ago played in a punkband, does it happen that you miss the old days of punk?
- "I miss it in the way that I was more inexperienced then and it was a lot that was new so I had a lot to discover. Off course it was fun but I don't think I would change it with the experiences I have had with Assemblage. I still like the music. I really liked "The Clash" and I still appreciate the music but the simplicity has been too simple for me now. It was interesting then but not anymore."

It seems to be a pretty common thing that the eletroheads today once was started off as punk rockers?
- "The reason that I make the music I do now is that I really like punk rock, but I also loved the electronic sound. So the first time I heard Industrial/EBM I thought it had the dark and aggressive style that punk has, but it also have the cool electronic sound."

How would you describe the perfect live performance?
- "We were actually close to do the perfect gig yesterday in Copenhagen. When you come to the place and it's very small you don't have so many expectations. About 15 minutes before we're going to start it was maybe 3 people there and I thought this is going to be a different experience but it's going to be a damn experience for these three persons. But when we entered, the scene was crowded and everybody sang along, danced, screamed and where drunk. It's those gigs who just aren't good for us but also for the audience. It helps us make a better performance for them. It's all like a circle. You can get energy from the audience and you can give it back and then it continues like that. After the gig I was totally shaky."

What do you prefer; an audience who stands still and listens or one who dances?
- "I think it's possibly to combine them. When they hear a song on a show that they recognize they can sing along. It's very hard to do a gig when the audience just stands there with no expression on their faces. Then you wonder why they are there at all and if they even like us. I prefer an audience with energy who is there to have fun."

Many of your planned gigs is in Germany, is it your choice or does it depends on that the market is bigger for you there?
- "It is a bigger market there. But this tour is almost 6 weeks long. We play in Italy for the first time. Even in Belgium, England, Greece and Spain and around Scandinavia. There is no doubt that the market is bigger in Germany, but we want to play in places we never been before. We first of all want to give the opportunity for more to see the gig, but even of an egoistic reason because I want to see and visit all these places. And to visit the places in a band is probably the best way to experience a place."

What's it like to be on tour with Icon of Coil?
- "It has been just amazing. It's a mixture of styles. We have different sounds, but I think we fit the same audience. Icon of Coil is very easy to get along with and not just them but also the rest of the co-workers. We are like one big family."

How will the playlist look tonight? Will it be your favourites or the songs with the most energy?
- "It's going to be a little of both. Mostly what the audience expects to hear and wants to hear. But off course we will play something else to get some variation."

What do you prefer; Soft Cell or Feindflug?
- "I will have to say Soft Cell"

This interview was made 2003 and initially published on Neurozine.com