Tanzwut Interview With Teufel
01/04/15
MG: Hi Great to meet you; first up I would like to congratulate you on the New Album "Freitag der 13" can you give some insight about the release and would you ever consider doing an album in English.
Teufel :Thanks a lot! We are also very pleased with the release and are looking forward to our tour where we will present the new songs live. It will sure be a lot of fun to get them on stage. Nothing is impossible, maybe one day we will do some songs or a whole album in English? Never say never. But for now we will stick to German.
For me it is the language I can express myself lyricaly best . I dont know if that would work so well in English.
MG: I must admit I had never really listened to Tanzwut before; now I have I am totally hooked, I love the way the bagpipes compliment the other instruments.
It is really captivating, can you give me some ideas about the inspiration for your band.
Teufel: One could say we are in a very creative phase at the moment, writing 5 albums in the last 4 years. You should enjoy it when you are kissed by the muse. We are inspired by our surroundings. We reflect on society, politics and also human behaviour and relations. In addition we like to be inspired by historical stuff, for example in the song "Brot und Spieleâ". It reflects principals of the decadent roman society 2000 years ago, some of which can still be found today in similar form.
MG: Why Bagpipes? What first attracted you to the instrument and was it easy to learn.
Teufel: We started to dive into medieval music many years ago, in the former GDR before the wall came down.
The first time we heard bagpipes was on the Balkans, in Hungary and Bulgaria. Playing in bars and on the streets it made a big difference wether you heard a guy with a guitar or some lads came along with bagpipes. We heard the bagpipes and that was exactly the Punk we needed; loud,
jarring and without electric amplification.We knew we need to have these instruments and learned how to play them. In the beginning it was quite difficult to get out a straight and nice tone but like with every instrument you need to want it and then practise, practise,
practise... Very soon we started sewing our own medieval clothes and playing with more then one bagpipe and drums. Our style of playing is quite fast. In medieval times they would surely have thrown us into jail for this kind of medieval punk.
We experienced that in the former GDR too. As streetmusic was forbidden we went into prison from time to time for playing in the streets.
MG: You released a bonus edition with a book and an extra CD; can you tell me a bit about the ideas behind the bonus material.
Teufel: We wanted to create a artistic synthesis this time.
The limited book edition is designed by Ingo , a famous german grafic artist. On 38 pages he created phantastic collages of photos and graphics for every single track.
The bonus CD is a add on to the normal edition and holds remixes as well as duets from and with other artists such as Lord of the Lost, Subway to Sally or Mono Inc.
MG: What first got you into "Folk Metal"
Teufel: More then 20 years ago a unique genre established itself in Germany, then called medieval rock. For me it was kind of the begin of a new era and I am proud that I was founding member and developer of that style. It was time for this restart in rockmusic. We not only threw new strange instruments into the ring but also established the german language in rock music again. The genre
nowadays has become a lot more open and is more colourful and diverse than ever.
MG: What does 2015 hold in store for Tanzwut and will we be seeing you in the UK ?
Teufel: We just released our new rock album Freitag, der in February. The next months we tour through Germany, Russia, Belgium and Austria. In June the Medieval Market and fairs start again for us, because parallel to the rock shows we also play pure acoustic medieval shows. Coming to the UK would be an amazing thing for us, so we are happy for offers from clubs and festivals!
MG: What can we expect from a Tanzwut show
Teufel :In the first place you can expect exceptional and thrilling medieval rock, a sweatbreaking show, melodious songs, bagpipes plus goodlooking and well dressed men with a lot of energy. Our show holds an overall concept with a lot ofaccoustical and optical impressions that will positively stick in your mind long after!
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Teufel: There are some medieval markets where we will play this year. The biggest one will surely be the Kaltenberger Ritterturnierâ. But our main focus more lies on the rock shows. There also are some quite exclusive shows this year on pentecost and in
September on Burg Satzvey where I will be playing some smaller and pure accoustic shows with Micha Rhein of In Extremo.
This will be like back in the days when we started the whole thing.
MG: I understand you go to Russia a lot; whats so appealing about the country? Is it the copious amounts of vodka?
Teufel: Travelling to russia is a longtime and much loved tradition for us. We get invited again and again, because the russian crowd loves our music. They have great interest in our music and lyrics, so that we always have a lot of exchange of thoughts with people there. It is especially impressive when the whole crowd sings along our refrains in german.We love russia because of the people we meet there. Its always a big experience playing there.
MG: Three words to describe Tanzwut
Teufel: Powerfull, Emotional, Medieval-rock
MG: Final Words for our readers and your fans.
Teufel: Greetings to all the fans in the UK and we hope that we can present our show to you live soon.
We are happy about your support!
