Knochenschiff #2

DARKHAUS AND LORD OF THE LOST – TWO BANDS WHO GET ALONG.

Not only on the tour together, but also in conversation it shows how well DARKHAUS and LORD OF THE LOST go together. Rupert Keplinger from DARKHAUS and Chris Harms from LORD OF THE LOST tell how they got into music and the band.

At the beginning the two explain how an album or an EP is created with them. With DARKHAUS the song has to be there first; It usually begins with a musical idea. Then a melody and a text are worked out for it. According to Rupert Keplinger, there is never a point where you say: "Now the demo is finished, now we will record everything all over again for production." That always goes smoothly. Many tracks are taken over from the demo. With the guitars it depends on whether the sound is right. With the newer things, most of the musical approaches came from Rupert. He makes sure that it sounds like DARKHAUS in the end. When it comes to lyrics and vocal work, Gary and Kenny do a lot because they can sing better. With LORD OF THE LOST it was similar with "FULL METAL WHORE". The songs usually starts with the vocal line and then the music is written to go with it. Because the EP is so heavy on metal and it's all about riffs and unusual rhythms, the instrumental parts came first this time. Most of the writing was done by Chris Harms in collaboration with Benni, his sound engineer and studio partner. He wrote one song together with Caspar von Coppelius. Outside input is good for Chris. He has also written songs with Rupert. In the end it still sounds like LORD OF THE LOST. There were two steps involved in the SWAN SONGS. Old songs were packed in a new guise, reduced to the harmonic framework and then rebuilt. Everything else is then done by the orchestra or the acoustic instruments. The new pieces were not songs for a rock line-up, but were written for a classical implementation. Chris thinks you can hear that because the new songs are even “rounder”, because the songwriting is completely different for strings, acoustic guitar, piano etc. There were three steps from the song to the orchestral score. After reducing it to the harmonies, Gared worked out the scores for the orchestra. Corvin, who was with them on the tour as the second pianist, put everything in fair copy and refined it. Chris would theoretically be able to do this because he can read sheet music, but he would have "probably needed a year", as he says, to suspend the arrangements. Corvin, who studied composition and does it all the time, was much quicker.

CHRIS STARTED PLAYING THE CELLO VERY EARLY

Chris Harms got to the cello very early. When he was two years old he was sitting on his mother's lap listening to a classical string quartet. He sat right in front of the cellist and made it clear to his mother that he would like to have this toy. Rupert's parents always listened to a lot of music. He was confronted with Mozart, Beethoven and Bach even before he was born, was always surrounded by music and feels at home when he listens to classical music. His first instrument at the age of seven was the recorder. After that he played the trumpet for a few years. Then came puberty. Kurt Cobain shot himself. At some point around that time, Rupert began to learn the guitar. Besides NIRVANA, METALLICA and SEPULTURA were great heroes for him, "all the metal stuff" and Stoner Rock. In between he thought: "The piano sounds really nice, a great instrument." Then he learned to play the piano. Chris Harms remembers exactly how he got into the electric guitar: Between 1990 and 1992 "Creep" by RADIOHEAD was on MTV. The full guitar sound impressed him. Then came GUNS’N’ROSES, lead guitarist Slash with the Les Paul. Chris wanted a guitar like that and a Marshall amp. Eventually he got a department store guitar and a 15 watt amp. Then came RAMMSTEIN. Just play the guitar straight. He and Rupert are very similar, they both don't like the kneedle technique and prefer to play straight rhythms. Like Chris, Rupert is a passionate rhythm guitarist with little inclination to solos. When he plays a solo, he makes sure that you can sing along to it. He copied that from Slash. Chris Harms' first solo was Slash's "GIVEN TO ME". Rupert studied recorder and trumpet at music school. For the piano he had a "very good" private tutor who taught him everything about music. Harmony, ear training, the tools you need. When he moved to Hamburg he took guitar lessons and found people who showed him interesting ways to play properly. Everything related to guitar and bass, Chris could derive from the cello. It is the only instrument he has learned properly. With this he took part in "Jugend musiziert" (youth makes music) as a child. The fingerings in the left hand are exactly the same. At home he occasionally played his sister's piano. Chris is a passionate hobby drummer and says of himself that he is not good, but loud and tight: "I can play four quarters well, everything else doesn't have to be." On the first LORD OF THE LOST album, Chris recorded 90 percent of everything himself, there wasn't a band yet. "Actually, I didn't want to release it, I just wanted to make an album. But then I thought it was pretty good. Out Of Line, our label, thought so, too. The label boss encouraged him:" Let's release this - but you cannot go on stage all alone, you need a band. "Then Chris took the first possible musicians from his circle of friends. 

So there were a lot of changes in the line-up at the beginning. For the Tour with EISBRECHER in 2012 it was clear that they had to take it to a new level. At DARKHAUS, Rupert had known his fellow musicians Gary and Marshall since 2007. He got to know them during the production of "Der W.", Stefan Waldner's solo project. Rupert visited them regularly in Florida. At some point "PRO PAIN" played in Hamburg and Gary said: "Maybe we should try something new again." They did that. Rupert flew over to Gary and they wrote the first few songs, which worked out surprisingly well. It quickly became clear to them that Marshall should become the second guitarist because he is "a top guy". Drummer Paul joined because of his brother Peter Keller, who is now the producer of Peter Maffay (german pop musician). A band cannot exist without a real front man. A friend of Marshall's was invited. He sounded too bluesy for the project, too country. While searching the Internet, Gary came across a video Kenny had posted on a page dedicated to musicians seeking other musicians. The band decided: "Let's try it out!" So Kenny became a member of DARKHAUS. Gary made up the name. He had made a list of 40 band names, all of which Rupert thought was cool. Chris Harms also had such a list. Unfortunately, both lists have disappeared.

Chris just wanted to call his band "LORD" at first because that was always his nickname. In 2006, when he separated from his girlfriend at the time, he decided to have "Lord" tattooed on his chest. He still thinks it's funny. Chris and label consultant Martin found "LORD OF THE LOST" beautiful because it makes the band and their attitude towards life the mouthpiece of the scene. According to Chris, music is always a compensation for longing - when dancing, headbanging, crying. LORD OF THE LOST therefore has no general message. Each song expresses something different.

DARKHAUS SONGS CONVEY A FEELING OF HOME

At DARKHAUS Rupert pays attention to the sound and arrangements, so the songs convey a feeling of home, security and comfort. Chris Harms calls this "positive sadness". It is important to Rupert that DARKHAUS' music is colourful. With "SIDE EFFECT OF LOVE", Rupert had the idea of doing something that "musically hits the right foot". Some songs are finished quickly, others take forever. With "SIX FEET UNDERGROUND" Rupert had a large part of the music lying around "orphaned" on the hard drive. He showed the material to Chris, who immediately had an idea - and within a very short time a LORD OF THE LOST- Song emerged from it. Since the DARKHAUS band members live on different continents, it is difficult to meet in person. Rupert sees the fact that Gary and Marshall are so involved with PRO PAIN and he himself with EISBRECHER that there is no time for songwriting as the main reason why there is still no second album. It's easier with LORD OF THE LOST because everyone lives in Hamburg. Still, they send each other song ideas online because "it's a lot more effective," says Chris. Studio work with LORD OF THE LOST is mostly done in blocks. LORD OF THE LOST started drum recordings on the Metal EP back in December - and it was finished sometime in June. The musicians rehearse regularly without Chris Harms. DARKHAUS didn't rehearse at all, "it just didn't work," says Rupert. The last time they would have rehearsed before the Amphi Festival. They were happy to finally be able to work on the details again. Chris Harms can confirm that something like this works with professionals. They get along very well and ride on the same bus, so they hear a lot from each other. Rupert is particularly fascinated by the fast and professional Lord of the Lost crew, who also pack and load DARKHAUS’ things, even if they don't have to. The willingness to help and the respect are "completely outstanding" for him. Therefore, they are very happy to ride along and enjoy it totally.