Chris Harms, Welt Interview

Chris Harms in a interview about Schlager, homophobia and the new album „Judas“

[Starting 0:25]

Chris: I'm Chris Harms from St. Pauli, Hamburg, of my sign singer of the band Lord of the Lost. Furthermore music producer, songwriter, musician for many other artists significantly in the Chameleon Studios in Hamburg.

* musicvideo „The Gospel of Judas“ is played in *

WELT-Editor Kai Krings: Chris, you're a busy man, on the move in many different areas, but how did it start? How did music come into your life? Did you have a music-loving family, or, how did it come to this?

Chris: I have a music-loving family but no musician parents. I'm not the typical professional musician child. There stood an acoustic guitar around at home for some Beatles chords. But it was just before my 3rd birthday, there we were at a christmas concert, string quartet. I can't remember but my mother told me. We sat in the front row and I sat on my mother's lap and right in front of us was the cellist and I perceived that as a child, of course, as a toy and I always made clear to my mother afterwards that I would like to have this toy. My 6 years older sister has played the piano and violin and then I always took her violin, held it between my legs and “sawed” on it with the bow and annoyed for so long until I was allowed to start playing the cello classically at the age of 5. Which I also still play, in fact.

Kai: Okay, but now of course it's from cello to, let's say heavier kind of music...maybe you can explain again in a moment how you would describe your music from Lord of the Lost, let's say dark rock, with gothic, metal and industrial influences - of course it's a long way from...to. How did that come about? How did you end up where you did, from cello lessons?

Chris: That is of course a long way, although I must say that now somehow the circle closes again and I see the boundaries and gaps again much more fluently and the difference no longer feels so big. But the first, let's say, popular music I heard were the vinyl singles of my parents. There were just the right vinyl singles around, Beatles "Yesterday" and other things from the sixties. And there it went like this, but it wasn't really your own music that you were listening to yet. And then I was 10, 11 when classmate gave me the 2nd Roxette album, „Joyride“. Although actually the 3rd if I have to nerd around now. And she said „Yes, I don't like it so much, maybe you do“. And then I got stuck on it and that was my first concert a few years later. And I then...because just Per Gessle from Roxette with his eyeliner and his nail polish and so...I found that super cool. I was not even aware that there is something where harder, darker music takes place, where you do that. I had this interest in something that now others associate with Gothic elements or had already associated before I knew what it is.

And then it kind of started, I thought, there's other stuff like Rammstein and Marilyn Manson, we're like mid..late nineties sometime. Nine Inch Nails and how it came to be.

*Termination, WELT-logo is displayed *

[03:53]

 Kai: How did it come about that you said "Okay, now I'm going to start my own band, now I'm going to make my own music with all the influences of Roxette, Marilyn Manson, Rammstein and so on and so forth? What was the deciding point there?

There's a bit more to it from a fan maybe strumming a bit on his guitar at home to "Okay, now I'll do it myself".

Chris: Actually, it started much earlier...I wrote songs when I was 17, 18, which were more in this dark direction. Then I also founded a band at the end of the nineties, called "Philiae", my very first band.

That's also where we started, which is actually the base what we're doing with Lord of Lost today. And there were always an incredible number of things happening in my life, I wanted to try things out, various forms of setbacks came up, and it just got lost like that. And then I did something else for many years, I studied sound engineering, then I also worked as a lecturer for sound engineering, music productions. And then I lost sight of this dark music a little bit, that was something that happened on the side. And I had the feeling at some point "I have to do again what I actually want to do", after I had tried many bands, had played music with many people. That was in 2007. The typical age, late 20s somehow. And here in Berlin, I just met my current wife, we had just got together - I was with her in her apartment while she had to go to work. While I visited her here and had nothing to do for a few hours, on the laptop (with), a few midi notes and click around and a bad microphone and an acoustic guitar and (I) started to write songs. And I have actually written the first Lord of the Lost songs here in Berlin. And I actually wrote them just for me. I didn't feel the need to make (found) a band there. And I showed it to a few people and they said "Chris, you have to do something with it, make a record. Put it out.“ And I knew I couldn't do it alone, I needed a band. Then relatively quickly one thing led to another and all of a sudden, 3 years later, we were at Wacken and M'era Luna on the big stage in 2010.

*Termination, WELT-logo is displayed *

[05:57]

 Chris: In principle, the openness for other music genres, especially as a producer, came very early. So I think, I'm generally not a specialist who can only do one thing somehow well. I'm a generalist, who can do many things a bit well and that together makes me somehow strong. And I already noticed at the beginning in sound engineering that it is super interesting for me to produce things that do not necessarily correspond to what I would like to make in music or what kind of music I would like to make myself. Because it can be just as exciting to record a 20-persons folk brass band, purely in terms of sound. Because you have to do completely different things than if I, I don't know, recorded someone again with an electric guitar. That's why it's actually my job as a producer. And also the studios I work in don't specialize in just one genre. That would bore me. And that started early on. I was already co-writing some of those Jamba hits in my early twenties, all those ringtone “crimes”.

Kai: Oh, you were responsible for that! * grinning *

Chris: * smiling * Among others. I am also there in parts the axis of evil. And I'm involved in writing relatively many Malle hits (Mallorca hits, German party music). But I have never said which ones and also do it under a pseudonym...no one finds out because that is registered differently. I'm not ashamed of it, but I just do not want to say exactly which songs, because then I'm at an autograph session *gesticulating* and then I'm always sung these songs by our fans and I have somehow no mood on it.

Kai: * grinning again * Ah, okay.

Chris: That's why I'm keeping this a bit under wraps. Everyone knows I do that, but that is just...that is service. As a producer you are also a service provider, not just someone who embodies his own visions. That's just fun for me. So, genre crossover in all respects is fun for me.

Kai: But isn't it then the case that when you, for example, with this thing with Nino de Angelo, which is relatively current now...because as you have just also addressed your fans - aren't you somehow afraid that you undermine your own, well, authenticity, a bit, and that there might be Lord of the Lost fans who say "How dare you?" and so on and so forth?

Chris: * shaking his head* No, I haven't. I know this trueness thought, I often see myself confronted with questions. For me is true, if you do what you love and as I said - with the Schlager music that I have already done, I do it under a pseudonyme. Not because I'm ashamed, * gesticulating* but because I just don't want to combine that with such a daily business. With Nino de Angelo, it's actually something completely different, and I don't really see it as being rooted in Schlager. The problem is, Nino came with "Jenseits von Eden", by the way a very serious song, suddenly into this Schlager area and is now actually much further out with what he does, as he was the last few years. It's now more like, let's say, dark rock meets schlager-esque pop.

I do have no fear of contact at all, am I not ashamed at all, am I proud of it, because I am proud to help such a great voice like Nino de Angelo to be able to show the face he actually had all these years.

I wouldn't say give him a new face...he already had that before, but somehow it just didn't come out that way and I could help him here a little bit.

And how it came about is super super funny. Whenever I tell the story, everyone says, "Gee, you've made up a good story in the press section," but it's true.

Kai: Now I'm curious!

Chris: Chameleon Studios Hamburg, where I work, has been around since the mid-1950s, under the name "Chameleon" since 1980. "Jenseits von Eden" was made in these studios at the beginning of the 80s. A golden record hangs there. I cleaned the studio, cleaned the records and was again like "Oh that's right, he was here too". At the same time, I polished up our Instagram profile a bit and made a discography post every day about Roy Black and Howard Carpendale and Udo Lindenberg and whatever else took place over the years. And then I thought, "Take a picture," and of course I searched for the artist and tagged Nino. He saw it right away and commented underneath, "Man, those were the days! Say hello to the old Klaus, the old producer" - who is also still with us.

 The next day I sat together with a friend of mine, the music manager Eric Burton, with whom I do a lot of project development - many ideas in different musical genres, projects, bands and launch (takes not the quite right word and corrects himself) from the baptism.

And we talked about...

Kai: * laughs * Sometimes also out of the eaves (Chris firstly used the German word Traufe which sounds quite similar to right word Taufe, but it refers to the German saying „Vom Regen in die Traufe kommen“, what means some kind of to get from the bad to the worse)

Chris: * smiling * As well out of the eaves. We talked about what we could do again, what would be exciting again und who has got a good voice in Germany, who has long been forgotten, and he (Eric Burton) came to Nino. I said „Gee, you're just saying that now because you saw my post“ and he said „Which post?“ * looking at Kai and smiling * Then he said „Well, Nino used to be my neighbour in Hamburg, let's give him a call.“ And we asked Nino „Tell me, do you wanna start something?“ „Yes, but don't really know where to go right now, I don't want to make kind Schlager now.“ That's when I asked „Do you have a record deal right now, management deal, are you tied down in any way?“ And he said „No, Im completely free.“ I asked „Do you wanna come by?“ Then I told a bit who I am, what I do, what I've done so far...just showed him also the production with Joachim Witt, where I already produced a few albums. Then he came by, we talked about one, two ideas for songs, and have written one, two songs in between. Two weeks later he was there again and „Gesegnet und verflucht“, the core song of the album, was finished. And it was clear to all of us: this can only get big or go completely down the drain. Well, now we are...I don't know, 16 weeks in the charts with this album and * laughing * it is super successful and I'm really proud.

*Termination, WELT-logo is displayed *

[11:42]

 Kai: Can you imagine to get yourself active live in the Schlager sector? Would this be an option for you or do you say no, that's really something I only want to do being behind the scenes, a little bit in the studio and... (Chris interrupts him)

Chris: Myself as an artist?

Kai: Yes, as an artist on the stage?

Chris: * thinking about * Uh...yes...no...actually no. The problem here is always the reception. For example, we actually had a request from Fernsehgarten (German music entertainment show in which mainly Schlager stars perform). They said "You could do what you want, you can stay exactly as you are.“ And there's the question now: If I go into a platform more associated with Schlager, but perform as I am, unchanged - or I would now go to the ESC, am I then suddenly Schlager? Why? Was Lordi suddenly Schlager because they were at the ESC? So, there is always the question: How is it perceived and how do you see it yourself? That means, I represent the view, if we can be as we want and are on a platform that serves that, and there any platform is right for me, unless it is a Nazi platform, then I do that. But to consciously do something that goes into the Schlager corner, I do not see that at the moment.But I also know how much you change. Who knows? Ask me when I'm in my mid-50s, maybe I'll totally go for it then. *shrugs shoulders* No idea. So I have also accepted for myself that these absolute statements are bullshit. I have friends from the electro area, this typical dark electro area, they said 20 years ago "We never let a guitar into our music, that's betrayal of the electronic scene." Now they make guitar music, because they have understood that development means movement and vice versa.

Kai: But that's also the case in rock and metal, where it's often like "You're not allowed to rap, chanting, this, that" or keyboards are totally condemned... (interrupted by Chris)

Chris: Yes, in real metal, keyboard doesn't work at all. That's where the untrueness

starts at the latest. Yes yes, of course * with sarcastic undertone *

Kai: You have that in so many areas, that people have blinders. But what I also notice, for example, in rock and metal, and here I would like to come to your new album.

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[13:46]

 Kai: Especially in rock and metal, there are a lot of things that are criticized, a lot of people with blinders on, but of course there are also clichés that are very common there. Both in rock, as well as in metal, as well as in the Gothic area and so. And there is also the play with Christian or biblical stories and symbols, among other things. I find it actually sometimes a bit worn out, because I have the impression that many bands somehow always try a bit of religious criticism, a bit here, a bit there, a bit mystical, but, yes, it has been sucked over the last 20, 30 years in my opinion a bit. Now you have a new album called "Judas". At first I thought again: For God's sake, now they're doing another Bible story and so on and so forth. But this is a double album, where both sides of the Judas figure are shown a bit. Or at least both sides of the meaning he can have. How did you come up with the idea, what's behind the concept?

Chris: The funny thing is, apart from the positive criticism so far, which often increases at the beginning, the haters come later, there are funny enough these outcries from two groups. On the one hand, you have the people who see this Judas symbol * points to the tattoo on his neck * which is like an upside-down cross, with a J-optic somehow, and say "You're Satanists! * imitates an angry voice *

On the other hand, we have people from this more gritty metal group saying "Oh, betrayal, you're making a Christian record now!" * mimics an angry voice again *

And that's totally funny. First of all, our idea was neither to make a pro-Christian, let's say pro-religious or contra-religious record. Um, nor that we somehow want to try to rework or retell something authentically biblical here. But what we found so fascinating was that Judas, and there we do not reinvent the wheel, but we wanted to tell this story for us just like, that Judas simply belongs to these figures that you just immediately misunderstood at first glance. If I say "You Judas", then you don't think at first that I want to make you a compliment. That is first of all an insult. And just like you look at this symbol * points again to the Judas symbol on his neck * at first you see an upside down cross and you think "oh, evil" because socially we've learned that's something evil, and you look closely further, don't judge a book by its' cover, and you see aah, that's a J...or is there maybe more to it? * touches his chin as if in thought * we found that incredibly exciting. And what we found out during our research, that just this gray area that opens up between "Judas, the traitor" as well as "Judas, the martyr" or even redeemer, just as the bringer of all that, if we now pretend that...

Kai: ...that actually happended. * smiles *

Chris: ...actually history. And I say that here as an agnostic who simply leaves that open. We found that really exciting. So, then of course we thought about it: We love the idea, we find the word "Judas" incredibly strong, because, that totally grabbed us. We think the symbol is great, what we saw in it. We said we don't want to make a concept album that you have to listen to from front to back, where every song has to belong to the other, where we try teaching or petty criticizing from above to show up as something (someone) better.

We took Judas as main inspiration theme and made use of this imagery, so to speak, that which makes us so versatile as human beings, that we are also scapegoats for someone - traitors for one, redeemers for another, that all this is actually reflected in Judas.

*Termination, WELT-logo is displayed *

[17:24]

 Chris: It's a character that provides so many incredible ways to understand it. And then at some point we stumbled upon this "Gospel of Judas", which has been banned by the Catholic Church and is considered apocryphal scripture, and which consists mainly of conversations between Jesus Christ and Judas Iscarioth. And that sheds a new light on the matter, we found that simply incredibly inspiring. But as I said, we're not trying to make this one album that tells the story and that you have to read from cover to cover, but, let's say, from the top, the main visual language that we work with. If it was a concept album about the universe, I would write a love song about, I don't know, the sun and the moon, both are in gravitational relation to each other, but they can never touch each other. If I were making an album about the earth, then I would make, I don't know, a song about a fish and a bird and they can never get married, such a sad love song. With a Judas album, you can also do a song about brotherhood and friendship and it can't be a song about Jesus and Judas, it just changes the imagery. You basically have songs about different topics. We wanted something to inspire and guide us, and in this case it was the Judas story, without us trying to work up this topic necessarily.

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[18:47]

 Kai: But you have already dealt with religious symbolism and so on in the past. If I have observed correctly, this is nothing new with you now.

Chris: No, not at all. And it's not that I don't have a point of view either. I'm not someone who has a problem with believers or with religions, I often have a problem with the institutions behind them. To me that's kind of 3 different ones, of course there's always floating transitions, but there's 3 basic pillars here for me:

The believer per se, that can be anything. He can believe in the flying spaghetti monster, he can believe in Jesus or in *looks towards the sky* no idea that the trees are God for him. And whatever it is, as long as it makes him happy, that's wonderful.

And I too, which is why I call myself an agnostic and not an atheist, have moments where I sometimes think, "Whoa, where did that come from?" When something feels like a slightly higher energy, which I can not assign and also not really want and need (to).

Then there is religion for me. That somehow gives it a certain direction, a name.

Of course you can also make your own *looks up again*, you make the "religion of the trees", but you have to define it for yourself somehow. Or you are just part of a religion that exists. Whereby I would now also take the mythology with religion quite courageously, because quite honestly, who dares to say "This is religion", because this is now a real god and this is the Nordic mythology, but that's no longer in existence, so no *shakes his head slightly*. So I have to say quite honestly, I would just now quite brazenly accept mythologies, even the Nordic mythology, as a religion. Or I make the Christianity evenly also the Christian mythology *laughs slightly*.

Kai: This usually has something to do with the organizational status of the faith. At what point does mythology become a religion?

Chris: But I think you know what I mean. *Kai agrees* It has partly for me something very from above. And the third, and there we come exactly to the point by which this is defined, just the institution. And you need the institution, that is the house for your God, if you say you need the church somehow. There are also many believers I know, also Christian believers, who say "Well, I'm Christian, but I don't find God in the church, I find him in myself", or however you want to define it. And the problem that I often have are institutionally led religions, which often work with oppression, fear...you don't have to define it further, everyone knows. And we have often been very critical in Lord of the Lost and still are. But that has no place on "Judas" now.

But of course it has always fascinated me, because on the one hand I really like to play with this symbolism, and on the other hand I grew up as a Christian. Not strictly, but there was just "the dear God". And at some point you start to think for yourself as a young person and then find your own truth. Or still looking for it. And on the other hand it's like that, that mythologies, religions, can fascinate me just as much as I'm interested in, I don't know, Star Wars. I often get the question: "Chris, you are agnostic. Why exactly? What do you find so fascinating about it? Isn't that somehow wrong that you're now dealing with a subject like Judas?". Then I say, "Well, I don't have to believe that Middle Earth exists and I can be into Lord of the Rings and I don't have to believe that everything in Star Wars, the Force, is somehow real and yet I can be into Star Wars. That has a similar fascination for me.

Kai: So the entertainment factor also plays a role for you. I mean, some people watch Star Wars almost religiously *Chris and him laugh slightly* and some only watch it on Saturday nights because they have nothing better to do.

Chris: I'll put it this way: when I started, it was really a big concern for me. When I was very young and I was making music, I still felt a lot of anger because I felt lied to and I'm confirmed and you learn all this about God. And then a religion teacher tells you "God buried the dinosaur bones to test our faith" and then you start to do a little research and Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel - Cain kills Abel and then flees into the surrounding villages. *looks directly at Kai* To whom? Where did they come from? From a competitive creation? Ask questions and you'll be expelled from religion class. That's what happened to me. That's when you get super angry. That means church criticism, criticism of religion, was much more important to me personally in the past and I also criticized everyone who believed. Later I understood that this is something different. I don't have to criticize someone who believes - I was actually angry at something completely different. Namely, exactly on these institutions that sell you something as knowing, what should actually be lived out as faith. And in the meantime it's like this that fascinates me. I like that, I feel comfortable with that symbolism. But I don't feel the great need to shout out that anger anymore. I'm 41 now and I think something like that changes with time *Kai agrees*. I think I've said it all.

Kai: Do you still think that criticism of religion plays a relevant role today? In general, not only in music, but maybe also in the circles you move in? What is your view on that? Is it in your opinion still important to deal with it critically? Or are these times also past?

Chris: It depends a little bit on where. If I think about it...we have fans that are all over the world. And that's similar, I don't know, when we make a post here with a rainbow flag to show solidarity and literally "show the flag". Then I often get to hear: "Hey, in our country where we come from you should be careful, there it's forbidden, here you just don't do that. Please don't show a rainbow flag in our country. You're welcome to do it in your country."

If I go out on the street in St. Pauli with a rainbow flag and say *spreads his arms*: "I am for equal rights, for homosexuals et cetera!" Then they say "What are you campaigning for here?" For them it's like you're fighting to be allowed to breathe. Then they look at me stupidly. I know that there are areas, also in Germany by the way, but also often further away in other countries, where it is much more necessary to do something like that. That's why I think criticism of religion, criticism of the institution, is still not inappropriate. I just read an article again this morning about the Vatican approaching the Italian embassy, because they have a problem with the homosexual law - which is also a pro-tolerance law - and now they are trying to go against it again. So I'm like, "Yo, that's a few thousand miles down there - what's happening?" Of course, somehow that's still appropriate!

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[25:25]

Kai: That brings me to the next topic. You have just mentioned LGTBQ yourself. Um, you are relatively well connected with the scene, as one has noticed over the last few years with you. You also stand up for equality and rights and against discrimination and so on. What do you think, is it then not, or correct me if you have already done that here and there. Isn't it maybe more relevant to deal with it musically directly? I think you could, for example, instead of a double album with and about Judas also thematize such things. Can you imagine to let socially critical stories flow into future projects in this or another direction?

Chris: We do that from time to time, but it's not the main focus. I can imagine, however, that it will be brought to the fore. By the way, we have this LGTBQ theme right now. In the next video "The Gospel of Judas" this is strongly thematized. Because that's exactly what we also associate with Judas, that not everything is always as it seems at first glance. And that even behind what is supposedly wrong and evil, something can hide, which is very, very right and meaningful and important. And that also just a human being is behind it. You can connect that symbolically very beautifully with it and we have also done that in this video. So even there we can't really get around it completely, a little bit of rainbow is also in the Judas theme. However, it is something that we have done so far primarily visually. So that especially in our live shows and also in music videos for songs that maybe thematically have nothing to do with it, but we still play with it. Especially also play with the openness, to consciously connect the obviously masculine with the obviously feminine/androgynous.

Especially in countries where it is somehow difficult, where we have been threatened with prison once or twice, even on site. The topic is important to us. Whether this is now material to make a whole double album out of it...I don't know, because of course the symbolic imagery of a Judas figure first of all gives much more purely historically than the theme LGTBQ, which I can imagine for example well in a compact song.

Kai: Yes, that's interesting, we just had the discussion yesterday or the day before yesterday, or in the last few weeks, with the topic that stadiums should light up in the rainbow colors and UEFA was against it and so on. Footballers are criticized because they stand up against discrimination and homophobia and wear rainbow bandages and so on and so forth. That this still leads to discussions I find horrible, especially when you consider that we live in the 21st century and in the middle of Europe. How is that actually with you in the music business, in your scene? Even if you act across scenes. Have you also made such observations? Are there problems with homophobia, with discrimination and so on? And if so, in what form and how does that show (itself)?

Chris: I have to say, very little actually, but sometimes it pops up like that. We have fans from different directions. In this gothic area, I must say, actually not at all. I don't see any headwind there at all. The headwind comes more from the real metal scene, especially often from the older ones or just not from Europe, from the countries next door, where people of course also grow up partly arch-Catholic. There comes a comment when you see one of us with long eyelashes and suspenders and so on, then it is immediately said "Ew, fucking tranny rock! I don’t listen to you anymore." I can't say that here at all what comes there, that is partly really crass. That happens definitely sometimes and there is also sometimes one or the other that ran away.

Kai: How do you deal with it?

Chris: Personally, something like this makes me sad. Not because the comment goes against us, but that it's such an issue in the first place. And I have to tell a story about that: My son, he's 10 years old now. We live in Sankt Pauli, we live in Germany, and of course he's growing up very differently. And he asked me when he was 7: "Dad, what does faggot mean?" So I first asked him a counter question: "What made you think about that? "Well, they call me faggot at school." My son has such long hair *points at a place below his shoulder*, he already had such long hair with 6/7, because he wanted it. Probably because dad has long hair. Then I explained it to him: "Look here, our friend Fred and his boyfriend, they are gay." Is also everything clear to him and he said "Yes, sure." And then I said, "Well, there's also a negative word for it. That you don't say they're gay or homosexual, but that's a faggot." And he's like "Uh-huh, okay. Then that's an insult.". Then he thought about it for half a minute said "But why is that an insult? How can that be an insult?". And I'm like "How do you mean that?" And he explained that to me, because he just didn't understand that anything about that could be insulting. And I have to say...that was really an AHA experience for me and I thought "Ok, we did something right, just love whoever you want". But it's actually still a bit prevalent in the music scene as well. It's not enough that a Rob Halford at some point said *raises his arm* "So, guys, I'm gay." You still have the old jeans vest wearer saying *disguises his voice* "Uh, faggot!" Is so.

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[31:43]

Kai: Finally, you are releasing the album now. Now, of course, all musicians, the whole music industry, had a hard time the last 1.5 years. I myself have also noticed it. What are your plans? How should it continue? Will you play the album live? Can you play live with it at all? Do you have something planned? How does it go on?

Chris: We have planned super much, we had planned a lot and that is always postponed. We put out an acoustic album last year as an interim album, with orchestra. We haven't even toured that yet. The tour was supposed to be last year, now it's hopefully *grins* next year in April. You know, I'm in such a mode right now where everything has been shifted so much. We had the great honour that Iron Maiden asked us to be a support band for all of Europe for 2020 already. Then 2021. Now 2022. Luckily they keep taking us and I can just hope. Yes, there are plans. But honestly, I don't even look at the calendar anymore. If you would have asked me 2 years ago, I could have told you exactly "Then is that festival and I'm so looking forward to Wacken and I'm so looking forward to the date with Maiden and then we'll be playing there with an orchestra", I could have told you the time when our stage time is! I can't do that anymore, because I'm purposely breaking away from it, because otherwise I'm just disappointed. I'm trying to go into such a stand-by mode right now and when my booker calls me and says "Hey, we can do this and that."  Then I say *with a resigned voice* "Ok." "Brazil!" *in a resigned voice* "Ok." And not YEAH!

Kai: But the offers are coming?

Chris: Yes, they are coming. Quite, quite a lot. But I intentionally try to detach myself from them a little bit and then be happy when I'm there - that's my only way not to break down emotionally. Because when you choose to be a musician and you fight for it your whole life, you put everything you have into it, also monetarily, everything, everything. And then at some point you're ready and you're earning money with it and you were able to turn your hobby into a profession and all of a sudden it doesn't work anymore. And you realize that you actually only deal with cotton *opens jacket and shows his sweater* and earn your money with it. Which is actually cool, but actually you wanted to make music. Then it hurts in the first place. I don't want to complain, we're doing well so far, we have the best fans in the world, they support us through this *shows his sweater again*. But that's not the core of the matter. I don't want to die someday and on the tombstone is written "Successful, German cotton merchant of the gothic and metal scene". That was not my goal.

Kai: So despite merchandise sales, despite hit production and so on and so forth - you still belong on stage?

Chris: Yes, definitely! Absolutely! I think the moment that I say, no matter how successful I am as a producer of various artists - and I really do everything now, from Ferris MC to Joachim Witt. That I say I myself no longer to go on stage, that cannot happen, because that comes out of me. These song ideas come out of me and I have the need to play them live. Whether that is the pure search for self-affirmation or actually artistic urge, I do not know yet. Maybe when I'm 70, I'll realize "actually, you just wanted everyone to think you're cool". Who knows? And everyone was right. I'm open to that, too. I don't know...but it makes me happy. *laughs* And I see no reason to stop.

Kai: Yes, that sounds good. Then I wish you in any case further good luck and bliss. Good luck creating in all realms, in the studio, whether it's rap, whether it's Schlager whether it's Lord of the Lost. And maybe when you go on tour with Iron Maiden...then maybe I would stop by. *laughs and touches Chris at the shoulder*

Chris: Would be cool.

Kai: Thank you for the interview and all the best. See you around.

*give each other a fist-bump*

Translation: Annika Gehrke