Q&A with Ji-In & Kusch @ spaziorock.it /
Ji-In & Kusch beantworten die Fragen von spaziorock.it

...die italienische Musikplattform spaziorock.it hat ein Interview mit Krypterias Ji-In Cho und S.C. Kuschnerus veröffentlicht: HIER ; die englische Originalversion gibt es exklusiv weiter unten...

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...Italian music platform spaziorock.it has published an interview with Krypteria's Ji-In Cho and S.C. Kuschnerus; you can find the Italian version of what Ji-In and Kusch had to say HERE or you can read the English original exclusively here:

[Interviewer: Fabio Rigamonti]

Hi, I'm Fabio from Spaziorock.it and it's really an honour for me to have this chance [to ask] you some questions, since I follow Krypteria from "In Medias Res" time. Ok, let's start !

KUSCH: Ciao Fabio, thank you very much for giving us this opportunity, it's our pleasure !

1. Krypteria has been a successful band for quite some time in Germany. Is this the reason why you've released "My Fatal Kiss" in September in Germany, and now in the rest of Europe ? Was it necessary to concentrate all the efforts on your market ?

KUSCH: Debuting the album in Germany just happened quite naturally since we are a German band that's signed to a German label in Onfire/Roadrunner. Apart from that the timing was all about availability. We wanted to make sure every territory has a shot at us. If you release an album worldwide around the same time some fans or media just won't receive the attention and focus they deserve. And while this might not make any difference for the megaselling bands with universal visibility, it sure does for us. We asked for an opportunity to introduce ourselves properly everywhere we go. If Krypteria is not your cup of tea I can accept that, what would drive me mad, though, is if people never got a chance to decide whether they like our new album or not. So in order to avoid this situation we decided to release "My Fatal Kiss" at different times over a twelve month span.

2. With "My Fatal Kiss" you started doing business with Onfire Records and Roadrunner: why did you leave EMI and chose to deal with these two giants ?

KUSCH: After two albums and one EP our contract with EMI had run its course. We're looking back on four great years with them and we still hang out with a couple of the guys from time to time, so no bad blood here. However, when the chance presented itself to hook up with Onfire and Roadrunner we felt we just had to do it. After all, these guys are proven experts and power players in the rock and metal world. And with us being a rock and metal band it made complete sense to join forces, wouldn't you say so either ? (laughs)

3. Is there a particular moment in your career where you got to understand that Krypteria could be something very big [...] ? Do you remember that moment ?

JI-IN: Well, I can't say that there was this one big moment, when I thought: "Yeah, Krypteria could be something very big !". But I remember very well our first time in Wacken. Although we were already spoiled by our wonderful fans in Asia I wasn't sure how the German metal heads would respond to our music. I was wondering whether the people there would stay, listen and understand us and our music. But when we started the show, the audience reacted enthusiastically and we had so much fun with them! The point is that I would have never expected such strong feedback and I'd never imagined that bonding with this particular audience in such a personal way would have been possible. So I think this show in Wacken was like a baptism of fire in the metal scene of Europe for us. This simply was a sensational moment.

4. Ji-In speaks of "My Fatal Kiss" as a struggle between good and evil: in fact, something very beautiful like a kiss can be very deadly, listening to your titletrack. Also, in many other points of the album I can feel this sense of "dramatic consequences after dealing love". Why do you think that is ?

JI-IN: Well, the most fascinating thing about human beings is the fact that everything and every person has got at least two sides to them. Even the wonderful thing called "love" that should be unconditional can be poisoned and abused by the dark forces in oneself. That's what mankind is about: we are blessed with an intelligence that allows us to tell good from bad and to act according to our ethical values. But how often does it happen that we operate selfishly even though we know that this is not right ? And, even more, how often do we then try to sell this as something good ?

KUSCH: Fabio, you being an expert on Krypteria almost from the get-go know that we like to take conceptual, almost philosophical approaches to our albums, like for instance on "Bloodangel's Cry". We get a huge kick out of it, so we decided to follow sort of a storyline again this time around. On "My Fatal Kiss" we address the inner struggles when your life gets to a crossroads and you have to make a choice as to which path to follow. We know exactly what that's like because we had to make many of those choices in the five plus years of our existence as a band. Some of them were right, others we painfully regret to this day. And since we felt that almost anybody will be able to relate to this dilemma we thought it might add a thought-inspiring dimension to "My Fatal Kiss".

5. And now I'd like to talk about "Deny": I must say it's one of the angriest song Krypteria ever made. What inspired a piece like this one ?

KUSCH: Sometimes you just have to find a way to vent your anger, your frustration and your worries, that's what led to "Deny". As I mentioned before, in our six years together we have shared quite a number of different experiences both good and bad. We came up with "Deny" at a time when every single one of us had to get rid of some emotional baggage, so we used this song as sort of our own little therapy. We're glad we did it, cause on stage this thing goes off like an ten ton firecracker (laughs).

6. When I listen to Krypteria's music, I find myself wondering what influences can be heard [in the] music: the way [Chris] produces the music reminds me somewhat of the musical school à la Jim Steinman and so on, maybe in the sense of drama, the use of the choirs. What do you think about that ?

KUSCH: Well, Fabio, we feel blessed to have four musicians in the group who are able to write, compose and arrange as individuals as well as in a group setting. What you hear musically is the essence of what the four of us grew up on from a creative standpoint with all our combined influences and visions. The roots of those ideas and concepts are based in heavy rock, metal, pop, musical theatre and classical music. And since two members of the band, Ji-In and Chris, are classically trained, infusing this particular side to Krypteria's sound comes very naturally especially with Ji-In who went to the conservatory studying classical singing and piano. As it turned out recording those choir parts isn't too much of a stretch for us cause Ji-In, Frank and myself all have tons of experience in doing vocal arrangements and recordings on a plethora of different projects, plus Chris being a veteran producer really came in quite handy as well. Each of us has worked in musical theatre before and because we all have a knack for the dramatic and consider Steinman a great writer and producer you're spot on with your analysis. I'm pretty sure Chris would name "Bat out of hell" as one of the albums that made the most impact on him as far as the style of production and overall sound is concerned.

7. Now I'm thinking about the song "Out Of Tears" from your previous album, I must ask you this: do you happen to like Dario Argento's movie ? You know..."Mater Lacrimarum, tenebrarum...". Are there any other horror movies you like ?

KUSCH: Are you referring to "La terza madre" ? Unfortunately I have not yet seen this movie. See, Signor Argento's body of work is more of an underground phenom as far as Germany is concerned. I will watch it though, since his daughter Asia being in it gives me extra incentive (laughs). Me personally, I'm not that big a horror expert, but I do like the kind of movie that makes me think "what if ?". For that reason I enjoy stuff that's at least theoretically within the bounds of possibility such as "Blair Witch Project" or "Saw" more than I do let's say some werewolf or splatter flick.

8.Reviewing all your discography, I think that there is a lesser use of Latin emphasis and choirs as we proceed trough time: "In Medias Res" and "Krypteria" are full of Latin phrases, now on "My Fatal kiss" there are only some isolated choirs beneath the choruses. Why is that so ?

JI-IN: Well, we love the mystic sound of the Latin language and I think it will always be an important element for the mysterious and bombastic side in our music. On "My Fatal Kiss" the majority of the songs are the result of a lot of personal and intimate thoughts so we wanted to make these songs more down to earth.

KUSCH: It's true, the main difference between our earlier records and our latest album might indeed be a somewhat more organic approach. When we write and record new songs we try not to ask ourselves what anybody outside of the band might or might not expect us to do. So it was not necessarily a preconceived decision to use less Latin parts, it just happened. Maybe the constant evolution of our live persona is responsible for this extra bite compared to some of our earlier works, too ? Then again, our next album might turn out to be a full-fledged Latin extravaganza, you never quite know with this band (laughs).

9. You've never been to Italy [...]. But I think that after the European distribution of "My Fatal Kiss" things are about to change. Am I wrong ? What do you think about Italy ? Have you got some expectations in us as a audience?

JI-IN: I would love to come to Italy. I love your sensual way of life, your architecture, language, food...! We have to come to your country because I expect you to be incredibly passionate and wild as an audience.

KUSCH: It truly is a shame we have not yet played in Italy, but, yes, it looks like things are about to change this year. We all have been to Italy numerous times albeit not as a band and we think you guys can be very proud of the beautiful country you live in. If only you wouldn't beat us every time in FIFA World Cup competition (laughs). But seriously, our Italian fans are dear to our hearts since we have already built quite a rapport through the internet over the years, so we cannot wait to finally play for you.

10. You are a very communicative band, using at the maximum sites like MySpace, Twitter and so on. What do you think will be the future of the music industry, which already is no longer the same after the internet's massive diffusion ?

KUSCH: You're right, it's definitely not what it was when I grew up. Back then you had to really work hard to get information on your favorite artist and there was a certain mystique about the bands in general which made the "bond" so much stronger. Today you can get all the facts you want and much more within a heartbeat so a certain degree of allegiance is hard to establish. That is why as a band you better communicate with your fans and let them know how much you appreciate their support so they know you care and hopefully will stay with you forever...or at least for more than just the blink of an eye (laughs). Plus, for an artist it's huge to receive personal feedback from those you try to reach out to in the first place.

11. Sadly, we are at the end of this interview. Take this space if you have anything to say to all our readers.

KUSCH: We've heard from some of our peers that the Italian fans are super passionate, loud and fun to play for. Now we want some of that, too (laughs). So please check out our album "My Fatal Kiss" and if you like what you hear come to a Krypteria show. We won't let you down, instead we will bust our butts to make sure we'll have a great time together.

JI-IN: Like I already said, we just have to come to Italy and I can't wait to see you during and after the shows! Till then, all the best to you, keep your balance and stay healthy.