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woensdag 19 december 2007
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Dreamscape: X-rayed by founding member Wolfgang Kerinnis
Interview with guitarist Wolfgang Kerinnis of Dreamscape by Vera in November 2007
’5th Season’ is a stunning progressive metal album of the German band Dreamscape. Some time ago I sent questions to them for an interview and drummer Michael Schwager answered them very quickly during the tour. But now we have the vision of another core member, guitarist and composer Wolfgang Kerinnis. This “second view” is so interesting and great (and made by the one who decides most of things) that I decided to publish the second interview with Dreamscape as well. At least they deserve as much attention as possible while working on a next record! Here is the interview with Wolfgang.
When you read this you will be back from your European tour and an important gig at Dutch ProgPower festival. I am eager to hear all about this experience!
Well it was great! We spent a lot of time in the rehearsal room before the tour and because of the good preparation we had enough self-confidence to go on tour with a nearly complete new line up. The whole tour was more like holidays than hard work. Otherwise something was brutal: we were our own bus drivers, roadies and managers on tour. Because our label paid not one cent for the tour we were not able to tour with a tour bus, so we jumped from hotel to hotel and from hotel to location and from location to location… perhaps you can imagine how stressful this was… but the fun prevailed!!! Progpower Europe was for sure the highlight on the tour even we had not enough time to enjoy it. Sometimes we had really small locations with about a half of a square meter, but we had especially at those locations a lot of fun because we never ever were closer to the fans than at Reichenbach!
This tour must have been the fire-baptism for three new members and I guess a lot of rehearsal was needed before. How long do you work with the new members already?
We started practicing with Ralf in the beginning of March. In the end of April Mischa decided to join the band and he started to learn the songs by his own, because at this time he was still in Switzerland and he was not able to practice with us very often. The biggest problem was the keys. David reached us very late in the beginning of August. But each of the new line up did a great job and there was not one moment we had fear about the stage situation. Mischa, Ralf and David seem to be born on stage and they are great musicians with great characters. To part a stage with them was a big honour to me!
Can you say a bit more about these new musicians?
Ralf (bass) is the half-brother of Michael (drums). He never played in a progressive band, but he always loved this music and he is one of the hardest working guys I ever met.
Mischa (vox) is our star. He is very successful in singing musicals and at the moment he sings the leading role in the musical Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hide. But progressive music is his life! He sings in the Ivanhoe project and he would die for being able to live with prog music. I never have seen such a professional guy like him without any affectations.
David is the biggest talent at Dreamscape. He studies piano in Hamburg and he was able to learn our songs in two weeks without using the score. Just amazing! And he is a great song writer too. At the moment we are working on the next album and it will be great, not the least because of David's great work!
 Why did Jan (keyboards), Benno (bass) and Roland (vocals) leave the band?
It was an obvious decision because they all have lost their heart for our music. But I am able to understand them. After a long time fighting windmills they lost their confidence. And they are all really successful with their jobs. There was not enough time to do a good job with Dreamscape. Out of this reasons the band did not tour and out of this reasons we were not able to produce more than one CD in about four years.
It is the fourth singer now of Dreamscape, it must have been one of the reasons for the big hiatus between some of the records, isn’t it?
The hiatus between the "Very" album and the "End Of Silence" for sure was indeed because of changing the singer. But Roland was now for seven years at Dreamscape and we were not able to publish faster. You must know: the "End Of Silence" album was recorded in 2001 and the “5th Season” album was recorded in 2006/2007. That is not my idea of a good working band.
But the positive thing is that ‘5th Season’ is a stunner and offers more than one hour of music. Are you – as founding member - the main composer of the songs?
Jan and I are the main composers. It was always a pleasure to work with him and unfortunately it always was a fight to get his time.
Will it be different in future with contribution of the new members?
It is always different, even with Jan each song was a new unknown journey. We never knew what we will do at next and something like the universe gives us the next piece of music. For sure David will do other things than Jan did but I am looking forward to this. David is a really big progressive metal fan and he is able to do things I never heard before. So I am looking really forward to work with him. And Mischa is the first singer that is able to surprise me with his good ideas. Everything will be fine!
Can you tell a bit more about the lyrics? Where do you get your inspiration from? Is there a kind of concept?
There is a kind of concept: it is all about relations between human beings. Sometimes about friendship, sometimes about love, sometimes about family. The lyrics are written to anybody who is in trouble with those things. And sometimes Roland put in something very private.
Another thing that struck me is the considerable length of the songs. The title track of 14 minutes length is one of my favourites. Can you tell a bit more about this song?
It took one year to write it… I love long songs but you are not able to plan one but after composing about six minutes there was a chance to create something special and we took this chance! This song is the best example what Jan and I were able to do. To me it’s a masterpiece of progressive metal and I always listen to it with a little bit sorrow because of the decision for splitting.
Who did the artwork?
The best did the job:
Beckston Media Arts
Carl-André Beckston
Mob: +46 (0) 734 - 037882
Mail: info©monowasp.se
Url: www.monowasp.se
 It has been three years since the previous album ‘End Of Silence ‘ was released and of course as musicians you will have developed and evolved. Can you tell a bit more about this and how this was assimilated in the end result of ‘5th Season’?
I am glad that we were able to create a new album even the commitment of the old line up shrunk more and more. Sometimes I am wondering how we were able to release a new CD with such bad conditions. To me personally it was important to be more flexible between the songs. This means I tried to do something very hard (Déjà Vu) and something very soft (Farewell), something very strange (Phenomenon) and something easy listening (Borderline), something fast (Déjà Vu) and something slower (Borderline) and don’t forget our "pop song" (Somebody) and because of this the new CD is a little bit more varied.
The album was recorded at Dreamscape studio in your hometown Munich and produced by (ex) keyboardist Jan Vacik. Is that your own studio? Will Jan keep on working as producer for the band or do you have other plans for the next album?
It is Jan's studio. And he is one of the best young producers perhaps in the world! If I am able to pay him I will record the next thousand CDs with him!
The band was formed many years ago (1986) Was were your influences at that time, the musicians who inspired you to play music and can you tell something about your musical background and first steps to success?
The influences at this time were: Yngwie Malmsteen, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Savatage, Fates Warning… but you must know: I only covered two songs in my life: Elvis + Queen (Show Must Go On). The band that inspired me to make music was Kiss. I imitated them with a tennis racket when I was 13. I took not more than 15 guitar lessons. I always did things by my own. That is not the best way to learn guitar but it is my way. I always wanted to be self-determined. I always was the pusher of the band and I was not always loved by the musicians I worked with. In the beginning I wrote exercises for the second guitar player and the bass player. I was more like a teacher than a normal band member. The more professional way started as I decided to take a credit and to produce our first CD by our own. No one in the band helped me with that financial risk. After the recording a big friend of us went to the music fair at Frankfurt and arranged a deal for us (Rising Sun).
What is the most rewarding experience you had until now with Dreamscape?
Progpower USA 2004.
Praque (Praha) 2007 with Symphony X.
 Are you involved in other bands or projects or would you like to do?
I will play guitar on the next Hubi Meisel CD. He is a big friend of mine and it is an honour to make music with this great guy! I planned to do a solo album because of the slow work at Dreamscape. I recorded some demos for it, but at the moment I spend all my time at Dreamscape.
Let us hope that it will not take such a long time anymore before you release a following album. But there is good news about a new song ‘Breathing Spaces’ on the website, isn’t it?
The next CD will be released in 2008. We are planning to make a DVD with this album (2008) and "Breathing Spaces" was only a sign of life with the new line up. It was recorded for the fans to show that we are still alive and our new line up is going to keep up the good work.
What was the first experience to work with the new musicians in the studio?
Mischa (vox) is a really crazy guy! We recorded the vocals with him in Stuttgart at the Welsch Audio Studios in Stuttgart and I have never seen such a show in the studio. For example: he went out of the recording room without a trouser showing me why the girls love him so much… he is always interested in provoking but in a positive way. Ralf is the first-take man. He comes, plays and goes and this takes only minutes. I am not used to work like this but it is fantastic! David is a great musician and his ideas fit really well to this song but his true talent is to write songs and I tell you: you can expect great music by us!
Are there plans for some more touring?
Yes for sure! But unfortunately nothing is fixed yet and we need more time to disclose the things we are working on. But be sure: we will tour each year in the future!
What are the plans for the near future?
Well we are very busy with the songwriting of the album we are planning to release in 2008. Perhaps we have a tour in the spring of 2008 but it is not sure if it is possible to record a CD and to practice for a tour at the same time…
Geplaatst door Vera op woensdag 19 december 2007 - 23:20:46
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