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First of all - please introduce your band to the world.
Der Wahnsinn is a young Brazilian metal band which plays heavy music with strong vocal lines and creative sound effects. The band intends to compose thought-provoking lyrics with a strong meaning behind them. Der Wahnsinn also aims to go internationally and bring “The Insanity” to every corner of the world through its energetic live concert.
How did things get started?
The band was originally created by Eloi Aldrovandi and Fernando Mazzaro in 2003. By that time, the band decided to pay a tribute to one of the greatest bands from Germany, Rammstein. As the first R+ cover band in Brazil, the band enjoyed playing their songs throughout Brazil while gaining experience live with large audiences. We must say, that it has been a fantastic experience to foster this type of music in Brazil. In 2006, with a new line up - Christian Hoffmann (vocals), Fernando Mazzaro (guitars), Eloi Aldrovandi (guitars and sound effects), Leandro Mazzaro (bass) and Denis Roosevelt (drums) and former keyboard player Lucas Picoli - Der Wahnsinn decided to compose its own music and create a bold and ambitious independent band project. After summoning some riffs from previous years, the band composed Neuen Anfang and had the chance to play it live to a wild audience in DDK´s underground fest in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We can say that Der Wahnsinn´s own project really came true on July 08th 2006, when that audience warmly welcomed our project with a lot of head banging, strong fists in the air, and even a try to sing along with us, in German! That was awesome!
Why did you pick a German name, and why German lyrics?
The name means a lot to band. Almost everything we have conquered so far as band has been driven by some of our band members´ insanity, or our “group insanity”, if you prefer. hehe. We understand that The Insanity dwells in every individual and it can be demonstrated in many forms. In our case, our passion, our perfectionism, our persistence, our wild attitudes live and, most of all, our insane fans. We also understand that life can only be fully enjoyed with a bit of insanity. Our duty as a band is to set it free! We have chosen to compose the lyrics in German in order to give our singer something else to do rather just stay there singing to the audience while the rest of the band does the hard work. Haha! Now seriously, the German language has been chosen due to fact it is a rich and strong language that fits best to the type of sound that we want to project ourselves. We can say that Portuguese and English are also strong languages, but German feels as a greater challenge to us. And we can say that challenges are something we really look forward to finding.
What are your main influences, and how would you describe your music?
Each band member has its own distinguished preference. We can say that Rammstein, Nightwish, Dream Theater, Bruce Dickinson, Metallica, Killswitch Engage, Marilyn Manson, Queensr˙che, Chimaira and even Dee Snider’s fierce live performance play a role on Der Wahnsinn´s influences. It is a massive mixture of several elements from metal bands that gives an uniqueness to Der Wahnsinn´s music. Every band member gives its best to add something valuable to the composition process. And it is important to say that there is a lot respect to each one’s ideas in order to create something different from what we usually see on the music scene as a whole.
Your debut EP, 'Industrielle Revolution', came out in 2007. It got good ratings on our webzine, but what are your own opinions on it?
The EP Industrielle Revolution marks an important step in our careers as musicians and in our lives. We have brought a lot of efforts and made a couple sacrifices to bring this project alive. We passed through a difficult pre-recording process until we decided to work with our producer Chrys Szankowsky, who was great friend of ours and totally understood how Der Wahnsinn wanted to sound like. The EP also marks a turning point from a cover band to band with its own project. We have to thank a lot our insane fans who have been supporting Der Wahnsinn and encouraging us to make this dream come true. Finally, the EP was a great achievement to an independent band with few financial resources but with a lot of creativity and persistence to turn into a self-sufficient band in almost all aspects. It was a great victory to all of us!
What is in your opinion the best track on 'Industrielle Revolution', and why?
It is hard to say which one is The Best. All songs are great in our opinion with powerful instruments, melodies and lyrics. But we can say that Der Wahnsinn represents best our strength and the deep thoughts we propose in our lyrics. This is definitely a remarkable song for the whole band.
Rammstein is known for a spectacular live show, as well your music would fit a spectacular live show. What can a stranger expect when he visits a live show of Der Wahnsinn? You still do Rammstein tributes too?
Energy. This is the key word that summarizes our concert. A lot of energy. We can say that our music, combined with our live performance, can probably turn people insane. A lot of head banging, shouts, screams, mosh pits, stage dives, girls going wild, you name it. As mentioned before, we still have financial resources limitations to turn our live performance into a mega production. Step by step, we are building our stage and gradually showing our great ambitions towards our live concert. But one thing is for certain, you will always see our essence that combines a lot of Energy, powerful riffs and thought-provoking lyrics that will turn you Insane. Yeah, we still play a couple shows as a cover band, but our main focus today is to promote and advance in our own project. We truly intend to be an opening act to Rammstein whenever they come over to Brazil again. Perhaps as an opening act throughout their next tour (who knows, huh?). It would be something outstanding to us. No matter what, they will always be considered a great band to us which we have always admired. Great work guys!
How is the (industrial) metal scene in Brazil?
The industrial metal scene, or the metal scene as whole, is not as much explored as it supposed to be in Brazil. There is a lot of potential to be explored, but just like any other country in the world today, most of the musical scene is flooded with other music styles, mainly commercial (rap and hip hop in the US or Europe or funk or samba-rock in Brazil). In the Brazilian metal scene, there are a lot of fans of the 80´s bands, such as Iron Maiden, Metallica, Helloween, Megadeth and so on, but there also are a lot of people who dig industrial metal too, being Rammstein one of the top bands. Over the last 5 years, people who had never listen to industrial metal before and watched us playing live, got interested to this type of sound. As we understand, the metal scene gets stronger from time to time. Locally we are trying to gather some bands in order to create a strong movement in order to bring this type of music to the mainstream. As we said, we have ambitious goals and it is our duty to promote this powerful music and show that in Brazil there is not only samba.
How important is the internet for your band?
Very important. The internet is helping Der Wahnsinn to promote its music internationally. We use it the best we can. And yes, you can download our EP for free on our website or hear us at MySpace (it is always great to see a new country in our MySpace map).
What are, next to music, your other passions in life?
Each band member has its passion besides music. Girls of course are on top of the list (hehe). Besides that we can say that our drummer Denis, for example, just loves to eat. Others, like Christian, love to go backpacking in new territories. As a whole, we really enjoy ourselves hanging out as friends in concerts, parties, playing all kinds of sports and working hard as team to reach our goals.
What can we expect of Der Wahnsinn in 2009? And what's the final goal to achieve with Der Wahnsinn?
In 2009, we plan to promote our EP and our first DVD “Die industrielle Revolution geht weiter” worldwide. We are including 3 new live songs on the DVD which will show a new side of Der Wahnsinn: heavier, faster, and with a energetic sound. We also plan to strengthen the industrial metal scene and promote our shows throughout Brazil and perhaps abroad. We would also be glad to be invited to become an opening act on US, European and Japanese festivals. And we will try to sign with a strong record label. The final goal to our band is to become an internationally recognized band with a steady career, several albums, millions of dedicated and not-disappointed fans, and with a worldwide experience playing along with bands we admire.
The interview ends here, thanks a lot for your time. Got any final words?
You are mostly welcome, Gerardo. We would like Industrialized Metal for this opportunity. Gerardo, for your time and review. And to all future insane fans that are getting to know our band, please access our website (www.der-wahnsinn.com) and MySpace (www.myspace.com/derwahnsinn). Show it to your friends, promoters, event and festival organizers, record companies. And spread the insane word: Der Wahnsinn.
Interview by: Gerardo (January 2009) |
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