SOURCE WEBZINE | We don’t have readers – we have believers.

SOURCEWEBZINE – Can you tell our readers how this new album was developed and how much time the band has put in this album?

S.C. KUSCHNERUS (D) – We started writing for “My Fatal Kiss” over a year ago. Our recordcontract with EMI had run its course and even though we had made significant strides with them we decided to explore other options. We found our match in OnFire Records’ Wolfgang Funk of HIM, Guano Apes and Within Temptation fame, who just recently joined forces with Roadrunner and Warner. However, we had to wait till this month due to some contractual circumstances before we were able to sign with them. Because of that we were able to take a lot of time until that new deal would be under lock and key. We made good use of the extra time by participating in a couple of other artists’ projects both writing and recording and by collectively and individually working on new ideas for the follow-up to “Bloodangel’s Cry”. When we finally kicked off the actual recording process we had a whole bunch of demos and more than enough songs to create a strong and colorful album. So, I guess you can say we made good use of the time we had, cause when the new deal was finally signed we had already finished about 95% of the record.

SOURCEWEBZINE – The new album hasn’t been released yet but I’m sure you’ve gotten some reactions to it yet. How are the responses so far on it?

S.C. KUSCHNERUS (D) – We could not be happier. First off, the new material was instrumental in us getting this new, promising record deal with this amazing combination of labels and personnel. A couple of months ago we played half the record to a well-respected journalist who’s writing for the Metal Hammer and he seemed to be genuinely excited about the new stuff stating that this was a major step in Krypteria’s development. We ourselves were pretty confident in the material, then again, it’s always sort of nerve-wracking when you finally play brand-new songs to someone outside of the band who has proven over and over again that quality-wise he’s an expert on separating the pretenders from the contenders. So you can probably imagine how elated we were when he gave “My Fatal Kiss” the thumbs up with a huge smile on his face. Same thing happened with a writer for German music magazine Zillo who released an immensely positive report in one of their latest issues. Now we can’t wait for the release of “My Fatal Kiss” on August 28th because we are so looking forward to getting the feedback that’s most important to us, that of our fans.

SOURCEWEBZINE – How was the recording process of the album? Did you do something differently this time?

S.C. KUSCHNERUS (D) – Actually we did. Even though “Bloodangel’s Cry” already was way more of a group effort than its predecessor we took it to yet another level this time around. Everybody chimed in with fantastic ideas and we are lucky to have four people in the band who are able to write both individually as well as in different groups of two, three or four. We also made good use of the extra time we had by pre-producing the new songs, then letting them just sit there for a while before finishing them months later. That way we got a good idea as to which songs did not only feel right in the heat of the moment but stood the test of time, albeit a limited one (laughs). Compared to “Bloodangel’s Cry”, “My Fatal Kiss” is not following a chronological storyline, which allowed us to write more freely and stretch our limits a bit more than we used to do. For us it still is a concept album though, because as far as the story and the lyrics are concerned they all follow a certain theme, which by the way will become apparent by going through the artwork. Musically and atmospherically “My Fatal Kiss” very much feels like a concept album anyway.

SOURCEWEBZINE – A little bit about your music taste. What kind of stuff are you currently listening to?

S.C. KUSCHNERUS (D) – Everybody in Krypteria listens to a very wide array of musical styles and we consider ourselves pretty open-minded. It could be Pink today, System of a Down tomorrow, Tori Amos on Thursday and a mixture of Led Zeppelin, Shostakovich and Metallica over the weekend, so to speak. If it gives us a kick we appreciate it, be it metal, rock, pop, funk, classical music or even some obscure avant-garde stuff. And if you listen to our music closely you will probably discover some of the less genre-typical influences we draw from. Right now I’m going back and forth between Machine Head, Björk, The Hives and, yes, “My Fatal Kiss” on my iPod.

SOURCEWEBZINE – Do you momentarily make enough money to live from being a musician?

S.C. KUSCHNERUS (D) – Between Krypteria and the aforementioned session work we are fortunate enough to make a living on writing, performing, recording and producing music. Well, that and the occasional bank robbery (laughs).

SOURCEWEBZINE – What do you consider to be the biggest accomplishment for you and Krypteria, not necessarily sales wise?

S.C. KUSCHNERUS (D) – Probably the fact that we are now in our fifth year without ever going through or even considering a line-up change. I consider this a testament to the dedication of the four individuals in this group. And being together for that many years despite a huge number of obstacles we had to face especially coming from the outside gives us a sense of cohesiveness both musically and personally.

We absolutely cherish the opportunity to keep forging and refining our identity as a band. Therefore, “My Fatal Kiss” will give the world an even better and more intricate idea of what Krypteria stands for.

SOURCEWEBZINE – Take us through your typical day.

S.C. KUSCHNERUS (D) – Well, nothing to write home about here, really. I get up relatively early, check my inbox, Myspace and the news. Then it’s either off to the recording studio, our rehearsal spot or some other music related activity. Hopefully I’ll do some sports later in the day like all of us do and preferably round it all off by trying to catch an NFL game or some movie. So not too many rock’n’roll clichés here… but we usually try to make up for it on tour, especially our bass player Frank does (laughs).

SOURCEWEBZINE – MySpace is a huge resource for bands in the 21st century. How has MySpace helped you get known and reach new fans?

S.C. KUSCHNERUS (D) – It’s nothing short of fantastic and I’ll give you an example as to why Myspace is making a huge difference: One of our most loyal friends on Myspace is a girl from Ho Chi Minh City. So when it was announced that we actually were about to play in Vietnam she let us know how excited she was about us coming to her country, while at the same time she was super sad because the Ho Chi Minh City show had already been sold out.

Because of the fact that she had been such a loyal fan of the band we wanted her to see the show. So, although it was not easy, we were able to arrange tickets for her and a friend at last. Here we were, thousands of miles away from home, performing in a foreign country for the very first time, knowing that somewhere in the crowd there was somebody you already had built a relationship with. This would most likely not have been possible without the wonderful tool that is Myspace. And since similar stories happened to us in Mexico and all over Europe it’s a proven fact that you can establish actual friendships through Myspace, corny as it may sound. So, hopefully we’ll be able to add a couple of first-hand experiences with our Brazilian friends to that list soon. Translation: We can’t wait to come to Brazil !

SOURCEWEBZINE – What’s the situation for your type of music where you live right now?

S.C. KUSCHNERUS (D) – It has gotten pretty ugly over the years due to the ongoing overall crisis the music industry is facing. But that basically affects almost all artists who refuse to play it safe. See, the majority of the major labels and the media seem to timidly focus on the latest low-risk trend, on the sure-fire, foolproof copycat superstar in order to avoid making a mistake. So it takes a gutsy label representative or journalist to go against the grain. Anyway, this obviously affects the non-mainstream artists because

a.) nobody wants to give them time to develop like back in the days, and

b.) because of the mainstream media’s reluctance to leave their comfort zone it’s extremely difficult to reach the average person beyond the boundaries of your own musical community, even though they might be interested in getting a good sonic smack in the face (laughs).

That said, the hard’n'heavy community as well as the dark community are very much alive over here, so while we are part of a de facto underground scene, at least it’s a very huge and healthy one. And yes, while the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties might have been more receptive for non-conformist music, there’s still hope for the rockers and rollers even today (laughs). I believe it can be done, you just need to keep doing your thing !

SOURCEWEBZINE – What do you think about the Brazilian metal scene? Do you know much about our bands?

S.C. KUSCHNERUS (D) – The first Brazilian band Europe really took notice of was Sepultura back in the days when they got picked up by Roadrunner. To this day the European metal media’s focus remains primarily on artists from the United States, Scandinavia, UK and the rest of Europe. Nevertheless, acts such as Krisiun, Almah, Torture Squad, Ratos de Porao and Angra all have made a name for themselves over the years, so it seems to me that the Brazilian metal scene is very much alive and well. That does not surprise too much, after all Brazil is legendary for its crazy and passionate rock fans, so it only makes sense that they support their domestic bands. And with a source like SOURCEWEBZINE going strong for almost 20 years now I can attest that the Brazilian metal aficionados seem to be in very good hands.

SOURCEWEBZINE – I would like to thank you for sharing these words with us and wish you good luck with your new album. Is there any last words you would like to share with the readers of Sourcewebzine ?

S.C. KUSCHNERUS (D) – As I mentioned before the Brazilian fans have a reputation for being extremely dedicated to their rock and roll music. And judging by the feedback we received especially through Myspace we think this reputation is well-deserved. Needless to say we’d love to experience this passion in person, so to everybody in Brazil who might be interested in Krypteria: You are at the top of our list of countries we’d love to tour as soon as possible. Hopefully we’ll have our live debut in your country sometime in 2009 behind our new album “My Fatal Kiss” and we’d love to meet you guys on the road. In the meantime keep the feedback coming via Myspace. Ji-In, Chris, Frank and I appreciate your support more than you’ll probably know.

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