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Apoptygma Berzerk has become one of the most sucessful electro/ebm bands in the last several years. They embarked on the huge "Welcome To Earth" tour with VNV Nation as the opening act, and set out to give fans the ride of their lives. A live CD and DVD of that tour was released shortly thereafter, and now with the brand new album "Harmonizer" just hitting the shelves (and dancefloors) Stephen Groth and bandmates are embarking on yet another grand tour with Beborn Beton in tow. I had the pleasure of interviewing Stephen personally on the Welcome to Earth tour, and now, he has again graced our pages (via email) for another insight into the music of Apoptygma Berzerk. Oh, and in case you didn't already know, the band will play our own fair city at the Fat Kat Club on May 5th. So get ready! When you began writing material for "Harmonizer" did you already have a direction planned out? Were there certain musical avenues you consiously avoided because you thought they had been overdone? "Well, during the WTE tour I started composing the Harmonizer songs while still on the road. I really didn't want to make a sequel to WTE, but justtry to work out a genuine APB sound. I had always thought WTE was a step in the right direction and I wanted to continue what I had started." When we last interviewed with you, you mentioned that there was quite an influence of modern house in your music. It's very apparent on "Ok Amp, Let Me Out." Was this a deliberate take at writing a "house" song? "No, not really, I just wanted a hard dancefloor song on this album.I dont think "OK amp" is that House-ish, I think its more modern F242-ish with a touch of techno.but you are right, I´m very inspired by housemusic, I thinkit can be heard on most of the tracks on Harmonizer, especiallyif you listen to the drum programming." What's behind the title "Photoshop Sucks? "Well the title is of course ironic, I love photoshop. The song is about what is real in life, and what is not.” Were you using a lot of the same gear as last time? I spoke to Ronin from VNV Nation, and he wrote his new album completely on his computer with no outboard gear whatsoever. Do you think this is direction electronic music is heading? Is the quality the same? "This is definitely the way its heading, but the quality is not the same yet. In a few years most hardware synths will be unnessasary just like samplers are today.but most other outboard gear like compressors, reverbs and eq´s are still way better in hardware than software.i used about 50 % softsynths and 50 % hardware synths on Harmonizerso it is hard to tell what is what. I tried to make the hardwaresynths sond like plugin synths, and the plug-synths to sound like they were hardware." The "Welcome To Earth Tour" appeared to be quite a success. The DVD was great, as was the live companion CD. I read on your website that Beborn Beton will support you on the upcoming US tour. When will you hit US shores? "We are at the moment touring europe, and we will continue the "world harmonytour" in the US on the 3rd of may in Florida." I really like "Detroit Tickets." Did you have some interesting stories to tell about that particular city? "The song was made on a laptop in the tourbus when I was in Detroit during the WTE tour. I tried to put sound to my feelings, detroitis a great city! the vibe there is so industrial and dark no wonder Techno was invented there." Apparently you have quite the following here in Florida, as you played two shows in our warm sunny state last year. I assume you will be back? "Yes!I love Florida, especially the weather which is very different from what I’m used to since I´m living in Norway. I think we are playing 3 concerts in Florida on this tour." Have you been to Hessdalen to look for strange phenomena since you were home? "No unfortunately I never had the chance to go there, I would very much like to though." APOPTYGMA BERZERK perform LIVE Sunday May 5th at the Fat Kat in Jacksonville, FL click here for more info |
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