Black Space Riders is not your ordinary band. I can describe them as a “strange” act which likes to move into new territories with every new album. That’s exactly what they do on their new album “Refugeeum”. Grande Rock contacted Je and SEB so as to find out more about this “strange” band and their new album…
Hi Je (vocals, Guitars, Organ) and SEB (vocals)… only a year after “D:REI”, you’re back with a new album entitled “Refugeeum”. Which are the main differences & similarities between the two albums?
J: Similarities first: Same band, same people, and the same kind of musical approach. Of course this is Heavy Riff-Music. In comparison to “D:REI” the new album “Refugeeum” has more ethereal vibes and, for lack of a better term, fragile elements above the heavy, pounding riff base. On “D:REI” the variety and diversity could be found between album sides (like two chapters) and between songs. Now you find diversity within every single song on “Refugeeum”.
Did you intensively add new elements to your music style or it was something that I came up naturally when you started working on “Refugeeum”?
S: Everything came up fluently, and yes: naturally, when we started with the rehearsal sessions for our new album. It is still all about five guys who make “their music” and let intuition allow everything to flow naturally, so that whatever comes out is what comes out. Nothing is preconceived in the music that we make.
And what does the album title “Refugeeum” declare? Does it have an alternative/metaphoric meaning too?
S: The word “Refugeeum” is a combination of “refugee” (engl.) and “refugium” (lat.) and can be seen as a place and as a state of mind as well. It refers to a new homeland and the desire to reach it when you had to leave your native one.
Where did you draw your inspiration from so as to write the music and the lyrics for “Refugeeum”?
J: All the bands that we have been listening to in our lives had an impact on us. Heavy bands, New wave bands, Psychedelic bands, Electronic music. But there is so much more involved with Black Space Riders than just the music itself. We make music like making movies. When we play the music we ourselves and the listener to want to see pictures and movies unfold in the mind’s eye.. It’s the same thing with the lyrics. Yes, the refugee-situation is a damn serious and a very sad thing! We just had to write about it! But we didn’t write it as though we were trying to make a political statement. We are storytellers and, therefore, we told the story with the music and lyrics, and let the listeners’ ears and imagination take it the rest of the way.
Are the “earth issues” more curious/weird than the “space ones”?
S: I’d say that they’re a lot sadder, at least currently. And maybe it’s time for BSR to leave this planet, and find a place in which hope is still a reality, still within one’s grasp.
Do give us a hint about each track…
S: “Vortex Sun”: Introduction, setting, mood – it’s a rough image of what the listener will experience the following hour.
“Universal Bloodlines”: Intense, focused. A rocker. When JE and SLI unleash their guitars while SAQ and C.RIP let it groove your body, it’s time to fight.
J: “Born a Lion (Homeless)”: Kind of tribal Killing-Joke-Style, and at the same time partly soft in a way and ghostly. The lyrics tell a story about a little boy losing his hope and home, a refugee, finding himself on skid row after being stranded in the western world.
“The Lure (Come with us)”: This one is heavy and pounding, but with a lot of pop-appeal. The lyrics are written from the point of view of a cynical human trafficker.
S: “Run to the Plains”: A ten minute bass‘n’groove monster. Once it catches you, it won’t let you go.
“Curtains of Death”: Starts very hard and heavy – and it has a specific theatrical moment.
J: “Melek’s Lament (Yazidi Tears)”: The first half of the song is very soft and atmospheric, like David Bowie singing a space ballad. The second half is heavy and psychedelic like Monster Magnet jamming with Sigur Ros. The lyrics are about the pursued Yazidi people. Hunted and despised for ages. Right now the IS (State of Islam) seems to try to exterminate this poor and fascinating people.
S: “Walking Shades”: A song of and for the desperate. No hope in sight. If there’s a god who gives me the strength to go on and on, he must be far away.
“Ritual of Inner Strength”: The mass! I’m so excited to perform this one on stage!
Where did the recordings take place and who produced, mixed and mastered the album?
J: We recorded again at “Die Tonmeisterei” in Oldenburg (Germany) with our dear friend Role Wiegner, the owner of that nice little studio. We recorded live: five friends and all the equipment in one room. Some additional guitar flavours and the vocals were added and overdubbed after the live-recordings. Role and me, we produced the album as well as the albums before. We discussed a lot with all the other band members about what we were doing though.
How would you describe the music style of “Refugeeum” in a few words?
J: Atmospheric, deep, groovy, ghostly, heavy, fragile. A blend of 70s, 80s and 90s influences: we are the “New Wave of Heavy Psychedelic Space Rock”…
There’s already a lyric video for “Born a Lion (Homeless)” out. Do you intend to release another lyric video or any concept video in the next months? Any new music on the way too?
J: Yes, there is a continuation of “Refugeeum” that will be released some time during spring of 2016. These are other recordings from the “Refuggeeum” sessions that were not included on the album, but work well together as an entity separate from the current album. Musically, the tracks are “different”, perhaps even more different than what you would expect from Black Space Riders. So they form the basis of an upcoming EP. We will definitely do at least one video for the EP.
What are your touring plans?
J: We will play some release-shows in Fall and start booking new and hopefully bigger shows for the winter and spring. Most of them will be in Germany, and others in some European countries nearby.
What do you wish or hope to achieve with BSR in the next years?
J: First of all we are doing this for ourselves. We can’t and we don’t want to earn a living from this band. The success we’ve achieved so far is great, if modest, and much more than we expected when we started. If we reach and touch more and more people around the globe and if some of these people perhaps start thinking differently about some things and maybe even effect change, then we’re happy.
J: Similarities first: Same band, same people, and the same kind of musical approach. Of course this is Heavy Riff-Music. In comparison to “D:REI” the new album “Refugeeum” has more ethereal vibes and, for lack of a better term, fragile elements above the heavy, pounding riff base. On “D:REI” the variety and diversity could be found between album sides (like two chapters) and between songs. Now you find diversity within every single song on “Refugeeum”.
Did you intensively add new elements to your music style or it was something that I came up naturally when you started working on “Refugeeum”?
S: Everything came up fluently, and yes: naturally, when we started with the rehearsal sessions for our new album. It is still all about five guys who make “their music” and let intuition allow everything to flow naturally, so that whatever comes out is what comes out. Nothing is preconceived in the music that we make.
And what does the album title “Refugeeum” declare? Does it have an alternative/metaphoric meaning too?
S: The word “Refugeeum” is a combination of “refugee” (engl.) and “refugium” (lat.) and can be seen as a place and as a state of mind as well. It refers to a new homeland and the desire to reach it when you had to leave your native one.
Where did you draw your inspiration from so as to write the music and the lyrics for “Refugeeum”?
J: All the bands that we have been listening to in our lives had an impact on us. Heavy bands, New wave bands, Psychedelic bands, Electronic music. But there is so much more involved with Black Space Riders than just the music itself. We make music like making movies. When we play the music we ourselves and the listener to want to see pictures and movies unfold in the mind’s eye.. It’s the same thing with the lyrics. Yes, the refugee-situation is a damn serious and a very sad thing! We just had to write about it! But we didn’t write it as though we were trying to make a political statement. We are storytellers and, therefore, we told the story with the music and lyrics, and let the listeners’ ears and imagination take it the rest of the way.
Are the “earth issues” more curious/weird than the “space ones”?
S: I’d say that they’re a lot sadder, at least currently. And maybe it’s time for BSR to leave this planet, and find a place in which hope is still a reality, still within one’s grasp.
Do give us a hint about each track…
S: “Vortex Sun”: Introduction, setting, mood – it’s a rough image of what the listener will experience the following hour.
“Universal Bloodlines”: Intense, focused. A rocker. When JE and SLI unleash their guitars while SAQ and C.RIP let it groove your body, it’s time to fight.
J: “Born a Lion (Homeless)”: Kind of tribal Killing-Joke-Style, and at the same time partly soft in a way and ghostly. The lyrics tell a story about a little boy losing his hope and home, a refugee, finding himself on skid row after being stranded in the western world.
“The Lure (Come with us)”: This one is heavy and pounding, but with a lot of pop-appeal. The lyrics are written from the point of view of a cynical human trafficker.
S: “Run to the Plains”: A ten minute bass‘n’groove monster. Once it catches you, it won’t let you go.
“Curtains of Death”: Starts very hard and heavy – and it has a specific theatrical moment.
J: “Melek’s Lament (Yazidi Tears)”: The first half of the song is very soft and atmospheric, like David Bowie singing a space ballad. The second half is heavy and psychedelic like Monster Magnet jamming with Sigur Ros. The lyrics are about the pursued Yazidi people. Hunted and despised for ages. Right now the IS (State of Islam) seems to try to exterminate this poor and fascinating people.
S: “Walking Shades”: A song of and for the desperate. No hope in sight. If there’s a god who gives me the strength to go on and on, he must be far away.
“Ritual of Inner Strength”: The mass! I’m so excited to perform this one on stage!
Where did the recordings take place and who produced, mixed and mastered the album?
J: We recorded again at “Die Tonmeisterei” in Oldenburg (Germany) with our dear friend Role Wiegner, the owner of that nice little studio. We recorded live: five friends and all the equipment in one room. Some additional guitar flavours and the vocals were added and overdubbed after the live-recordings. Role and me, we produced the album as well as the albums before. We discussed a lot with all the other band members about what we were doing though.
How would you describe the music style of “Refugeeum” in a few words?
J: Atmospheric, deep, groovy, ghostly, heavy, fragile. A blend of 70s, 80s and 90s influences: we are the “New Wave of Heavy Psychedelic Space Rock”…
There’s already a lyric video for “Born a Lion (Homeless)” out. Do you intend to release another lyric video or any concept video in the next months? Any new music on the way too?
J: Yes, there is a continuation of “Refugeeum” that will be released some time during spring of 2016. These are other recordings from the “Refuggeeum” sessions that were not included on the album, but work well together as an entity separate from the current album. Musically, the tracks are “different”, perhaps even more different than what you would expect from Black Space Riders. So they form the basis of an upcoming EP. We will definitely do at least one video for the EP.
What are your touring plans?
J: We will play some release-shows in Fall and start booking new and hopefully bigger shows for the winter and spring. Most of them will be in Germany, and others in some European countries nearby.
What do you wish or hope to achieve with BSR in the next years?
J: First of all we are doing this for ourselves. We can’t and we don’t want to earn a living from this band. The success we’ve achieved so far is great, if modest, and much more than we expected when we started. If we reach and touch more and more people around the globe and if some of these people perhaps start thinking differently about some things and maybe even effect change, then we’re happy.
Time for our “weird questions”!!! How did you come up with the name Black Space Riders in the first place?
J: We needed a name that sounded like the music that we played when we started: heavy, hypnotic, monolithic, with a wink and a bit over the top. A name like in a Cartoon, and it had to reflect my passion for Space and SciFi.
Is the “free downloading issue” the main reason why the music industry has taken the downhill or there are other, more important reasons for that?
J: According to a lot of people music has lost importance and value. I dislike the term “music industry” anyway. Music is a touching, healing, and holy art. It should not be part of any “industry” or “business”. I know it is of course and that’s part of the game. And I know that I sound like a fucking idiot hippie utopia freak, but... so what??!!
Which is the record you wish you had written and why?
J: “Refugeeum”. Ooops. I (or better “we”) have!!! So... hmmmh: Queensryche’s “Operation Mindcrime” or Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” (because they are good... lyrically and musically)... oh, wait! “Thriller” (Michael Jackson): you know why!!! (i.n.: Hehehehe…)
Top 3 sci-fi movies of any era?
J: “Blade Runner”, “Pitch Black”, “Interstellar”…
Top 3 Horror movies of all time?
J: No idea! I don’t like horror movies so I never watch them (except if they have a SciFi-background like Aliens)…
S: “Ring” (Japanese original), “Braindead”, “The Hills Have Eyes”…
Beloved TV series that you watch this season?
J: “Game of Thrones”, “Suits”, “Person of interest”…
S: “Tatortreiniger” (German)…
What are those things that you do not like in the music industry nowadays?
J: The music industry!
Best pick-up line that has worked for you several times in the past?
J: I disagree and have a total different point of view…
Machine vs Humans… is humanity doomed to fall by their own hand eventually?
S: “Fall by their own hand” sounds probable. But I would say that it’s a question of “Rich vs Poor”.
Can reality surpass sci-fi or not?
S: Science-Fiction, as a result of incidents and the surroundings of our lives and as a visionary art form, will always be able to surpass reality. But, considered chronologically, sometimes reality surpasses even the most dreadful imaginations.
What’s the worst thing you can say right after sex?
S: You look so similar to your mother…
J: I was good, wasn’t I?!
You have the opportunity to sleep with the movie-celebrity/porn-star of your choice. Who would it be & why?
S: Miss Piggy, in her space-suit. Oh my, I…
If you could be any historical person, which one would you be and why?
J: Was or is god a historical person? If so he would be my choice. Or perhaps the devil... I guess that would be more fun.
S: That’s really hard to say, because usually I don’t spend any time thinking about being someone else. But if I did, it would have to be someone really, really powerful, maybe Noah. In this case I had done everything possible to get rid of these damn wasps.
What would the world be like without religions… can you imagine?
S: No better place at all, I fear. But if you replace “religions” by “money”, we could start an interesting discussion. (i.n.: Ain’t that the same thing?!!)
Imagine that your girlfriend/wife is selling your whole album-collection just to buy an expensive ring for herself. How would you react?
S: I would ask her if she needs my porn collection for a new pair of shoes yet.
I think we have come to an end guys. Thx so much for the music and wish you the best for the future. Any last words? Take care!
J: Reflect! Resist! Think and then Act! Feel for others! Have mercy! Be generous! Listen to good music! Listen to BSR! www.blackspaceriders.com.