Interview mit Daniel Graves von Aesthetic Perfection

You’ve been on the road with Lindemann now, but you’ve played also a few headlining shows in small clubs in between, so you had to switch from playing in front of a huge crowd as a first support act to headlining small clubs and vice versa. Were these switches difficult for you?
To be honest, for me, it wasn’t very difficult at all, because we’ve been playing clubs for literally the last 20 years, so it’s like a second home for me. To be honest, getting used to the arenas, that was the most difficult thing at the beginning, but by the end, that was also just like, okay, now we feel comfortable doing this. But the switch wasn’t all that difficult, because we had a great crew who was always on top of things, always ready to be setting up, for tearing down, solving technical problems. We had a great team, and they made every obstacle, every change in venue just as easy as we could have possibly hoped for. So it was all right.

You’ve done both before, but this time you had the direct comparison: Which type of show did you have more fun with on this concert tour?
It’s different, because obviously it’s a lot of fun to play for your own audience. They know all the songs. They know all the words. They’re singing back to you. Eery time you’re going to ask them to sing with you, they’re prepared for it. There’s something really, really special about that. And the intimacy of the small clubs is also great, because you’re all there in this tiny room together, and it’s sweaty and hot, and you’re all like suffering as one (laughs), and also having fun as one. It’s definitely a much more personal experience. But I also love a challenge. And I love going out on stage into an arena full of people who have no idea who I am and trying to figure out a way to get them to come to our side. I don’t know if you know, but Rammstein- and Lindemann-fans are very, very dedicated people. They are not there for the support. They are there for the headline act. And there were some times when I was afraid, like, is anybody going to throw a bottle at me, or start screaming boo or whatever? But this sort of challenge, the thrill of the challenge, was for me very, very exciting. So I have to say I love both. I really do cherish both.

„If we had had a bad show,
I would tell you all about it.“

But as you said, the Lindemann-audience is maybe not the easiest one to play for as a support act. So did you have bad experiences as well, or did the crowd enjoyed your set always anyways?
There was not a single show that I felt like we didn’t earn the audience by the end. And that’s not me trying to be egotistical or arrogant or anything. If we had had a bad show, I would tell you all about it. I’d tell you all the embarrassing details. But I feel so lucky and so blessed that the people were as open to us as they ended up being. We supported Lindemann back in 2020. It was an amazing experience, we gained a lot of new fans. But this time felt different. It really felt like something special had happened where really just the connection between us and the audience was just so much stronger than it was the first time around. And I don’t know if we got better as a band. Maybe we learned how to perform to these crowds and a larger audience better. Maybe it was the songs we chose. I don’t know. But I know that I’m still getting Instagram messages … today. I open up my Instagram and have a message: Hey, I saw you in this city opening for Lindemann. It was great. Or people posting videos saying, I love this band. That didn’t happen last time. So we really feel this change. It’s been incredible, and I’m so grateful for it.

Yeah, I could also imagine that many people recognized you from the last tour. I mean, I think many of them saw you already on your last tour. So maybe that helped as well …
It’s possible. But like I said, someday, I open up my Instagram every day and there’s something like, I didn’t know you before, saw you opening for Lindemann. This was great. So it’s just that this impression has stayed with people now over a month away. It’s quite cool. In 2024 or in the social media age, it’s like people forget stuff a day later. They’re like, yeah, cool. Okay, on to the next thing.

Do you think the Lindemann and Rammstein fans are the perfect audience for you? When the Lindemann-case came up in the media there were a lot of disgusting reactions from that fanbase. I also experienced that as a journalist writing about it, we got tons of really rough and bothering comments.  Of course not all people listening to Lindemann are to be blamed here, but I’m not sure if I as an artist would want to have this type of people as my new fan base?
Well, I was not only nervous about playing for Lindemann as a support band, but also knowing that so many of those people bought tickets to our side shows and would come experience us as a headliner. I mean, the songs that we are playing, they’re not all rock songs. They’re not all metal songs. Half of the show is entirely electronic. And it’s not just Rammstein fans that could be a little bit … I don’t want to say close-minded, but a little bit sort of stuck in their ways. I think this is fan mentality as it is. This is not limited to one band. And rock and metal fans can be very, very judgmental, especially when it comes to electronic music. So I was expecting maybe some of these people would be like, oh, I came to see a rock band, not an EBM show or not a DJ or something like that. But, really, half the shows, I swear to God, were full of people that had come and seen us opening for Lindemann, wearing Lindemann shirts or wearing Rammstein vests and things like that. And they were singing along and saying that the show was fantastic. No negative response whatsoever. I could not believe it. That we had such a positive experience, for me, maybe it’s a demonstration that rock and metal fans are not as close-minded as they can be, or maybe the fans that we attract are more open in general. People who said, oh, I like that band, I’m going to buy a ticket to see them. Maybe they’re not the ones who are going to be like, I only want the heavy stuff. I only want the rock and metal stuff. So I don’t fully know why it worked the way it did with us, but what I know is that fans can be, in general, close-minded, standoffish towards anything that they’re not familiar with. And it’s my job to find a way to bring them into my world.

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„And we’re like, they may hate this,
but we have to try.“

You already talked about the songs, you said maybe you chosethe right songs this time. You had only 25 minutes stage time – I guess it’s pretty hard to show people who don’t know you at all the full spectrum of what you’re doing in 25 minutes. How did you pick the songs for this run?
Yeah. It was all very, very deliberate. We sat down, me and the other musicians, my crew and everybody, and we were like, OK, we rehearsed 15 songs for the headline shows. And the idea was, OK, what is going to not only connect the most with people who like this kind of Rammstein, industrial metal, I don’t know if this word is still in use anymore, the Neue Deutsche Härte, right? So we were trying to find some sort of balance between music that I make that has sounded like that but also expresses the very varied range of emotions and sounds that AESTHETIC PERFECTION has. This is why we started with “Gods And Gold”, which we felt was a very heavy and direct song, very sort of immediate. And then we thought that going into “S E X” after that, which is a very chuggy, stompy, industrial metal type track, that’s probably the next best step. And it’s also very arena-like, chanty, and also has a lot of synthesizers in it. So we’re like, OK, that’s the next one. And then we’re going to play the new song, “Toxic”, which is a bit of like more of like a radio rock song, to be honest. And we’re like, that’s the wild card. We weren’t sure if people were going to like that song, but we tried it anyways. And then “Rhythm Control”, which is more industrial metal again but then has this kind of like pop chorus with the chants and things like that. That one was a favorite from the last tour. So that one we knew would work. And then we were like, we have to play something entirely electronic. And the only one that can work is the song called “Love Like Lies”, which is very heavy but also very poppy and 100% electronic. And we’re like, they may hate this, but we have to try. And every night people put their hands in the air and clapped along with us. And they accepted that. So like I said, we were very sort of scientific in our approach to choosing the songs. And we only had a couple of experiments in there, but we feel like the experiments paid off.

When the tour was announced in spring, the Rammstein-world was still in order, so to say. And then all those accusations against Till Lindemann came up. Did you at any point doubt that the tour would happen at all? So I mean, I was not sure if it wouldn’t be canceled in the end …
I think in these types of situations, all you can really do is take things day by day and follow the situation as it progresses. And that’s what we did. We just stayed connected with the management and everybody and just waited to see how everything developed. And it happened that the tour did take place and everything was fantastic.

„It’s more important to me
to do what I feel is right. 

But when those accusations came up, was there a point when you doubted that it was the right thing to be a part of this tour with AESTHETIC PERFECTION, or even regretted your decision to participate? Were you worried that this might backfire on you? I mean, in the end he got through it without any damage, the shows were sold out and the hype was bigger than ever. But it could have turned out differently, I guess. And then your name on the poster might not have been a good advert for you …
[ponders for a long time] I think probably the best way to answer that is to say that I’m not really interested in how something reflects on me. It’s more important to me to do what I feel is right. So if I do something that I feel is right and it reflects negatively on me, then I have to live with that. If I do something that I don’t feel is right and it reflects good on me, then I don’t feel good about that.

Yes, I understand that, but you’re avoiding my question: Was there a point for you where you questioned whether it was right to support Lindemann’s solo project? I mean, it is his solo project. So in the end, supporting Lindemann means that you are “on his side”, whatever that means. I don’t want to judge that here, but if I were the support act, I maybe would have questioned at some point, just for me, if it’s the right thing to do that …
[ponders for a long time] I did not ever question whether or not I was doing the right thing.

That was a short answer to a long question, but OK. However, you have been on both tours. And one was the easy one, I think, everyone was hyped about this new Project of Till Lindemann and Peter Tägtgren. And the second one was a controversial one, with a great deal of interest from outside the Lindemann fanbase as to what would happen. Did that change something for the feeling in the tour entourage or backstage, so to say?
No, I don’t think so.

So everyone just did business as usual again?
For me and my crew and my experience of everything, it was business as usual. Everybody was as kind and accommodating and good to us as they were back in 2020.

But in one aspect at least, it wasn’t „business as usual“ for you, as you had to perform with a new live band. I mean, the other two musicians from AESTHETIC PERFECTION have defected to Lindemann. So in the first place, what did it change for you to have a new band on stage?
It was a little bit terrifying, if I’m being honest with you, because this was essentially the biggest tour of my career. I mean, we had toured with Lindemann before, but we were in definitely larger venues and it was a longer run. I don’t know where you’re based out of …

I’m from Munich.
OK. So that’s funny – Munich was the only city that we played in in 2020 and 2023 at the same venue. So we were in Zenith in 2020 and we were in Zenith last year. But in Leipzig for example, we were in Haus Auensee in 2020. Haus Auensee holds, I think, 2,500 people. And then the first show of the recent tour was in Leipzig at the Immobilien Quarterback Arena. And there’s, what, 12,000? That’s a big, big difference. Going into this, where our first show was going to be in front of more than 10,000 people and I’ve got this new band, it was definitely scary. Because you don’t know how this constellation of people are going to get along and how we’re all going to perform together. We had two days of rehearsal in Leipzig and then we did one warm-up show in a small club. And then it was time for the big arena.

How did you recruit the new musicians or where did you find them?
Our guitarist, Lore, we found her on Instagram. Mike, my drummer from Vienna, I played with him during the lockdowns because there was still a travel restriction between the U.S. and Europe and we were doing some festival shows. When we booked them, we didn’t think that we would be able to bring Joey over. So I recruited these two musicians from Vienna … Mike was the drummer who played with me. And so when we got this opportunity, I called him up and I’m like, look, Joe’s got to play with Till, I don’t have a drummer. Do you want to do this? And I think it was even before I finished the sentence, he was like: yeah, I’m in.

„Joey and Constance, they’re show stealers on their own.“

But how different does it feel for you to play without Joey? I mean, he brings a lot of energy to the stage and is definitely a focal point, whether with AESTHETIC PERFECTION or with Lindemann …
I feel like it was obviously different. But I also felt like this group was also incredibly engaging in it’s own way. I feel like it was obviously different. But I also felt like this group was also incredibly engaging in it’s own way. I mean, Joey and Constance, our regular keyboardist and guitarist who you saw on this tour as the keyboardist for Lindemann, they’re show stealers on their own. It was actually kind of a relief for me playing with both of them because I had the feeling that there weren’t as many expectations of me. It’s like, OK, I can relax a little bit, let Joey and Constance take some of the attention. But both, Lore and Mike, they’re fantastic musicians and fantastic performers in their own way. So I wouldn’t say that anything was better or worse. It was just different.

But will Joey and Constance come back? So was this just a temporary solution?
The plan is for Joey and Constance to return if we get another opportunity to play for a band that is not Lindemann. If there’s another tour opportunity that presents itself and they are not on tour with with Till, they will absolutely return. But I think this was the best possible way to lose these two people, because Constance and Joey, they’re like my family. So it was very sad at first that they weren’t able to join us and being part of our part of the tour. But having them there anyways, meeting every day in catering and we would set up Mario Kart in our backstage every day and Constance would come and play with us … so the whole vibe with everything was just very much like a family. So even though they couldn’t play with us, which was sad, having them there anyways was always sort of a great consolation prize, a runner up prize.

„People treat going to concerts less like they would treat going to the cinema and more like they’re going on vacation.“

You’ve just spoken about future tours and the possible band line-up in this case … In this context, we might need to clarify one more thing: Your last headlining tour was announced as kind of a farewell tour. You wrote back then that you didn’t really want to go on tour anymore because it doesn’t pay off. Was that a misunderstanding back then or have you changed your mind?
The touring situation has changed so drastically after COVID, we’re just really in a completely different world now. The fact is, is that the costs of touring have doubled and tripled and people are in general going out less. So less people are buying tickets than they were before. Now, the statistics say that the concert industry is booming. Which is true in a sense – but not entirely: As you saw, on the Lindemann tour almost every show was sold out. But I would say maybe a quarter of the people going to these shows, they’ve taken like a whole month off of work and they’re traveling all around Europe and they’re attending every single show. Live music has basically sort of shifted away from small to midsize bands to sort of arena and stadium bands. Those bands are thriving. They’re doing great. But it’s because people treat going to concerts less like they would treat going to the cinema and more like they’re going on vacation: They take time off of work, they travel out of town, they buy plane tickets, train tickets, hotels, whatever. It’s a very different experience than, oh, hey, boss, I got to go. I got a concert. And then you go to the show and you come home and it’s over. With this disconnect, as a band of my size, you cannot go on tour as a headliner and expect to come home with any money at all. In our U.S. tour, we had an average of a 30 percent drop in attendance between our 2019 headlining tour and our 2022 tour. But in some cities it was 80 percent. Chicago, we normally sell 400 tickets, we sold 80. That’s what I mean …

I told you I would be honest about things that did not go so well. So, on our American tour, I lost a lot of money. Our European tour in spring went great – the attendance was between two hundred and seven hundred people every night. But in the end, even though we didn’t get a bus, we tried to go as cheaply as possible, I underpaid Joey and Constance and my whole crew and everything, I made one hundred and forty five euros. Not including merch sales, but the whole machine. That’s the thing. Normally with a tour of like six, seven weeks, you make a couple of thousand dollars – at least. But this has shiftet. And here’s another thing. During this time, my Spotify numbers went down, my Patreon supporters went down, because I’m not promoting myself online or looking after my supporters the way that I normally do when I’m at home. So I’m not making money. I’m not growing and I’m losing Spotify listeners and Patreon supporters.

And I’m just in this place where I need to be more strategic about the tours that I take. So I absolutely did mean it that I will not be doing headlining tours in the foreseeable future unless the band gets very, very big, you know, and I can sell out, I don’t know, Zenith on my own. Then we can have that discussion again. But for the time being, for me it doesn’t make sense. So I will go on tour if I can open for a band like Lindemann, where I can see the immediate results of that investment of time and money and things like that. But otherwise, it doesn’t make sense. You know, the side shows are already there, that didn’t cost us more money, it made us money. So this is this is the sort of difference between the “Winter Goth”-shows and the tour that we did in spring … we’re already on the road, we can get some side shows and make a little bit of extra money as opposed to going on tour and paying for everything, all the overhead costs up front straight away just to come home with 145 euros.

„But if there’s no growth, no money …
then what am I what am I doing here?“

How does it compare with the support shows for Lindemann? I mean, you probably won’t even get a fee for these … so what about your sales figures and streaming numbers and so on? Did you see a positive influence here?
Yes. Yeah, yeah. Fantastic. Like immediate! New Patreon supporters, three times as many Spotify listeners for that month. We were selling maybe 20 shirts a night at Lindemann, which is great. You know, on the last tour, we were lucky if we sold two shirts or three. So, like I said, the enthusiasm, the vibe, everything … there was a noticeable difference between 2020 and 2023. In the end, I did not make money on the Lindemann tour. So when all the budgets were done, I did lose money. But there was visible growth. I’m OK with losing money if there is growth. But if there’s no growth, no money … then what am I what am I doing here? I’m taking valuable time … I could spend time with my family, I could be writing new music in the studio, working on Patreon stuff. There is a million other things that I could be doing. I think this is going to be the reality for many bands that are as big as AESTHETIC PERFECTION, within the next couple of years. I know that a lot of my colleagues are sort of saying, no, no, no, we’re going to keep touring. But I think that this is going to become untenable in the next three, four years or something like that, which is why I’m trying to do what younger bands do. I don’t know if you pay attention to new bands – they don’t even go on stage until they become big enough to open for a band like My Chemical Romance. If you know who Kim Dracula is, this kid from Australia who grew super huge online until they got so popular that they got to open for My Chemical Romance, in arenas, for their first tour ever. Let’s be strategic here.

It’s an interesting thought, but I think it’s also a pity … if everybody is doing it like that, the entire club culture will die. So would you say that it’s the way to go for younger bands to spend their time on social media to promote themselves instead of working on their skills in the rehearsal room and playing gigs to get famous?
Well, I think it’s funny that you said “play to get famous”. And I would actually say: Now it’s “get famous to play”. (laughs) Look, there is definitely something that is lost in that, because you have to go out and play in the clubs and suck until you get good. Nobody just gets on stage for the first time and is great. It just isn’t like that. So I do worry that the future bands will not be as prepared for these big opportunities as a band that worked up to it. But, you know, you look at somebody like Spiritbox, who also did this same thing: I think they only played a couple of shows in Germany before they really like broke … and then they just waited until their first real tour was with Limp Bizkit. But these are seasoned musicians who’ve been touring with Iwrestledabearonce for years and years and years. So they knew what they were doing, they came out ready. The younger kids maybe not so much. But I think we’re going to figure it out. Time will tell how this all works. And I do feel like I’m in a position where it’s like, OK, I know what it’s like to play live. I feel like I’m at least OK at what I do. So if I take a little break for a while and grow the band … when the next opportunity comes, then hopefully I’ll remember how to do it. Still be prepared.

Another interesting thought of yours was that people no longer go to concerts, but to events that they plan like a holiday and budget accordingly. How did this come about and when did it start?
I think it was already going this way before COVID, but COVID accelerated this change. It seems to be the case that younger generations are not as interested in nightlife as we were. For people who are like our age – I don’t know how old you are, I’m 40 – going out, nightlife culture … that was a part of our adolescent experience. But I think the rise of home entertainment and media has pushed nightlife culture to the background. Younger kids would much rather stay at home and play video games and watch Netflix and chat on Discord as they would go out to a nightclub and get wasted and dance and whatever we did back in the ancient times, right. (laughs) So it’s definitely a cultural thing. And these things always ebb and flow, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the next generation, that comes after it, is more interested in nightlife, because everybody gets bored staying at home all the time. I know I do. So it’s partly that, I think. And also because music fans skew older. Most of the people that were at these Lindemann shows, they’re like our age, you know, or older. Which means they have better jobs and more money to spend. They can afford to travel out of town to go see these shows and things like that. It’s not like the kid scraping together 20 bucks to go to the punk show, right? It’s like a whole different economy.

„People seem to have higher expectations with every year.“

Yes, I think that the money is really playing a huge role here. Because, I mean, if I remember when I started to go to concerts at the age of 15 or whatever, medium sized shows were  about  15 to 20 euro maximum. And now prices have at least doubled, so 30 to 50 euro is the normal. I don’t think that every teenager can afford that. So that’s definitely a point. On the other hand, I’m not totally agree with that younger generation that lose the interest in nightlife or concerts in general. If you look at bands like Sleep Token or Lorna Shore or whatever, those new bands have a pretty young audience and people are going crazy on those bands …
They do have some level of younger audiences, which is 100% true. But I think overall, the trend is that younger people go out less. At least in the US, the statistics seem to indicate pretty heavily that young kids aren’t interested in bars or clubs or drinking or any of this kind of stuff. They really are more interested in video games and whatnot. I don’t know if it’s different here in Europe. Obviously, Germany specifically has had a very, very strong live music scene. And I feel like you guys have been much less affected by this than the US has.

Anyway, I always wonder why people prefer to go to the big, expensive gigs. What do you think of the theory that smaller club shows are no longer interesting because you can’t make them look good on Instagram and so on? Is it perhaps no longer about the music, but more about the show?
Yeah, I think the production plays a major role in it. People seem to have higher expectations with every year. Every year it’s like: How can we top this? I think you make an excellent point with what you say about Istagram. What looks best on your Instagram story? A band in a tiny club or the massive production or people throwing cakes and fish? (laughs) The spectacle matters, man! It is definitely a huge selling point, I think.

Yeah, it’s a pity because I think the focus shifts away from the art and the music to the big, spectacle …
Yeah, but there’s still bands that are very much rejecting that. Bands like Turnstyle and Knocked Loose. Or Fever 333 is super rough around the edges, they don’t give a shit about image or anything. they just want to play. There’s still a hunger for that, I think. It’s funny saying this being an electronic band, but I really do love great musicianship. I personally am mostly interested in how a show sounds. I like the technical aspects more than anything.

In this context – on the one hand related to the financial aspect of concerts, on the other hand the change in the perception of the fans, from a concert to an event where you can buy everything – I would like to talk to you about another matter, namely tickets for special „experiences“ … VIP tickets, M&G tickets and whatever. You’re doing that as well in a very elaborate way, I would say. Nevertheless, its quite expensive. Maybe we can talk about how it feels to take money for a meet and greet?
I think it’s important to note that our VIP experiences are really about the show and the experience. It’s not about meeting us. The VIP thing on the spring tour was a show within a show. We did an acoustic performance of songs that we didn’t play at the show and people would get special merchandise. So I don’t have any moral issue with taking people’s money if I’m going to give them something that is real and tangible. So if I give you a show, if I give you merchandise, I have no problem taking money from you. I do not charge people for meeting me or taking pictures, which is why after every show I’ll go and stand there for an hour or two and I’ll take pictures with everybody and sign anything that they want. And I do that after every show. I did it after every Lindemann show. I do it after every headlining show … I’ll stand there until security throws people out. I think it is a pity if a meet and greet means that somebody has to pay to only get a handshake and an autograph. That seems a bit unfair to me. But I also understand from the artist perspective that it’s very difficult to pay for your bus and to pay for catering and hotels. The costs have just exploded. And this is really one of the only ways that a band can offset those costs and be able to make sure the tour happens at all. And, you know, for us, it was like those VIP experiences really did save the tour. We probably wouldn’t have been able to do that if we hadn’t done that. I understand that it’s a complicated discussion. And I think a band who offers something like that, because they need to do it, they need to make sure that what they are offering is something that is absolutely fair and worth the money that they are asking people to spend … instead of just like, allright, give me money, here’s your picture, and now get out of here.

„For me, my community is incredibly important.“

But I would say that it’s unfortunately not the standard to do it as lovingly as you do. What’s more, it’s usually the big bands that make a lot of money with it. I totally understand the relevance for smaller bands … but the smaller the bands are, the more they, like you say, just come out after the show and sign anything anyway. What makes me feeling bad about this is that mostly the big bands are doing it and they are really often doing it not in a very fan-friendly way. Sometimes you don’t even know if you meet the entire band – and you pay a few hundred bucks for that. Not to mention rip-offs such as „Early Entrance“ tickets and the like, which don’t even include a Meet&Greet…
Yeah, if that’s the way that it works, you have to pay hundreds of euros just to get a group photo … I personally wouldn’t feel comfortable offering something like that to my community. For me, my community is incredibly important. I want them to know that I value every dollar, penny, euro, peso, whatever they invest into me and my art and my shows. So that’s not something that I would personally feel comfortable doing. And even if AESTHETIC PERFECTION gets to the point where we are selling out Zenith on our own, I would never do something like that. I would always try to make it as fair as possible for people to at least get a photo and a signature. It’s the same reason that all my music is on Bandcamp „pay what you want“. I don’t care if people steal my music or get it for free. I understand that some people are just not in the financial position to be paying for music. But everybody needs music to help them … well, not everybody needs music, but I feel like art in general is a great way for people to connect with one another and I think art allows people who don’t know how to articulate their own feelings for themselves, art gives them that voice. And if I can offer them this slight gesture of like, here, take it if you need it … I think that that means a lot to people. And so if I can do things like that, it doesn’t matter what it is, I’m absolutely going to do it. And I don’t take people’s money lightly. It’s important for me to make sure that it’s as fair and valuable as possible.

That’s a great approach, I think. More people should think like that about this topic …
I mean, it’s really funny: I didn’t do the pay what you want thing as a gimmick or a way to make money. But you find an interesting consequence of doing things like this, where you don’t care about yourself, but you care about other people, is that it actually benefits you in the long run. So as soon as I made all of my music „pay what you want“ on Bandcamp, I started making way more money on Bandcamp. You know why? Because two-thirds or three-quarters of the people, they take it for free. But the people who have the money and the people who value that I’ve made this gesture, they’ll give me $ 20 for one song. This is what it means to me to build a community and not like a fan base. You build an audience where you feel like you have a real connection with them and a real, I think community is the best word. And then when you support them, they support you.

„My true passion is being at home and in the studio and creating stuff.“

If it works like that, that’s great. I guess that’s the way for bands to go these days. Your last album is one and a half year old, I think, but you had two single releases after that. Is already more music recorded?
So we released „Summer Goth“ in summer of last year and then just before the Lindemann tour we released „Toxic“. And then I’m releasing the industrial „Club Remix“ of „Toxic“ on the 16th of February. And then on the 15th of March the new single „Monochrome“ comes out. And then on the 12th of April my collaboration with alt-rapper Sinister will come out. And then I’m going to re-release „Summer Goth“ in a different version, I believe. And then I’ve also got, I think, five or six more singles that I’m working on. So I’m going to be really, really, really prolific this year. I’ve got tons of new music I just want to share with the world. I’m not on tour, I finally have the time to do all of this cool art stuff that really is what is most important to me. It’s not that I hate playing live, I love connecting with the audience. But my true passion is being at home and in the studio and creating stuff. So, because I’m not on tour this year, I finally have the opportunity to sit down and just finish all of this stuff that I’ve been working on and I’m so excited. So I’m going to overload you guys this year.

That sounds great. But will you do also an album or only single releases?
I’m going to do mostly singles, but I’m thinking about a larger three song EP project. And if that happens, I will announce it, I think, in the next three weeks. I just need to make sure that the finances and the logistics of it work. But that’s really sort of a pet project, I would do it because I love it, not because it really makes sense businesswise. Singles just rule right now. People can only digest one song at a time. It’s asking a lot to say, hey, can you listen to 10 new songs? People are like, are you crazy? An hour of my time? No, I’ll give you five minutes for one song! (laughs) I would love to make an album again and maybe that’s going to be on the horizon. But I think right now, singles are going to be the way. But I really want to make this three song EP. I’ve got this grand vision for it, music videos and so on. I think I can do it, more info on that, hopefully soon.

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Sounds great. If you feel the urge to do it, do it! You did the „Summer Goth“ single with Sebastian Svaland from Pain and also the old Lindemann lineup. So there’s no bad blood between the new Lindemann lineup and AESTHETIC-PERFECTION-Camp and the old Lindemann lineup?
No, everything is really, really positive. We saw all of them, I was down there with Lindemann in Mexico last winter. The Pain guys were there and we all hung out and it was awesome. And Sebastian, you know, he’s really just … I don’t say the word genius very often, but this guy, he’s an absolute genius. I’ve never heard anyone play guitar the way this guy plays guitar. He’s just so good and so effortless … I’m so grateful that he just continues to work with me. So now we’ve done, I think, seven songs together. So, yeah, I’m going to keep calling Sebastian whenever he’s going to have time for me.

So we will hear more collaborations in the future?
Oh, yeah, absolutely. I’ve already got one song with him that’s almost done. So I’m going to keep going.

I’m through with my questions, thanks a lot for your time. I’d like to end up this interview with a short brainstorming:
Clowns: Weird! I’m not scared of clowns, I don’t think they’re creepy or anything … I just don’t understand  why would you want to be a clown? It’s just weird to me. But I put on makeup and go on stage and entertain people … so I’m a clown, too.
The gothic scene: Stagnant. I feel like there’s so many really cool things about the dark music scene. But I feel like at least in this constellation, like the European scene, there’s not as much exploration and open mindedness as there was 20, 30 years ago. And I feel like we have this just amazing opportunity to be forward thinking and try different stuff and sort of like follow the paths of the bands who like created this genre, bands like Skinny Puppy, Ministry, Thrill Kill Cult … these bands just that did completely different things all the time. And people were there for it and loved the experimentation and loved the variety. But now it’s all just so homogenized and so focused on nostalgia. Like everybody just wants to make retro music. I don’t get it. This music was meant to be forward thinking. So let’s focus on the future and not the past!
Combichrist: „This Shit Will Fuck You Up“! (laughs) Andy still makes bangers. All the best for Combichrist!

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Austria: Servus! (laughs) I love it here. I love the food, I love the people. The dialect is a little tough, but you’re in Bavaria, so you must be pretty familiar with the dialect. So it’s probably no problem for you. Upper Austrian dialect and Bavarian dialect are very similar. Sometimes I have trouble distinguishing the two. So if I’m in Bavaria or whatever, I’m like, Oh, wow, I understand everybody! This is great!
Donald Trump: Crazy. The whole American political situation is just … it’s a mess. I’m so glad that I’m not there, to be honest (laughs). I mean, obviously, I’m a citizen, so I got to vote. But, man, it’s crazy. And every time I turn on the news and just watch everything that’s going on, I’m just so grateful that I’m not there. Don’t get me wrong … Austria, man, we’ve got our own wild politics. That’s for sure. And the whole thing with Sebastian Kurz, that was also … it’s not like there’s any shortage of crazy here in Europe. But I feel it’s still way more stable.
AESTHETIC PERFECTION in 10 years: 50 years old! No, okay … actually, in 10 years, the band will be… I turned 41 in March, so its 24 years of AESTHETIC PERFECTION now, because I started the band when I was 17. That means the band will be 34 years old. I can’t even believe that it’s going on this long, to be honest. I started this band in my bedroom at my mom’s house and I had no idea that it would bring me here. Because my whole life revolves around this band. The whole trajectory of my personal life exists because of this band. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the music festival Wave-Gotik-Treffen? I met my wife there in 2005, because I was there, playing. She didn’t give a shit about music or Americans or anything like that … but somehow she thought I was okay. (laughs) But yeah, this band has basically defined my whole life. And it’s a very surreal experience. But I’m very, very grateful for it. So if I’m still here in 10 years, AESTHETIC PERFECTION will be here in 10 years. And I’ll keep going.

Great. I wish you all the best for that. So thank you very much … this was really a great one-hour talk, really interesting and a lot of fun. It was really a pleasure to meet you!
I appreciate you taking the time and wanting to talk with me. It’s always an honor to know that people in media find me interesting. So I’m very, very grateful. My pleasure!

Publiziert am 24. Februar 2024 von Moritz Grütz