1. First question may seem to you a little bit silly, but what is the meaning of 9 in the name of your project?

Stahlwerk 9: Actually it has no real meaning at all. I have chosen to add the number, because the name sounded a bit more “catchy”. Besides, there once was a real “Stahlwerk 9” at my Grandma’s place in Thuringia where I have stayed sometimes during the holidays in my childhood. But they have torn it down, and now there is a shopping centre. Maybe this childhood memory is the reason why I chose to take the number 9 and not any other number.


2. Why did you choose this not really popular kind of music to express your feelings? With rock or metal you could reach more audience.

Stahlwerk 9: In fact, that’s true. But I think that electronic music is far more variable than any other kind of sound producing. You can make anything you like. A second point is that I don’t want to have to rely on other people. You know, rehearsing and so on.


3. How did STAHLWERK 9 first recording session look like? Did you have any professional equipment? And did you have the vision of what you want to create?

Stahlwerk 9: Oh no, when I started Stahlwerk 9 back in 93/94, I had not the glimpse of an idea what would be in the future. I had nearly no equipment and no idea what to do, but a lot of idealism. I worked with an old AMIGA 500 in those days and brought the computer to a friend who owned a CD burner. It took 70 minutes to burn one CD and it was really adventurous. But I already knew that I would never give up making music.


4. First STAHLWERK 9 releases were on cassettes or strictly limited CD's. What was the turning point? The moment when STAHLWERK 9 started to be recognized on the scene?

Stahlwerk 9: The so called turning point came back in 1998 when IGOR VAGANOV of ACHTUNG BABY! kindly offered me a place on his compilation "Ten Years of Madness". I had the opportunity to appear on a CD together with acts like LES JOYAUX DE LA PRINCESSE or ATARAXIA. Maybe this caused some people to pay attention to my project. Of course I have to thank IGOR for making all this possible.






5. Tell me something about research you make before recording. Do you read or watch movies? How long does it take you to find some good samples?

Stahlwerk 9: That depends on which topics I work and on my intention. Sometimes I find a sample and can make a track of it in one or two hours and sometimes I search for weeks for something suitable. I do a lot of reading and like watching documentaries on TV. Of course I’m a big cinema fan and like silent movies and more experimental stuff best.


6. Most of your releases deal with historical conflicts. Do you try to take a stand on such conflict, or are you just an neutral observer who is only telling a story?

Stahlwerk 9: It’s nearly impossible to be neutral. If you think of WWII, which I want to avoid, you always deal with topics dealing with your own country. When I decided to work on the Warsaw uprising or the tragic story of ORP Orzel, I chose to take the polish point of view. This is not neutral. Also the choice of topics at all is in a way a political decision. I try to be as neutral as possible, but absolute neutrality is an illusion.






7. I think that STAHLWERK 9 creates pretty ascetic music. You are avoiding cheap solutions - that's the thing I really appreciate. Do you think about it during composing your music or is it just come naturally?

Stahlwerk 9: I have a kind of a dogma in my music. All sounds that I use must be natural and organic. I hate preset sounds that sound like coming from a magazine CD. There are so many projects that make rather good music, but use these sounds. In my opinion it destroys so much of the atmosphere if you use such things. First I choose the sounds then I decide what I do with them.


8. During all those years you were participating in a couple of interesting compilations. In your opinion which of them presents the highest musical level?

Stahlwerk 9: That’s a really mean question;-)… All compilations have a certain aim and a purpose. I like all of them, although I have some faves, of course. I like for example the ETERNAL SOUL compilation, GLORIA VICTIS, VAE VICTIS, and TEN YEARS OF MADNESS most, I have to confess. They all have a high levelled artwork.


9. Was participation in "63 Days" series something special for you, as for German? Or is it another regular STAHLWERK 9 release?

Stahlwerk 9: There is never a regular Stahlwerk 9 release, because through all the research I do I create a world in my mind and it always costs me a lot of time and energy. 63 DAYS was a great opportunity to deal with a topic nearly noone in Germany knows about because people here say that’s Polish history, not German. After more than 60 years I dare say that there’s no Polish, German, British or French history, but a European. All the nations have interacted and influenced each other. Think of Napoleon or the erasing of Poland in the 18th century.






10. I don't know a word in German, so I have no idea about the concept of "Der Tod Nagelt Die Augen Zu...". Could you shed some light on this release?

Stahlwerk 9: This release is an accident. Max from STEINKLANG offered me to make a track for his KOJI TANO compilation, who tragically died of cancer last year. I did BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH, with the lyrics from Emily Dickinson, an American poet of the 19th century. When I was able to do a concert in Japan in Easter 2006, we decided to make a release only for Japan, that’s why this record is a bit noisier than my usual stuff. I used this track, took the German version of the poem and made 4 other tracks with poems from Emily Dickinson. By the way: After this release I read that Emily Dickinson died in 1886, 120 years ago, so again I had my anniversary. Well... finally we decided to make an official STAHLWERK 9 release of this material.


11. You seem to be in close connections with War Office Propaganda guys, don't you? How do you like their releases?

Stahlwerk 9: I could never stop to say the best things about them. Every release of them is simply great and I’m very proud to call myself a friend of ROBERT and MARCIN and to release some of my records on this label. WOP is one of the very very few labels you can buy everything from and I predict a great future to them.


12. STAHLWERK 9, ATROX, RASTHOF DACHAU seem to be some kind of family. "Steinklang family", I'd say. Could you tell me more about these relationships? Is it only on musical ground?

Stahlwerk 9: Max was one of the first people who supported me and helped me. The time I have spent near Salzburg in 2003 was one of the greatest I’ve ever had. Without Max Certainly wouldn’t be that “big” today. Also Stöfi from ATROX is one of my best friends and I have to thank him here. He made Japan possible for me and so one of my greatest dreams ever came true. When I was younger and far more stupid than today ATROX and RASTHOF DACHAU were among my heroes of the industrial scene. It is still a great feeling to call these two artists my friends and if you say we are a sort of family, why not?


13. How does your live performances look like? And from the other side - do you prefer to listen to the music at home or at gigs?

Stahlwerk 9: My live performances? They differ a lot due to the different circumstances. Of course I can take less equipment to Japan than to lets say Poland, of course. It’s also difficult, if not impossible to play all the tracks really “live”, so the amount of playback depends on such circumstances. I don’t really prefer any listening habits. Sometimes I like it to just sit back in a comfortable chair with a good glass of wine and listen to a good ambient album, and sometimes I prefer standing among other listeners at a concert. That depends, I would say.






14. As I see "1905" is in some way dedicated to Sergey Eisenstein. Tell me something about your fascination of silent cinema.

Stahlwerk 9: What’s so special about silent cinema is that it was far more experimental than today. Let’s take Caligari for example. No film like this would ever be noticed today. In 1919 it was absolutely revolutionary. There is too much mainstream today. A film doesn’t sell through the story anymore but if you see some violence or beautiful girls it becomes popular. That’s rubbish. Watch any Hollywood film, and you will not see a scene that lasts longer than lets say one or two seconds. They look like one and a half hour music video clips. That bores me a lot. Silent cinema lives because of the stories, the better actors, the music, of course and the strange feeling of watching a remote world that is long since gone.


15. How would you estimate contribution of such directors like Murnau, Lang or Paul Leni in development of world cinematography?

Stahlwerk 9: They were important, of course, both in stories and directing. I love Murnaus Nosferatu. It is in some points really modern and has created a whole genre – the Vampire and Horror movies. Metropolis was one of the first Science Fiction movies ever and it is still very scary. It is in a way funny, that many German or Russian directors went to the USA and helped building up the film industry there. So they were really essential for the US film industry at those days and had of course a strong influence to the films created there.


16. Don't you think that WWII theme seems a little exhausted by all those industrial/martial projects? There were so many other fascinating moments in the history of mankind...

Stahlwerk 9: Oh yes! That’s what I say as well. When I started somewhere in the nineties, it was nearly important to shock people with this topic, but today it is just boring. Over and over again just 6 years in history? That isn’t funny anymore. I try to avoid WWII as good as possible. Of course, if I get a nice offer, I will do that, think of SCONTRUM III or 63 DAYS. But these were exceptions and in a way more intelligent ways of treating this topic.


17. Few days ago Gunther Grass admitted that during WWII he served in Waffen SS. In your opinion, is there a point in ressurecting this case after all those years?

Stahlwerk 9: I don’t have a problem with the Waffen SS. In autumn 1944 especially very young people weren’t asked anymore where they would like to serve. They were just sent to any unit where they needed people most. Those who came to the SS in 1944 were among the poorest soldiers of this war, because of their destroyed youth and the Russians killed them instantly if they caught them and treated them far worse than the ordinary Wehrmacht people. In a way I nearly can understand this reaction of the Red Army soldiers. But the case Grass is different, because over all these years he has lied to the public but on the other hand accused anyone who tried to discuss the war topic as a fascist. He was a moral institution in the German post war republic. In my eyes he has lost every reliability and credibility. The problem for me is not his half year with the SS at the age of 17, but that he has lied to the people and claimed himself to be perfect over the last 60 years.


18. Do you listen sometimes more conventional genres of music, like pop, rock? Do you have any favourite artists not connected with industrial/martial/ambient scene?

Stahlwerk 9: Yes, I have. I have been to a MASSIVE ATTACK concert in summer this year, and it was quite impressive. There are some good mainstream bands like SNEAKER PIMPS, FRANZ FERDINAND, RADIOHEAD, PLACEBO or MUSE which I like very much. In any case I like it when I can find a little more than good looking people in music.


19. Could you in few words bring closer another STAHLWERK 9 release?

Stahlwerk 9: That’s nearly impossible, because I don’t want to advertise here. I think, everybody should find out for themselves which of my releases they like most. That sounds a bit strange now, but I don’t make my music to sell it, but to listen to it and to express something that is inside of me and that drives me. Music is a medicine, not a product.










20. What is todays main goal for STAHLWERK 9?

Stahlwerk 9: If I can go on a few more years that would be fine. I want to learn and improve and meet more nice people… The rest? Who knows?


21. Any last words?

Stahlwerk 9: Just two: Thank you!



Stark



info:

www.myspace.com/stahlwerk9