I N T E R V I E W

Interview Kuschi

Hello! Thanks to answer to the aux portes du metals' questions.

Kuschi: Hey, Ostianne, it's my pleasure.

First of all, why did you choose Krypteria for the bands' name? Is there a connection between Krypteria and the comics' world? (Krypteriapolis make me think about the comics city.)

Kuschi: Not necessarily even though some members of the band definitely know their comic book history. Even before the infancy stages of what was to become "Krypteria the band" Chris and I had completed "Krypteria the musical". It's a fantasy term that was part of the original script and we chose it because it has somewhat of a mysterious and epic ring to it. When we elevated Krypteria from pop musical theatre project to the band format we decided to just keep the name. Plus, all the good ones such as "Kiss", "Sweet" or "The Sex Pistols" had already been off the market (laughs).

When you've created Krypteria, you wanted to have a band with different singers. But, in 2003/2004, you decided to let this place to Ji-In-Cho. Why did you change the bands' "aim"?

Kuschi: It all started with the aforementioned musical theatre project for which we put together a traditional cast of seven voices. But when we later felt the urge to have a real band again we were looking for one singer who would be talented and strong enough to cover all the bases. Luckily we found Ji-In who fit just perfectly not only musically but also from what she brings to the table creatively as well as from a personal standpoint. She was and is the perfect match so we didn't have the need for additional singers anymore.

How does the German audience sense your music? Since now, had you some difficulties to make your music known?

Kuschi: As you know the music industry in general is changing and not necessarily for the better. A good support system is at a premium these days but it's something that don't come easily. So of course there's always room for improvement on the extent of your popularity as a band no matter the country. We are however glad that our domestic partners support our every move and even happier that our German audience has been steadily growing along with Krypteria's musical evolution over the years. We consider ourselves in a very privileged and healthy situation. Having said that we are working hard to put Krypteria in a position for a real big push in 2009 and 2010 because as an artist you always want to keep evolving and set new goals for yourself.

You already have a French Website, however you are not really known in our country. How do you explain this?

Kuschi: Primarily because the record company has not exactly bent over backwards to promote the band in France and we have not been on tour in your country yet. Fortunately we nevertheless have a group of dedicated French fans who discovered Krypteria through the internet and are intent on helping us spread the word about our music. But of course we know that the best way to make sure more people learn about the band is to personally bring our music to the respective country. That's why we will definitely make sure to perform in France in 2009 - finally !

You are a German-Korean band. In the metal world, it's quite difficult to imagine that there are Asian people in metal band, however we know band as Seraphim. Do you think, metal can go as well as the European culture with the Asian one?

Kuschi: Absolutely it can, and if we can help bring down barriers we are up for the task. I don't care whether an artist is from America, Asia or Mars, as long as it's good music I'm interested. And I think the true music lovers would agree. After all Rock'n'Roll as well as Metal has always stood for freedom of expression and against conformity. So for anyone who considers himself a rock fan of any sort to not be able to look past ethnicity or nationality and tolerate or better yet embrace cultural differences that would be a real shame.

You are classifying as a gothic rock metal band. According to you, what are the reasons?

Kuschi: Because nobody has yet been able to come up with a more original label (laughs). The media traditionally have the tendency to pigeonhole artists and we're fine with that as long as it helps other people discover bands that might fit their personal taste. Do I agree with the "gothic rock metal" label ? Well, we undeniably have a rock group line-up and there's a ton of metal and gothic elements to our sound. So due to a lack of a better or catchier term I guess I'm ok with it. We, however, try not to limit ourselves by staying within the boundaries of the genre but try to broaden our artistic scope continuously. I can guarantee you that the new album will be a testament to this philosophy!

The Bloodangels' cry's' artwork is dark or even murky. Was it a way to pronounce the title?

Kuschi: "Bloodangel's Cry" has a very personal story to it because right from the get-go we as a group had made a whole bunch of really bad experiences with shady manager types and other people trying to hurt the band. We went ahead and made use of those experiences when we began writing the album. That's primarily why the music and especially the lyrics ended up pretty dark. So we figured it would only make sense to have an artwork that would stay true to this overall atmosphere.

Can you explain what your video clip Somebody Save Me is talking about?

Kuschi: We just felt that we needed to go to the Baltic Sea in the midst of winter, put on very little clothes and freeze our asses off in a snow storm while shooting a video (laughs). It was not a very smart idea as we found out after hours of performing in the blistering cold. As a matter of fact I am unable to answer your question because I'm still suffering from a deep, deep case of brain freeze (laughs).

I've seen a video clip, Liberatio in which we can watch on TV many disasters' victims. What did you wanted to say thought these images?

Kuschi: Well, the video you are talking about was part of a charity program benefiting the victims of the 2004 Tsunami catastrophy. I think everybody was shocked by the events and our way of trying to help the victims was to donate all our profits from the "Liberatio" single to the Tsunami relief fund. That pursuit was supported by one of Germany's leading TV stations. It was these guys' idea to combine pictures of us performing the song with snippets of the actual news coverage. Considering the fact that about 200.000 CDs were sold in the process and a pretty substantial amount of money subsequently went to the victims the video didn't actually hurt, I guess?

When we see Ji-In-Cho on stage, we can say she has two faces: a sensual one, and an energetic one. Is the music which makes her like that or is she really on stage as in life?

Kuschi: You have to understand that Ji-In is a very emotional and passionate person. She's got energy galore and she just loves to perform so she can't help but give it all she got on stage. On the other hand she is extremely sensual and has a beautiful yet delicate soul as well as a golden heart. That always shows, too, and this natural combination of qualities just makes her the wonderful and exuberant person she is on and off the stage.

You were supposed to play at The Gothic Metal Palace festival, last June. But this festival has been cancelled. What do you think about that?

Kuschi: That was really one of this year's lowlights. We were excited about being part of this festival that looked so good on paper. Plus we just love playing in the Netherlands because the Dutch audience has always been very good to us. So losing out on this opportunity was a huge disappointment. The worst part about this mess however is the fact that a large number of fans who had bought their tickets in advance did not get their money back after the festival had been cancelled. That's a real shame and I doubt those people will feel any better knowing that all the bands involved lost a bunch of dough as well. So basically this whole situation turned out to be one major clusterfuck.

You have played at the Wacken, which is one of the best festivals. How did you apprehend playing with so many bands?

Kuschi: As you know the Wacken Open Air is not only one of the biggest but also one of the best-organized festivals in the world. Everybody from the bands and fans to the crew is intent on having a good time and it shows. There is a certain atmosphere at the festival that is really unique and it always is an honor to be invited to perform at the W:O:A. This year marked the second time Krypteria played in Wacken and never in our wildest dreams would we have expected the kind of feedback and support we received by the Wackeneers. The crowd was absolutely fantastic and we are still buzzing from that amazing experience. Unfortunately this time around we didn't have much time to hang out with the other artists because we only arrived a couple of hours prior to showtime and had a ton of interviews lined up after our performance. But the atmosphere backstage is always very relaxed in large part due to the excellent job the producers and the crew are doing.

You are writing your new album. Can you tell us how you get ahead with your work?

Kuschi: Ostianne, I can't tell you just how excited we are about the new material. The four of us have been and still are riding one giant wave of creativity. We feel confident that we are taking our music to a new level right now and I think that everybody who loves his rock or metal with catchy melodies galore and a good, hard sonic punch in the mouth needs to check out this upcoming album.

What can we expect to you for your future career? Coming in France?

Kuschi: Besides the release of the new record early next year we will play, play and then play some more. As I mentioned before we will make sure the French people who are interested in Krypteria will get a chance to see us on stage when we'll be touring extensively in support of the new album. Apart from that we'll return to Asia and the Americas and will play our asses off all over Europe in 2009. And hopefully people will like what they see and hear.

Finally, have something to say to the people who will read this interview or to your fans?

Kuschi: First off, thank you for taking the time to learn more about Krypteria. Ji-In, Chris, Frank and I share a deep passion about what we're doing and we hope you can check that out for yourself at a Krypteria concert soon. Without the fans and their support we are nothing and rest assured we will do our best to make sure you see and feel that we appreciate this wonderful support immensely. We are looking forward to playing in France for the first time in our career and we hope to meet many of you filles et garcons on the road...and I promise I'll work on my dreadful French in the meantime (laughs). A bientôt!