Sinbreed – F**k you!
Soon Sinbreed will release their 3rd album “Master Creator”. And their guitar player Marcus Siepen left the band. Plenty of reasons to have a quick chat with band leader Flo Laurin.
Before we are talking about current topics, let us discuss something from your past: In our last interview you told me that you are planning to make a tour. In fact, there were only a couple of shows, but no tour. What happened?
“It is not a secret that some band members also play in other bands and that we have to take their schedules into account as well. We had our plans, but Blind Guardian (where Frederik Ehmke and Marcus Siepen play) changed their plans. So we could no longer realize ours. A few concerts we confirmed, but then those were cancelled by the promoters. Then we said: “Fuck you, then we simply make a new album!” Haha!”
Last time we talked about Marcus joining Sinbreed, now we have to talk about Marcus quitting the band. He actually released a statement about his reasons. What is your point of view?
“I can confirm what Marcus wrote. He was really professional and when we talked about the album for the first time, he already said it will no longer work for him. It was actually due to scheduling issues concerning his Blind Guardian duties. So you might ask, what about Frederik. In fact that was never a problem because Frederik, I and our bassist Alex, we all live in the same city. So it is much easier to do some recordings and other stuff during a Blind Guardian tour break. But Marcus lives hundreds of miles away, so it is much more difficult.
I think it is really a pity because he enriched our band. He also wrote a couple of songs for “Shadows”. But it is ok how it went.”
There are only 4 persons on the current promo photos.
„We will have a replacement, at least for our live shows. All songs are written for 2 guitars, so it would make no sense to play concerts with only one guitarist. We actually found a new guitar player, a really nice guy. We will officially announce him shortly. At first, he will only be a live guitar player, maybe he becomes a full band member soon. Nevertheless, we are happy that we are complete again.”
Let us now talk about your new album! When and how was it created?
“The recording and the production schedule were quite tight. “Shadows” is just 2 years old, in addition to the fact of Marcus quitting the band and Frederik’s long term absence. But “Master Creator” was nevertheless a real teamwork. It is the first time that all of our bandmates contributed their own stuff. I think that this is the reason why the new album has become so diversified.
We made the recordings in Frederik’s studio – like we already did for “Shadows”. I was again the producer. So we recorded the stuff on our own and went then to a studio for the final mix.”
So you were the producer again. Did you had an education in this profession or is it “Learning by Doing” for you?
“It is more like “Learning by Doing”. It is due to my vision, which already lead to “Worlds Collide”. I knew from the start how the instruments have to sound and how the songs have to be arranged. I am still of the opinion that “Worlds Collide” sounds great – although I would change some minor things today. “Shadows” was a step forward. For “Master Creator” I learned much more about the software and some technical issues, so I could also mix the preproduction. I think that modern day musicians have to take on more of these aspects and I think that the sound benefits from it.”
Did you set certain goals for the song writing?
“We wanted to make the album more diversified. Our past releases received good reviews, but some people complained about the one-dimensional songs. We have to admit that is right. It became obvious when we had the rehearsals for our live shows. Now more people contributed stuff to the album, so it became evident to make it more diversified. A song like ‘At the Gate’, which was written by Frederik, makes the album much more complex and perfect.”
On “Master Creator” are of course a lot of typical, fast Sinbreed songs. But there also songs like ‘Moonlit Night’ and ‘At the Gate’, which are very untypical for you.
“That it is right, but I think that they are not that untypical. However, those are not campfire ballads. They still have our trademark like catchy choruses and guitar harmonies which we also use in our typical songs.”
And you also did a video to ‘Moonlit Night’. I suppose that you liked the song.
“That’s right. We liked to make a songs to an untypical and unpredictable song. ‘Moonlit Night’ had also a nice topic because it bases on “Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka. The video also tells the story. Our aim was to create a video that inspires the watchers and which is not just stupid.”
Your vocalist Herbie Langhans also performs a track on the latest Avantasia album “Ghostlights”. He does a great job, but it sounds completely different than on your albums. Wouldn’t it be an option for you to use his other voice as well?
“The vocals Herbie delivered there proves what a great singer he is and how much he can vary his voice. He uses these low vocals a bit in ‘At the Gate’ and it sounds very charismatic as well. A song like ‘Draconian Love’ from Avantasia is a 100% hit single and I don’t see something like that for Sinbreed. But I think that we could use Herbie’s low voice more often in the future.”
Finally, I would like to talk about a tour again: Can we expect one this time?
“We have already confirmed 3 shows with Van Canto. Moreover, there is a festival show in Cologne. We try to make a tour after the summer festivals, when Herbie is done with Avantasia. We really want to do that! And our new songs are really made for live performances!”
