Scorpio: Hello! How are things? How's the recording of your new creation "Somni Regnum" going? As usual, while the rhythm section is being tracked, the guitarist and vocalist don't know what to do with themselves, and then the drummer walks around looking pleased and gloating?
L.: Hi! Things are going great — we've finally started recording our new album, working title "Somni Regnum," and so far everything is going well. We've tracked the drums — which is the hardest part of recording, really — and tomorrow we're starting on the bass. We're not rushing things; I think the finished material won't be ready for at least another two months. As for "not knowing what to do" and "walking around gloating"... Heh, you've probably been reading my interview in "M" magazine. Actually, I'm more than busy and definitely know what to do with my time. Besides handling guitar and vocals on the album, I'm also the engineer and sound producer. The workload is enormous, but I'm used to it. The last albums were recorded the same way, so it's all fine.
S: Whose idea was it to bring in an orchestra?
L.: We haven't committed to that yet, so let's save this question for later. I might end up deleting all the orchestra tracks, so it's too early to boast about our original (or maybe not so original) decision...
S: What are you going to delight/surprise your fans with?
L.: Pleasing the fans is our primary goal. We try to please our admirers with every album. As for surprising them again... Surprises can be both positive and negative. We try to stay true to the approach we've had since "Imperium Tenebrarum," but time passes and we change as people, so changes in our music are inevitable. I hope our innovations will suit the tastes of those for whom Rossomahaar's music matters.
S: "216." What does this mysterious number mean (it's the title of one of the new songs)?
L.: And the song itself is turning out quite mysterious... I don't know exactly what the number 216 means, but it definitely means something. Our lyricist, Herr Stalhammar, has watched plenty of films from the "cinema not for everyone" category. So the idea behind "216" is taken from some avant-garde film. If you read the lyrics, they're pretty crazy — something about searching for the true name of God.
S: Does Rossomahaar have problems with releasing albums? Who will put out the third CD?
L.: We don't have problems releasing albums — they've all been released and distributed. We don't want to entrust our art to bad or dishonest hands, so we've had to turn down some offers.
S: What's your dream label?
L.: I don't think such a thing exists, since art and show business are quite different things. And it shouldn't be the band dreaming of a label — it should be the label dreaming of the band. But supply exceeds demand.
S: All the musicians in Rossomahaar also participate in the notable project DER GERWELT. How do you decide which songs go to Rossomahaar and which to Gerwelt? Or is it more like: "Everything we come up with this week goes to Rossomahaar, and everything next week goes to DER GERWELT"?
L.: Our bass player Kniaz doesn't participate in that project. Rossomahaar is a band that rehearses and plays live. DER GERWELT is more of a project I do with Alex Kantemirov (the head of More Hate Prods.), with our Rossomahaar drummer helping out as well. Hopefully this project will continue — some pretty good labels are interested in it, so we'll see what happens. I don't pick songs for one band or the other — I write them specifically for each project. DER GERWELT doesn't sound like Rossomahaar, and it doesn't even sound like what Alex was doing on his own with DER GERWELT. As for the "we come up with it this week or next" approach — it's not weeks, it's years. Rossomahaar albums come out every two years. Composing and preparing for a recording takes about a year. In the off year, I work on other projects, because the creative drive doesn't let me sit idle.
S: What kind of interview questions annoy you the most?
L.: I don't do that many interviews, so nothing has really annoyed me yet.
S: And what question did you like the most?
L.: A question from the Spanish "Rock Hard": "Is it true that there are no live drummers in russia?"
S: And one more question on that topic (sorry for the pun). Is there a question you'd love to answer but that nobody has ever asked you? If so, go ahead and answer it.
L.: Nothing comes to mind, honestly. I don't go around looking for questions to ask myself. There are already too many of them in life, and most of them don't have answers.
S: On April 30 you were supposed to play a concert in Kyiv, but there were some problems... And you'd been planning to organize shows in Ukraine for a long time.
L.: The April 30 concert was postponed to May 16. Recently, at one of our last shows, someone (some morally repulsive creatures) stole my bag, which besides various valuable things contained my passport. As everyone knows, you can't get into Ukraine without a passport. I'm making every effort, but there's very little time left. It should become clear in the next few days whether I can make it or not. If not, I apologize to everyone who wanted to see us. It's not our fault — it's the fault of those lowlifes whose hands reach for other people's property, and the fault of governments that impose stupid restrictions on travel between Ukraine and russia. I had a similar situation two years ago, but back then I managed to tour cities in Belarus with a "Temporary Citizen's Certificate of the russian Federation." For travel to Ukraine, though, you need a passport and nothing else. No other ID will do.
S: Thanks! I wish you a quick and trouble-free album release!
L.: Thanks. First of all, we need to record it trouble-free.