Black Heaven Interview "Gothica":
 
1.  How did you and your band members meet?

Thalia is, and not many people know it, my sister. She takes on the female vocals in the songs but the songwriting and the lyrics are always my part. It’s the same as at “Mantus”. Black Heaven exists since 2001 with this concept, romantic electro songs with male and female vocals and english and german lyrics. I ask Thalia to make this project too and because she very likes my music she said yes.
 
2.  How did you decide on your bands name "Black Heaven".

The basis of my lyrics is the “romantic Nihilism” that determines my whole life. The name Black Heaven reflects this philosophy of life very good. It contains the nothingness and the objectivity around us and on the other side hope and the wish of divinity.
 
3.  Tell us a bit about your lyrical inspiration?

The strongest inspiration is my own life and this fantastic and hopeless world in my head. I tell about my fears and my convictions and there are so much things that haven’t said before, so there will come many songs of Black Heaven. My Music is introverted and the lyric reflects that. But there are also many global problems, war for territory or religion, a sick society and so on, so I don’t close my eyes for this problems.
 
4.  Are their some bands ( even in another style of music) that you really admire for their music, and do these bands have a influence on you work and
    music style?

My music hasn’t direct influences of other bands or styles but there is very much that I like. We have a good alternative music scene in germany with bands like “Element of Crime”, “Flowing tears” or “Schock”. At the moment I like the music of “Beseech”, “Susie van der Meer” or “Assemblage 23”. I have an electronic and a Rock Project, so I like both of this directions.
 
5.  "The end of the world" EP was strongly headed by female vocals as opposed to your two previous albums, can we expect a similar approach to
    your future work?

At the moment I work on new Black Heaven songs but I don’t know what will be. I like Thalias voice very much and surely she will sing some of the new songs.

Maybe it’s interessting for you that in the following month come 2 new releases of “Mantus”. In May we will release our new Single “Keine Liebe” in a limited edition with a DVD containig older videos and the new song “Keine Liebe”. Than in August comes the new album. The limited edition contains a bonus CD with some piano versions of the new songs. The title of the album is probably “Ein Hauch von Wirklichkeit”.
 
6.  How did Blutengel become involved in remixing one of your tracks (Zu Dir)
 
Before the end of the world ep I remixed the Blutengel song “the end of love” for the limited box edition of the Angel dust album. So I ask Chris for a remix for our ep and it was a good work of him.


7.  What is your view on the underground scene in your country?

I think germany is the paradise for goth and ebm music. And with the “wave gotik Treffen in Leipzig” or the “Mera Luna” Festival people come from whole europe to germany to listen good music and live their lifestyle. I think Gothic is the biggest movement of youth in our time and it is important for our society and our future. I don’t know many hardcore gothics, but very important is the new sensibility and the thinking about our life and our world. Very much people have their roots in the gothic scene and have developed themselves.
 
8.  Do you like Goth fashion?

I don’t wear goth fashion, sometimes I like it. Black and white are my colours and so are my clothes.
 
9.  Do people recognise you on the street, and if they do, how do they react?

Here in Cologne where I live there isn’t a huge goth scene and normaly people don’t recognise me on the street and I don’t go in clubs. When we are on festivals for example, some fans ask for a photo or an autograph.
 
10.  What do you do in your free time when you are not working on "Black Heaven"

I’m working on “Mantus”. Music and lyric is my life and so the days are full with producing new songs, videos or lyrics. I live of the music production and I hope it is possible I the future.
 
11.  What is the weirdest thing that has ever happened to you at live events with regards to fans?

We were never on tour or played a live concert yet. But there happened some strange things with fans, for example, at the beginning of my projects we made our first webpage and in my ignorance I set my home adress in that page. And it lasts not long and the first fans stands before my door and I couldn’t get rid of it the next three hours….
 

12. What kind of plans do you have for the future?

I think in the late 2004 we will release a new Black Heaven fulltime album and I’m planning to produce the first Black Heaven video of a new song, maybe as a bonus on the CD.