You were a solo musician for many years, recording and
releasing material for your project Boerni K. Is being a solo artist more
liberating for you than playing in bands?
I am pleased for your
invitation to this interview, thanks! I can only say it is fun to work alone on
a music production! I go fast, because discussions disappear on how to do this
or that. I'm able to switch between instruments, depending on what is needed,
and don't have to call another guy again to hear that he or she has no time.
But I work together with other musicians. I have worked with the jam band
Soundtheatre since 1995! We often work together in my studio, depending on
which instrument is needed; sometimes a saxophone, sometimes an organ, or
whatever else. On our newest CD production Funk Hole (funk/crossover),
saxophone is combined with trumpet and synth-brass 'cause for me it's important
to do a perfect brass sound! Our latest work is a double CD called Du Und Ich
(not finished yet) with Gudrun Rubini (words, vocals) and Boerni K (words,
music, vocals, guitar, bass, keys, programming, production) on vocals. It will
be shown live too! Our management will
schedule the release-concert for "Du Und Ich" on Easter 2015 in
Vienna, followed by gigs in a little Austrian tour. My musicians are
international. Drummer Luna for example comes from Switzerland, our bassist is
from Sweden and my saxophonist with whom I have played since 1991 comes from Hungary.
One singer is from Poland. Just a few to call! I work with singers like Gudrun
Rubini, Markus Sis, Bixi, Da Inti, Seta, Dorota Malek, doing my own songs or
producing their music. So we are an international troupe who has been working
together for many years. And because the people are from different countries,
it becomes open-minded. All we want to do is produce great music!
Will Easter 2015 be your first Austrian tour? Have you toured
Austria or any other country during your career?
Our management would like
us to have a gig at Vienna around Easter 2015, and then have some additional
gigs after that! And we are working on Du Und Ich at the moment, and will see
if we have the CD finished until then. If we should, a CD-presentation in
Vienna would be absolutely feasible and if we don’t make it, everything will
just be delayed by a few months and I honestly wouldn’t give a shit if you
pardon my French. I want to deliver a solid CD, and time is not really an issue
for me haha!
How many different musical styles have you liked as long as
you have been a musician? In Austria is it easy to find like-minded people
seeking to explore a wider musical spectrum?
I've worked on my music
in different styles: folk, pop, musical, classic, rock, metal, jazz, free music
and e-music! Here in Austria we've got a number of talented musicians but
unfortunately there’s no real market for Austrian music.
Without a market, how many clubs and independent labels exist
where Austrian artists can get their names around?
In Austria we don’t
really have a music industry! The local bands are having a very hard time
getting their CDs and products into the market! A few have “made it” in
neighboring Germany, and others founded their own labels to be able to sell
their musical productions. Playing live isn’t exactly easy in the rock and
metal genre either and there are few clubs/locations which have such events on
a regular basis! Every now and then some big name bands come to Austria from
abroad, but getting a hold of a “slot” for playing live is not easily done, and
most of the times just very, very expensive, so “regular” bands won’t be able
to afford it at all. In the US for instance there are uncounted rock music
labels and on average rather few E-music labels; in the EU and in Austria in particular
it is the other way around: Here we got multitudes of E-music labels and
comparatively few metal labels.
How early did you start developing your range of musical
influences?
I was nine years old
when I started to play guitar with a lot of folk music. Afterwards I started to
play austropop and pop! I came across the Beatles and from that point on my
definition of music was different! At twelve years old I loved Kiss and Iron
Maiden. Then Punk came into my life, which brought me to metal bands like
Metallica, Megadeth and finally Slayer!
The Beatles were also my introduction to rock and eventually
metal. What first appealed to you about them?
When I heard the
Beatles for the first time, I was fascinated by the guitars and singing. Back
when I was very young, I always wanted to play E-Guitar and I really liked the
whole style of the band and how they looked. I was especially enthralled by the
harder songs like A Hard Day’s Night! But also the softer, calmer stuff of The
Long And Winding Road were up my alley.
What aspects of the Beatles, Kiss, Iron Maiden and Megadeth
have you incorporated into your songwriting?
The Beatles produced so
much material as only few other bands did and this had inspired me greatly from
childhood on! Kiss is known for their catchy melodies and powerful refrains, so
you can take example from them as a rock musician! As for Iron Maiden, you
could really learn a thing or two from them when it comes to guitar parts in
two and excellent work on the bass, and speaking of Megadeth and Dave Mustaine,
they are extraordinary songwriters when it comes to metal and when it comes to
solos on the guitar. With these examples it is almost a duty to produce good
rock or metal music haha!
What sort of an impact did metal, punk and thrash have when
you discovered those genres?
Back in secondary
modern school (after elementary school) some of my classmates brought some Iron
Maiden cassettes with them. Since I used to listen to Kiss a lot, these
“newfangled” tunes from Iron Maiden were awesome and impressed me greatly; the
speedy tracks especially. All hell was let loose when we listened to The Number
Of The Beast! Sometime later I stumbled onto Megadeth and the road was paved
for the harder stuff when I started to listen to Slayer. From that time on the
soft times were over and I had a real blast when it came to Death and Thrash
Metal. Way back in 1988, together with a friend, I started the band Cheetah
featuring Ulli Mhesz on vocals, and we meant serious business when it came to
“hardness”! With Ulli Mhesz I formed another band again in 2000 and we played
something like rock-metal. You can check out a sample track (Ich Will Sein) on
Youtube: youtu.be/QQY2Mae0elY.
How long did it take you to contact musicians and vocalists
when you began your career? How much have they contributed to your projects?
Over all those years
there were always new people. Many of them I still know from my education as a
watchmaker. In 2009 I rented two studio rooms and began with the music
production again, only this time a little more serious! From then on I was in
search of instrumentalists and especially vocalists. After first contact,
mostly on Facebook or similar social networks, I invited them to sessions with
me and if it worked we started recording! However, the first base is always my
music. I have written about 150 lyrics and set them to music with others or
myself. I've searched and found some singers over the years; most live within a
radius of 200 km, but some are even farther like our Swiss drummer Franziska
Bub!
Inform the readers about Soundtheatre and the material you
composed with them. How many recordings does this band have available and which
are personal favorites of yours?
Soundtheatre recorded
about twenty concerts. Please find our videos on Youtube. We have about ten
gigs for free download on soundtheatre.eu! The response to this free download
is huge; we already count about 100,000 downloads of songs, crossing over a few
projects there. We are proud that we can offer downloads for free. Most of all
I like "Dance" and "Extended Version"!
Who were the musicians working in Soundtheatre with you?
Soundtheatre has
existed in this form since about 1995! This agglomeration of musicians from
very different areas consists of the guitarist/singer Börni Kreindl, Lukas
Wällstedt-Brass and Helmut “Budi” Budaker-Keys! In the meantime, the number of
members has grown to as much as about thirty! Partly even music teachers from
certain conservatories and autodidact musicians bring in their various
experiences in this fantastic, musical dream world! The main means of
communication is the music itself, which is always recorded “live” only to pop
up in the form of a CD or MP3 on our website/distribution soon after. We
usually adapt our music to the local conditions and environment and love to get
carried away by a positive atmosphere wherever we play.
Where were Soundtheatre’s performances on Youtube filmed?
Were your shows filmed by a professional crew, or by personal friends of yours
who?
The gigs were recorded
in 2007 in the local Wels pub The Soundtheatre. Onstage we had four cams
installed which were operated via computer through one technician who
controlled the cams live! It is in fact a true live video and nothing was cut
at all afterwards!
How long were you and Ulli Mhesz working in Cheetah? Did this
band release any full lengths while it was active?
Cheetah existed from
1992 until about 1994. We played many concerts in Austria and self-produced a
demo consisting of six tracks. Alas I don’t own a copy of that demo anymore as
it was on a music cassette I had lent to a fan who, to my great shock and
grief, had thrown himself in front of a train as I learned a bit later, which
really saddened me back then.
What was your second band with Ulli Mhesz called, and how
much material was released by this band?
The second band after
Cheetah with Ulli Mhesz, was simply named Ulli Mhesz Band! We played some gigs
in Austria back then and released a few CD-EPs with four tracks and after that
also one CD-EP with four tracks as well including the video for Ich Will Sein.
Who filmed and produced your promotional video for Ich Will
Sein? Do you work with the same film crew and producers for your videos or do
you work with different people on your videos? Are there other videos you have
filmed that you deem worth mentioning here? What about these videos do you
consider unique?
An Austrian film crew
produced the video for Ich Will Sein. The company is owned by a producer of
mine, Peter Guschelbauer! Peter also recorded the Soundtheatre studio-live CD
over in his own studio. Currently we are working on two music videos. One of
these will be done for a single taken from the upcoming double CD Du Und Ich.
The song is called Immer Wenn and is performed by Gudrun Rubini doing the
vocals. The second video will be done for a track taken from the e-music CD
Behind The Moon (eleven tracks will be on it) which should be released in
February 2015 if all goes as planned! The video for Immer Wenn may well be
finished prior to Christmas, and the single of Immer Wenn will be released at
the same time. In January/February next year, a second single, Frei Für Die
Ewigkeit with me on the vocals, taken out of Du Und Ich will be released and
the release of the twenty-four track CD Du Und Ich itself is planned for around
June next year!
How did you and Franziska Bub come into contact? What about
her drumming style intrigues you?
About a year ago I
tried to get together some musicians for a live band with Dorota Malek, among
other ways through Facebook. One day FranZi BuB contacted me there; she liked
the demos which I produced with Dorota and hence we got in touch. Here’s a
recording; the instruments and production are by me and Dorota wrote the music
and lyrics: soundcloud.com/boerni_kb_k/dorota-malek-boerni_k-silence. FranZi
plays many different styles on the drums, and her way of playing rock and metal
hits pretty much bull’s-eye for my kind of productions! So what she does is just
the thing I need for the kind of music I do when speaking about rhythm. She
touches my heart with her rhythms; this is just the kind of drums I want for my
music. Currently we are collaborating, among other things, on a double CD
titled Du Und Ich (You And I). Just lately she travelled here from Switzerland
to record six tracks with me for the upcoming CD! There are supposed to be
about twenty to twenty-two tracks on the double CD.
Name more songs that feature your lyrics. What generally
inspires you to write?
What I would like to
mention is the Dark Angel Trilogy In Four Parts. I ended up with four parts as
the theme; the topic had me under a firm grip and didn’t let go. The lyrics are
about the “Angel Princess”, an angelic lady sent down from heaven to hell to
teach none other than the prince of darkness, Lucifer himself, how to love so
that heaven and hell can become as one, freeing mankind from evil. Furthermore
I would like to mention Frei Für Die Ewigkeit (translated to Free For Eternity)
which has the following message: You shall never give up as life will continue
even after death. I usually derive inspiration for my lyrics from my life’s
experience, hence the text for the song Der Wandel (The Transformation in
English), which is a piece of social criticism. There are already various
versions of this song with different people doing the vocals. Hence you can not
only listen to Der Wandel sung by my humble self, but Bixi and Gudrun Rubini
recorded a version of the song together in my studio.
What inspired you to write the lyrics to Dark Angel Trilogy?
It seems to reflect many mythological tales in which a protagonist descends to
hell for some higher purpose. Did you have any such tales in mind when writing
this piece?
The stories behind the
Dark Angel Trilogy in four parts actually just happened to come together like
that (laughs)! I had nothing in particular in mind, not even writing such a
concept. I just came up with the story and it just developed from that on more
or less naturally, and captured me entirely. The first part of the trilogy for
once explains very well what it is all about and this was a good foundation for
me to build upon, enabling me to create three more consecutive music texts.
In what ways is “Der Wandel” a social criticism? How many
different versions of this song have been released?
“Der Wandel” simply
describes the fact that if us humans won’t change how we treat our planet, the
environment, animals and last but not least ourselves, all this could go
horribly wrong eventually. Hence it would be high time for a change (Wandel in
German), lest all we are doing wrong and how we are mistreating the Earth and
everything may fall back on us in a terrible way in the end.
Is your studio a place you bought or constructed? Is it just
for rehearsing or is it for rehearsing and recording?
I live with my cousin
in a rented house in the country where I have established two rooms, adapted a
recording studio and control room. Of course we can do rehearsals here, but my
studio is a small recording studio! Mixing and mastering is outsourced. I only
do demo mixes.
Is the atmosphere in your rehearsal/recording studio more
liberating than rented studio rooms? How much more artistic freedom do you have
working in your own environment?
Of course it is
pleasant to have your own studio where you live! This situation promotes
creativity. I'm able to work in the middle of the night and I can adjust my
daily routine to my work! So a good idea will never be lost! It's also cheaper
than to pay for two separate places. It couldn't be better!
You and Gudrun Rubini worked on several projects available
for free download on Soundcloud. How well do you and she communicate when
collaborating?
With Gudrun Rubini I
currently have several projects on the run! It is easy for me to work with her;
she is well organized and a great person. When she came into my studio for the
first time we immediately rocked a few songs! It was genius. You are always
able to follow the progress of our projects on Soundcloud. The plan is to load
up the demo mixes, where we can hold them available until they get mixed and
mastered and go on sale!
What is Gudrun Rubini’s background as a musician and
performing artist? How much of the material you recorded with her is available
on Soundcloud?
For the last twenty
years Gudrun Rubini was a female rock singer. She has been booked in studios,
performing perfect harmony vocals and polyphonic choirs. She is working as a
vocal and personality coach and she's an author writing lyrics to rock songs.
She had rock bands and projects crossing all genres of rock: metal, punk rock
and finally Deutschrock, mostly localized to Vienna and Austria. Her site
address is gudrunrubini.jimdo.com. For about a year we worked and produced many
songs together. It started with an e-music CD production called Behind The Moon
where Gudrun did all of the choral work. This was followed by a funk-rock CD
named Funkhole, composed and recorded by me with lyrics vocals by Gudrun.
Currently we are working on Du Und Ich by Boerni_K and Gudrun Rubini. It
includes all our best solo performed rock songs and a few newly produced duets.
There are six Soundcloud accounts of various projects where we usually load up
some demo mixes until they are released in mastered/mixed form, and are online
available on our label Digibrane! The reason for this is, in our opinion fans
have to be able to follow our progress, and it is soothing for us if some of
them expect our finished tracks. Chris Unger, the head of Digibrane, has
finished mixing and mastering Behind The Moon with eleven tracks. They will be
available soon!
Name some personal favorites you and Gudrun Rubini recorded
together. Have you and she received feedback for them?
The best of them all is
Liebeskrieg and Immer Wenn but my favorite song is Witches Of Rock where Gudrun
and Bixi have shown strong rock voices. This song has wonderful grooves and has
a great rock hymn feel! You can find these three songs on my account on Soundcloud!
We received many, many positive reviews, on one hand from Soundcloud listeners
but also from our numerous fans. Renowned local music critics posted positive
reviews.
How would you describe Bixi as a vocalist? How much material
does this singer have out? How well did Gudrun and Bixi work together when
recording the vocals for Witches Of Rock? Was this your first time working with
Bixi?
Bixi is a highly gifted
singer, whose talent goes far beyond rock and metal! I produced the first song
with her in 2011, which exists as a demo. Then I had the idea to record a song
with Bixi and Gudrun Rubini, which we named Witches Of Rock. In my opinion the
song turned out a real “haunting melody” as one could say. Here’s a demo-mix:
soundcloud.com/boerni_kb_k/boerni_k-feat-gudrun-rubini-1. Otherwise I am
already thinking about the possibility to produce more material together with
Bixi and Gudrun, as the two of them harmonize greatly personality wise!
How would you describe Der Wandel to those who haven’t heard
it yet?
So far, two versions
were published on Soundcloud, of which one is sung by solo by me and in the
other, Gudrun Rubini and Bixi are doing the vocals together. The links:
soundcloud.com/boerni_kb_k/boerni_k-der-wandel-b_k-mix4 and
soundcloud.com/boerni_k-crossover/boerni_k-feat-gudrun-rubini-1. For the next
CD to come after “Du Und Ich”, which will be named “Boerni_K + Friends” with
Rubin and me for the vocals, another version of “Der Wandel” will be created,
with me doing a main voice along with Bixi and Gudrun doing the vocals.
How did you and Gudrun hook up with Chris Unger? Had he
produced any of your material previously?
Three years ago Chris
Unger and I came in contact on Facebook! A fellow musician recommended him to
me! I sent him some demos of my music, he liked it very much and since that day
we have worked as a team together! I played some bass and guitars on music
productions of his, and afterwards he mixed and mastered our e-music production
Behind The Moon on which Gudrun Rubini did the choirs and harmony vocals and
Markus Sis sang lead. These will soon be available on Digibraine.
Of all the musicians you have worked with in your career, who
are you most likely to record and perform with in the future?
There will be
cooperation with the people I have been working with on various projects
throughout the last few years! Among them are certainly Gudrun Rubini, Dorota
Malek, Bixi and Markus Sis with whom I have been working for several years and
also released a few titles on Soundcloud such as Skol, Das Mass Ist Voll, a
song about the favorite drug of mankind, alcohol – here is a sample:
soundcloud.com/boerni_kb_k/boerni-k-skol-das-mass-ist-voll?in=boerni_kb_k/sets/boerni_ks-metal-set
Are there any new projects you have in mind you want to
reveal a little about? What are your hopes for them?
At this point we are
actually working on several productions/CDs! Among them are Du Und Ich with
Gudrun Rubini and my humble self on the vocals. Also, Behind The Moon (e-music)
will be released soon. The lead singer is Markus Sis, choir and harmony voice by
Gudrun Rubini. Both of them will be singing the choir parts in Du Und Ich to my
vocal songs! Furthermore, we are working already on the upcoming
BOERNI_K&FRIENDS CD (rock/metal) on which various artists will interpret my
songs! We want to do one music video for each CD, for Du Und Ich to the song
Immer Wenn for instance. The video is nearly finished and will be visible on
various platforms such as Youtube in the next few months! All we are hoping for
is that the finished productions will sell reasonably well, so that we will be
able to fund further projects with that money in the future.