German Electronic-Metal band Treibhaus have been regulars here on Radio Nietzsche, with an in depth text interview with founder Curt Doernberg as well as a full radio special on the group being featured. Now, months after the release of the groups fourth full length studio album “Alphatier”, Curt finally had the time to stop and breathe after the hard promo work and talk to us about his newest creation.
RN: It’s been over a year since our last interview and since then you have been hard at work on the lyrics and music for the new Treibhaus album, “Alphatier”, which you put out just recently on your new label, Danse Macabre. You worked on the lyrics and songs for over 2 years, when did the idea for the album first come to you and describe the two year period where you composed and wrote the songs. What was going on for you in those two years and how did the album come together from a creative perspective?
Curt: “Alphatier” is the first Treibhaus album where I did not give myself a deadline for the release date. My plan was to do a CD which is ready when it is perfect in my eyes – and it doesn’t matter when. The first songs I had written during the time of the mixing and mastering of the previous Treibhaus album “Alarmstufe Rot”. I also had no idea how the album will be at the end or that it will be named “Alphatier”. I wanted to do an album without any specifications from the beginning. I wrote song after song and lyric after lyrics and only the very best have survived to the end.
RN: You personally composed the music for the songs, wrote the lyrics and played almost all the instruments in the recording studio by yourself for “Alphatier”. You took almost 100% of the responsibility for the music on yourself, is there a reason for doing it almost entirely alone when you have a full band at your disposal?
Curt: “Too many cooks spoil the broth”. From the very beginning Treibhaus was my baby and it still is. I am in the lucky position to do everything on my own. That means 100% fun and 100% what I want. I do have a full band to bring Treibhaus on stage because I have two arms and two legs only, but studio recordings are different. The technical standard allows to do everything by one person and do recordings instrument after instrument. This possibility was made for egos like mine 
.
I also programmed all the drum parts before I asked Michael Wolpers to do the drum recordings for this album. This is something what he can do much better than me because I haven’t played the drums for nearly 6 years and I was not willing to practice that long to be able to play the drums by myself. Michael did such a good job! He played it exactly in the way I had pictured it in my mind. So my advantage here was to bring Michael’s drumming on the album with out working with any samples or trigger. I reached this target to perfection as Michael drummed it perfectly.
RN: The album was recorded in your own sound studio. Tell us the story of your sound studio, and was Alphatier the first album you recorded there?
Curt: I have called my studio “Schall und Rauch Studios”. What is in English like “smoke and mirrors”. Actually my studio is in my living room and this often make people think that this fact means it is not possible to do professional recordings. Everything except the drum-recordings were made at home. For me technical know how and musical understanding are the keywords for something professional. I would be able to write that the recordings were made elsewhere and nobody would care but I don’t – The result speaks for itself. Turn this album up and it will blow you away! 
RN: You have a new label now, Danse Macabre instead of your own personal label, Kneeve Records. Tell us how you decided to get involved with Danse Macabre, and how is that paying off for you now after all these years doing it independently on your own label?
Curt: I used to work together with “Danse Macabre Records” from the very first Treibhaus release “Unsterblich”. This and the second release “Feindbild” was a co-release with my own label “Kneeve Records” and “Danse Macabre”. The reason for this was the distribution channels and some other political things. With the third release “Alarmstufe Rot” I tried another company but this was a big mistake because these fuckers were bullshitting me and the CD never really reached the retail stores. I don’t want to talk more about this because my neck is getting thicker as soon I think about it. The “Live in Hannover” album I have released with my company “Rneeve Records” only. It was a limited fan release and available only on our webpage. To cut a long story short: now I am back together with Danse Macabre and still 100% independent.
RN: World famous drummer Michael Wolpers returns to the Treibhaus lineup for the new album, and this time he did something a bit different in studio. There are ‘purely acoustic’ drum signals on this album. You play drums as well, so please tell us what this means and how it effects the album and recordings?
Curt: As I already wrote above, I am more than satisfied with the drum-recordings. Michael did such a good job with his drumming. We chose a recording studio with an extremely huge recording room and recorded all the drum tracks on analog tape. This analog tape recording makes the cymbals and the room microphones sound much more human and warm. This in combination with the typical technical Treibhaus-Electronics and loops is a killer. The complete sound is much more clear and raw at the same time.
RN: The album art for “Alphatier” is very macabre and unlike any other Treibhaus album to date. Tell us about the photo of the human skull taken by Frederic Bozada from Pol Pot’s camps in Cambodia, and why you chose this image to represent the new album rather than the industrial images you used previously.
Curt: I always wanted, and have gotten a union between music, lyrics, sound and artwork. This union exists with “Alphatier” more then ever before. Maybe because I decided to do the artwork by myself, too. This should not sound arrogant or narcissistic. If every creative part comes out of the same brain, the understanding to the complete is more different than if there were many different people involved. The original plan was to ask Frederic Bozada to do the photos from me for the booklet. He already did the live shots for the “Live in Hannover” CD and I liked his work a lot. As we met to discuss the locations and motives for the photo session he showed me his collection of photos he did during the last years from all around the world. I was so impressed and realized that real pictures are much better than posed for the cover artwork. The photos we finally chose for the “Alphatier” cover artwork were personally made by Frederic at the original locations in the former prison “S-21″ of the Khmer Rouge in Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and in Quneitra (Syria). The only picture of me Frederic did during the first session the first time we met. This cover artwork fits perfect to the lyrical and musical mood of “Alphatier”.
RN: When we last spoke, you told us that Treibhaus was your baby, your special project. Since the band and the music is very personal to you, tell us how you mix the personal aspects like the songwriting and music and the business aspects like promotions and fans. How do you view and handle each one?
Curt: That has not changed from the last time we spoke to today. I handle it very humanly and it is unspectacular. Treibhaus is no mega act and I am down to earth enough to know that every single fan is a special gift to me. Even if artists are saying they do the music mostly for themselves – without fans and positive feedback no one would survive in this business. I always try to to be as close as possible to the press and my fans but
I never do things I don’t want to do, and I try always to be myself. This maybe sounds like a flowery phrase but it is the truth.
RN: As I mentioned before, you did a lot of the work for “Alphatier” almost completely by yourself, and to me, this is the most ‘complete’ and well mixed Treibhaus album to date. Do you think this is due to you taking more control and being more hands on in all aspects of the music making? And is this blend of electronics and metal what you had envisioned the band would eventually become?
Curt: First of all I am very happy that you see it like this. It shows me that you took time to understand this CD and you are absolutely right. This again is a big step forward to the perfect crossover mix between all different electronic and metal styles I like to combine in my music. At the same time I am happy that there are still enough musical possibilities on my mind to create the musical future of Treibhaus without stopping on the spot. Finally, I don’t want to do the same album again!
RN: Treibhaus has many fans over here in America and Canada, can you tell us the meanings of the songs on the album? And do you have a personal favourite song from “Alphatier” or any of the past albums? If so, why is that song your personal favourite?
Curt: Same question – same answer: All my songs are in a special way my favorites . But you are right, after time goes by there are just a few songs that become all time favorites. If there is a new release it is hard for me to name a favorite song because it depends on my personal mood. The album “Alphatier” is about honesty, truth and the real life. It is accusatory and motivating at the same time. Sometimes I exaggerate a bit and sometimes I had to defuse my opinion a little to leave enough space for everybody’s thoughts and experiences.
RN: A big part of getting a label is the promotion and getting the bands name out there. What sort of special promotions has Treibhaus done with Danse Macabre for the release of Alphatier, and can we expect any cool promo stuff in the future from you?
Curt: Word of mouth and online promotion are the keywords. I have built up a “Treibhaus network” in the last few years where I can do the promotion very easily and cost effective by myself. I also have a very close relationship to all the non-commercial media like radio stations, print- and online magazines. They give me such a great support and I give them back the same as best I can. This is a win win situation for both sides without depending on the music industry and their questionable rules. I hate this, and I am very proud to do everything absolutely independent.
RN: And what about live shows? You guys did a bit of touring for the release of “Live in Hannover” and “Alarmstuffe Rote”. Will you be touring around Europe for the new album?
Curt: We used to play some shows with Treibhaus in the past but the major priority of Treibhaus is to produce CDs in the studio. This is what I want to do. Writing songs, record and produce them in the way I like to do music. Here I can do everything by my own and that is the most fun. There are no shows planed yet but I will never say never.
As I mentioned before, Treibhaus is not a part of the big industry and the situation in the live-business in Germany for bands the size of Treibhaus is very bad anyway. Treibhaus is too big and especially too loud for club gigs, and too small for the big stages and venues. We have a lot of “pay to play” shit going on here in Germany and this is something what I never will accept. Also the live business is a political thing and ruled by the music industry. They don’t like to work with a one man show like Treibhaus, but I don’t care. In this case it is better I don’t do concerts and just have fun with writing songs.
RN: As the fans of Treibhaus know, you love body art and have some pretty extensive tattooing done by none other than your good friend and Treibhaus guitarist Martin Blankenburg! Have you gotten any new tattoos recently, and any plans for more in the future?
Curt: I would love to get more tattoos in the future but I have to economize a bit with the free space on my body because there is not much left! I’m going to keep the leftover space for special occasions and the ideas that will come for sure. Most of my tattoos have a close connection with good and bad experiences in my life. I am pretty sure that there will come some more good things in my life – all the bad I have already used up!
RN: You are also a big football fan, supporting 1.FC Kaiserslautern and your home team, Hannover 96 to which you have season tickets. When you are at the games or out in public do you ever get recognized as an artist? How is the local exposure and recognition for the band in general?
Curt: I used to have season tickets for Hannover 96 many, many years ago and I got recognized as the front man of Treibhaus sometimes. This year Hannover 96 is playing their best season in history, so in the stadium it is all about football and so nobody cares about a musician in the audience. I love to watch football a lot and hope that Kaiserslautern will stay in the 1. Bundesliga and Hannover will make it to play in the European competition.
RN: And what about your exposure here in North America? I know many fans of the band here in Canada and America. Have you gotten more responses since we last spoke, and how have the international fans of Treibhaus responded to the new album?
Curt: The only place where I get a fan response from the other side of the ocean is the world wide web. It makes me very proud that there are Treibhaus fans all over the world and that they like to listen to the songs I have written, played and recorded here in my world. Also the fact that non Germans like songs with German lyrics is surprising to me again and again. The response regarding “Alphatier” is positive through and through. Because this interview is in English I like to take the chance to say thanks to all of the non Germans all over the world that give me their great support! You let me feel very special and you are the reason for me to keep going year by year.
RN: Now that the band has a label, do you think it will be eventually possible in the next few years to do a North American tour, even just a small one?
Curt: To be honest, I don’t think so – it is so far away . But more important for me is the fact that there are Treibhaus fans already. This makes me feel very special!
RN: And lastly, where do you hope for the band to go from here?
Curt: Straight forward on the path where Treibhaus is already going. I hope that many people all over this planet will have the chance to listen to Treibhaus and that the Treibhaus community will grow constantly. With Treibhaus I have now achieved more than I had ever dare to dream of, so I can look very relaxed into future.
RN: Thank you so much for your time, Curt. It’s always a pleasure!
Curt: I have to say thank you! You are a part of Treibhaus! And this is my pleasure!
Cheers and respect,
Curt
http://www.treibhaus-sound.de
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/treibhaus2
