So, time to let Christian Peters tell us how their musical adventure started, how it is going and where it will go (and bring their fans) in a near future! MARILENA MORONI - I don’t know why, but the idea of you guys coming down for playing in Central Italy at the Tube Cult Fest in Pescara, during this beautiful fully blooming spring season is simply great. You could not have chosen a better time! (*) Your music is lush and intimate as well as burstling with rejuvenating energy, like the season when life is coming back loaded with great expectances. Of course, with an album out called “Waiting for the Flood” … Would you like to tell us about how the SBE adventure started, and who and what have been inspiring you as musicians and composers in these years?
[ (*) P.S.: well, unfortunately right in the days these lads were in Italy the weather was miserable!!! Anyway, springtime is crazy weather too…].
CHRISTIAN PETERS: I like this comparison, and I hope we can hold this "burst with rejuvenating energy" for as long as possible! I started the band after the breakdown of its predecessor Terraplane and after long terms of searching for the right band members found this constellation in late 2008. We started being influenced mostly by a stoner bands like (mid-term) Colour Haze, Om and especially Mammatus, plus some other more or less obvious 60s/70s influence, but never actually tried to sound like these or being too much "biased". I´d say we´re influenced by all that surrounds us, by all that appeals, but as well as all other happenings around our daily life. See, how can one not be in a Psychedelic band when you have to live in a city like Berlin, where there´s so many annoying things (all these weird people, S-Bahn crowds and traffic jams) you have to flee to a Psychedelic Wonderland ….
MARILENA - Oh, that “infernal” Berlin of yours sounds so cool! I have the feeling there would be many people tempted in exchanging their boring towns with yours, eh eh … But you are surely right, there may be always the need of a therapeutic escape! Let’s go back to your music. Even if in the realm of psychedelic bands, Samsara Blues Experiment has always been a band characterized by a remarkably heavy sound. You guys released your latest, third studio album, Waiting for the Flood, in November 2013. This beautiful, intense album comes after the impact of the powerful short tracks in the definitely “metallic” album Revelation and Mystery (2011). What made you guys go back to the more psychedelic-oriented sound, typical of the first full-length album Long Distant Trip, in the vigorous yet dilated suites of the new album?
CHRISTIAN - Initially I wanted to do only two long tracks, but we don´t sit down and plan things. The only thing that has to be clear is that the songs fit those given 45-50 minutes of the LP medium. The rest is creative flow.
MARILENA - … And yes, right speaking about this creative flux … Your more psych-oriented songs are often long, often well over 8 minutes or 10 8and even over 22 minutes as in the monumental suite Double Freedom). It may seem that jamming is an important part of your style. However one often gets the impression that your dilated psych ballads are actually quite tightly structured. You don’t get lost in them, there ís a narrative stream catching the attention of the listener and accompanying him/her into your stories. Or, at least, this is what I experience. Especially in the new album the suites seem to me as almost proggy at time, even if they are drenched with the freshness and the raw energy of distorted fuzzy stoner rock. Is it really working in this way? How are you normally composing your songs? Have you got a preferred scheme that you like to follow? And did something change in the way you guys wrote music for the new album in comparison to what done before?
CHRISTIAN - Also here it´s less thinking, more feeling - in terms of doing what feels right. When we feel a song is too short or too long, we´ll work it out. But we don´t really jam a lot, it´s more like intuitive puzzling. Putting those pieces together that at some time happen to be there . And yes we are more Prog influenced than ever these days. The Stoner term does not fit too well to those songs anymore. It´s only one part of a wholeness.
MARILENA - The heavy side of your music contributes in making Samsara Blues Experiment a band with an impact within the psychedelic scene, in spite of the fact that you guys often create some trippy atmospheres and occasionally adopt synth-driven spacey sounds or else exotic sounds via the use of sitar. What do you think is the side of Samsara Blues Experiment that fans appreciate most, the hard one or the intimate one? And is there a “most fave” album among yours? I mean, not necessarily only because of commercial return …
CHRISTIAN - I still don´t get the craze for "Long Distance Trip", but not only according to sales, also it´s unending appeal to music listers should put it among the most significant "Stoner" albums of all times I guess. I mean of course there are the monumental songs, but all other albums had greater moments for me. Personally I prefer "Revelation & Mystery" to all other albums, but also that´s the thing, you have so much to chose. Such a variety. You won´t find this in many other bands and being a reviewer and music follower for many years I know what I am speaking about. I guess there´s a lot to discover for each and everybody in Samsara Blues Experiment. Heavy riffs and fragile melody, shouting and chanting, brutality and tenderness. You decide.
MARILENA - Samsara Blues Experiment music is riff-driven both when said riffs are tight and heavy and when they are seductive in their ethereal psych meanderings. But beside riffs vocals are the other winning and, for me addictive, feature. Well, I’m not the only one saying this! Christian, your chanting style and warm and intense voice are surely unique but remind me a bit of Jim Morrison, a bit of Jimi Hendrix and a bit of Glen Danzig. To me your vocals sound as a sort of bridge between the different stylistic souls in the band. How did you decide to sing in Samsara Blues Experiment after the experience in your previous band Terraplane where you didn’t sing? And did/does the action of singing, i.e. the direct interpretation of what you write, somehow influence the ways of composing music/ writing songs? Or were/are the other sources (life, books, art, etc.) providing most inspiration and force of expression?
CHRISTIAN . You can see it that way and also that my voice is more limited than there would be a limitation to styles that we chose to play. My way of singing will more or less stay the same, our music style might change a bit from album to album or song to song. I decided to sing because somehow always wanted to, but I was a very shy person in earlier years. I would hardly speak to anyone when I was younger. Life made me change and evolve a lot since then. I went through real hard times, also to find my voice and myself. It´s a process we all have to go through. Mostly I feel great and sometimes sort of relieved when I can express myself by singing those songs. That´s it basically. As I said life as a whole is the main influence. I would feel a bit silly to drop any names or bands that influenced me over the last 33 years. It´s just too much, but I love The Doors and I don´t like Danzig too much, if that helps …
MARILENA - What other sides or artistic interests are you guys developing in the musical projects you are involved beside Samsara Blues Experiment?
CHRISTIAN – Hans [Hans Eiselt, the other fellow on guitar] recently released an album with his sideband Rodeo Drive. I bought some weird instruments in the meantime and try to learn to (really) play piano which seems to be a hard task. (*)
(**)
CHRISTIAN – Hans [N.d.R.: Hans Eiselt, l’altro chitarrista] recentemente ha pubblicato l’album con la sua band. Nel frattempo io mi sono comprato alcuni strumenti strani (*) e sto cercando di imparare a suonare il pianoforte seriamente, cosa che si sta rivelando molto dura …
(*) [Christian is speaking about the sitar which is occasionally employed in Samsara Blues Experiment, but which becomes a key feature in Chris’ solo project Soulitude – you can get some substantial info about it by reading here]
(**) [Christian does not mention it because he is a fair person and he may want to avoid conflicts of interest. So I am adding it. Also the bass player, Richard Behrens is militating in a cool retro-rock band called Heat, and whose debut album was released during 2012 via Christian’s label Electric Magic Records.]
MARILENA - In an interview some time ago I happened to read that you guys particularly appreciate the intimacy of small concerts. However the fact is that even if you don’t like crowds, crowds like you very much! Roadburn, Herzberg, Yellowstock, Desertfest, etc., again the Desertfest in London this year, not to speak about the thousands of fans waiting for you in South America … And let’s not forget the TV event, the concert at Rockpalast immortalized in a cool full video shootage and in the limited edition CD released in early 2013 (read something about it here). How does it feel while playing at such big events? In your exhibitions you guys look relaxed, and concentrated in crafting riffs after riffs after riffs ….
CHRISTIAN - I love rather smaller events, that´s right. Gigs for about 300 people maximum would be the optimum. I feel weird when separated from the crowd. When there´s a fence and 5 - 10 m to people standing or in worst case sitting in front of you, that rather sucks. We had that, gigs for 2000 plus and even a gig in Theater which was the weirdest thing ever. You just can´t create any closer connection there. I love to see people in front of me, banging and dancing and shouting the refrains back at us. This is so cool. Psychedelic Superstarboredom isn´t. Before the shows I can be excited as hell, running to the bathroom for ten times in a half hour, on stage and after the first two songs I can finally relax. No matter what size the concert, this is always similar. I get really high when people get into it and groove to our music.
CHRISTIAN - I still wonder by what incident we got into that show, but Wolf, the label owner of World In Sound, must have really talked into the Rockpalast main guy, who in the end after our show said something like "he was happy that people stayed in the room", which perfectly illustrates what I think of this event! It´s the mainstream, I am glad that once we got in there, but let´s not waste any more words on it, except that in the old days they had good taste, when Rory Gallagher opened for the first Rockpalast transmission.
MARILENA – Yeah, I can see your point … Anyway the video footage on the stage is done really well and that video is a pleasant “surrogate” for those fans who live too far for having the chance of seeing your shows at the moment. I would like to go on speaking about live activity, also because you guys started almost like globetrotters! I mean, you made a tour in USA just after the release of the debut demo … a blast! So how was this very early experience of yours across the ocean? That must have been amazing!
CHRISTIAN - It was. Rather obviously. Hans was 19 years old when we did this. He could´t even have a beer there, but was drunk all the time ... We saw so many things. To me I often felt like being on another planet actually.
MARILENA – And after all these years and experience how did your attitude towards live music change?
CHRISTIAN - Good question! I guess this relates to the few announced gigs in 2014. After the long and pretty exhausting EU-tour last November I really felt like there should be some rest here. We spend five years on "high speed" and I really needed to think things over. I also had a nervous break down when we were touring which really made me sit and wonder. You know for me a live show should be unique, energetic, something almost magical. If you play as much as we did sometimes, it turns into routine, which is the exact opposite of what I personally want.
CHRISTIAN - Totally a mess I can tell you, there was sand all over in the effect pedals! Then imagine people sitting ca. 30 meters in front of you and smoke their joints or just hanging around, which might give you the clear impression that this was´t the sort of show I mentioned before, where I feel comfortable. In short, I didn´t like our concert too much, even if the whole idea seems nice. It seems to be cool for bands like Colour Haze, but it´s not my thing to play that kind of show. I need blood, sweat and tears on the dance floor …
MARILENA - Oh, how brutal! Lol … Well, so let’s go back to some other brutal thing, i.e., hard everyday life. I know that you guys have the same problems of most underground musicians, i.e. you have to earn your survival money by means of “normal” jobs in order to cultivate your musical passion in Samsara Blues Experiment as well as in other musical projects. However you guys have been forging your skills in the musical realm in a wide sense, and we can well say you have by now become professional and 360° DIY as to composition, performance, studio recording, mixing [thanks to the sound engineering skills of bassist Richard Behrens], production, graphical art and distribution via your own label Electric Magic Records. Could you please tell us something about these additional and valuable professional activities?
CHRISTIAN - You know whole life is struggle. Somehow since the day you enter this world you have to find your way through this whole mess on Planet Earth. Get along the system - whatever system you´re in, fulfill expectations to yourself and to others, live a good life as far as it´s possible. Everybody has to find a way through this. I find it utterly naive for people to strive for a Rockstar life or that sorts, where everything seems easy and amounts of money flow to your bank account for doing nothing but playing music. I mean, everybody has to find what´s best for him or her, but there always will be a lot of work to do and compromises to find. I found myself in having a purpose as a musician, but also as a music lover by working for labels, magazines, bands and so on. The wholeness is what I am: a hard working guy. My work won´t end at 5 pm. I don´t take anything for granted. Still we may be a bit more privileged living in Germany, which is one of the richer countries in this world. But I really dislike when people complain about the shit that´s going on, about labels that don´t treat them right, when tours don´t work their way or whatever. For these my advice would be: work on it! Work that out for yourself and don´t complain about the hardship you face each day, because we all do.
MARILENA – Amen to that! I would like to go through the label thing a bit more with you. Your initial albums had been released via the cool German label World in Sound, and since a while basically the whole production of Samsara Blues Experiment is available via Chrisí label Electric Magic Records. That’s way cool, as people who discover you guys now can have the chance of getting any of your albums, even the old stuff, easily and directly from you. Then the band’s label made a further step and started producing/ distributing also other cool present-day bands and recovering hidden rock gems from the past. Would you tell us something about this extension of the label? And how do you select the bands to be featured in the label?
CHRISTIAN - Basically the band/musician has to have something special. People should have something to say, an own voice, and appeal to my ears. In my opinion, no one really needs any more copies of copies or that 5.000.000 generic 70s Rock clone. My label is more or less sort of a passion, not a strict business like other big (german) labels are. As I explained earlier this might also destroy the passion by turning it into routine and forcing it into rather unnecessary structures. No one has to release anything at all, when you look back at the last 40 years of music. There´s so much to discover. Hope you get my point.
MARILENA – Uhm, I think I got the sense of your words. As a listener I continuously realise the growing number of the gaps in my knowledge about music with respect to what has been already done and also how much stuff is there to be explored in the huge mass of the past music! But I also understand the desire of musicians in trying and making music in memory/hommage to their idols. Of course, originality is the tricky ingredient that counts more than technique …
Anyway, let’s go back to Samsara Blues Experiment. How did you guys build up your really world-wide fanbase? Did the free download music on the web affect your activity in a negative way? And how did the relationship with fans change in time?
CHRISTIAN - I have no idea, but many people seem to like us! I know that´s weird, also because some of our earlier records aren´t very good but maybe that "own voice"-thing hits it. I think we have this own voice and we use it. The music we play is not something completely new, but also we don´t try to sound like anybody but us. The free downloads only help I guess, because we don´t have a big distribution and in most foreign continents our records are rather expensive. We work on this, but everybody can also buy directly from us. All we all need is to switch habits. Buy from the bands! They deserve it! All other money (Amazon, iTunes, whatever) in most parts goes in other hands.
MARILENA – And after Tube Cult fest in Italy and the Desertfest in London where will Samsara Blues Experiment be heading to?
CHRISTIAN - We´ll be playing Sofia, Bulgaria [on May 15th 2014] and two shows in Greece. Looking much forward to this!
MARILENA – Last and super-quick question. Are you guys already thinking about or working on any new album?
CHRISTIAN - Sometimes yes, sometimes no. We have some other issues to solve before. Anyway, thank you for the interview and your interest!
MARILENA – Thanks for replying and rock on and all the best for you guys!
Interview by Marilena Moroni
Samsara Blues Experiment Links
Official Website
Bandcamp