About Pornography

Question: How do you feel when you hear about pornography with children through the Internet nearly every day? Do you think that one day it will be common to watch those pictures on TV?

Sid : I do hope not — but this male dominated society is a rather sick system, and there's already enough abominable pornographic stuff in the internet and on TV right now. The fact that not only a few men are turned on by pornography and prostitution shows that a majority of the male gender is neither able to develop a healthy sexual self-awareness nor to perceive women as autonomous human beings.

Melancholy or Beauty?

Question: Which are the main feelings you want to transport through your music? Would it be melancholy or beauty -- or both?

Sid: The main idea behind Antichrisis is that music and lyrics as an individable entity should be a reflection of my soul, a mirror of my dreams, my visions, my desires and my emotions. Hence this music is of very personal and intimate matter, for it reveals my inner self completely.

Melancholy and beauty are both part of my world of emotions, as well as love and hate, sadness and joy, fear and hope, strength and weakness, desire and lust, depression and confidence.

Still being fameless

Question: Antichrisis has released 3 excellent albums so far, but hasn't achieved that much recognition. Do you have an explanation for that phenomenon?

Sid : Thanks for your compliment. I guess the point about Antichrisis being not that popular as it deserves to be (at least in my humble opinion) is that Antichrisis is not "hip" enough!

It's not easy for the audience to "consume" our music, because the music itself challenges a listener's open-mindedness! If you listen to a Cradle of Filth-album for example, you'll always know what the next song on the CD might probably sound like, because bands like CoF as well as many others are strictly limited to just one musical style; but if you listen to an Antichrisis-album for the very first time, it's simply impossible to predict what'll come next — or would you have expected a Pop-tune like "Nightswan" after the Intro ("How can I live on top of the mountain?") on our 2nd. album? And even if you think you might have got the idea behind Antichrisis, then the next album will be completely different from the last one.

Playing Live

Question: Have you ever played live? I would be really interested in your gigs which must be a great experience. Another band I know once mentioned that their dream would be to play in an ancient church. Have you ever thought similarly about this as well?

Sid : We have actually been playing live when touring Europe (Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands) together with Tristania, The Sins of thy Beloved, Siebenbürgen and Trail of Tears in spring 1999, but it wasn't exactly a satisfying experience for us: poor organisation, lack of essential equipment, bad promotion and other unpleasant circumstances made this some kind of "Tour de Force" — 19 gigs within 3 weeks without a day off, surrounded by a horde of permanently drunken Scandinavians wasn't that much fun! Anyway, we tried to make the best out of it and act as professional as possible (quite tricky if you haven't the chance of doing a soundcheck!), so we could at least prove the audience that Antichrisis is also a splendid live-act! Unfortunately Näx couldn't be with us on that tour, as he had to pass his exams at that time, so the tour-band included just me, Dragonfly, Brown Jenkin on Guitar, a mad session drummer and our japanese friend Roland on Keyboards and Sequencer.

Nevertheless I do enjoy live performances, although I'd prefer an old pagan temple to a Christian building for an Antichrisis-gig — as long as there are enough sockets somewhere: Otherwise it'd be a rather "unplugged" experience (which wouldn't mean a serious problem to Antichrisis either, as we're capable of doing an acoustic set as well).

Ancient Cultures

Question: You do seem to be fascinated by ancient cultures, am I right?

Sid: Yes, you are: I'm interested in matriarchal cultures all over the world, especially in those of Northern-European, pre-Celtic origin.

I do also admire Celtic Art: I remember having seen photographs of early Celtic Art when I was about 14 years old, and from that very moment I've been fascinated by the rich symbolism and the beauty of that artistic school; and so I tried to go deeper into Celtic Culture, reading every available book that I could lay my hands on. I spent about 10 or 12 years on reading and learning until I began actually understanding the spirit of all I've read about, which goes far beyond plain knowledge - spiritual awareness cannot be learned, it has to be experienced.

Of course it was of great importance to me to gain knowledge through literature, but really experiencing the Celtic Spirit happened when I visited some of the ancient quoits in England and Ireland and listened to the old ballads not only with my ears, but with my heart!

Acoustic and Electric

Question: In which ways have you succeeded in mixing acoustic and electric music?

Sid: When I wrote the songs for "Cantara Anachoreta" and "A Legacy of Love" I usually started with evolving the basic chords on acoustic guitar, but for "Perfume" things were different, because of its emphasis on electronic sounds and grooves. I started with just some basic rhythms and bass lines when working on the "Perfume"-material, which was a modified way of creating and arranging songs.

Personally, I don't see any reason for drawing a parting line between electronic and acoustic instruments: They both have their advantages, and they're both wonderful tools for creating the musical soundscapes of Antichrisis.