Interview with Claudia Fasold from Din [A] Tod

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Who is Claudia Fasold?

I'd describe myself as a friendly and respectful person... I am a 24/7 creative (music: DIN [A] TOD and <IO> and graphic/media design)...
I hate injustice, stupidity and dishonesty, which makes me pretty angry with the world's social, cultural and environmental situation. I try to look beneath the surface of things... I try to give what I can for the ones I love and be a happy person...

What role did Music play in your childhood, did you grew up in a family with alot of Music?

No, not really... although me and my family were listening to the radio and records all day long... My sister is quite a good singer, she always beats me when we play Singstar, haha...

Well, for me music was something that I only consumed in my younger years, but consumed very intensively, I was buying a lot of CDs and running to parties and concerts every other day...

How did you become a musician, what were your first steps?

After I finished my schools and had moved to Berlin, it happened that I started playing in bands... I am a total autodidact in everything, but I discovered my sense for creating song structures and melodies.... I started in bands with no real future and spend long hours in rehearsal rooms.... After about 2 years there was a decision to quit with the bands and form a duo... I skipped rehearsal rooms and started working at home studios.... It was at that time, that DIN [A] TOD evolved...

Claudia

You play in two bands, you are a DJ and you are a graphic designer, is it hard to divide your time between all these things? Can we say the similarity in all these things is “expression and creating”?

Ha, this is a very good question, and now you know why it took me soooo long to get these answers back to you... I think I could do very well with a 30 hours day, and everyday please... it's really hard to divide my time... and you even forgot to name things like my love, my friends & family, leisure & all my other hobbies (which are all VERY important to me too)...

Sure, all of this is about creating and expressing things... as long as I can think I was always drawing, "pimping" my clothes, doing graphic work, photo manipulation, then making music... I was never really satisfied with just consumption... it is like an inner drive... but it's really hard to find time for all that I would like to do... ;)

Are there certain things you want to express in all your work or is it all on assignment, is there a typical Claudia thing in all your work?

A lot of my work as graphic designer is on assignment, that's just daily business. But I always try to be good in what I do and produce things that I am artistically or graphically convinced of...

But I love to be able to add the Claudia thing to my work... When I can connect to a project, I feel some sort of creative flow and then everything goes together like a puzzle...

Let’s start with Din [A] Tod, can you give a brief introduction to the band?

DIN [A] TOD is a band created in 2004 by me and the singer Sven. In 2005 we were signed to Out Of Line and released the first EP there including "Living Dead". Two years later we finally finished our debut album with the help of our now third band member Phelix Schneefeld.
Right now we just finished recordings of our 2nd album which will be called "Westwerk" and will be released in early spring 2009.

Last year you joined the Out of Line tour, how were the responses because all other bands were pure electronic bands?

Oh, we were a bit nervous about what would happen... opening every evening for bands way harder and more electronic than we were... but we were proven wrong... it was fantastic... many people liked that we were so different, somewhat fresh and we found good friends within the other bands and the audience...

Claudia

A tour has it’s good and bad sides, what things do you like of being on tour and what are the things you don’t like that much?

Bad sides mean that you have no privacy, almost no space for your things, you don't have your own wonderful bed, bathroom, shower, ... It means sitting in very little space for a long time on the bus or in a car, no way to move, and at the clubs it means waiting... most of the time waiting, for the soundcheck, food, stage time... But nice people on the same car/bus/club make a big change though and mean a lot of fun, too, that's one of the good sides... :)

And then, when you get up on stage, it's great... all the people, dancing, singing along, coming to you after the gig, people who took just as much effort like you, by driving long hours, spending money, waiting, just to see you live and they're so happy that you are there... this is worth all the stress... and then you meet so many people and friends.... single concerts are over very quickly, and that's the good thing about a tour, that it continues...

The album, the sound of crash, got many great reviews and comments, when working on it, did you all realize you were making something special? How do you feel about the comments and reviews?

Our first album contains songs from a period of 4 years... I think we felt that we we did something "different" was when we were writing "Living Dead". We were in the studio at that time and had one afternoon off, that was when we wrote that song, and we knew immediately that we had to change the recording plans and record that song instead...

When we were writing the last songs of the album, we tried to think about what the people would say about it, whom they would compare us with, and we couldn't predict the resonance, we had not much expectations, so every good review, every positive comment was simply fantastic for us!

I wouldn't exactly call our music "special"... it may be "different" than many other bands and sound quite unique. But only when there are people to whom our music means something special, that is what really MAKES it special...

How are the songs of Din [A] Tod created, is it a group process or do you all work on ideas seperatly at home?

It's definitely a group process... some first ideas emerge at home, but building and recording the song is only possible when at least two of us are together...

When can people expect to hear new songs of Din [A] Tod?

We just finished recordings for the 2nd album "Westwerk" and if everything goes as planned, it will be out in March!!!

Claudia

Besides in Din [A] Tod you also play in the industrial punk noise act IO, what are the main differences in playing in those bands?

Oh.... well the music is completely different, and so are the live shows...

For IO, much of the music is created while playing around with drum machines (and now we have a live drummer, so we play with him... ;) ), effect panels and sound experiments such as broken cables, metal plates, analogue and synthetic sound construction, etc..

IO is also more direct, more political, not so entertaining but harder and more action provoking. We have an attitude, and we want to make people think and feel different, we try to create some pain for the audience, by being loud and aggressive and by our whole visual concept, just as we also suffer pain on stage... It's a magical ritual, it's not only about having fun, we want to change something...

IO's power mainly comes from chaos, from intuition and spontaneuos energy... Many things can happen during an IO show, we're all letting go our control of things... after IO shows all of us always feel empty, drained, dizzy, like special energies has been consumed...

Can we say that IO is closer to your personal music taste than Din [A] Tod?

No, not really... I really like a lot of different types of music, it has always been like that...

I try to be open minded for new music and bands... one day I listen to hardcore bands like Refused, Breach or Botch, the next day I listen to New Order, Interpol, Editors, or Tool or Bohren and the Club of Gore, the next day I listen to electro bands like The Faint, Ladytron, then more ambient stuff like Mogwai and This will destroy you, the next day I go dancing to Imminent Starvation, Skinny Puppy and Power Electronics like Institut...

I am musically multi-interested...

What are the goals for IO?

Finish the album in 2009. Playing live. Playing live. Changing people's minds.

As a DJ, what makes a song a good song to spin?

It must be special and not necessarily known by everyone, it must be danceable, and it must have certain unique aspects about it that I personally like. I like to DJ songs, that not everybody else plays...

Claudia

What is your personal top 5 in Djaying?

"Simplex" by Panic Drives Human Herds, because it is SIMPLY GREAT! The song also “came” to me in a special time and has a very unique feel.

Skinny Puppy, some old songs like "Warlocked" or "Killing Game"... I also like to new ones, I only think they're not so dancable...

I love to play songs by Chrysalide, F.Y.D. or Twinkle (all on the French label Audiotrauma), they're amazing bands with cool style and a intelligent attitude...

At the moment I also enjoy playing Suicide Inside, the side project of Ambassador 21, my song favorites are "Burning Slide" or "Magic"...
Another all time favorite is Imminent Starvation, "Lost Highway 45"... But I also love to play "Ire"....

How do you prepare for doing a show and what is the first thing you do after a show?

Well... I always enjoy drinking a bit of alcohol before the show, a bit to ease the stage fright... ;) I concentrate on special parts and structures in the songs and repeat them in my mind... then I move and jump around to warm up my body, I repeat some vocal lines to warm up my voice and then out on stage! ... after the show I go backstage and I need some time there to cool down and have another drink... and then party with the crowd!

You are a graphic designer as well, what kind of graphics do you make and how do you create them, by computer or hand?

I do a lot of different things, starting with logos / CIs, websites, CD/DVD artworks, layouts, flyers, posters, T-shirt designs, animations, ... ...
Usually, when I do a design like a logo or a layout, I start with a sketch on paper... but then very soon after that everything has to be digitalized. Other times I also start directly on the computer......

Who is a designing role-model for you, what inspires you?

I don't have a real designing"role model", I like the work of many different artists and I enjoy all kinds of different styles...

For example I adore old classical and renaissance art, the old masters like Tizian, Tintoretto, Caravaggio, Michelangelo .... Bernini, Leonardo da Vinci.... and I simply love the work of the Pre-Raffaelites from England.... But I am also amazed by modern artists like the fantastic photographer Floria Sigismondi, the graphic designer David Carson, Bansky, Verner Panton, Damien Hirst, Chris Cunningham, some film makers, Neil Gaiman, the whole artistic concept of The KLF, some Tattooists.... There are so many good artists out there, many good styles and clear / consistent concepts that impress me, people who live their dreams and find happyness and fulfillment... that and almost everything I see around me, other people, nature, life, history, future, ... inspire me most...

Does inspiration for designing basically is the same as for music?

No... I don't think so... Musical inspiration comes to me when I really sit in front of my synth oder bass or computer, whereas design ideas are all around in my head most of the time.

If you could throw a euro in a wishing well to do a wish, what would you wish for?

I would wish for wealth, peace and health for the ones I love, but also everyone else, for a better society.

Any last words for the readers?

Believe in yourself and the fulfillment of your dreams. Dare to take a closer look at things... Listen to your heart and respect your environment (human and nature). Be a good person. Help make this world a better place for all of us.