Hi Max, thanks for doing this interview with us, how are you doing?
Hallo Ed, it's a pleasure! I'm doing fine, looking forward to our concert at Utrecht!
You started with Jännerwein in 2004 as a soloproject, what do you remember of those days?
Actually I started doing music a long time before Jännerwein came into being, but thank God none of this first steps were released in any form. I had some demos and played them at some local parties – and, quite to my surprise, some people liked it and soon Benjamin (our bass player) and I thought of making a folkband together. Benjamin introduced me to a very talented colleague of his from university and luckily this man (Peter Feldl) turned out to be a real genius on old folkloristic instruments and was interested in working with us. So for the following months we were three people with a bunch of demosongs, and when the first concert was finally organized we still didn't have a name, so we came up with “Jännerwein” quite spontaineously. It’s a reference on a famous Bavarian hero, who was a poacher in times of hunger and misery. Something like Robin Hood as a matter of fact. On the other hand, “Jänner” (january) stands for winter and melancholy, and “Wein” (wine), the drink Austria is famous for, may cause you a flush when you drink a little too much of it.
Did you already had in mind what you wanted Jännerwein to sound like or did the sound evolve in time?
Not at all. We were just playing along together and that's what came out of it – and still it's a constant progress of finding our very own style. Everyone has totally different musical backgrounds so that’s maybe the interesting part for us: to merge that together.
The bandname was originally “Neuland” what did you change it to Jännerwein?
As I said above the name came spontaineously. I used “Neuland” for my early demos, but that was more neoclassical/ambient oriented so we thought a new name would be a fair tribute to the change of style and the involvement of two (and later three) new musicians.
You claim to play Neo-Folk, what is Neo-Folk for you? What is the difference between normal folk music and Neo-Folk?
We don't really claim that, at least we try to avoid any definite claim. That's not because we dont want to be associated with it – it's rather the fact that we are a bit more “folk” than “neofolk”, I think. It's anyways hard to give a good definition of neofolk, but as much as I love the old world-serpent bands, I don't think we really sound like them. On the other hand, of course, we listen to certain bands and play on neofolk-related events, so I guess we are a little neofolk indeed. It's just a little of a sacrilege to me to claim it, especially because there is a real wave of neofolk bands, which I think don't have anything to do with the “old stars”, besides of having some runes and acoustic guitars – and that’s not where I want to see me/us.
When I listen to album I notice a really good balance in the different instruments you use, how do you find this balance, how do you figure out which instrument should play witch part?
Thanks a lot. Well, we figure that out while we play the songs. Sometimes the ideas come when we record it – sort of last minute, if you want. I think that's the case in many bands, that some idea just flushes up when you play the songs along.
When people think about folk they often think about Irish or Scandinavian Folk, your music sounds totally different, can we say you play Austrian folk? What is typical Austrian that we can hear in the sound of Jännerwein?
That is a tough question! First; I think that is something we have in mind , there are enough Scandinavian or Irish bands doing their traditional music very fine. We don't want to copy that. But we combine a lot of folk elements, so it’s also not 100% pure Austrian folk. On our second album we'll have some more traditional songs but I would say the Austrian “tune” develops rather from the way we play it than from the harmonies themselves. But then again, of course we have some lines which are quite traditional.
So far you released your debut album “abendlaeute” How were the comments on that album?
Surprisingly good, considering the fact that it was our first album and that we didn't have much experience back then.
Most often bands look back on their first album as a big learning experience, is this the same for you, what the important lessons you have learned.
Of course we learned a lot. I produced the first album (except the mastering) all by myself and you can virtually hear that it was my first CD production. But I think this has improved and the next album should be a step ahead in terms of production quality. The second thing is that we focus more on songwriting and playing the songs. On “Abendläuten” many songs were created while recording, currently we are getting more and more into classical band-songwriting structures.
The first track “Abendlaeute” has spoken words vocals, it sounds like a poem, is this correct. Did you write it yourself and what is it about?
The first words you hear on Abendläuten are taken from a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke. It starts if the word “Abendläuten” (Evening Toll), and we think it creates the right atmosphere.
In general what are the lyrics of Jännerwein about, what are the things that inspire you?
The lyrics are mostly written by Benjamin and me, but we also use poems from Gottfried Benn or Friedrich Nietzsche. Abendläuten was fifty-fifty our own lyrics and poems from our favourite writers.
On the album is one song with English lyrics, it also deviates in sound. What can you tell about: “The grass is always browner” and why put an English song on the album and have the rest in Austrian?
Well, this song was just made as a little tribute, it's based on lyrics from Douglas Pearce (Death In June) which he had put on his website for everyone to use. It’s interesting that many people don’t like it or think that it doesn't really fit with the rest of the album. I can understand that from a certain point of view, but I can tell you now – on our next album we'll have at least one English song as well. But not with an Austrian, but rather a Danish accent this time...
When can a next album be expected, how far are you with the songwriting and recording of it ?
We expect it to come out on Fall 2010, optimistically at the end of September. The title will be “Nach der Sehnsucht” (“After Desire”).
When can people the new album, what can you tell about it already?
We are nearly done – everything is recorded and is currently undergoing post-production. Hopefully you can hear some improvement on song structure and production. I'm very confident with it. We already play a lot of the new material at concerts and we want that album on the market soon. But, believe it or not – we have to work beside of Jännerwein, and this makes it hard sometimes to get the hole band together and find time to work on our music.
What is the ideal way for you to do songwriting, do you prefer to work alone, do you always work the same way?
Mostly it's Peter and me doing the basic musical elements. Then we present them to the band – we play them along together, sometimes we have a text that fits, sometimes we write some lyrics to the music. But it also happens that Benjamin comes up with a text that is later set into music by me or Peter.
What progress can people hear on the new album, will there be several new elements surfacing?
Indeed there will be new elements, as our band has evolved musically and has also expanded with our drummer/accordeonist Beat, who joined us en route to the Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig last year. But to tell you more of it now would definitely ruin the surprise.
You have done several live shows already, what can people expect of a Jännerwein concert?
Well, the concert in Utrecht will be very acoustic, not even with an intro from a tape. So it will be very stripped down, in a way. We try to avoid backtape as far as possible – the problem for us is simply that we use a lot more instruments on the record than we can play live without having several guest musicians, so sometimes we have to use the tape for the choirs. This time it will be 100% live music.
Do live shows leave room for improvisation or do you stick to the album versions?
We'll there is improvisation of course, but as I said before, it’s a bit tricky with only four musicians. But the live versions are always a bit different.
Any last words for the readers?
Thanks a lot for the interview and a big thank you to all the folks enjoying our music and we hope to see you on Saturday !
At summer darkness you will do a concert at a very special place, the Domchurch, will you do something else, compared to normal shows, to make it really special?
Yes, we'll have a more acoustic orientated set. And some things in mind which you'll see/hear on Saturday in Utrecht only.
www.myspace.com/neulandmusik