Hi Fredrik, thanx for doing this interview, how are you doing?
Hey No problem! It’s always fun to answer a few questions. Why I’m pretty decent thank you so much for asking.
Many people will know you as the voice of Mensch:Defekt? How are things with Mensch:Defekt, you signed to Infacted Records, when will the album be released?
Well I don’t know about many people but sure a few will probably recognize me from MD. Things are good , we’ve worked on quite a few new tracks while waiting for the album “The human parasite” to be released. Well we aren’t really sure yet but I would guess around spring but I will keep you updated for sure.
In july 2009 you started Project Rotten, what was the reason to start another band?
I’m a creative soul and I need to create also I’ve always wanted to create a horror ebm band and well that was the reason I started PR to fulfill that dream also I can’t expect Nik(Dominik) to be creative all the time so that’s also a reason I guess.
Why the name Project Rotten, it has a death metal sound over it?
Not really sure , but from the beginning I used to be a old school death metal guy. But since I also got roots in trance etc I moved towards electro instead of metal. It was just a idea that popped into my head. I mean the band is basically a horror electro band so it just made sense with “Rotten”. And also it was just a side project from the start which evolved into a band and now its kinda too late to change.
What are the similarities between Project Rotten and Mensch:Defekt and what are the differences?
I would say there are none besides me being vocalist in both bands of course. I try to separate the vocals as much as possible in both bands and also the lyrics. The lyrics are the main difference and also movie samples of course. Project Rotten is about horror and Menschdefekt is more personal. But I must say that the vocal style are getting more and more similar because I’ve grown tired of using too much chorus cause it destroys more than being useful as an effect.
You started Project Rotten as a one man band, later on you were having band members but the line-up has already changed, why the need of having a full band line up?
First off lets make one thing clear , I am unable to make any kind of melodies,basslines,arpeggios etc. That’s why I barely managed to make two tracks myself. That’s when I contacted Jan of Tanaros who sadly left after a couple of tracks mainly cause I wanted to change the music style to more club oriented sound and he didn’t like that idea. A full line up is needed because all persons in a band should contribute with something . We all have our strengths and that’s what makes the band what it is.
Who are the current bandmembers and what is their role, in terms of instruments as well as their input on the music?
Well since im such a egocentric person I start with myself. I make about 90% of all the drumpatterns aswell as vocals,lyrics and the raw mix of the tracks. X/209 makes FX,synthesizers etc as well as some lyrics and back vocals. Then we got our lil masterpiece Ani who makes a lot of the great melodies and she also makes FX and synthesizers like X/209.
One of your bandmembers is Kettil of Syndrome X209, how did you get him to join Project Rotten? Was it hard for him to be a bandmember instead of the leader like in Syndrome X209?
Hehe well it wasn’t hard , I was looking for a third member for PR to complete it so to speak and I asked him and he said yes instantly. I don’t think he has a problem not being the leader since it’s a lot less work . He can focus on the music and I focus on all the boring stuff that is around also II try to help him out in any way I can with Syndrome.
Recently Ani joined you, she is a new face in music. What makes you decide to add her to the line-up?
Well it’s simple. She fucking amazing when it comes to creating really good melodies and she’s a great person to work with overall. PR would never sound the same without her. Lets say PR evolved quite a bit after she joined us.
You already have written a few songs together with the new line up, in what way do they deviate from the older songs?
The new tracks compared to the old tracks are like night and day. The old tracks are like very early dawn of ashes and it was what I aimed for. But after some experimentation I thought it got boring so we changed the music to not sound so “dark” you can still make angry and “evil” music that is melodic. We want to create the music that sounds good to use and that we would enjoy clubbing to. The old tracks were just focusing on being dark and evil which is very very boring in the long run.
You have released one ep already ”Bleed you dry”” as a download version. Why pick this option?
People like free stuff? Haha . Nah we just thought that it could be a nice treat. We show people that we are really happy they like our stuff so we wanted to give them a little gift with some of our better tracks. Maybe just maybe people will think back and be great full and maybe support us in the future when the album is released .
How are the comments so far on the ep?
I’d say about 95% of the comments have been very positive and we’ve got some great response. But like always some people complain that it’s the same shit that’s already been released. And to those I say , there is no need to download our stuff if you don’t like it cause we’ve worked hard on it and we build everything from scratch and its free we don’t earn anything from it.
Project Rotten just did the first live show in Germany, unfortunately you couldn’t bring the rest of the band. Was it weird to these shows alone and how did it feel to be on stage?
It was a pity but for obvious reasons the rest of the crew can’t always come along , it’s very hard to ask for money when your such a new small band , even just asking for plane tickets can be a bother. We live about 600km apart which is quite a bit. I don’t think ani and x/209 care much cause I try to give them as much credit as possible and I don’t want to leave them out. They are project rotten on stage or not. Of course I am the face that people see so I just try to do my thing and entertain people while I have some backup on stage with music and such. Hopefully the whole band will be on stage in the future , but my plan is to make us larger first so that we can ask for all expenses paid.
What will be next for Project Rotten?
We got the album ready and the mastering almost done. Now we need artwork and a label to release it on , we are currently discussing a deal with a label but I can’t tell you anything more yet.
Any last words for the readers?
We really really appreciate your support and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I never thought we could go so far in such a short period and I hope you are excited about whats to come in a near future.
www.myspace.com/projectrotten