Who is Angèlika?

Angèlika is a girl (or maybe woman by now) who is a little bit shy, very idealistic ( eats only ecological food, is a vegetarian, fights for rights, wants more love in the world) and often changes between having fun with friends and enjoying some time alone (or with my lover). She likes to read, cook, dance, listen to music, run (in the woods) and of course sing.


When did you get interested in electronic (goth) music, what was appealing in this music to you?

I remember seeing my first video by Depeche Mode, when I was about 12/13. I was with my best friend at the time and we enjoyed it so much that we spend the next many weekends videotaping their video clips, so we could listen to it anytime we wanted. Going through puberty I mainly listened to bands like Anathema and My Dying Bride a lot. I really loved the drama of the lyrics in combination with the heartbreaking voices.  I have always listened to lyrics and think they are very important for the song.  Bad lyrics can make en beautiful song horrible, but when they are good, they make song so much better!!

When I came to Wageningen I joined a Youth Centre and there I got in touch with the electronic music as well as a lot of wave. Lots of party’s where the Sisters and the Cure, were mixed with VNV and Wumpscut, loved it! What I really love about electronic music is that you can put all your energy into it, dancing.


When and why did you decide to become a singer, what were your first steps as a singer?

I kind of rolled into it, although singing was not my first choice. My mother was a music teacher, so I took my first (forced) flute lessons when I was 6 or 7. After that I joined the music school and after a year of trying everything out, I really wanted to play the violin. Did that for about 7 or 8 years, but then also found out, it is a hard instrument if you want to join a band. For a while I did both, but eventually stopped playing the violin when I started University. I started in a band with friends, singing covers from bands like the Gathering and Skunk Anansie, playing at the bar we always went to. Next to that I took classical singing lessons, first at the local music school, later I took private lessons with an opera singer and a voice trainer. I found out then, that more classical music matches my voice so much better.

When I came to Wageningen, I came in contact with the guys who played in Grafter. Their singer/guitarist just left. I started singing there, Zeon started playing guitar there and Sturm was already in the band as the musical brain, programming music. That is how we first met, I think 11 years ago. There the first seed of Schwarzblut was planted ;)

After the release of the ep “Sehlenwolf” Schwarzblut gained a lot of popularity, can you try to explain this success?

We were very surprised and very happy of course!  We made the EP because we love making music and never expected anything to happen. I don’t know how to explain the success, maybe it is the strangeness of the diversity in the songs, maybe it is the combination of the old lyrics with the electronic music. We often heard that is didn’t  sound like everything else, so maybe this time it is good to be a little bit different.


You got signed to the Belgium label Alfa Matrix, how did you got in contact with them?

They received our EP through their connection with SideLine Magazine (where we had send our EP for a review) and they contacted us to tell us they were interested. It all happened so sudden; we didn’t realize what was happening.  But when we heard that they would release our EP and we got a chance to make a whole album we were thrilled!


For Alfa Matrix you just released the album: Das Mausoleum, what can you tell us about it, how did the recordings go?

Recording was a lot of fun. We recorded the vocals in our own studio, made with sleeping bags and foam in one of our bedrooms.  We had a lot of fun, but it was often very very hot, so I always ended the day smelling like hell, haha. Not so pleasant for the rest of the guys, but I think the best things happened there. Sometimes we changed little things after little thing ending up having something completely different than what we started with. We made an effort to always make recording days fun and end it with eating together and having drinks, so it was actually very relaxed, which was very good for creativity.


You already received the first comments and reviews, what was the most funny you read? How do you deal yourself with the reviews, most will be good but there are always people who don’t like it.

We always have a laugh at all the speculations of us being German or Belgium. Most striking is the fact that some people love the diversity of the album and some people really don’t understand it. I try not to read too much about it, I am really critical towards myself and can be very sad when people say something negative about us. On the other hand I try to remember that we made the music the way we really like it, and not everybody can have the same taste (and that is a good thing!)

I was really surprised by the Angèlika orchester version of Sterbelied by Carsten Altena, which has an ethereal / neofolk sound how was it for you to sing this version, is it a different to sing?

I hope I am not giving away a secret here, but the Angèlika orchester version of Sterbelied (a remix of the original) was totally build around my original vocal recordings. So everything you hear you can hear in both songs, although in the orchester version it is not hidden by Zeon’s harsh vocals. I must say I really love what Carsten made of it. We use this song as our intro and outro now during live shows, because it really sets the atmosphere.


For Alfa Matrix you just released the album: Das Mausoleum, what can you tell us about it, how did the recordings go?

I love music, I need music, I use music to get me into or out of a specific mood. The only thing that changed is that I am able to enjoy  making music with good friends every week, because we rehearse a lot. And maybe I have more respect for performing artists, now I know how difficult it sometimes is.


The lyrics are old German poetry, how do you find the right poems. What is it that you like in the poems?

The love for poetry is one of the things most of us have in common.  Selecting poems is primarily done by Zeon and a bit by me. We discuss the topic, meaning and phrasing of the poem to assure it suits the atmosphere and metre (taktmaß) of the song it is used in.

What I love about the poems is the fact that they are still up to date, although they were written hundreds of years ago. They often describe the beauty and violence of human behaviour, nature and love, very interesting and often very true and beautiful.

Schwarzblut has done many liveshows already, how do you prepare for a liveshow, and strange rituals before going on stage?

We all have our own strange rituals. And we start by changing into our stage outfits and some of us putting on (more) make-up. That wakes Angèlika up.  Herr V. does push-ups to warm up his muscles , Zeon stretches, and I walk around the dressing room doing my vocal exercises, very loud, and very annoying to the other people relaxing in the room. But nothing really strange, not that I have seen….


How do you feel on stage, are there special feelings rushing through your body or are you too focused to realize it?

In the beginning I was so nervous I couldn’t even move on stage. It didn’t really bother me to sing, but the fact that people were looking at me, made me very nervous. I requested to stand behind the drummer, but that was (of course) rejected. Now, after a dozen shows, I really enjoy it. The show is over before I know it. I do stay focused, it is very important to me that I do a good job! And sometimes I get annoyed, because I want to dance, but I also have to save my breath for singing, so I have to hold back and that makes dancing a lot less fun!


If you could ask a fortune teller one question, what would you ask?

I think I would ask her (or him) how she (or he) is doing. I can worry a lot about what is yet to come, but I have found my peace with that. I think life will get very stressful for me when I know what is coming. I would wonder with every step if I made the right choice to make sure it would really happen. I would rather make the fortune tellers day by giving him or her some personal attention.