ANGEL DUST INTERVIEW W/ STEVEN BANX 3-02

ALINA: How has the band evolved since Bernd left and Ritchie joined the band?

STEVEN: It's changed, that's for sure. You can hear it, we can feel it… It's a different person, a different musician that is playing with us. But we are pretty satisfied so the whole situation is pretty relaxed. There's no trouble and everybody enjoys Ritchie's playing and we have fun with how it is now. Personally I miss Bernd a little bit in the band because he's a friend of mine and I always enjoyed playing with him, but it's only a little uncomfortable (at first) playing with Ritchie.

ALINA: Your new album, Of Human Bondage, is quite a bit heavier and darker then your previous albums. Why the change and is this the sound of Angel Dust we'll hear in the future?

STEVEN: First of all, I think it's a kind of natural evolution of Angel Dust. So if you listen to all our albums, we changed sound and we changed the style a little bit from album to album and we just went on with that. I think it will go further on the next album… We will have another "evolution" on the next album. You always have new influences and new ideas and you feel different for the moment you write the songs and so it just happens. We don't "bondage" ourselves, you know, and we don't tell ourselves we need to write the same kind of album as we did last time because we felt good or something like that. We just do our songs.

ALINA: You guys seem to be masters at doing cover tunes. What are some new cover tunes that you want to do?

STEVEN: New cover tunes? I don't think we will do a metal song, a song that was originally metal, and do another metal version of it. I don't think that this is necessary. I find it interesting to do a pop song like "Killer" and make a metal song out of it. That was interesting, but I don't know if we will do another cover because we have done quite a lot of cover versions on the albums already. But I would pretty much enjoy to do another pop song… Something like, oh, Madonna or Britny Spears…

ALINA: HAHAHAHA Oh no!!! I'd probably die of laughter!!!

STEVEN: Uh huh.

ALINA: Have you ever recorded "Believe" (Savatage) and will it ever be released on cd?

STEVEN: Yes we have recorded it and I think it will be released. I have it on CD. I think we did that for Nuclear Blast. I don't know if they already released that record.

ALINA: Okay, will "Run Like Hell" (Pink Floyd) ever be released?

STEVEN: It already is. I can't remember the name of the company right now, but it has been on a double cd called Sands of Time. It has Tiamat on it and some other bands I don't know.

ALINA: Some of you guys are doing solo albums. Can you elaborate on this at all?

STEVEN: The only one that has serious plans about solo albums is Dirk right now. This project will probably be called Laconic. I think he has most of the songs ready, but they're not recorded yet, just pre-recorded. I think he's been looking for some musicians to play on the record and I think probably Anders of Tiamat will play bass and the drummer from H.I.M. will probably play as well. Dirk may ask me to do some keyboard stuff.

ALINA: In ONE word, describe each band member.

STEVEN: Me- difficult (duh). Frank- brother. Ritchie- Cool. Dirk- Friend. Assy- old.

ALINA: Since there is such a distance between band members, how do you write music and do gigs?

STEVEN: Dirk and I are writing most of the songs on our own. The basic ideas and stuff. Then we work out whatever we need to after that.

ALINA: You guys don't practice or anything?

STEVEN: We practice sometimes. When we practice without Ritchie, most of the time Dirk is playing guitar, sometimes I do.

ALINA: Speaking of tours, you will be touring with Rhapsody and At Vance in April and May. How did this come about and what was your reaction to it?

STEVEN: I was a little skeptical because I didn't know Rhapsody too good and I just knew they were a really melodic metal band and I was really wondering if it would fit with our music. I think that's still okay because it's metal and we do metal as well, even if we are a little bit harder than them. Hopefully a lot of people will show up.

ALINA: In November, you performed at ProgPower 2.0 in Atlanta. What type of experience was this for you and was it different from the European festivals you are used to?

STEVEN: It was a very good experience, first of all, and yah, it was different. It was a little smaller than the Wacken festival for example. But the crowd was really good and they seemed to know a few of our songs so it felt good to play there.

ALINA: Have you heard anything about touring in the States again?

STEVEN: We were talking about the tour with King Diamond, but they rescheduled the dates and so we can't play at the time of the rescheduled shows. So we did the European tour first and I don't think that we will do another tour but hopefully we will do some single shows and festivals this year in the States.

ALINA: If you were to tour here again, is there anything you would do different than you did on your tour last year?

STEVEN: I don't know, but probably not.

ALINA: Is it easy or difficult having your brother in the band?

STEVEN: It's easy…no problem.

ALINA: Even though you guys are twelve years apart?

STEVEN: This is probably the reason why it's easy. We never spent much time together or played together. When I was small, he was my "big" brother and he didn't live in our house. So probably it would be more hard if we were like three years apart instead.

ALINA: DO you think it's harder to market your style of music in the U.S. than it is in Europe and why?

STEVEN: No. I don't know why but I think it's actually a little bit easier for us to sell our music in the States than in Europe. If you look at the sales, Germany is the most important country and the second one is the United States.

ALINA: Who's your favorite keyboardist and why?

STEVEN: If I listen to music, I don't really just pay attention to one single musician. I pay attention to the whole band and on the song. The keyboards that are on Depeche Mode I like a lot. I liked Kevin Moore a lot when he was in Dream Theater. I also like Chroma Key, what he did after Dream Theater.

ALINA: What influences the band's songs?

STEVEN: Everything. If our lyrics were about dragons and swords I couldn't say everything. It would be like you spoke in metaphors. I listen to so many different kinds of music all the time. Everything from grind core to german-based…really, anything that's good. So you get influences every day. It's our whole life we put in the songs.

ALINA: Are the first two albums ever going to be re-released again? Ever???

STEVEN: I really don't know. We still have the old problems, the old record company problems. We have talked about that since we started working with Century Media. But it's really hard to get it released.

ALINA: Do you know where the name Angel Dust came from?

STEVEN: I think it's an old Motorhead tune. It was popular in the 80s to take song titles from well-known bands and use it as a band name. I think that's what Overkill did as well.

ANGEL DUST INTERVIEW W/ FRANK BANX 3-02

ALINA: How has the band evolved since Bernd left and Ritchie joined the band?

FRANK: Mainly that we don't rehearse three times a week anymore because Ritchie doesn't like to come to rehearsals… I don't know why (laughs)

ALINA: Your new album is quite heavier and darker than your previous albums. Why the change?

FRANK: Well, you remember that everybody was a little angry on the last tour we did in the USA? This is one of the reasons because this aggression came into the music of course. It also has a lot to do with Ritchie's kind of guitar playing because he's definitely a different kind of guitar player than Bernie is. Bernie grew up with this traditional European metal bands like Rainbow and stuff and Ritchie has grown up with this Bay Area thrash music. When we finished Enlighten the Darkness we wanted to be a little thrashier on the next album and Ritchie was helpful with this (aspect).

ALINA: You guys seem to be masters at doing cover tunes. What are some of the songs that you would want to do later?

FRANK: If you ask me personally, yes, I would love to do something like March of the Black Queen from Queen but I don't know if anyone else in my band would agree with me. But this would be something I would really spend a lot of attention on.

ALINA: How come "Believe" (Savatage) has never been released on cd?

FRANK: Century Media asked us to do this tribute to Savatage for a compilation. No one in the band has any idea when this tribute album will be released.

ALINA: What's the hardest song to play live and what's your favorite song to play live?

FRANK: I really like Cross of Hatred very much. The hardest song to play would be all the songs on To Dust You Will Decay because I can't remember how to play them anymore!!! I have no idea.

ALINA: Yah, you and your funny picture on that album! Hahaha I love that picture though!!!

FRANK: I'm a nice guy in that picture, yah? This is with at least 30cm more hair and 40 lbs. less weight! I was about 140 lbs. in that picture.

ALINA: In ONE word, describe each band member, including yourself.

FRANK: Today I saw a picture of a very rare frog that reminds me of Assy. So he's a frog or a frog-face. This is very difficult!!! Ritchie is sky-nose because in all pictures it looks like everyone can look inside his nose. Dirk…hmm… I just call him "dicker" which means fatty in English.

ALINA: Awwww, you're mean!!!

FRANK: That's what we call him in the band! Okay, my brother… THAT'S difficult! Hey wait, my wife is around me now. Hey, what's a good word for Steven? Oh yah! Shorty, "kurzer". Myself… alte hackfresse. It's something like having a very, very ugly face. (In English, it means something similar to having the type of face when you smell a skunk or sulfur..Alina).

ALINA: What is the best question ever asked to you?

FRANK: How would you describe yourself….

ALINA: That's a good question! Okay, what is the one question that no one has ever asked that you would think they would ask?

FRANK: I have no idea!!!

ALINA: You'll be on tour in April with Rhapsody and At Vance. How did this tour come about and what was your reaction to it?

FRANK: Century Media Europe really wanted us to do a tour for this album and Century Media USA wanted us to do a tour for this album as well. So they were almost in competition with each other. First we said we would prefer a tour in the USA again and so we said no to two offers to tour in Europe. We have been in the inner rings of the bands that might tour with King Diamond but then it was cancelled. In the last minute we got the offer to tour with Rhapsody. We know that the package doesn't really fit together too well, but we don't care.

ALINA: So you guys won't come here yet then?

FRANK: Century Media is still trying to get us over there this year.

ALINA: In November you performed at ProgPower. What type of experience was it for you and how does it differ from the European festivals you are used to?

FRANK: Yes. The festivals in Europe are definitely a lot bigger. With bands like that in Europe they would've had at least double the amount of the audience for sure. But this festival was very well organized for all the bands. I would like to thank Glenn for all his hard work. To play in a festival that far from home is a big honor for every band I guess. We were really surprised that the audience was able to sing along with us! We didn't expect that. We definitely had a great time there and we would love to do it again.

ALINA: When you got back together as a band, you changed your musical direction… why? It used to be thrash and now it's power.

FRANK: One thing I really want to mention is that I personally don't care about all these "categories". I don't think they are helpful for neither the people nor the bands. Because we got many new members in the band since we started playing music in the 80s, of course we changed the musical style because everyone is involved in the songwriting. That's the main reason.

ALINA: Is it difficult or easy to having your brother in the band?

FRANK: Easy, very easy. He's a very clever guy and he knows when I overdo things and I know when he overdoes things. So we help each other deal with all things that happen to us to make it as easy as possible.

ALINA: Do you think it's hard to market your style of music in the US compared to Europe?

FRANK: If my information is correct, it is easier to sell our music in the United States. We played at least 150 shows in Germany but we sell more records in the USA. We sell at least the same amount in the US as we do in Germany.

ALINA: The first two albums… will they ever be re-released?

FRANK: You know all the people from Century Media… Ask them!

ALINA: Where did the name Angel Dust come from?

FRANK: It's a song from a Venom album called Welcome To Hell. It was very fashionable in the 80s to choose a name from a song of another big band. Like Running Wild is a Judas Priest song for example. We had NO idea this was the name of a drug! You know when we first recognized the name Angel Dust was a drug was when this movie from Michael Thomas from Miami Vice appeared on video here in 1990 or 1991. That's when we first realized it was a drug, PCP (phencyclidine).

ALINA: Who is your favorite bass player?

FRANK: My favorite bass player is John Deaton. The bass player from Queen. He's one of the most unrecognized bass players in the music business but he's awesome. He's a genius on bass. It's also my most, most, most favorite band.

ALINA: In a hundred years from now, when you're dead, would you rather be hatefully remembered or totally forgotten?

FRANK: Hatefully remembered, of course! Any promotion is good promotion. Maybe then my grand-grand-grandchildren can profit from the money then.