Great Rift's excellent album Utopia, has just been released! Speaking of which, an interview was made with Thomas, the band's guitarist / singer. Read it!
As far as I know, there have been some personal changes in the band recently. Would you tell us who the new members are and how did you find them? How much did they get involved in writing the new songs?
- Yes, that's right. Klaus has been on drums since the beginning of 2019. So not really new in the Band. Andi on lead guitar joined the band in summer 2020. Klaus is my younger brother, so I know him since he was born ;-) And Andi is an old friend of Klaus and mine. Both of us played together with him in different band projects bevore. After David left surprisingly the band, Andi offered to play the lead guitar. Klaus and Andi have contributed to the songwriting for UTOPIA.
The tittle of the new album is Utopia, which is pretty straightforward. What’s the album about and what is the concept behind it?
- UTOPIA is a conept Album which describes a remarkable journey through Space, to a planet called "UTOPIA". It's a place where one of the deepest wishes of humanity will be granted: Everyone is able to be completely themselves. This piece of music is a guide to an individual journey through the inner self, and gives the courage to reflect on the music and yourself. The concept of time is irrelevant, this journey can be repeated at any time. We constantly return to the starting point of a new development, und "UTOPIA" becomes our steady road map of reflection. Passing by stellar constellations explored in details, emotions and visions, this album is for everyone who is seeking to evolve constantly to a new version of themselves, despite a steady moving world.
What was the defining moment in your lives, after which you said to yourseles „I have to play music”? What band or album brought out this from you?
- Hmm, hard to say or remember, ha I've early listened to different punk bands, from and through friends. But when I learned to love bands like the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath or the Stooges with around 17 years, I probably decided inside myself, that I wanted to play in a band. I also started playing electric guitar around that time.
Your music is powerful rock music from the very beginning and it only gets better from record to record. How the songs are born and how the final version is formed?
- Thank you! We actually write on songs all the time. Everyone brings to the rehearsal room whatever comes to their mind. Some things are also created by simply jamming in the rehearsal room. As mentioned, I had this concept idea for UTOPIA. We just putted together, what we thought what fits for this concept.
I'm curious about the sound of the new album. I have Vesta on Vinyl and I have to say it is one of the best sounding pieces in my collection. What were the technical conditions for the recording process?
- Well, first of all we simply exchanged the sound engineer and producer after Vesta. Hannes Mottel recorded the album with us. He was with us in the rehearsal room for the final songwriting sessions. Gave us input and suggested us a recording concept we haven't done bevore. We recorded the songs live. And then we re-amped the tracks. So we were able to work after the recording on the sound, the solos, transitions, etc. That was a lot of fun.
There are musicians who live so much in the past that they refuse to notice that we are already in the 21st century. Your music isn't „modern” either, but I think your sound is very much today! Is this conscious?
- We put a lot of thoughts into the sound for UTOPIA. We also tried out a lot before the recordings started and worked on the sound. Of course, Hannes also had a big part in the fact that the album sounds the way it is. Overall it's just a mix. We know where our roots come from, and we also know what is possible with old equipment in combination with new stuff.
What was the most unpleasent experience that you’ve had on stage?
- In an old band of min, the sound ingineer from a festival just turned off the electricity for us. But not because we were bad, because they just weren't on time schedule anymore. That was unpleasent.
Who would you like to play with if you could name any band, at any era?
- I have already fullfiled one of my biggest dreams. I was allowed to open the 50 years anniversary concert of MC5 in Vienna with Great Rift. Only Wayne Kramer was in the band from the original lineup. So I'd probably like to play with MC5 again, but this time in 1968! And it would be the best if the Stooges would also play on that day, no matter where.
Thank you for the interview ! AMEN!
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