by Christophe Pauly
– Senior Photojournalist —
Almost two years after the surprising German chart success of Hold On, Liberty!, The Intersphere return with a brand new studio album. And instead of relying on formulas or formats, the band have relied completely on their hands an hearts. That being said, The Intersphere are pushing the boundaries of rock music towards new horizons with a pace and precision seldom found in German bands in the last few years. Under the production acumen of Singer/Guitarist Christoph Hessler and co-producer/mixer Moritz Enders (whose credits include German indie powerhouses Casper, Kraftklub and Madsen), this fourth release in The Intersphere discography was recorded together with Wolfgang Manns at Toolhouse Studios.
Intersphere vocalist Christoph Hessler talks with Hardrock Haven about the bands upcoming studio album titled Relations In The Unseen.
Christoph: Hi, Christoph! Thanx for this interview!
Hardrock Haven: First, let’s talk about your new album! Relation in the Unseen is quite different from your previous album, Atmospheres. Each song seems to have its own identity…
Christoph: Yes, on the new record, we’ve tried to put some new colors in it. On our previous albums, we were only a rock band (guitar, bass and drums). And so we’ve tried to experiment with some kinds of synths, string machines … To put as much colors as we could.
Hardrock Haven: How was it recorded?
Christoph: We’ve recorded the basic tracks in live conditions and then, we did some overdubs after.
Hardrock Haven: How do you compose your songs? What creative process do you use?
Christoph: In most cases, I start to write the songs. I try some chords, some melodies or some guitar riffs. Sometimes, I just have a lyric line and so I start with that. Then I record the song in my studio and send it to the others. After that, we meet in the rehearsing room to work on it together.
Hardrock Haven: The Intersphere’s songs are quite different and tend to mix several genres. How would you describe your style?
Christoph: I think it’s kind of progressive alternative rock.
Hardrock Haven: And you’ll have a special edition of the new album on Amazon.de …
Christoph: Yes! It will contains vinyl’s, a double gate-fold, a USB key, a guitar pick and a book with music notations for those who want to play our songs.
Hardrock Haven: When you look back, how do you see the evolution of the band through the years?
Christoph: Well, we began doing music together in 2006. And at the beginning, we wanted to make some energetic music, go out to make some noise … But in the last 2 years, we started to look after more colors in our music. And we try to find some other ways to communicate better with the people with our music. We don’t want to play only “normal” rock music. We try different things as incorporating some jazz chords or try some open tunings, rhythm changes … We always try to find new ways to make the song more interesting.
Hardrock Haven: Yes, I was very surprised when I first heard your songs. The way you put some melodies within your chords and the progression in your songs is really intriguing. We never know where it will lead us and I think that your compositions bring something fresh in the rock scene. You’ll begin touring next month …
Christoph: Yes, we’ll do our first shows in the U.K. in March. And we’ll come back in the Netherlands too very soon. We’re looking for a new booking agent to do a European tour because we mainly tour in Germany. But we’d like to go out of there and play to the rest of Europe. We also panned a tour with Tides From Nebula, but it was postponed to Autumn. We think that touring with some post-rock bands fits really well with our music. It really makes sense.
Hardrock Haven: What would you dream for your band?
Christoph: I would dream for us to tour in the U.S.
Hardrock Haven: That would be fantastic indeed! I wish you the best! And I hope to see you soon on tour!
Christoph: See you!
Visit the band online: https://www.facebook.com/theintersphere
