Silpha and the Corpseboners are a new horrorpunk
band that recently released their first full length album “Agony & Ecstasy”.
The band is definitely one of a kind in the scene: not only do they have female
vocals but they also add new elements to the basic recipe for horrorpunk songs.
The music is disturbing to some, refreshing to others, but 100 percent worth a
listen. So we met with Silpha and the Corpseboners to get a little look behind
their adventurous minds and introduce to you the four guys from hell of Germanys
suburbs.
Graveyard Greaser Gang: Would
you please introduce yourselves?
Dr.Horion: So
this is Silpha Obscura on vocals, Manfred Von Körperteil playing the guitar,
Bastille Amnesie on drums and me, Dr Horizon, on bass guitar. together we are
Silpha & The Corpseboners.
GGG: How did
you come together as a band?
Dr.Horion: The three
of us started out as a high school fun-punk group. As our fans grew older and
died but we didn't this band had to bite the dust. But shortly after we buried
the project, Silpha came along our way and resurged the band.
Manfred
Von Körperteil: Bastille, Horion and me were at our favourite night
club (we've known each other for quite a while), when we saw Silpha getting
served in a dance-off by some Italian guy in a white suit. We were really
impressed so we hired her.
Silpha
Obscura: The other guys had been playing together in a band
for a few years until I sang Saturday Night at a party. Even if I was very
drunk and surely didn’t hit the notes at all, they asked me if I wanted to join
them.
GGG: How
would you describe the music you play?
MVK: Weird.
DH:
Its’labeled horrorpunk. but that’s only half the truth. the other half
is some obscure mixture of all kinds of shrieking sounds dipped into pitchblack
ink.
SO: I think it’s still horrorpunk, because it comes with
classic punk parts, sometimes plain, deep vocals all mixed up with some
melancholic tunes. What may be a difference to many other bands: Our lyrics may
not all be typically for this scene. Some of them have to be seen on a
metaphorical level. I, for instance, mostly dealt with situations in which I
was very horrified in my life rather than talking About horror movie scenes.
For now, at least. And then of course, our eagerness to experiment. we don’t
want to limit ourselves absolutely to one musical genre.
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| promo picture of Silpha and the Corpseboners |
GGG: What
are your influences?
SO: Maybe Misfits, a little bit The Other, Blitzkid and
The Creepshow, but normally new ideas for a melody come very spontaneously.
DH: Expressionism.
MVK Mainly Chopin, Tschaichowsky and Insane Clown Posse
GGG: Is it
difficult to be new band in the horrorpunk scene - especially since there are
not many horrorpunkbands with female vocals?
MVK: Horrorpunks tend to like old stuff and we are new, so
I guess it's hard to get them to get into us. For the female vocal part: in my
opinion that's a selling point. Scarcity value, you know?
SO: Really depends on the show.. It’s difficult to play
in front of an older audience which – just my feeling - judges us because of our
age or wants to hear a typical horrorpunk band without a reaggae or a ska part
in their songs.
DH: Booking is a bloody pain in the ass. but a pain worth suffering if it makes you
get out of your stinky crypthy rehearsal room and makes you play shows.
GGG: You
already released a demo ("De Morte") and a full length ("Agony
& Ecstasy"). how is the feedback of the fans so far?
SO: Some people don’t like the idea of mixing up so many
music styles, I think. But on the other hand, there were so many guys who
especially liked this aspect of our music. The quality of our D.I.Y. sound
pleased to some, to others not. Generally you could say, there were mostly
extreme opinions. not many in between.
DH: Yeah, its even love or hate that comes back to us. to me that is cool. i
like heavy emotions.
MVK: Those who buy the album and stay during our shows like
it, the others...maybe they're not quite into our stuff yet. They will be soon,
though. Next EP will be the best we've ever made.
GGG: Talking
about your album: what can people expect from it when they buy it?
DH: 44
minutes of agony and ecstasy.
MVK: Noises.
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| "Agony And Ecstasy", the first full lenght by Silpha and the Corpseboners |
GGG: Who did
the artwork for the full-length?
SO: Dr. Horion took the pictures of the little spider, the
heart and the skull and I made the illustrations as well as the rest of the
graphical design. The band pictures were made by our friends from www.lifelinephotography.de
DH: You
can’t imagine how difficult it is to make a tarantula sit on a cold plate while
pointing a lamp at it with one hand and making photos with the other. The
visual concept was worked out by the band while we elaborated the musical
concept. Its important to us that those two components form a whole.
GGG: How do
you guys write songs?
DH: Normaly someone comes up with a rough idea of a song and riffs, chords etc. and
the lyrics. the rest of the band then adds some influences and ideas here and
there and we arrange it together. the rest is magic.
MVK: For me it's mostly riffs first, then some other parts
like Chorus and stuff and at last the lyrics. But when I'm high on Crack
everything at once.
SO: Always in a
different way. Very often I have melodies without lyrics and the other way
round and I just connect them if they go together.
GGG: Why did
you make "Agony & Ecstasy" a kinda concept album?
MVK: Because we thought it would look rad.
DH: That
idea came up when we where working on the visual concept of the album. we had
the idea to make a triptych album artwork and thought it would be cool if that
came up in the music, too.
SO: The idea behind the concept – even if some lyrics differ
from it – is about a circle of fear of love, fears triggered by relationships
and so on which lead to emotional coldness, mental disorders and despair – wich
we abstracted to death. The last track with lyrics on the album contains all of
these elements and rounds up the story behind it. And why? Mainly processing
personal experiences.
 |
| promotion for ""Agony & Ecstasy" |
GGG: Was
there any special reason you chose "this kind of fate" for a clip of
the new album and how happy are you with the result?
DH: While
we recorded the album I was already looking for the right song to make a video
to. Whilst the songs became more and more finished it got clearer that
"This Kind Of Fate" written by Manfred was the right one. It has a
nice pop-appeal to it and pretty much sums up the whole album. Moreover it has
this beauty-and-beast-theme which is a cool headstone for a storydriven music
video, i think. I had the idea of doing a black and white video stuck inspired
by old horror flicks (like nosferatu, Dr.caligari etc.) in my head for a long
time and this is the result of it. Surely, it is no cinematic masterpiece but
its very near to my original vision. And as always, we had this DIY way of
doing it: It was shot in the basement where we recorded the album. Also, it's
an absolute no-budget clip.
MVK: I was hoping the melody would maybe get stuck in some
heads. 9 out of 10 possible happiness points.
GGG: What is
your favorite song to play live?
SO: Our Pet Sematary cover and Linger A Little
Longer.
DH: Today.
MVK: This Kind Of Fate (full circle!)
GGG: Silpha,
how is it to tour as the only woman with three guys?
MVK: As the only girl in the band I have to say it's kind
of ok. But some things are still kind of annoying. For instance, they all smell
really bad. But at least I've trained them to go to the bathroom for their
weekly penis measuring.
GGG: What's
your favorite moment while on tour?
MVK: Er...playing the show, duh.
SO: The catering from the gig at Wild At Heart in Berlin was great! And the soundcheck of my second gig..
don’t know really why.
DH: Of Course the moment when we enter the stage is always great. But what
really makes the night are these hilarious moments when Bastille Amesie is
drunk after show and loses the control over his body fluids. Thats always fun.
And going to Berlin and Leipzig with an Opel Corsa and all the backline and
sleeping gear stuffed in it never seeing daylight for about three days is something
really great.
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| Silpha and the Corpseboners live |
GGG: What
was the fav band you've played with yet and with what band would you like to
share stage one day?
MVK: We're in love with every band we've ever played with
and I would like to share the stage with Metallica sometime. Lars, if you read
this, call me!
SO: It was a really cool night when we played with the
Barb Wire Dolls at Cult in Nuremberg and it’s
always a lot of fun if we have the possibility to play with our friends from
Dr. Hell.
DH: Dr.Hell are the most sympathic undead that i ever had the honour to
smell. And Johnny Deathshadow are the best-smelling ones.
GGG: What
are your plans for 2014?
Silpha
Obscura: More gigs and to record a new EP!
MVK: Making music, playing shows.
DH: We are working on new material at the moment. If everything works out as
it should we will release a very long EP by fall or so. And gigs. We hope to get our hands on as
much shows as possible. So if there’s anyone out there willing to let us enter
the stage please get in touch with us. maybe someday the dream of playing
outside of germany becomes true, too. who
knows?
GGG: Anything
you wanna add?
MVK: You're pretty.
DH: As for
you, be fruitful and multiply.
Silpha and the Corpseboners on the internet:
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