MEKONG DELTA (Eng.)
– Hello, thanks for answering to our questions. What are you currently up to?
Martin : Good morning. Currently I am drinking my third cup of coffee while answering your questions ; )
– Mekong is a river in Vietnam and the whole band’s name is certainly war related. How did you come up with the band’s name? I mean, someone who isn’t familiar with the band may expect to hear a different kind of lyrics.
Martin : I guess the name of the band was created in a time where the zeitgeist of the metal world dictated hard, agressive, evil and somewhat shocking names. Most of the bands in that period tried to come up with something that reminded of terrible things. But for that time it wasn’t common to use real events or places as a bandname. So it was sort of different in the same way as reminding to bad events of the past.
– Going to your present, you will soon release “Intersections”. What are your expectations and goals with this release?
Martin : The expectations vary, since we don’t know how the hard-core fans will accept too much changes and on the other hand we didn’t want to make just a best-of album.
– For those who don’t know it yet, is a compilation album with re-recorded songs. Why did you decide to unleash an opus like this? I read it was by many requests but, where did those requests come from?
Martin : Well the fans constantly asked us after the shows if they can somewhat listen to the old songs with the new line-up. Especially the vocals are different, as a natural side-effect – a singer will always sound different than his predecessor. So we consider this album as a tribute to our fans who asked for it.
– And why did you re-record all these songs? I guess most bands would have gone the easy way and just collect the original versions.
Martin : Because we changed in so many ways despite the vocals. But especially my approach to the songs makes them sound different than the former versions. Of course there will be people who liked the originals a lot or have some sentimental boundaries to them. But Mekong changed in the last 25 years. And when you come to our shows you will hear the new line-up and the new ways. So with that album you will have a better impression of what to expect.
– Why did you thought it was the right moment for this release? Maybe a 10th album needs some kind of celebration?
Martin : Well, we don’t see this as the 10th album. Yes mathematically you are right. But the 10th album will be the 10th composition. And this is yet to come. But there was no political time for an album masterplan. We just did it, because we thought this was the right time.
– “Intersections” is a quite inspiring title for an effort of this kind, it gives the feeling it explains your different phases but, what do you want to explain with it?
Martin : For me the title has it’s own meaning of Intersections between the old Mekong Delta and the new band with the current line-up. We are still the band Mekong Delta, but on the other hand, different people give different tones and timbres. Everybody is adding their own spice into the songs. And it’s the listeners decision to find the intersections between the records and their musicians.
– And with the cover? As it really gots the listener’s attention.
Martin : The cover and artwork is completely made of covers and artworks of the past. Fans will notice it. It’s like the music. Everything is there if you watch out for it.
– These songs therefore have been recorded with your current line-up, which is quite new. How do you think has this affected the new versions? I think though being loyal to the original ones, all these tunes breath a certain fresh air.
Martin : This is somewhat the reason for the record as I mentioned before.
– You have a really long career and a lot of hits; was it hard to choose only 10 songs off your entire discography? Did you follow some kind of protocol for the tracks’ selection?
Martin : No, we asked in our forums a couple of years ago, what we should add to the live-set. And we made the live-set decision between wishes and possibility. Some songs would be awesome to play live but since we aren’t able to rehearse that often – we live spread across germany – some songs would take months to re-arrange and rehearse for a live performance.
– So after so many years into the music world, do you have any goals yet to accomplish?
Martin : To continue as good as we can. Goals are good, but not all of them can be reached.
– Your previous “Wanderer on the Edge of Time” was a highly-acclaimed album both by the fans and press. Considering the success that record got, have you already planned recording new material anytime soon?
Martin : Of course. We are already working on the next album and you can expect news about that soon.
– And beside this, what are your near-future plans?
Martin : Finishing the new record and play some live-shows in the near future.
– That’s all from my side, thanks again for taking your time to answer our questions. If you now want to add some final words; feel free to do it.
Martin : You’re welcome 😉 and I wish you and all your readers a good time.
