von Brien Mitchum vom 10. März 2024
Band of the Day Questions
Thanks for taking some time to chat with From the Green Room
1. What’s the name of the band?
Sanity
2. Where are you from?
Berlin, Germany
3. What type of music do you play?
We are a symphonic metal band with roots in black and death metal, enriched with massive arrangements of choirs and symphonic instruments. There is an abundance of lead guitars and melodic riffing, the songs feature low growling vocals, intense.shouting and screaming but also beautiful clean vocals, from heroic Viking chants to high-pitched power metal voices. The drumming ranges from fast-paced blasts withdouble bass drumming to intense progressive metal rhythms.
4. Introduce yourselves to the readers and tell us what you do in the band?
My name is Philipp, and I am the drummer.
5. This is probably a common question but one that most want to know, what musical influences did you have growing up, and what are some now?
I was growing up in a strange type of musical home. My parents being born during World War II and having suffered bomb raids, displacement and separation from their families longed for a peaceful and silent haven to build a family. We did not have any TV, nor was there any radio culture. I was a clean slate when it came to popular music. First mixtapes from classmates featuring the classic eighties quickly lead to discovering rock music and I was already playing in a cover band at the age of thirteen. I got pretty quickly into hard rock and heavy metal, starting with AC/DC and G’n’R. But then somebody had me listen to Metallica, my first real heavy metal experience.
There was a music show on the public broadcast channel which featured a documentary about Death Metal Imagine, a teenager in a classical music-home (we had bought a (small) TV in the meantime) watching in all earnestness an educational television program about death metal -and the next thing I know, I went to a music store to buy my first death metal CD.
Funny but true: the shop clerk was totally lost when I asked him about death metal, so we both went to the section and found a CD from a band called Death and he sold it to me. Luckily, it was death metal and that sealed my fate and the directionour band would be taking. Now, listening to the five tracks on our EP Revelation you will find influences from nineties black metal bands like Emperor, Ancient and Bloodthorn, but also death metal bands like Orphanage, Gorefest, and Death. EvenMetallica plays a role. Gothic metal bands like Cemetary or dark wave artists like ErosNecropsique and Elend were also a resource of inspiration.
The way we composed the orchestra parts were definitely formed by us listening to music from Ludwig Van Beethoven, Arcangelo Corelli, Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Friedrich Händel.
6. Have you always been into music? Was it something that just came to you naturally?
Look, when you grow up in a classical music home like me, when you don’t have any.parental role models when it comes to popular music, you’re left on your own todiscover it. I was well gifted with musical talent. Aggression in me during my teenage years found expression in me composing music and writing down my feelings in the corresponding lyrics. What I can tell you is that I was discovering on my own what my soul needed in terms of music, what my soul related to. You still remember Roxette’s“Hotblooded” from the “Joyride” album? There is a particular bridge/solo which is pretty hard rock-esque and this struck home with me (I had not yet been exposed to hard rock or heavy metal). After I heard the song for the first time I wondered why there is no full song with that intensity. Why not compose music, that is entirely made of bridges and intense soloing? Why leave people wanting? Why are people so dependent on what is served to them? I wanted full length intensity and I wanted it now. That was my inspiration to write my own music. I became so eager experimenting with this marvelous new discovery: being able to write my own music. I wanted to find out how song writing actually works. Can I do it? How do I expresswhat I musically enjoy? How does it sound if I compose these chords for guitar, the harmonic 3rd in bass and a progressive drumming underneath it? I was overflowing with creativity. So, all in all it looks, this came to me naturally, and has been eversince.
7. What can we expect from the band in the rest of 2023 and beyond into 2024?
We have already recorded the songs for the second and third EP to complete the "Revelation" project and plan to release those in 2024 and 2025, respectively. This trilogy willthen have a total of 14 songs. The record release concert for the second EP is on 2 March 2024, see our website www.sanity.berlin for details. There will be concerts in summer and autumn for sure, but we are still in the planning phase, nothing concrete, yet. At the same time my brother and I are working on a rerelease of our second album Nocturnal from 1999. Florian is actually composing completely new rhythm andlead guitars and I will be recording new drums for it.Additionally, we are currently preparing the video shoot for our next official music video, thesong “Babylon” from our EP The Beast. We are working with Underpaid Mantis Studio( www.underpaidmantis.com ) and are currently developing the story line for the video.
Our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@Sanity.berlin already has a good amountof content and I would like to add more. The official videos for “Seals” and “Throne” werejust released. Check them out on YouTube.
Sanity – Throne (Official Music Video) https://youtu.be/5x4RdpaD9Ho?si=Z26m4W0HV17Yf5Um
Sanity - Seals (Official Music Video) https://youtu.be/9adVATPq-yA?si=jx2fmk-9SJrU-3mA
You see, we got our hands full with exciting subjects for many years to come.
8. For someone who wants to know more about the band, were can they find you at?And were can they find your music?
Our website www.sanity.berlin stores a lot of information about the band, even historic data. This is worthwhile to check out. Our music is available at most of the online streamingplatforms and stores. You can buy our music on our website and on bandcamp, as well.
9. Let’s answer some fun questions, what is your all time favorite band?
Arcturus – Aspera Hiems Symfonia. When hearing this album for the first time, I was just blown away. The compositions on this record is so avant-garde, I couldn’t believe it. The mixture between shouting and clean vocals are breathtaking as is the blending of guitar work and symphonic instruments. A masterpiece!
10. If you could tour with any band and open or have them open for you, who would you choose?
From the very beginning I had envisioned Sanity to reach the English-speaking audience and thus used English lyrics. It would be pretty awesome to get in contact with metal bands from the UK or US and become their support on one of their tours. A wonderful line-up would be.Wolves At the Gate, Slechtvalk and Vials of Wrath.
And of course, we’d love to play some big stages and are dreaming about a small tour outside.Germany. Scandinavia would be awesome or the US. Our latest release is a concept album ofthe book of Revelation from the bible, a prophetic, dystopian book that vividly and explicitlydescribes the Apocalypse. A dedicated tour on that topic would be incredible.
Let’s see what the future holds in store for us.
Thanks for chatting with me From the Green Room and look forward to chatting again, in the future.
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