I continue to make interviews with artists I like here on nickopoet.com and this time I got a chat with the singer Dennis Schober from Solitary Experiments.

The band is playing really good melancholic synthmusic and are from Berlin. They released their first album Final Approach back in 1999 and their latest album Transcendent came out last year.

Hello Dennis and thank you for taking your time to do this interview with me. How is life in Germany?

– First of all sorry for the delay. I had a lot to do with the release of the new record and the tour that went with it. But thank you for your interest and patience. Everything is running smoothly here and since there were fortunately no further Covid requirements from the government last year, all concerts went well.

What is your driving force behind Solitary Experiments?

– Uh that´s a good question. You mean what drives me to keep going ever since?

Yes

– I think there is only one answer for me, music is my life. I was 18 when I started thinking about a music career and decided to go for it. Today I am 48 and nothing has changed in my attitude. Older and maybe wiser but still just as enthusiastic and curious about things to come. Without music, life would be meaningless.

Synthmusic seems to love dystopian lyrics in general. Do you ever feel limited in writing lyrics that shall fit your music?

– Uh, is that so?

I think so. Dystopic and melancholic and so on. At least much of what I have listen to in the genre.

– I don´t actually feel restricted as the lyrics only come from the mood of the song. There is no reason that every text has to be dystopian. Since the music always comes first and the lyrics are written later, I have enough time to identify with the music and then write something lyrical about it. So it´s the music that makes me focus on a topic. The theme is therefore dependent on the feelings of the music, which is awakened in me. This can sometimes take a very long time or seldom even bubble out of me.

Which is harder, to write really good lyrics or music?

– Difficult question as I am not the composer but only the lyricist. I personally think that when making music you can experiment and play around a lot. This creates random sounds and melodies that form a song. As a lyricist, this is much more difficult, since the lyrics ultimately have to make sense and tell a story.

In addition, I would like to make a statement with it or stimulate things to think about. I find that more exhausting than randomly creating a sequence of notes. Otherwise, of course, the music should not be boring and must arouse the interest of the listener. It just has to touch you both… When it comes to writing lyrics, rhyming is my top priority on the one hand because it sounds beautiful and on the other hand a rhyme is easier to remember.

Artists that have inspired your songwriting?

– Same situation, I can only speak for myself. Unfortunately I can´t say much about that either. Other artists have never inspired me to write lyrics. I actually never wanted to be the lyricist or singer, it just happened. I saw myself more as an E-drummer in an EBM band. But I definitely wanted to be on stage and express myself.

I couldn´t play an instrument, so that was the only way. In the beginning the lyrics were also quite simple and rather somber statements, more like screaming emotions of an aggressive young man. It only changed with experience and age and the realization that people actually listen to you.

Do you read poetry? Which poets do you like in that case?

– Unfortunately I have to disappoint you, I don´t actually read at all, although I really like poetry. When I start writing texts, I do a lot of research on the Internet and I often come across poems that sometimes inspire me to write. But nothing more…

Once I was so taken with a poem that I used the entirety of it as the lyrics to a track. War & Peace on the Mind Over Matter (2005)

Solitary Experiments has just released a new album called Transcendet. Can you tell me a little about your feelings about this record?

– In retrospect, I´m very proud of the new album. This time the work was a bit different because we had so many good songs and I got help by inviting guestsingers, who partly took over the part of writing the lyrics. A totally new experience, which was also a lot of fun. However, I also wrote some of the lyrics for the aforementioned guests myself and this time there was another exceptional song in German.

German is not one of my favorite languages, at least as far as sound and singing are concerned. I prefer English as it sounds much better and of course it´s international. All these different things, whether vocals, lyrics, guests both female and male voices, different languages and different music styles make Transcendent unique for me.

My last question for you. If I speak with people in general about synthmusic, most know about DM and Alphaville..but if I ask what about Vnv Nation, Apoptygma Berzerk, A Spell Inside (come on, release a new album soon;-) or Solitary Experiments, most seems to have no idea of what I´m talking about. Why do you think great bands such these, does not reach more listeners?

– I´m not in the position to judge myself, but I think the music is way too complex, it’s not always in 4/4 time and the easy-to-understand lyrics with slogans and simple statements make the normal audience much more receptive. It´s not for nothing that German Schlager is so cheesy and predictable. Always according to the book with the same sounds and rhythm patterns.

In my opinion, Deutsch rock isn´t much different, we´re the front runners when it comes to easy listening. There are exceptions and sometimes our music is played on the regular radio. But that definitely doesn´t make us more successful.

(Photo credits: Chris Ruiz)

If your found this interview intresting. Here are some other interviews I made with artists in similar genre:

Sascha Klein (Neuroticfish):

Nickos Lördagssoffa # 62 (Sascha Klein)

Blue May Rose:

Interview: Blue May Rose

Rikard Tengvall (A PROJECTION):

Interview with Rikard Tengvall (A PROJECTION)

Martin Schindler (Synthattack):

Interview with Martin Schindler (Synthattack)

Ari Mason:

Interview with Ari Mason

And some more goth/rock artists:

Justin Sullivan (New Model Army):

Poetens lördagssoffa # 24 (Justin Sullivan)

Wayne Hussey (Sisters of Mercy, The Mission):

Poetens Lördagssoffa # 50 (Wayne Hussey)

Jeremy Cunnigham (The Levellers):

Interview: Jeremy Cunnigham (The Levellers)

And a hardrocker…

Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity, Nightingale, Bloodbath and some other bands…):

Nickos Lördagssoffa # 66 (Dan Swanö)

(Interview only in swedish, but there is always google translate;-)