Hello guys! Nice to chat with you! Let’s begin with very obvious question: why did 4 of you except quit Stormwitch in 2019?
Tobi K.: Hello, thanks for the invitation. Volker, Jürgen, Marc and me have always understood each other well. But in many points, we weren`t agree with the Stormwitch “Management”. The mood within the Band was very bad. It was a matter of time.
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| Marc Oppold |
Marc: Well, the last show with cigarette box throwing was at Keep It True 2004. I met Andy Mück again at the memorial concert for Harald Spengler in 2013. So there was contact again and one day Andy called me and wanted me to come back because he never had a problem with me. At the time I thought, forget it and felt like playing in Stormwitch again. In fact, I had the impression that this time it would work well and for a long time. But it wasn't meant to be...
Jürgen, you were one of the founders of Stormwitch in the 80’s but left the band before the first album. I’ve always wondered why and what did you do musically until 2005 when you rejoined Andy Mück?
Jürgen: The question why I left Stormwitch before the release of the first album could probably only be answered by Harald Spengler, who unfortunately has already passed away. It's a long story and many didn't understand at the time why I had to leave. I least of all. After breaking up with Stormwitch, I put the bass in the corner for years. In the 90’s I played in various smaller bands again. In 2000 I founded my own band called Henry together with a drummer friend. We played our own songs in the direction of pop/rock and in 2003 we won the German rock and pop prize in two categories. But then we broke up in 2010.
OK, one last Stormwitch related questions and I promise I won’t ask you about this band anymore (at least during this interview). The band is named after the Stormwitch’s song from the “Walpurgis Night” album. What were some other names that you consider? And why did you pick especially Skull & Crossbones?
Tobi K.: We formed this band out of our time together with Stormwitch. Our intro for live gigs contains the words “Rise, Skull and Crossbones”. I think this is a dramatical musician thing, you understand?
Fans will probably say "Oh, these guys from Stormwitch..." How does the band react to the fact that there is always a shadow of their previous band?
Tobi K.: Well, we are Skull & Crossbones, nothing more, nothing less. Of course, 4 out of 5 band members have a past with the band Stormwitch. However, this does not affect our work on the band Skull & Crossbones and does not influence us in any way.
Your first singer Stefan Fronk also sang in Brainstorm but that was more than 30 years ago. After that he disappeared from radars. Did he keep on singing over the years? Why did you decide to invite him and why didn’t it work eventually?
Tobi K.: I met Stefan in 2019 for the first time. I think he didn`t do so much in the last years. He has had his own band and still has it. In this band he plays guitar and sings. We broke up amicably because we wanted to do something else. Now everyone has the chance to do his own thing.
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| Tobias Hübner. Picture by Jochen Martin |
Was Tobias Hübner your first choice? Or did you audition some other guys for this position?
Tobi K.: After the official statement Tobi H. contacted us by himself. We had some sessions together and as he wrote the first melodies for “Midnight Fyre” we were sure that Tobi should be the new voice of Skull & Crossbones.
The history section on your official webpage is very brief. What were some highlights and important events for you from 2019 to 2023 beside changing the singer and releasing the album?
Tobi K.: For me it was the first gig together with Tobi H., I had so much fun and I look forward to the future.
Originally you wanted to release an album in 2021. Did Covid affect your plans? Were you able to get all together in the studio, or did you record everything remotely?
Tobi K.: Of course Covid was a problem, but at this time the songwriting hadn`t been finished. Everyone has a small recording studio at home. So we are very flexible. Volker and I recorded the most parts together because we are neighbors. The final mix we did all together in the studio of Marc Ayerle.
Are there some songs on “Sungazer” which you wrote for your previous band and decided to take them with you? Did you have to change some arrangements when Tobias joined the band?
Tobi K.: All the songs were especially written for “Sungazer”. When Tobi H. joined the band we had to change some parts, because Tobi H. needs more space for his vocal melodies. So we decided that the instruments, especially the guitars had to do less. Of course we had to revide some parts.
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| Tobi Kipp. Picture by Jochen Martin |
I understand that it’s guitarists who bring most of ideas and riffs, but anyway, it’s quite different in every band. So who does what in your band when it comes to songwriting? Who is the main generator of riffs and melodies in the band? And who comes up with lyrics or themes for them?
Tobi H.: At the beginning, Volker and Tobi Kipp started to write songs and exchanged ideas. There was no predetermined concept. Wanschi then worked out his bass arrangement, Marc his drums and after that I did the whole vocal arrangements including the whole backing vocals. This process lasted until the end of March 2023, when all 10 songs were ready. This resulted into demo songs which were then sent to Marc Ayerle's studio for further processing.
How do you prefer to work on songs: only when you have an inspiration for that, or regularly, no matter what is your mood or state of mind?
Tobi K.: I can`t write songs when I’m stressed. Sometimes I have an idea in mind and then I collect ideas for a riff, or for example a refrain and then we all talk together about this idea. At the end we all decide together if we want to do a song with these ideas.
How long did it take to write and record the album? Were there some unexpected moments during the recording sessions?
Tobi K.: The recording time was about 6 Months. Tobi H. did a fantastic job in writing the lyrics and melodies in this short time. For me there were no unexpected moments. Everyone in the band did a good job.
A lot of bands use some instrumental intros as openers for their albums. “Sungazer” bursts with a straight forward track “Midnight Fyre”. Did you discuss the idea with an intro? Or was it pretty natural to open the album with fast and dynamic song?
Tobi H.: It was actually an idea to start with an intro, but once we decided on the final order of the songs, we realized that we didn't really need that. “Midnight Fyre” starts straight away and shows where the journey is going.
By the way, “Midnight Fyre” is based on the Nordic mythology. Could you explain the meaning of this song?
Tobi H.: The song "Midnight Fyre" came about while I was flipping through the book "Blessings of Fire and Ice" by Connla Freyjason. It's more about the Norse mythology which takes place around the midsummer fest. Hence the artificial word "Fyre" which is made up of the words "Fire" and "Pyre".
Tobi H.: "Sungazer" is a fictional story. A boy hates his father, so he cannot look in the mirror because that is where he sees his father. When he became blind, hatred grew within him, only looking at the sun and its warmth gave him the strength to go on living. Only when the father dies does the hatred begin to wane. So an invisible force from nature, which the album is about quite often, gives him the courage to face life.
Who is that fool and freak you refer to (and who you want dead) in “Tyrant’s Rule”?
Tobi H.: The song is about a fictional person that nobody takes seriously and nobody sees or relies on. At some point, this person goes crazy and decides to take over the rule — the "rule of the tyrant".
Would you agree that the opening riff in “Inner Self” reminds a bit of Metallica’s “Wherever I May Roam”? Is it a problem for you when you understand that your riffs or melodies sound a bit close to some other songs?
Tobi K.: This was not intended. Of course we want to do something new but you can’t reinvent the wheel. There are so many riffs and melodies around the world.
“Inner Self” has quite tough lyrics. Is it based on personal experience of someone from the band?
Tobi H.: The song "Inner Self" is about the inner voice that lives in all of us. She speaks to some people, to others she is silent for a long time. I think we all know people who are struggling with mental health issues that are consumed by it. Nevertheless, there is a solution for everything, even if this solution is often not obvious. There's a reason "Inner Self" is followed by "Live Your Dreams".
“Live Your Dreams” is such a lovely song! Could you tell me its story? Is it about lovers who went their separate ways?
Tobi H.: I was brutally in the mood for a ballad, really classic in the style of the 80s. Not cheesy, but still nice and catchy. I have the opinion that a ballad is either just perfect and beautiful or awful, there is often not much in between. But we dared and something really great came out of it. The song should simply say that you should live your dreams so that you don't have to say at the end of life that you have regrets.
“The Drowned” is a very naturalistic depiction of a drowned woman and her rotten body. What inspired you to write this type of lyrics?
Tobi H.: I read the poem by the German poet Bertolt Brecht "Vom ertrunkenen Mädchen" ("The Drowned Girl" - ed.) and immediately thought, "Wow, you have to write lyrics about it!" The content fits the song like a glove.
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| Jurgen Wannenwetsch. Picture by Jochen Martin |
Are there particular moments on the album which give you goosebumps? For me this is the moment in the beginning of “The Invisible Man”, when Tobi starts singing “Hear the silence”! By the way, who is this invisible man?
Tobi H.: Wow, a good question. For me there is a goosebumps moment in "Inner Self" after the part where I sing "You hear nothing — you think you won — But believe me — I will return" when the instrumental part begins, somehow the part always reminds me of a heavy thunderstorm, for whatever reason. The song “The Invisible Man” is about the loneliness in which unfortunately many people have to live. We should care more about other people, worry about them, especially those who live alone. I think there is nothing worse than having to be alone. So be careful if there are people in your environment or in your surroundings who are alone and almost invisible.
The album sounds killer. How did you achieve this type of sound? Did you use some special ways of recording? How substantial was the role of Marc Ayerle, who also mixed and mastered Stormwitch’s “Bound to the Witch”?
Tobi K.: We wanted a classic, yet modern, punchy sound. Marc Ayerle did a great job on "Bound to the Witch", so there was no question for us to go to him again with the album "Sungazer". The result blew us all away.
What’s your plan for live shows? Do you want to play an extensive tour (say, 10 or 20 shows in a month)? Or is it fine with you to play occasional gigs once in a while?
Tobi H.: Of course we play a few selected concerts around the time of the release, including our release party in Gerstetten, the home town of the band. We are also looking forward to a concert in December together with bands we are friends of like Vanish. I think you have to be realistic these days, playing a full tour of this magnitude isn't that easy anymore. So we want to have fun, play cool concerts, have a great time with our fans, that's enough.
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| Volker Schmietov |
Tobi H.: It's almost impossible for medium-sized and smaller bands to play an economically successful tour for exactly the reasons you mentioned. Do you want that or do you prefer a few selected individual shows? Every band has to decide that for themselves. The sharp drop in advance ticket sales, especially for smaller shows, also has a major impact on the current situation. Nobody can plan properly anymore, shows have to be canceled and so on. Not a nice situation, which makes it more and more difficult for smaller bands. But like I said, have fun, play a few concerts, release more music, then that's fine.
What are some goals or dreams which you’d like to achieve with Skull & Crossbones?
Tobi H.: Have fun — play good concerts — record more albums — that’s it
Visit Skull & Crossbones Facebook page.
Thanks to Mona Miluski from All Noir for making this interview possible.
The band's picture in the header by Michael Vetter.
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