SUIDAKRA Interview with Marcus Riewaldt

XM: Hey Marcus, how are you today?
Marcus: I'm fine.

XM: Now first off is there any question that you get asked over and over again in interviews that is annoying to have to answer?
Marcus: *Laughs* Yeah, I think if you ask me what Suidakra means that's... It would be the most asked question I've got.

XM: And congratulations on you're tenth full length Book of Dowth just released on AFM Records. How has the new label been working for you all so far?
Marcus: Very good. I mean, we really see a lot of labels through the last years and I think that we are most happy with AFM now because if you're a small band on a big label you have a problem if you... Like, I wouldn't say with a big band, but with a bigger band on a small label then it's also very hard to get... The possibilities that a small label has that we have now. AFM is not major, but they're not underground. It's a good size for us, and we're happy there. We get the attention that we need.

XM: And again you've went to Gernhart Records to record the release, working again with Martin Bulchwalter as you've done for the past few records. How did you originally meet Martin?
Marcus: I think it was like in 2004 that we... I know somebody knew a band that recorded in his studio, and we just called him and said "Yeah, we like the sound you've made on this record, would you be interested in recording with Suidakra?" He was very interested and he's a very cool guy. He was really into the recording process and to trying out things, and having interesting ideas. We're very happy with him.

XM: Now, the concept of this particular album is that a man in Ireland is led to this book in a grave site and unwittingly sets some demons free, right?
Marcus: Actually, this is like the beginning of the record. Through the run of the album you get to know how the demons got into this book and how this book was crafted. It's a very complicated story behind it.

XM: Is this in any way related to the Irish Mini-Tour coming up?
Marcus: Related to what?
XM: On your website it says you've got an Irish Mini-Tour coming up.
Marcus: Yeah. It's not related to this. We've played in Ireland before but we know we're going there again. We played some very cool shows when we were there the first time, and we like playing there. But, that's more like a coincidence. Irish folk and the Celtic influence in Suidakra's sound is in there for like 15 years, since the beginning pretty much. It doesn't have anything to do with this tour.

XM: Do you have a personal favorite track from the new record?
Marcus: I think at least at the moment it's Stone of the Seven Suns. It's my favorite track because it's very special with the melody in it, and it's very good when we play it live. It's a lot of fun and it's very cool song, very untypical I think, for this album. It's very mid-tempo.

XM: And the new record seems a little darker and heavier then your last record.
Marcus: That's true, and that was the intention because of the concept. The last record, Crogacht, was a little more epic and was a different kind of story. Now, we have the demonic things that we wanted to make visible in the music. It was intentional to have it done darker and more brutal then we've done it before.

XM: I think you've accomplished that on the record. Have you played many new songs live yet?
Marcus: Yeah, actually. I don't know how many we played live but we've been playing so many headlining shows since the release of this record. So, we played like I think two or three songs on the tour we just played, the European tour where we had like a 15 minute set. But, I think when we do a longer set we'll play like four or five songs off the new record.

XM: How are people liking the new songs live? Getting along with them just as well as the old ones?
Marcus: Uhmm... The new record is very fresh. So, I think not all people knew the songs as well as the old ones. The classic Suidakra songs we play most times. But, the reactions are very good so far actually. There is a video clip on YouTube of Stone of the Seven Suns and we recorded the video clips even before the record was released, so. People really got into it very quickly, so it was cool.

XM: If you had to describe Suidakra's music in three words they would be...
Marcus: They would be, Melodic, Celtic, Metal.

XM: If you could have been involved in the writing, recording, production of any album ever which one would it be and why?
Marcus: Oh... Uh... I don't know. I would like to see how Edge of Sanity wrote Crimson. It's a Swedish Death Metal band, they're I think disbanded for a couple of years but. They have for once an album that is just one song. It's called Crimson. It's a 40 minute song, and It's one of my favorite records. So, I would really like to see how they recorded and how they played and how they managed to put that on a record.
XM: Yeah, that does sound interesting actually. I'll check them out.

XM: And Suidakra have been on the road for years and are no strangers to big festivals. Do you have any really good festival stories or experiences you'd like to tell about?
Marcus: Well, actually we played back Wacken like seven times... I've been in the band since 2002 and the band played there before. Wacken is always a really big event, there's always so many people you know and very big audience. It's very cool to play there but actually I also like to play very tiny stages. There's a funny story, we played in Switzerland. We played in front of I think like 20 people. It was some years ago, it wasn't very well promoted show, we set it up on the road to not have a day off. It turned out to be more like a comedy show than actual playing. We were talking jokes and playing songs and everyone had a great time. Everybody bought a t-shirt, we sold like 20 t-shirts. Everyone bought a CD and a shirt and there was lots of talking after words. I like playing on big stages and festivals but I also like playing small stages. There are lots of funny things happening everywhere, actually.

XM: And, is there any particular festival that you guys are really looking forward to playing? Wacken again, perhaps?
Marcus: Yeah, that will be very good. And I know there are lots of festivals like Hellfest in France and we played Bloodstock before, that was cool. We tried to play it again but I'm not looking forward to playing there because so far it didn't happen that we've got confirmed for those festivals again. But, I don't know. I like to play everywhere in the world. That's why I'm making music in the first place. To see the world, to travel and tour and to meet people everywhere. That's the cool thing for me about it.

XM: That's actually it for us today. Thanks very much for talking with me, is there any final words for your fans?
Marcus: Yeah. I hope that everyone who hasn't so far will check out Suidakra. We're on Facebook and Myspace and everything, YouTube. Check out the music, if you like it, drop us a line on Facebook and say hi.

XM: Have a good day!
Marcus: Bye bye, thanks very much.

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