Interview with Bruno
Q>>
Hi Bruno, could you first tell me about your situation, commercially speaking?
I heard about that deal with Rabazco and I got your latest demo from Karli at
Moonstorm Records. You guys seem to have the right connections but would it
be possible to make it a bit clearer to our readers?
A>> We have a worldwide publishing deal with RABAZco/Arabella, which is
an edition of BMG. Moonstorm Records and RABAZco Publishing again belong to
the same company. And Karli is doing promo for both Moonstorm and RABAZco. Which
doesn't mean we're signed to Moonstorm as well. We're still looking for the
right company.
Q>> You're
brothers in Sisko. Is it an advantage in your case or do you have to face some
Oasis-like fights from time to time?
A>> Both. There would and will be no SISKO without either one of us. We'd
never make music without each other anyway. We're kind of Siamese twins that
can't be separated from each other. Which doesn't mean we don't fight. We do
it even harder, because we're brothers and know that there's true love and respect
behind it. Sometimes we argue about things, sometimes it comes to physical fighting,
it's just our temper and forces the music to turn out good. I don't know the
guys in Oasis, I like their music very much, but they seem to be a little fucked
up. The funny thing is that we sometimes see things that are the same with us,
things that we can understand and then we laugh about all the stupid shit!
Q>> I've
been positively surprised when I realized how efficient your songs are on "3".
Now, I also think they're very straightforward in the way they're developed.
Do you avoid more complex/experimental patterns on purpose or does the music
come out like this and that's it?
A>> No, we don't do anything on purpose. It's just the way we click together.
Sometimes the songs turn out long, most of the time they are rather short. The
experiments are happening more in the background with different electronic sounds
or the guitar playing. Our music offers much substance, although it seems very
easy. You just have to listen closely enough.
Q>> Your
demo reminded me of some good Tiamat moods. Is that a band you like or are there
bigger influences I actually missed? (Paradise Lost maybe...)
A>> No, Tiamat and Paradise Lost have never been influences for us, although
I respect them for their good quality music. We listen to so many different
musical styles, that we can't tell any direct influence. From the darker bands
I like Danzig and The Mission very much. We just let things happen. It's not
our thing to follow a genre or to copy some other band. It's all about us!
Q>> You Siskos
are both guitarist and singer. Do the drum parts come from a sequencer or something
of the kind? Tell me more about the way you work when composing...
A>> In our recordings the drums first get sampled from a real drum kit
played by the drummer of our live-band and then we can fiddle around with the
drum-arrangements and the sound on the computer. In composing, most of the time
Igor comes along with a guitar-riff and I jam over it with my voice to find
the right melody and even the fitting words, everything happens very intuitively.
After that, we arrange the song and fill in ideas that we can experiment with
while recording.
Q>> When
time has come to record and mix your stuff, how do you proceed? Is it all home
recording like it's the case for most of the Goth-oriented Metal projects?
A>> It differs from CD to CD. We did the first one in a bigger studio
on our own; the second in our producer's studio and the new CD was recorded,
again by our producer Laurens Kehl, in a studio that we specially built for
this recording. We'll see where we'll do it the next time. That keeps things
fresh and exciting.
Q>> This
one is fun: tell me about "Tell Me"... Lyrically, it seems as though
you crave to hear sweeter things from someone... Do you feel frustrated in any
way?
A>> There's so many things that piss me off. I just channel those feelings
into music, which allows me to be a very happy person afterwards, although I
can get really mad. I'm not fishing for compliments. If somebody likes me that's
fine, if not that's fine as well, as long people are honest.
Q>> Sisko
is music for listeners who like moody stuff and I'm sure that there are a few
who will truly love this at home with a bottle of wine and the warmth of their
pillows, but how does the audience behave when you play live?
A>> I don't consider our music to be that calm, but if people don't mind
getting their asses kicked by rockers like "Whatever" or "Energy"
while relaxing I can go with that. Sure, there are some really moody tunes like
"Thinking Of You", but most of the time we rock. I think that the
difference between our heaviness compared to other bands is that we don't get
stressful for the listener. Live we're very intense, so most of the time people
just stare at us and wonder if they should rather listen or move their butts.
Q>> I'm a
very bad guy and in the review I wrote for your demo, I mentioned a little lack
of fresh ideas... Now that may be not so important because you guys deliver
truly excellent music anyway, but I'd like to know what's your primal reaction
to such a remark? Do you feel misunderstood or am I just an idiot?
A>> No, not at all. If you feel that way that's quite okay for us. Most
people appreciate our organic sound and songwriting. I don't think that anybody
is doing something really new. We combine different styles like Metal, Gothic,
Electro, Rock, Indie and Alternative without sounding like a mixture. I think
we sound very unique and there's always something to discover in our music;
just listen to the middle-part of "Tell Me" for example. We're from
Croatia, so we grew up on Slavic folk music, which you can tell by our vocal-melodies,
if you really need something "fresh".
Q>> Is there
going to be a "4" or will you finally shake your brains and find a
real title for the next release? (joke...)
A>> As long as we release self produced CDs they will be just numbered.
The number also tells how many songs are on the CD. With the exception of "1"
that had 4 tunes. Our first official album will then have a proper title. "4"
is planned for late summer.
Q>> Something
you may want to add? Go ahead...
A>> To every famous sportsman, model, casted "pop star", etc.;
Please stay with your job and stop spoiling the face of music. We don't take
away your jobs, so don't take away ours!
RNO