Infectious Unease

Darrin: I have made music since I was about 13 years of age. I began officially to perform live under the band name "Psyche" with my brother when I was 17. We released our first album then in 1985. We then spent most of our time touring in Europe, and I ended up deciding to stay in Germany.

Julia: I studied piano for 10 years, and formed my own band as lead vocalist. Darrin saw my band in concert and asked if I would perhaps take over the vocals for the next "Inside" album. Sadly you've only heard me on "Relax" as the "Beware" album was nearly finished before I joined. But more is coming soon.

Winus: I got into producing electronic music in the late 80's after playing drums in a rock band. Since then I've produced several independent artists like "The Eternal Afflict", "Beborn Beton", and recently "Sara Noxx".

What do you all do when not working in the band?

Darrin: Sleep, drink, and have sex basically.

Julia: We're pretty often in the studio.

What is the meaning of the bands name?

Darrin: Well with INSIDE that can conjure up alot of images. Mainly inside your head. Inner thoughts. It can be a mysterious secret..What's inside? And there's the obvious sexual connotations of course!

What instruments do you all play and are there any particular instrument you enjoy most?

Winus: I play guitar, drums, and program. I like whatever sounds good and creates melody.

Darrin: Basically Winus and Joshino play and program the songs. Beouwulf Erkenwald adds guitar bits. Julia and I do the vocals. For me singing and creating different vocal styles is enough. I do like various percussion
instruments though. And of course there's many great non-musical instuments I enjoy as well, ha ha..

What creative process do you go through when composing your music?

Inside: We all meet in the studio and discuss new sounds and work on the right vocal expression to our words. Most of the work is creating interesting vocal harmonies to our various backing tracks.

What inspires you when you write your music?

Darrin: At the moment sex and insanity in our environment. Various human mental perversions.

JoShino: Rhythms that groove and have a special atmosphere.

Winus: Various classical composers, and trip-hop styles inspire me.

Many of your songs tell a story or a set of themes, how do you go about writing a lyric, and what subject matter do you enjoy writing about?

Darrin: Mainly our themes our like I said secret mental perversions. I try to find a phrase or a word that interests me and then set about to build a story on that theme. Things like "Torture" are fairly straightforward. Whereas "Emergency" is kind of a fun little piece about boasting all kinds of sexual attributes where the girl kind of doesn't take it seriously. "Beware Of The Dog", and "Timebomb" are basically psycho stories where I portray a fiendish stalker. "Kama Sutra" and "Sex Cult" are pretty sarcastic while at the same time honouring their themes. My inspiration comes from my darkest innermost thoughts. All these crazy guys
are hanging around in my head somewhere, and they like to talkabout themselves!

Are you influenced by books or movies or plays?

On the first album I was inspired by the writing style of Ramsey Campbell, a british horror author. Also to some degree the idea that our songs have a somewhat theatrical presence is important. They are all little dramas in fact. There's a bit of the taunting psycho from the "Scream" films in the lyrics. Also
"Libera Tuta Me" comes from the movie "Event Horizon". So there you go.

Are you influenced by any other bands and do you have any favorite bands that you like listenening to?

Darrin: All of us have many different favorites, but INSIDE itself is a fairly insular concept. We really draw on our own impressions in the studio. There may be a particular sound from another group that excites us
or gives us the drive to create, but we can't really specifically name anyone you'd hear directly in our music.

Are you involved in any other music projects?

Darrin: We live in a strange time that no one really has just onegroup anymore.But I find the expression "side project" undervalues whatever workit stands for.I sing, write and perform in Psyche,and INSIDE equally treated.JoShino is in INSIDE and also does release other records undervariouspseudonyms. Julia sings with INSIDE but also works occasionallywith other bands. As a collective we are the definitive members of INSIDE.

To the readers who may not have heard much of your music, how would you describe your sound?

Darrin: Well the two INSIDE albums are quite different from each other. The first one would be dark dramatic electronic pop, with industrial tendencies. The "Beware" album is guitar-electro with a heavy sequencer dance
orientation. Both records have a definite aggression to them, but are not morbid. We're among the living, and celebrating all life's kinkyness.

What albums have you produced and have you been on any compilations?

INSIDE: I think you have to look up that answer on the various homepages in http://www.psyche-hq.de/cds/inside.html. There is a list of what we've all been involved in under Discography.

How has the response been to the latest album?

INSIDE: Better than the first. There's been more interviews for our latest, and more curiousity, although "Room Full Of Mirrors" did have great reviews in the European press. We're hoping to finally establish ourselves with our third album.

What was the inspiration behind the latest album?

Darrin: I think we cleared that up already, but once again sex and other little misdemeanors.

How long did it take to produce?

Darrin: Well most mothers need their nine months, we in fact went overtime. Two years of serious consideration.

What have you got planned for the next album? Will it be similar to other albums?

Darrin: We will be continuing eo add to the energy of the "Beware" album. Bigger, better, faster, more! Just like the seual to "Scream".

Where have you toured, are you planning any up and coming tours?

INSIDE: We've played mainly Germany, and a couple times in Belgium. We go on tour again in February and March. Again throughout Germany. Hopefully we'll get through a bit more of Europe and Sweden by the end of this year.

What gigs did you enjoy the most and what was the audience response?

INSIDE: Our debut concert in 1995 in Neu Ruppin, Germany was a real highlight. And our record presentation show last year in Bochum, Germany was good. Our first concert in Sint Niklaas, Belgium is definitely a favourite. All of these were are best performances and the audience was definitelly enthusiastic.

What gigs did you not enjoy?

Darrin: Well it's not nice to say there was any bad shows, but I'll admit our appearance in Neu Brandenburg, Germany was certainly an unnecessary moment. The audience was o.k. but it was just not a real blockbuster location for us.

Is there anything special incorporated within your performances?

INSIDE: Oh yeah, that's for sure. But without the photos it's hard to explain. The show is sleek, sexy, and dramatic. We haven't blown up anything though! But who knows?

What are your future plans?

INSIDE: First the tour but in the meantime we've already got the next few songs towards album number three ready. Maybe we'll get a single out of the next one. We're gearing up for world domination..ha ha!

Is there anything you would like to say to the readers out there?

Darrin: It's getting dark so come inside!

Winus: " Big Sexy Land " has all the hits, " Dildo Brothers " and" Chicks With Dicks "!

INSIDE are: Darrin(the dog) -vocals, Julia-vocals, Winus-Keys,
JoShino-Keys and Beats, and
Beowulf-guitar.

Thanks for the interview.Yours, The Dog.