Psychorizon Festival Season 2020 – The Summer Of Love That Never Happened

Tags

Album Release, Alternative, Amphitheater Gelsenkirchen, Atlantean Kodex, Bavaria, Blues Pills, Bonn, Boygroups, Caught In The Act, Coralie Baier, Corona, Die 90er live, Epic Metal, Eurodance, Female Empowerment, Feminism, Festival Season, Fire, Germany, Girl Power, Grunge, Hip Hop, Holy Moly, Kathy Kelly, Kelly Family, Lockdown, Lucifer, Mandy Malon, New Album, Nineties, Nostalgia, Nostalgie, Pandemie, Punk, R’n’B, Rhein-Herne-Kanal, Rheinaue Bonn, RHF, Riot Grrrl, Rock Hard Festival, Ruhrgebiet, Ruhrpott, Summer, Summer of Love, Techno, Video Shoot, Virus, Wacken Open Air, Whitsun, WOA

With the first weekend of August already a week behind us, the Festival Season would have peaked by now at the annual Wacken Open Air, marking not only the biggest international Metalfestival but for many the go-to-destination for their private vacation. And even those who don’t enjoy the mass pilgramage way up north in Germany, we would have seen so many open air events by now that staying home is just not an option. All of this in 2020 is only a mere memory or wishful thinking at best due to the pandemic situation that struck pretty much all of our lovely planet a few months back. Life as we knew it has become so different that hardly anyone was prepared and I found myelf scared and shatterd facing empty shelfes at the groceries and shops shut down until further notice as the lockdown was decided by the German Government.

My plans for the past few and upcoming months have been laid to rest and I feel like excisting in a standby-mode, ready to get out and finally enjoy being part of a huge crowed and watch some of my favourite bands with friends. Who knows if this will ever be possible again the way it was before Corona…that said, I didn’t even expect to be shattered about not going Rock Hard Festival for the first time in ages – visiting the local event every year since 2009 and for a total of 13 time so far. Now all that’s left to do is look back at all the fun we had in the past and hope for better days to come. Also I’m hoping for more female musicians to enter the stages at Gelsenkirchen amphitheater – the trailer for the cancelled edition might be a hint for more female empowerment, as it shows Rock Hard editorial assistent Mandy Malon in her natural metal infused habitat, inviting us to the whitsun festivities. Apart from that, only Coralie Baier of Bavarian Epic Metal band Atlantean Kodex would have been around.

Those who are frequent followers of my facebook page or know me in person, will also be aware of the fact that I do enjoy the occational Nineties Nostalgia. Well, that of course is a complete understatement or let me put it this way: In my mind there is a neverending party with all the Eurodance, Boygroups, Girl Power, Techno, R’n’B, Hip Hop, Grunge, Punk, Alternative and what not going on. Strangely enough though, many acts of this decade I only grew fond of rather recently, many of which I saw live last summer at “Die 90er live in Bonn“. Today should have been the day for me to return to the former state capital, but with Germany facing a servere heat wave and my part of the country will reach some sweaty highs at almost 40°C (that is 104°F for all my readers from the US), I am a little less sad that it’s been postponed. Guess all that’s left to do for the time being, is enjoy some old and brand new music. And luckily both Blues Pills and Lucifer got some fresh tracks in 2020. While “Lucifer III” came out on March 20th, the new Blues Pills album “Holy Moly!” will be released on August 21st. So, feast your ears, stay strong & healthy, don’t be a maskhole, keep your distance, thanks for your service, enjoy the summer and be a proud woman, man or anyone you want to be! And of course, see you somewhere sometime in 2021.

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Obscure Sisterhood – Ashtar

Tags

Antiq, Ashtar, Basel, Black Sludge Doom, Celestial, Celtic Frost, Chaos Ritval, Collide, Courtney Love, Czar of Bullets, Deaf Forever, Death Metal, Des siècles qui éternellement séparent le corps mortel de mon âme, Far beyond driven, Feminism, Frederyk Rotter, Gothic Metal, Grunge, Hannes Reitze, Hole, Ilmasaari, Jennifer Finch, L7, Maltrér, Marko Lehtinen, Matthias Edel, Moons, Nadine Lehtinen, Oasis, Obscure Sisterhood, Pantera, Phased, She Was A Witch, shEver, Switzerland, These Nights Will Shine On, Throne Records, Tom Gabriel Fischer, Verheerer, What’s the story morning glory, Witch N

Anyone who loves music as much as I do, knows that feeling when a new song or record or even band gets to you right away. And then there are those tracks and artists you totally fall for at an instant. And this has been the case for me about three years ago with Ashtar and their debut album. A first public declaration of my affection was released on January 3rd 2016. Fast forward to the future and present as it is, I had the honour of interviewing founding member and front woman Witch N. Our virtual dialogue is also the first part to be published for my new series “Obscure Sisterhood”. Reading her answers, I finally found out why the art of Asthar is music to my ears – literally speaking, having had the same female rolemodel/idol as a teen: Courtney Love. 

Ashtar

Nadine, it’s been quite a while since ‘Ilmasaari‘ was released and the new album is finally on the horizon. What can you tell us about the second coming of Ashtar?
We’re working on new songs and plan to enter the studio again in 2019. But at this moment we can’t say anything about a release date. We’re playing some of the new songs live already – so if you want to get a hint how the new album is going to be you need to see us live on stage soon!

Following pretty much all the news regarding Ashtar I know that a lot has changed for Marko and yourself – how much impact does your personal life have on the band?
I suppose you mean our two little kids. Yes, as we are the core of Ashtar, our personal life has of course a big impact. We’ve learned how it is to have a band while having no time at all. We’ve learned a lot about organizing and being creative on command as well. For me personally, having kids make me feel more comfortable with myself. I know better who I am and what is really important in my life. And music is definitely one very important thing in my and Markos life, so we give our best to keep Ashtar going.

You have been a member of Swiss Death/Doom band shEver before the birth of Ashtar – was there any difference in working with just female musicians compared to your current environment?
This is a very delicate question. Yes, I think there is a difference between working with women or men. Though in Ashtar, where I work with my husband, the comparison is not that significant. I played in some other bands with male members too, but I was hardly involved in the songwriting process – I just can say that women seem much more focused and efficient to me, they don’t just sit around and drink beer instead of rehearsing or writing new songs. And I think shEver would never have sounded like we did if there would have been some male members around. By the way, they still exist and have two male members nowadays. Beside that I generally think that women just write different songs with different attitudes and atmospheres.

At what age did you get into heavy music and why (if there is any particular reason at all)?
It depends on the definition of heavy, but I would say when I was about 16 or 17. When I first heard “Far beyond driven” from Pantera I was blown away and curious about more stuff like that. A bit later I got more into Gothic Metal and then into Black and Death Metal. The reason? I was fascinated by the heaviness, the brutality and the beauty at the same time in this kind of music.

MMXIV

You play the bass, guitars, the violin and sing – but what was your first love when it comes to a creative/musical outlet and how old where you?
My first instrument was, like pretty much every child’s, the recorder. Beside playing the children songs I sometimes created my own “songs”. I was 5 or 6 years old. But really creative I got when I learned to play the violin with 8 years. For some years I mainly played classical music until me and my girlfriend decided to start a band when we were 16 – I began to take bass lessons and wrote my own Grunge songs on my guitar.

Have you ever felt like there is anything you couldn’t (or shouldn’t) do because you are a woman?
When I was a little girl I was not allowed to play soccer in a club, because my parents told me that this is not a girl’s sport. And later, with Ashtar, I played a concert while being pregnant in the 7th month. There were men who came to me and told me that this is no good for my child. (BTW: This child is now 3 years old and very healthy. And he loves music!)

Would you consider yourself a feminist and what are your thoughts on feminism?                                                                                                      I would not consider myself a feminist but still many of my opinions are feministic. As long as women don’t have the same rights (or salary) as men I think feminism is very much-needed here. The really extreme forms of feminism I do not appreciate though. Biologically, women and men are not the same and I am really happy that there are differences. 😊 So women and men do not need to be equal in every part of their lives.

What was the first and the most recent record you bought?
The first record I bought from my own money was probably “What’s the story morning glory” by Oasis – when I was 12. The last record? Hmm, I think that was the album “Maltrér” from the German Black Metal band Verheerer.

Studio

What is more fun: Playing or watching a concert?
I love to see bands live, but nothing compares to the feeling when I am on stage myself.

Do you have a musical rolemodel/idol, maybe even a female one?
I had many idols when I was a teenager, especially Courtney Love of Hole or Jennifer Finch of L7. Nowadays my idols are not musicians anymore.

What advice would you give young girls when it comes to picking up an instrument/starting to sing and joining a band?
First you need to master your instrument or voice, like everybody who wants to join a serious band. Then just do what you feel you want to do! Never pretend to be something you aren’t. People will notice sooner or later. And you can only be good when you are true to yourself.

Nowadays it seems like no band/musician will have a chance without Fcebook, Instagram etc. – what is your personal take on social media?
I grew up without social media and I am really grateful for that because I know the “other side” too. I learned to use social media for promoting my bands, so I think they can be really useful. But I think it’s important that we don’t take the number of “likes” as indicator for our success.

And finally: Will you be touring to promote the upcoming new album? Yes, this is our plan: We will give everything to get on the road for at least one or two weeks in Europe. But this will take a while, the album has to be recorded first.

Stage

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