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Bloody Dead and Sexy

Iahn: You are right. We've known other for a very long time. We first met when we were little boys in school. I would say we grew up together, but that isn't right; if you play in a rock band, you never grow up. To be honest, I don't remember the initial incident that gave us the idea to form a band. I think it's just the urge of creative people to do something creative. But I remember that none of us ever played an instrument, except for Björn, who could play the piano. That's why he had to play the drums: to equal the chances.

You'd been through a number of different guitarists in the past few years before bringing Matias 13 into the band. How has his presence affected your sound?

Iahn: Yes, I know it's strange. We are considered a guitar band, but haven't had a constant guitar player after the death of Wolfgang, who left us years before our first album. Actually, on Narcotic Room, our last album, our drummer played most of the guitars in the studio. But since we invited Matias 13 to join the band, it's been feeling right. He has the right feeling for our songs and sound. He's done a great job in the past live shows. He is also involved in the songwriting for our next album.

You've often been compared to Rozz Williams-era Christian Death, but your newest album, Narcotic Room, seems to have plenty of glam rock elements as well. Who are your biggest influences?

Iahn: Believe me, I really don't know, why people always compare Bloody Dead and Sexy to Rozz's Christian Death. Maybe there are the same influences; you mentioned glam rock, punk rock, avant garde. David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Roxy Music, Black Sabbath, Kiss—I don't know, that and much more is the music I've always loved and that influenced me as a person and the music I make. But I only can speak for myself. Everyone who is involved in the songwriting has a totally different musical background.

One of the most interesting pieces on Narcotic Room is your cover of 'My Secret Gardener.' Can you tell us the story behind that song? How did you discover the original, and what made you choose it for inclusion on the album?

Iahn: I picked up the Aryan Aquarians album many years ago, and I always loved that song. It's not popular, but it's a great piece of music, the perfect song to do a cover of. And it fits the mood of our album wonderfully. I send Niki Mono, the original singer, a CD, and she seemed to like it. That made us some kind of proud!

Your first full-length album, Paint It Red, featured some remixes of your music by the noise act Spherical Disrupted. How did that collaboration come about? Would you be open to doing similar experimental collaborations in the future?

Iahn: We knew Mirko Hentrich from Spherical Disrupted from early gigs we played with his former band. He came up with the idea to do some remix work. I was wondering how our music could be remixed—I'm really not a big fan of remixes—but when he gave us his work, we really loved it. It's like a record of its own. It's not part of the album, but a three-part bonus track, a bonbon for the fans.

You've mostly played in Europe, but in 2004 you were able to tour the USA. How did that go? How were you received by U.S. audiences?

Iahn: We had a really great time. It seems that we have some fans in the USA. In Europe, there are prejudices against America, you know, fast food-eating, energy-wasting people that love to make war and play world police. When we came to the States, well, we found some of the prejudices are partly true, but no one told us about the things that are great about the country. Lovely, interesting, friendly people. An inspiring spirit. And even the fast food tastes good! You know what? I love America. I love the people. I wouldn't say that I love the current president very much, but I'm sure this will be fixed soon. We had great audiences and made many friends.

Did you find a large difference between the death rock scene in North America as compared to Europe?

Iahn: I haven't noticed any. The people are as into the music as they are on the other side of the big sea, and that's the important thing.

Can you tell us about some of your favorite concert experiences? Who have been your favorite bands to share the stage with?

Iahn: No joke, when I come off the stage my memory is lost. Weeks, month, years later, when I least expect it, my memory comes back, and I think, 'Jesus, did I really do that? Did that really happen?' The bands we enjoy sharing the stage with are the bands we like, but I think the best band ever to share the stage with are our Californian friends from Frankenstein.

Do you prefer playing smaller gigs or large festivals like Wave Gotik Treffen?

Iahn: I like them both, though they feel different. The 'bigger' gigs often have this rock star glamor, not a bad thing from time to time, but I think I prefer the smaller gigs. I like to look into the eyes of the audience. And it's best to look into the eyes of everyone in the audience.

You're currently working on your third album. Can you tell us a little about it? How is the songwriting process coming along so far?

Iahn: You know, we are not that kind of band that writes 20 songs in one week. I admire the bands with this ability. We are slow; it took some time to accept that. That's why there is so much time between albums. But I'm happy to say that we are pretty far with the working process of our third album. We wrote some great new stuff. Some of it we will play at our future gigs. To give proof that we are industrious, we released one of our new demos, called 'Reaping Day,' on the new Goth Is What You Make It compilation recently.

Do you have any other plans you can tell us about?

Iahn: Our plan is to finish our third album, and then we want to hit the road again. Oh yes, and our secret wish is to come back to America. There must be some corners we forgot to say hello to on our last tour.