Gothic Industrial band Metallspürhunde from Zurich, Switzerland have been producing dark and thought provoking music for the last ten years. Their latest album, "Böse Wetter" shows the group's maturity and evolution after 10 years in the German music scene. Keyboardist and back up vocalist Marion Altwegg sat down and discussed the band's new album, past, future and much more in this interview. -Radio Nietzsche 4/09

Why don't you tell us a bit about Metallspürhunde? How did the band begin?

Marion: It was a little more than 10 years ago that Michel, together with two co-workers at the time, founded the band. It was, in the beginning, purely a hobby project, little by little the three building themselves a small studio in their basement. In 1999, the demo first appeared. The founding members left the band in the following years then in came Patrick, Marion and, later, Thomas.

Radio Nietzsche: Had you ever been in a band before Metallspürhunde? What was your musical background, if any?

Marion: I grew up in a fairly musical household, we all played an instrument! I played the flute for a long time in a youth orchestra, I also had piano hours. As a teenager, I experimented with the guitar for the first time and somehow I bought a bass guitar. With that I definately wanted to start a band! Together with my girl friend, who played guitar and sang, we recorded songs in our bathroom... we were very bad but it was so much fun! ;-) After that I always wanted to start a band again with various people but they were never the right people. One could say that Metallspürhunde was my first "proper" band.

Radio Nietzsche: Please describe to us the members of Metallspürhunde and the role that each of you plays in the band.

Marion: Michel is our Amok- frontman and singer. He also composes almost all the songs. Patrick also composes songs, in part, but, above all, is our guitarist. Thomas also writes songs and plays the keyboards live. His most important role, however, is that of producer: he works on the songs in his studio and extracts the maximum from them. And finally me, Marion: I write the lyrics and also play live keyboards (plus a little singing).

Radio Nietzsche: The lyrics of Metallspürhunde are in German, your native language. It is very popular for German bands to write in English, even if they are not so good at it! What was the reason for you to stick to German, and have you ever considered writing in English?

Marion: Actually we did one or two songs in English, but it just doesn't feel right...We're not good at it at all, and our singer Michel doesn't speak any English. So why force it? We prefer doing what we can best! For us, our lyrics are as much important as our music, so we don't want them to be full of mistakes. In German we're able to express exactly what we want, with no compromises.

Radio Nietzsche: Was Metallspürhunde influenced by any bands at all, and if not, where do you get your inspiration for the music from?

Marion: Michel always says that Die Krupps is the reason that he began to make music... I believe one could call that an influence, yes? ;-) In the beginning we were a typical Electro-Metal band like KMFDM or the earlier Oomph!, both of whom had an influence. At some time we found our own style and today it happens ever more frequently that we also let influences from other scenes into our songs. We simply make exactly the music that we, ourselves, would like to hear!

Radio Nietzsche: What about style? How would you classify the band in terms of 'genre'? When I think of Metallspürhunde I think "Gothic Industrial", but I would be interested to know how you see yourself.

Marion: We still find it difficult to classify ourselves...in my opinion "(Gothic) Electro Rock" matches it quite well. Electro metal or gothic industrial or whatever...it's all fine, just pick one yourselves! :-)

Radio Nietzsche: Metallspürhunde is now 10 years old, congratulations! How do you feel the band has developed in those 10 years, and how have you changed since then?

Marion: Thank you very much! I believe the band has changed dramatically: We are more ambitious than earlier and we have much more self-confidence. Most important were the changes in the line-up that brought us forward. The current line-up has existed for 5 years and, in this time, we, as a band, have grown enormously and blended together into a united whole. In this time we also found ourselves a record label and played important concerts. Therefore some significant things happened!

Radio Nietzsche: The music of Metallspürhunde is very dark, gothic, and often depressing! Is this done on purpouse to get a certain point or message across or is it just a natural product of your music and lyrics?

Marion: It should definately not be depressing but you are right, most is certainly dark. In MSH we channel many ideas that deal with frustration, rage and aggression. That is, so to say, our receptacle for all these themes. If we would write positive songs, we would put these in a different receptacle, a different musical project. But as we write songs for MSH, the atmosphere that you describe appears somehow automatically... it arises quite naturally!

Radio Nietzsche: You recently put out the new album "Böse Wetter". Can you explain to us the concept behind the album, and the title track?

Marion: "Böse Wetter" is a concept from the language of miners: If the air in the mine is contaminated with a poisonous substance it is called "böse Wetter". Then there is the dangerous threat of suffocation. We found that this concept was a perfect metaphor for the theme of the title track: It deals with the underground (the soul), difficult situations, the struggle to survive and fear. We then noticed that on the entire album a similar atmosphere prevailed and that "Böse Wetter" also was a very fitting title for the album.

Radio Nietzsche: The lead up single, "Die Letzte Grosse Fahrt" was a very interesting song. Was it influenced by anything in particular?

Marion: We wanted to do a mariner song because the travel on a ship is the perfect symbol for the way of life: The text fits quite well with the current economic crisis. It portrays the crew on the ship as some type of zombies who don't know that, for a long time, they've had no more perspective. They travel further and further and believe they will have a rewarding goal. They don't know that they are long dead and that this will be their last trip. The song is not reproachful but rather sad. While writing the lyrics, I often thought about the undead on the ghost ship in the film "Pirates of the Caribbean", they also made me very sad ;-)

Radio Nietzsche: You worked with Dementi (one of my favourite hard rocks bands) for the "Die Letzte Grosse Fahrt" single. How was it working with Nico, and from where do you know each other?

Marion: Some years ago we played on the same festival and got to know each other. We somehow stayed in contact, and two years ago Nico also organized a concert in his hometown with us and Dementi. It was then when we decided to make something together, sometimes. We had the idea of a duet between Michel and Nico, because their voices match so well (and Nico has a very cool voice). Then our single came, and we asked Nico if he wanted to do a remix and maybe sing along somehow. We didn't hear anything for quite a while, and then he sent us his remix: With his voice and also with additional own lyrics! That was a great surprise and we really are amazed of the result.

Radio Nietzsche: Dementi are working on a new album as well (their first in 4 years), will we see perhaps a guest spot from MSH on one of the tracks?

Marion: I guess not, but that’s our fault: Nico asked us for a remix, but we were just too busy at that time, because we were late with our own album. So sorry!

Radio Nietzsche: Speaking of Germany, you are doing many festivals this spring and summer. How hard is it being on the road for such long periods of time, and does touring wear you down or do you look forward to it?

Marion: We actually have some shows this spring but most of the dates don't hang together. We are never on the road longer than 4 days, mostly even just on weekends. So far we have always enjoyed being on the road but it is also quite exhausting! You usually don't have enough sleep and are on the motorway for hours which is fairly tiring. And then, at night, is still the show and then one drinks too much... if you know what I mean :-)

Radio Nietzsche: Many musicians these days have jobs outside of the band. Are you a full time musician or do you have a 'second life' outside of music? Is it the same for the other members of Metallspürhunde?

Marion: Yes, we all still have a job. We earn hardly anything with the band as our expenses are so great and respectively our income much too low. We all still have a "normal" professional life which makes things, at times, somewhat tiring!

Radio Nietzsche: And how does touring, recording sessions, practices and such work into your daily life? Is it hard living a double life, so to speak?

Marion: Yes, it's not easy. You must always find a date that fits for everyone, have to take vacation from work. And whenever you come home from an exhausting concert weekend, it's somewhat frustrating to go back to work the next morning! Preferably, we would put all our energy in the band but, for that, we lack the time and the money. But we always try to make the best of the situation and I believe we've succeeded pretty well.

Radio Nietzsche: I don't see any dates for shows in Switzerland on your website. What is the music scene like there, and is Metallspürhunde well recognized and accepted in your home country?

Marion: We had some shows in the last months, but you cannot play too often here because our country is rather small! ;-) But we have a well organized scene with a lot of parties and concerts especially here in Zurich. We have a good reputation, yes! There are also some other interesting Swiss bands you might have heard of (and which had success in foreign countries), like "The Beauty of Gemina", "Fanoe" or "Jesus & the gurus". In relation of the size of our country we really have a very creative scene!

Radio Nietzsche: What about North America? Do you have a fan base over here? And what about personal contact? Do you get many letters from fans overseas?

Marion: Everything began with Arndt Peltner of Radio Goethe: He was the first to have played us in the USA. Through that we reached alot of people and were surprised to find that there are so many fans of German language music over there. That is truly interesting and we are very pleased about it. There are a few true fans with whom we have been in contact with for years and it is everytime again a great pleasure when someone writes us!

Radio Nietzsche: For the first half 2009 we have already seen a new single, new album, and now a tour of France, Germany and Austria. What does the second half of 2009 have in store for you?

Marion: We are planning a small release, simply based on our mood, which hasn't yet a date. But we think it will be an EP given by us with new material and remix works on it. We are deliberating, at the moment, on what exactly we'll make but something will happen!

Radio Nietzsche: And finally, what would you like to say to your fans here In North America who are reading this?

Marion: We would very much like to meet you all sometime and appear live for you! We, however, don't know if that will be at some time possible. In any case, we thank you from our hearts for your support, we value your interest more than you think!

Radio Nietzsche: Thank you so much for you time, and rock on!

Marion: Thanks for this nice interview and keep up your good work!

More at:

• Official
• Metallspürhunde on MySpace