Interview with Arno Menses – frontman in SIEGES EVEN & drummer in BONEBAG

By Rita Bayer

I spent the last weekend in Holland conducting interviews with Arjen ‘Ayreon’ Lucassen (has to be continued because of its complexity. It contains about 100 questions, stay tuned!) and Arno Menses (SIEGES EVEN / BONEBAG). Our contact turned into friendship so I had the pleasure to stay over night at Arno's home enjoying Arno’s and his wife’s hospitality. We spoke about SIEGES EVEN’s forthcoming album ‘Paramount’ and the upcoming recordings as well as about his brainchild BONEBAG (formerly TURD) who just signed a record deal. Andrea, Arno’s wife, was present while we talked so I took my chance to get her involved in our conversation as well.

Rita: How are you and what keeps you and the other guys (Markus Steffen, Alex & Oli Hozwarth) busy these days?

Arno Menses: I’m doing fine. I’m very busy at the moment at work and of course with the final stages of preparing the ‘Paramount’ album, as are the other guys. Basically things are going well.

Rita: SIEGES EVEN recently finished the songwriting process of their forthcoming album. Have a look, is this the final track list?

Paramount, Duende, Leftovers, Tidal, A wallflower on The Day of Saint Juliana, The Valparadiso Dreaming, Where our Shadows Sleep and These Rooms Have No Memories

Arno: No, there’re going to be more. First of all, the title ‘These Rooms Have No Memories’ is called ‘Your Sparkling Wit’ now. Then there’s ‘Bridge to the Divine’ and ‘Vista Panoramica’ and maybe another one.

Rita: Why did you decide to include 2 old but re-arranged tracks from the past and in what way are they going to be different besides the fact that they are going to be sung by you now?

Arno: I think they were already on the list when we did ‘Navigating’ (The Art of Navigating By The Stars) but we came up with different material back then so we decided to take only ‘Condors’ from that list. ‘Where our Shadows Sleep’ was also on the list but we postponed it and decided to do it now on this album. The same goes for ‘The Valparadiso Dreaming’. It was also always one of our favourites but we never came round to record it for our last album so we said ‘let’s try it now’, so we adapted both songs to the style and feeling of the ‘Paramount’ album. We will play them different from how we have played them before in the original version. Making them more suitable for 2007 so to speak. They’re both killer songs so they should be on an album. They’ve never been officially released, you know, so basicly they are new songs.

Rita: Don’t you fear critics like ‘SE has been uninspired’ SE has not been working seriously enough on its career - on its break through album’ especially seen in the light of Oli and Alex might be focussing more on their work with RHAPSODY OF FIRE and BLIND GUARDIAN than on SE?

Arno: I don’t think so. Of course, - we talked about this already [I was already chatting with Arno in the morning while he was playing stuff from the Paramount to me]- it’s very hard to live up to the critics expectations after an album like TAONBTS, because it was so well received, but on the other hand I think ‘Paramount’ is a much more diverse album than TAONBTS is/ was. There’s more for everyone in this album. SE is somehow more experimental on this album.
Concerning the careers of Alex and Oli in RHAPSODY OF FIRE / BLIND GUARDIAN. They see it as a job, they have to earn money for their living like everyone. That’s the way they consider it. I do have an office job. We all have to eat, you know.

Rita: You’ve been a fan of SE since their early days – familiar with all former releases – so how do you feel that ‘Paramount’ fits within the mold of the growing saga of SE?

Arno: I think it fits perfectly in this line because SE is always about like ‘ok, let’s try it this way now’ as I said before there’re elements of ‘Navigating’ because we wanna stay true to melody, harmony and melancholy. I think it’s good to have those elements in your music all the time. I love melody – I’d choose it above being too much progressive. I think the basic essence of SE is that they try to look for a different form on each album. So far I think we have succeeded. Elements of Navigating are coming back, that’s true but there’s a different approach on the new album as we’ve looked to with TAONBTS.

Rita: But you see it similar to me – since you’ve joined the band a new chapter of SE has begun, right?

Arno: Yes. There's 4 songwriters now. In the past there were only 3. Also for the guys who have been in the band the whole time – there’s a different approach now because there’s the new guy now who is giving a different twist to the songs.

Rita: In what way changed the input of each band member referring to the song writing process. I know Oli is going to add lyrics on ‘Paramount’ as well. What lyrics are from Oli and how do you rate his talent as a lyricist?

Arno: oh, he’s very good in writing lyrics. He did lyrics in the past also. I know he’s written lyrics for the ‘Lifecycle’ and ‘Steps’ albums. So he was always an active lyric writer and he’s picked it up again. It’s a good thing because both people [Markus, Oli] have different stories to tell. So I see it as a positive thing.

Rita: Well, why didn’t he add lyrics to TAONBTS then too?

Arno: don’t know. I think Markus was full of inspiration and of course TAONBTS was a concept album so to speak. We all felt that Markus was on the role, doing great work, so why stop him?

Rita: And why don’t you come up with lyrics?

Arno: laughing – well my lyrics always are about ‘fast women and hot cars’ so they don’t fit in the concept of SE.

Rita: and what about Alex?

Arno: Alex is also participating in this album referring to the lyric writing.

Rita: What song did Oli write?

Arno: One song he wrote doesn’t have a title yet and he did the lyrics for ‘Bridge to the divine’.

Rita: You’ll hit the studio in May. Where are you going to record this time and who is going to be the producer?

Arno: The producer is called – the nickname is: Kohle.The studio is ‘Kohlekeller’. It’s in Seeheim. He’s quite a fresh producer/ engineer. He produced the latetst cd by CREMATORY. Mike Möller (management) suggested him to us like "he’s fresh, he’s got new ideas". So we said: ok, we’ll try it."

Rita: Why did you decide to work in a different studio with a new producer? Does this mean you were not completely satisfied with your former studio/ producer?

Arno: No! Uwe has a brilliant job, it's not a metter of not wanting to work with him. But you always have to look for a different approach, not only musically, also technically.

Rita: You think so? Many bands are happy when they found a producer who could see the whole picture same way as the band itself, you know what I mean?

Arno: well, yes, but I think with a new person aboard you get a new way of thinking also and your album won’t sound the same like the album before because along with music written and performed very well, the production is like 50 % of your album. The production can make or break the album.

Rita: Speaking about the tour. First tour dates have been announced, what countries will probably be added? Russia and Greece, I guess, what else?

Arno: I heard their might be a date in Kopenhagen that’s new area for us again. That’s basically what I know. Mike is working currently his ass off to get interesting places for us.

Rita: Speaking about TURD, your brainchild here in Holland: I heard you’re going to sign a record deal shortly and you’ll hit the studio with TURD in March. Congratulations. How do the SE guys feel about it?

Arno: They’re supportive. I think they’re happy for me.

Rita: Where are you going to record your debut album?

Arno: The album is going to be recorded next to TURD’s studio, like 100 yards away from it. Some bigger Dutch bands also work there. We can get a good price because we know them. So it’s a combination of a couple of elements why we chose this one – close to our home. We don’t have to travel to the other side of Holland, it’s not necessary. We had a conversation with the engineer of this studio and we felt very comfortable with him.

Rita: For all those who haven’t heard about TURD yet. Could you please describe the music first and then tell us a bit more about the upcoming album.

Arno: Musically it’s a little bit of everything. We all listen to completely different stuff. For instance one guy is completely into MUSE, the other guy is completely into Jazz, one more into SLAYER , me with my prog/AOR back-ground. We’re not gonna bring a new style into this world. It’s just - we love to play music and we like to do something with it. That’s all what TURD is about. I can’t tell you we sound like this – we sound like that. We have our influences, of course – we’re nothing new and we’re not a copy of. That’s basically TURD.
The album title, I don’t know yet. I guess it will be ‘Noli Me Tangere’ that means ‘Don’t touch me’.

Rita: why did you choose this title/ this language?

Arno: I don’t know. We picked it for a song title. It’s catchy, I think.

Rita: We should mention that you’ve a different role within TURD. You’re the drummer. Are all guys involved in the songwriting process?

Arno: Yes. We come to the studio – Mike the guitar player or Martijn the bass player says: ‘man, listen to this or that riff i came up with, and out of this riff a song evolves. That’s the way it goes. Most of the time 90 % of a song will be done after one night of practicing. No endless debating – it happens during playing/ practicing.

Rita: Another difference is that you don’t have only one singer in TURD as it is in SE.

Arno: Well, there’s 1 lead singer and 3 guys doing the backing vocals including him.

Rita: You’re singing as well, yes, backings.

Arno: Yeah, but I don’t want to sing the leads because Ronald has a much cooler voice than I have. And he’s really the man for being the frontman. He has a great voice, he has a great presence on stage. TURD is fresh…..[Arno is looking at his wife saying: ‘describe TURD’] Energetic….

Andrea: happy music with balls.

Arno: happy music with balls – yeah, maybe this is a good description.

Andrea: Rock ‘N’ Roll - but not taking all that seriously.

Arno: Yes, that’s the whole essence of TURD. Not taking yourself too seriously.

Andrea: 4 guys really having fun when making music.

Arno: We want to play really tight music, recording a good album but of course there’s million of bands out there - why should we be THE BAND. We’re serious about the music but we also want to entertain people.

Rita: You already told me that TURD’s album is scheduled for release parallel to SE’s Paramount album. Do you plan to tour with TURD as well to promote your album? If so- it s going to be quite stressful…you’ve a full-time job, TURD, SE - on what project do you focus?

Arno: 50 : 50, really. I mean I’m for 100% into TURD and I’m for 100% in SE. I don’t think there’s a conflict. It’s all a matter of discussing things. So for instance when Alex and Oli are going on tour with RHAPSODY OF FIRE / BLIND GUARDIAN. We say: "ok, we can do other dates with SIEGES". That will go for TURD as well.

Rita: Well, but it’s going to be harder and harder for you all to arrange dates…

Arno: Sure, that’s true. Well, maybe no-one is going to buy TURD’s album and we won’t have to tour then. [both laughing]

Rita: Finally, if I have a look at your schedule – TURD’s upcoming recordings, SE the same, touring, your full time job…How do you manage to get all under one roof and how feels your wife about all?

Arno: [Arno and his wife laughing] Sure, it’s stressful. With SE you’ve a deadline. With TURD we’ve the time – it’s our first album so every song is fixed already. Only a couple of things have to be polished a bit but with SIEGES it’s all new material and has to be finished for 99% when you go into the studio. Some things aren’t finished yet so you’re living up to the deadline – probably by the end of May I’ve to be in the studio. But I think, pressure is also a good thing.

Rita: You can take days off at work whenever you want?

Arno: Most times yes. Until now, there’s no problem to get days off.

Rita: [me looking at Andrea saying: “now it’s your turn” – Arno laughing]

Andrea: it’s his dream, you know. We don’t have children, I don’t know about the future – but at this point it’s ok. It’s his passion, his fun – I’m ok with it. I like to see him enjoying himself, I like to see him making his dream come true. If there’s a problem we discuss it and we always find a way out of it. Until now it wasn’t any problem.

Rita: How many SE shows have you seen during the last tour?

Andrea: Most shows have been during the working days and I’ve a full time job. I don’t have many holidays so I’ve seen only 1show in Holland. You know, I’m from a different country, I’ve a family in the Czech Republic and for me it’s very important to see my family as often as possible. So 90 % of my holidays I spend with my family. Arno and I don’t split our ways - The time we spend together we enjoy it for 100%. It’s a difference if your partner is touring all over the year probably making millions out off the business. Then of course I’d follow him, haha.

Andrea, Arno & me

Arno: btw: you’re rather on a TURD concert than on a SE concert.

Andrea: Yeah. Personally I admire the music SE is making. I really feel that they’re very talented musicians but the music is not doing it for me. I don’t have the connection with it. What he’s making with TURD is closer to me – I’m from a younger (grunge) generation - progressive rock is too complicated to follow . I like easy listening music and music that really grasps you. I think, SE is more – sit down and listen to music-.You know what I mean?

Rita: Sure!

Andrea: I like to listen to SE at home but at a concert I prefer seeing TURD. It’s more a Rock ‘N’ Roll feeling, a big tornado. That’s my personal opinion.

Pease visit:
www.siegeseven.com
www.myspace.com/siegesevenofficial
Arno’s MySpace page
TURD’s MySpace page
Ytsejam article about Arno Menses / TURD


Note: Copyright 2007: Rita Bayer for Ytsejam.com

Since late spring 2007 TURD changed their name into BONEBAG