written by Marko Jakob
translated by Judith Reumont
Pix666: Hello Chai, hello Dorian. An extraordinary year is just behind us. How are you, are you healthy?
Dorian: Thank you for asking. I’m doing well, considering the circumstances, and somehow I’ve managed to get through the pandemic without getting infected so far, and I’ve also survived all the other disasters that 2020 had to offer.
Chai: I agree. If you stick to the rules and just pay attention to your fellow human beings you know (and especially those who don’t know), you might be able to avoid infection. On the whole, I’m doing very well.
Pix666: What was the trigger for you to become musicians? When and how did it all start?
Dorian: For me, it all started when I was a child. I started playing piano when I was five, but my most vivid musical memories from that time are film scores. Star Wars, Rocky, Indiana Jones, Beverly Hills Cop or Highlander… These all had a huge impact on me and I think that subconsciously the idea was already germinating that I would like to do this professionally one day. Luckily, I had an amazing piano teacher for almost 20 years who went along with my musical wishes.
Chai: I listened to a lot of skate punk when I was at school. I loved the energy of the bands and the great melodies. Then it was clear I wanted to play guitar and I wanted to record, but it wasn’t as easy back then as it is today. In the end, it was no longer a guitar lesson at school, but a “recording lesson.” Music has influenced me all my life, because it opens up the possibility of building worlds in which you can lose yourself, or which simply “reflect” an attitude to life. I think for me it’s simply about the creative output. I couldn’t do a job without it.
Pix666: I saw you live many, many years ago at M’era Luna, WaveGotikTreffen, Blackfield Festival and Woodstage Open Air. What memories do you have of that time?
Dorian: Looking back, it’s a time that seems incredibly surreal. When I see pictures from that time today, I think “Who are those guys?” That was an incredibly beautiful and exciting time for us… The first record deal, festivals with Nightwish, Prodigy, Tool or Type O Negative, the first tours… You never forget all that and you finally get the reward for what you worked your ass off for in the rehearsal room or studio for years. In retrospect, though, I would have liked someone to take me aside and say, “Hey, this is all fleeting, enjoy it while it’s here, but don’t get used to it.”
Chai: That’s exactly the problem. People tend to always imagine and plan for the future, even for small things. You are never really “aware”. And that’s the one thing I regret a little bit. I see videos where we’re playing in an arena and people are singing along and we’re all obviously having a great time together, but at that moment I wasn’t 100% there because it was also a really stressful time and full of insecurities. You become more routine and forget to live in that one moment. As Dorian says, there was no one who spoke a word of warning in this direction. There were many more warnings about “building up unnecessary pressure”, which is rather counterproductive.
Pix666: Your old hits like ‘Assasinate Me’, ‘Direct Injection’ or ‘Stay With Me’ are still playing on my car radio from time to time – so you never really disappeared from my mind and ears. You also had Beloved Enemy (Chai) and Ftanng! (Dorian). What have you experienced with these bands in the last few years? Are there any new songs/albums? What other projects were or are you involved in?
Dorian: First of all, I think it’s absolutely incredible that our old songs are still being played by people. Our debut album is almost 14 years old now and I still find people from all over the world on Instagram or Twitter who have been listening to us since then or are just discovering us. I’m incredibly grateful for that. With FTANNG! we released our first album last year.
Actually, we were looking for a label and had a few talks as well, but when the pandemic crippled the world, we decided to release the album ourselves via Bandcamp to give some entertainment to the people who might be sitting at home in lockdown and who might not be coping with or suffering from loneliness quite as well. For the same reasons, we followed it up with the remix EP in autumn, on which Chai, among others, contributed a Jesus on Extasy remix. The first sign of life from JOE in a long time.
In addition, I’m still on the road as a synthwave duo with my FT! partner Peter Vignold under the name L.A. Streethawk. The first album is in the starting blocks and we would have supported KMFDM on the European tour in 2020, but unfortunately that didn’t happen. Apart from that, I’m still busy with various film music projects at the moment, which is my main job by now.
Chai: The songs from back then have left their mark, and I’m happy every time I hear them playing somewhere. Maybe we managed to write a kind of “classic” with one or the other song, in which case I would have to feel old, which I definitely do not! I’m incredibly proud of us, we formed this band because we wanted to prove to ourselves that you can achieve a lot with enough energy. And we fulfilled a dream with it.
In 2019, with “Beloved Enemy”, we had decided to make music again. All the reasons that led to our “shutdown” in 2012 were no longer there. We missed it all very much and our first gig was to be at Castle Rock in 2020, followed by a tour and a new album. You know the rest of the story.
We then decided to produce a small acoustic set as a video and release an EP to go with it. It will be released in January 2021. In the summer there will be the actual album. And hopefully the tour at some point. In 2018 I wrote the music for a musical show that premiered in 2019, with a 60-piece orchestra and everything. A great experience. But in this area, too, nothing more is possible at the moment.
Pix666: Your hints on Facebook and Instagram suggest that Jesus On Extasy will make a comeback. What is the current status, how far are you with new songs and plans … and above all, how did the decision come about to start again as Jesus On Extasy?
Dorian: It’s all still very much in the early stages. At the moment we are writing songs, each of us in our own studio, and sending demos back and forth.
The decision was made a while before we made it public. It’s no secret that we didn’t have any contact for a while and actually a reunion was never in the cards. But for a few years now we’ve been meeting regularly again, when Chai is in Essen or I’m in Hamburg – we’re good friends again. And whenever we met, after the third beer someone would say as a joke “Come on, let’s get the band back on the road.” It was a joke until we both realised that we were really up for it. Then in March 2020, the last time we met under “normal conditions”, we decided to really go for it.
We didn’t know if anyone would still be interested or even know us, but we wanted to finally make a JoE album that we were completely satisfied with. That was usually not the case with the three albums I was involved in, because there were always some external factors that interfered with the production. That won’t happen this time.
Chai: I can confirm that. We went through a lot back then, all of us, and a break was necessary, it was a kind of rehab from the business. I never thought back then that we would take it seriously again, but it feels right and necessary. We have all the freedom, we can do what we want, and we want to step on the gas, try new things, but most of all it has to be “on the nail”. There’s a lot of energy to go out.
Pix666: Have the other band members already been confirmed or are you just preparing everything calmly for the time being, since you can’t perform live at the moment anyway?
Dorian: So far it’s just Chai and me, just like we started in 2005. As far as live performances are concerned, I don’t think we can expect them before 2022 anyway. But this way we have a lot of time to plan and get something going.
Chai: We’re not going crazy about it. We concentrate on the essentials, writing music. The rest will come anyway, especially since we’ve gained a lot of experience in this area in the last few years, so we can go about it more effectively. 2022 will hopefully be very loud.
Pix666: The music and media landscape has changed a lot in the last two decades. How important is it for you to keep in touch with your fans via social media? How important are video clips for you and will we perhaps see a new Jesus On Extasy clip in 2021?
Dorian: For me, contact with the fans on social media is very important. “Fans” doesn’t really fit anymore, because we’ve all known each other for such a long time now and they’ve somehow become part of the JOE family. I regularly do live streams on Twitch or Insta, where I show new music, answer questions or just chat a bit with people. I also try to answer my messages as best I can, but unfortunately there are only 24 hours in a day. That’s why it can take a few days before I reply.
Apart from that, social media is also something like a business card for bands today. Labels look at how many followers you have on Spotify, Insta or Facebook and are no longer so focused on artist development. Rather, you have to build your fanbase beforehand and bring it with you. And yes, I think there will be at least one new clip.
Chai: In the years without active bands, I kept the ball pretty low in terms of social media. That was a bit much at that time. We had always put a lot of emphasis on doing everything about SM personally. But everything has its limits and unlike other bands who hire agencies to “pretend” that the band is in charge of the channels, we had to pull the ripcord at some point. Personal proximity to the fans was and is very important to us. Since, as Dorian says, this world has changed completely and the focus has shifted, it is possible again to maintain direct digital contact without not being able to do anything else.
Of course, you have to draw boundaries and think about which platform needs a JOE account, but I think we’ve solved that quite well. If you want us in your life, you have a lot of choice.
Pix666: How do you experience the pandemic from a private point of view, but also from a musician’s point of view?
Dorian: I’m in the happy situation of being able to say that hardly anything has changed for me. But that’s also because even before Corona I led a pretty hermit-like life. I have my studio at home, so I don’t have to leave the house to work, and I have a lot of film music commissions at the moment. Meanwhile, I also have my groceries delivered via the Picnic app and really only go out for a jog. Although I have to say that a night out in a bar or club would be nice again. But I guess we’ll have to do without that for a while.
However, I am also aware that I am in an absolutely privileged situation because so many people in the creative and live industries are going through hell right now, and I hope that the government will soon recognise how immensely important the cultural sector is for the economy and that there will be improvements in terms of emergency aid or subsidies. After all, we are talking about a sector that has an annual turnover of 250 billion euros, more than the automobile or telecommunications industries. Not to mention the fact that they like to adorn themselves with various cultural programmes and present themselves as patrons of the arts when it suits their own publicity. The fact that this very industry is now being treated in the way it is being treated, borders on contempt and can hardly be surpassed in terms of cynicism.
Chai: I’m lucky in that I’ve been working almost exclusively in live entertainment for the last few years, and this industry is being trampled on right now, but I still have work. I am an exception. Many of my colleagues, perfectionists in their field, are already retraining. Culture is not a leisure activity but a pillar of peaceful coexistence on this planet. Whether it’s “La Traviata” at the State Opera, a “Kangaroo” reading or a concert by “Helene Fischer”, these are not hobbies, they are elementary components of our social structure.
It’s just that you’re not taught that way. That’s why the planes are full first, the theatres are empty and the airlines are subsidised, while the indie club around the corner closes down and the actor suddenly has to apply for social welfare. I’m not talking about “open the halls again”, no, Corona is here now and it’s a serious problem, but Corona also shows the true priorities of a capitalist system. But those who are now shouting the loudest are unfortunately also those who normally do a job they don’t like in order to buy things they don’t need and unfortunately these will also be the ones who are first back on the plane. We talk about vaccinations, medicines, but nobody talks about the cause and it is demonstrably obvious. As long as we leave nature alone, at least in some places, Corona will only be the beginning, a small yellow warning light before the red one comes on at some point.
Pix666: What else do you do besides music? Do you have any interesting hobbies?
Dorian: I’m totally boring when it comes to hobbies. My biggest hobby is my profession and when I’m not working on something, I make music for myself. Apart from that I like to play tennis – and believe me, I know that sounds snobby as fuck – or keep fit with Thai boxing. At the moment only in the basement gym, but luckily I have a punching bag. Oh, and cooking is great fun. I love trying out new recipes.
Chai: I’m a little jealous of that, by the way. I would love to have a punching bag, but I don’t have a location for it. I’m not the tennis snob like my colleague here, but I try to keep fit through outdoor gyms and karate. I love my job, all my “hobbies” are somehow related to it. Therefore, yes, I am mega-boring. Cooking, yes I as a token vegan love to cook of course.
Pix666: Do you have any more up-to-date information for your fans about Jesus On Extasy and your other projects?
Dorian: Well, I have said everything. Thank you very much for your time and stay healthy!
Chai: All said, there are always updates on our channels anyway. So stay tuned! And above all, stay healthy so that we can rock together again sometime.
Pix666: That should be it for now. Thank you for your time and for the interesting answers. Hopefully we’ll see each other again soon at a concert. Stay healthy and good luck!
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photos © by Merlin Morzeck
