Rockezine.com interview with Stillste Stund on Apr 10, 2002

with Oliver Uckermann on Apr 10, 2002

For the first time this year a CD I had to review received the full score. If you hear the music of STILLSTE STUND you will know why. “Ursprung Paradoxon” is a combination of theatre and musical; mixed with classical and industrial/electronic influences. Therefore it’s time to let the mastermind (Oliver Uckermann) behind it all speak out freely…
		Can you tell us more about the history of STILLSTE STUND? I believe ‘Ursprung Paradoxon’ is your second CD? Yes, that’s right. Our first album “Ein Mensch, ein Ding, ein Traum” (A Human, A Thing, A Dream) was released in May 2000 when we became “Newcomer of the month” in one of the biggest German Goth magazines, Orkus.
		Stillste Stund is the result of my personal musical development within the last 13 years. I’ve started out making punk and darkwave, using English lyrics, went on with analyzing classical German romantic works and then finally have put what I considered to be useful into the Stillste Stund-project.
		In all these years I have worked within several bands and projects and found out that it was always just a compromise between all persons involved. Consequently, I have left all band structures and have formed Stillste Stund in 1998. Later on Birgit and Ina joined to round off most compositions with their voices. In 1999 we got signed to our label Alice In...
		Where does the title ‘Ursprung Paradoxon’ come from? While the title of the first album was chosen to show that all things are connected to each other, whether it is us (mankind), our dreams or anything in our environment, this next title’s meaning is more like “our origin is a paradox”. Thinking of where we have come from in astronomical & philosophical dimensions is always leading us to measurements we cannot grasp any more.
		It’s far beyond our abilities to figure out the beginning and the meaning of our existence. Our paradoxical existence is one of the big topics that you can find in many of our songs on these first two albums.
		Your lyrics are partly inspired by legends and books. Can you tell us more about your inspirations and influences? Inspirations for philosophical lyrics I get of what I can see when I close my eyes. But I’m also influenced by the thoughts of people like Friedrich Nietzsche, Joseph von Eichendorff, Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Hermann Hesse.
		Some lyrics have been inspired by legends or German fairytales. I like that stuff. I like using these dark metaphors that you can find in such tales. Inspirations for social-critical topics I get of what I can see opening my eyes towards a sick and hasty world with its loss of what really counts.
		How would you describe your own music; because you seem to use some musical, classical, industrial and theatre influences as well? Yes, true. Such elements are fundamental for the music of Stillste Stund. I like using a very lyrical and pathetic form of the German language to stress the contents and I find it very important to “play” these lyrics; not simply to sing them. The words get a very elevating effect by this expressive way of interpretation. Other basic influences are the music of the early 80s and the classical works of the 19th century.
		Is your album released worldwide? Or is it only available in Germany? If so, how can people order your CD? The album is exported to many states in the world. We get resonance from people in whole Europe and even from South-America. It’s a wonderful thing to find that so many people around the globe are feeling close to what we do...
		I guess, the best (and at least in Germany the cheapest) way to order this album is to get in touch with Wonderland Mail-order, which is part of Dark Dimensions and our label Alice In... The people there are very kind and would respond to all questions for prices/shipping, or where else to get the CDs, in all countries. The link is http://www.DarkDimensions.de or the direct email: vom.engel@t-online.de But you can also get there from our own homepage http://www.StillsteStund.de (by the way, you can get some mp3-samples there under the menu “Schallschock”...)
		It seems that the German language is made for melancholic, dramatic music. Do you have any idea why? Hmm... I often wonder which effect our music and the way we perform the lyrics would have on people who cannot understand the German language. It must sound pretty strange... I don’t know where this effect comes from. I guess the German language has very hard phonetics. It is no such nice sounding language like French, perhaps.
		But I hate the modern German language. The language I use, especially some terms and rhyme schemes, are more like the German language of the Romantic Age in the end of the 19th century. I love that time with most of its thoughts and ideals. Most of my favorite writers, philosophers & musicians come out of this time. And I like the fashion of that age as well.
		Today there seems to be nothing left of that. It must have drowned in Anglo-American influences, I’m afraid... But this seems to be a Europe-wide problem. In my opinion the people are too much orientated towards the American way of life.
		How do you perform live? Is it only music, or do you use theatre or movie influences as well? At this moment no live performances are planned. We’re already working on further songs and need to let out these ideas first. You can compare this to a valve, which has to be left open; otherwise something inside would build up too high in pressure and maybe explode ...
		On stage it would be very important for me to translate the emotions of the songs and the lyrics to the audience in a right way. That’s why the preparations for this would take too much energy and time at this moment. It would have to be more like a theatrical performance than just standing there playing the songs one after another, you know.
		What are the future plans of STILLSTE STUND? Tour? New material? Other plans? Right now we are working on our 3rd album. It will be the first one with a thread build through all titles. A real concept-album with a fairytale-like story. The music will be much more classical than before.
		What are your musical influences? Which bands, acts and orchestras do you listen to? First of all we all like the music of the early dark 80s most, e.g. Joy Division, The Cure, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Clan of Xymox, Einstuerzende Neubauten, Tuxedomoon and so on. I think you can find some of the spirit of those days in the music of Stillste Stund, even though it’s realized in another way. But I also like many classical works, especially by Richard Wagner and Dimitri Schostakovich. And again it’s stuff coming out of the late 19th century...
		Something you always wanted to say, but never was asked… Nothing special - maybe just this: close your eyes to see!
(Beautevil )