LH: As this interview was scheduled for the Leeds date on the Kamelot tour, I was rather disappointed to discover you had been forced to pull out only a couple of hours prior to the show and had subsequently cancelled the rest of the tour. Things must have been pretty bad for it have to come to that. I noticed you supported Rage last week so I guess Georg is on the mend!?

Mario: Hi Luci, this is Mario (keys); yes, Georg is luckily well again and the gig with RAGE was just great. Especially for me as I’ve been a huge fan of them for 15 years! Believe me, we were most disappointed ourselves when we decided to cancel the last two UK shows, nobody wanted to get home so soon. But health comes first and considering Georg’s condition back then it was the only choice we had. We’re very sorry, I just can’t say nothing else!

LH: You managed to play one or two dates in the UK before you took ill, and there was some positive response on your MySpace from fans who had only just discovered you through supporting Kamelot. How did you find the crowds here compared to in your own country?

Mario: I think it’s always different to playing “at home” when performing in foreign countries and especially playing for the first time in a special place. You must know that although there is a huge metal scene in Austria melodic metal is just a very small part of it. Most outfits belong to some extreme metal genre. So don’t expect mass hysteria when we play here! Of course the Austrians can be a passionate and heavily partying crowd, they’re not so reserved like the Germans for instance. And although we are somehow “exotic” in your country and therefore expected people to be interested in us and carefully watching the show we were just overwhelmed by the awesome reactions of the audience! Everywhere some fans were standing in the front row singing along to our songs, knowing every single word – how fantastic is that, we hardly ever experienced that back home!

LH: For those of us who missed out on seeing you this time, are there any plans on returning to our shores any time soon?

Mario: Well I can’t promise that this will happen soon, but we felt so good in England, Ireland and Scotland that we already are looking forward to cross the channel once again – and we surely will!

LH: I want to talk about your new album. It’s been out a few months already. Do you think your sound has progressed since your first album at all?

Mario: Definitely. Just listen to the huge symphonic sounds which are much more present and part of the song compared to WU&DU. The songs themselves are a little bit more, let’s say, focused. And we gave a lot of input on creating choruses with “hooks;” I think we managed that quite well! Another difference can be found in how the songs developed: the WU&DU tracks contain ideas from our demo days and the times of the old line up while “Fallen Sanctuary” was all written within a year by the current line up. Same old first album/second album story!

LH: I understand it was recorded at Dreamscape studios with Jan Vacik, who also did your last album, and I see he also helped with arrangements so I guess he took quite an active role in the whole process. Is he the kind of producer that tends to give a lot of input, rather than leaving it all to the band?

Mario: Jan is a great musician (like everyone in his family as we learned at his birthday party) and knows what a song needs to be a good song – and what it doesn’t need. That’s like “Do you think this part sounds cool? I think it doesn’t.” and he presents an alternative immediately! In that moment you may dislike his suggestion of course but so far every change turned out to be helpful and improved the songs. What concerns “Fallen Sanctuary”, Oliver Philipps’ work had at least the same impact on how the album sounds.

LH: Do you prefer being in the studio and writing music, or are you more into playing live?

Mario: It differs from one band member to the other. I personally like it much more being on the road and on stage, performing the songs live and see how they begin to “live” through the interaction with the audience. Studio work often is boring and frustrating but someone’s got to do it! I’m happy that Thomas, our guitarist, is so keen on recording stuff and thus does most of it. He even has begun to record orchestra demo tracks with a classical instruments software – with a remarkable outcome!

LH: You have quite a strong symphonic sound. Do you have any classical influences that have helped to shape your sound?

Mario: No one of us has a real classical background. It’s just because we all like impressive symphonic sounds, especially Georg and Thomas. I really dig the “Lingua Mortis/XIII”-phase of RAGE (I’m proud of having seen their very first gig with an orchestra), Thomas and Georg are NIGHTWISH-lunatics and according to that our lead singer worships QUEEN and likes listening to soundtrack stuff. Andy and Simon are also members in brass bands and know what it’s like to be part of an orchestra. Of course we have a great history with Mozart, Haydn, Strauss, … but I think we are just average metal heads!

LH: I know Thomas’ dad played in a band so he grew up around music. How did the rest of you get into playing music, and are there any influences outside of the expected progressive power metal bands?

Mario: Almost every musician in Austria starts with folk music, so did we. I started to play the accordion aged twelve. Georg began to sing folk songs together with his mom when he was four years old I think. The others have similar stories. Surely there are also other kinds of music that we like to listen to and which inspire us. I like ABBA since my childhood in the early eighties, my mum had a lot of tapes by them; at the moment I often listen to COHEED AND CAMBRIA. Some of us are real death metal addicts (including me) and Andy has got also jazz tunes and NORAH JONES on his iPod. Just so much good music out there, it would be really dumb and boring concentrating on only one genre.

LH: Are there any particular themes that you are lyrically inspired by?

Mario: Not really, in dealing with lyrics I try to be open minded the same way as with music. The inspirations range from books I read (mostly SF, but the good quality stuff) over movies and personal experiences and thoughts to ancient lore. Writing a lyric, I have two requirements: 1. is the theme interesting enough to write about it and 2. has no other metal band written about it before according to what I know. Then I sit down with pen and paper and listen to the basic vocal tracks where Georg sings the melodies using silly, just English sounding words. This is important for me to hear on which syllables the stress is so that finally my words fit perfectly into his melodies. Beyond that I hope the lyrics are also enjoyable for English native speakers …

LH: You have Sandra from Elis singing on Fairytales. How did you come to get her on the track?

Mario: Georg got to knew her because she had a good contact to a bus driver when we searched one before the KAMELOT-tour in 2007. Like us she is Tyrolean and her voice is both beautiful and unique, when Georg said he wanted a duet with a girl for “his” ballad, we asked her and she said yes immediately. She also contributed some own ideas in her performance, it was a nice collaboration!

LH: Originally you self-financed your debut album, which then gained you the attention of Napalm Records. Did you then have to re-record the album to be released officially or were they happy to put it out as it was?

Mario: Back then we would not dare to “go fishing” for a record deal without holding a finished product in our hands. So we recorded the album, had the mix done in Finnvox studios, did the photo shooting, had all the artwork done by Seth design. The only thing missing was a label. Out of a pool of three companies being interested we choose to sign to Napalm. We are satisfied with our decision so far!

LH: I understand you all live a fair distance from one another. How does this affect your rehearsals?

Mario: We just do rehearsals when it comes to prepare for a special gig or for touring and we meet also in the rehearsal room after the pre-recordings of new songs which mostly are done by Thomas. Then we can see how the songs function in the band context and do adjustments when needed. It’s easier this way; hey, we live in four different valleys!

LH: I was reading that you have a much stronger following over in Austria for the heavier bands who play black and death metal. Does this make it difficult for you finding places to play and to gain a decent following?

Mario: Like I said above, don’t expect mass hysteria for SERENITY in Austria. It’s not really difficult to get gigs but almost every time we’re the “softest” band on the billing. Also the two biggest metal open air festivals here, “Summer Nights” and “Kaltenbach”, are ruled by extreme metal bands. But we are glad to have a great venue in the town where we rehearse, the “VZ Komma”, where we have been given the chance to support METAL CHURCH, W.A.S.P., EVERGREY, DIO and RAGE so far. Not bad, isn’t it?

LH: Have you started work on a third album yet? When can we expect more from Serenity?

Mario: The release of the third album is set for Spring 2010 and there are already many ideas and song prototypes, 90 percent done by our guitarist. We got no lyrics yet but I’d say 50 percent of the musical basics at least are finished! Stay tuned …

LH: That’s all the questions I have for now. Hope to see you back in the UK soon and all the best. Feel free to leave our readers’ a parting message.

Mario: Thanks a lot, Luci! Hey metal heads and riot girls, we hope to get back there again, until then take care and keep it metal, visit our web page www.serenity-band.com and if you want to stay informed about your favourite Austrians besides Schwarzenegger and Falco, subscribe to our newsletter! See you, Mario & SERENITY

For more on the band check out http://www.serenity-band.com/
http://www.myspace.com/serenitybandtyrol

Interviewed by Luci Herbert

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