SEASURFER

[ Interview with Dirk Knight from Seasurfer by Diego Centurión. ]

SEASURFER: YOU HAVE TO TRY TO BREAK AWAY FROM WHAT OTHERS SAY YOU SHOULD DO.

There are certain bands that arouse a fascination when listening to a certain style of music, either because of its history or because of its compositional quality. Seasurfer belongs to the latter group of bands. In our networks we have been very attentive to what was happening within the band, new updates or new releases. And our first contact with the person behind this project, Dirk Knight, was two years ago when they released the EP “Vampires”. Today they bring us their third album "Zombies", which is not a common album but brings us a double album, something very rare for these times, the first album called "Zombies" with 16 songs and another album called "The Dreampop Days ( feat. Elena Alice Fossi)” with 8 more songs. A rarity for these times, but that clarifies the sound flow that Dirk has in his head and that manages to transform it into songs.

Link to previous interview: https://issuu.com/revistathe13th/docs/the13th_n_49

Hi Dirk!

Thank you for agreeing to conduct this interview. We close the year, this strange 2020, and that has left us so many reasons for reflection. Although the future is unknown, when we found out about the release of this new album, we wanted them to be present in this latest issue of 2020.

Tell us how you have gone through this 2020, a year of confinement and apparently very productive for you, in terms of music.

If we talk about strange situations in this particular year, everything would seem that it was activated musically for Seasurfer, nowadays it could be said that it is risky to edit a disc with 16 tracks, and if we add the second disc, I would say that it is even more risky. I enjoy the records from beginning to end, and with “Zombies” I have done it with pleasure. How do you see releasing a double album today, that is, a long album in current times where it is said that there is no time to listen to a complete album?

First of all, thank you very much for dealing so deeply with us, that too is rather rare these days. Even longer texts are definitely a risk today...

I worked on this album for more than two years and gathered lots and lots of ideas. Two years is a long time and a lot comes together. I paid less and less attention to what people are doing today and what others are doing, I also didn't listen to much other music during this time. It was like painting a big picture, with warping, overpainting and then finally putting everything together into a complete work. And for me it was really cool that very different musical approaches could be brought together into a big whole. Ultimately, you have to try to break away from what others are doing or what others say you should do. That also applies to the length of an album, haha. There are already far too many standardizations and synchronization today.

We can talk about two very different parts between one album and the other. In addition to the notorious difference between Apolonia and Elena Alice Fossi. The sound of each album is different. Tell us how the global idea of "Zombies" came about as two albums. Was the double disc plan born as an idea before or during the recording?

The songs with Elena Alice as the singer were done before the songs with my regular singer. A very good friend is a big Kirlian Camera fan and he kept asking me to do something with Elena. That worked out quickly. The final mixes for the Zombies album came after that, and they were ready in spring of this year. The inner life of the soul was completely different ... and then the music sounds different too.

Tell us about the recording of “Zombies”, have you recorded it yourself or have you had guests in the recording process?

For the first time I recorded and mixed everything by myself. And sometimes even sung, although I actually can't do that. Those were actually just demo ideas for the singer. That certainly made sure that I could sink into it much deeper. I have a small studio in an old brick building, right next to my house. With a bed in it. Sometimes I lived dot and just made music.

Although we have had previews of both albums in 2019 and in 2020. How was the work of recording both albums? Did you do it separately or did you do it at the same time?

Yes. You can almost say, the album with Elena is pre-Covid-19, it's called "the dreampop days". The Zombies album is the darker version and was finished in spring. A lot came together ... more reflection, more

Trump, a global pandemic ... and then of course the rather forgotten climate crisis. I have a 15 year old daughter and I regularly wonder what future we give her. Not easy to deal with ... you can probably hear the latent gloom in the songs.

End of the year, December, is a time of year when not many launches are usually made. I think a bit of this whole release, the duration, two albums, releasing in the month of December, I feel it as something provocative, like shaking that silly idea that there are times to release jobs. Have you thought of this as a way to transgress the established for decades?

Honestly, i haven't thought about it strategically. The album just had to go out this year, it's an album of the year 2020 and preserves our feeling of this year. It just felt right to do it that way.

How long have you worked on this "Zombies"?

I think more than two years. There were some disruptions, we left our former US label Saint Marie and had to look for a new one. Former fellow musicians have left. And then

the search for the sound of an entire album. That is not easy. There are bad days when you think you will never finish it all. Musicians aren't machines.

The name I suppose has something to do with the state of the people in pandemic, or is it just because of the song?

Yep. As I said earlier, many things came together in spring. And in addition, I watched the whole GoT seasons again during the breaks, with the final big battle. All in all we felt somehow unreal and in fact a little like externally controlled zombies. Your own universe in these times is special, I know. In the songs you often hear about dying and the dead ... haha.

What do you find different about "Zombies" from all of the above from Seasurfer?

I think the new album is darker and more experimental. Much more electronic too. I've been listening to electronic stuff like Crystal Castles or those witch house guys from Salem for years. But I also come from the guitar world. These are all things that flow in subconsciously. Then you just do what you are.

Thinking about this 2020, what do you feel as positive, besides the album?

I live in Germany in a privileged world. I live in a democratic country with social security for everyone. I think that's positive and an example that living together can work. And it brought back a certain humility. Confirmation that mass consumption is not everything. I could let myself fall much deeper into the music. However, knowing about the many people who are faring badly leaves a bitter aftertaste. And then there is also the notion that if we asked the world, it would see us humans as its greatest enemy and destroyer.

And already at the gates of 2021 ... the plans are still difficult ... but are you planning something for the first months of next year?

I can`t say a lot about the future. Too much is open. Of course we would like to play live again next year, visit concerts, travel and meet all friends again. But I also hope that we will not only think about our own satisfaction again, but develop a feeling for the future and more harmony with the earth. I sound a little like a hippie, I know ...

If you had to define this 2020, how would you do it?

Insane. Dark. Sad. Intensive. Counter-fighting.

To close this interview and thanking you for the possibility of conducting it, and wishing Seasurfer a successful 2021.

What do you want to say to our readers who still do not know Seasurfer and who are with a double album, so that they are encouraged to listen and enjoy it?

No matter what music or art it is about, please take a little more time and don't just click and go.

Thanks Dirk for answering our questions.