Scene Point Blank: If you could time travel and you could go back to your younger self around the time The Crimson Ghosts started, what advice would you give yourself?
Jackal: Trust your gut feeling! Not everybody pretending to help you will do so. Most of them just love the sound of their voice and some of them even try to kick you in the back as soon as you turn around. Had I listened to my gut feeling a bit more I could have avoided lots of stress and anger and used the time I spent with such people way better. I got way more careful and don't trust everybody just like that only because of some colorful talking.
Scene Point Blank: What is your biggest high in 20 years of The Crimson Ghosts?
Jackal: Wow, that's a tough question. Actually there is not the high existing...Instead, it´s every time I see/ feel/ hear that the work I put into all this does somehow pay off. Be it an amazing show, a well visited tour, positive reviews that weren't written by Chat GPT or an interview with a long time follower as you are...
Scene Point Blank: Thanks for that! Chat GPT? I am intrigued, but will not ask any questions. If you are angry again next time you suspect Chat GPT being used, please remember to all French speaking folk it sounds like “Cat, I’ve just farted” (chat, j’ai peté). I can’t help myself but grin every time that tool is mentioned now.
Jackal: Haha, if only I could speak French! But yeah…we had reviews sent to us where you clearly could see that someone just put our press info into Chat GPT and probably added “make a 500 words review out of that...” It's a shame if you think about it. Here in Germany the print magazines are struggling hard to stay alive, yet they allow their writers to go far away from being professional or let alone quality journalism.
Scene Point Blank: Having tackled that, I am of course very curious what is the lowest low or the biggest challenge you had to overcome?
Jackal: That's easy. When our original drummer Rev. had to leave the band due to his health problems. Losing a brother was pretty close to having the band put to rest and I guess we are still here only because he wanted us to continue.
"No one had the right to tell me what we have to sound like."
Scene Point Blank: In my mind, horrorpunk is a genre that has a couple of rules that you have to follow to be considered horrorpunk. It feels more defined than a couple of other genres. Do those rules feel limiting or do you consider it a challenge to write songs within those boundaries?
Jackal: Well, on our first record I wanted to write the best album the Misfits never wrote. After that I changed my mind drastically and I simply wrote what came to my mind without caring for any rules or listening to the musical police. The Crimson Ghosts along with a handful of other bands started this new wave of horrorpunk and, in my opinion, no one had the right to tell me what we have to sound like. So boundaries do not really exist for me, I couldn't care less about what horrorpunk has to sound like and with songs such as "Patient Zero," "Ego Sum Qui Intus Habitat," "The Body Bag," or "Of A Guilty Man," I think I made that pretty clear.
Scene Point Blank: I agree with that, there are some interesting side steps on your albums. I assume after having written a bunch of songs you have to start looking for a sequence in which to present them to the public, to have a good flow. Do these sidesteps offer extra challenges for the sequence of the songs?
Jackal: To be honest the only thing we do different with those more special songs is that we often wait a little longer until we play them live so people get the chance to listen to them on the record and enjoy it live instead of just staying there with open mouths thinking, “What the hell is going on here??”. Haha.
Scene Point Blank: Also, you mentioned letting go of boundaries after your debut. I had a hard time getting into your sophomore album because it was different from the debut. It is an interesting album though, as I hear a lot of (what I experience as) experimenting with your sound, trying to find who you want to be soundwise. While the third album, Dead Eyes Can See, sounds like a band that has found their identity. In fact, this sounds like the most focused album of them all. After that the album, as a whole The Crimson Ghosts sounds more playful, less the laser focus of Dead Eyes Can See, but a band that is confident in its own skin and open to experiments. Would you agree with this short analysis?
Jackal: It is exactly as you say. When writing Carpe Mortem, I absolutely knew I wanted to step away from the Misfits but didn't really know where this would lead me to. Of course there aresome songs that are still wanted live and also often played, but it was only during the end of the writing process when I knew what I wanted The Crimson Ghosts to sound like. So with Dead Eyes Can See, I´d say we finally were on our way and found our own identity.
Scene Point Blank: Over time you have released three splits. How did those come to be? Did you decide it was time for a collaboration with a band you befriended along the way or is this a label decision?
Jackal: A label never had anything to do with this. It was just that we got to know people and bands that we like and it felt like working on something together would be cool. Do you own all of them physically?
Scene Point Blank: Not yet. I own the first two and have the split with Hellgreaser in the mail. It was pretty cool to receive the numbered version of the split with Army Of Walking Corpses in the mail and seeing I got nr 1. As you can imagine I am really happy with that one!
Jackal: Wow! Now i guess that is something really special. Congrats to that catch!
Scene Point Blank: In five years’ time you gave us four records. Since then the time between releases is significantly higher with two records in thirteen years. What has changed?
Jackal: Right after the Generation Gore tour quite a lot of stuff happened. First I suffered from a burn out episode and had to recover from that for almost two years. After that it wasn't as easy for me to write new songs so that took its time and, when they were finally ready to record what would be Yet Not Human, our former drummer Rev. wasn't able to record that album due to his hand injury -- instead he left the band.
We struggled for some time thinking back and forth about what to do and when we finally decided to look for a new drummer it dawned on us that this wouldn't be an easy task. First there were no drummers able to play our stuff. Then we had one who, after a few months, decided to quit the band...The search continued and after a few months we had one who we even played a tour with. This took a while until he learned the required songs, of course, but well…in the end, it turned out he couldn't spend as much time with the band as it was needed. More searching and more months went by and then finally Old Nick contacted us and we finally had a stable lineup and were ready to release Yet Not Human.
Right after that, we did what we always do after a release like playing shows and tours and enjoying what the album brings to us...Pretty much when I started writing new material shit hit the fan big time and Corona forced us to stop with just everything.
Scene Point Blank: A recurring theme has been songs about the prom queen. She does not return on each album if I am correct. What brought her back on Forevermore?
Jackal: You´re right, the story of Mary the prom queen wasn't something I continued on every album but it felt that with the music of what became "Of A Guilty Man" it would be the right time to start a new chapter. Which one of the four songs do you like the best and why?
Scene Point Blank: That’s a difficult question. I am a sucker for big melodramatic horrorpunk songs and all four of them have exactly that. It is also a bit unfair for the last addition to the story, as I am not as familiar with that song as with the others. I would say “Night Of The Dead Prom Queen” is my favorite, followed closely by “Forsaken (Requiem)” and after that “Necrobabe.” I am not sure yet where to fit in “Of A Guilty Man (IV)”. How about you?
Jackal: I can't really name a favorite…that would be like choosing your favorite child when you’ve got two or more. But currently, I enjoy playing “Night Of The Dead Prom Queen” live the most. We'll have to wait and see how “Guilty Man (IV)” will turn out and I can't wait to do it the first time on tour.
Scene Point Blank: Earlier you mentioned the lockdowns really influenced you because you couldn’t play live. That sounds like you live for the stage. Is that a correct assumption? And what are your live ambitions?[/b]
Jackal: The reason I play in a band is because I want to play live. I never could be a full-time studio musician because it simply wouldn't give me what I need. I love the feeling of giving energy to a crowd and getting it back to return it again and again… It's like a chain reaction and having a great concert is definitely the best drug one could take.
Scene Point Blank: My biggest complaint about The Crimson Ghosts is that I never catch you playing in the Netherlands. What is going on the tour front?
Jackal: Sorry, man but I can assure you, we would love to play the Netherlands again. It's just that apparently the promoters over there aren't sure about booking German underground bands...I guess Corona made a lot of them disappear as well...and maybe they just don't even know about us? How is the scene these days going?
Scene Point Blank: I would say the Dutch horrorpunk scene is very small. Although I’ve seen The Other play two times for a not too small crowd. Also not too big, but you gotta start somewhere. I guess this doesn’t help much with getting you booked, huh? It also doesn’t help that I couldn’t name you even one Dutch horrorpunk band if my life depended on it. Oh well, maybe one day.
Jackal: Yes, one day we shall be there again and then I wanna see you in the mosh pit!
Scene Point Blank: Now, for the most important question: how long will you last if the zombie apocalypse begins and what is your surviving strategy?
Jackal: Well the zombie apocalypse is actually here already. Maybe not the way we expected it to be, but take a look around you when you're in the streets or on a train or something. People sitting there or walking with only their main vital functions working and being completely trapped by the screen of their cellphones, consuming, greedy for what other people got, not noticing what's going on around them. Absence of life does not mean death, right?
Scene Point Blank: Haha, I recognize that. I remember calling all other train passengers on my morning commute zombies that would become more human after their first coffee.
Jackal: Um…you address me as well with that coffee thing, haha !
Scene Point Blank: Thanks for the awesome interview, do you have any last thought you want to share with us?
Jackal: Thank you, my friend. It was a real pleasure.
To all the readers out there: The Crimson Ghosts will be on tour with Blitzkid in October-November. Come and support your scene and the bands you love! Here are the dates and don't say nobody told you:
30.10.2023 Hamburg, Logo
31.10.2023 Köln, Carlswerk (HELLNIGHTS 2023 with THE OTHER, BLITZKID, THE CRIMSON GHOSTS, WOLFSKULL)
01.11.2023 Leipzig, Hellraiser
02.11.2023 Budweis, MC Fabrika
03.11.2023 Lenzing, Pfarrei Lenzing
04.11.2023 Burglengenfeld, VAZ
05.11.2023 Lichtenfels, Paunchy Cats
06.11.2023 Frankfurt, Nachtleben
07.11.2023 Tübingen, Sudhaus
08.11.2023 Hannover, Musikzentrum
09.11.2023 Neunkirchen, Reithalle
10.11.2023 Augsburg, Neue Kantine
11.11.2023 Osnabrück, Westwerk
12.11.2023 Kassel, Goldgrube
Cheers & Stay Undead!
