The death and resurrection of Krautrock: The Croatian psychedelic band Seven That Spells concludes their trilogy "The Death And Resurrection Of Krautrock" with the third part "Omega". A great litter, even a masterpiece like mastermind Niko Potocnjak finds.
eclipsed: Are you a Krautrock fan?
Niko Potocnjak: [laughs] Yes, I am. But different than you might think right now. The real Krautrock music I don't like so much. But I like this special energy, the momentum with which the Krautrock bands went to work. They had a very special approach to sound in the 70s. In this respect bands like Amon Düül II and Neu! have left deep impressions with me.
eclipsed: The new album "Omega" is the conclusion of the trilogy "The Death And Resurrection Of Krautrock". The first album "Aum" was released already in 2011, a long time in which you will be dealing with this topic.
Potocnjak: Each of the three albums lasted three to four years. I've worked incredibly hard on this. Over a long period of time it was sometimes ten hours a day. I almost got sick or crazy. But I don't care about the audience, money, success or fame. I just want to do what I want to do. I had a concept. All three albums have the same structure. Each starts with a track called "In" and ends with "Out". The second track is the title track and a longtrack at the same time. There's drones, there's psychedelic.
eclipsed: How did you even come up with Krautrock?
Potocnjak: On the one hand because I am fascinated by the bands and their philosophy. On the other hand, because I also wanted to do something different. In 2009 I decided that I had to reach a new level. Before that I was strongly influenced by the heavy psychedelic of Acid Mothers Temple. My goal has always been to shoot the psychedelic into the 21st century. Many psych bands don't create anything new, they just reproduce the old sounds. I also hate a lot of prog bands that just reboil the old. I want a mixture of hard rock, psychedelic and prog.
eclipsed: What is so special about the last part "Omega"?
Potocnjak: "Omega" is incredibly tight, sharp, strict. It's mostly loops. I played a riff over and over until it was perfect. I then looped this one perfect reef. What you hear on the album isn't a rock band. I didn't play the riff x times in a row, but only once and then looped it. It makes everything seem so precise, so strict. I was thinking, "Fuck the rock band feeling," I want loops, I want this mechanical approach. In some places there are up to 40 guitars on top of each other. I played them all exactly the same until it fit perfectly. When you hear that, you think it's just a guitar. But that's exactly what I wanted. Only exactly where you might expect loops, on drums, we didn't use loops. Blake Fleming has also played drums on The Mars Volta. He is an outstanding drummer, he has a very technical approach and knows a lot about minimalists like Terry Riley. He sometimes played exactly the same beat for ten minutes. The album is completely digitally recorded, only the drums are analog. "Omega" is the highlight of my career so far. Okay, that's what I say with every new album. But "Omega" is actually a damn masterpiece.
eclipsed: There is hardly any information on Seven That Spells on the Internet. Only the succinct statement that you come from the 23rd century, in which rock is dead, and that you came into the 21st century to change the course of rock history.
Potocnjak: You're addressing an important point. The skirt is dead. He's lost his secrets, his mysticism, his sex appeal. Through the Internet. All the useless information you get about the musicians leads to a loss of the fascination for rock. Who cares what the musicians eat or where they shop? It's not rock'n'roll anymore. I want fantasy, I want rock gods. I'm a lucky person. I have a family. I've been playing guitar for 25 years. I'm happy with the music I make. I'm not compromising. I also have my rock heroes and love them. But I don't want to know what they ate for breakfast and with whom. That's one reason why I've resisted giving interviews for years
eclipsed: With Seven That Spells you performed at the legendary Duna Jam Festival in Sardinia. What memories do you have of it?
Potocnjak: We've already played there three times. There's a lot of bad bands out there. And some outstanding bands. The organization there is excellent. The audience there is quite special, as is the location, of course. Sardinia is a great island with not so many tourists yet
eclipsed: Now that you've finished the Krautrock trilogy, what's next?
Potocnjak: I will not return to the psychedelic of the early days. I need to evolve. I would like to create an even better masterpiece after the masterpiece. If I have the feeling that I can't outbid "Omega", then I will quit Seven That Spells and try it differently.
*Interview: Bernd Sievers
