Twelve years have passed since the musicians of My Sleeping Karma got together. On five studio albums, the Aschaffenburg quartet has created a powerful new art rock, which has an unmistakable character due to discreetly interwoven Indian elements. Now his first live album "Mela Ananda" is available. My Sleeping Karma's down-to-earth bassist Matte proves in conversation that the band is still firmly rooted in the here and now, i.e. in family and career, and that they enjoy their own music very much.
eclipsed: The term Mela Ananda means in Sanskrit as much as happy gathering. Are your concerts happy gatherings?
Matte: Yes, we think so. We get together with friends, play our music for the people, are close to the people. Also after the concert we love the contact to the fans. The album title is therefore chosen this way.
eclipsed: Is the album also a "Best of" by My Sleeping Karma?
Matte: No, we could have played other tracks. On the "Up In Smoke" tour in February 2016 there was simply the possibility to record the songs. It wasn't necessarily planned. I'd rather see it as a résumé. Our last albums "Soma" and "Moksha" belong together, are like brother and sister. We have now finished painting a picture and are approaching new things open minded.
eclipsed: Would you rather be in the studio or on stage?
Matte: I think every musician wants to go out and play in front of people. Working in the studio is not a torture, and it is interesting to discover all the possibilities there. But I'd rather play live. We're a live band. You could say that.
eclipsed: Your shows are full of power, full of energy. Did you capture that adequately on the album?
Matte: I think only a few live albums are able to do that at all. We have managed this quite well within the bounds of our possibilities. Live we try to preserve the structures of the tracks and get to the point. We like to jam sometimes, but we don't want it to get out of hand. We try to do justice to the visual aspect of a concert by the enclosed DVD with the Rockpalast appearance.
eclipsed: How do you see the development of the band after twelve years?
Matte: It's slowly progressing, as you can see from the increasing number of people in the concert and the record sales. We ourselves have remained as we were. We didn't change cast, we're still good friends, and our families go first. We don't pressure ourselves and try to use the flow.
* * * Interview: Bernd Sievers
