Out of the Oldfield corner - with "Great Escapes" Frank Bossert alias EUREKA takes the flight to the front

eclipsed: Your project Eureka was the German answer to Mike Oldfield. Much time has passed since the last almost instrumental concept work "Shackleton's Voyage" (2009). "Great Escapes" now presents a new Eureka sound. Hardly any folk, symphonic prog and Oldfield bonds left. Instead of Claudia Sokollek, who sang on the first records until 2005, you now take over the mic yourself. What has the musician Frank Bossert undergone since 2009 for further development?

Frank Bossert: I've lived and changed. I think those are the keywords. "Shackleton" was like a transition plate to me. Then I already adjusted my mind to the fact that I wanted to make rock music again. The Oldfield-like music somehow suited my life situation together with my ex-wife Claudia. My ex and I had a baby, and I built a studio. In my own studio there was no room for a real big drum kit, so I created these epic percussion sounds. I lived out my play instinct. Fat arrangements without drums. That's also what made the first records of Oldfield from "Tubular Bells" to "Ommadawn" so that there was no real drum kit, that was the link to my music. And of course I was always a fan of how exciting Oldfield played the guitar. So for a while that was almost too close to his music, what I did, it just happens.

eclipsed: Was the end of the relationship with Claudia Sokollek a caesura, especially in private life, or a musical caesura for the Eureka project?

Bossert: Of course, when a big period of life like Claudia's is over, you start looking around again. Basically, however, the change was important above all in the private sphere. Musically, I did it all by myself. Claudia had a beautiful voice, and so I involved her musically, because that was so obvious. That matched the Oldfield concept. Basically, I was always the prog rock musician.

eclipsed: Yes, the new album has fewer keyboards, but the disc has become much rockier and shines with Rush-like songs and a Geddy Lee suspicious bass in the first half.

Bossert: When I had the first real bands going in Hamburg, our ambition was always to sound as Rush-like as possible, with some saga and Marillion in it. I was such a singing bass player back then, I made the Geddy.

eclipsed: You can now hear that on the new Eureka - a rebirth also vocally?

Bossert: Absolutely. At first I thought I had lost the singer in me, but then I was very satisfied with my vocal tracks. Friends like my background singers also encouraged me to keep it that way and not let other singers sing it. At the very beginning there was Billy Sherwood from Yes talking, who had already sung on "Shackleton's Voyage". "Stolen Child" about the for me so important and traumatic topic of being separated from one's own child against one's will was so personal that I couldn't have let another singer sing it anyway. This topic is often hushed up, but there are many fates behind it. It is a delicate topic that is too unpopular for politics and hardly appears in the media. In the USA there is a term for this fact: PAS - Parental Alienation Syndrome, connected with partly catastrophic consequences for the children.

eclipsed: How do you see Eureka after this change in style and singing?

Bossert: That's a totally good hint, because that's exactly how I saw it at the beginning. It's a bit confusing for the fans. Basically, I've always been Eureka. It's my project. Friends said to me, too: "Man, don't give up on that, the name's established I'll say. I would have to introduce a new one first with marketing, promotion and all the trimmings.

eclipsed: Has "Great Escapes" ever become a concept album again?

Bossert: There is actually this overarching concept theme of escape in basically all lyrics. As a text writer, there's always something that moves you. But now I'm not gonna open the paper and see what's going on in the world. I didn't want to hang this on the bell so big after "Shackleton's Voyage" ... according to the motto: another concept album. The songs themselves and the basic sound are very important to me.

eclipsed: But what is the actual concept theme?

Bossert: That's how it turned out. The cover also shows that. On it you can see the beach promenade of Havana/Cuba. This woman walking along symbolizes for me this idea of escape. Basically, it's always about escape: Escape from reality, from everyday life. It's about modern media madness ... this media terror with smartphones, Facebook, this constant virtual level that always accompanies us. It basically moves us all. How many lives in life do you have left? The escape from real life. And this escape from one's own self becomes clearer and clearer as one grows older, because one has less time to live. A lot of things used to be more real, that's what kept me busy the most.

eclipsed: Rumour has it that Eureka are finally going to perform live ..

Bossert: Yes, I'm currently looking for suitable musicians to put together my own "power trio" and bring the music of "Great Escapes" to the stage with it.

More information:
www.eureka-music.de

Interview: Walter Sehrer
Photo: Shirin Baouche