Kalle Wallner's solo project BLIND EGO grows into a real band

2. March 2020

Blind Ego RPWL

Kalle Wallners Solo-Projekt BLIND EGO wächst sich zu einer echten Band aus

The two masterminds of RPWL, Kalle Wallner and Yogi Lang, traditionally take creative time out between albums of their main band, which they each fill with solo projects. Guitarist Wallner does this with Blind Ego, who first appeared in 2007 with the album "Mirror". After the last tour for the studio album "Liquid" (2016), the band underwent a line-up change, and this line-up is now also active on the brand new album "Preaching To The Choir". Besides vocalist Scott Balaban it includes drummer Michael Christoph and additionally on guitar and bass Julian Kellner and Sebastian Harnack respectively.

eclipsed: The tour for "Liquid" has apparently stabilized the current formation with singer Scott Balaban. How does the status quo look like with you?

Kalle Wallner: Blind Ego is still a solo project, because I am the engine of the whole thing, but I was already inspired by the good atmosphere in this band. And then I had a great desire to go into the studio with her. Carried by the euphoria of the "Liquid" live gigs, I actually wrote a lot of the new song material right after that. We really grew together there. Actually, it's something in between now: not really a pure solo project anymore, but not a classic band either.

eclipsed: What is behind the album title "Preaching To The Choir"? Who is preaching what to which audience?

Wallner: That is an often used symbol that stands for a situation when you speak to people who are already convinced. One is knocking down open doors. Although it comes from the church, it can be applied to many areas of society. It works from politics to social networks to your own circle of friends. It also has something to do with populism. The feeling of not having to assert oneself discursively in the first place is something I find dangerous, because it is the opposite of open dialogue.

eclipsed: And how do you have to understand the unusual cover?

Wallner: We wanted to make it as easy as possible with this child who sits in a sandbox in a desert and only talks to his toys. My texts reflect a sense of disruption, reveal nuances. That's why I wanted to put all that into a broken world instead of a healed one.

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