_______________________________ MAR 13 Healings is "Album Of The Week" on KRR _______________________________ _______________________________ MAR 13 new live dates _______________________________ _______________________________ JAN 19 neurostyle.de reviews Healings CD _______________________________ _______________________________ FEB 13 anders-musik.de reviews Healings CD _______________________________ _______________________________ FEB 13 Sparklingphotos.de reviews Healings CD _______________________________ _______________________________ FEB 9 wallabirzine.blog.free.fr reviews Healings CD _______________________________ _______________________________ FEB 9 Parsec appears on DJ Candy's Crossover – Episode 33 _______________________________ _______________________________ FEB 1 musicwaves.fr reviews Healings CD _______________________________ _______________________________ FEB 1 Parsec is Single of the Week on KOOL ROCK RADIO _______________________________ _______________________________ JAN 26 labellos.de reviews Healings CD _______________________________ _______________________________ JAN 26 metalchroniques.fr reviews Healings CD _______________________________ _______________________________ JAN 26 picolino.co.uk reviews Healings CD _______________________________ _______________________________ JAN 26 metalblaze.at reviews Healings CD _______________________________ _______________________________ JAN 19 art-noir.ch reviews Healings CD _______________________________ _______________________________ JAN 19 neurostyle.de reviews Healings CD _______________________________ _______________________________ JAN 15 zicazic.com reviews Healings CD _______________________________

EDITORIAL We just finished our trailer for our upcoming video for Jet Stream. The song also appears on Gothic Magazine's latest CD compilation. Orkus magazine released a nice article about The Wars labeling us as "Sensation of 2012". Wow! Thank you guys.<3. Our next video/single Jet stream will be released on May 13th. Coming Tuesday we will see the US and Canada release of our Healings CD. Peace out. The Wars TRAILER FOR JET STREAM IS OUT We really love our latest little movie. Thanks to all the people having participated. Here is a preview of what is to be released on May 13th: THE WARS AT ORKUS AND GOTHIC MAGAZINE It is a privilege for us to share the Orkus scans sent to us and a link to the latest compilation by Gothic-Magazine. Gothic Compilation 54 (2CD) Love and peace. Cye next week. EDITORIAL Hello Friends of The Wars, we spent the weekend filming band footage for our upcoming video Jet Stream in a nearby desert. Here is the proof of our bravery. MAKING OF JET STREAM Cya next week. Chris EDITORIAL Hello Friends of The Wars, Weekly Wars will be online Sundays from now on. This week we decided to do a vlog instead of articles and it felt that good that we will do this more often in the future. We are still open to suggestions for songs to be remixed. Just write an email to rmx@thewars.net and tell us what track you think deserves a complete new outfit. Have fun watching the video. Cya next week. Chris EDITORIAL Hi, thank you guys for sending in all your cool ideas for what songs you would like to hear remixed. As of now the majority favours Jet Stream, Succubus and (!) England. Keep flooding us with inspirational emails :). To do so write to rmx@thewars.net and tell us what's your favourite track to be remixed. There are stills shows being added to our upcoming tour - we will keep you informed as soon as all dates are confirmed. MAKING OF HEALINGS - EPISODE 4 This episode is defo my fave amongst our making of series. It contains some live footage from a concert we had during our recording sessions and the recording of that percussions inferno by Felix on Whiteout: JET STREAM Our new video for Jet Stream is in the making. One of our first shootings lead us to a swamp close to the former border to the German Democratic Republic. We had dark skies and stormy weather all along but this applied some unique magic to the pictures we've taken. We are very proud to have once again actress Iris Boss playing in our latest video since we really loved her performance in Parsec. Here are some stills for you to give you an impression about how the film will look like: COFFEE - EPISODE 2 The following is what happens when you send out your rhythm section to write an article for Weekly Wars. Enjoy: We sat on a Tuesday in the smoking section of our local baker, close to our studio. Outside the circle line! Gernot: First coffee? Felix: I can’t remember. Just wanted to know if Gernot can. Gernot: Most impressive and the shittiest coffee? Felix: When I was 16 I hung about a lot in the Music Pavilion with a mate of mine. He just drank ‘Cowboy coffee’ (instant coffee) the whole day. That impressed me. Gernot: The strongest? Have you already finished it? Felix: Nope, no chance. I only drink half of most of them. Gernot: What makes a coffee good? Felix: A smoke and the room shouldn’t be too cold. Outside, it’s only OK if it’s really hot. Gernot: Favourite bar/café? Felix: Ankerklause (A bar in Kreuzberg, Berlin). Gernot: General questions on the subject... Felix: The Latte-Macchiato lot can go and get lost! Just order a milk-coffee, that’s cheaper. I drink it black, by the way. Gernot: What about this coffee? On a scale from 1-10? Felix: I’d give it a 4, because of the good company and the peace and quiet. EDITORIAL Hi, our record release party was a blast. It seems all people in the club had an awesome time. Thanks for all the love. Here are some short impressions: We will be busy shooting our next video the coming days. This means next Weekly Wars 15 will be online coming Sunday instead of Wednesday. RMXD We think it is about time to remix some stuff and we would like you people to be involved. Here is the deal: You write an email to rmx@thewars.net and tell us what song by The Wars you would like to hear in a wonderfully remixed version and you guys are amongst the very first people to hear and download that version for free. rmx@thewars.net Sucht euch einen Song von The Wars aus, den ihr gerne als Remix hättet und schreibt uns eine Email mit dem titel an: rmx@thewars.net Alle die teilnehmen, werden den Remix als erste hören und umsonst downloaden dürfen. PIRANHA We had the privilege to appear in of the biggest German music magazines called Piranha. Here is the article for you: COFFEE The following is what happens when you send out your rhythm section to write an article for Weekly Wars. Enjoy: We sat on a Tuesday in the smoking section of our local baker, close to our studio. Outside the circle line! Felix: First coffee? Gernot: Today, now, or what? It depends. Felix: Most impressive and the shittiest coffee? Gernot: The shittiest coffee is from Melitta and everything from outside the Berlin circle line (train line). Felix: The strongest? Have you already finished it? Gernot: I only drink all of the strongest ones. Felix: What makes a coffee good? Gernot: It has to be hot and strong. Felix: Favourite bar/café? Gernot: Ain’t got one. Felix: General questions on the subject... Gernot: 1000 points if it takes the shortest route to the left side of the heart. What about this coffee? On a scale from 1-10? Gernot: Wait a mo, a 2. On the cup it says that there’s fresh coffee in it. Perhaps they mean the flower on the base. --to be concluded-- Thanks for stopping by. Cya next week. Chris EDITORIAL Hello friend, as far as we can tell our album is doing pretty well. Thank you to all you guys out there supporting our release. Healings will be available in the US and Canada the coming week. The first step is done and there are steps to follow. We are preparing for our next video shooting. Next track to be visualized will be Jet Stream. Casting is almost complete, the venues for the shootings are already selected. Fukushima happened less than a year ago. We're healthy. We're alive and we will ask questions. REFLECTIONS OF DARKNESS REVIEWS HEALINGS Peer Lebrecht Peer Lebrecht of Golden Apes is probably one of the most charismatic singers in the German new wave and gothic scene. We had the pleasure and the privilege to have our album Healings being reviewed by him. Here is an excerpt for you. Please follow the link below for the full article. CD Review: Wars, The - Healings Written by Peer Lebrecht Tuesday, 27 March 2012 16:08 Sometimes things seem quite odd. There’s a distance lesser than expected 100 meters between theirs and my own rehearsal room door and nevertheless I have to confess that THE WARS crossed my way for the first time in an enjoyable small talk with the bands manager after one of my own band’s shows.... ...So what reveals the lifted curtain? Indeed the first word that came in my mind while listening to the chapters of ‘Healings’ was “urban”. Yes, I want to call it urban music. It’s big, full of nooks and crannies and hard to survey; it’s dirty, but here and there it reveals a view into the sky; it is glued with presence, but every hole in the ground disgorges a fume of nostalgia....‘Toga’ is a good choice for coming in, cause it gives you that feeling of reaching a top after a long hard walk, rewarded by a view over vastness and a setting sun, before ‘White Out’ takes you down the valley, to human touched layers with moving and impelling rhythms, a great prancing bass and Kowski´s voice (whose analogy to INTERPOL’s Paul Banks seems clear here, but fits very well in the rough mixture of gentle anger and subliminal melancholy).... ...‘Ethon’ is no surprise anymore. The band knows what it is good at. A marching rock song with unpredictable directions of rhythm and energy, wrapped in minimalism and monochrome pathos… the strangeness of a beggar in a king’s robe. The healing process ends with ‘Coast’, a strolling outro with an amazing atmosphere of blurred velocity and lomographic nostalgia, closing the circle in a warm and sweetly melancholic arc, what makes you breathing the same way as if closing an old photograph album. The sugar-like and comforting wistfulness of a memory regained… ...So let’s summarize: ‘Healings’ (finding its literal sense in the personal reflection of contemporary political and historical events I don’t presume to evaluate) is a solid rock of moving elements. What some define as classic Indie-Rock are great songs circling between Punk, Pop and Rock’n’Roll, between agitating depth and a glittering surface. It owns a special and comforting kind of melancholy, squirming through the chords and words making you uncertain whether to move or to muse, music with question marks that forces you to go behind, to enter the city walls for finding answers. It’s untamed and ambiguously and so it’s upstage and attracting arcane. I for one got caught up in the maelstrom of the city…. Rating Music: 8 Sound: 8 Total: 8 / 10 read the full article here NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR AT ZILLO MAGAZINE We're Newcomer of the year at Zillo. Healings hits #2 at Soundchek (right after Killing Joke). For everyone who missed the last issue, here is a the article for you: Thanks to Sascha Blach. We really dig your article. FELIX TOP 5 ALBUMS Here is a list of my favorite 5 albums that might inspire you: Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrott Ryan Adams: Heartbreaker Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Johnny Cash: Johnny Cash in San Quentin The Strokes: Is This It Felix That's it for WEEKLY WARS 13. See you next week. EDITORIAL Hello friend, There are two days left until our CD will be released in Germany. Five days until it hits stores in Europe and on April 3rd it will be available in the US and Canada. We are very excited as you can imagine. Our new video is online. This time you can see The Wars travelling through time and space. It was a blast shooting what has become a little movie since all people involved were totally burning for the script, the cool costumes and the spaceship stuff. A big thank you to our crew members who did a fantastic job. This week also features the third and last part of our interview for Italian Ritual magazine. Enjoy! Chris COUNTDOWN: HEALINGS CD RELEASE Only a few days left and our album called Healings will hit stores. Here is the release schedule: GERMANY: MARCH 23rd EUROPE: MARCH 26th US & CANADA: APRIL 3rd Here is the cover art once again for those who missed it: Our tour booking for 2012 is still in progress. As of now you can see us live as follows: Here is a summary of the events surrounding the band: We have given a number of interviews in recent weeks. Zillo magazine called us Newcomer of the Year in their current issue and placed our album at number two at their Sound Check section. Sonic Seducer has published an article about us ranking Healings at #5 in their review section. Healings also recieved Album of The Week on Kool Rock Radio. We have received numerous reviews, many of them are well disposed toward us. Here is a small selection of reviews: INDIEMEUTE ELECTROZINE ZIKANNUAIRE MR BILDERWELTEN ANDERS MUSIK ART NOIR ...and many more! Thanks to all of you! Here are some articles about us: ELECTROZINE ANDERS MUSIK PICOLINO DARKER RADIO STRANGEWAYS RADIO and many more! Thanks for your support! NEW VIDEO ONLINE Here it is after a thrilling and time consuming process: The Healings video. I am tempted to explain all the things you can see in the film but - hell no! Discover it yourself! Here is our official press release: Inner Beauty in Outer Space It’s here!! The Album Healings from The Wars is now available in the shops. To coincide with the release date, the boys have also produced the video to the title track. They call their style of music Retrofuture and so it is no surprise that in the video for the single Healings they are travelling through the galaxy in a space ship. The video was produced by the band themselves and was directed by singer and guitarist Chris Kowski. The video was made with great attention to detail, portraying aesthetic images allowing plenty of room for interpretation; exactly as we have become used to from their music! Chris’s inspiration was Stanley Kubrick’s Film ‘A Space Odyssey 2001’. Healing through death and a cleansing rebirth after a journey through the unthinkable. The universe from The Wars opens up a new portal. The hazy images in the minds of the trio are starting to take shape. And here is the video for you: THE RITUAL INTERVIEW: PART III We had the honour to be interviewed by the first and only official Italian magazine dedicated to the dark, goth and avantgarde music, scene and culture called Ritual. Here is the final part for you: RITUAL: A song that really impressed me is 'Enclave', because it got something “spectral” and psychedelic at the same time...what can you tell us about this song? (and what about its lyrics?) Felix: Enclave was the result of a jam session we had in our rehearsing room. We had already recorded most of the songs for the album, but we had the feeling that there was something missing. Enclave filled the gap perfectly. We kept the basic structure, harmony and rhythm of the jam and only did some “fine-tuning”. We didn’t want to destroy the special feeling the song had the first time we played it. Even a big part of the final lyrics came up during the jam session. Sometimes it doesn’t need much. Gernot: Enclave could be described as a late harvest but exactly what we wanted. Although we were long finished with the recording sessions and were in the middle of the mixing process, a clearer and clearer picture of our LP emerged. We needed a song that was different. Just like Enclave. It is the product of one session. At the time all three of us were on the same wavelength which is why we achieved such a good result composing Enclave. Chris: Sometimes I feel dizzy when I listen to the song. The text is about a person who feels that they are hardly noticed but who also assumes that no one is ever really truly recognised. Every action appears to her to be completely self-centred. RITUAL: While 'Safari' seems to have a “lighter” and solar mood...what is this song about? Chris: Safari deals with the subject of a person’s desire to really ‘find’ themselves and those they love and describes the sometimes absurd paths that we take to achieve these goals. RITUAL: What about the title, 'Healings'? Felix: It is the light at the end of the dark tunnel, to refer to the cover of the CD. Gernot: Healings describes a journey through a tunnel at whose end there is light. A Safari with various destinations along the route; White- and Blackouts, Coast, Enclaves... Chris: 2011 was a remarkable year with many moving but also disturbing occurrences. Most of the songs on Healings were developed during this period. The title expresses a longing for healing. I have the feeling that mankind needs to focus upon the important and good things in life. It is high time that we concentrated on a more humanistic approach to life otherwise we will find ourselves in a world which is technically postmodern but spiritually back in the Stone Age. RITUAL: Occupy Movement, Fukushima, European Crisis...your songs show a very close look to contemporary events...what can you tell us about this? Chris: As I’ve already mentioned, last year was quite extraordinary. So much so, that in contrast to our normal approach we made reference to concrete events in our texts. We didn’t hesitate. Jet Stream, for example, clearly refers to Fukushima. The after-effects’ of Fukushima have ‘rained-down’ over the whole world – even where we live! This is truly shocking and makes me angry. RITUAL: Do you think that music still has the power to “heal”, as it was supposed to be in the ancient cultures? Felix: Music does not solve problems and also not the ones that we talked about in the last question. But still music has the power to “heal” when you are unhappy or stuck and you can’t see any light. It can give you hope and help you to move on and make something happen. It is this spirit of optimism that we need to solve problems these days. Maybe our music can be an inspiration. Gernot: YES! Chris: Absolutely! One of the main reasons that I make music is that I firmly believe in its healing powers. Without it I wouldn’t be alive today. Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you next week. God bless you. Chris EDITORIAL Hello friend, 9 days left until our CD Healings will be released. We are pretty excited. A few days earlier our next official music video for its title track will also be released. Here are some screenshots for you: This week's edition offers you a brand new snippet from our CD, the second part of our interview for Ritual magazine and an interview with our engineer, mixer and mastering wizard Ralf Liebchen. Enjoy! Chris AUDIO PREVIEW: COAST "Sizes change on our little boat. Sizes change when we cannot hide." A couple in a captive situation. Lost in open water. This song links directly to our first EP called Rift. Here is a preview for you: INTERVIEW: RITUAL PART 2 We had the honour to be interviewed by the first and only official Italian magazine dedicated to the dark, goth and avantgarde music, scene and culture called Ritual. Here is part two for you: Ritual: Germany and especially (west)Berlin has always been regarded as a very important centre for the musical and artistic scene during the seventies and the eighties. I'm not only thinking about Kraftwerk or Neu!, but also about Bowie, Iggy Pop, U2, who recorded some of their masterpieces there...how has your city evolved in terms of art and music since those days? Felix: A big thing is the electro and minimal music scene which has its centre in this city. But starting with techno in the 90s it also goes back to German ‘Krautrock’ bands like Kraftwerk or Neu!. In Rock/Pop or Indie music I don’t know any big or relevant act or scene besides maybe Rammstein. Ritual: And what about the “other” Berlin? I mean, what about artists from East Berlin which are less known? What about the evolution of the scene(s) you've been involved, since the days you played in your previous bands/projects? Chris: The grass-roots scene in Berlin is alive and well. We had the privilege of playing with a number of very interesting bands. It is incredible how many good musicians with great ideas live in this city. Very inspiring! Ritual: Just out of curiosity, what can you tell us about the so called “Potsdam Scene”? Gernot: The “Potsdam Scene” of the 90’s wasn’t only called the “Seattle of the East” by insiders. Around a third of Potsdam, a small town on the outskirts of Berlin, was under Communist occupation. Autonomous thinkers, artists and those with alternative lifestyles lived peacefully together and produced an abundance of creativity. The music scene was large and lively. It wasn’t focussed on fame and fortune but rather on ....... and authenticity. als um Massage und Authentizität. I ‘grew up’ as a musician in this scene. It was loud, emotional and uncontrolled. Noise Rock, Shoegaze and Grunge were the main trends, if one wants to speak of genres. Some of the people from this period are still making music and others have remained true to art, regardless of its direction. Some of them also have normal jobs and are busy raising families. Ritual: Could you tell us more about your band name? I've read that The Wars was chosen because of the World War II, the Cold War, and also about the bran theory... Chris: We wanted to find a band name that reflected the content of our texts. The whole universe is full of conflicts. True peace and tranquillity seem to be the absolute exceptions. Many wars are not recognisable at first sight. They take place beneath the surface in a very subtle way, particularly those within our personal relationships. In rough terms, the Bran Theory says that the universe is drifting apart while at the same time on a collision course with itself. This image seems to me to be a perfect description of every existence. A form of war with itself. More from this interview next week. INTERVIEW: RALF LIEBCHEN www.digital-recording-tonstudio.de Leska: Hallo Ralf, vielen Dank, dass du mir ein paar Fragen beantwortest. The Wars haben das Album allein aufgenommen und produziert, was war dein Anteil? Ralf: Bei guten Musikern wie die Jungs von The Wars es sind, muß man natürlich nicht ins Songarangement eingreifen. Das können die viel besser als ich. Ich sehe mich da mehr als jemanden der versucht das bestmögliche an Soundvorstellungen der Band dann auch auf dem Album umzusetzen. Aufgenommen wurde in ihrem Proberaum in Berlin. Ich habe vor Beginn der Aufnahmen einen Teil meines mobilen Tonstudios dort installiert , das Drumset mikrofoniert und einen ausgiebigen Soundcheck gemacht. Einen Rechner(mit Logic 5 Punkt irgendwas) als Mehrspurmaschine hatten sie selbst, und so konnte es nach dem Einrichten der Spuren gleich losgehen. So konnten wir uns die Arbeit teilen um schneller und effektiver zu sein. Die Band konnte Ihre Songs selbst aufnehmen und mir die rohen Aufnahmespuren per Server in mein Tonstudio schicken. Dort habe ich dann alles importiert und vorgemixt, dann ging das Material zurück auf dem selben Onlineweg- um neue Spuren , Gesang ,Gitarre, Bass oder Kyes einzupielen. Die Endmixes der Songs haben wir dann nach etlichen Rough-mixes (ich glaube es waren minestens 10 pro Song, gefühlte 100) alle gemeinsam gemacht. Beim Mastering haben die Jungs mir dann vertraut, weil sie meine Arbeit als Mastering-Engineer schon von ihrer Rift-EP und der Vorproduktion zu dem jetzigem Album Healings, was auch mit ausschlaggebend war für den Plattenvertrag bei SPV, her kannten. Leska: Welche Vorstellungen hatten die Jungs wie sich das Album vom Sound letztenendes präsentieren soll? Ralf: Schwierige Frage, aber da ich die Band auch als Livetontechniker auf Konzerten mische, kannte ich schon so einige Soundvorstellungen der Bandmitglieder, was ihre Instumente oder den Gesang angeht. Chris z.B. spielt die Gitarre nicht über einen Amp, sondern über die virtuelle Gitarrensoftware N.I.GuitarRig,wobei sehr spherische, phsychedelische und machmal keyboard-ähnliche Sounds herauskommen, die sehr gut zu Ihrer Musik passen. Gernot kenne ich auch schon über 20 Jahre. Ich spiele mit ihm auch in einem anderem Bandprojekt Namens "Duke Dementi" zusammen und kenne daher auch seine Vorlieben für röhren-verzerrte Bass- Sounds. Wir haben uns natürlich vor der Produktion zusammen ein paar CD´s von Bands angehört, die vom Sound her in die Richtung gehen, wo die Reise hin soll. Namen will ich hier keine nennen- ist auch Quatsch,weil es dabei meistens nur um moderne Drumsounds und Effekte ging. Was sie selbst gerne hören und beeinflußt hat, haben Sie ja schon bei diversen Interviews gesagt. Leska: Du hast ja schon die Rift EP gemixt und gemastert. Wie war es für dich mit den Jungs an ihrem Debutalbum zu arbeiten- hatte das für dich auch etwas aufregendes, die Band auf diesem Weg zu begleiten? Ralf: Also ich arbeite mit The Wars ja schon eine Weile zusammen. Nicht nur bei der Rift EP, auch auf diversen Samplern wie der Darkness Before Dawn 2 Compilation Song “Sequence”- und bei“Succubus” auf der Advanced Electronics 8 Compilation durfte ich mitwirken. Ein Debutalbum aufzunehmen oder zu mixen ist natürlich immer eine grosse Herrausforderung, vor allen Dingen,wenn man die gute Vorproduktion des Albums natürlich noch toppen muß. Und es hat sich gelohnt ,so viel Zeit zu investieren."Gut Ding braucht Weile "- und das hört man auf dem Silberling dann glaube ich auch. Mit Künstlern zusammen zu arbeiten, die wissen was sie wollen, erleichtert die Arbeit dann auch wieder, und ich kann mich mehr aufs mixen, mastern oder auch auf das Sounddesign konzentrieren. Leska: Kannst du mir erzählen wie so ein Tag im Studio ausgesehen hat, vielleicht erinnerst du dich an eine witzige Situation? Ralf: Erst einmal nicht vor 12.00 Uhr beginnen, denn Musiker sind Nachtmenschen und brauchen Ihren Schönheitsschlaf. Ich zähle mich auch zu denen. Dann gab es meistens leckeres Mittagessen, mitgebracht von der Band. Ich glaube von ihrer Managerin,vorher liebevoll zubereitet und in Tupperdosen abgefüllt. Danke nochmal an dieser Stelle. Dann die Rough-Mixes zusammen anhören, die ich vorbereitet hatte, um danach solange an dem Song rumzufriemeln und zu mixen, bis auch der letzte zufrieden oder eingeschlafen war. Dann ging es eben am nächsten Tag weiter-mit frischen Ohren. Einmal mussten wir eine Mix-Session verschieben, weil die Festplatte mit den Spuren beim Dönermann am Tresen liegengeblieben ist. Ich fand´s witzig, die Jungs eher nicht. Die ganzen "E" Konservierungsstoffe in der scharfen Soße machen wahrscheinlich vergesslich. Leska: Welche Wirkung/ Stimmung hat das Album für dich? Ralf: Absolutes Hitpotenzial. Für mich wirkt die Scheibe schon fast wie ein Konzeptalbum- mit Intro und Outro, die dann auch noch richtige Songs werden. Eine gut durchdachte Titelreihenfoge. Die CD hält einen im Bann. Einfach Post-Punk-Rock und New Wave vom Feinsten. Ich bin schon auf die ersten Singleauskopplungen gespannt. Und auf die Videos die gerade gedreht werden. Leska: Hast du einen Song den du besonders magst und warum? Ralf: Safari, Succubus, Jet Stream... nein ich höre jetzt auf sonst zähle ich alle Titel auf. Eingängige Melodien, groovende Drums, treibende Bässe und die Vocals vom Frontmann fügen sich einwandfrei in jeden Song ein. Ein Hörgenuß vom ersten bis zum letzten Titel. Leska: Das Album wurde inzwischen schon mehrmals für seinen guten Sound gelobt. Welche Erfahrungen hast du bei der Arbeit an dem Album mitgenommen? Ralf: Es freut mich natürlich, wenn es erste Plattenbesprechungen gibt, wo der Sound gelobt wird ,und ich zähle schon die Tage bis das Album "Healings" endlich für jederman erhältlich sein wird. Erfahrungen kann man bei der Arbeit mit und für Bands wie The Wars immer aufs neue erlangen. Man hört sich zusammen Bands an, die man vorher gar nicht kannte, philosophiert über das Musikbusiness und experimentiert gemeinsam am Sounddesign. Die Zusammenarbeit mit Chris, Felix & Gernot hat mir sehr viel Spaß bereitet und wird nicht die letzte mit ihnen gewesen sein. Leska: Möchtest du den Jungs noch ein paar Worte mit auf den Weg geben der nun vor ihnen liegt? Ralf: Rockt die Häuser, in denen ihr demnächst live spielt. Macht die nächsten Platten auch mit mir zusammen und werdet reich und berühmt, denn ihr habt es verdient. Wir sehen uns am 06 Apr 2012 im CHESTERS (BERLIN) bei eurer Record Release Party. Leska: Vielen Dank für das Interview und alles Gute für die Zukunft! www.digital-recording-tonstudio.de EDITORIAL Hello friend, we were totally surprised this week by Parsec entering German alternative charts at number 15 and by being invited to Germany's biggest New Wave festival called Amphi. Great news for us. This week we want to present you an audio snippet of the song Jet Stream, an excerpt of our interview with Italian Ritual magazine and our first festival dates for 2012. Enjoy! Chris AUDIO PREVIEW OF JET STREAM ONLINE "Brother you don't want us to stay. Heaven you can't see where we are going." This song was spawned when Fukushima had happened. The whole band was totally shocked about the whole incident and how poorly it was communicated by the persons in charge and by the mass media, too. More about that in our interview for italian magazine Ritual. THE WARS INTERVIEWED BY RITUAL MAGAZINE We had the honour to be interviewed by the first and only official Italian magazine dedicated to the dark, goth and avantgarde music, scene and culture called Ritual. Here is part one for you: Ritual: Let's start with an obvious question: what's the story behind this album? Chris: When we began with The Wars it was a turning point for all involved but also a time to reflect upon our origins as musicians. We wanted to be as minimalistic as possible but also to imbue our message with the maximum possible depth and density – in a similar manner to that which was achieved by Bauhaus with Bela Lugosi's Dead or Neu! with Hallogallo. For me these songs embody a pure essence. This approach was more or less a healing and purification process which continued throughout the creation of Healings. The framework remained minimalistic but we carefully applied a few layers to the bare bones. Menschwerdung. Healing. Ritual: Bauhaus, Joy Division, Interpol, and also a special taste for electronic/minimal details that lead back to the golden age of German electronic music...how do you manage to mix all those elements in your sound? Felix: Actually, we don’t think about it in terms of mixing elements. It feels more like a natural process, influenced by music that we love and have listened to over the years. The electronic aspect is also a return to the beginnings of the band. Chris and Gernot started without a drummer and programmed their drumbeats. They played their concerts with a drum-machine. This method creates a “hypnotising” effect upon the listener because the music is based on a continuously repeating and constant rhythm pattern. Kraftwerk and other German ‘Krautrock’ bands in the 80’s did that as well. When I joined the band we tried to retain that feeling to the music. So you can say that the electronic aspects and loops are kind of a “left over” to keep that special feeling alive. Chris: We all have different listening habits and are subject to different influences. That’s why we are always interested in the ideas of the other band members. Above all in the crazy ones. As the record’s producer it is my responsibility to bring all of these impulses together. Just at the point when we had finished Healings, it was wonderful to experience once again just how well we complement each another and how our ideas harmonise even though they are very often completely different. It is just this type of versatility that was so typical of the ‘Golden Age’ that you just mentioned and is why we value it so highly. Ritual: Do you think that the idea of contamination is to be considered as “crucial” in “rock” music nowadays? Why that? Gernot: One can make use of various musical elements from throughout the ages. The important question is that of its relevance to one’s own music. Anything that makes the song more attractive should be used. One needs to have a ‘knack’. We have all been making music for long enough to know what will happen if we combine this with that. (We prefer to make use of those elements that we find great and which interest us.) Chris: I think that both stylistically pure as well as experimental music have their place and each fulfils a function. It is important that artists explore and extend a particular creative direction but also that they enable new directions. Take the later period of Talk Talk, Radiohead or Neu! for example. These bands were able to open new doors in the music world through their carefree experimentation. I also highly regard bands such as Red Lorry Yellow Lorry who have consistently refined a particular basic concept from album to album. As a listener, that is exactly what I need sometimes. Ritual: I've also read that within your sound there's the combination of both Gernot's analogue “sytle”, and Chris's computer-guitar processing...so, together with contamination, what's the role of experimenting, according to you? Felix: Experimenting was really important for the production process. Sometimes good things happen out of a stupid idea, like for example: “Lets see what happens if we mute every instrument except bass and drums”. We did that during the end-part of the song “Ethon” and it worked. Or:”Hmmm, the verse part is still too normal, let’s add all the percussion we have and see what comes out”, we worked on “Whiteout”, the first song of the new album. Also Gernot’s bass sound is a kind of an experiment in itself. He is using a guitar amp to archive his special sound. Chris: We tend to get bored very quickly when in a song something ‚far-out’ doesn’t happen. That’s why I decided from the very beginning with The Wars to choose the sheer endless possibilities offered by a "synthie-guitar". It was also clear to the band from the very beginning that Gernot didn’t play his bass in a conventional manner. Interestingly, in our first two EP’s we concentrated on sounds which could be said to portray an analogue representation of the 60’s und 70’s. It was only with Healings that we decided to break with accepted dogmas. This is when the contamination started, so to speak. More from this interview next week. FIRST FESTIVAL ANNOUNCEMENTS The Wars gonna do their first bigger festivals this year. We have the honour and the privilege to play the well known Amphi Festival in Cologne that will be headlined by Sisters of Mercy. This will be on July 21st 2012. We are also invited to play the fine NCN Festival near Leipzig headlined by Peter Hook & The Lights on September 8th 2012. We are very proud to make our first adventures in the festival scene and hope to meet you there. Take care and cya next week. Chris EDITORIAL Hello visitor, this week's edition contains our brand new album trailer for our upcoming CD Healings. We offer you a snippet from a song called Tortoise and you can get a sneak peek at our cover art. We wish you a great week. Enjoy! Chris ALBUM TRAILER RELEASED We are very very very proud to present you our first official album trailer. This baby took us some time to create and we think it looks awesome. It also contains some footage of our upcoming video release for the song Healings. To make this chapter complete here is the official press release: The release of the album is coming closer. So far, THE WARS already offered a few musical insights into the album. Now, a trailer containing the album highlights is available, just for all who want to get an overview of the album already by now. The trailer is online here: http://youtu.be/-yFc3iI8AHo. Furthermore, the band offers an insight into the universe of THE WARS at www.thewars.net with the “Weekly Wars Magazine”. Besides audio snippets, you’ll also offered making of videos, activities of the band and small anecdotes dealing with THE WARS. ‘Healings’ will be released on 23rd March 2012. AUDIO PREVIEW: TORTOISE "They have come to embrace your future. There are strangers in your soul and I am with you." These are the final lines of our song Tortoise. It's all about my feelings about the times we are living in. Tortoise was a track we recorded when the album was almost finished. It pretty much reflects the mood we were in after a long magic process of creating Healings. Here is a little preview for you: Chris MAKING OF HEALINGS: BOOKLET II In Weekly Wars 04 we presented you a first glance at the cover art of Healings. Here is more footage for you to look at: We are preparing the shooting for Tortoise. Yes, there is hot black tea in the orange mug. The drawn pictures are provided by Anna and Merry. Thank you ladies! Here is the final result. This very expensive hand model ruined our little budget but we think it was worth it. The art for Succubus. Thanks for stopping by folks. Cya next week. Chris EDITORIAL #08 offers you sensational stuff: watch The Wars go pro skating showing incredible skills and tricks! The audio preview for Nature is online and we proudly announce our next video to be released soon (TM). Enjoy. Chris THE WARS GO PRO SKATING Always up for a new challenge The Wars prepare for a second career as Goth Skaters. Watch the guys performing 170 Shuvits, Frontside Funkslides and all the other pro stuff here: THE WARS ANNOUNCE NEW MUSIC VIDEO Thanks for your great interest in our Parsec video. Now we have started to shoot our next video. Of course we do not even want to reveal too much. But one thing is certain, it will be different from Parsec. We spent several hours doing in-depth studies and handicraft work for the backdrop. After showing our retro aspect in the Parsec video, the new video will be equal to the Sci-Fi Aspect of The Wars. Pilots of a special kind will be involved. Yes, there will be flying objects! Right now we will not reveal if The Wars will be airborne. But we tell you our next video is for the title track of our album called Healings. So, check our site the next weeks for the soon to be released trailer. Vielen Dank für euer großes Interesse an unserem Parsecvideo. Nun haben wir uns an den Dreh zu unserem nächsten Video gemacht. Natürlich wollen wir noch nicht zu viel verraten. Aber eines ist sicher, es wird anders als Parsec. Für das Set waren eingehende Studien und einige Stunden konstruktion nötig. Nachdem wir uns im letzten Video verstärkt dem Retroteil von The Wars gewidmet haben, werden wir uns nun dem SciFiteil zuwenden. Piloten der besonderen Art wurden engagiert. Ja, zu Piloten gehört auch ein Flugobjekt. Ob The Wars abheben werden, wollen wir noch nicht verraten. Aber wir sagen euch gerne, dass das nächste Video für den Titelsong unserer CD Healings sein wird. Schaut regelmäßig auf unsere Seite die nächsten Wochen für den demnächst erscheinenden Trailer. AUDIO PREVIEW: NATURE Here is the 5th part of our audio previews series taken from our upcoming CD Healings (SPV/Oblivion). This week's song is called Nature - a sinister little track about love and understanding. It is one of our earliest songs that also appeared on our Borderline EP but it turned out to be an evergreen and all time fave for us so we decided to put it on our next album too. Those of you who know the old version already might be surprised how this song has evolved. Thanks for the visit! Cya next week. Chris EDITORIAL Welcome to our 7th edition of Weekly Wars. We are proud to present you another song preview from our next album. Episode 3 of The Making of Healings is also waiting for you and we have a little article about the forced decline of the subculture of our hometown. Fight the system. Chris AUDIO PREVIEW: ETHON 'When there is nothing I want to sleep' Feeling the void in and around oneself makes some people wanting to simply be not there. When the band discussed how the song Ethon should be called we remembered an ancient greek story about this poor guy Prometheus having his liver eaten over and over again by an eagle. This cruel winged creature named Ethon seemed to display a perfect image referring to the chorus and the song's lyrical main theme. I remember how our drummer did an endless number of handclap overdubs and how well it worked for the track. Even though his hands must have been aching - the result was priceless. It was definitely one of my favorite recording sessions. Here is a little preview for you. I shot the pictures on a frosty day in a nearby place called Mauerpark. Chris MAKING OF HEALINGS: EPISODE 3 This episode contains a beautiful drums and piano session by Gernot and Felix. It is really worth to have a look. You can also watch me recording some guitars for our next album's title track called Healings. Since we finally decided to use a different version of the song these recordings shown in the video are kind of obsolete but nevertheless have a nice feel in my opinion. Maybe we will release this alternate version at a different point. Enjoy. Chris BERLIN UNDER ATTACK The survival of many projects by artists in Berlin is imperiled. Politicians decided to stop their encouragement. Many funded projects and institutions will receive no more money and are facing closure. People need culture when they are going bad. Our Healings album deals with many current crises. In a time of global crisis, people need culture. It has a healing effect and consolation. In this situation The Wars want to cooperate with other artists and institutions to draw attention. The actress Iris boss from our Video Parsec has launched a Petition. The Wars have organized a concert in one of Berlin´s funded venue. On 03/03/2012 there will be an emergency concert in the Wabe. The Wars organisieren Notstandskonzert in der Wabe Berlin ist eines der ärmsten Bundesländer Deutschlands. In Berlin gibt es viele Kulturschaffende, die Kultur ist eines der wichtigsten Exportgüter Berlins. Man sollte meinen, dass der Politik daran gelegen ist eines seiner wichtigsten Exportgüter zu stärken. Durch die schwierige Haushaltslage muss die Stadt sparen. Nun tut sie das genau bei der Kultur. Viele geförderte Projekte und Einrichtungen erhalten kein Geld mehr und stehen vor der Schließung. Die Menschen brauchen Kultur wenn es ihnen schlecht geht. Unser Album Healings beschäftigt sich mit vielen aktuellen Krisen. In einer Zeit der weltweiten Krisen benötigen die Menschen Kultur. Sie hat eine heilende Wirkung und spendet Trost. The Wars wollen mit anderen Künstlern und Einrichtungen auf diese Situation aufmerksam machen. Die Darstellerin Iris Boss aus unserem Video Parsec hat eine Petition ins Leben gerufen. Nun haben The Wars mit Unterstützung von Der 7.Ton ein Notstandskonzert in der durch Schließung bedrohten Wabe organisiert. Die Wabe hat schon vielen Künstlern die Möglichkeit gegeben ihr Schaffen an die Öffentlichkeit zu bringen. Jetzt ist dieser Standort bedroht und wir möchten helfen darauf aufmerksam zu machen! Am 3.3.2012 wird es in der Wabe ein Notstandskonzert geben. Wir rufen alle auf an diesem Abend zahlreich zu erscheinen! Lasst uns zeigen, dass uns Kultur wichtig ist und wir für den Standort Berlin kämpfen! Leska That's it for this week's episode. Tune in next Wednesday. <3 Chris EDITORIAL Hello fans and friends! Welcome to issue no 6 of Weekly Wars. This week's preview of our Healings CD features the song Whiteout. One by one there is a growing number of album reviews appearing all over the net and we would like to present you some of them. Our third story is about one of our most popular songs to date: Succubus. Enjoy! Felix & Gernot AUDIO PREVIEW: WHITEOUT I found the end of the sea when the sun set on me I found an open space where the future escapes I found an ocean of light I got killed on sight You know that I don't need a soul if you don't need it too These are the opening lines of Healings' 2nd track Whiteout. It is a song about how strange things can become when they grow too big - like if you see too much light you see nothing. Whiteout combines all the different musical styles that later appear on the album. You got a rock intro, an experimental verse, a drum and bass bridge part and a catchy hook line in the chorus. There is even a little reggae part. It took us a long time to bring this song to its final shape. In its original version the song was almost twice as long but we decided to cut out a lot of parts. We reduced the song to its essentials and then build it up again. We put a lot of energy into this baby. Here is the preview for you: HEALINGS CD: FIRST REVIEWS We are really happy to see there is a couple of sites reviewing our upcoming album and it seems they dig it. Here are some quotes and links for you: ..."Die ersten messerscharfen Akkorde von „White Out“ dringen aus den Boxen,... Beim Refrain geht die Post ab, er dringt in den Gehörgang und der Fuss wippt mit… „Gefällt mir“ würde es in einem anderen Medium heissen. Tempomässig ist „Healings” nicht ganz so rasant, vom Sound eher kantig, wunderbar arrangiert und getragen von der speziellen Stimme von Chris. Es ist lange her, dass ich New Wave auf so hohem Niveau gehört habe."... ..."Das Jahr 2012 beginnt für mich mit einem musikalischen Highlight: „Healings” von The Wars verdient die Höchstnote. Wer auf die Debütalben von She Wants Revenge und Editors steht, wird den Silbering lieben." www.art-noir.ch ..."Das Album “Healings” ist nach einigen EP’s ein sehr gut produziertes Debut Album. Nicht überladen und genau auf den Punkt gebracht. Die Songs sind minimalistisch und teilweise psychedelisch, unterstützt von markanten und sehr melodischen Gesangslinien."... ..."Zusammenfasend kann ich Euch das Album „Healings“ nur empfehlen. Ich hoffe, dass die drei, mit ihrem Album weltweiten Erfolg feiern können, denn Potenzial hat die Platte und die Band sowieso."... picolino.co.uk ..."Il faut reconnaître que la musique du trio a de quoi séduire avec son mélange de guitares travaillées et d’electro discrètement saupoudrée qui au final donne naissance à un rock atmosphérique progressif qui s’installe dans le sillage naturel de la scène des 70’s tout en affichant une couleur très actuelle. Du prog capable de convaincre avec une voix attachante et des textes pleins de sens …" "... Quelques petits cachets pop comme on les faisait jadis viennent encore apporter de la solidité à l’édifice et à l’arrivée, c’est un album plein de bonnes choses et surtout parfaitement équilibré que nous dévoilera le groupe pour les premiers jours du printemps 2012. L’hiver ne nous aura jamais semblé aussi long …" www.zicazic.com THE STORY BEHIND SUCCUBUS The Succubus music video was originally released in November 2010. The song was written for Advanced Electronics 8, a successful series of compilations containing mostly electronica based music. The guys running the series requested the song quite spontaneously, so we didn’t have much time for the production. It took us a few days to create a song that we reduced to its basic fragments: a simple beat, a stripped down bass line, a subtle guitar oberdub and some minimalistic electronica. We tried to keep it as simple as possible. As a result we had this three minutes long love song about a girl burned out by her own strong desire. We were quite happy and surprised when we read that Sonic Seducer magazine rated it as “one of the highlights of Advanced Electronics 8”. Since many people told us how much they like the song we dediced to put it on our next album too. So let's treat it as another preview of Healings. Here it is once again: This was this week’s issue of “Weekly Wars”. See you again next Wednesday. Greets, The Wars EDITORIAL Hello fans and friends! The date of the release is getting closer and closer. This week we are proud to present a short preview of the song ENCLAVE, that will be on our next album HEALINGS. We also have some pictures of the booklet to give you an impression how the cd will look like. On the 24th of February will play a concert at the K17 club in Berlin, Friedrichshain to support the record release of the band Scream Silence. Come by and enjoy the show! Felix PHOTO SAFARI Last Wednesday we drove to Tegel-airport to do the final shooting for the booklet. We chose a tunnel as background and basic theme and placed little things there, related to the story of the songs. It was very inspiring and what was planned to be done in 30 minutes took 4 hours. Here is a little preview of the results. AUDIO PREVIEW OF ENCLAVE Sometimes less is more Great things happen out of nothing, Brian Eno once said that about writing songs. We experienced it with ENCLAVE. We were right in the middle of the recording sessions when we took our instruments for a little jam. 30 min we played through all genres and then we found ourselves with in a little melody and there it was. The song was almost finished the first time we played it. Sometimes you just have to be yourself in what you play, you are becoming a little piece in a big cake, become one with the big thing, it is just there. We were so overwhelmed after this jam that we decided to put it on the record. Trying not to destroy the great feeling of the song, we kept almost everything the way we played it in the jam. I think you can hear it. GERNOTS TOP 5 Here is a list of my favorite 5 albums that you definitely have to listen to: Sparkelhorse It's a wonderful life Spotlight Kid Desaster tourist Codeine The White Birch Talk Talk The Laughing Stock Die Die Die Form EDITORIAL Dear Fans and Friends, this week's edition is all about coffee machines, a beautiful actress and a song called Safari. Take a look. Chris THE MAKING OF HEALINGS - EPISODE 2 Who is the man cooking the best coffee in the world? You guessed right! It is our bass player. If you want to see him in full action showing his amazing skills watch the second episode of The Making of Healings. Oh, there is another reason to watch it. Witness how Felix recorded the drums for Safari. INTERVIEW WITH IRIS BOSS - PART 2 Iris Boss www.irisboss.de Katrin: Wie ist die Idee entstanden, Euch in dem Video die Rollen als Superhelden zu geben? Iris: Da musst du die Band fragen. Katrin: Wie denkst Du über die Rolle der Superhelden, die letztendlich auch nicht unfehlbar sind und trotz des Guten auch die verletzliche Seite und den Kampf... ja vielleicht auch das Böse in sich tragen... Ist ja auch übertragbar auf die Menschheit. Iris Ich denke, der Reiz an Superhelden liegt genau darin, dass sie unfehlbar sind. Der klassische Superheld ist nur gut, stark und unverwundbar. Deshalb üben sie seit jeher eine große Faszination auf die Menschen aus. Im Gegensatz dazu sind z.B. die Götter der Griechen oder der Gott der Christen geradezu vielschichtiGernot: Sie zerstören aus Wut oder verletzter Eitelkeit oder sind einfach gleichgültig. Sie helfen dem, der sich auf ihre Seite stellt, aber für ihre Hilfe müssen Opfer gebracht werden. Der Superheld dagegen ist ein Dienstleister, ihm reicht es, wenn du ein passives Opfer bist um Dir zu helfen – der kapitalistische Wunschtraum wenn du so willst. Sein Gegenspieler, der Superschurke ist ebenfalls ziemlich simpel gestrickt: Er ist nur böse, zerstörerisch und egoistisch. Nichts von wegen „ein Teil von jener Kraft, die stets das Böse will und stets das Gute schafft“. Ich denke, das Phänomen der Superhelden entspringt dem menschlichen Bedürfnis, alles und v.a. sich selbst ganz klar und möglichst für immer zu definieren. Je schwächer wir sind, desto mehr brauchen wir einen unfehlbaren Superhelden mit dem wir uns identifizieren können. Dass die meisten von uns ( Geisteskranke und Heilige vielleicht ausgenommen ) aus Gut und Böse, Licht und Schatten, Liebe und Hass bestehen, ist ein unbequemer und gefährlicher Gedanke, aber Meinung nach der einzige Weg, das Leben in Ansätzen zu begreifen. Wir spielen in dem Video also eigentlich keine klassischen Superhelden, bzw. wir demaskieren sie und das System für das sie stehen, da die beiden Figuren nur aus egoistischen Gründen handeln. Es geht um Macht – im Kampf und in „Liebe“. Wir tragen zwar schwarz und weiss, bedienen die Farben aber nicht in ihrem herkömmlichen Sinn von Gut und Böse. Katrin: Welche Rolle würdest du sehr gern noch in einem Musikvideo übernehmen... Iris: Eine Geheimagentin, eine Serienkillerin, eine Politesse, die Liebesbriefe unter die Scheibenwischer klemmt, eine Amazone mit Pfeil und Bogen, eine Patientin in einer Gummizelle, ein singendes Telegramm, eine traurige Clownin, eine Pennerin, ein weiblicher Mr. Ripley, ein Waldgeist, eine Prostituierte, die einen Lachkrampf bekommt – ich bin für vieles offen… Katrin: Was wünscht Du der Band The Wars für ihren weiteren Weg? Iris: Nur was sie verdient: Ruhm, Reichtum und Weltherrschaft! Katrin: Ich wünsche Dir alles erdenklich Gute und danke für das Interview! Iris: Ich danke dir! Interview by Katrin Gri, Der 7. Ton AUDIO PREVIEW OF SAFARI You've seen our drummer recording it - now you can listen to the final result. It's a song about impatience, alienation and desperate tries of fixing things. Here is a little preview of Safari from our forthcoming album Healings. The footage filmed is what you can see outside the windows of our studio. Enjoy. Okay folks, that's it for this week's issue of Weekly Wars. Hope you enjoyed it. See you next Wednesday. Chris EDITORIAL Dear Fans and Friends, we were all busy with the release of Parsec. It has been an exciting weekend. We received a lot of nice PMs and comments - it seems many of you guys like the video. This means a lot to us! Kathrin Gri of Der 7. Ton had the opportunity to interview Ms Iris Boss who plays the role of Black. This issue features the first half of the interview and gives you an interesting insight about how she developed her part. This week's third article is about a childhood fantasy of mine. Enjoy! Chris PARSEC PREMIERE WAS A SUCCESS As I am writing this Parsec has reached over 600 plays in just 48 hours. For a little unknown band like us that's fabulous. But that means the hard work pays off. Ry spent endless hours of editing. If possible he would have been editing even while the baby was uploading. The guys of KOOL ROCK RADIO decided that Parsec is KOOL, too. Isn't that great? Parsec is their Single of the Week and we can feel the impact that has on our traffic. We know that there are many people in Peru who like our music and we would like to say a big big thank you to you! I hope sometime in the future we will make it to Lima. It would defo be a blast for us. INTERVIEW WITH IRIS BOSS Part 1 Hallo Iris, erst einmal vielen Dank, dass ich Dir ein paar Fragen zu dem neuen Video „Parsec“ von The Wars stellen darf. Katrin: In dem Video übernehmen Du und Iljá Pletner die Hauptrollen... Ihr beide seid die Personen, die dem Video ihr Gesicht geben... Euch kennt man aus dem Theater... Wie kam es dazu, einmal eine Rolle im Video von The Wars zu übernehmen? Iris: Im Juni 2011 hatte ich mit Iljá Premiere mit „Aufzeichnungen aus dem Untergrund“, einer Dostojewski-Adaption im Theater unterm Dach. Wir entschieden uns, das Stück mit „Stillbirth“ von The Wars zu eröffnen und freuten uns sehr, dass Chris, Gernot und Felix sich eine Vorstellung ansahen. Die Band ließ sich von der Theateratmosphäre und dem Zusammenspiel zwischen Iljá und mir inspirieren und fragte uns kurze Zeit danach, ob wir uns vorstellen könnten, in einem Video der Band mitzuspielen. Katrin: Im Theater musst Du zur Vorbereitung eines Auftrittes Drehbücher lesen und versuchen, dich in die Rolle hineinzuversetzen... Wie hast Du Dich auf den Videodreh vorbereitet - den Song immer und immer wieder gehört etc.? Was gehört für dich zur Vorbereitung eines Videodrehs? Iris: Bei meiner Arbeit geht es weniger darum, mich in etwas „hineinzuversetzen“ – „drin“ ist man ganz von selbst, wenn man tut was man zu tun hat, also der Rolle angemessen handelt. Insofern unterschied sich die Vorbereitung für das Video v.a. darin, dass es keinen Text als Vorlage gab. Den Song habe ich mir natürlich angehört und mich sicher auch von seiner Energie inspirieren lassen. Das Zusammenbringen von Bildern und Musik passiert dann aber eher im Schnitt. Meine Rolle im Video war ja keine psychologisch komplexe, sondern eher ein Stereotyp. Ich habe mir verschiedene „Superheldinnen“ aus Comicverfilmungen angesehen, ihre Mimik und Körpersprache studiert, um beim Dreh möglichst viele Angebote machen zu können. Iris Boss www.irisboss.de Katrin: Gab es Vorlagen seitens der Band für den Videodreh? Iris: Die Band hat die Grundidee und eine klare Vorstellung der beiden Charaktere vorgegeben und uns viel Freiheit in der Ausführung gelassen. Wir haben gemeinsam eine Storyline mit den wichtigsten Stationen entwickelt und uns dann voneinander überraschen lassen. Eine schöne Arbeit! Katrin: In Parsec geht es ja um die Entfremdung der Menschen untereinander... und auch darum, dass Liebe immer mehr zu einem Überzeugungskampf wird, anstatt sich kennenzulernen... Ein paar Fragen dazu: In dem Video seid ihr zu sehen als Superhelden, die sich in einen Kampf begeben... Gegeneinander kämpfen, sich lieben, wieder kämpfen um am Ende umzufallen... liegen bleiben... Kennst Du das Gefühl der Liebe in der man immer wieder kämpft, liebt und am Ende doch umfällt...? Iris: Ja Katrin: Wie gehst Du selbst mit Gefühlen von Wut, Zerstörung, Liebe, Hoffnung und Verzweiflung um? Iris: Wenn ich kann, spielerisch und kreativ. Wenn ich nicht kann, gehen die Gefühle eher mit mir um. Katrin: In dem Moment als ihr das Video aufgezeichnet habt, sind vielleicht auch genau diese Gefühle in Dir spürbar gewesen...Wie gehst du dann damit um, bzw. grenzt dich davon ab? Iris: Im Moment des Spielens ist es ja nicht meine Aufgabe mich abzugrenzen. Es ist Teil des Handwerks eines Schauspielers, zu unterscheiden zwischen sich und der Rolle und doch gleichzeitig eins zu sein. Meine Befindlichkeiten als Privatperson interessiert keinen Zuschauer – was ich fühle auch nicht. Was interessiert ist das, was über die Figur erzählt wird. Interview by Katrin Gri, Der 7. Ton ENGLAND - FREE DOWNLOAD OFFER ENDS When I was a child I used to hang around at the beach and stared at the North Sea. I imagined if I would stare long enough the ocean would let me see the far away coast of England - I even fantasized about swimming there. Well, thankfully I didn't try but many years later I wrote a song based on these childhood memories called England. It is one of my all time faves of The Wars and I am always a little sad England didn't make it onto our debut album (Though I am sure it will have its revenge on our 2nd album). England England A band across the sea There is England I need the ocean Waves of corrosion below me Oh seismic cold bride stay by my side We can be as one Oh heaven sent me to be quiet when you are stunned We are in the sun The road bends The road ends Don't talk to me in the wastelands Farewell now my ocean We will meet again We are like the sand Oh heaven they've spoken to you my sweet bride My England The road bends The road ends Don't talk to me in the wastelands The road bends The road ends Don't talk to me in the wastelands Don't talk My England we'll be this We'll be as one Just listened to the song and it is still taking me far away. Just love it. We made this song available for free download a while ago but now the time has come to end this offer since there seems to be a small buzz about the band and we are exceeding traffic and download limits here and there. But don't panic! You can still download it for free until January 31st. Okay folks, that's it for this week's issue of Weekly Wars. Hope you enjoyed it. See you next Wednesday. Chris EDITORIAL Dear Fans and Friends, welcome to the second issue of Weekly Wars. Our last issue created a little boom on our website. It seems you guys like our new feature and that's awesome! This week we give you more details about our upcoming album. You have the privilege of watching our one and only foto story ever(!) and there is a short clip of a hard working drummer to be seen. Enjoy! c.k. THE WARS REVEAL RELEASE DATE OF THEIR DEBUT ALBUM Our new album will be released on March 23rd 2012. It is entitled Healings and contains 12 songs. Ladies and gentlemen - let us present the cover art to you: Playlist: 01 TOGA 02 WHITEOUT 03 HEALINGS 04 PARSEC 05 ENCLAVE 06 SAFARI 07 JET STREAM 08 NATURE 09 SUCCUBUS 10 ETHON 11 COAST 12 TORTOISE Over the coming weeks Weekly Wars will present you snippets of each song. There are also some videos in the making. As you can imagine we are totally excited and we can't wait for the album to be released. The following article features how the cover picture was taken. c.k. THE ADVENTURES OF TAKING PICTURES We wanted to shoot some nice new promotional photos for our upcoming album, so we got right down to work. We figured our city would provide the perfect backdrop. What followed were some very interesting experiences during a two-day photo shoot. We discovered that in Berlin's museums, you can't take off your jacket and drape it over your arm. And walking sticks aren't allowed either. Then the barrier in the parking lot near the museum wouldn't open, even though the machine had eaten our ticket. We ended up having a ridiculous conversation with a parking ticket machine since the attendants of all of the car parks are gathered around multiple video screens in a central office. At Potsdamer Platz, we were kicked out by security guards who even threatened to call the police, because we didn't have a permit and all that grief was for only a few photos of your average wall... We decided to try our luck at the airport. The result: a few nice photos in a freezing cold tunnel and in the end, we finally got our classy cover photo. l.x. (Translation by Nina Meier Bradlin) The following illustration demonstrates the hard life of rockstars in the postmodern wilderness: And how did it all end? FINAL SCORE: GOTH ROCKERS 1, SECURITY 0 Hahaha :) c.k. THE WARS IN THE STUDIO Today we kick off a series of videos of The Wars creating their debut album called Healings. Episode 1 features the first two days at Wintergrain Studio including incredible drum rolls and all the dirty little recording secrets. So here it is - the first part of The Making of Healings: c.k. PARSEC VIDEO WILL BE RELEASED THIS SUNDAY Just a reminder: Parsec will be up this Sunday. You will be able to watch it here or on our Youtube channel. Here is the trailer for those who haven't seen it yet: NEXT WEEK ON WEEKLY WARS: An interview, all about the Parsec launch and a giveaway. EDITORIAL Dear Fans and Friends, welcome to the first issue of Weekly Wars - our brand new little magazine about The Wars. From now on every Wednesday we will keep you up to date with anything relating to The Wars. There will be news, videos, streams, photos, interviews and many more things we would like to share with you. Wednesday is Weekly Wars Day. So let's get it on with a big bang. THE WARS SIGN A RECORD DEAL WITH SPV/OBLIVION We are very happy to announce that we have just signed a record deal with one of the largest independent distributors and record labels worldwide: SPV. I think you guys can imagine how insanely amazing that is for us. This gives us the opportunity to reach a way larger audience for our music and if you add the fact that we are now label mates of great German Prog Rock artists like Popul Vuh, Amon Düül II or Klaus Schulze it really feels like a dream come true since this era of music is a major influence to us. So yeah, we are recording a cool new record and it will be released early this year. Things happen fast. In the coming weeks we will always keep you up to date and let you guys have a look and a listen how things are going. Expect to see some little videos of the band recording, previews of songs, cover art, album title and all that precious stuff that surrounds our forthcoming baby. PARSEC - NEW VIDEO TO BE RELEASED One of the fastest and angriest tracks on our new album is Parsec. It was also the first one to be finished. When we listened to the mix we were stunned by its dark energy with its light psychedelia parts combined. Pretty soon we decided to make a video for the song and asked German actors Iljá Pletner and Iris Boss if they would like to play in a black superhero versus white superhero kinda film that should reflect the song's lyrical main theme. They liked the idea very much as our new video director Ry Conspica did. We shot the entire video at Theater unterm Dach a small fine location known for superb independent productions one of them receiving the Friedrich-Luft-Preis. Here is the preview: Parsec is to be released on January 15th 2012. COAST - NEW LIVE VIDEO OUT When I was a teenager I used to have a favorite record store: City Music Berlin. This awesome place was where I got my first 12": Frankie goes to Holly Wood - Two Tribes. Pure coolness at the western heart of Berlin. Two weeks ago The Wars had the privilege to play there. We performed a stripped down version of Coast while all the old memories came back to my mind. The guys at City Music are very nice, competent and true music lovers. That's what record stores should always be about. This little show was a special experience for me I will remember for a very long time. So, here is the video for you: Thanks for stopping by. We hope you enjoyed Issue 01 of Weekly Wars. See you next week. Chris NEXT WEEK ON WEEKLY WARS: THE ADVENTURES OF TAKING PICTURES AT PUBLIC PLACES THE WARS REVEAL RELEASE DATE OF THEIR DEBUT ALBUM IN THE STUDIO WITH THE WARS