India, February 2010.
BLACK RUST from Ahlen on the road. Five days in a state of trance, sleepless somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Tens of thousands of kilometres away from that, what used to be called home, the tour of the band reached its high point - exotic and irritating . Enormous amounts of impressions and no time to process even a single one of them. The threat of collapsing increases towards the end. But then these five former schoolmates are on a stage in front of 5000 people, the first tunes come out of the loudspeakers and suddenly BLACK RUST are back to themselves again.
THE GANGS ARE GONE tells the story of identity, of growing up and uprooting. Where are we from, where do we want to go, and hell, who are we? It is not only the catcher in the rye. You only get homeless, although you have a home, when you move out and return and find everything different, just to recognise: the only thing that has changed is you. The world has made you change. Jonas Künne's texts light up this critical state, in which one suddenly notices that one has lost very much during the search for one’s own identity and treading new paths, which used to offer security: Love, friends, homeland. "Trying to be a stranger in a place where you always have been", sings Jonas in "From Now On" and "All my homes they are burnt down ruins and I can't go back where I belong" in "Memory Lane". Emptiness and isolation on the big screen.
"The album is an odyssey, a search and longing for exactly the feeling, which clearly says: You're right here", bass player Julian Jacobi explains, "You will not find this, when you isolate yourself, always stay in the same place or only do things you're told to. Sometimes you need to destroy the old things in order to create the basis for something new."
"These guys live for the moment. They remind me of everything that it is good in a band and it was very satisfying for me to see this. It gave me back the passion for working.", says Robin Proper-Sheppard, mastermind of Sophia, who took over the production of the first 'real' album Medicine & Metaphors and this time also sat at the controllers. Again in studios in Hamburg and London, and with Kenny Jones, another friend, who has already mixed the finishing touch for Oasis, The Smiths and Billy Bragg.
Flashback: Two years ago Medicine & Metaphors made people take notice throughout Germany. BLACK RUST impressively proved that superbly crafted Americana is not only at home in the USA, but also in the Westphalian province. The consistent confinement on acoustic instruments, singer Jonas Künne's catchy voice and sensitive arrangements gave these touching songs their own, strong sound form. This reached the press: "With Medicine & Metaphors we have the first aspirant for the German Americana record 2009.", the Musikexpress raved about the album, the Rolling Stone wrote "a beautiful Americana, pub rock and folk album" and the Visions team talked about "Here one plays skillfully with the forms and the sophisticated arrangements prove that especially nowadays handmade music with passion and heart is more than necessary."
Finally, the second album has been launched, which is made of the same ingredients but supplemented by more experience and serenity. Besides singer Jonas Künne and band co-founder Julian Osthues (guitar, mandolin, harmonica, trumpet, trombone), Julian Jacobi (double bass), Christoph Seiler (piano, hammond, rhodes, accordion) and drummer Adrian Hemley complete the band set-up again. And nonetheless, this time everything was completely different.
In THE GANGS ARE GONE, one song picks up on the previous one, re-tells it, prepares the next one and passes on the baton. This time, BLACK RUST increasingly worked with electric guitars, even if the main focus is still on acoustic instruments. Whether folky ballads with glockenspiel and accordion, hymnal pop songs with strings and brass or compact rock songs with electric guitars and mandolin: the band's central quality of placing a good deal of value on dynamics, contrast and variety results in consistent progression and, now and then, even provides space for small experiments such as the use of a banjo or tuba - moments of pure enthusiasm.
And so it is not surprising that BLACK RUST draw a positive balance with THE GANGS ARE GONE, despite all the darkness, rising floods and sinking ships. "A wonder that we're still alright", so are the lyrics in the hidden track "Still" - repeated so surprisingly often that it's quite hard to believe this statement. "We are actually all completely fine", Jonas smiles. And quickly adds: "The music is not there to change the world. The music is there to save your life. Wherever our path may lead to, one thing's for sure: We feel absolutely right here." Means as m1uch as: BLACK RUST have found the place where they feel at home. In their music.
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|photo: Stephan Krypczyk & Elvira Neuendank|
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