ROCK YOUR
DARK SIDE
PATRICK: Yes. I think that the male voice
and the female voice are different instru-
ments. To have a male singer or a female
singer is a decision like having a piano in a
band or not having a piano. It is a key to how
the band is supposed to sound. There was al-
ways a vision to having a female voice and
I have known Darlene longer than we have
been in the band together. We all knew each
other before we started the band. I knew that
she was a great singer and she plays guitar,
too. So, she was playing guitar and singing
her own songs to it. She did cover versions
because she is not good at writing the songs.
That’s a strength that I have. So yes, it was
the decision to have a female voice. I’ve
been in a lot of bands in my life and I am the
oldest guy in the band. We always had male
singers but sometimes it’s time for a female
voice. It makes a huge difference, I think.
I love female voices. Maybe it’s because
I am becoming an elderly man (chuckles).
So that is why we decided to have a female
singer and invited Darlene to join the band.
Give me your take on the
state of the industry now
and how hard it is. What’s
your take on social me-
dia? Give me your overall
take on the industry.
PATRICK: Right. Maybe I am not the right
person to do it because I am from the 70’s
as well. I always cared only for independent
music. If I switch on mainstream radio, I
don’t know what this is all about. That’s why
I have a very limited and a very special view
on it maybe. I always cared about bands that
just paid their own way. They made what
they love to make in terms of music. When
we recorded our album in the neighboring
studio, there was a boy band and they had
industry background. There was somebody
from Sony Music Germany always behind
them and telling them how they should sound
and not sound. They don’t even write their
own songs. Somebody else writes the songs
for them. This is not the world that I am in.
My focus is always own the people that make
their own path and this has never changed.
It probably got kicked off in the 1970’s when
pop rock started and so many people were
making music and art. You just make what
you have to make. I think this has always
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