R13: Please can you introduce yourself and explain your role within the band.
Matthias: Hey, I'm Matthias and I play drums in HSB.
R13: Where are you now?
M: Right now, we're at home and we just started to write new songs for the next album, coming out in early 2006 on Century Media.
R13: What are you doing?
M: As I said, we're just writing new stuff and so we're not playing that many shows at the moment. There will be one more festival gig at the 'Up From The Ground Festival' in the end of august, but besides that we don't play any shows until our European tour will start at the end of September.
R13: What would you prefer to be doing?
M: I'd prefer to be in Brazil at the moment.
R13: What are you wearing?
M: Just socks.
R13: Can you give a brief explanation of how the band got together?
M: Maik, our guitar player, and me started a band in 1995 that eventually became HSB. We just wanted to play some music and to have fun. It wasn't serious at all. There wasn't any real intention to release cd's or stuff. It just happened after some time and then everything just became a bit more important.
Our singer and our bass player just joined the band in 1997 and our second guitar player became a member in 1998. Since then the line-up is stable.
R13: Being a German band how do you feel you relate to UK audiences?
M: We only played like 3 shows there. There was one in 2002 and two in 2004. We always had a great time and people seemed to like our stuff.
We know that not that many people know us there yet, but we're working on it and we'll be back in October. Needless to say that we're really looking forward.
R13: Are there any differences between UK fans and fans from the continent?
M: I think the only difference is that most people in the UK didn't see us yet.
So if we play a show in the UK, we always play in front of lots of new faces.
So we can't really compare the response we get there to the one we're getting at the continent.
R13: You're playing a few festivals over the net few months. Do you enjoy the festival period?
M: Festivals are great for watching many bands and meeting people. So it's nice to hang out there and having a good time. We always like to attend such events.
R13: How does it compare to performing a headline show?
M: Usually headlining shows or shows in smaller venues are way better...more intense. There's no gap between the stage and the people and that makes everything much better.
Playing festivals and playing smaller club shows are two different stories.
It's cool to be at the bill of such huge fests, because there are also lots of new faces you can play to. On the other hand smaller shows are more fun i guess...
R13: You are due to release a split CD with Caliban. Why did you choose to release a split CD and not a full CD of your own?
M: There will be a full CD at the beginning of next year. We just thought that this split CD would be a good way to give a life sign between 'Antigone' and the new one.
Caliban and HSB left Lifeforce Records, but both bands still promised a EP to them.
In the end we decided to release a second part of the split-CD that was released in 2000 already.
R13: Having already released split CD do you find it’s an easy way to allow new people to hear your music?
M: To us it is. Caliban are selling way more records than we do and so it's a good way to get more people into HSB as well. But that's just an side-effect and not the intention behind the whole thing. We're long-time friends with Caliban and we thought that it would be more interesting to release another split-CD of Caliban/ HSB, instead of one Caliban-EP and one HSB-EP.
That way people also just have to pay for one CD, instead buying two releases.
R13: Were you already friends with Caliban?
M: We're friends since we played shows together in 1998.
R13: Why did you choose Caliban to release with?
M: The plan existed since 1998 and in 2000 the first split was released. Now there was no plan to release another split. As I said, there was the thing that both bands wanted to release another EP on Lifeforce and the bands and the label decided to put it out as another split release.
It wasn't that we've been searching for a band to release a split with...
R13: Do you feel they compliment your music?
M: Both bands are friends and we do respect each other. Both bands changed over the years, but all of us still like all of their stuff...also the new record.
I think they also like us and our style. That's what they say...hehe.
They also wouldn't like to put out a split with a band they don't like i guess.
We feel honoured due to the fact that they were also really into that second split project.
R13: How did you choose the tracks to put on the CD?
M: Actually that were the only tracks we had around that time. We always wanted to re-record the old song 'If This Is A Man" and the two covers we did on the record.
The two songs are the only new stuff we had until the date when we hit the studio. So there was no choice...hehehe.
R13: Which is your favourite track on the CD?
M: 'No one will shed a tear' is my personal favourite.
R13: Who writes most for the band or is it a collective effort?
M: It's our guitar player Maik who's writing most of the riffs and who also writes the lyrics.
But in the end the whole band is working on the songs together.
R13: Do you have to be in a certain mood to write? How do you find your inspiration?
M: No. We can't wait to be in a certain mood to write songs. We're always trying to write new songs if we think it's about time. If we would do everything in a certain mood, all the songs would sound like the same.
Some people might think it's like that anyway...hahaha...but at least we don't feel like we have to be in a special mood. We always try new stuff if we want to.
R13: Do you write on a certain setup with a specific guitar instrument?
M: Maik gets most of his ideas at home I think. I don't really know if he prefers to write the new stuff on a certain instrument. I don't think so.
R13: And finally if British fans want to see you play live when can they expect to see you here in the UK?
M: In October we'll be there for sure. There are 4 shows in the UK planned and since we'll be on tour with lots of great bands like As I Lay Dying, Agents Of Man, End Of Days and some more, it's going to be amazing!
I really hope to see as many people as possible over there...
R13: Many thanks for your time
M: Thank you for the interview! We're really looking forward to hit the UK again!