What a circus! An Interview with CIRCUS OF FOOLS

Zur deutschen Version gehts hier.

There are a couple of bands that have become quite close to my heart over the years and one of them is CIRCUS OF FOOLS. When it became apparent that the crazy-cool clowns would find their way to Halle, there was no doubt in my mind: I’ve got to be there! Working with the clowns, especially on a small video series for their Youtube channel, was very fun. All the more reason for me to be happy to release this interview!

And don’t forget to listen to the new CIRCUS OF FOOLS single called Our Digital Drug!

Shieldmaiden’s Voice: What should a listener know about you before listening to your music?

Tim: Do they have to know anything at all? [laughs]

Dome: We’re crazy!

Tim: I don’t think it’s necessary to know anything about a band before listening to them for the first time, especially not with bands like CIRCUS OF FOOLS. That just creates expectations we can’t fulfill anyway. We’re not a band that compartmentalizes itself into genres, we’re simply CIRCUS OF FOOLS.

Dome: The less you know, the better. And we’re crazy!

SV: Why is the critical adaptation of current topics important to you?

Tim: I’m generally convinced that bands are always more or less political. Even a party band is political by telling the audience that there is something to celebrate. Since music is political, you can incorporate things that move you. Our music is always dealing with topics that really concern us.

SV: Which influence did the pandemic have on finding the topic for and working on this coming album?

Tim: I would divide that between the work on the themes and the work on the music because that is how we did it within the band. Theme-wise it definitely had an impact. Aspects like the interpersonal relationship and the connection with modern technology played a big role. We observed the people selfishly working towards an almost non-existent future. The destruction mankind is causing now will be the dominant topic of the future. That was really palpable during the pandemic which is why it naturally had a big influence on the story we’re trying to tell.

Dome: The work on the musical side was also very exciting. We were living in different cities meaning that, even without the pandemic, we would’ve needed to find ways to get through this process without meeting.

The online work process was surprisingly easy-going. One of us had the screen, and the „power“ in a way, and we wrote the songs in a team of four. It worked really well!

SV: Which innovations, that weren’t possible before, were you able to implement due to the more professional production?

Dome: We always did what we wanted to do. Now, it just sound much better!

Tim: When you produce something yourself, you only see the things you’re occupied with yourself. Someone else, who does this professionally and didn’t listen to the songs for half a year, has a fresher outlook on the music and can offer new perspectives.

I always lead the productions of our last albums which was exceedingly stressful. No I was able to delegate a lot of elements to other people and could concentrate on my singing and my texts. That wouldn’t have been possible if I had to edit guitar tracks on the side. We owe all that to our pre-production-coordinator, Daniel Hildebrand, and to Christoph Wieczorek and his team here at Sawdust Recordings.

SV: What changed the most with you guys since the last album?

Dome: We invest more time into the band. It took a long while, almost two years, for us to be ready to go into the studio. In addition, we’re recording choirs and the drums separately. In the past, we recorded an album when we thought we had enough decent songs. This time however, we planned everything for a long time, discussed what the next steps would be, which songs would make it onto the album and that gives it a more professional feeling. Even if we hadn’t gone into the studio, it would have been a better result than anything we’ve done before. The work within the band is also heavily impacted because we have found a new singer in Tammy.

SV: What do you want to achieve with this album?

Tim: First of all, we want to create an album that is carried by a cohesive concept. This includes music, lyrics, overall design and video material. It’s supposed to represent what we as CIRCUS OF FOOLS stand for. Each one of us has their specific area of work, which is also important to that person, and all that will come together in the general concept. I believe that we achieved that. The album is a very round thing, or a square thing, depending whether you opened it already or not [laughs]. Everything is thought out and that was important to us. 

Another important aspect for us would be to reach as many people as possible and to be able to take a first step into the big, wide world. The people should hear what we have to say and we hope for gigs at bigger festivals. It’s everyone’s dream to be on stages on which the people can see the whole picture and where we don’t step on each other’s feet. 

SV: The album was made possible by a crowdfunding campaign. What would be the best way not to support you in your endeavor to achieve these goals?

Tim: Buy the merch!

Dome: And the album, when it’s released! Besides that, it’s important for the algorithms nowadays to stay active on social media. A „like“ goes a long way.

Tim: The people use Spotify a lot and when you put your favorite song in a playlist, it helps a lot.

SV: Is there anything, that we haven’t talked about, that you want to add to this interview?

Dome: I want to thank you for being here for the third time!

Tim: Thanks a lot for accompanying this production and for ensuring that the world out there will see what went on!

Well, what can I say? It was a lot of fun! Soon, you’ll be able to see the product of my studio visits on the CIRCUS OF FOOLS Youtube channel.

Until then, you should seriously consider buying tickets for the clown’s upcoming birthday celebration. It will take place on Nov. 26th 2022 in Reutlingen and you can buy the tickets here.