Weather the Storm! An Interview with STORM SEEKER

Zur deutschen Version gehts hier. 

If you can’t get enough of my Rockharz content, make sure to check out my reports on Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4!

After the ENSIFERUM interview was rather heroic, I thought it would be nice to just let us drift for a bit. And who better to annoy with questions than the crew of STORM SEEKER? This band is exactly the right thing when you sit in your garden but would rather be sitting in a beach chair! Speaking of beach chairs… Doesn’t that remind you of something? Well, anyway, read for yourselves!

Shieldmaiden’s Voice: If you had to describe your music in three words, which would you choose?

Timo: Oh god… Three words… Nobody has ever asked me that. You usually have your „elevator pitch“, but that is longer than three words! Well… I would say „romantic“ in a classic sense. Then…uhm… is „rough sea“ a word? Or could it be a fixed term? I need to include something nautical! Oh! „Nautical“ is good! Let’s take that instead! And of course, „fun“ because we always have a lot of fun on stage!

SV: How did you come up with your band name?

Timo: We thought about it for a long time! Back then, we were almost done with school, which was quite a while ago, and it was apparent very soon that the name should have something to do with wind. At the time, we also thought about giving us a German name since we weren’t that fixed yet on English texts. Actually, it was an idea of our guitarist at the time, but I’m not that sure anymore of the details. That was a really long time ago! From the beginning though, all of us were on board with the idea because it captures everything we like. All of us love the sea and back then the pirate-theme played an even bigger role for us. We have since moved on from that a bit and have gone more towards a sailor-approach, but it still fits very well. 

SV: What inspires you the most when it comes to songwriting?

Timo: I can only tell you what inspires me personally, because the main songwriting is done by my brother Olaf, who is our current drummer. What always inspires me are stories about the sea in one way or another. I’m reading a lot of Long John Silver stories, you know, the real romantic stuff, and I draw a lot of inspiration from that. Another part also comes from other music, since I listen to a lot of different genres and then think to myself „Hey! You could write something about that!“. Recently I wrote a song, for which there is currently only text and no music yet, and that was inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean. Culture, in general, is a great source of inspiration for me. 

SV: Last year, you released your album Guns don’t cry. What makes this album special in your opinion?

Timo: Guns don’t cry is more fun than the releases before. Especially Beneath in the Cold was very serious and dark and this time we wanted to highlight our fun side a bit more. There are songs like Deathwatch Beetle Party which are the opposite of serious and which are just fun. And the title song is also everything but serious because it’s about a pirate who always gets disappointed by women and who has to cuddle with his gun and therefore it’s called Guns don’t cry. It’s not to be taken seriously, we just wanted to have fun again!

SV: What made you release Calm Seas, Vol. 1 directly after?

Timo: That was actually because of Covid. Since we couldn’t play outside anymore, we wanted to come directly into the homes of people. We decided to do an acoustic version and didn’t make a big production out of it. Most of the vocals on this album are one-takes, where I just sang the way I wanted. Everything is very real, almost nothing is doubled and barely produced. It was always our wish to do something acoustic and to thereby establish us as musicians a bit more. This was the perfect opportunity for that. Since everything was cancelled due to Covid we actually had the time. It was a project that was dear to our hearts.

SV: You just hinted at it: Covid hit the artistic scene very hard. What does it feel like for you to finally be back on stage?

Timo: It’s unbelievable! We are now doing the tour we would have done two years ago. Ages ago, we were told „You’ll be playing at Rockharz soon!“ and it never happened, but it was always rescheduled. It’s simply incredible to be back on stage and it’s our third gig this year because the booking is picking up slowly. Last year, during Covid, we were lucky enough to support MONO INC. at their beach chair concerts. We weren’t completely abstinent, but it just wasn’t the same. Having the audience sit and in beach chairs at that just wasn’t the same. To play again is just amazing fun. We are happy and are excited that the people are having fun. It’s always a big celebration. We are overwhelmed that it’s finally possible again.

SV: What is the best thing about playing for STORM SEEKER?

Timo: For sure the live appearances. I, personally, love going on stage and to play and it’s such an amazing fun for me. When someone comes to me and says „Hey, ich had so much fun!“, then I’ll always say „Yes, me too!“ and that is my super sincere standard answer. It’s a party every time. Everything else is fun too, ich live the people and we’re an amazing group. We also have a new guitarist who has only played with us twice so far, but we’ve been friends for a long time. Our crew is amazing and they do fantastic stuff. I don’t even know if you’re allowed to write all that, but I’m telling you anyway!

SV: What are your plans for the rest of the year?

Timo: Live gigs, live gigs, live gigs! We’re super stoked to play more concerts and we’re also playing Wacken this year and on my birthday at that! It’s not getting any better than that! Of course, we’re also going to do some recording for a new album and are very invested in songwriting. Other than that we’ll just let things come as they are. The scene is so devastated that everything is very improvised and we feel that. There are short-term offers coming in all the time. We know that now and prepare ourselves accordingly. This year is just anarchy. Next year will be planned more!

SV: If you could wish for one thing for the band, what would it be?

Timo: We’re pretty happy as it is, to be honest. Since our deal with No Cut, our label, we’re just happy and on the road a lot. I honestly don’t really know what else to wish for. Right now, everything is marvelous. We have the best gigs you could wish for, we have amazing booking, we have awesome interviews and we’re very creative. Everything is just beautiful right now! A headliner world tour would be awesome! We’re getting mail from fans from Brasil a lot asking us to come there and we want to realize that someday.

SV: Now some final words: If you could give your fans one message, what would it bet?

Timo: Come to our concerts, we love all of you! That’s it, I think. We’re excited about all the people that come to our gigs. We love our fans, we have the best ones in the world. It’s always a pleasure to talk to them before and after the shows! Come to our concerts, that’s the most important thing!

If you want to see STORM SEEKER live, then have a look where they are playing next. They will also be joining MANNTRA on some concerts during the upcoming tour in December and many announcements will surely follow. And don’t forget to plunder their merch-store!