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I could spout some clichés here about “how deeply musicians live their music,” but if you read the interview below, you’ll quickly see that there’s no need for that. Interviewing new bands is always exciting, and I’ve rarely come across a band that stands behind their art as much as ALL NINE YARDS does. With that in mind, I hope you enjoy reading and learning about the making of their latest album, Violet.
Thanks again to lightinmirror.de for the photos!!
Shieldmaiden’s Voice: If you had to highlight one aspect of your music to people, what would it be?
Thomas: For us, it’s really important that we have a wide range—lots of different songs that are varied—and that’s what ALL NINE YARDS stands for. Every song is different; that’s important to us.
Dian: I don’t think you can explain it—you have to hear us. You can’t really grasp what ALL NINE YARDS is unless you’ve heard it. I think we’re very unique, very individual, and very much ourselves.
Marc: We’re definitely a rock band and not a metal band—that’s always really important to me because we still live for real rock ’n’ roll. It’s all still kind of chaotic, but it’s not that generic, dull metal drudgery that’s played everywhere these days.
Stick: I can only agree with what Marc just said. We are definitely a rock band. We value the old rock ‘n’ roll style. These days there are so many bands out there, and it all sounds very generic, all very similar—you’ve basically heard it a thousand times before—and that’s exactly what we don’t want to do. We want to stand out with our music, and I think the name ALL NINE YARDS perfectly captures the full range of what we want to do.
SV: Dian, you just said people have to hear you. What makes you worth listening to?
Marc: Dian, among other things.
Dian: As Marc said. I think what makes us worth listening to is simply the fact that the way we blend these genres hasn’t really been heard before. I should be able to name a song like Quicksand from our latest album, Violet. And I couldn’t think of one. It’s just that I believe what makes us worth listening to is the fact that we’re honest both in what we write, what we write about, and how we write, as well as artistically in how we feel we’re becoming artistic.
We never want to be too technical, we never want to be too simple. I can’t put it any other way.
Marc: We can’t be too complicated.
Dian: Well, I think you only really get a sense of the full range of what it means to be us when you actually hear it, because the “from-to” concept only really works when you hear it. What makes us worth listening to? The fact that we are who we are.
Marc: That one song that serves as the gateway to the rest.
Thomas: Your beautiful voice.
Dian: Thanks, Thomas!
Marc: Your angelic voice. Which you’re losing now, though, because you’re hitting puberty. [everyone laughs]
Dian: Oh, man, that sucks.
SV: When it comes to your music—especially now that you’re talking about rock ’n’ roll—are there any particular albums, artists, or maybe specific songs that you’d say have inspired you the most?
Marc: For me, it’s definitely Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Queen, and Slipknot. Thomas, what about you? What would you say?
Thomas: It’s a bit more on the metal side. It started with Metallica, then came Machine Head, and later it got a bit softer over the years.
Stick: I’m from the early 2000s. So Linkin Park and Papa Roach. But also bands like Bring Me The Horizon, for example.
Dian: To wrap things up, here are my top three. I actually come from an old-school rock background, largely because of my upbringing. And I think that plays a big role in where Marc and I find common ground when we’re writing. If I had to narrow it down to three, they’d be Kiss, Nickelback, and Bullet For My Valentine.
SV: Well, I can already imagine certain reactions from readers when it comes to Nickelback.
Dian: Then take Seed. Because Seed actually influences me massively.
SV: What I find interesting now, especially when you have such a variety of inspirations, is how do you consolidate that into songwriting? Do you have any process there that you might be able to share with us? How does that work for you guys?
Marc: I think, fundamentally, there are all kinds of ways to start a song. Usually, Dian and I do a lot of the writing, but then Stick also contributes ideas for the drums during the writing process. Thomas is the third songwriter. Those are the kinds of things that tend to happen in the rehearsal room. Dian and I do a lot of it on the computer. But sometimes we just stumble into things. But I don’t think we ever go in and say, “This has to be this way.” I think it just comes from the song itself. If you have a metal riff, then of course it becomes more of a metal song. It grows organically on its own. With the stuff that happens in the rehearsal room, it’s often just a matter of playing around with ideas a bit. Then at some point you sit down at the computer and start incorporating that into the song somehow. I think what also makes a big difference is letting go of the ego—not insisting that something has to be a certain way or that you have to play the part yourself. It’s true that Dian and I often end up setting the pace. But that doesn’t mean Stick and Thomas don’t have a say in the matter. But I’m also not a big fan of this fully democratic project where you have to vote on everything with everyone. Sure, if someone thought it was totally crap, then we wouldn’t do it. But that doesn’t really happen. We don’t really have any blinders on. I actually think that if, for whatever reason, we happened to stumble upon a pop song that we really liked, we’d go for it.
Stick: I can totally confirm that! When I joined the band—I’ve only been here for three years now—you really have to have a certain amount of trust in the band leaders. I immediately realized that Dian and Marc are absolute pros. You can tell that when you listen to the songs, I think. What was exciting for me this time was co-writing “Violet,” because it was the first time I was able to be involved in the album production. I wasn’t part of the band for the albums before that. And so, for the first time, I was able to contribute my drumming input. That was really exciting and also very fulfilling for me.
Dian: I think we’re really lucky to have each other, because we all know that Marc and I are the ones driving the bus, but everyone’s on board. I think there are always three possibilities: one of us already has an idea—it’s either completely thought out or it comes from a sudden impulse. We bounce ideas off each other. And that’s exactly what happens in the rehearsal room, too, when Thomas has an idea. He just says, “Hey, Dian, sing something along to this!” Even if I don’t know what I want to sing yet, I definitely have a vibe. I think what makes songwriting work is that we’re just incredibly lucky to have each other, because we can really fall into each other’s rhythm. Even if Marc and I end up being the ones steering the ship, it’s because we all come together as a group. With Violet, that’s become clearer than ever.
Marc: But we don’t always see eye to eye—it’s a bit of a push-and-pull. One last thing that’s important to mention about songwriting—and something that’s often overlooked—is that I think our lyrics are also really great. As a child of British occupation, I initially had Dian sing in English because I really value the fact that our singer doesn’t have a German accent like Klaus Meine. I find that very distracting and can barely stand to listen to it. It’s different with us. There are songs where the lyrics took longer to write than the actual music because we really spend so much time polishing and tweaking them. Then there are really songs that we’ve written over time where I would genuinely say that the lyrics are on an extremely high level. Like Letters, for example, from the album Red, or Incompleted from the album Violet.
SV: Violet, just to provide some context, is the latest album, which was released recently. What struck me while listening was, on the one hand, that—from my perspective—you’ve taken what you did well on the first two albums and combined it all again. Which, of course, is also reflected a bit in the album title. And on the other hand, I think what’s often underestimated is the arrangement of the songs on the album. A lot of thought went into that. What’s the process behind it?
Dian: We knew what we felt was right about the albums—at least in our hearts—and we definitely wanted to keep that. We wanted to write from the heart; we didn’t necessarily know what exactly, but we knew that’s what we wanted to do. The heaviness should be palpable, even when it’s soft.
Marc: The track order on the album just fell into place later. Once you’ve finished it, you get a feel for what works well in sequence. Violet was harder for me. There were times when I was convinced we should just delete everything and start over. With Red, I felt like we needed to focus more on the technical aspects in some places, especially during recording. Because we were more invested in the songs, our standards were higher too.
Stick: For me, writing this album was a long process overall—I think it took over a year. And we definitely knew we wanted it to be a bit heavier. We didn’t have a specific plan, but we wanted it to be a bit heavier. A bit more metalcore, without actually being a metalcore band. The first song ideas were, I think, Quicksand and Lipstick Stains, which are already very different. When the first songs were done, we didn’t really have a clear picture of where the album was actually headed. That didn’t come until much later, when the first six or seven songs were finished. That’s when we knew, okay, now it’s going to be an album. And I actually think the result of Blue and Red is Violet. Not just the color—which fits pretty well, by the way—but also the sound. So if you really want to experience and hear ALL NINE YARDS, then listen to Violet.
Dian: By the way, it’s important to mention why this is so important: Stick and Lars, from Beethoven Studios, who also does mixing and mastering, spent hours and hours in the studio working on the drum sound. Lars really wanted it to sound like Stick. But Stick didn’t want to impose his style on the album. It was supposed to be an ALL NINE YARDS album, after all!
Thomas: As far as I’m concerned, Red was a really awesome album. But now you can hear an evolution that better reflects my musical taste. There are even cooler riffs on it! Red was a bit over-the-top, whereas Violet is more guitar-driven, and I definitely prefer that.
SV: We’ve already touched on individual songs a bit. What are your personal favorites on the album?
Thomas: I Will Live Tonight, Lipstick Stains, No More To Learn, Incompleted. It’s a question of what I like to listen to versus what I like to play. Those can be a bit different sometimes.
Stick: I have a favorite to listen to, and that’s No More To Learn. I’m also very proud of that one, because I really pushed myself on the drums there, especially with the drum fills. And the one I have the most fun playing is Yes, I’m Not Alright.
Marc: As for a song to listen to, for me it’s Crossroads—that’s always been the one that’s excited me the most. It’s also really nice to play, except for that finger spreading you always have to do, because that gets painful after a while. But I also think Lipstick Stains turned out really well. Crossroads is my favorite, though.
Dian: Honestly, my favorite song is the whole album. I think every song is absolutely amazing—each for a different reason. But what I can say, and what I found incredibly cool as a vocalist, was Incompleted, because it was actually a one-take recording. And a one-take is special because I don’t usually approach it with that mindset. I don’t approach it by saying, “Here, come on, one take, done, we’re done here.” I always go in thinking, “No, I can do this even better.” “No, I can bring out that rasp in my voice even more.” “I can make that mid-scream even clearer.” Normally, I’m my own biggest critic. But with Incompleted, it really was the case that I recorded it, Lars stopped the recording, and said I could come over. That was, of course, something special. I actually cried while recording it, too.
Marc: Our producer, Lars, is basically the fifth member, so to speak. We also have Normy part-time as a sixth member, who steps in as the bassist every now and then. But Lars really does a lot. There are actually some tracks he’s written himself. He’s not just some guy who mixes and masters—he has the freedom and our trust to really make things happen. He always offers up a few ideas. Then you get two versions—one is one way, and the other is another. And sometimes I’ll hear one version and say, “That’s it.” I think Lars is also someone who keeps us grounded a bit. He can even tell him [Dian] sometimes, “That was crap.” I’m only halfway capable of doing that—I can only manage it by force. [everyone laughs] But there are always memories tied to it, to the songwriting—you have to say that, too—because we’re either hanging out in the rehearsal room or up at my place, and you always associate it with that. We just get along incredibly well. The band’s chemistry just clicks somehow. There are a lot of inside jokes going around, and it doesn’t feel forced at all. I think that’s also part of what makes it special—this sense of unity that’s there.
SV: Maybe to slowly but surely wrap things up, how about this question: where do you want to take the band eventually?
Marc: Wembley.
Dian: A world tour!
Stick: A world tour that includes Wembley.
Dian: Seriously, no joke—I mean, that wasn’t a joke either, but I’d absolutely love to play in Asia. Here’s a fun fact: I’ve actually been told so often recently—by people in my social circle and even by random folks—that they associate our music with anime, and I have absolutely no connection to anime, but I get the connection. With that in mind, I’d just love to say, okay, let’s go for it. We can definitely say this much, speaking for the band: We’re all just a bunch of weirdos.
We’re lucky that the four of us are really the same kind of weirdos who share the same crazy vision, and we’re not doing this just because we think it’s funny. We really have a goal.
Marc: But we’re not doing it for the money either. I think if you get into the music business thinking, “I have to make money here,” it’s not going to work from the start. At the end of the day, it’s always a money-losing venture. You have to do it because you’re passionate about it and because you’re doing it alongside your day job and all the other stress you have in life. I’m also really glad we don’t do that AI-slob crap. You see enough bands on Instagram these days doing that, and it pisses me off because they act like influencers. I think that’s part of what sets us apart—that what we do is actually still real. It’s also written and made with heart and soul.
SV: And finally, one last question. If you had a piece of life advice for your fans, what would it be?
Stick: Life advice? I have a quote from a Michael Jackson song: “If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make a change.”
Marc: When you finish school, don’t do some shitty internship at Blackrock—instead, spend a year traveling through Asia, doing drugs, hooking up like crazy, and then come back and do something meaningful with your life.
Dian: That’s actually a motto of mine—something I picked up from my dad: “Don’t let anyone or anything keep you from dreaming big.”
Thomas: Do whatever you feel like doing. Life is too short. And stick with it. Have fun!
Shieldmaiden's Voice 