ACID RIVER – HILTON THEISSEN, CHRISTIAN MERTENS
Art: Alexander Freund
HMA: Do you have any creative rituals?
Hilton: Writing riffs can feel like a deep meditation and spiritual on top, but not religious. We have our rituals by which we write songs together; it is a very constructive atmosphere and high-quality conversation between men and instruments.
HMA: Do you have a philosophical fixation?
Christian: No special fixation. We play with different philosophies; there are no limits.
HMA: Is heavy music a form of modern cult worship?
Hilton: It is at least cultural worship. The scene used to be a large wolfpack divided into different packs. I personally wanted to start a band and crashed into the metal scene like a man who found a hidden treasure—so many possibilities and, back then, so much tolerance for different influences within the music scene. I loved different styles as much as I were a rookie in that scene. We pretty much made our own way.
HMA: Do you have any vices?
Hilton: Our music is much too complex to take drugs or leave energy to any side dish procedures. We concentrate on the real excess, the music itself.
HMA: Artists that inspire you?
Christian: Talking about me, I like artists that ignore borders, like the writer Clive Barker or artists like Peter Gabriel or Nick Cave, people who always find new ways to express themselves.
HMA: Why is music important to you and the world?
Christian: We do this for ourselves and those who love to share our experiences and emotions with us. We do not care about money or being famous in an ordinary way. As mentioned, artists like Nick Cave, Peter Gabriel, PJ Harvey, or bands of the grunge genre. I love the insanity of black metal, and yeah, I can also listen to bands like the later Cardigans or some stuff of Christina Aguilera, which maybe’s a surprise.
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