Rockezine.com interview with Diary Of Dreams on Aug 30, 2002

with Adrian Hates on Aug 30, 2002

If you ask Adrian Hates about the history of Diary Of Dreams, he says: “13 Years of Diary of Dreams! 6 Album releases! 2 Maxis! Concerts in 12 countries! Everything else you can find on: www.diaryofdreams.de and right he is. There’s just too much to tell. So, although some of you might have never heard of Diary Of Dreams (and that’s a shame) we don’t go too deep into the past. The release of yet another great album, Freak Perfume is reason enough to keep the interview in the present…
		If you compare Freak Perfume to earlier works, then what is according to you the difference between them musically? There are no musical differences really, if you ask me. The only thing you can find is an evolution, a process of ripening the skills and abilities and learning to use the given talents. Freak Perfume is emotionally very close to End of Flowers, just the musical packaging has an evolved appearance. I could tell you a few technical and productional differences, also in terms of arranging and writing music, but I think that would go too far and most readers would probably be bored to death!
		What is the meaning of the title Freak Perfume? The concept of the album deals with a specific human personality, a strange isolated person that has lost the attachment to the social understanding that most people have. This guy has his own life with his own personal rules, a life that only takes place in his little world: his head! The Freak Perfume is the ID, the character of this person, the thing that identifies him and makes him what he is.
		Can you tell us more about the lyrics of the different songs? The lyrics are a reflection of my inner personality. I put in words and notes what my fingers (more or less) tell me to write... Whatever is strong enough to leave an impact on my mind finds a place in my musical work. My dreams often find access to my day-world, quite confusing indeed and for a normal life quite disturbing, for the creative process on the other hand extremely inspiring...
		It seems that you keep absolute control over your product. You have written, performed, mastered and produced your album (and you released it on your own record company). Are you such a "control freak"? What is your reason to keep this control? Actually, I am working together with a great number of people on every CD. ... I would not exactly consider myself a control freak, more a perfectionist yearning for perfection! All my heart and soul is in my music, would not everybody want that to be treated as something extremely precious...? The secret of Diary of Dreams is probably that everything has a specific reason, everything is thought through and done with love for the detail... I assume that especially today a lot of people are learning to respect that again ...
		Don`t you miss people around you (like in a real band situation) who can give you their opinion about the music? Honestly there is nothing about "a real band situation" that I could possibly miss. Endless discussions about unimportant things, endless rehearsals and hours and hours of wasted time in the studio... I am not saying that in general, but I know that for my work it would be a disaster... We did try that once and it was obvious that it took a lot longer to achieve satisfying results and that these were far away from how I wanted them to sound ... There is so much privacy and intimacy in my work, I always found it kind of perverted to have tons of people fooling around with my songs, just to have their personality become a part of my work...
		What are the future plans of Diary Of Dreams? Like tour, new CD, etc... We will be going on tour in November and I am already back in the studio recording an EP to be released in November... Besides that we will record the forthcoming tour to compile a live CD from all the shows, which we are planning to release in autumn 2003. For my taste that is more than enough for the moment, since the label office does use up most of my time anyway...
		How are the reactions to Freak Perfume? Well, the album has been in the German Alternative Charts (DAC) for 8 weeks and 4 of these on No.1! Freak Perfume also made it in the Media Control Charts which was a great surprise for us all, since there were days not too long ago where this phenomenon was pre-occupied by the major industry. Also we had a title story in two German magazines and loads of other print and online reviews and articles. It was very interesting to read what some of these people had to say, but all in all I have to admit that I was most of all curious about what the fans and friends of my work would say ... luckily the response and reactions were overwhelming. Thank you all once again for the endless support and belief in my work!
		You have been out there for 12 years, what have been the main changes in the dark wave/ gothic scene during that time according to you? The "so called" Dark Wave/Gothic genre of which nobody really knows what musical varieties it covers and which not ...? Let me answer the question a bit more general and including the ebm/industrial/noise/electro etc subscenes ... In my eyes this genre is today by far more organized and structured than it used to be. Also, I think that especially on an international business level the scene grew intensively and was able to gain a great deal of acceptance and respect in the industry and society. There are a lot of clubs and concerts and tons of bands and DJs that call this genre their home or their source of inspiration. Independent does not stand for "low budget" anymore and mostly the different look has found wide acceptance and tolerance as well. The genre has split itself up into uncountable little sub-genres, which I personally do not enjoy too much, because it tends to isolate the styles again without the excitement and challenge of different musical moods and the interesting mix of people. On the other hand the scene now has a bigger variety of styles in general and especially the more techno and metal oriented skills have merged with electronic influences. Luckily not only those, but also the classical and ancient musical styles have become a natural part of our musical understanding and education. I am always excited and proud to be a part of the alternative music genre!
		We had an interview with Volker Zacharias from Girls Under Glass and he stated that the current scene is more interested in dance parties than in a live show of a band. How do you see this? I would say it depends on the band and on the specific style of music. There are several bands that can surely not complain about the amount of people that show up at their live appearances. It probably really depends on the kind of music. Personally I would not generalize that too much, since there are bands that are extremely successful, some are not... Dance Parties, and I agree with Volker on this, have a huge popularity and immense importance for the scene.
		Something you always wanted to say, but never have been asked? I am not sure if there is anything I have not been asked!
(Beautevil )