Frank Spinath (Seabound / Edge Of Dawn)

Electr-oN: One of polish reviewers (me actually) described the album in these words: "Edge Of Dawn is a mix of Joy Division's coldness, The Cure's emotions and synthetic sounds of Depeche Mode. Enjoy The Fall is a combination of Closer - Disintegration - Black Celebration. Enjoy The Fall - electric disintegration of the XXI century." Do you think it's a good comparison?

Frank Spinath (Seabound/Edge Of Dawn): Well, these comparisons are very flattering indeed! Being a child of the 80s and a huge fan of many of those early electro acts, how could I not like this list of heroes mentioned alongside Edge Of Dawn. What I like most about the compliment is the fact that I consider those bands “real”, that is, authentic. I have a problem with some of today’s acts as it seems to me that many either try to follow a success formula or are simply manufactured music industry puppets. Take all those Marilyn Manson look-alikes you find in the scene: It’s cheap and only tries to cash in quick money. A band like Joy Division was real, the sorrow in their songs was real, and the dedication to artistic creativity was real. I can assure the readers of this interview that Edge Of Dawn is real, too. Our songs come from our hearts and we use pure electronic tools to bring them to life!



Is Enjoy The Fall's character a fictional figure? And if so, where did you get this idea? And maybe it's an authentic figure and a real life situation from your life?

Frank: It’s a mixture of personal observations, dreams, and story-telling. However, I know exactly what I’m talking about. My job as a psychologist provides me with a plethora of inspiration! It’s not always a pleasurable experience because there are so many sad stories people could tell. Often I am impressed by the strength that some people have and how they manage to stay sane under difficult circumstances. Others go mad at some point. The main persons on “Enjoy The Fall” are a doomed couple: He has Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), she is the victim of his emotional outbursts, insecurity, and abuse, until she snaps and pushes him out of a window in the upper storey of an apartment building. Over the course of our recordings for “Enjoy The Fall”, I came across several people, both friends and strangers, who revealed to me that they somehow showed symptoms of BPD. It almost seemed like a conspiracy: Everywhere I looked, I started seeing people who fitted that description which is why I started framing the tracks for the album to fit the overall idea of an ill-fated couple and a sudden death.



Very soft erothic photos in the cd booklet fit perfectly to the idea of the album. How did you start to work with DragonSilver?

Frank: I’m not exactly sure anymore – I think Mario and DragonSilver got in touch somehow. Later on, it turned out that we had joint friends but at the time we decided that she would fit perfectly for the role of the murderous femme fatale, I didn’t know so much about her. When we got to know each other better, I found that that the album concept was much closer to her own psychological situation than I ever could have imagined. DragonSilver is a unique person. Even though she has had to fight her own demons, she managed to remain a charming agreeable, yet strong and creative person who deserves a lot of respect. You should check out her MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/dragonsilver77) and her art. She has a lot to offer.



Do you know that there was problem with the cover in Poland? The man in a puddle of blood, the woman's thigh part. Do you think Poland is prudish country? What do you know about Poland?

Frank: I visited Warsaw in 1995 and I was completely overwhelmed. I enjoyed my stay a lot and I vividly remember visiting a gallery which had reprints of poster artwork by a Polish artist called Andrzej Pagoswki. I fell in love with a poster design called “Zapolska Zapolska” he did for “Teatr Nowy u Warszawie” back in 1990. His art transports a gloomy eroticism and desperate touch noir which I have not found again ever since. I don’t think that Poland is a prudish country at all. When I visited Poland again in 2004 to perform live at the Blue Note with Seabound, I had a feeling that the Polish crowd was both friendly and welcoming but also outgoing and craving for joy. We had the most wonderful time and if I had the chance I would play live gigs in Poland again right away, without the slightest hesitation.




Don't you think that songs from E.P. The Fight (Lux) added on the album disturb the concept of this album? I heard an accusation that they are rather like demos, without an idea for better, more intersting arrangement.

Frank: I disagree with that accusation. Primarily, because the story of haunted minds which is kind of a recurrent theme on “Enjoy The Fall” was begun on “The Flight”. Mario and I actually discussed whether we should go with completely new material only or whether we should incorporate songs from the E.P. that had been released in 2005. We decided to use alternative and re-worked versions of some songs not because we didn’t have anything else to offer, but because the story of madness as a whole was much better reflected in the collection of songs that you can hear on “Enjoy The Fall” now. Remember Kalojew who killed an air-traffic controller after his family had died in a plan crash? That’s what the mind and the deep emotional abyss of mankind is about. It’s Greek tragedy just as much as it is modern depression. “Enjoy The Fall” is very well thought out and all the tracks on the album are there for a reason.




Both projects - Edge Of Dawn and Seabound - are bound by your vocals. In which band is the vocal part more difficult but might also give you bigger satisfaction?

Frank: I can honestly say that recording vocals for Edge Of Dawn is more fun because there are fewer restraints. In Seabound, we usually seek and create a certain sense of detachment which serves a greater goal, that is, the contradictory impression of coldness and warmth. In Edge Of Dawn, there is more room for experimentation and I have taken the liberty to explore new territory, vocalwise. Of course, I can’t reinvent myself completely and I don’t think that I have to. But Edge Of Dawn has given me the opportunity to set free select urges which helps me remain sane myself.



You sing 'Black Heart' in German. Is it a one-time experiment or maybe the beginning of something new?

Frank: Black Heart was never intended to be as honest as it turned out to be. But when that song, or at least parts of the song, started becoming sort of a mirror of my soul at the time of writing it, I felt the desire to lay down all armor and stop dissociating myself from the content. I have always considered the English language as a way of “staying on the safe side” and dissociating myself from my own lyrics. For “Black Heart” I simply knew that the song deserved the utmost honesty which is why I wrote and sang those lines in German. Furthermore, it’s difficult to translate “Ich verzehre mich nach Dir”. In English it translates into something like “I crave for you”. However, the German saying involves a metaphor which is: “I consume myself longing (for you).” It’s a powerful yet desperate as well as self-destructive piece of imagery and it doesn’t translate well into English. I don’t know about the Polish language. Maybe you could tell me?



Lyrics on Enjoy The Fall are quite gloomy and dark, Seabound albums are not too easy either. As a writer and psychology profesor can you say: "Yes, we will record a very optimistic album, from the beginning to the end, in some future."?

Frank: Never! My creativity feeds on despair and when I’m happy, I have better things to do than write songs or lyrics (laughs).



Is Frank Spinath a happy man? What kind of man are you in your every day life? As complicated as your lyrics?

Frank: I wouldn’t say that my lyrics are particularly complicated. I simply enjoy a bit of complexity and I am easily bored. Thus, I’d rather offer our listeners some additional meaning beyond the obvious. I like twists, too. Just like in the movies. And I love witty, playful conversations. Talking to an intelligent, good-looking person feels like dancing to me, and fifteen minutes of such a conversation can make my day, make me feel alive. I don’t need deep psychological or philosophical insights to be happy. What kind of man am I? I’d like to say I am intelligent, witty, good-looking… (laughs). I am unpredictable though. At least, I hope I am.



DragonSilver photos stimulate ones imagination. When your wife saw these erotic photos, didn't she ask: "Hey Frank, what on earth do you do out there? ;-)

Frank: No, she didn’t. Plus: No one will ever know that it’s actually my hand between DragonSilver’s legs on those polaroids in the album booklet, right? ;-)



What are the plans for Edge Of Dawn and Seabound? Do you search for a new label after the maelstrom with Dependent? What do you think about this whole situation?

Frank: It’s a sad situation because I think that Dependent is one of the few “high quality” labels run by a guy with a heart for talented musicians and a lot of intuition about what good music should be like. I don’t think about the situation so much at the moment though because the question which label might release Seabound and/or Edge Of Dawn in the future is imminent only after we will have finished another album. Given that both bands take their time to complete 10+ songs, the discussion and decision can probably wait until 2009. ;-) However, there is good news for Edge Of Dawn fans: Dependent and Metropolis will release an E.P. called “Borderline Black Heart” scheduled for September/October 2007. This CD will include very powerful new versions of the title track plus select remixes and completely new tracks. Remixers include EnEsch (of KMFDM fame), Stromkern, and Fractured. The new songs include a duet with Charlene April of Blind Faith and Envy, introducing a heartbreaking love story that goes all wrong (of course).



On the conclusion, I can't resist to ask you one weird question. Did anyone ever tell you that you look like David Duchovny from The X Files? One of the fans who visited www.electr-on.pl after seeing you and DragonSilver thought about an old erotic series called “Red Shoe Diaries”. What can the psychology profesor say about that?

Frank: Haha… I love this question! Actually though, I have been compared to David Duchovny before. When I visited Australia together with my dad back in 1997, a female immigration officer asked me whether she might have seen me on television before. I assured her that this was not very likely but I couldn’t help laughing all the way from the airport to the hotel.











- Interview with Krzysztof "enjoy" Polański - 11 july 2007

Dodano: July 13th 2007
Wywiad przeprowadził: enjoy
Odsłon: 1422
Language: polish