Hello Thomas, and Happy New Year at first !
It's Been a while since our last interview, the last time we were
disturbed by a fly, our crappy English accent, the wind that throw away our
notes and many more ... This time we made it by mail so it will be more
quiet, just hope you won't delete it in your mail box since i know how you
like e-mail stuff etc :D

Well, first, let's talk about what's coming soon !
You will be coming with a new album in march, which is called
« POPGEFAHR ». Beside that, you recently founded your own Record label
named « POPGEFAHR RECORDS » [which we will talk more about after]. So first
question, what's behind the name « POPGEFAHR » who had the idea of that
name? what does this title mean for D/V?

Thomas: Steffen came up with "POPGEFAHR" a couple of years ago..."Gefahr" means "Danger", the meaning of "Pop" is clear I guess...we both liked the word and we knew right from the start that this would be the perfect name for our record label we were only dreaming of at that time...now that we started our label "POPGEFAHR", we thought this should also be the title of the new DE/VISION album because it is also the first label release. To me, the title "POPGEFAHR" means that there is good (electronic) pop music inside, you cannot get enough of and become addicted to...:) but there is also an ironical side to the title when you look at it as a warning to those who believe that good pop-music is commercial sell-out...

Concerning the album, if i had well seen, it is the most awaited album
from D/V with more than 2.5 years after « NOOB », usually it was most like
1,5 year. Does it mean you needed more time for its creation, or is it only
because of the « 20 JAHRE TOUR » which made you travelled a lot last year?

Thomas: No, we didn't need more time for the song-writing and production, that was not the problem, but your second thought is correct, we travelled a lot in 2008/09...for example, we were on tour in America in January '08, in May we had our 20th birthday party in Berlin, which also required a lot of attention, after that there were more shows and so on... After "NOOB" we wanted to change our routine and let some time pass instead of focusing on the next album immediately...I think it was a good idea to travel for a while and enjoy that live-feeling...after our US-tour in January 2009 we started concentrating on the new record...

POPGEFAHR will present 10 new songs, which sound very electronic according
to Steffen. Review from Metropolis Record announced it like a well rounded,
cohesive album. With that said, It seems to be the worthy successor of
NOOB. In what optical were you in the writing of POPGEFAHR, do you find it
close to NOOB or finally very different?

Thomas: When we finally started with the song-writing, we had just returned from a US-tour...all we had done for the last two years was playing shows all over the world, we got used to that pure electronic live sound, that's why there was absolutley no doubt about the fact that the new album should go into the same direction as NOOB. On NOOB we have already tried to go back to the roots, POPGEFAHR continues right there, I guess...

On September 2009, we already speak about the upcoming album since as i
remember there was already songs which were written at that time. What were
the first songs to be written on POPGEFAHR?

Thomas: I think, the first song was "Ready to die"...I really don't remember which songs came next...but in September 09 all of the songs were written already, at that time the production was almost done...

You told me that you had a lot of troubles while recording the album, was
it more difficult this time?

Thomas: Recording an album is always a lot of work. Dealing with all kinds of troubles during the production process is nothing unusual...I can't really say that it was more difficult this time...when I told you that, I probably meant that there is much to do right now...the recording session was basically the same as it used to be in the past...

Last time we also spoke about your fetish producers Schumann & Bach and
their role and the fact that they wrote some songs or part of the previous
album. Were they as involved in POPGEFAHR as they were for NOOB?


Thomas: Yes, once again they were also involved in song-writing...they had some very good songs in store and it would have been stupid to reject them...the whole NOOB experience, the way we worked was very inspiring, everyone of us was absolutely happy with the result and NOOB was also much appreciated by the fans. There was absolutely no reason for us to change anything...

Steffen said on myspace that there were 12 songs recorded, but POPGEFAHR
is composed of 10. What happened to these songs? Will they be for a B-side
or something else?

Thomas: Actually we have recorded 12 songs, one of them called "Free World", will be released exclusively on iTunes...We don't know yet what happens to song number 12 but we might play it live...

The cover of the album is very childish, it reminds me a little Fairyland
atmosphere. What's behind the cover? Is it because of Steffen last events
that inspired the cover?

Thomas: The cover has nothing to do with Steffen, it was the idea of our graphics designer Ulrike Rank, she's responsible for many DE/VISION-covers, also Fairyland...I think that plastic look fits perfectly to the 80's sound of the music...


There will be a new videoclip coming with the « RAGE/TIME TO BE ALIVE »
single, for the RAGE song. Can you tell us more about it? Do you already
know the Producer or is it someone you've never worked with?

Thomas: The video clip is almost finished...we're still talking about the final cut...it's very funny indeed...we play different people and roles, wearing funny costumes...an old friend of ours, Guido Fricke is the director. We know him for quite a while now. Around 1990 we met him for the first time, I think it was at a club in Hannover. There was some kind of electronic/synth-pop festival where D/V and Guido's band SECOND VOICE were playing live. So, he is as long in the music business as we are or even longer, he was in different bands and he's also working as a live sound engineer for bands like OOMPH, Diary of Dreams and Camouflage for example. He's also doing videos for a while now, he's done clips for Diary of Dreams for instance which we really liked, so we decided that it would be a good idea to work with him, which we did...

RAGE/TIME TO BE ALIVE will be released on 03/03/2010, only for digital
download. Does this single comes along with remixes or other stuff or just
these 2 songs?

Thomas: There will be a Radio Edit of "Time to be alive" available, which is a little bit shorter than the album version and 2 versions of "Rage": a Radio Cut and an Extended Club Version. The Limited Edition of POPGEFAHR comes with a promotional copy (CD) of the single...

At this day, there's 3 editions of POPGEFAHR coming:
-Standart edition on 19/03/2010 [with Popgefahr Records]
-Limited digipack edition[1500 ex.] on 19/03/2010 [with Popgefahr Records]
-US edtion on 23/03/2010 [with Metropolis Records]
Limited edition will contain bonus material, what can we expect on it?

Thomas: Besides the album POPGEFAHR and a copy of the promotion single, which I already mentioned, there will be a USB-stick with unreleased remixes and a magnet with the POPGEFAHR cover on it, everything inside in a nice box.

Now let's talk about another big news, you recently founded your own label
called « POPGEFAHR RECORDS »
However at the beginning of 2009 Steffen stated that De/Vision were about
to sign with EMI. I'm a little « noob » for all this stuff, but it means to
me 2 opposite directions. Signing with a major would have allowed more
promotional but surely less liberty for your creativity. On the other hand,
creating your own label would give you more independence but it will be
more risky. Can you tell us about it? What made you finally take this
option?

Thomas: Before we finally decided to found our own label, we have talked to several labels and listened to what they had to offer. After discussing everything, thinking it over and over, we came to the conclusion that running our own label was the best thing we could do. We found fantastic partners like SoulFood for example, our distributor...of course, the road we've taken is full of obstacles and it is a lot more risky for us but we are already sure, we've made the right decision...

On our last interview you said that you ever wanted to produce a band
before, but the lack of time didn't permit it finally. Now with your new
label, are you going to work with other bands, or are you concentrating on
D/V? What are your ambitions with Popgefahr Records?

Thomas: POPGEFAHR RECORDS was founded in order to create a platform for D/V's music and that's the band we're concentrating on right now but of course we have also talked about what will be in the future...maybe we will sign bands someday and release their music on POPGEFAHR, everything is possible but we don't have any concrete plans...D/V is all that matters to us at the moment but it would be nice to work with other bands as well someday...

Will there be another release coming from DRAKKAR like a live album or
other stuff?

Thomas: No, I don't think so, at least I haven't heard anything...

A tour is also coming soon,
You toured a lot during the last 2 years and you played many songs you
didn't play for a long time like « take me to the time » « heart of stone »
or « a new dawn » for example. I found it was nice and surprising, not to
hear just Noob Songs and singles, but also some old classics. Will it be
the same with next tour ? Are you planning some surprises for the next
tour?

Thomas: The tour starts in one month now and we still haven't decided the final playlist yet but I'm sure we're going to present a varied collection of songs, new stuff and some classics...surprise... On stage there will only be Steffen and me, just like it was for the last two years...so, everything will be perfect...

This tour will be like the 2 last years : only electronic. It has a lot of
advantages like a more flexible setlist and this allows you to tour
worldwide. It was also to please some of your fan base demanding it.
Although some of your fans also missed shows with guitars and drums,
feeling that it make it more « live ». Do you ever mind doing both styles
of shows for the future?

Thomas: We like both, the electronic shows and the ones with drums and guitar...of course, some fans rather like electronic shows while others prefer drums and guitar. Two years ago we've decided to perform as a duo from now on and that's what we're doing still...but I don't know if it will be like this forever...

On September 2010 you are expected to come back to the US and South
America, you didn't go as often there before, is it because your fan base
in US is growing, or just because you finally have more opportunities to
play there?

Thomas: We want to go back to America, that's true...we didn't go there in the past because it was too expensive, we tried a couple of times but the promoters just couldn't afford to bring the whole band (including drums and guitar) over, that was one of the reasons why we had decided to do electronic shows...now that we've visited the US twice, it is a lot easier for us to plan a tour there and probably our fan base is growing too...

Are you going to go to places you never played this year? Do you have any
show scheduled in France at the moment?

Thomas: I'm not sure if we go to places we've never been before because not all the shows for this year are confirmed yet, especially the ones outside of Germany, so I just don't know if there is a city we're going to for the very first time...as far as I know there is no show planned for France yet...unfortunately...

It's going to be the conclusion of this interview,
With POPGEFAHR coming next we hope it will be a great success for both of
you. I still heard only snippets from RAGE and TTBA since I try to keep the
surprise fore the entire album :D. Altough feedback I heard seems to be
very positive for all the songs ever posted on mypsace. Besides POPGEFAHR
do you have other plans for this year? Still no live DVD for example ?

Thomas: Thank you, we also hope it will be a success... No, we don't really have any other plans for this year...no live DVD planned...I'm sorry... The new album and tour is all that matters to us this year...

Since we are at the beginning of the year, did you make some final
resolutions for 2010?

Thomas: No, I didn't...I never do that...whenever I wanna change something in my life, get rid of a bad habit or whatever, I change it, anytime and anywhere, I don't have to wait for New Year's day...

Since the last time, did you finally have a look on our website? It's full
of pixels we also love video games :D

Thomas: Yes, indeed, I've taken a look at your website and I have to admit it's really good...excellent work...Thanx a lot

Well thank you very much for answering all our questions !
We wish you all the best for 2010

Thomas: Thanx, same to you...it was a pleasure...see you

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