Lacrimas Profundere interview (Oliver Nikolas Schmid)

Lacrimas Profundere is a German band that doesn't need much introduction, having a beginning in which most of us headbangers met them, that is, doing melodic doom, and little by little they were finding the most gothic side to their music. In "How To Shroud Yourself With"Night" we find a band that not only focuses on goth but retraces their steps to achieve a mixture of their old sound with their newer formula. That's why, Metallerium we interview Oliver Nikolas Schmid, guitarist and original member of the band.

Para leer la entrevista en español: Entrevista a Lacrimas Profundere

Metallerium: Welcome Oliver to Metallerium pages. It’s a great pleasure to talk with you about the band, this new album “How to Shroud Yourself with Night” and more things related to the metal world. To start the interview, how have you been during these crazy times? To years of the pandemic, a war in Europe, and who knows what will happen next years? A zombie apocalypse, alien invasion, the rise of the machines... 😊  

Lacrimas Profundere: Thanks for having us. Crazy times? Always when a new release is in the pipeline. And Covid is still in its aftermath. We had to postpone or cancel so many festivals and tours, for example, a show in Peru that was planned for 2020, and also shows in Chile, Brazil, and Mexico. Covid destroyed the dream of finally coming back. But we never give up cause I‘m stubborn, laughs!

Arnold Schwarzenegger or Tom Cruise have to save us, this is for sure. Yeah, the pandemic kind of stopped our lives from one day to the next. After our tour in November 2019 with our dear friends in The 69 Eyes, we wanted to reap the benefits of this work and we booked our own headliner tour for March 2020 through European cities. But as we all know, it did not happen. No touring means more time for demos. No pressure on release dates, or confirmed tour dates, but also you miss the adventure and almost the smell of the clubs.

Metallerium: Lacrimas Profundere for me is one of the most important bands on the metal scene worldwide, tell me, what are your memories of the first days in the band? And did you ever think in the beginning that Lacrimas Profundere would have a long and solid existence?

Lacrimas Profundere: Wow, thanks for the great compliment. I started with guitar songbooks of the bands I loved back in the day, such as Slayer, Overkill, Metallica, and learned them by trial and error. It started as a hobby, but when I got some friends together and founded a band it got more professional. When you start making music and writing your own songs, trying to get a band together you already ask yourself what you want to achieve one day. Everyone does. If you say you want to be the biggest rock star on earth, that's fine, and that's how it should be with every band. On the other hand, if you give up in frustration at the first blowout, the first snow chaos before the borders of London, or the second gig in front of 20 people in the youth center next door, it's not the right thing for you. You have to persevere. We always let ourselves drift and I can proudly say that we didn't do things because they were easy - but because they were difficult.

Metallerium: Relating to the last question, after 29 years in Lacrimas Profundere's musical career, what was the most important thing you did from 1993 to 2021 in the metal scene? Do you think the band crossed the deathly barrier and will be immortal for the next generations?

Lacrimas Profundere: Honestly, I think we deserve it. Music lasts forever you know, perhaps we are like Vincent van Gogh in music, laughs. But to break it down to my personal important things I would say that I have visited so many great places and met so many great people. All these adventures accompany me till the end of my days and you can’t take money with you into to grave but I believe emotions like that show that you lived your life as you wanted it.

Metallerium: Every time when a new Lacrimas Profundere album is released to be heard by fans, writers, and critics. How does the band continue to push forward the personal sound you got from " Burning: A Wish" (2001) and stay current on this new "How to Shroud Yourself with Night" without repeating yourself with ten albums and still have the same catchy and melancholic riffs?

Lacrimas Profundere: When I begin writing songs it kind of opens the gates of hell to my inner self – it’s always a hard process to write songs for me because if a melody is good but does not break my heart into pieces I will not use it. It needs to touch me so deeply, to pull me down on my knees, to land on the album and this is always a hard process for my inner self. I was always the kind of player who was looking for romance in the melodies and not to be the fastest guy in the world. I fear songwriting a lot but this time it was even harder, it really robbed me of some sleep. Finally, we were back on track and able to build on old successes and suddenly there it was, the daily question: is today the day to write something special? However, you can't force it and you end up in perfectionism and overthinking things. Every artist has to fight this battle. As one becomes more successful, success becomes a predator. It has a beautiful side – playing in full clubs, good billing, and happy affiliates, but it also puts pressure on you. Sometimes you have to try hard not to lose the fun, or ask yourself why you're putting all this stress on yourself. I almost got eaten by it, We already had a lot of song ideas ready that would have been a safe bet and we wouldn't have risked scaring away even one buyer. But we didn't want an album that wouldn't surprise anyone, that wouldn't completely live up to expectations, and wouldn't bother anyone. We wanted the exact opposite, it should surprise, it should disturb, it should thrill. Because it's fucking art and art is brave! You know, every change needs courage, I think. Whether it's quitting your job to find yourself, going abroad for a year, getting a full body tattoo, jumping off the 10 m diving board for the first time, or just visiting the Penis Museum in Iceland. Then when you put all of that together, you get a feeling of how we felt in the studio when the puzzle slowly came together and developed into a total work of art. But I generally love any decision to change, there are so many people who just talk but 10 years later they are still sitting in the same beer garden and working at the post office. This doesn't have to be a bad thing, but we had, so to speak, also taken a seat in the same beer garden for decades and now we just tried the pub across the street. „How to shroud yourself with the night“ is building a bridge between Lacrimas and the future.

Metallerium: Relating to the last question, many times when a band like Lacrimas Profundere releases a new album, there are people who like the album and others who don't like the album. For you, how does the band react to good and bad comments? And what kind of recommendations would you give to the new Heavy Metal / Rock musicians who believe that their music is the best of the best and do not accept a negative comment about their work?

Lacrimas Profundere: Ah, thats cool. A band should think that they are the best because otherwise no cool stuff would be created.

Writing music that you know is gonna piss people off; music that you know people are gonna love and we have always done it for ourselves first. That's the best thing. Negative critics are never cool to read, but tastes are different, and if people listen to the album twice and go deep into the stuff and still don't like it and tell us why, it’s  OK. What I hate is, if they only listen to one song and then don't give the album a chance or a second try because they think they know the complete work already. In the end, I can say I always did the best I could give in that moment and this is what I also teach my children, if you gave your best, it doesn’t matter if it works out every time. There is so much pressure all around. You only have one beautiful life, live it free not scared.

Metallerium: Usually when a band releases a new album. The band thinks that this new one is the best work for them as a cliche. But the counterproductive thing according to this is the feeling of the fans with the first album and usually many reviewers said that the first three from Lacrimas Profundere are the bets to date and the incomparable jewels of the band. And I think as a fan of music as you are, you have these thoughts of your main influence bands metal, rock, jazz, etc. What is your opinion on this matter? Do you think the last album from Lacrimas Profundere is the best work until today? o perhaps you have one special album that no one thoughts.

Lacrimas Profundere: Aaah, the first two albums were originally planned as demos, the first was not planned to be released on CD but suddenly there was a publishing deal on the table and the album was sold as the first release of the band. I don´t like “...and the Wings Embraced Us” (1995) and “La naissance d'un rêve” (1997) that much. Both were good stuff back in the day but we could do better. I know about the special feelings many people have regarding these ones, but I would say it all started to get professional with "Memorandum" (1999) and "Burning: A Wish" (2001),  both I would say are kinda timeless and I still love them. I’m not the kind of musician who always thinks, it’s the latest release is the best, but I can certainly say, the new one is a fucking masterpiece and goes back to our doom roots.

Metallerium: We will now focus on the Lacrimas Profundere lineup from its very beginning, where you are the last original member from the early days of the band to today. For you, how difficult is it to maintain the same line-up in a band like Lacrimas Profundere? Also, do you have communication with the first line-up of the band and other old members?

Lacrimas Profundere: The great thing is, that we had a show last year in Munich and the original founding members came and my good old friend Markus, drummer of Crematory also visited me that time, and my former members still like Crematory a lot. So they all sat at the same table and watched the show and we had so much fun together talking about the beginning and drinking beer. Yeah, if there is a chance to meet, we still have fun. There was no bad blood. But that’s also part of the truth that with the last line up the fire has gone out. So I love to be with the current members. Since these guys joined, I feel that this is not only a band or job – it’s like a family, just like way back when I started it all. Julian is like an animal on stage. He breathed new life into us. He's like Spider-Man. Stop no, Venom cause of the white lenses he is wearing at the live shows, so that probably fits better, laughs! He jumps over the barricades right into the audience, starts a mosh pit where he's in the middle of it and gets scratches and cuts, climbs the trusses, and is just a wonderful singer and person. Domi is always on point and Ilker is a full-blood musician. The chemistry is great and that spark transfers over to the people at live shows, or when watching our videos. We like each other. We took what we envision modern music to be and made a hybrid of who we were, who we are, and who we want to be and it feels like everybody is working towards the same goal: Lacrimas fucking Profundere and its new album.

Metallerium: Speaking of lineup changes in a band, there are some comments from critics, writers, and fans who say that when the band keeps changing lineups for years, the sound of the band gets distorted by the different influences of the new members. Do you think that when a new member enters a band, this new member changes the sound of the band completely? Or do you consider as the gatekeeper of the Lacrimas Profundere’s sound?

Lacrimas Profundere: Yeah, I and my brother are something like the gatekeeper of Lacrimas because the brain and the sound of Lacrimas were always Christopher and me. I wrote the music and Christopher the lyrics. For sure we never limited a musician, but we always have the last word. Christopher was responsible for the title of the album. However, Julian, our new vocalist, brought so much great stuff to the table that we couldn't say no.

He is more at home in the modern metal genre, I’m more into Anathema, Paradise Lost, or The Cult. So I would say, that we crossed the borders of genres. Is GothCore already born? If not, this album could be the blueprint. A storm of emotions, the door to another world. I remember reading comments on Youtube like "I feel the song takes my hand and says it's alright, I'll guide you" or "this is life"! This track is the proof that you can still come up with something new, surprising, and different.,

Metallerium: We are very close to the end of this interview. For that, what are the future plans that the band has for the next days, months, and years? Perhaps a North American tour, European tour, or who knows a Latin-American tour, etc. Videoclips are upcoming. ¿Who knows?

Lacrimas Profundere: We filmed four clips in one day, it was the longest day of my life I would say. Julian did a great job producing and cutting it and we all love the new album. We do headliner shows at the beginning of September here in Germany and one in Austria and then we´ll see what‘s up next. Since the pandemic, we stopped to plan too much for the future.

Metallerium: How do you consume music most of the time? Also, what is your opinion about digital platforms and streaming services? How has been your experience with these options that technology is giving us? Is bad or good?

Lacrimas Profundere:  Both, cool to discover new stuff but if you find a great new band then support them by buying their stuff. If it would work like this: stream to discover and buy later I would say it’s a great tool but instead of buying the stuff, its no good.

Metallerium: Within this topic, what do you think of the people of this new generation who prefer to listen to only one, two, or a maximum of three songs from the new Lacrimas Profundere album on the various platforms? Cuz for me that is wrong, because I prefer to listen to the entire album and find thousands of flavors within it in order to get to know the band better in this new one. What is your point of view about this new way of listening to music? And why the albums don’t have the same impact compared to the ’60s, ’70s, 80s, and 90s?

Lacrimas Profundere: In the 70s the music was a statement. That was the golden age where so many genres were born. You had to record on tape and every tone had to actually be played, not like nowadays with copy-paste. Drugs and RocknRoll:  I read that some bands recorded on drugs the whole night, woke up, and didn't know if or what they have created. Today, you have to be something like a bank manager to plan all the stuff and this turned the music into a kind of soulless shit.

Metallerium: Well, Oliver. The sad time arrives at this interview. I hope you enjoyed this one like me. Congratulations on this amazing album. Anything you want to add to your Latin American fans and Metallerium readers?

Lacrimas Profundere: Buy the album and play it loud. If you are that kind of person, who wanna getting shrouded by night, grab the new album. When your girlfriend left you and you hate your life, also, if not and you only wanna piss your neighbors off, give it a spin also.

Thanks a lot for the interview, stay healthy and heavy, and hope to see you all out on the road soon, Oliver Nikolas.