Yes, that album sounds like strange mix of Depeche Mode and And One. < both laugh> Now it’s just Melotron?

<smile> Yes.

What makes “Weltfrieden” different from previous albums?

“Weltfrieden” was created in time when we had a lot of problems. We put all those troubles in our songs. As a mean to work through them, not ignore them. We used that energy in creating “Weltfrieden”. We put more energy in making it than in previous albums. I think also that Andy sings more intensely, adds more feelings and has more power in his voice than before. That makes “Weltfrieden” different from other albums.

Speaking of Andy’s input, he creates melodic, soft music, while your lyrics are very strong and I won’t say dark, but... complicated. How come?

Yes, Andy has very different point of view to mine. But it is really interesting to find a point in which we come together. We sit in our studio, Andy makes music, and I say:” No. I don’t know what it means, have no idea what to write for it, please give me something else”. And we try and try… Same with my lyrics - I give him something I had written and he’s like:” Edgar, go away, make me some other lyrics!” <smile>.
On every album we find compromise. That is one of the reasons why our music is interesting to people.

You are from GDR. What was different there and then, comparing to today’s Germany?

We can do what we want. We have a chance to do it. We didn’t have that in GDR. Now, we can at least try.
In GDR, it was impossible to get a synthesizer. Even if you could scrape some money to pay for it, there was no place where you could buy it. Now we have possibility to try, to find in music our way. Same in politics: we have a choice; nobody tells us what to do or how to think. That’s a good aspect of freedom.

<smile> Why is freedom for sale? (Weltfrieden ist kãuflich! – world peace is for sale, parole on the cover of their latest album)

Everything is for sale.
When we completed “Welfrieden” we thought about the point, idea of it. World peace is humanity’s dream. At this point, it is impossible; when you hear politicians saying:” We’ll sell bombs and we’ll use them to make peace!” you know something is wrong. You can’t sell bombs and buy world peace. That is why we sarcastically used that”Weltfrieden ist kãuflich!” parole.

What do you plan for your next project? Will it bring anything new, anything different?

We plan to release new album in October. It will be called “Sternenstaub” (Stardust). It will be more electronic than “Weltfrieden”. It’s return to our roots while it is a step forward as well. We will complete it upon our return to Germany, but so far, it sounds more intense, with more feelings. (continues)