This interview was conducted in September 2000 by Dan Ghetu and published in "Letters from the Nuovo Europae" website.

1. Heil kamerad! How looks Germany at the beginning of this season ? 

It is quite nice actually. Especially when the sun is setting in the evening there is a very beautiful light in autumn that paints everything in warm colours. The mist rises from the fields and the air is quite fresh. I like this time of the year very much.

2. Apoptose represent rather a new artist, and how I doubt there are many things known about its history, past releases or ideas, influences and components etc., it will be good to start with this subject...

 At the moment Apoptose is musically a one man project. The history started about 10 years ago in my mind in a more or less abstract form. I always wanted to express my inner visions with sound but I didn’t know exactly which way to go so I thought it would be better to wait and see. About 3 years ago my different ideas focused on one point and I finally began my sound research. From this time on I worked on the music regularly and later the tracks of the „Nordland“-album developed throughout the year of 1999 and early 2000.

3. Apoptose is with sure a quite mysterious name in my ears - everytime I encounter it I think at apostate ....but I don't think there are any similiarities...how would you describe its true sens ?

There are many words with the prefix "apo" that are all of Greek origin. Some of them like "apostate" or "apotheosis" are more commonly known but they have nothing to do with the name I chose. Apoptose is a German medical term. Originally Greek and in English it would be "apoptosis". The medical meaning of it is "programmed cell death": It describes a program that you can find in every living cell. It causes the cell to commit suicide when it is damaged or sick. It is the most common form of cell death in the organism which is among other things important for the immune system. Reduced apoptosis may lead to autoimmunity or tumors (for example in cancer cells this program doesn’t work so the cell division goes on forever). Literally it means something like "leaves falling from trees" which also fits very well to my music.

4. How hard is it to live in Germany these days? It seems that it does not matter anymore if you are an apolitical person or not, the main problem is that you're german and we all know what germans have done in the last century...do you meet often with such remarks ?

 To live in Germany is not harder than to live elsewhere in western Europe I think. Most of the people here earn enough money so that they don’t have to worry about their future but the past is more than alive in their minds. Everything that is connected with the 3. Reich is a very delicate theme here. In the media there is still a lot of talk about WW II and neo-fascism to raise awareness and prevent that something like this ever happens in Germany again.

But there is also an adverse effect of it. Because of the repetition of this over and over again many of the young people can‘t stand this topic anymore. They are born maybe 40 years after the end of war, so for them the war is as far away as, lets say, the Stone Age.

Personally I have no problems to deal with the German past. I have drawn my conclusions from those years which were probably the darkest moments of German history and I don’t need anybody to tell me what I should think about it. If there are young people who have problems with Germans because of the past I can’t help them but I hardly met any. The people I know from other countries accept me as the person I am and don’t see me as a German or whatever.

5. I've asked you this because the name of your first album could be a little 'suspect' for some people , considering that "Nordland" remember of a national-socialist magazine from the 30s; could this be also one of the meaning behind the title ?

Definitely not! Many people keep telling me stories about the title "Nordland" so meanwhile I am a real expert on it. I learned that there is even more than one right-wing magazine with this name and thousands of travel agencies who have it but that all has nothing to do with my "Nordland". A county in Norway is also called „Nordland“ which is much nearer to the album’s name than all the rest.

In connection to the album the word "Nordland" has two meanings. One is exactly the sense of the word: "Northern Land". All of the music is influenced by the landscape and the rough living conditions of the northern countries. The other aspect reaches a little bit deeper under the surface of the human mind and far beyond the pure geographic meaning of this word.

To me it also represents the part of the human consciousness that is not easy accessible, the night-side of our mind that you find below the surface. All people have got this dark side but most of them reject its existence. "Dark" doesn’t mean that it is "negative" it is just an archaic part of us that has its roots thousands of years ago. This part of the consciousness still influences our everyday behaviour although we often don’t recognize it. The music is an exploration of my personal "Nordland" and may be a device for the listener to find access to the own inner world.

6. You declare your music and personal feelings as 'heathen' - can we ellaborate more on this issue? I often asked myself if this modern heathen perspective includes also an ecological statute, because it seems that there are not many differences between the ecologist organisations and the artists who declare themselves as 'heathens'...

I think there are differences between ecologists and heathens although both groups also have similarities. An ecologist in the meaning of the word cares for nature in a more political sense but can be a Christian or a Buddhist or something else at the same time. Heathens care for nature because they understood that nature is their mother and that there are no artificial gods. Everything comes from nature and in the end everything returns to nature.

7. It is wellknown now that "Nordland" was composed and inspired with the help and by your trips to the northern regions and lands of Europe; where you exactly travelled and what memories did you bring back ? How much differs this part of Europe in regard with the North ?

Except for Iceland I have been several times in all the other Scandinavian countries and also visited big parts of the British Isles. What impresses me most is the untouched nature in all these regions. From the moment you get there you can breathe the fresh air and enjoy the beautiful landscape. When you avoid the cities you meet only few people compared to Germany which seems to be overcrowded with people and cars so that I use every opportunity to escape. The silence and solitude is simply overwhelming in the north. Everytime I get there it feels like coming home.

8. I remember that I read somewhere, maybe with a year ago, the news about the discovery of a mithriatic site somewhere in the east of the Finland, a very bizzare thing for the North indeed; do you know anything about that? Have you any interest in the mithras tradition? What inspire you most?

That is new to me and sounds quite intersting how this cult came so far north as it was mainly spead by the Roman soldiers. I’m no expert in the Mithras cult but I visited a few mithraic sites in Germany.

It is hard to say what inspired me most. I studied different heathen traditions to learn what is the center of their faith. I am always looking for similarities between the belief-systems and in most cases you find more or less well-hidden that the ancient religions derive from the observation of nature. The forces of nature took over a human shape to form gods with special attributes. In the oldest cults you find shamanic elements. People fall in trance to get in touch with the forces of nature in order to influence their fate. I guess this is the most original religious concept of mankind that stood with us in some way or another from the beginnings to the present. "Nordland" carries many aspects of that.

9.What means for you the Tradition? What elements does it include and when do you think that some certain subject might be include in the Tradition and when not?

Tradition is a word that has a very wide range. There are several different traditions that everyone is part of: Tradition of your family, of your country or of your job for example. Everyone belongs to a group of others no matter if you like it or not. So you can accept the traditional values of your group or reject it. But even if you reject it you get into the tradition of the non-conformists... Tradition forms out of the habits of a certain group of people so it is difficult to include something in it willingly because it developed in the past. But you can try to change it. Tradition should not be accepted for the sake of it. You should know what is behind those things that form the values of your group so that you can decide if you really want to be a part of it.

10. According to the Situationists thinkers, we live and form the "Society of Spectacle", what are the most respected things that you value in this world and what do you hate most? How do you view the technology?

What I appreciate most are personal bonds to family and friends and on the other hand silence and nature. I can’t really say that I hate something because I don’t want to waste my time on hating something. That would mean to give it more attention than it deserves. Of course there are certain things or people I don’t want to deal with because they piss me off. I simply exclude them from my world – they have no meaning to me.

11. Even if you personally might not support through your work the pan-european theories and concepts, there are not quite a few of people who see you as a perfect exponent of the euro-centric heathen kultur...; how much they're wrong, you should tell me? Do you see yourself in this pan-european context? I mean, not from an political point of view but more from a cultural, traditional one...

I don’t think they are wrong seeing me in a European heathen context because I am European and I am heathen. The European culture definitely influenced my view of life from the day I was born, these are my cultural roots. But that doesn’t make me a part of a movement or has influences on my political opinions.

My view of the world cannot be described as "euro-centric" because that makes no sense to me. Even Europe in itself is far from being a unit. If you look at the different European countries and traditions, it is hard to imagine a big homogenous group. And why should all those people share the same aim and values at all? They all live under totally different circumstances. For economic reasons it is hard enough as the developement of the EU shows but cultural we will never become one.

I think it is wrong to try to carry European values to other peoples in other parts of the world. We may be convinced that our lifestyle is the best but it is definitely not the best for the others as you see in Africa, America, Australia or whereever Europeans went in the past to show their "superiority" and gain wealth. We would have less problems in the world today when the missionaries and colonists had stayed at home and mind their own business. The other folks have their own cultural heritage that belongs to the region they live in. Even if we possibly don’t understand it, we should at least respect their way of life.

12. Do you have any writer, philosoph or cultural, artistic current that influenced you for Apoptose, or only the naked nature in its pure forms ?

Nature was besides my studies of pagan myths one of the biggest influences on the concept of the album as I explained before. In general music has a much bigger effect on me than any written work, so the more prominent influences on Apoptose come from other musicians who formed my view on sound. There are far too much to mention now, but if you listen closely you will recognise some of them for sure.

13. How do you regard the Western culture and tradition ? Do you think that there might be found even some valuable things in their civilization ?

I think so but I can’t remember one at the moment except for Johann Sebastian Bach and some of his colleagues...

14. As we already talk, you share a heathen perspective, but how do you view the christian symbols and concepts that forms the european culture? Considering that there are lots of pagan symbolism which was incorporated in the christian tradition...do you feel like an equilibrium between these two ?

In western Europe the Christian religion nowadays dominates the everyday culture of the people. The values of Christianity are accepted by millions, but when you pay attention, you can still find old pagan roots under this surface. The festivals that are celebrated around the year are still very similar to those in former times. Just the names are different and the rites are obviously Christian, but the essence and the true meaning of these holy days are still the same. The old faith and rites formed the culture of the Europeans long before something like Christianity even existed, so it takes a lot more than 2000 years to eradicate this heritage from the subconsciousness of the Europeans.

Christianity is a religion that is based in a totally different surrounding than northern Europe, so it is naturally not able to offer solutions to all the problems the people here have. Although today most of the people in this part of the world are Christians and even if they don’t recognise it themseves, they still need bits of the old faith to get a glimpse of the complete picture. Without the heathen components Christianity would have had difficulties to be this successful. Maybe that is a sort of unwanted equilibrium.

15. Returning to music, how is the work with Tesco so far? How have you succeed to get an album on them and what should we exepect for the near future? You will continue to work with Tesco or have you already got another contract?

The way I came to Tesco was quite "traditional". I sent them a CD with a rough version of what should later become the "Nordland" album. Some weeks later they answered me that they like the music and that they are interested in releasing it.

The work on the release of Nordland was a very good experience for me because Tesco and I had nearly the same ideas how this album should be released. Concerning the artwork they were very cooperative and they liked the whole concept from the beginning. So it was a really relaxed working-relationship with this label. I can recommend it.

At the moment I am collecting ideas and sounds for new songs but a new album will certainly take some time. There is no reason to hurry for me to finish another work soon. I haven’t even thought about a possible label for the next release. I will do it when the time is nearer but Tesco will be high on my list again...

16. Are there any plans for a concert maybe ? Which will be the perfect background for an Apoptose show ?

At the moment there are no plans for concerts. It is an intriguing thought to play live but I’m not interested in a normal boring industrial performance where one person is standing on stage and turning some knobs on his electronic equipment. It would be challenging to perform the music with acoustic instruments but that is not easy to realize because I needed a lot of guest musicians and a lot of time to rehearse which I simply don’t have at the moment. Maybe one day...

17. How would you describe your music ? I know that the most usual resemblance of the "Nordland" is with the music and work of Les Joyaux De La Princesse ....what do you think about this comparison ? Do you see yourself as a part of the industrial or post-industrial kultur?

It is quite hard for me to describe my music because it is much too near at my emotions that I could give a objective statement. The one who composed the music is mostly the worst to interpret it. Others may have a much clearer view on certain characteristics that I used unintentionally.

The nearest relation that I see exists probably to film soundtracks. They are composed to give the audience a proper atmosphere to the pictures they see and with Apoptose it is the same. The atmosphere is most important for me. The music may be the score to your inner movies.

This is certainly a parallel to LJDLP. Although our theoretical background is different they also work with great atmospheres which they create with quite simple means. I like the works of LJDLP so they possibly formed a part of my general view on music and influenced me when I was working on my own tracks.

There is not only a connection between Apoptose and the industrial tradition, other more melodic styles like New Wave or Neofolk left their traces, too. But for me it is OK being labelled as "Industrial" because the listeners of Industrial really pay attention to the music. It is a very competent audience and there are many likeminded people in this particular scene that I met during the last years.

18. I am very interested to hear your current favourites from the actual scene, any good recommendations ?

That is a hard question because there are many different artists who play totaly different music which I like. Of course I like ambient music very much. Alio Die, Lustmord and Nocturnal Emissions are still amongst my favorites but at the same time I like BDN or Backworld or Portishead or some German music that probably noone with a sane mind would listen to. It all depends on the mood I am in, but a bit of darkness and melancholy is absolutely necessary!

I can recommend every album with Sally Doherty because she has such a marvellous voice. Especially her band Sieben is one of my favorites. Their album is very impressing and also her current solo-CD „Empire of Death“. There is a new band on CMI called Coph Nia. Their album is really good, too. Very dark stuff indeed.

19. That will be all for the moment, danke schön for all your time and effort, you have the last word...

Thanks and watch out for the limited "Solaris Collaboration"-album on Polymorph Records. It is a kind of soundtrack to the book „Solaris“ by Stanislaw Lem. Really evocative sound... Apoptose was one of the four bands that worked on the music.