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wooltoesocks · 9 days ago

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Shirahama Kamome interview at Desucon 2025, Finland

had the honour of attending her live drawing/interview last weekend, it was an absolute blast and i still cant really quite believe i got to see that. didnt win an autograph ticket, but what i did do was take notes from the panel, so if anyone's interested to read, here they are <3

feel free to share, but please credit :)

[] means stuff the panelists have said, () is me rambling

text version/ALT under the cut since it's a lot

14.6.2025 Desucon

guest of honour's program: Kamome Shirahama and the magic of drawing

disclaimer: might contain mistakes even tho i've tried to be as accurate to my notes and memory as possible <3

on the table she was going to be drawing at there were the usual 2 brushbugs wearing qifrey and olruggio's hats, but also a hattifatten

*a picture of shirahama's two brushbugs, wearing olruggio's and qifrey's hats, and a hattifatten on a table (from tongariofficial's twitter)*

the program schedule hadnt included a live drawing, so i dont know if that was going to be a surprise for us of if it was a last minute decision. shirahama said "unfortunately the hat is in the way of seeing", since she had the iguin mask on the entire time. since we had a lot of time, she would be drawing coco and qifrey. (i initially took this to mean she could draw them both since she had time but my friend interpreted it as being "BECAUSE we have time she will be drawing" so idk. she had a cool ring, which looked like it could hold ink or smth.

[did you read manga growing up and what were your favorite manga and mangaka as a kid?]

- like all kids she read manga, but also liked novels and movies

- her favorite were x-men and star was comics- she read manga that was maybe targeted to an older audience

[did you always draw as a kid?] (didnt write down this question but i think it was smth like that)

- according to her parents yes, and also she's drawn since she herself can remember

[when did drawing become your job?]

-she studied design (? and smth else idk i accidentally wrote design in english and finnish lmao) in university, and alongside that she got small jobs to draw atuff for for example teaching materials and games, and realised you could actually make a job out of drawing.

[what did you learn alongside your studies?]

- she had graphics as her major, but was also interested in accessibility design and something else (i think this had smth to do with the environment, maybe environmental design? but i had just written "something")

[how did you end up a mangaka?]

- self published manga drawings, and at some point a publisher reached out to her like hey do you wanna come draw for us

[what kind of material do you like to draw with?]

- the sketch she does with a pencil, and then the actual drawing with an inkpen- corona has chabged stuff a bit because you have to take into account how much can you meet with your assistants, so more of the drawing is done digitally nowadays

- she prefers drawing on paper, but for example if a design is going into a game (=onto a screen) she will draw it digitally to fit

- she's also been challenging herself recently by drawing more stuff digitally

[do you draw all the details in the sketch, or just at the inking part?]

- the pencil marks distract the drawing process, so she will add the details in the inking part

- "you are going to see it yourself with this"

[where have you taken influence from to your drawing style?]

- fantasy, rpg, europe (i think i meant western here??)

- okay so i had written "role-playing-game-styled" but idk what that rly means lol

- the style of wood carvings is medieval[your works have been published in maby magazines, is there a difference between magazines what kind of manga you draw?] (i think that meant her drawing style depending on magazine not the manga's story)

- it's not really the magazine that changes stuff, the drawing style changes depending on the story

- witch hat atelier is story-book-like

- style will accommodate what suits a game the best

[where does the style come from for each story?]

- no (???? what he fuck did i mean by this im sure it made sense in the moment)

- if it's a digital media, she will draw with a computer, a japanese story she will use a brush, and for a western story she will use harder pencils

[do you change your style depending on the target audience?] (more in the ways of a country a person is from, for example western/japanese)

- she will draw what will be enjoyable regardless of the target group/audience

[does your style change depending on the age group of your audience?]

- it's more in the language then, so the dialogue's difficulty changes

[where did you get the idea for enidewi?] (this just read "enidewi idea?")

- she likes european gothic angels and devils and wanted to write about them. there are a lot of things she likes in enidewi- she likes to tell stories with girls in them

(no idea what the actual question was, i just write "enidewi memories?")

- it's about 2 girls on trips and they get into shenanigans

- she has travelled a lot so she pulled stuff from her own experiences/stuff related to her own experiences

- she does hope that she hasnt been as much of a difficulty as those 2

[when did you get the idea for witch hat atelier?]

- she was thinking of it while drawing enidewi

- the idea has been with her for surprisingly long, 6 years before publishing

[were you imagining the story or the worldbuilding then?]

- no plot, but the setting, world and themes

[was the drawing part of magic in the story since the beginning?]

- it's been in the story since very early on

- there are some people who are incredibly talented at drawing in our world, but everyone can draw at least a certain amount, so she wanted a world where the magic is in everyone's reach so to say

[how did you design such an intricate magic system?]

- first she wanted a simple system that even a child could copy but wanted there to be some logic to add extra effects

[what is your favorite symbol?]

- the one coco uses a lot, meaning sylph shoes

[i think we would all want a spell to fly with our shoes]

- shirahama would want a spell to easy stiff shoulders (she was i think showing a v bad posture drawing position lol)

[too bad those are forbidden]

(no idea about the question here lol i missed it bc i was explaining the previous laughing to someone, she also had to read the question again from a paper she had so hell yea me too)

- the fears of how to get better at drawing

- there would be a feeling of relatability

[so the series has the "good guys" wearing a pointy brimless cap and the "bad guys" a brimmed cap, so a different philosophy means a different cap. where did you get the idea/why is it like this?]

- she was vaguely pointing at her iguin hat and doing the muscle flex pose like woo

- she cant say, and it will be revealed as the series progresses (she had her hands clasped at her chest i had written that down soecifically)

- wait with excitement for the upcoming chapters (i THINK she meant like any future chapter but tbh i for a sec thought the translator said NEXT chapter but dont get ur hopes up. ANYWAY WHAT THE FUCK)

(smth about the desig of characters again was distracted by the whole thing before)

- she think it's fun to make the character designs, it's it's becoming hard because there are so many characters

- she will sometimes go to her artist friends with a character idea like hey this is what this character is like what would they look like

[all the fans here would probbaly go crazy for a finland inspired outfit, what would it be like?]

- well it would be warm at least

[furhat]

[does qifrey's hat tell something about his character?]

- it's a modified version of his hat as Beldaruit's apprentice so not really

[how has it been like creating the rules within the world?]

- it's been fun thinking of the fashion styles and clothes (literally the note says "fashion styles and clothes fun so nice to make <nonsense> that was fun" so idk take of that what u will. the nonsense might have been "work" but i honestly dunno)

[what has been difficult to get to fit?]

- she says the weaknesses and holes are hard to work into the system so that it's noticable that things are wrong but not too much into either direction

- bring to light something about the differences in people ("bring forward motivation into that different people kinda" what. anyway not sure what i meant here, also not sure if this is still to the same question but i didnt at least write a question in this part so idk)

- she thinks a lot (about what, idk i think there was a question here too i missed about maybe magic?), magic is a technology that tries to make human lives easier

[do you intend to raise awareness of real life problems?]

- partially, and that magic is a positive depiction too so that might inspire to fix the real life problems[inspiration for witch hat during the creation of the series?]

- during middleschool/high school/university she liked lord of rings movies, and peter jackson films (idk if it was like she liked those during that time and they still inspire her or like was this just not answering the question but anyway)

[are there any spcific details inspired by other serieses?]

- ghibli, the idea of nausicae (? not sure about this but like those were mentioned)

[witch hat atelier is peculiar/unique with it's use of art deco. do the page compositions come to your mind as they will be or are they modified as you work?] (notes said to the first line just "wha unique, art deco" so i think that's what it meant?)

- there are both instances, some will be completed like they first came into mind, and others get elements and other stuff added while drawing[how does it feel getting recognition outside of japan too?]

- she is very happy about that, that people enjoy and read her stuff and she is very honoured overall, and it's nice that that's the case also in other countries

[reading pictures is pretty universal, is it kind of like the manga's magic that it's for everyone?]

- she said it's kinda of funny with japanese because kanji are pictograms so they are also pictures in a way

[so your series has an official spin-off called witch hat atelier kitchen. where did the idea for that come from?] (a lot of thumbs up from shirahama at the mention of kitchen yay)

- she was approached by the publishing like oh hey we have this idea to draw a witch hat food series is that okay with you[are you how deep in the creation process of kitchen, or is it just sato's work?]

- sato creates it, sometimes they might workshop some world related stuff, for example the names of vegetables, and how to connect kitchen with the main series more

[do you have a favorite character or do you love them all equally?] (she was looking between the translator and the audience and reaching for the brushbugs like tadaa kinda)

- brushbug is easy to draw so that's why, and especially drawn with a brush

[there's also a very cute hattivatti]

- she had bought it immediately after arriving to finland

[hattifattener are probably the closest finland has to a brushbug]

- "yeah that's how it is"

[you have worked with marvel, DC and star wars. how did this start?]

- she liked american comics and attended cons in the usa too, and showed some sketches for a producer/editor (idk the word but like someone in the industry)

[have you gotten to draw any of your favorite characters?]

- her first crush was wolverine

- she also like batman a lot

- she at least hasnt had the opportunity to draw them together in a work

- she draws a lot of female characters for her work usually too

[what's the process for cover art, do you get precise instructions or do you have more free hands with the design?]

- she gets mostly free reign, and does something to suit the character

- sometimes there will be instructions/asks to include something, for example if the story takes place in japan to put fitting elements there

[is there much of a difference working with foreign works compared to japanese ones?]

- not really, most differences depend on the work itself

[how much time do you get to making a cover?]

- she's been busy lately (👀👀👀) but usually the deadlines arent super specific, she will usually make one a month

[you worked in character design for the star wars: visions -series. how was the experience?]

- on top of all, the series is an animation, it was nice to get to work with other people

- also amazing to get to see her designs come to life

*a sneeze*

[do you have to take into account that the characters will be animated when making the design?]

- there wasnt as much creative freedom since star wars is a established franchise so a lot of the design elements already exist

- okay so i didnt hear if she said "you didnt have to simplify the designs" since it's animated or that "you did have to simplify the designs" so like uhhhh sorry for not being able to answer that :( i feel like it mighta been "you didnt really have to simplify" but oh well

[do you draw witch hat characters from a reference at the beginning until you memorize the design, or does the design change along the story?]

- she had made a few designs beforehand (i think this meant like of one character like a few versions)

[you also drew the comic adaptation for Star Wars: Visions. did you get strict rules for it of were you allowed to change stuff?]

- the story was completed so that wasnt changed- she kept the same visual spirit as in the animation

[is there a foreign work you would still like to get to work with?]

- a lot of eeeeeee pondering noices, she was holding her hand on her chin like when you think bout something

- she said it's a difficult question, but she would like to work with a tabletop rpg or boardgames (excited hand gestures)

[well im sure everyone here would at least love to play those]

- she mentioned she's done work with Pokemon cards and Fate/grand order

[there is a witch hat anime coming. what's your role in its production?] (excited hand gestures again)

- she says she checks the stuff the animators have done, and gives corrections if needed

- since the manga is black and white, she gived advice on the colourschemes, for example with what kind of coloring techniques the characters have access to and therefore what the clothes will look like

[is this the first time you've thought about the colours of some stuff?]

- there have been a lot, for example coco's dress in chapter 1

- she will ponder with the team what would work best

[how (much?) are you waiting for the anime?]

- "a lot, and also very excited that all of you will get to watch it"

[are there any serieses/games you like right now?]

- magus of the library (someone from the audience provided the english translation, the translator said "big wizard of the library" (in finnish). thumbs up from shirahama at that), it's very interesting

[well nice we're getting recommendations here]

[the world of witch hat atelier is rpg-styled, is there any videogame elements?] (something about videogames and witch hat world at least lol i kinda missed this bc of again the previous question)

- there's not really any video game elements, since there is no level ups or magic points

- more closer to fantasy literature

[you said you read manga before becoming a mangaka yourself. has making your own manga changed this hobby, are you tired of manga outside of work?] (many excited hand gestures again)

- she actually reads more manga now than as a kid- as a kid she didnt dare buy a lot if she didnt know the story that well (or like being way more cautious of what to buy), but now she feels like "she has permission" to read manga

- "oh it's part of the job i can buy and read manga"

[do you look back to your works and think a lot about what succeeded and could have been done better?]

- when she starts a new part in the series, she will read the previous one and think about what might have been left unexplained and try to broaden and explain the stuff later

[has the way you engage with and judge other people's manga changed after becoming a mangaka? do you think like "oh this could have been done differently" "oh this was really cool"?]

- she said she isnt "skipping school" when reading, she does look at novels too with new eyes now

[is it good to read others' fantasy works, or do you do it just because you like it?]

- she does keep up with what other people are writing, and says it's good to know what's going on so as not to write absolutely similar stuff

[oh it does look like the drawing is finished now.] (this was 12.17, the panel started at like 11, a few minutes over most likely)

- you could really see how she added the details with the ink pen and not with pencil (dont remember if this was shirahama or the panelists, but still so true and amazing to watch)

- "i erased the pencil marks out of the way"

- "thank you for having the patience to watch me draw"

[well this is going to turn into a thanking contest but i do think the pleasure is completely ours/thanks are completely on our side, thank you for drawing for us] (literally no thank YOU tetia core interaction)

[does anything come to mind that the finnish manga and anime -fans would be interested to hear that we havent realised to ask?]

- "thank you so much", she says it's nice to feel that people like the same stuff as she does, that even if we're from different countries that we are all fans of manga

[how has it been visiting finland for desucon?]

- she arrived a few days ago in helsinki, and the food and weather has been very good (this is hilarious she managed to come here on the 4 consecutive days when it's been sunny and so warm and not raining at all this whole year i feel like what. anyway glad she liked the food yayy)

- she still hasnt had time to properly visit desucon yet

when she left the stage she waved the hand of the brushbug that had oru's hat at the audience <3

#wha #witch hat atelier #kamome shirahama #interview #desucon 2025 #i wrote the notes basically blind since i wanted to watch the drawing and it was pretty dark in the audience #so like it's a miracle my handwriting was at all legible lmao #i thought it would look suspicious if i was on my phone since you werent allowed to take pictures so that's why handwritte notes #anyway translating these into 1. coherent text and 2. english took me like 4 hours lol this was 4 A4 worth of notes #tbna #tongari boushi no atelier #still insane about the “oh lol read more and you'll find out” WHAT THE HELL THAT WAS SUCH A SIMPLE QUESTION #like that woulda been the last question i'd thought would be a plot point #goooooooooosh #villasukat.

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rassicas · 9 months ago

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i have one video i've been wanting to make about a certain splatoon lore topic so badly for some years now and i wanna do it soon. but every time i think about it i can feel myself going insane. there's so much i need to say. how do i structure this in a way that makes sense. does it even make sense at all. to me? god help me

#rassicas speaks #spoilers: yep its the water thing.#stares haggardly at mirror with my hands white knuckle gripping on the sides of the bathroom sink. splashes water in my face #i feel like ive cracked open a fucking conspiracy. ITS ALL CONNECTED ITS ALL FUCKING CONNECTEDDDDD I FEEL INSANE #stares at my corkboard with strings. punches wall #the water weakness is not as stupid and disjointed as everyone thinks and i have to prove it.#the disconnect between the west and JP in terms of acceptance of the water weakness lore is fucking insane #there's a video from a edutainment quiz youtuber in JP. not a splatuber mind you. that talks about osmosis and how it connects to inklings #the canon explanation mind you. this video has a million views!!!#a million fucking views!! its a video for casuals!! everyone knows inklings canonically die in water and the reason is related to osmosis!!#meanwhile if you bring up the concept of inklings dying in water on the western side with hopes to theorize according to canon lore #and i will. present the dev interview that outright confirms the reason is related to osmosis.#u know what happens. um actually they only die in fresh water! um no they dont die in water they just cant swim! DO U KNOW HOW INSANE I FEE #jp side has been speculating on how the osmosis thing actually works on inkling biology for years #and the english side cant even get over the hurdle that the water weakness is like. real undeniable canon #like i get that info is less accessible here. as i will prove. in my video eventually.#but holy fuck it makes me crazyyyyy when i actually do present stuff and ppl cover their ears anyway. this has happened a lot.

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brian-kinney-apologist · 1 year ago

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me tonight btw

#yes u do have degree in linguistics #no idk how english punctuation works #we exist 🫶🫶#interview with the vampire #iwtv #amc iwtv #lestat de lioncourt #louis de pointe du lac #loustat

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luvuomi · 1 month ago

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“On the 𝔀ings of a small, simple 𝓶elody

Words take 𝐟light and 𝐬oar

They carry me

A 𝒘orld we'll see . . . ”

a single verse that faintly echoes throughout an empty auditorium; written on delicate parchment, it’s penmanship elegant yet faded with time. though an enchanted being meant to be revered by the awe-like gaze of many, this enigmatic dove has chosen to soar beyond the cosmos where it remains out of sight. once upon a time, miss amélie had once taken to the spotlight, dazzling the citizens of penacony with her soft charm that many likened to the moonlight’s glow. but the amélie of today has since retired from the stage—the details of which she did not enlighten me with nor did i push for after seeing that wistful look in her eyes—and now continues her journey as but a humble songwriter for others.

“i wish to lend my voice to others.. for those who wish to be seen, heard, and remembered. there was a time in which i once felt forgotten by the world, overlooked as a dimly-lit star amongst a sky of countless others who’s light burns brightly. in order to be saved, i too must burn.. or so i thought. this song was created at a time in which i wanted to be heard, and i was. in that sense, i suppose you could say i sympathize with them.”

this was the response the halovian had given me when asked to explain what she believes her purpose as a songwriter is. when i asked miss amélie about whether or not she would ever consider returning to the life of stardom, the young lady merely smiled as she folded up the parchment in her hand, before deftly tucking it away in her old song-writing book.

“my story has been told. i have nothing else to share that i feel needs to be acknowledged. in any case, i’m quite certain we’ll bare witness to many more fascinating stories in the coming years.” a pause. “… i’ll make sure of it.”

— an excerpt from moonlight’s silent voice: an exclusive interview from penacony’s hidden star, amélie.

🎨 →⠀﹐⠀╱⠀hsr! amélie was brought to life by the amazing @charlikesalmon !! AAAAA THEY DID SUCH AN INCREDIBLE JOB this is my second time working with char and to say i’m satisfied would be such an understatement🥹🤍they truly captured what i had envisioned and made it a reality AND IT CAME OUT SO CUTE AND LOVELY OH MY GOODNESS.. i would recommend anyone interested to please check them out and support!

#⏾. 𝕯𝐞𝐰𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝕸𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. ⊱ ❛ to moondust you shall return.#ahhahdjwk im still a bit hesitant talking about hsr amé because as i mentioned already ..#i know zero to nothing about hsr or any of the lore relating to penacony plus the game as a whole HELP #i did some research in regards to halovians and have a solid understanding of who/what they are but like.. idk what im doing still >///<#all i know is that i loved robin’s character ( still do ) and wanted to make amélie the same species(?) because why not hehe #i took lots of inspiration from how robin’s character stories were formatted which made the process much easier for a bit of storytelling #the lyrics from the beginning are from an actual song that exist called ‘gales of song’ and it was the main base from which this ..#interview centers around! in my mind i headcanoned that would be one of amélie’s very first songs she wrote and performed 🥹#they’re from the english ver but i personally prefer the jp ver ( either one works though )#uhhhhhh idk what else to say help this is literally all i have for her 😭she isnt shipped with anyone from hsr nor do i think she will be #i havent had a character from the game that really draws to my attention the same way kazuha and sethos do so ..#for now amélie is but a wandering halovian in penacony working with others as a songwriter :3

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x-the-picture-of-dorian-gay-x · 1 year ago

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(yes I'm aware the sad dark-haired boys applies to lestat too)

lol venn diagram time

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uhhlifeig · 3 months ago

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Sweat - March 25 - word count: 568 - @wolfstarmicrofic

The four fifth-years huddled around the piece of parchment.

It had taken years of their time, almost the entire time that they had already spent at Hogwarts, but it was almost done.

“Right, boys, we just need to sign now,” James said pompously. “Moony, you first- you came up with the idea.”

Remus nodded, dipping his quill into the pre-prepared magical ink, then signing his nickname.

He grinned with relief as the parchment seemed to absorb the ink, and his signature vanished. “Thank Merlin it works, I was sweating my tail off back here.”

James clapped his hands excitedly. “Alright, Moons, choose who signs next.”

Remus would have said Sirius even if his boyfriend hadn’t been looking at him with puppy-dog eyes. Being his boyfriend had perks, sometimes.

“Yes, Pads, your turn,” he sighed, rolling his eyes fondly.

Sirius cheered, pecking Remus on the cheek. “Thanks, Moonlight.”

He did the same thing that Remus had done before him, scrawling Padfoot on the sheet and watching his name fade.

“Wormy’s next,” Sirius said, grinning at James’s look of betrayal and disbelief.

“Sweet,” Peter said, snatching the quill and penning his own name, before handing the quill over to James.

“Thank you, Pete,” he said. “You’re a good friend, unlike someone.” He shot Sirius a playful glare.

Sirius stuck out his tongue. “It’s not my fault you’re always pining after Lily. Payback, Prongs.”

“Oh, fuck you,” James said in mock-anger, putting his own nickname on the parchment rather aggressively.

“No thanks, Moony’s already doing that quite well.”

“Oh, we know,” Peter said dryly. “We can hear, and no offense, Remus- your silencing charms are shite.”

“Oi, shuddup,” Remus said, flushing a deep beetroot. “We have a bit more to do.”

“The blood?”

“The blood,” he confirmed. “Now everyone stick out a finger- just a little cutting hex, and we’re done.”

James looked slightly queasy. “Are you sure we need this to finish the map?”

“If you want to add our personalities, then yes. Padfoot can confirm.”

Everyone looked at Sirius, who nodded in affirmation. “We need blood magic to infuse the Map with us. Otherwise it’s just another map.”

“Fine,” James huffed, looking away. “Just tell me when you’re done bleeding me dry.”

“We are done, Prongs,” Remus said amusedly. “Sirius was a great distraction. Now, let’s see what it does.” He pointed his wand at the parchment and muttered, “Revelio.”

Instantly, messages began to form.

Messr. Prongs is judging Mr. Lupin for forgetting the password already.

Messr. Padfoot would like Mr. Lupin to know that he looks quite dashing and intelligent today and that he would quite like to take Mr. Lupin to bed.

Messr. Wormtail would like for Messr. Padfoot to kindly shut the fuck up about Mr. Lupin.

Messr. Moony has no comment, for he is flipping Messr. Padfoot off with his incorporeal finger.

Messr. Padfoot would like to say that Messr. Moony has wounded him deeply and should now make up for it with kisses.

Messr. Prongs is attempting to strangle Messr. Padfoot with imaginary hands.

And on and on it went.

Remus whooped. “It’s working! Finally, thank Merlin.”

“I think Messr. Padfoot is right, Moons,” Sirius purred, scooting closer to his boyfriend. “You are very smart, and I would quite like to take you to bed.”

“And I think Messr. Wormtail is right,” Peter interrupted. “Stop traumatizing me, guys. I’ve already heard way too much.”

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critterofthenight · 11 months ago

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i don't have an angel and a devil on my shoulder, i have Laszlo and Lestat, and they are both giving me terrible but impressively bitchy advice

#and they both have cool accents that get stuck in my head and prevent me from speaking english like a normal human being #(not like i was very good at that before but yk)#what we do in the shadows #wwdits #laszlo cravensworth #interview with the vampire #lestat de lioncourt #vampire #✩‧₊˚

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marimayscarlett · 25 days ago

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Richard with Rockland.fm 🎤💬

Shortly after the release of his third Emigrate album "A Milliong Degrees", Richard was interviewed in 2018 by the radio station Rockland.fm and this interview video was released.

The interview is very interesting, but the radio station has published additional parts of the interview that are not included in the video. On this page, you can click through the various topics and questions, and audio clips of Richard will play accordingly. It's a very innovative way to discover an interview, with nice details, because Richard is once again very relaxed and at ease here. Since I adore the interview a lot, I thought I'd translate it into English, as it's only available in German.

Incidentally, I had the opportunity to pay attention to Richard's manner of speaking and expression again - he speaks quite quickly, doesn't use complicated vocabulary, is very direct and sometimes even flippant. Filler words are simply part of his speech, so he uses a lot of "ja" (in the sense of "right" or "you know"), "irgendwie" ("somehow") "im Grunde genommen" ("basically") and "komischerweise" ("strangely enough"). I am not a professional translator, yet I have tried to reproduce his narrative tone in English while smoothing out what he says a little.

It is quite long and maybe not very interesting for most people, but maybe someone will enjoy it 🤍

Was there a moment, where you wanted to abandon music altogether?

I’ve reached a point, around the time I turned 50, when I thought „Man, is this everything in my life? Is doing music, is doing what I do somehow…isn’t there something else, another challenge I feel like doing?“ That’s something where I think: I’m not sure what exactly, but I feel like I’d like to do something completely different with my life. I do believe that music would still be a part of fit, I would still do that, since it’s a form of communication with myself.

Do you have the desire to change something // to quit music?

Well, doing it on your own is a tricky thing. I believe, it doesn’t work well, working on your own, since of course you do have the need to present it [the music] to someone else. It’s like you’d have a kid and wouldn’t let it outside. It really should go somewhere, I think. But [the desire to] change things, this occurred quite frequently. I mean, I wanted to quit Rammstein numerous times, right, because I simply didn't feel like it anymore, but additionally since I wanted to work with new people, I wanted to learn so much more. I’m not that monogamous in this regard.

NO Schlager (german type of cheesy pop songs mostly enjoyed by older people)

There are a few things…I just can’t cope with Schlager, I can’t find my way to it, right. That’s a bit due to the manner they [the Schlager artists] they do music, how they write their lyrics and what they express, this ever-present grinning… it’s completely alien to me. There are people in our band who really like this kind of music. Well, one wouldn’t think that, right, but it’s not form me.

Is your choice of music depending on your mood?

Well, of course. When I have sex I listen to different music that when I go in the gym in the mornings.

How do you start your day?

I basically start my mornings like this: I wake up and basically listen to the radio. Then I go running or to the gym, and that’s where I listen to certain things, yet logically I don’t listen to music like an ordinary person anymore. I analyze what I hear immediately. It starts in my head: How did the artist compose this song, why is it a certain length, what kind of sounds did they use. A complete analysis, somehow pretty scientific how I approach this.

How do you unwind when your mind is full?

Movies. That’s the only thing where I can really unwind. I tried everything else, but with movies I’m completely immersed and „gone“. And sometimes my daughter manages to do that too. Just having fun with her, those are the two things.

Why the arm band?

I can tell you where the arm band comes from: It actually originated from Michael Jackson’s arm band, I copied that from him. He wore it and I thought it was stylish.

Should artist express themselves politically on stage?

There are people who apparently have to do that… There are people like Bono, he just kind of stands there during the show and talks [about political matters] for 45 minutes and you somehow feel more shitty (he uses the word „beschissen“ which is very strong in the German language) than before. That’s not my style. I’m someone who thinks politically, I do have my opinions on things I witness, but as I said, the idea of going on stage and saying, “You have to do it this way,” has never appealed to me.

Your opinion on award shows?

Strangely, it doesn’t interest me much. Sometimes I just attend the party afterwards – I haven’t been to the actual award celebration in a while. And when I’m at the after party, I think „Oh God, what am I doing here. I don't have anything to do here anymore.“ So I always have the feeling of ‚I don’t belong here‘.

How did Lemmy Kilmister's death affect you?

He once played at the Max Schmeling Halle, and I visited him shortly before to concert to thank him. And that’s when I had the feeling that he was no longer ‚here‘. Woah…that was strange. No idea if he really wanted that [I presume Richard talks about Lemmy doing the concert] or if he was pressured by someone else, somehow, I did have the feeling that he was not on this world anymore. I kind of noticed some kind of omen. And strangely enough, as I started my new album in 2015 I asked three artists for an collaboration. And all three people I asked have died – Bowie, Chester [Bennington] and Chris Cornell. That’s when I thought „Eh, I really should stop with these inquiries.“.

Musically open-minded

I can’t cope with German Hiphop. I try it time and time again and it’s just my way to live. Ok, I understand, you’re rebelling right now with this, but are you really believing what you’re singing? Somehow, it's kind of macho language that's being used there. And that’s when I oftentimes get the feeling with German Hiphop, that there isn't really any musicality behind it, right.

Why is rock music dead?

Back in the day, rock music served the purpose of rebellion. Just because of the guitar, just because of the frequency of the sound, your parents said, “Ugh, that's too loud, turn it down.” And now we’re the parents. So I’m the one who doesn’t say „Turn it down“, since I know this sound. Today, rebellion emerges in language, in hip hop. Secondly, no real rock stars exist anymore. No one else is coming up behind them. And thirdly: in terms of streaming, who benefits the most from it? Hip hop, the people who stream the most, who have the most time, kids nowadays, and so on and so forth, and the fact is that at the moment, most of the money goes to hip hop productions, which don't actually need that much, because rock music is the most expensive to produce. They’re the ones who could use the money. And there are several topics where I have the feeling that rock music is somehow dead.

Do you sort your CDs at the record store so they show up first?

Nope, I don’t do that. No, I’m not at this point yet (he means this in a joking way). Well, I believe that there aren’t many record stores anymore where you could do that. My guess is that the physical realm of music has completely changed. Second, is rock music dead? Yes, unfortunately, it is. You just have to accept reality.

Do you check the charts when albums are released?

Well, I naturally come across these information. On the one hand it does interest me in a professional sense and on the other hand I don’t really want to know it. I’m afraid that somehow these information, why certain things work (he means in a musical sense, why they’re liked by the audience), would have the potential to have an influence on other work. A certain kind of vacuum, a kind of naivety, is super important, because then you start to really want to please someone. And that's the danger.

How does it feel when a new album is released?

Well, basically you have to let go at some point. Your work is basically done, yet an album develops a life of its own and then you have to let it go and then it goes in certain kind of directions and you can only observe it from afar.

Leaving the GDR

I thought about it a lot, then went abroad, and first had to figure out how I felt about my country in general. That was an important experience for me. I found the answer to it all only abroad, since you don’t have the nagging feeling of ‚you’re guilty‘. That’s also an important topic, we were brought up with feeling of guilt in the East. I tried to get rid of this, right. And I managed to do just that in the US and returned to Germany with a different set of feelings.

Childhood in the GDR // escape // first time in West-Berlin

I loved growing up in the East up until the age of 11 or 12, since I was brought up with a certain kind of illusion which was spread. Today, I witness how my children grow up, what kind of problems they have to deal with – I didn’t have these kind of problems, right. Certain things just didn’t exist in the East. It did turn challenging when you noticed „Hm, something isn’t right here“. And when you started to ask questions, it did somehow get very strange. And I do not want to experience this time again, right. That’s when the problems began. And if I could make a wish, yes, I would have liked the wall to have been open from around the age of 12 or 13. I had a feeling of ‚there has to be more, I have to get out of here‘. I escaped in 1989 due to a situation I did not actually intend. I stumbled into a demonstration, where I was arrested and interrogated for three days, standing against the wall and so on and so forth. And when I was released, I couldn’t breath anymore, I needed to leave. I remember, my first thoughts when I entered West-Berlin were „Oh, it’s so dark here“. The energy of West-Berlin was extremely gloomy in my opinion. It did scare me a bit. I didn’t feel very comfortable there, right. So I had to adapt there somehow. It really was a lonely time back then.

Touring with Emigrate?

I have to admit, that the balance [between Rammstein and Emigrate] is very important to me, and that I’m a bit worried, that if I commit to Emigrate [as in touring], I’d maybe find more joy in it and that the balance would be off. And I don’t think that’s good for the other project [Rammstein]. As soon as I’d say I’d go on tour [with Emigrate], others would have to wait for me, so that wouldn’t be good either of the projects. Who knows what comes next – currently, there are no plans for something like this.

What is „We are together“ about?

This song was written for the guys (he uses the word „Jungs“ (boys) here), for Rammstein. It’s about Rammstein, the basic principle of it, right. Rammstein exists as long as we stay, we’re together as long as we stay (he said this sentence in English). That’s kind of the feeling I have with Rammstein.

Million Degrees – why the title and the cover?

During that time I was feeling so burned out, the title Million Degrees seemed to be fitting for the album. I did focus, since I wanted to visualize this title on the album cover, mainly on temperature, hot, cold, right. And I tried to visualize it for a whole year and didn’t manage to do it, until I noticed that it’s actually not about hot and cold, but about corners, edges and so on. And then I somehow got the idea of the head made out of mirrors, right.

Million Degrees – ruined on the first round…

Strangely enough, I get relatively calm in situations like this [he means the extensive water damage in his house], since I always have the feeling that if something happens, it does have a good reason to be happening – because in the end you see why things happen the way they do. So I became completely calm and took it as a challenge. Suddenly I notice that the flame [his passion for the album] was reignited. In retrospect I’m very, very (in German he says „ganz doll“, which sounds kind of cute and reinforces his statement) glad about it, because when I now listen to it, I notice how much of my contentment and pride is part of this album, which is a feeling I didn’t have before. In that regard it just got better.

This album has a long story…

This album actually was done and ready beforehand, in 2015. And then I noticed how burned out I was for the first time in my life, and not able to give anymore what I usually give [energywise] in an album. I did finish it in Los Angeles, yet as I returned, I set the project aside. And then the insane water damage happened, which flooded half the studio and the recordings for the album were destroyed (he uses „am Arsch“ which is a very crude way to say it 😅). So I had to rewrite the songs based on memory. A great challenge for me.

How do you listen to music?

It depends, but basically I listen to music by listening to the music together with the lyrics, naturally. If it touches me in any way, I start to listen more intently to the lyrics, which are incidental to me in the beginning.

Which comes first: music or lyrics?

90% of the time, the music exists first, and then I try to match my singing to the music, at some point a text line emerges which stays with me and which makes me think „Oh, it’s about that“. So I’m trying to really work intuitively, I don’t really work in my head, so to speak. I take my iPhone and record it and after a month or so, I check the recordings and sometimes there are pieces which make me think „Pfff, bullshit“. Yet some things stay. But 90% of the time, the music exists in the first place.

Good songs only come from suffering

I believe that the basic concept of many artists seems to be that they always feel their way into a certain dark world in order to extract a certain creativity from it. I always said that if I’m content, I wouldn’t make music anymore. Of course it’s unhealthy that you unconsciously put yourself in situations where you suffer. But that's because when someone doesn't write and then, so to speak, can no longer write, they lose their value, which is a real problem. (He very clearly speaks about his personal mindset here).

How do you write songs? How does that work in the studio?

Strangely enough, my attitude towards this is very pragmatic. I copied a working method of a New York painter, who entered his studio in the morning and had 10 paintings laying around. He started working on one and as soon as he noticed that he longer received any association, he moved on to the next. That’s the way I do it, too. I enter my studio around 12pm, that’s when I start. I can’t work earlier than that, only listen to music. And then I start opening songs for which I have ideas in mind and am rather quickly aware if there’s a connection to the song today. And if this connection exists, then I write, and when it ceases, I move on to the next song. I do that repeatedly, until I pick up my daughter at half past five (she most likely visits a full-time day school by the sound of it). And I do this almost everyday when I’m at the studio.

Distance between artists and fans

There are some things I don't do on principle. I love a certain distance. I think that a certain kind of myth is important for both parties involved, for the artists and the fans as well somehow, since it offers the possibility to inspire the imagination. And that's often the case, the closer you get, the more disappointed you are in the end. In this regard I find a certain distance very important. Nowadays it happens a lot that people are getting way closer. I then contemplated, where is this leading? So will it eventually be the case that your fans determine what you write? And that’s a certain point, that would cross a line for me, right.

Everything moves very quickly these days

Due to streaming, Spotify and whatever, nowadays everything moves very quickly. We sadly live in a very ‚quantity‘ times. I as a person prefer quality over quantity. But I noticed, especially with releases, that it’s the people’s attention what’s important. They want more and more content. And it's not really about quality anymore. It's simply about more is more.

About ‚Let’s go‘ – with Till Lindemann

This song is incredibly old. I actually wrote it for the first Emigrate album. And I thought back then that it wouldn’t be the appropriate place, if I’d put it on the first album – I didn’t like the name-dropping, that would’ve been too quick for me. So I disregarded the song, forgot about it and later dug it up again. I rewrote it completely. It’s actually about our friendship, even before the whole Rammstein thing. How you change over the years, so it was like a journey into the past with us, in a way. It’s a friendship-song.

How do you find duet partners?

So basically I write the songs and sometimes consider which artist could improve the song. Most of the time I have specific artists in mind, and I ask them. With the song 1234, it was the first time that my management asked „Well, could you see yourself collaborating with Billy Talent?“ When I heard Billy Talent, I always thought about the guitarist, who has a super unique sound I think. But the singer wasn't really a household name for me at the time. So I said, ok, we could try it. And the song came back and I must admit, Ben somehow added so much fire and cheekiness to the song. He brought the song even more to life. I thought this was great.

Is it strange to use your voice for Emigrate and not just play the guitar?

Back in the day when we started Rammstein, I actually intended to sing. I didn’t to it, thank God I didn’t. Otherwise we wouldn’t have this wonderful Till and his poetic outpourings in our lives. But I think if you write and evolve as a song writer, you automatically use your own voice as a tool to write stuff. First you do it as a demo, a sketch, and you think in the end someone comes along who will sing it properly. As I started, which is quite a long time ago, back then my musical patron and friend from France Arnaud Giroux told me „Forget it. The way you do it is unique.“ And of course, with singing you have some problems to listen to yourself in the beginning. It’s a totally different deal than playing an instrument. And then it's just a matter of habit, that people get used to it, or I myself get used to my own voice. In that regard there certainly was a development in my own voice.

Emigrate as a balance to Rammstein?

It’s kind of an opponent. It’s somehow like these two topics form a balance for me, so that I can act out the things here which I can’t act out in Rammstein, so to speak. And it works quite well by now. It’s a good balance for me. It goes both ways.

Several different genres on the new album

Maybe I somehow personally, especially when it comes to music, don’t like to settle. And really use every possible genre of music to run wild. I like that there’s no censorship. In my mind, it [Emigrate] is thought to be a place where I can act out what I can’t act out otherwise. In that regard it’s very important to me to do it that way.

What’s so special about this project?

The whole Emigrate project is an opportunity for me to be open to everything. Not everybody likest hat. Lots of people say „You’re doing too much, that’s too much for me.“ But that’s exactly the idea to basically escape the very controlled cosmos of the Rammstein-republic, so to speak, and to open myself up musically. And not to get dictated where I should go musically.

#oh boy. oh boy this got long #no idea why i did that. but it was fun to analyze him for a bit #“rock ist tot” ja is gut opa #geh bisschen filme gucken #SPASS. lieb den kerl #richard kruspe #rammstein #interviews & quotes #rockland.fm #no idea if my english is good enough whelp

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