Interview on Sellafield Live Tour by Alina Mori. HH Neumann an Sven Piayda June 2005. Language: English.

On Friday 2005/29/07 the Sellafield collective held its final tour session at HalleLuja. The day after I had the chance to talk exclusively to Mr Piayda on the phone about the event. He admitted -like they say in the web- that they indeed had some technical problems but all in all they are more than satisfied with the results of their genius performance. Here is now another exclusive snippet for you, as I had the chance to talk to Sellafield via an e-mail interview you certainly won't miss. Alina Mori: Hello guys. I heard just the best about your performance last Friday. How are you feeling today? HH: Well, I think we did a good job. We took the audience to a audio-visual trip through the universe of Sellafield and made the crowd enjoy the voyage. On the other hand I`m sad to say that we were very disappointed about the mismanagement in advertising the event, so that Sellafield will cancel the gigs planed for the next two month. - I think Sven agrees in this point? SP: Yeah, it was good this time, but for the next time, we´ll need a better management. Don´t get me wrong, we really did a great job, and I´m happy with it, but I really want things to develop, to move up to the next step. We have great ambitions in what we do, so we won´t copy us, so we are looking for - let's say "surroundings" like locations and events that make our visions possible. Alina Mori: You spread it on the web that you had some technical problems. As I can remember from our telephone conversation on Saturday, you, Mr Piayda admitted that you not only had problems before- but even whilst the session. Can you tell us more about it, please? How did you mange it that no-one seemed to notice it? HH: For the first time the technical problems did not concern the video - but the soundwork - so I`m quite satisfied with the technical changes to my equipment - specially working in such a heat meant working on the limit of technical capacities. Regarding Sven´s fight with his processing unit - I can confirm that at no time I doubted in Sven´s power to solve problems quickly and efficient - so that our gig was not really in danger at any time. Just the nervous guys around with all that good meant advices were a bit disturbing this insurance. SP: Well, thank you Heiner, I guess I was just lucky. But that´s it. Whenever you work with computers, players, mixers, effect processors and all these things linked to each other in the strangest way, you have to be prepared to handle difficulties. Unfortunately i had to deal with problems I never had before, my laptop refused to boot, I thought about smashing it. but you have other sound sources, so the audio signal came from a cd during the soundcheck. Shortly before the gig, the laptop worked again, but the player refused to do what I wanted it to do. there is a ghost in the machine, you know, I guess my machines wanted to annoy me a little. Anyway, I could have done the performance even without the laptop, but I didn´t have to. I have some live playing experience, I won't run out crying if the tools don't work. You get used to it. Alina Mori: Can you furthermore tell us what exactly was the reaction of the audience as we all know that what you do is awesome but not easy to understand for everyone. HH: Although lot of them were a bit confused about what we do - I remember that the owner of the club even asked if we can`t play just a little peace of "real" music while setting up the sound - the general feedback was better than expected. SP: Yes, real music. People want real music, but they don´t know what music is at all. So what is music, what is love, what is God, what is aesthetic? We think we know, but we don´t know actually. I was happy with the response, many people simply sat down and enjoyed the show, the changing images and sounds, some just came in an danced in some parts and left for the abstract pieces. I don´t think that the majority understood what was going on, but we made an impression, what we do is attractive anyway. You do not have to like it, but you cannot ignore it. Someone told my he was impressed by the beats, someone else said he would like to hear more straight beats, but art isn´t a democratic thing. At the end of the show someone came to stage and wanted to tell something, I turned down the volume a little and he said: "I´m a dj, too. Do you think you are rocking the base?" An I said: "No." And turned the volume up again, this is how the conversation ended. I´m no dj. And I´m no servant. Take it or leave it, there is no way for compromise. The majority understands that. Alina Mori: So it was quite an experience for everyone who was lucky to be there. For all the people, who did miss that chance, comes the most interesting question now: When are you going on tour again? HH: For the next few weeks we are very busy, but we`re always open for interesting offers to perform - it just depends on the quality of the event. We won`t do little club events for the next few months but if we`ll succeed with our submissions to www.transmediale.de we hope to join you there ... SP: There are a lot of things going on. We need to pause a little from public, work on the "Sense Check" DVD and do some other important things. We won´t play live before winter this year or spring 2006. We need to lean back a little, things develop really quickly, we need to focus on what we want now. I´m happy with all we did and I´m looking forward for new events and releases. We want to offer nothing but quality, let´s slow down a little. Alina Mori: So as that will take some time: Was there a live-recording on any of your performances? HH: Just look at our webpage or expect the bonus materials on our forthcoming dvd. SP: So far, we just have some snippets on our website. Of course, we Think about a live DVD or a live sound recording, because playing live is even more dynamic than the studio recordings. There is nothing scheduled so far. Alina Mori: Mr Neumann. What do you think about last Friday? I heard from Mr Piayda that he is absolutely satisfied with the work of you both. What is your opinion? HH: I just can repeat that we did a great job even if I recognised some parts in my set that I`ll have to change for the next time. The co-operation itself was much better and even more relaxed than I ever imagined it to be before - thx Sven. SP: Thx, too. We really turn out to be a good team. I´m excited for what we can do in the future! Alina Mori: One last question: What are your hopes and wishes for the next tour? What do you expect from the fans and the clubs? HH: We don`t expect anything of no one than ourselves but we'd be happy for the maximum support of anyone who believes in our visions like we do. SP: I just want some good organisation, I want people to know what to expect, and a room that is prepared the way we need it. And some open-minded people of course. Alina Mori: Thank you for the interview. Hope to hear from you soon, guys and keep that good work going and me informed by any of your actions! Note: For some very good shots of the Sellafield collective performing live at HalleLuja by the wonderful Jörg Hammes, have a look at the Gallery section under Live Performance Photos. You certainly won't risk to miss that!