An interview with Beloved Enemy
I recently did an interview with 2 of the members of Beloved Enemy. Peter, who is the band’s main contributor, was previously in Fiddler’s Green before venturing into darker and heavier styles of music. Eddy is the band’s live bassist and also writes for Laut.de. Beloved Enemy’s singer, Ski, and their drummer, Dog, were unavailable for comment.
The interview is fairly long, so I hid it under the cut.
Greg: Hello guys, thanks for taking some time to answer a few questions for Germaniac.com! I think Beloved Enemy is a great band so I am definitely glad to have this interview opportunity.
Eddy: Thanks for the compliment! I’m also very happy to have the opportunity to play live with Beloved Enemy, since I really like their music and the other guys in the band. And I also appreciate the chance to GIVE an interview despite of DOING it myself 
Greg: First of all, a few questions for Peter. I learned about Beloved Enemy from my good friend Arndt Peltner at Radio Goethe when he told me you left Fiddler’s Green to become the singer for Beloved Enemy. Immediately, I thought this was a pretty dramatic change in style for you. Why did you make the decision to go from this kind of speed folk punk music to gothic metal?
Peter: I’m not the singer of Beloved Enemy but I write all the songs and record them in my studio. I left Fiddler’s Green because I really wanted to make some different music; and by the way: with Fiddler’s Green I always was the “dark guy” who loves distorted e-gits.
Greg: I had a feeling you just liked metal more. This is more the style of your solo project on the song “Das Boot.” Do you have any more plans for Echolot or has the boat sunk?
Peter: Actually I wrote “Das Boot” for Rammstein, but I never got into contact with them, so we did a version with Beloved Enemy. But on the other side: I dont want Beloved Enemy to be a copy of Rammstein. Echolot is now called Sonicslave and this is my private project.
Greg: I also noticed you use quite a variety of names… Peter Müller, Peter Kafka, Peter Pathos… Why do you have so many? Do you use a different name for every band you’re in?
Peter: Yes, kind of. My real name is Peter Mueller and when I wrote my first songs I chose Peter Pathos; this was the time of Fiddler’s Green. Peter Kafka is now; Kafka used to be my nick name at university, so I chose that name for the time after Fiddler’s Green.
Greg: Maybe another one could be “Peter Stahl” named after Peter Steele. Haha! Because I think a lot of people notice some strong Type O Negative influences in Beloved Enemy. You have a similar dark goth-metal style and very deep vocals. Could one of you talk about this influence a bit?
Peter: Our music has more variety I hope. To my ears Ski doesn’t sound like Pete Steele.
Greg: So, are each one of you bringing in your own distinct influences? Or do you all have a very clear idea of what your music should sound like?
Peter: I make 95% of all the songs and lyrics.
Eddy: Easy to answer, since Peter is doing all the music for Beloved Enemy. It’s his baby and I’m sure he has a clear idea and vision of what the music should sound like. We talked about trying some ideas of mine since I also have some ideas left from another gothic rock band I played guitar and wrote the songs for. But since we don’t meet that often for rehearsals (because of the distance between some of the members) and since I don’t have that much time to sit down and record the songs we haven’t checked out anything of my stuff. But to be honest, I’m not that sure that my songs can compete with Peter’s
Greg: OK, it’s been almost a year since Enemy Mine was released and your touring for that album is done now, right? So what’s next?
Eddy: I try to get us some gigs for clubs around my area or some festivals this summer and Peter and Ski are negotiating with labels, booking managements and various other kinds of peoples …
Peter: Right now we’re working on the next album “Behind Enemy Lines” and we now have the manager of Manowar; so we’ll play some big shows with them.
Greg: Do you have any idea when we might see a new album in stores?
Peter: I hope we have the album ready at the end of August, but then I can’t say when it will be in stores coz we’re also checking out new record companies.
Eddy: Nope, I’m always the last to know. 
Greg: Since I am living in the USA, I have to ask: Do you have any plans for distribution in America?
Peter: Ski, our singer, is from America. So yes, we try to release it in America.
Greg: OK, let’s move to another topic. I want to talk about the music business for a moment because it’s changing so much these days. What do you guys think the future holds for bands and record labels?
Peter: It’s getting very dark in this branch of industry, but people will always go to see a live show of the band.
Eddy: For a young band I can’t see much use in a label anymore. The times, when you got a deal with a demo-tape and then got money to record an album are long over. If you can’t afford to produce a record yourself, how should you get a label deal? But if you already HAVE the record, there’s no use in a label anymore. What you need is a distribution deal and a good booking agency. Just take a look at all the young metalcore bands in the US. They’re constantly on tour. Sometimes I really wonder, if they still do have an apartment or anything where they live or if they just stay in their vans, even when they come home. Especially major labels used to ignore every new invention and every change in market systems. I really believe (and hope) their time’s over. There still are a few labels that really do a great job for their bands and believe in the music and nothing else, but they’re extremely rare these days.
Greg: From all the news about this, I am getting the idea that the main reason why some bands hate their labels is because they feel cheated. All these bands give up the rights to their music and then they can’t make decisions on their own inside a contract. Do you think a big problem would be solved if the musicians got to keep the legal rights to their songs? Or is there something else that would be better?
Eddy: Hard to say because there might be still a lot of bands that think: “Hey, now we’ve got a record deal, now we’ll be superstars!” But hey, what do they think a contract’s there for? Read it, check it and if you don’t like it, just fuck it!!! A distribution deal saves you all your legal rights and with stuff like MySpace and what the hell all of that other stuff is called you have best opportunities to get your music out to the people. The main point – now more than ever – is playing live. But what do I know, I’m just the paid live-bass-whore … 
Peter: I would never compromise just to get a record deal.
Greg: I don’t know what exactly the future will bring us, but I wish you all the best of luck. Thanks very much for doing this interview, I think lots of Germaniac.com readers will enjoy it. Any last comments?
Peter: We’ll meet behind enemy lines!
Eddy: Thanks for the questions and your interest in Beloved Enemy. I really hope that we can get a distribution for the US and that we also get the chance to come over and play there. Take care and stay interested
