SOURCEWEBZINE - First off before going
any deeper I would like to know where are you answering into my
questions and how is it going for you and the band at the moment?

Volk-Man (Bass) - Sitting at home at my couch, everything is fine. My son was born 2 days ago and I’m very happy at the moment.

SOURCEWEBZINE - Does it ever seem hard to maintain your
sound in a day and age where bands completely change their sound from
album to album to keep up with trends?

Volk-Man (Bass) - Well, the most bands don’t change their sound that
much with every record. Of course, there is always a progress in the
music, but I think, there is no reason to put fingers on bands, cause
in the end, the people have to buy a CD and so they decide, whats good
and whats crap. Trend is something fictional, but if you accept
development of society and mankind, so you will recognize, that trends
belong to it. Every age, every time period has its specific sound, in
the 50 ies you had rock n roll, in the 60ies we had the Beatles and the
Stones… and so on… of course, some bands are far away from being
original, but we all are children of our time…

SOURCEWEBZINE - Is it ever hard to keep up the energy and creativity after so many years?

Volk-Man (Bass) - It is hard to keep your feet on the ground. Cause
making music, living from music, is a great gift and that is only
possible because of all our fans. So I’m very grateful to all that
people, that are a part of our lives. Thinking of all those people is
the best motivation, you can imagine.

SOURCEWEBZINE - Do have any numbers on how much your albums have sold worldwide ?

Volk-Man (Bass) - Over 100.000 so far all together.

SOURCEWEBZINE - A little bit about your music taste. What kind of stuff are you currently listening to?

Volk-Man (Bass) - At the moment, the new In Flames album, the new
album of Max and Iggor Cavalera and the soloalbum of Soulfly guitar
player Marc Rizzo. But I’m a fan of all kinds of music, not only metal.
I’m a collector of old Japanese soundtracks of the 50ies, I like
experimental stuff like Godspeed you black Emperor, I enjoy Punkrock
and Grindcore as well as chilled latin sounds. Every day is ready to
explore new musical horizons.

SOURCEWEBZINE - What do you think about the German metal scene of today? More specifically the metal scene ?

Volk-Man (Bass) - A very huge and powerful scene. Many great bands and probably the best fans in the world.

SOURCEWEBZINE - Can you live off your music yet? If not, what do all of you do on the side?

Volk-Man (Bass) - Yes, that is possible. It was a long way to reach
that, but now our dreams become true and it feels simply great.

SOURCEWEBZINE - Since you’re a band with such a strong
presence on the Internet, and the album did well anyway, does it bother
you when people “illegally” download your music?

Volk-Man (Bass) - I like, when people know the band. I think, the
new possibilities of the internet have and will change all our habits
that belong to music. The “illegal” downloading is just a proof, that
technical development sometimes is so rapid, that our way of thinking
can’t follow the speed of that progression. The whole musical market
will change, in the end, the whole structure of bands - labels -
distribution - consumers, as we know it since many decades, is history.
The downloading “problem” is just a way of reorganization.

SOURCEWEBZINE - In Brazil there’s much fans listening your kind of music. What do you know about the Brazil ?

Volk-Man (Bass) - Samba, Sepultura, Rio De Janeiro, the mighty
Amazonas, Pelé… City of God, favelas… Brazil is huge, I haven’t been
there, but I vistited Argentina and Chile in 2004 for some weeks. I
like the South American spirit and we all in the band looking forward,
to play shows in Brazil in the near future.

SOURCEWEBZINE - What are the plans for the future? Have you written some new material and when could we expect the next release?

Volk-Man (Bass) - We just released our first DVD ever “TOBSUCHT” and
are currently working on our new album, that will be released in Summer
2008 on Nuclear Blast Records.

SOURCEWEBZINE - Thanks for taking the time to answer these
questions and I hope that DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER continues to have
its well-deserved success…

Volk-Man (Bass) - Thanks for the interview and hails to all our Brazilian and South-American fans! Check out www.myspace.com/reitermania.

www.reitermania.de

www.nuclearblast.de