Interview with Skew Siskin’s Nina C. Alice & the Metal Mining Company L.A. and Jim Voxx MB: How did you first get interested in music? NA: When I was born, I heard “All Day And All Of The Night” and decided to grow up fast and sing. JV: When I was a kid, I found an olf record from the Who with the song “My Generation”. At that time played in a band already, andwe deided to play that song live, because of the wild finish. And because we did it so well, we got lots of offers for gigs around our hometown, and I never had to pay at the door when I wanted to go out to clubs. I was relieved to find out that you don’t have to be Eddie Van Halen Number 2 to become famous. MB: What was it that made you decide that music is really what you wanted to pursue in life? NA: Really? … When I heard that stars have their own teachers when they are on tour, I was 9 then, I decided I wanted to be a musician. JV: My very first tour, as an amateur musician, was supporting AC/DC on their first German club tour, about 500 – 700 people per gig. Being around them, especially Bon Scott and Malcom Yound, and listening to them night after night and learning from them made my decision. I had never heard about AC/DC before, but they impressed me a lot. And Bon Scott encouraged me to keep going. MB: How was it that Skew Siskin came together? NA: We never came together … haha! No, seriously, I think it was the damned normal way … Seeing each other play, and asking to jam together, and maybe have a band later. JV: During 1988/89, I lived in New York playing with American Bands on the usual club circuit. After a while, I wanted to form my own band. A real Rock-n-Roll band. But I couldn’t find a singer. And during one of my visits to Berlin, I met Nina. The rest was easy. MB: Where did the name come from? NA: From a dream. I love birds. And in the sixties, they had a lot of birds – Yardbirds, Eagles, Hawkwind, etc. MB: When you first started Skew Siskin, did you have a clear vision of where you wanted to take the band? NA: I had a clear vision about the sound! And I knew what kind of personalities I wanted around me. And I had an attitude. But because things develop differently from what you think, I let it take us where it went. But still standing behind the wheel. JV: That’s right. The most important thing is to have that certain attitude. Everything else will follow. Perfect playing is not my goal. MB: Have things kind of gone as you expected? NA: No, I never expect anything. I always hope for the best, and have a lot of ideas and ideals, but as I said, things are different in reality. I live with it and act fast, or leave it. Too many dreams worry my mind, or disappoint me. If only half of my plans come true, I am queen of the world! JV: I really didn’t know what to wxpect. When I thought things worked one way, they’ve always worked the other. Even our road crew says that with Skew Siskin they live through situations you normally only read about, including desasters. It became normal to me, that with Skew Siskin, you have to expect the unexpected. MB: What do you think is the most important lesson that you’ve learned through your experiences so far? NA: Never trust anybody until they prove their loyalty! JV: Make as much noise as you can. Give a shit about perfection. Never follow any musical trends! MB: You have had the fortune of hooking up with Motörheads Lemmy Kilmister, who has taken a real interest in the band. How important has that relationship beento you? NA: Very important indeed. Lemmy writes lyrics with and for me, and on top of that, he is a friend in good and bad times! That is more than I ever asked for. Something I never expected. JV: Lemmy once said to me, “Only one person can stop you. And that’s yourself.” That’s one reason why Skew Siskin is still together. Nobody from the outside can stop us. During some bad times, I always remebered that sentence. MB: What is the most important thing that you’ve learned from Lemmy? NA: *sings* To always look on the bright side of life … *whistle* … English humor! JV: Don’t lose your humor. MB: How much confidence does it give you knowing that someone like Lemmy thinks so much of your band? NA: It gives me the security that there are more people that like us on the planet. Because if this man, who’s been around in the Rock business, really thinks we are cool musicians, than we must be cool. Really! It makes me happy and proud. MB: Skew Siskin has a sound and feel on their own, as all great bands do. What do you see as the most important factors that have shaped your sound and helped you create music that is distinctly Skew Siskin? NA: Thank you. The feel of life, the rhythm and the monster inside us, decides if a good sound must be raw, light or heavy … crunchy or laid back or fast or whatever. If I don’t feel the sound, my instinkt won’t work. My voice only works great if I get the feeling that something inside is alarmed, but won’t hurt me anymore. And I am on top of things. Fire and dreams and crazy feelings, vulnerability, lust for life … all these things inspire me. If you’re alive, the music is happening. The rest is up to electricity and the machines. Sometimes a sound inspires me to write about a certain feeling. Experience helps to create a sound. JV: I get my inspiration only from the 60’s and 70’s bands. Led Zeppelin is gone, but there’s still a chance to see Robert Plant. AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motörhead, Deep Purple, Ozzy Osbourne, and ZZ Top are still around. And I prefer listening to them. They give me ideas for our own music. There aren’t many new bands that turn me on. For example, Metallica and Megadeth seem to work in the same way. You improvise on some great 70’s riffs, then you change it around, and after a while it becomes something new again because you play it with your own feeling. The result can be entirely different from your starting point. That’s how it works for me many times. On the end I might play a modern riff combined with that certain 70’s feeling. MB: You’ve released several albums now. How have you seen your music develop the most over that time? NA: The great thing about writing music is that you grow with it. And there are thousands of paths you can walk. You take out the things you didn’t like, and add things you want in a certain period of time when you’re recording a record. That means you always live through the music, and the music through you. When I write, it’s a mirror. I myself, feel more serious about life, now. I have more respect for life and reality, now. That shows in the lyrics of VOICES FROM THE WAR. Which is a real heavy, fast, and mean album. Straight edge, in your face. Electric Chair Music is very psychedelic and weird. The lyrics are bitchin’ and vulnerable and very emotional. The songs are medium tempo, and more to listen than headbang to. But good festival grooves. Compared to the debut? We are warriors now. Back then we had bees innocent, but real and true already! JV: We know each other very well, now. And everybody thinks in the same direction. Therefore, we are able to jam in a very effective way. In the beginning it was more learning, and not so much jamming. Now the ideas come very natural, and therefore a lot more powerful. I’m very pleased that we’ve reached that point of understanding. MB: Nina, you’ve developed a vocal style that really is the perfect match for the bands music. How long did it take you to find your vocal style, and what do you see as the main influences that have helped bring you to this point? NA: I can’t tell really how much time I needed, because it is always in progress. I started singing at 15, I was a drummer before that. Now my voice is my instrument. The only way I can tune it is to keep my mind and soul in good shape. I need relaxed and cool people around me. Nervousness kills my spirit. Rock-n-Roll to me is to feel cool and stand on top of things, but take a deeper look at things and react in a smart way. Oh. And I must say, I am a brat. I am a single child, but grew up with lots of other children. So when I needed my mum or dad, I had to yell, “Hey, what’s up?!? I am here. I need your love and food!” As for influences, when I was 9, I started listening to my dad’s records, who was a hippie-rocker with fur – coats and a slouch hat. So I was listening to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. Later, at 11, I bought my own records – Kiss alive II and Iron Maiden – Killer. Bon Scott is my major influence, along with Lemmy and Janis Joplin, when it comes to singing “on the edge”. My voice is a metal blade cutting wood with a motor filled with nails, some guy said. MB: If you could choose the impact that your music has on people when they hear it for the first time, what type of impact would you like it to have on them? NA: “Wow! What was that? Was that a bomb exploding in my backyard?“ Kind of like … Great band, great songs, great people. What could I want more? LV: That says it all. MB: How does songwriting break down in the band? NA: Jim and I are the main writers. As for the lyrics, I don’t care who writes them, outside writers, or me, or the band. If they’re great, I use them. We play what’s good, and what makes the sound of Skew Siskin. MB: What inspires you the most when you’re writing? NA: My life. JV: Jamming with the band. Typically, during a normal rehearsal for a tour or a single show, all of a sudden the band starts jamming in the middle of a song. It just happens that the band goes into overdrive. This just happens for no reason. Some 20 minutes later, we have 2 or 3 good ideas for new songs. In those situations, we are very much inspired by each other. MB: What do you feel are the key ingredients that must be included in good quality music? NA: The rhythm is important. I mean, the rhythm of each individual person, and the understanding between the personalities inside the group, and a vision of what it should be. If a band is a “project”, you can have exellent rented out musicians, but you’ll never have the “vibe” around the band. So the behavior, on top of the knowledge of playing the instrument you have chosen, is important. Musicians are very complex people. Groove, talent, discipline, knowledge, behavior, and on top of all: obsession to play! A heart and good ears. JV: I’m not interested in “good quality music”. This is Rock-n-Roll. It’s only Rock-n-Roll, but I like it.