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Prrrr ...
They're
On the
Run
Again
After the big
success of
"Smash Song"
and "Bomba"
KONTRUST is
returning and
"On the Run"
again with
their new single
3
On a sunny day in spring this year I was on my way from the village we spent our
holidays to Ried in Upper Austria. It was March 30th when I was going to meet Stefan,
the singer of meanwhile well-known cross over band Kontrust. We met there at a pub
located centrally at Ried's busy market place. For about two hours we chatted about
the band, the current, very successful album and their future plans.
I can't reveal everything we talked about – sorry. But I will give you a comprehensive
report about everything I am allowed to unveil – and that's a lot anyway.
Until our date I knew Stefan only from the „Bomba“ video. So I expected a man sitting
in the pub with a moustache and curls. Maybe you can imagine how surprised I was
when I saw him waiting there. He almost looked like the guy from next door.
After chatting the world a while we came to talk about the real important things. First I
digged a little deeper asking Stefan about their, I think, most successful single
„Bomba“. It has become an absolute chart hit in the Netherlands and Stefan told me
why: „There was one man, DJ Eric, who played a big role in this success story. He
loved „Bomba“ from the beginning and played it on heavy rotation on Dutch radio
station 3FM. So it hit the charts there. On Radio 538 „Bomba“ made it to number 15
finally.“ Also on MTV.nl the single was extremely successful hitting number 5 on the
charts there. And last but not least it was number one on itunes.nl.
To my question what they think about the reasons of this success, Stefan is convinced
that the combination of the song, its party character and the video turned out to be
crucial for this success. And Kontrust are working on continuing the success in the rest
of Europe. The wave from the Netherlands rolled over to Germany and Austria in
parts, Stefan comitted.
4
I also wanted to know something about the making of the „Bomba“ video. And Stefan
told me this amusing story: „First, the album version of „Bomba“ was too long to
release it as a single. So we had to cut it to the right length. The video was shot on a
farm near Gmunden. We searched for a while to find the right place. We wanted both,
a typical landscape with typical mountains and sockets to plug our equipment in. One
of our roadies knew the location and finally we convinced the farmer to provide us
with the ground. We actually had planned three weekends in September last year for
shooting the video. On the first two of these weekends we had rainy and stormy
wheather. So we were not able to shoot anything. On the third weekend with a little
luck we could finish the whole thing at once.“ And it was not for the farmers loss. The
whole crew spent the weekend on the farm house.
I also asked Stefan if they got in trouble with Austrian or German folk music lobby or
lovers when the „Bomba“ video came out. „Not really“, Stefan says with a smile, „there
was no storm of protest. When the video was released, it was surprisingly very calm.
Obviously people did understand the message behind ,Bomba' video. It was not made
against traditional folk music but against „popularity“ like in „Musikantenstadl“. We
had expected more headwind to be honest.“ And as an April Fool's Joke they
announced that Kontrust would play a gig at „Musikantenstadl“ on 24th April 2010.
Asked about their reasons to leave SellaBand finally in 2009, Stefan states: „There
was a stagnation in selling parts on the whole platform. Also the time factor played a
role. Nevertheless, we liked the idea and approach of SellaBand. And we found a lot of
fans there.“ I wanted to know more about his opinion regarding the fan-funding
approach of SellaBand and other platforms. Stefan thinks that „it's a real good
approach and it could really work, if parts of the process would be undertaken by
classical music industry. It's very effective if fans are involved from minute one. And
musicians have more artistic freedom within the fan-funding concept.“
On April 23rd Kontrust released their third single „On the Run“ from the Time To
Tango album. And you can find a new video (http://www.youtube.com/kontrust) to
this song. On the website www.ontherunfor.com they started a huge campaign for the
single with „The Statement“. Fans and all intrigued can join and tell the world what
they are on the run for. So, go there and make your statement.
5
And Kontrust are on their way to this years festival summer. They have already played
some awesome gigs: on April 26th theyl have rocked the Arena inVienna together with
Oomph!, then on April 30th Noppen Air (AT), Dauwpop Festival in Heelendoorn (NL)
on May 13th. And they will play loads of stages across Europe. Only to announce a
few: Wavejam Open Air in Rheinau (May 28th), Rock am Teich in St. Leonhardt
(June 2nd), Donauinselfest in Vienna (June 25th), Kiss My Rock Festival in
Biesenthal (July 3rd) and a lot more. Check out http://www.kontrust.info/dates.php
for the whole tour dates list.
By the way, Stefan confirmed plans for a new album: „We are halfway, working on the
stuff and think we can release the new album at the beginning of next year.“
Facts about Kontrust:
The Vienna based crossover band has formed with its 6 band members in 2005:
Agata (vox)
Stefan (vox)
Robert (guit)
Gregor (bass)
Roman (drums)
Manuel (percussions)
Their first album „We!come Home“ was released in 2005, then they brought out two
singles: „Phono Sapiens“ (2006) and „Go“ (2008). The second album „Time to Tango“
was released in 2009, the „The Smash Song“ came out in 2009 as well and „Bomba“,
the second single, later that year. The album was produced in Henning Rümenapp's
(Guano Apes) studio in Hannover.
In 2009 they played at Nova Rock Festival together with Metallica, Slipknot, Guano
Apes, Die Toten Hosen and a lot more.
Talking about their influences Stefan named Sepultura first. But the band members
all bring in their own musical styles and influences e.g. Agata Drum'n'Bass (and not to
miss when you listen to songs like „Vodka, Tribe and Dynamite“ from the Tango
album also Polish folk music) or Gregor with his jazz background. „The music of
Kontrust is a mix of all those styles finally, Stefan states.
For more information check out KONTRUST's homepage www.kontrust.info.
Note/Imprint:
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Mario Putzar, D-99947 Bad Langensalza, Contact: mario(at)50kmusic.de
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