Der niederländische Songwriter Blaudzun veröffentlichte dieses Frühjahr sein viertes Studioalbum mit dem Titel „Promises Of No Man´s Land“. Am 13. November 2014 wird Johannes Sigmond (so heisst Blaudzun „richtig“) im Bogen F in Zürich auftreten. Wir von Wavebuzz durften ihm netterweise einige Fragen zusenden, die uns unter den Nägeln brannten.  Im Folgenden findet ihr das auf Englisch gehaltene Interview:

On your recent Album „Promises Of No Man´s Land“ we personally find there is a desilusional sadness as well as an embrace of life. Our favourite tracks are „Too Many Hopes For July“, „Wasteland“ and „Euphoria“. What´s the track you are (still) most connected to? And why?

It’s hard to choose just one song because I see this album as a whole. Moreover, it’s funny that you mention those three songs. I think they are more related to the „delusional sadness“ than to the „embrace of life“ as you call it. Unlike the songs on my first album I still connect to all the songs on Promises of No Man’s Land . If not I could not sing them every night.

We read some Interviews you did over the years ago and in many of them you say that you are mostly writing on new songs when you are on tour. Is this still true?

Yes. When I’m on tour there’s less distraction then when I’m working in my studio. Besides that writing on the road is a great way to put personality to your songs and ideas. It shapes a song when you work on it in different cities and different atmospheres. That’s why I always travel with a paper notebook. When words or rhymes come up I put them down right away or record them on my phone.

Wikipedia told us that your artist name „Blaudzun“ is related to Verner Blaudzun which used to do Amateur-Bike-Races in the 1960s & 1970s. First: Is this true? Second: do you like riding bikes and what bicycle model is your favourite?

Yes it’s correct although it’s not a tribute to the rider. I’m a big cycling fan. I go to races and watch the classics and the big tours like the Tour de France. I fell in love with the sound of the word Blaudzun when I read about this guy and kept it as my stage name since.

And yes I love racing on my road bike, and I like those really old Italians race bikes like De Rosa and Cinelli.

Ein Beispielsfoto für ein „De Rosa“ Fahrrad. Dieses ist aus dem Jahre 1983. (Foto: „Bikeadelic“ Blog)

Do you have a certain routine that you are doing before you go on stage?

Me and my band members play a lot of music back stage, we sing and dance a long and we drink some beers or liquor. It’s basically kind of a pre-party to the show.

On the 13th of November you are going to be playing in Zurich (which we are obviously quite excited about). What is the first thing what comes to your mind if you think of Switzerland? (Please don´t say chocolate 🙂 )

I love your mountains and the Swiss lakes. I’m from the Netherlands, we don’t have any of that so travelling in your country is a real treat.

Now a little bit more music related questions: You are style-wise often compared to the Canadian Band Arcade Fire. How do you feel about that?

I think they’re a great. I suppose we share a love for ecstatic and dramatic songs played with passion. And just like Win Butler I’m surrounded by 6 or 7 musicians, but in the end I never really understood the comparisons. It’s not fair to them and not fair to my music to stick just one label to it. People should listen more closely I guess.

Is „Wasteland“ the same land as „No Man´s Land“?

It wasn’t intended but I suppose you could see it that way, yes.

What inspired you to do the cover art for „Promises Of No Man´s Land“? And who designed it at last?

The photo on the cover is by Czech photographer and artist Jan Saudek. It was taken in 1978. I’m a big fan of his early work. I think it works well with the atmosphere I had in mind for the album. When I heard I could use it as cover art I chose the title of the album.

Die androgyne Figur mit dem leeren Blick ziert das Album-Cover des aktuellsten Blaudzun-Albums „Promises Of No Man´s Land“.

Last but not least: What music are you currently listening to?

The new Magnus album is great and I listened a lot to Perfume Genius, Jon Hopkins and Benjamin Clementine the past couple of days.

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WIR SAGEN: „DANKE JE WEL BLAUDZUN“ 
So, dies war unser erstes schriftlich geführtes Interview auf Wavebuzz, wir hoffen es hat euch gefallen. 🙂 Wir fanden die Antworten von Blaudzun äusserst aufschlussreich und sind erquickt über die offene, humorvolle Weise, die zwischen den Zeilen herauszulesen ist. Besonders gefallen haben uns die Ausführungen zu Arcade Fire, zur derzeitigen Lieblingsmusik und die Passage übers Radfahren 🙂 Beglückt sind wir auch über den Zustand, dass das Konzert sehr bald sein wird. Und im diesen Sinne, ein bisschen melancholische Euphorie (sofern es diese denn gibt):