Pete Streit

AM : Third album already for Elis, time to make some point, so how do you look at your career now ?

Pete : I`m happy that we could release the third album. Griefshire is bigger than the other two albums. It’s a good feeling to see how the band grow.Everybody did a great job on this record, I’m proud of.

AM : Sabine’s death was a dramatic event for the band, how did you live this drama ? Did you think to stop the band ?

Pete : First it was difficult for all of us personally because from one day to the other everything changed. We lost our singer, we didn’t know what happened at all. I thought that`s the end of Elis. We decided to continue with the band because, music is our live and the whole condoleaces on our webpage were just unbelievable.

AM : How about the genesis of this new album : what were your objectives when composing this album ? When I hear the result, I’d say you have better songwriting with mainly better refrains, I feel you have reached a new, higher level

Pete : The first two albums are typical gothic-metal. Nice melodies and heavy guitars. I knew we have to make a step forward. The songs and the arrangements are much better. I wanted to write more heavy guitar riffs to make the contrast larger between the female-voice and the metalsound.

AM : How went the recording session with Alex Krull ?

Pete : The cooperation with Alex is very good and we know each other quite a long time. When we go to the studio the songs are ready to record. Sometimes we do some spontaneous rearrangements with Alex and he does the finshing.

AM : Your music is quite classical gothic metal, but you like to put heavy riffs and even some guitar solos, is it important for you to keep this (heavy) metal touches ?

Pete : To mix classic with heavy guitars is just great. The quite heavy guitars, songs with solos, that`s our style and we will continue that way.

AM : Sabine had developped a full concept for this album, a dramatic story about two brothers and impossible love, but the message is also a message of tolerance ?

Pete : The story is almost reality. There’s to much death, suffer and pain in the name of God and the different religions. More tolerance would be the key for a world with less violence.

AM : So you have decided to go on with the band, will you keep the same musical orientation and have you already begun castings for the new singer ? What kind of singer are you looking for ?

Pete : We are looking for a new singer and had a few auditions already. The new singer has to have an own strong personality and she should be in a position to sing different styles..

AM : A word about your appearance at the Female Voices Metal Fest IV in Belgium ?

Pete : It was a greate honor to be there. We like to thank Philty for the invitation. We got a condolence book where lots of bands and fans wrote in. That touched us deeply. We will give the book to Sabines family and we know that it will mean a lot to them.

AM : Thanks for the interview !!!! Feel free to add any message to the fans and readers…

Pete : We want to thank all our fans and everybody who stands behind us trough this. Without them this hard time would have been much more difficult. Good to know that so many people are out there who support us.