AM : How was Coronatus born ? How did it come to your mind, Mats, to form a gothic metal band ?
Coronatus : A good friend of mine wrote some songs (already back in 1999) which have rather been kind of gothic style. Up to that time I had no contact to this scene at all. But these songs impressed me that much, so i started to listen to other bands of that scene. That was when i realized that i finally reached the type of music i ever looked for. So, all of this did start. First not as a real band but as a project with several different line-ups. We finally became a real band at the end of 2004.
AM : There are already many bands in the female fronted gothic metal genre, so what are the things that make you different from the others ?
Coronatus : Of course and first of all its the two front ladies with completely different voices: classical soprano and rock-voice. Second, it`s the fact, that we use texts in different speeches (english, german and latin) and third it is of course just the mixture of ideas and input into the songs coming from each of the band members. All of this together gives a unique identity to a coronatus song, as we think; i.e. to mention one musical detail: on Lux Noctis we applied a very closed correlation between guitar riffing and drumming, because this resulted in a “harder” and “clearer” appearance of the songs than one could have been expected just from the harmonics.
AM : How did it come that Coronatus got two front ladies ? Was it planned from the beginning or is it due to some improvisation or circumstances ?
Coronatus : It was not planned at all. In 2004 we were looking for a new singer to do one or two shows. Two ladies came to the same (!) audition, both with brilliant but totally different voices. One of those singers was Carmen, our classical voice, the second one was a woman named Verena with her rocking vocals. It was just impossible for us to decide against one or the other. And so we simply decided to take both! Verena left the band later on, but we kept stuck on the concept of two front women with the two different voices. It fitted to the music perfectly and why change a running system?
AM : Was it hard to get signed ?
Coronatus : The answer to this question really depends on the moment in the story we are talking about. It was a long and hard way to finish the CD, since we had a lot of line-up problems even immediately before entering the studio. A time while we were still working out the songs. Studio time itself was not that long itself (about 18 days), but spread over almost three months, including our trip to a mastering session with Mika Jussila in Helsinki (which was definitely one of the highlights in my life). Then it took some more months to finish the art work. Finally we could get Katja Piolka to do it. She loved our songs and so she made the job which we normally couldn`t have afford with our remaining financial means. In january/february 2007 we started looking for a suitable label. From this moment on, it was not so hard than we had expected first. We made only 12 applications in total and got 3 very interested reactions including 2 concrete deal-offers. One of those labels was Massacre Records and i think it was really a good decision to sign with them.
AM : Who is writing music and lyrics in Coronatus, are the songs “band songs” or do they come from one mind ?
Coronatus : It`s a mixture! The main idea(s) normally come from one person, but everybody in the band adds his own ideas. We try a lot of things, when we are into song-writing. Normally we work out a rough structure of the song, already containing every of the main ideas. We record it in our rehearsal room and after some time has passed (with extensive listening) we go into what we call “pimp my song”. There we wipe out or change parts or tracks we don`t like anymore. As well as we normally add many of the finer details that lifts a songs quality. For Coronatus this methods really works, i think.
AM : About the production, Markus Stock et Tobias Schönemann did a superb job, how did the recording sessions go ?
Coronatus : Yes, definitely! Both of the two guys do a very good job! We started recording the drums in the (little bit larger) studio of Markus, continued with all other instruments in the studio of Tobias and returned to Markus for mixing! Both studios are in the same building, in adjacent rooms. The first recording block was in august were we recorded the drums, then guitars, bass and keys. Then we had to break, because the studio was already booked by another band. After that, already in september, we did the vocals and additional stuff like choir, violin and so on...then we had to shortly break again and then we started the mixing sessions with Markus
AM : Are you going to tour soon ? If yes, with which bands ?
Coronatus : Unfortunately, I don`t know! Up to now, we are still much to unknown to do a tour by ourselfs. So we are really looking for a support tour, but up to now we didn`t found something suitable. We are playing some single shows, of course. But we would be glad to go on tour as soon as possible. We have already asked some bands, and hopefully one of them will take us with them. We really love to play live! Nothing better than this!
AM : Are you satisfied of the first feedback you get for “Lux Noctis” ?
Coronatus : Reactions on our album are very polarizing up to now! Not much intermediate votings, but many of the extreme ones! Very good or very bad. Almost nothing in between. Especially the german reviews are very emotional, more than those from other countries, i think. Of course we are very satisfied when we get a good one. However, if you get “mixed up” by a reviewer this still hurts. But this is the price for daring to present your own music to an public audience. We know this.
AM : What are the bands that have impressed you the most recently ?
Coronatus : Most recently I was very impressed by the choir work on an older Sirenia Album, as well as by the new Krypteria and of course Within Temptation with their Heart of Everything. Also the first Ensiferum album is one of my recent favorites. And of course I´m really looking forward to the new Nightwish album!
AM : Thanks for your time and all the best for your career ! Any last words ?
Coronatus : Stay hard, metal on and gimme a beer!