GF: On the internet people are already talking about the Rarities album. Can you already tell us more about it?
MG: (laughs)

GF: Is it going to be distributed by ADD or a major label? MG: Well, the album will be distributed by a major label, and it will be released in
America. It's about Alphaville productions that aren't so well-known in America – hence Rarities. There's already a track list but it hasn't been confirmed yet. At any rate, a special mix of "Moonboy" will be on it. This great mix, that I really love, was done by Bernd Lloyd, and I'm very happy that we will include it on Rarities. As I said, it will be released in America and it may very well be imported to Europe. But it's
mainly meant for the American market. Just like the Best-of album that we are currently working on, it's going to be distributed by a major label, one of the subdivisions of Warner Records.

GF: On the internet there are tracks such as "Kill the Devil" and "Song for no one but Myself" that haven't been released yet. Will they also appear on Rarities, or are they songs that might be included in a later project?
MG: These are songs that I haven't considered for Crazy Show. A few of the tracks I'll never hand over to the public because I just don't like them anymore. With others I'm also not satisfied with the current production. So I won't release them at the
moment but a few may well be on the new Alphaville album in 2004. Currently I must admit that I have no idea what this album will be like – although it will be one CD containing 11 songs, 50 minutes of music, and it'll cost about 15 €; just like a normal CD. I can only hope everyone will be satisfied and that there won't be any complaints such as: "Too few tracks, no special artwork, that's all shit."

GF: And will the new studio album coming out next year also be released by a major company?
MG: Okay, wait a minute. It could be that Crazy Show will also be released under a major label.

GF: As a 4-CD box or as one CD with selected tracks?
MG: Hey guys, you're still missing one thing. Projects like Dreamscapes and Crazy Show can't be done with a record company. They would say: "4 or 8 CDs, are you nuts?" They wouldn’t do it. I only do such things because I want them. It's an offer for people who are interested in Alphaville music and who want to get more than what the commercial market can provide. It's an extra leg to stand on, so to say. It's
certainly not like we don't intend to release any commercial albums in the future with a record company. I mean, two years ago, we did Forever Pop with a major record company. And now in America, a new album will be released by a major label, as
well as in Germany and the rest of Europe the following year. But in these cases you're extremely limited as an artist. That is to say, it's only about a normal CD and nothing else. That is what I think is so great: having the possibility to market your music on your own, do things you couldn't do with a normal record company, and offer it to the fans. At the end of the day it's up to everybody to buy it or not. If people think it's shit, they don't have to buy it. It's a very simple story. It's really just a project for people who think it's great and think it's worth getting a special product. For example, Crazy Show: the artwork cost a hell of a lot of money. It's not like I'm going to make a killing with the box set. You can go to any packaging company and ask them about the price of such a box. This is only because we, from Alphaville, want to give the people something very special. That's exactly what we did with Crazy Show and Dreamscapes. But I don't want to do such projects in the near future. As I said, next year there will be a new Alphaville album, and it will be exactly one CD. That's it,
no discussion. The whole production of Crazy Show knocked the wind out of me – it was very stressful to do everything like that. We did everything ourselves, financed everything, etc.

GF: That was obvious. Crazy Show came on the market in February and the first reviews appeared only some time later. Is it also part of your work to reach out to the people and say: "Hey, write something about it!" Record companies will send out promotional CDs to journalists; what about you?
MG: This is exactly what we did. I personally consider the music on Crazy Show to be, above all, timeless. The music doesn't lend itself to current, trendy music styles, it's a completely timeless thing. Actually, I could release the album next year. I'm not attached to any type of deadline or timeframe. And that is what I think is so great about this, the way it is. Other bands, I won't give any names, have got to have an album out next year because the album they released last year is already out of date. It's not in anymore because they tried to follow the trends at the time. Of course, that's not the case with Crazy Show. Those who listen to Crazy Show and expected to hear trendy chart music are naturally disappointed. The focus of that album is on composition, which is also very different from the approach of Dreamscapes.

GF: Have you regularly read the criticisms of Crazy Show from the mailing list?
MG: Yes, yes. I've read them all – even the negative ones. I even think they're OK.
You can disagree about everything, of course. I accept the negative ones as openly as the positive ones.

GF: There was one criticism, I think from a Brit or an American, that said, among other things, that many songs have a good foundation but lack the kick to make them something really special. [original quote from that criticism: "I hear some great ideas in CS, but it really could have been taken to the next level … simple melodic changes to take advantage of Marian's incredible vocal range, some
rearrangements to keep the songs moving, some more time spent on the vocals (performance and processing) and a kick ass mix engineer… these things could have made it magic"; translator]
MG: That was Tanya Wachsmuth. Now Tanya will probably do a remix of one of the Crazy Show songs.

GF: She's a real producer?
MG: Yes, she's a real music producer. I don't agree with her criticism at all. I thought it was great how she wrote it, the way she formulated it. Somehow it was a fair argument. And the moment I heard that she and her husband were producers, I wrote a letter to them asking if they'd be interested in remixing a song from Crazy Show. It looks as though we might come to an agreement.

GF: Stark Naked was the first live CD, then the first live DVD, Little America, came out. The musical style has changed a lot since Miracle Healing. Will there probably be another live release?

MG: A live release? I can't tell. There are so many things scheduled for next year. We actually have a live tape, which is a documentary of the club tour in Sweden that we did in 1996. It's very short but funny. We may well release it on a DVD next year. I must, however, say that it contains quite old live stuff – really old, about six or seven years old. I don't see a new live album in 2004, but I can imagine we'll do this DVD.

GF: Many fans keep asking whether there will be a re-release of Dreamscapes 1-8.
MG: OK. I'll make a statement about that. There will definitely be a re-release of Dreamscapes, but it will definitely be different from the Dreamscapes we did in 1999. The reason is that Dreamscapes was originally limited to 2,500 copies and that was that. It was on this condition that I sold the thing. Of course, there will be some fans now thinking: "As a die-hard collector I must buy this re-release as well, only because it is somehow different." To those who already own Dreamscapes, I can only say: "Leave it!" The re-release will contain exactly the same stuff. Maybe it'll be only one CD, depending on the format we'll find for it. It's merely meant for people who
absolutely want it. Unlike the original Dreamscapes, the format and the artwork will be different. Perhaps, there will also be a re-release of Crazy Show one day but there'll never be this original box or the original artwork. We might use partly the same photos or something else but the originals are for the limited edition only, and for nothing else. The re-release of Dreamscapes could even consist of less than eight
CDs. You know, there are other ways to ruin yourself financially. I can't do a super special edition for a few hundred people. I have to finance it on my own.

GF: Let's get back to Rarities. The CD will include "Moonboy" remixed by Bernd Lloyd. It does take us by surprise that he of all people has done a remix for Alphaville after he left the band. Have you found some kind of status quo that allows you to get along with each other in a more relaxed way?
MG: As Bernd has always emphasized, there have never been any serious personal differences between the two of us. Disagreements were rather on what we wanted to achieve. Bernd's also stressed that there were some people outside the band that exerted influence. On this special statement I'd like to comment: neither Bernd nor myself have ever let anybody out there have influence on us. This, too, is something
critics have always reproached us with – that we never listened to anybody but ourselves. And it wasn't any different in this case. I believe it's good to have some time to recover from certain things in the past and see how things develop in the future. I think it will be good for both of us. We can clear our heads and work in a more relaxed way. So, for instance, we can do remixes or even write songs together.
Everything is possible. Bernd and I are still friends – and on this foundation we can always collaborate.

GF: Sputnik Roadhouse. The TV movie "Klassentreffen" ["Class Reunion"; translator] featured one first song. What about the future?
MG: I won't tell you anything about Sputnik Roadhouse. This is my very own super secret project. I can only say: super secret.

GF: And the song won't be released from Alphaville?
MG: The song – "Those were the days" – has actually nothing to do with Sputnik Roadhouse.

GF: So we won't see the song on any Alphaville album?
MG: I can't rule out the possibility that it will be on one of the next albums.

GF: At the beginning of this year, there was news on www.alphaville.de that Klaus Schulze wrote an Italian opera. Will this opera go on tour or will it be staged at one fixed place?
MG: Oh God, I hope it won't. There might be one performance. Singing it, however, every evening during a tour would be demanding too much of me. It's really strenuous and it requires a lot of improvising to create the momentum every night anew. Collaborating on music with Klaus Schulze is always a very intuitive thing. You can hear that in the title song of Crazy Show or also in "Opium Den", which has a very clear structure. But the opera was fairly intuitive piece of work – and it's very difficult to reproduce it. To me this was a fantastic adventure, and I'm very thankful and even flattered that Klaus involved me in his project, together with all the opera singers. They are real aces, i.e. professional tenors, sopranos, etc. I am the only pop arse or, say, amateur in this league.

GF: How are we supposed to understand that? You, singing live, in an opera house?
MG: That's sort of strange. I play a role called "The Envoy". I'm the envoy in the opera. It's about angels. You know, last year I put a short story on the net, called "The Envoy", where I tried to explain by way of a metaphor how creative processes in Alphaville come into being, what dangers may occur – maybe nobody understood it. Anyway, it's quite entertaining and it's really funny that in this opera I'm the Envoy
again and have actually to deal with angels once more. You see, my short story is about a child who is somehow like an angel and who dies in the end. And this opera, too, tells us that angels do exist, that you can create them and get into contact with them. I am the official envoy from the Vatican arriving as this phenomenon occurs. As the plot moves on, it turns out that I am obviously connected with the Vatican but, on the other hand, may as well bear some different, demonic traits. Maybe not
necessarily a purely Mephistophelean figure but something similar.

GF: You can't tell us at the moment if you will perform this in a certain opera house?
MG: I don't desperately want it. I'm really scared shitless of it. It's so difficult to sing.

GF: You would be scared shitless to perform in the same venue every evening?
MG: No, but I don't feel up to it. You've got to understand: I came into Klaus's studio, and there were all these people who had just recorded their parts. And then Klaus went like: "Just go there, here's your text, it's Italian, you can sing it, no problem, I'll just play the music." So I did it, without any rehearsal or anything. After all, I consider myself to be a singer, so I must be able to do this – and that's why I did it. The result's not bad, but it makes me nervous to imagine doing it every night in front of an audience and reproducing it with such a responsibility. Klaus already asked if I might be at his disposal when he brings his opera to the stage. I told him it was okay for one night, but not permanently. In a nightly performance somebody else will have to sing that part. Whoever it will be, he will surely be thinking: "That damn Marian Gold has dragged me into this; now I'll have to sing what he did. That's horrible!" I do love the opera itself, but I believe it won't cater to everybody's tastes. People who love Klaus Schulze will certainly be keen on it; he's also treading some new paths. The opera will probably be released by the Deutsche Grammophon [a German record label for classical music; translator]; maybe at the end of 2003, but rather in spring 2004. I know the processes going on in a record company – they are even more scatterbrained and slower than those with Alphaville.

GF: Slower than with Alphaville? Can that really be possible?
MG: Yes, yes. Listen: Just count on the ten fingers of your hand how many CDs we released since 1998! And then you show me any band that did more. In that time, we released more material than in all the years before.

GF: But this material included eight retro CDs.
MG: Sure, but you had never heard any song from them before. We had heard them but you hadn't.

GF: That's true.
MG: And if you say, well, "retro CDs, no, we don't want that": OK to me!

GF: We were really happy about them but there wasn't anything really new.
MG: But the CDs did offer quite a lot of new songs.

GF: The pièce de résistance was Dreamscape #6. Over 70 percent of the fans might find this one their favourite CD. MG: What's on it?
GF: "Elegy", "Carry Your Flag". MG: Yes, okay. No. 6 is also one of my favourites.

GF: Alphaville fans are dogged and spend a lot of money at Ebay and somewhere else. Lately there was a discussion in on the mailing list about whether it could be planned to release the old video clips on a DVD.

MG: This is planned for next year. Listen: Currently we are facing legal problems. We don't own the videos; they belong to Warner Bros. Either we will have to persuade Warner Bros. to release a compilation of them, or, in case we will do it with another record company, this record company will have to persuade Warner Bros. to transfer the rights to the videos. Of course, money is an issue, it's all fairly complicated. I hope we manage to do it; we are keenly tackling this project. Admittedly, there aren't a lot of video clips from us – maybe we'll include some additional promotional stuff. For example, we had something for "Fools", this sensational thing with the lighter, the
live trailer. This all is completely a matter of negotiation. At the moment, Daniela is negotiating with the people about how we can realize it best.

GF: Will you also get permission to use your TV appearances, as for example on the "ZDF-Hitparade"?
MG: Do I have to tell you everything?

GF: Let's come back once more to the Nokia Night of the Proms. Some days ago, BR3 broadcast the whole concert on TV. Was everything really so relaxed as it appeared on the screen?
MG: It was really amazing. I'm absolutely not into this competition shit. To be better than someone else is really a very distinctive feature of some bands here in Germany. I've always been wondering how this can work. How can one artist be better than another one? You can be more successful when you sell more records, but be better…? At the Nokia, there were artists before whom I went down on my knees for reverence. They've done so much, they have a lot on their plates, they've achieved so much in their lives. The Pointer Sisters, for instance. Wow, they enter the stage and knock down everybody. They are such enchanting personalities – fantastic! The feeling at the Nokia Night was perfect. It was totally fun. The Simple Minds were already part of it for the second time – because of the illness of the singer of Roxette. I don't know anybody there that I don't respect. All people involved were great: not only the featured artists, but also the orchestra, the conductor, John Miles, the choir. The only one who got a little on my nerves was the trumpeter (laughs). He played the trumpet part in "Forever Young". I think you can't do it like this, you definitely need a brass section of 15 trumpets or so, not just one trumpet. I
would almost break down every time he entered the stage and started. This man with his little Bach trumpet was fighting a losing battle. Martin Lister would only press one key at a time, and pfffft, would blast away everything. In advance, I already suggested to the organizers to take Martin instead. But no, they absolutely stuck to the Bach trumpet. It also fit in more with the image of the Nokia Night.

GF: Marian, thank you for taking your time to talking to us.
MG: You're welcome.