PROTECTOR INTERVIEW

19-12-2014

STORMWIND FANZINE ISSUE 2

PROTECTOR INTERVIEW 

SW: Hey Matze! Thanks for expecting our interview. It is an honour for me to chat with you. Actually I have so many questions about the ancient glory days. Lets start if you are ready too. I have CD and LP versions of ‘A shedding of skin’ album. Your name is written as bass guitar player on the CD but not on the LP. Tell us how and when you become a part of Protector.

Matze: After the recording of Leviathans desire, Hansi has to quit his guitar player career because of lymphatic cancer. Michael Hasse decided that Olly should try to replace him and so the both started to arrange new songs. After finishing the first rehearsals, olly asked martin missy and me for help by writing new lyrics. That was the reason why I spent a lot of time in the rehearsalroom with Olly and Micha. For me it was a cool chance to be a smal part in the genesis of a new Protector Recording. In august 1991 I spent my time every weekend in the music-lab-studio of Harris Johns in Berlin. During that time Ede quit his bass-playing-part and so I became the new Protector-Member. The Tour was booked and the release-date was fixed. Before Ede quit the cover and the layout for the LP was finaly finished. In that tme the graphic-agencys exposed films for printing and to make corrections were too expensive and not as easy then today. 

SW: My copy of ‘A shedding of skin’ doesn’t have an innersleeve with lyrics and photos. Was it normally have an innersleeve or just a white paper cover as I have?

Matze: Sad but true. The layout for the LP-Version was finished before the lyrics were finally recorded. The band and the lable has no other chance as puplishing the vinyl-version without a lyric sheet. I was always disapointed about and so I created a lyric sheet on my own. In 1993 we had a guy who asked us to start a PROTECTOR-fanclub. We thought about give-aways and specials for fanclub members. Making sticker or poster wasn’t that cheap than today, but to make some photocopies of the lyric sheet was one of the planned goodies. With the Split-up in 1994 all these ideas died :-(

SW: ‘The Heritage’ is a final glory album for Protector and it was really amazing. I just can’t remember how many times I listened to that CD. In other hand, there were no original members on that album. Tell us the days that you decided to go on recording albums under the name Protector without original members. Did you talk to them about the situation before ‘The Heritage’ recording session?

Matze: After the canceled shedding-tour with Funeral Nation and some other crazy shows, Olly and myself decieded to stop going on with Michael. We tried a lot of things to get our friend back on the right path, but we lost this fight. Olly wont give up with Protector and decided to try some gigs with Marco. The record company gives us the permission and so we started to arrange the songs for “The Heritage”.

SW: Tell us about ‘The Heritage’ recording session. How many days did it took to record the album? Who wrote the lyrics? Who wrote the music and whose idea to use that amazing cover art painting?

Matze: We were 4 weeks in Gelsenskirchen in the T&T Studio. Our Producer was Tim Buktu. The responsibility for the Artwork was my part. The mainpart of the Lyrics are written by myself in cooperation with Olly. And also some help came from Martin Missy.

SW: Why did you suddenly split up after that successful album?

Matze: It wasn’t successful! It has got good reviews but it didn’t sold as much as “Leviathans”-EP or the “Shedding”-LP. After “The Heritage” was released, we organized some shows on our own all over Germany. We dreamed about a little tour in USA but without management and a professional in booking, it wasn’t that easy than today.

SW: Do you still connect with the old band members? Do you have connection with Marco and Oliver? Did you ever thought about going on as Protector after split up?

Matze: Not really. I moved from Wolfsburg to Braunschweig an than to Hamburg. I’m in this cool city now over 14 years. After the PROTECTOR split up I started a band called SQUARE WAVES (from 1994 to 1997). İn 1998 I joined HEADSHOT for 6 years but since I played my last show with HEADSHOT in 2004 I stopped playing bassguitar. That is the reason why I never thought about a reunion. A few weeks ago I visited Olly in his rehearsal-room with his new band. I think more than 10 years past since we met each other last time. This get-together is the result of the last PROTECTOR-show in wolfsburg and the interviews martin missy did for the protector-facebook-page.

SW: Do you have the LP version of ‘The Heritage’ which was released by the Italian record company ‘Night of the vinyl dead?’

Matze: Yes, and i’m disappointed about. The cover is just copied and scaled from the CD-booklet and the music is not from the original-24-track-tape. With a vinyl-release our dream of an AAA production had to become true. Martin and Marco were involved in the reissue from NOTVD but they didn’t know that Ive got high-quality dias from the Cover-Artwork.

SW: Tell us about the Istanbul concert. How was the fans? Did you like Istanbul? ....and a personal question; Do you have video or sound recordings from Istanbul concert?

Matze: It is my best Protector-memory! The fans and the atmosphere are unforgotten. İ`ll send you a piture of a collage which is by my side since 1992.

SW: Do you miss the days you played with Protector? If there was a reunion with the old members, would you want to be in that formation?

Matze: Sometimes it is nice to remember, but this chapter for me is over.

SW: Do you follow the activities of Martin Missy with new line up? If yes, then what do you think about the music they play?

Matze: Yes! I’m very excited to the release of “reanimated humunculus”. I think they can bring back the ancient feeling from 1986.

SW: These are my questions bro. Do you have some more to add?

Matze: I think now is the best time to sell my last 10 “The Heritage” CDs. If somebody is interesseted in, watch out on www.discogs.com.