Where are you and how are you? Congrats to your fantastic album release "DSM" :)
VVA : Hey Dani! All is ok. I’m having some relax at home and just learned that for the 7th week, our track “Der Ball der Verdammten” (from DSM album) is on the GEWC (German Electronic Webcharts) : necessarily, I'm very pleased ;-)

If friends should describe you in 5 words, what would they say and why?
Wooow, that’s hard to imagine but I think they’ll probably say: loyal cause I try to be like that as much as I can, hard-working cause when I’m doing something I give 100% of myself (as in Ad Inferna by example), touchy cause …. that’s the reality (lol), impatient (I always want to have the results of what I’m doing now eh eh), tormented & possessed sometimes…. I think people just have to read my words to realize it.

How important is music for you? Could you imagine a life without making music?
Music is surely the easier way to express myself…. especially in our dark styles of music. We don’t need to hide what we’ve inside of us. It’s so easy to reveal to others our own pain, suffering, frustrations with words, with notes. I stopped for many years to write and sing (for 7 years between 2001 and 2008) and I confess that I do not want to do it again: it's so exciting and fascinating to work on a new album ... I don’t think I could do without it again.

Can you tell us a bit about Ad Inferna...
Ah ah! Ok, Ad Inferna is born in 1996 and the first release of the band is called “L’Empire des Sens” out in 2002, first at Last Episode, and then in Silverdust : a piece of Dark metal with some Gothic elements. We decided to make a big break until 2008 cause we needed to step back.

We came back with:
- our second album “Trance:N:dance” (2008)
- the Heroine EP – Revisited Trance und Tanz (2009)
- our third DSM (2009) on Nilaihah Records, USA

The history of our band and line-up is really complex *laugh*. I prefer to tell you that the members behind Ad Inferna is VoA VoXyD (guitars, keys & electroniks, music) and me (lead & back vox, lyrics) : we finally found stability and it works perfectly!

DSM stands for...?
There can be different meanings : first of all, we wanted to find a word to summarize the state of mental illness that emerges from this album: DSM is for us as cursed, possessed ... and the state of possession is often characterized by symptoms of multiple personality disorder defined in DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual). That's why we chose the name DSM. But I’m sure you will find some other interesting words with these 3 letters ;-)


How long did it take to release the album?
Oh, so many months… specifically, one year ! First of all, we got to find a label and now, with the crisis of the disc, the labels are very hesitant to sign new productions. And secondly, we have chosen to work with a leader of the current electronic scene (Vasi Vallis – Frozen Plasma, Reaper, NamNamBulu) to produce this album: he worked more than six months to mix and mastered DSM. This explains why it took so long for this album to be released.

An Ad Inferna song: what's first? Melody or lyrics?
For the vast majority of the time, VOA creates the melodies, he sends them to me and after I begin writing the lyrics.

Which song is in your opinion the strongest on the album and why?
I may say 2 songs… the most powerful is definitely for me “Der Ball der Verdammten” but one of the most touching is by far “Celeste” : the end of this song always makes me vibrate, it's unbelievable.

Can you tell me a little bit about the lyrics... Why do you sing most songs in French?
These words are very personal that I can only write when I get to immerse myself in my own darkness. In DSM, I mostly choose French because it’s easier for me to express these feelings in my own language. But for the next album, I decided to write the most part of the words in English then our listeners will finally understand what I’m saying *laugh* To those who want to get some of DSM & Trance:N:dance (in english & german), check out this section of our official website: www.adinferna.com.

The reactions after releasing the album were all quite positive. Did you expect such fantastic feedback?
Honestly not ! Since the first premix of DSM, we knew we’ll be very proud of our work… but we thought this album was perhaps more complex, tortured, dark and disturbing than Trance:N:dance and therefore it might not be as easy to enjoy from the first listen : but we’re wrong cause because the feedbacks are excellent, the reviews all positive and the sales good. Hope everything continues like this!

Are you working already on new material?
Yes, we are. We’ve finished the record session of the music & voices parts of 9 tracks. Actually, VOA just begins to work on the first premix : we’ve decided to do the production by our own hands and VOA has built his own studio to give to the new Ad Inferna album exactly the atmosphere and the sounds we want!

Music videos are becoming more and more important today. What do you think about it? Can we expect an Ad Inferna video in nearer future?
For sure, this is one of our projects: but we want to do it perfectly and this kind of projects are very expensive! We hope to present our first real video for the next album (middle of 2011)

Where do you see the biggest challenges in music business?
The only challenge I have is to release a production where I never find any defect ;-) The business part, I let it to the label!

Neuweltmusic Soundcheck:

- the first record you've bought and when:
Aha - “Hunting High and Low” on vinyl (1985)

- the last record:
Frozen Plasma” “Monumentum”

What kind of music do you prefer:
- while cooking:
No music while cooking cause I like to focus what I'm doing.

- while driving:
Colony 5 “Lifeline”

- to relax:
“Nothing Lasts... But Nothing Is Lost” of Shpongle or “Rumble” of Boom Devil

- for party:
Astral Projection albums!

- during sex:
....... AD INFERNA ;-)

What are your future plans?
- Do the promotion of DSM as long as we can
- Release our new album in may 2011 with a European, Russian & Japanese license
- Making a video for our new floor killer song
- Becoming the masters of the universe? *laugh*

A few closing words to our readers...
Many thanks to you Dani and to those who took the time to read this interview. You should try the DSM experience ... you will never come back ;-)