We speak to SCHANZ about crafting raw, emotionally charged dark alternative rock that blends post-punk, gothic rock, and melodic guitar-driven energy. His new album AD/2, recorded entirely in his home studio, channels personal frustration and creative independence into seven powerful tracks, including the standout single “X,” now streaming everywhere.
How would you describe your music to someone who’s never heard it?
A difficult question… I think it’s a bit raw and unpolished. There’s nothing artificial or overproduced to perfection. I make guitar rock that contains many elements of post-punk/gothic rock or even darkwave, melancholic, melodic, thoughtful and full of energy. Well, you can also call it dark alternative rock – maybe that’s the easiest way to introduce me to someone who has never heard my music or this kind of music before.
How has your sound evolved since you first started making music?
At the very beginning, I made punk rock with three chords and a classical line-up (drums/bass/guitars). It took quite a while before I opened up to synthesisers and more variety in songwriting. When I look back 20 years and listen to the old songs and today’s album, I think the vocals have evolved the most. There’s a broader spectrum of how I express my feelings when I sing. And of course I can play a bit more than just three chords now. Thanks to the technical possibilities and the experience gained over time, the individual sounds have certainly become more complex and more defined than they were at the very beginning with the two variants: Guitar and guitar distorted.
What’s a bizarre or unexpected inspiration behind one of your songs?
Perhaps ‘X’ is a little bizarre, because that’s where I vent my frustrations about co-workers and colleagues in my job. This powerlessness, sometimes even anger, about people who are always complaining about everything but don’t really want to change anything. They only ever see the negative because otherwise they won’t be happy in the little bubble they live in. That’s annoying and I’ve processed that in this song.
What’s the most memorable moment of your music career so far?
I played with my old band somewhere in 2004/ 2005 at the Wave Gothic Treffen (the world’s largest festival for „dark music“ at the Moritzbastei in Leipzig. It was the last show of this band called „Desert + Fortune“ and it was filled to the last seat. It was a great and intense show.
Tell us all you can about your latest release and where and when to find it?
You’ll find the album including a radio edit of „X“ at https://schanz.bandcamp.com. I released my debut called „AD/2“ at the end of June on all streaming platforms. So you also can listen to it nearly everywhere. It´s a seven track album I composed and produced from summer 2024 on. the album title stands for the initials of my address. That’s where I live and where I recorded and produced the entire album in my studio. The idea came from a niece who is an architect. They don’t give their projects names, but abbreviate the address with the initial letters and the house number. I liked the idea so much that I used it for my album title. So the next album will definitely not be called AD/3, otherwise I would have to move in with my neighbours across the road. The Sun was the first piece I composed, it wasn’t planned to be a solo project. But my partner, with whom I have an electronic project called Pitch black Inc, didn’t particularly like the song. But for me it was a very personal song and I couldn’t come to terms with possible changes to the composition etc.. So I decided to do some more guitar orientated songs on my own. The ideas started pouring out of me and it was so much fun to work with guitars again. That’s how the other songs came about quite quickly. After those 7, it was time for me to wrap it up, make a cut and concentrate on new songs.