1. How initiated the top progressive German band Poverty’s No Crime?

Heiko: The band was founded in 1991. It was this “friends forming a band”-thing. Many other bands started as well like this I guess. We released two demos during the following two years which were highly praised by the music magazines at that time. Due to this fact we were able to play shows with bands like Depressive Age and Waltari. In the middle of the 90s we signed a record contract with Noise records and released the albums “Symbiosis” and “The Autumn Years” which were very successful especially in Japan. The band went on several tours throughout Europe with Victory, Virgin Steele and Angra. We split up with Noise records in 1997 but signed a deal with Inside Out Music a bit later. Inside Out Music released four Poverty’s No Crime records so far: “Slave To The Mind” (1999), “One In A Million” (2001), “The Chemical Chaos” (2003) and the new record Save My Soul in 2007.

2. You have 16 years in music, six albums, how had been keep together?

Volker: We became more and more professional during this long time. For example the way we work together in terms of performing our ideas, especially the non verbal communication works better then ever.
Another secret of PNCs endurance is to avoid too intensive friendship between the members. We are all friends, of course, but we don’t spent much time together outside the band. So we enjoy every single band-event as a special come together with lots of fun – always with a focus on the musical work.

3. There’s another musical project from the band members?

Volker: Except for our drummer Theo who is playing in a “rock-coverband“. Besides him none of us is involved in other projects. This is mainly caused by the lack of time.

4. You’re a top band, one of my favorites, what motivates you to make this excellent music and lyrics?

Volker: Oh, thank you very much. We are all musicians from the bottom of our heart. We cannot live without making music. PNC is the perfect platform for us to express our musical ideas, because we don’t need the commercial success like other bands. There are no creative limits. So when everything is possible and nothing is impossible – it’s the dream of any artist. Where else could I have this?
I also feel a kind of duty to go ahead with the music of PNC because I know there are a lot of fans in the world who like our music and honour what we do.

5. I saw a Videos from the studio sessions of your new album, excellent sound, how’s going? When will be ready?

Heiko: By now the album is already released – at least in most parts of Europe. The release date for North America is September 25th and it will come out in France beginning of 2008.

6. In each album that you recorded there’s an improvement in all the aspects, what can expect for the new release?
Volker: The new album will be the best so far. The combination of strong melodies, great songwriting and the best production and sound we ever had will be a big surprise for everyone. This album is definitely sounds more “metal“ than “rock“. If you like the previous albums you will love the new one.

7. Will you make another awesome instrumental piece like Terminal Trip?

Volker: Yes, we’ve composed a kind of medley based on unused themes and parts, the title is “spellbound”.

8. Are you thinking in some tour? Which places do you likely visit?

Heiko: We would like to go on tour as we all love to play live. It is always a great experience to be on stage and get direct feedback from the fans in front of you. However, due to our jobs and family situations we are a bit limited to go whenever and wherever we want to go for touring.

9. I’d like so much the rhythms in the snare and the keyboards sounds, the guitars solos, distortions and melodies, the characteristic bass sound and the voice, how you conjugate all these elements to create your impressive music?

Volker: The new album will be the best so far. The combination of strong melodies, great songwriting and the best production and sound we ever had will be a big surprise for everyone. This album is definitely sounds more “metal“ than “rock“. If you like the previous albums you will love the new one. Volker: Yes, we’ve composed a kind of medley based on unused themes and parts, the title is “spellbound”.Heiko: We would like to go on tour as we all love to play live. It is always a great experience to be on stage and get direct feedback from the fans in front of you. However, due to our jobs and family situations we are a bit limited to go whenever and wherever we want to go for touring.9.

Volker: That’s the result of a constant work in progress for years. It takes a lot of time to find the right combination of instruments and arrangements. And it is one of the most difficult things within the songwriting process. In the end it’s all up to the man behind the mixer - provided that there is an idea of how the songs should sound like.

10. Chemical Chaos is a top album in prog metal scene, please talk us about the songs, music, lyrics and the recording of this masterpiece.

Heiko: The Chemical Chaos is maybe the best album to start with if you have never heard a Poverty’s No Crime album. The album combines progressive rock and metal with catchy melodies. Most critics wrote that this album is a lot better than the One In A Million album. I don’t really agree on this but that might be helpful for the people who already own that album. The next step is then our new album Save My Soul. That one is more intense than Chemical Chaos regarding sound and also the speed of the songs. As Volker already said, it is more “metal” and Chemical Chaos more a “progressive rock” album.

The lyrics on "The Chemical Chaos" deal with destiny in general and also with the fact that every small detail can have an effect on the course of the world. From a scientists perspective, life is just an endless sequence of chemical and physical processes - too complex to comprehend but theoretically calculable. However, if life runs in mathematical functions and future is thereby already predefined today, everything would be determined and our individual actions senseless. With this assumption in mind our personal decisions become irrelevant because there is just one decision that fits into the "cosmic equation". After all there are just chemical processes running in our brains.

Songs like "Pact With the Past" or "Do What You Feel" carry the desperation about the loss of control over our freedom of action. In contrast to that the song "Every Kind of Life" deals with the confidence that there is a master plan behind all this and we all are just a small but important part of this plan.
We’ve been discussing this topic quite often during the songwriting process for the album and when the music was written this became the theme for the lyrical concept. All lyrics are written by Volker. I guess we work like this because he has to sing them afterwards. However, there is no topic that I can think of right now we couldn’t use for our lyrics.

11. Stranger Within is an intense 11 minutes song, what inspires you to create this top song?

Volker: I’ve made a sad experience with a good friend of mine. I thought he was friend, but after some years I realized he was selfish guy who never was a real friend. To make a song about this difficult and personal story it needs more time than others.

12. Volker, you have a magnificent voice, in all albums you sing in a special way, how you could did this?

Volker: I just sing like I always did and try to sound as natural as I am.

13. What happen with Marcello and Christian? What are they doing right now?
 
Heiko: Honestly, I don’t really know.

14. In PerfectProg we have some polls, please choose your favorites

Heiko: I checked the polls and to pick some faves there is not very easy. For example when it comes to name the “best band”. It always depends on my mood what kind of music I listen to. That pretty much determines the band I want to listen to then. For example when I listen to some old Fates Warning records, that reminds me of the time being young, going to school and sitting in my room afterwards playing along to records like Awaken the guardian, Perfect Symmetry or Parallels. That is not really music for partying.
I love Enchant as well, especially when I am working sometimes. That is good “working music”. When it comes to Symphony X that is good for going somewhere in the car I think.

So, I always choose music for the situation and in that moment there is always a different “best band” for me.

Category “Best singer” – I love most of the stuff where Jorn Lande has been involved: Ark, his solo albums and especially the two records together with Rusell Allen.

The next poll where I can say that I have a favourite is the one about bass players. There I totally like the work of Oliver Holzwarth from Sieges Even (it says Alex in the poll but that is the drumming brother). I think I learned a lot about technique playing along to the Life Cycle album many years ago.

15. Finally, there’s something that you want to share with your fans?

Heiko: As a progressive metal band you do not get very much attention from the magazines and radio stations. Therefore it is important for us as a band that the fans spread the word about the music they like. If every progressive metal fan play his favourite records to family, friends and strangers to spread the word about this great music it will help a great deal!

Answers by Volker Walsemann (voc & guit) & Heiko Spaarmann (bass)