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More Tempermental An interview with "A Life Divided" Jürgen Plannger, singer of Metal-Electro-Band “A Life Divided,” reports on his favorite games and his music. Even when he’s gaming a glass can break. ZH: Hello Jürgen. What gaming hardware do you have around your house? Are you an avid gamer? Jürgen: I wouldn’t describe myself as a hardcore gamer, but whenever there’s time I turn on my PS2. I’m more the adventure and strategy type, less of a of jump’n’run fan. Aside form the obligatory sports games like “Pro Evolution Soccer” and “NHL,” above all others on my game shelf there’s “GTA San Andreas,” “Hitman,” and “Shadow of Rome.” ZH: How often to you play on your PC or console? Jürgen: Whenever there’s time, so mostly at night if my need for sleep hasn’t been building up, I always get really deeply caught up in it really quickly. It’s just fun! To unwind, to devote yourself to the game, to immerse yourself in another world and do things that are not at all possible in “normal” life. ZH: Are you one of those gamers who yells when they lose, or do you always stay calm? Jürgen: I actually scream when I win as well. Well, admittedly I’m more of a temperamental player. During the last “Pro-Evolution” tournament with our manager a few glasses got smashed. But I’m nothing in comparison to our keyboarder, Erik: I had to go see him in the hospital last year because he let out his gaming rage on his living room glass door. ZH: What game are you especially looking forward to? Jürgen: I’m looking forward to the next visit to our manager’s house. Then I can finally test out “Pro Evolution Soccer 5.” And of course I’m excited for the next “GTA.” ZH: Musicians are always volunteering themselves to write music for computer games. What do you think of that? Could you imagine that for you guys? Jürgen: Of course if it’s conceptually fitting, we’d love to. The band is actually all made up of gamers. We were also talking with a company, however nothing is concrete. I think that our sound goes pretty well in computer games, how we have a mixture of beats and electronic components next to the traditional instruments in our songs. The changes in dynamic and tempo are certainly a fitting effect. Maybe something will come up. ZH: How did the band name “A Life Divided” actually come about? Jürgen: From the beginning we wanted a name for our program. “A Life Divided” reflects both the musical opposites of our sound as well as the different characters within the band. Musically there are no borders for us. That means it includes everything from trip-hop-esque electro-ballads to industrial metal. The common denominator is alwas a certain melancholy that resonates through all of the songs. That’s why this ambiguous name is perfect. ZH: How long have guys you been around? Jürgen: The hour of birth was in summer 2002. Our debut album came out a year later and since then we’ve been infesting the stages of the republic. ZH: And how did you guys get started? Jürgen: “A Life Divided” came out of the ex-band of our keyboarder Erik, drummer Korl, and guitarist Tony. At the time they were looking for a new singer. I heard the material, I liked it, and so I joined. The bassist Toby and the second guitarist Mike were recruited from bands we had befriended: we met up in the practice room and just let go. ZH: What is your music made up of? Jürgen: The characteristic is in my opinion the mixture of electronic elements, modern metal, and sometimes almost poppy singing, so the sound of our band is always there under the song. The song is the most important thing. ZH: Can you still remember your first live appearance? Jürgen: Oh yeah, really well. It was an appearance in a Munich club by the name of Garage, which unfortunately isn’t around anymore. It was our drummer Korl’s first live appearance. Even though he had already been at the drums for years he had never played in front of an audience until then. Playing our sound live is a challenge. And even though we practiced like crazy we were really nervous. In the course of the set we got better and better and the audience also seemed to like it. Afterwards we were all super relieved to have survived the ordeal. You could especially see it with Korl. It was an awesome evening! |