The Median Man spoke with Franz and Guitarfox from Schultz.
The Median Man spoke with Franz and Guitarfox from Schultz.
GERMAN
What inspired the name of the band and what are your influences?
Franz : People use to ask me this question quite often, but I must admit I still haven’t found the answer really. At the beginning of it all, I was playing in a German festival and the promoter asked me what was the band name… I have been searching on things for one night long, and finally I answered SCHULTZ. As an industrial german music fan, I thought it was a good name for this project. Simple, and easy to remember.
Guitarfox : It sounds a little too German for me as a French guy, but the name already existed when I joined the band. LOL
Franz:I think lot of things from French music to industrial music. When I was young my parents listened lot of music at home and in the car. So I have always listened to lot of music. Now I have my own taste but I think all this kind of music have an influence on the music I make today. Even if my parents don’t listen to metal or industrial music 😉
Guitarfox : My parents used to listen things of their age : Beatles, Rolling Stones, Who, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple… So as a teenager, I rebelled with more heavy stuffs : Punk rock, heavy, thrash, black and death metal… Classic story ! Now as an adult I am more open-minded, I can listen to Jazz, classic, electronic, in fact, everything that opens the doors of cosmic mysteries in me, whatever the style…
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
Franz : We have no real process or particular themes, when a member has an idea, we talk about it together and if everybody agrees, we work on it. Usually I do the beat and synth parts, but this time I also wrote the lyrics for two tracks : Black out, and Devil Inside Me.
Guitarfox : Franz sends me his instrumentals, I put the guitar parts on it, and if it inspires me some lyrics, let’s go then ! In fact we’re just fed by the need to create music and play, as musicians.
PROCESS
PROCESS
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
Franz : We have no real process or particular themes, when a member has an idea, we talk about it together and if everybody agrees, we work on it. Usually I do the beat and synth parts, but this time I also wrote the lyrics for two tracks : Black out, and Devil Inside Me.
Guitarfox : Franz sends me his instrumentals, I put the guitar parts on it, and if it inspires me some lyrics, let’s go then ! In fact we’re just fed by the need to create music and play, as musicians.
JAZZ
Why do you write the sort of music that you do?
Franz : I can’t really explain it to be honest, sorry, I just do the music I love, nothing else to say.
Guitarfox : Because we are technically too bad to play jazz ! LOL
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
Franz : We talk together and give all ideas we have in mind. Some songs are Schultz classical’s like “I Hate you” or “Shot Of Pain” extracts from the first album, and some song will never be played on stage. We try to work on the setlist like a strory to give to the audience most sensation as possible in one concert.
Guitarfox : it’s a constant evolution: we play our songs on stage, we observe the reactions of the public, and we keep those that kicks ass the best.
TALK
TALK
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
Franz : We talk together and give all ideas we have in mind. Some songs are Schultz classical’s like “I Hate you” or “Shot Of Pain” extracts from the first album, and some song will never be played on stage. We try to work on the setlist like a strory to give to the audience most sensation as possible in one concert.
Guitarfox : it’s a constant evolution: we play our songs on stage, we observe the reactions of the public, and we keep those that kicks ass the best.
LIVE
What plans do you have for the future?
Guitarfox : Looking for gigs !
Franz : We are really impatient to play live again to present you this new album on stage. But also promoting Black Magic Party our new album just released. You can listen it here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/schultz1/black-magic-party And visiting our page schultzmusic.fr