Jannik Fischer

Rebellious Spirit

With their new album "Obsession" coming out soon, Metal Temple's Marcus Kemp caught up with REBELLIOUS SPIRIT founder and lead singer, Jannik Fischer, to ask him some questions via an e-mail interview and talked about the new album, their shows with Axel Rudi Pell, illegal downloads, videogames and more.

By Marcus Kemp

• October 8, 2014

Interview - Jannik Fischer (Rebellious Spirit) interview

Firstly, 2014 has been quite a year for you and your band, as you have your sophomore album, "Obsession", coming out soon and you have played some successful shows with more to come, but how does the new CD compare to your debut album from last year "Gamble Shot"?

The main difference between those two albums is: While recording "Obsession" we finally found our very own style. "Gamble Shot" was a whole Glam Rock album and we tried to sound like some 80s idols. This time we've been way more unbiased to different styles of rock music, adding influences from different bands such as AVENGED SEVENFOLD, BREAKING BENJAMIN or HIM; finally creating something new. We tried to combine old fashioned hard rock with modern elements. And we did quite well, I think.

As mentioned in the above question, you've been touring a lot this year with most of them supporting AXEL RUDI PELL on the "Into the Storm Tour". How did that opportunity to open up for the ARP band come around?

Axel was listening to "Gamble Shot" and he liked our music and juvenile style. That's why he invited us to join his tour! It was an amazing feeling like a knightly accolade from a real German hard rock legend!

What was the production like for the new album? Was it easier or harder than before and where does the inspiration come from?

Our schedule was tough! We've been in studio the entire months of June/July with hardly any break. I think there were two free days; on one of them we played a concert! That was hard.
But since we've already been in studio before, the recordings themselves were way easier. It wasn't that new anymore.

When it comes to writing the lyrics for a new album, is there anything in particular that strikes up inspiration during the lyric writing process?

Well actually my brother is writing the lyrics… he's inspired by his own experiences, emotions and happenings.

Where did the name of the band originate?

When I was starting the band, I was in school and our teacher gave me the school certificate telling me that I was "rebellious". That's why I came up with the idea for Rebellious Spirit.

A lot of people say that these days rock music is dying as all these classic bands i.e. JOURNEY and KISS are slowly disappearing and they're all wondering what will happen to the genre once they are gone. What are your thoughts about that?

I hope that this music will survive with new bands walking in the shoes of those classic bands. But none can say what future will be like…

Over the years I have been to a number of shows and most of them have been in small clubs, which I prefer, as you can really feel the music in a small club but when it comes to choosing the venues for a show, is there any real preference on the size of the venue, or does it not really matter just as long as people turn up and enjoy the music?

A small venue can be very impressive due to the close contact to crowd. But I prefer the bigger locations since the bigger stages allow us to present a more spectacular show.

What do you guys get up to when you're not performing as REBELLIOUS SPIRIT? Are there any other projects any of you are involved with?

If you mean playing in other bands, I have to say no. REBELLIOUS SPIRIT takes that much time there's nothing left for other bands. But everybody is working or studying to have a plan "b".

With the rapid increase of new technologies these days, it's become easier for people to pirate music and give them away for free illegally through download sites. Do you think that by sharing music through illegal download sites that the music industry is dying, or do you think it's the opposite?

It's a fact that music industry is dying! And I think that those illegal downloads provide big contributions. The record companies go bankrupt and there is no money left to support new bands. And eventually there won't be any new music anymore which wasn't made in the garage of a band member.

With a new album coming out next month and several tour dates lined up for Europe with AXEL RUDI PELL and FREEDOM CALL, what is next for the band in terms of your future plans and activity?

We'll try to play as many concerts as possible to present "Obsession" to the mass. We'll play a short tour with FREEDOM CALL in 2015 and we hope to be part of the new festival season. It won't get boring!

And finally, I am a big fan of gaming and the soundtracks that go with a videogame so if you and the band could have any of your songs to the soundtrack of any videogame, which one would it be and why?

That's a difficult question cause I'm not gaming …maybe for GTA

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