MISSTRESS have released their latest album that is receiving praise from fans and critics a like. Rock Out Stand Out’s Zoe Stone grabbed a chat with the band’s lead guitarist Andy “Ankh” Schoeneich about where the name came from, themes surrounding the songs and what stories he has. Let’s see what happened.
Where did the band name come from and how did it come about? Were there any other possible name’s that were serious contenders?
The name Misstress is just mistress deliberately misspelled, you know, like Led Zeppelin or Def Leppard. The name had to correspond to the general concept of the band, “Lilith” was busy, “Queen of the Damned” too long, Misstress seemed perfect due to the possibility of different interpretations.
Where did the album name come from and how did it come about? Were there any other possible name’s that were serious contenders?
Misstress was long time inactive. When we decided to make an album, it was like the band was resurrected. On the other hand, we enjoy ridiculing Catholic superstitions, witchcraft and other fairy tales. Yes, there was a “resurrected” version.
What is each band member like? Any little facts or quirks or stories? Do any members have favourite songs and if so which one and why?
You know, I do not investigate who does what at home or in suspicious clubs. I’m not particularly interested in what songs other bandmates like. It’s private, if you know what I mean.
Where did your inspiration come from? Music and lyric and theme wise?
The biggest inspiration is my black interior: D Seriously, there are so many things that inspire me. I am a fan of horror and science fiction movies and novels. I also like humour, often dark and absurd. And good fun, no f*****g messages and no pathetic ideology, no f*****g “involved” politically or socially shit.
I’m most curious about the Awakening Of The Vampire I absolutely fell in love with it and I’m curious about how and where it came from? Its story and creation.
Thank you very much. It’s simple, I really like such baroque harmonies and I wanted to do something like that. I love Embryo by Black Sabbath and wanted something like that too. I don’t play classical guitar, I never studied it, I didn’t learn music in general, but I took the acoustic and it somehow went.
Where did a lot of the songs come from? Their origins and how they were formed and created? Their stories?
Resurrected is an album which is a kind of link between the past and the present. Here are as many as seven songs that were created during the first period of Misstress’s activity. They were played live by us. A special story has to do with Evil: the drumming track is made by our first drummer Bartek Świderek in 2012. Bartek tragically died in 2015, at the age of 27. We decided that a song with his drums had to be on the album, it’s a kind of tribute. I wrote five songs especially for the album and we used one song that was created with the participation of buddies from friendly bands. Several musician friends took part in the recordings.
Based on previous bands you have worked with/alongside and were there any bands you liked or disliked and why?
It’s hard to say, actually, I liked the bands I played in. Well, but you know how it is in life, almost always, sooner or later, there will be some f*****g idiot who can screw up everything to heal his complexes or satisfy sick megalomania. In the world of music, it happens even more often.
Is there any advice or tips or wisdom that you would like to pass on to any other artists in your genre of music?
I’m not for wisdom, but I’ll say this: do your thing, don’t look back at the f*****g “fashionable” trends. I don’t want to be misunderstood, but I never listened to the smart advice of a**holes who keep repeating nonsense like: practice, learn scales, chords and all that c**p. Of course, you have to learn the basics, but no f*****g exaggeration, music is not a sports competition (I am a sports fan, I used to do alpine skiing myself). Play with your interior and emotions, don’t think – just feel!
Is there any thing else you would like to add?
Yes. First of all, I would like to thank you for the great review of our album. I also want to thank Simone from Blasphemous Records for doing a good job for us. Then… Keep crazy and listen to Misstress!
I am very grateful for this opportunity to have had an interview with Misstress and thanks to Andy as well for his honest responses and taking the time to complete it for me.
