Interview: Schultz

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

Franz : When I was young, my parents listened to lot of music at home and in the car. So, I have always been into music and loving it. It still influences my everyday life. I play music, and I actually work in a concert venue… I can’t imagine life without music, so it is impossible for me to imagine me doing anything else. Sorry !

Guitafox : I grew up with music. 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, death, and industrial metal… Classic story ! Without music, my life would have been an error. Maybe I would be a politician. LOL !

What do you like to do when your not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

Franz : I like to take good time, and as an open minded person, I love to discover new things, there are so much more things to discover in one so short life….

Guitarfox : Reading books, watching movies, walking in the woods, having me a drink… Life is made to be enjoyed, and nothing else… OKAY ?!

How long has your band been around?

Franz: SCHULTZ is a solo project born in 2002.It became a duo with the female performer VDREY during several years and a real band since 2018 with the arrival of Guitarfox (Guitar and vocals) and Sandy Dynamite (Live dance performance and vocals).

Guitarfox : Franz asked me and Sandy to join him as a backing band for one gig at the Industrial Music Fest in Cannes (French Riviera) in 2017. It was meant to be a one shot, but it went well… So we both are still in the project today…

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music ?

Franz : We live in Nice, south of France, a city with sea, sex and sun… But I’m not sure it had a real influence on us… I make the music I like, so I think here or in any other town, it will be the same thing for me.

Guitarfox : If the fact of living here instead of anywhere else would have an influence on us, we would not play this style. We would play traditional music with flute and tambs… As a matter of fact, we always do the opposite of what we should be doing. If we lived in a rainy city in a cold country, maybe we would play surf music, who knows ?... LOL

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you.

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 the band name was… 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 : Maybe it sounds a little bit too german for me as a french guy, but the name already existed when I joined the band…

Tell me about the best and worst shows you have played.

Franz : We always make wonderful shows, so I don’t understand your question…LOL !... More seriously, I think the worst show was one of our first shows together. The sound guy was totally drunk, changing sound levels every time during the gig, muting voices and guitar…It was a good show but very difficult for us to make somethings good… But we remind about it...

Guitarfox : And for the best… Always to come !

Tell me about your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you haven't already?

Franz : I haven't got really favorite venue to play or place where I absolutely wants to play, when audience is good, when conditions are good, when you take pleasure, you can play everywhere…

Guitarfox : There is a place in Nice we played in a few times, run by nice and competent people, called La Zonmé. Even if the sound is not as optimal as somewhere else, we always been well received, so it’s always a pleasure to play live there.

If you could play any show with any lineup who would be on the ticket ? 

Franz : Good question… The perfect f***ing festival line up for me would be Rammstein, Faith No More, Motorhead (Lemmy we miss you!), Slipknot…

Guitarfox : Bad question… I f***ing don’t know ! LOL

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band?

Franz : Having lot of motivation more than ever and to believe in yourself.

Guitarfox : As the Charles Bukowski’s motto : Don’t try, DO ! 

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

Franz : Never start playing music because’ it’s like a drug, when you begin, you are not sure you can stop one day.

Guitarfox : Go on, you’re the best ! Never doubt about it ! F**k them all !... Ah, If I had this sentence in my little head more often…LOL

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why? 

Franz : I think Shot Of pain, because’ this is the first song we totally created together from A to Z.

Guitarfox : Rats In The Sewers, from the new album Black Magic Party, the most sincere lyrics I ever wrote.

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

Franz : I have not really preference, but I'm very impatient to play new songs from new album Black Magic Party.

Guitarfox : Same for me !

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

Franz : We haven't got a real process, when a member have an idea, we talk together about it and if everybody agrees, we work on it.

Guitarfox : Franz does the beat and synths parts, I put the guitars on it, and the most inspired of the three of us (me for most of the time) writes the lyrics. 

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

Franz : Energy for music and for lyrics, only Guitarfox can answer, he is the guy who wrote all lyrics, a real poet with lot of inspiration for me. I really admire this crazy guy ?

Guitarfox: Thank you mate ! ? For this new album, I wrote Rats In The Sewers first - as I said, the most sincere lyrics I ever wrote - during the great conflagration of the Rainforest in august 2019. At this time I really thought humanity was over, and from then, we would be all just like super-rats fighting each other for their lives. The satanic theme went after that, Not because we believe in Satan – We don’t ! – but more as a symbol of effective anarchy, not as an utopia. You have to live regretless and repentless if you want to survive in this sick sad world. You have to get rid of that sick thing Nietzsche called the Moraline : all these things society builds around you to keep looking at you and your acts to judge you and make you live in permanent guilt… 

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

Franz: No real disagreements, when a member does not agree with some things, we take a beer and we talk. Communication is the key of the world.

Guitarfox : After a few beers, we usually get  to love each other again…

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that's coming up?

Franz: Promoting the new album Black Magic Party freshly released, playing the songs live, making videos, making music again, drinking beer, a musician life simply.

Guitarfox: Getting rid of the f***ing coronavirus first, so we could play live again ! This is a good album, and it worth you check it out !