Updated: 04/04/02

Those who have heard Assembly know that this is not the same Theatre of Tragedy that burst onto the scene ten years ago with their compelling brand of gothic metal. Since then, everyone from Tristania, Sins Of Thy Beloved and other new bands have been compared to the grand Theatre style. In the mean time, right before the eyes of the world, TOT went and developed their sound. While Musique had a real Kraftwerk-like feel to it, Assembly goes even further into pop rock land. Infectious as hell while maintaining a vivid darkness, fans of Depeche Mode, Yaz and even No Doubt are sure to like the drama emitting from this all-new Theatre. Read what vocalist Liv Kristine has to say about all the changes TOT has been going through, fan reaction, and a little something about a French girl on Superdrive!

Highwire Daze: What made you decide to pursue this new style of music, especially on Assembly?

Liv: We never plan anything in Theatre Of Tragedy. We just do as we think is right at that point of time. Producing and recording Assembly was kind of a natural process. We are six members of the band, and everybody has something to say and everybody has a different mind. I think the name of the album Assembly fits quite good to the complete idea of the album. It’s a mixture of many ideas – of many musical elements – pop, rock, even metal. There are so many things that come together on this record, so we decided to call it Assembly.

HD: What do you say to the long time Theatre Of Tragedy fans who enjoy your earlier work?

Liv: Well, that’s okay. Almost every band changes their style at some point in time. I don’t think I know of any band who has stayed the same for ten years. But that’s okay – if some fans chose to stay with the old kind of music that we did, that’s okay. But we have to develop because we are artists. I see art as a product that is in development continuously. We’ve lost some fans, but we’ve gained some new ones too. Some fans will come and some fans will go, but that’s how it is. We do not create art for everybody to like it. Everybody is free to choose if he likes it or not.

HD: Do you like any of the new gothic metal bands that are out there?

Liv: Hmm. To mention some of the really good gothic metal bands, I would say Nightwish is actually my favorite. But they are not a new gothic metal band, they belong to the older category, like Theatre Of Tragedy or Etherean or Tiamat. I’m so much into the new gothic metal, because it seems to me all the new upcoming bands do all the stuff that has been done in the past anyway. I stick to the older kind of gothic metal bands.

HD: How do you feel, especially in the bio, being compared to bands like No Doubt?

Liv: I’ve never heard before that we’ve been compared to No Doubt, but I like it! Maybe it’s because we are two blonde females standing in the foreground, I don’t know. But I think that’s okay. Our music contains much more popular elements than before. And No Doubt are definitely among the most famous rock bands at this point in time, so that’s an honor for me.

HD: Do you write the lyrics now?

Liv: I write the lyrics now. It was a new thing for me, because Raymond use to write all of the lyrics in the past – in all this Shakespearean old-fashioned language. That was his kind of thing. What happened, just before we started recordings of the female for Assembly, was that Raymond didn’t have any time to write the lyrics, so he offered it to me, and I said okay. To me, it was a great experience because when I sat there and listened to the demo tapes before we went into the studio – when I tried to write the lyrics, I also tried to express my kind of emotions that I felt when I listened to the demo. So it was a medium to me, to express feelings.

HD: What are you referring to on the song Universal Race?

Liv: Maybe you are referring to the line “Let’s make a Universal Race.” That can be two things – either alien sex or just to make a race into space. I think it’s one of the funniest lyrics on the album – and ironic as well.

HD: Another song I like is Superdrive. I think that one could even be a single.

Liv: We were talking about that – doing a single with Superdrive. We already did a single for the German market with Let You Down. In my opinion, it should have been Superdrive from the very beginning.

HD: Who is this French girl that you’re singing about on that song?

Liv: Oh the French girl? I’ve already had the question from journalists if I have become a lesbian, but that is definitely not the case. Definitely not! I’m going to marry next year. It was just an idea I had when I listened to the demo, and I think it fits pretty well to the track and to the music itself. It’s also a bit funny.

HD: When performing live, do you play songs from all of the albums?

Liv: Until now, we have been doing that yes. But I’m not really sure what’s going to happen on our next tour. We will definitely play some tracks from our third album, but I’m not sure if we’ll play tracks from our first two albums. But I guess it will be kind of a 50/50 thing, also with the new songs.

HD: Has Theatre Of Tragedy ever played here in the States or plan to do so in the future?

Liv: We have played with Theatre Of Tragedy in the States. I myself was with Atrocity on one occasion – it was the Milwaukee Fest in ’99. That was a great experience. I would love to take Theatre Of Tragedy with me to the States again.

HD: If you come over here, would it be a headlining show or would you be opening for someone?

Liv: We’ve actually been talking about going over for two weeks in July. I guess we would be opening for someone because we are not that well known in the States. So we’ll have to start from scratch.

HD: I picked up a solo album of yours that you recorded in 1999 for Massacre Records.

Liv: I didn’t know you could buy that in the States. That’s great to hear!

HD: What was the experience like doing a solo album and would you ever do that again?

Liv: It was a great album, although I’m very happy with Theatre Of Tragedy and everything we are doing, it’s always a great thing to do something completely different. At that point of time, my solo album was totally different than what I was doing with Theatre, because it was kind of atmosphere pop. Very Enya-Loreena McKenna-like. That gave me a lot of new inspirations, also in the later work with Theatre Of Tragedy. Doing a solo album is quite a challenge, because then you are all alone. You have to put life to your own ideas. It’s like giving birth to a baby. To me, it was very important step in my life. Since then, there hasn’t been a second solo album, and that’s a thing that makes me very sad. The music business isn’t always fair and there are a couple of things that have to be sorted out first – business things before I am allowed to release a second solo album. But it’s definitely gonna happen. We are close to a solution now, so maybe this year. I would be very, very happy. That’s actually one of my biggest dreams, to release a second solo album.

HD: So what do you think of pop stars like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera?

Liv: Well, my sister is 18 and I guess she likes them a lot – a lot more than I do. I’ve been a life long fan of Madonna and Kylie Minogue for example. That’s more my kind of generation. To me, Madonna and Kylie Minogue are still artists that are creative and that put life into their own ideas. They always come up with new concepts. Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera – they can definitely sing and they look great and all that stuff – but there is more about stars like Madonna – they are creating themselves. I feel like Britney Spears and Aguilera are products of the times. I miss the creativity that use to be with these older stars. We also have shows going in Europe and especially Germany at the moment – it’s called Pop Stars and Teen Stars – and they actually pick out people from the population and they make them become stars. It’s like everything is pre-programmed for them to become stars. And that has nothing to do with creativity and art itself. And that’s quite a sad thing, when you think about singers in bands that have been creating art for years and years. I think there is so much more to that.

HD: There are always tribute albums to famous metal bands that labels are now doing. If Madonna was doing a tribute album and invited Theatre Of Tragedy to participate, what song would you want to do and why?

Liv: That’s a good question! We were actually talking about doing a cover song of Madonna on Assembly. That didn’t happen because we did another cover song instead, which is not on the album, but it’s gonna be on a maxi-CD or something like that. It was actually Kim Wilde’s Keep Me Hanging On and we’re actually gonna play it live on our next tour. Of course, I would have preferred to do a track of Madonna, because I’m the greatest Madonna fan ever. But to chose a track – it would be Borderline on her first album. It has always been one of my favorites. I think some of the tracks on the latest album are fabulous. I mean, what that woman that do! I don’t know anybody else who can do all that stuff she’s been doing, changing her image so many times.

HD: What’s up next for Theatre Of Tragedy?

Liv: I spent last week in Norway to practice with Theatre Of Tragedy – I live in Germany so I travel 2000 kilometers to practice with them. And we do only practice four or five times a year, but that’s okay. We are going to be on tour in the end of April and in May. I’ll just have to finish my final oral exams first and then we’ll be off on tour at the end of April – but it’s going to be a European tour again. We’ve been talking about touring in the States in July, but that’s not for sure yet.

HD: What exams? Are you taking college courses?

Liv: Yes. This Spring, I’m taking my final exams in English. In September I’ll do my final exams in German and next year I will write a paper and get a grade and then I’ll be finished with everything.

HD: That would be interesting if later in life you turned out to be a teacher or something…

Liv: If I turn out to be a teacher, I would like to work with smaller children. I love children and I’m definitely going to have some myself. But I’m going to sing as long as I am able to. I’m not sure what I’m going to do after I finish my education, but I can promise I will going on with my singing for the next 10 years – maybe 20 or 30.

HD: You can go on as long as you want.

Liv: Well how long will I have an audience, that is a big question…

HD: We’ll be like 50-year-old ex-Theatre Of Tragedy fans going to your concerts…

Liv: (laughs) Yeah, that’s funny…

HD: And we’ll all be shouting off stuff from the first album – just kidding! (Much laughter) So do you have any messages for Theatre Of Tragedy fans here in the States?

Liv: I just want to say thank you to all the American fans everywhere that are visiting our home page and sending us e-mails. In the last three months I’ve had a lot of e-mails from America – a great, positive response – and that makes us want to go on with what we are doing. It seems to me like the American audience is more open to the kind of music we are doing now. It seems like the European audience is more conservative, so I’m very grateful to the American audience. And I just want to say thank you and I hope we have a chance to meet when we come on tour to the States.

Assembly by Theatre Of Tragedy is now available from Nuclear Blast Records!