Photo: Reporter, Charley and Chris/Oliver of Breakdown Of Sanity
We made the trek to NYC to witness the first and last time Breakdown Of Sanity would be in the USA. We had the incredible opportunity to speak with Chris and Oliver of Breakdown of Sanity. These guys have incredibly huge personalities and were amazing to work with. We talked about everything from their favorite New York sites to the announcement of their breakup.
SL: How does it feel to be playing in the United States for the first time?
O: It is great. Everything is different in Switzerland, as you can imagine, so we are just overwhelmed by everything. The food, the sites, and the people are all great so I hope that the show will be also.
SL: What has your favorite sight in New York been so far?
C: We have been to the Rockefeller Center, Times Square, and the usual tourist stuff.
O: I loved the M&M store, it was great.
SL: What went in to the decision to not play a full U.S. tour and only have two stops in the U.S?
C: Basically, it has been a question of our time. We are all working full-time and we couldn’t afford more than ten days.
O: We also thought it would be cool to have it be only two stops and not play everywhere. I know it sucks because this country is huge.
SL: So, let’s take a minute to discuss the decision to stop making music. In the announcement that was released, it was stated that you had collectively decided that you had put everything that you had to give to music into music already. When did you realize this and what was it like to make the final decision to stop making new music?
O: Well, its just that when you record four albums, you catch yourself recording stuff and thinking, “Yeah, thats really good,” but then two hours later you realize that it sounds like part of a song you already recorded four years ago and that it has the same feeling as that song. That isn’t what we want. When we release new music, we want t0 create something NEW every time to give a new experience to our listeners.
K: And also to us. And we’ve changed our sound already, but we’ve always just done what we wanted to.
O: So when you’re listening to your music and you’re thinking that it is nothing new, its nothing that you really can enjoy. It is cool, but it doesn’t give you that kick that you felt three years ago, and that was a huge part of the decision. And there were also our personal points like health issues, wanting to start families and get married, and we don’t have the time that fans deserve. And we are getting old *chuckles*.
SL: Just to throw a fun question in here, if in your time as a band you could have covered a Disney song, what would it have been?
O: Oh my god, I have to think about that a second.
K: Let me think about Disney movies… there are so many.
O: I would make the heavy version of “Hakuna Matata
K: And I would make the heavy version of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from Toy Story.
SL: After making so much music and making an impact on so many fans, what is the main message that you would like to be taken away from your music?
O: Well, that is a good question, I don’t think I’ve thought about that. I think it is all about the good energy behind every experience. Anytime you have a bad time, or a bad experience, you can always find some good energy in that story. I think it is a lot about how you look at things and what you make out of them, so I think people should just not give up. That is actually what we did with our music. We tried to produce everything by ourselves and it has finally brought us to New York and this is really an awesome experience for us. We are just simple guys, so what I mean is, that you can change almost anything in your life if you really want it. That is a message behind many of our songs with our personal stories behind the lyrics. I think songs like “New World” and “Hero” are a reminder that you can change everything at anytime so why not be part of change in your life or in the world. So, be a part of something better than yesterday.
Breakdown Of Sanity are also playing some shows back in their home later this year to put a close on the chapter and band Breakdown Of Sanity have become over the years.
