ElektroSpank - FMA - Pink Turns Blue, raising questions about the power of humanity through their new album "Tainted"

Pink Turns Blue, raising questions about the power of humanity through their new album "Tainted" | Interview

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Pink Turns Blue return with a new album, "Tainted", and Mic Jowger shares some insights of the German post-punk icons's works!

Interview by Cleopatra Kaido

Pink Turns Blue is the band that eradicates what the system plants in our brain. Its purpose is to wake up and inspire those who follow them. They seem to be fully aware of what is going on around them and believe in the power of humanity, as it seems that the hope inside them has not faded yet, expressing through their music and lyrics, injustice, anger, but also the encouragement for action!

Now, post-punk icons, Pink Turns Blue have presented in 2021, four singles from their new album "Tainted" released via Orden Records., including the songs "You Still Mean Too Much To Me", "There Must Be So Much More", "So Why Not Save The World" and "Not Even Trying". This long-player is the result of time well spent during a lockdown year - writing, recording, mixing and mastering the new album in their Berlin recording studio. On "Tainted", the band added an electronic element to their classical vocals, guitar, bass and drums. The album title itself relates to the state of our world: climate change, its effects, the reaction to it, the split within society, isolation, health risks and financial uncertainty.

Currently, Pink Turns Blue is a trio, comprised of Mic Jogwer (vocals, guitar), Reubi Walter (bass, keyboards) and Paul Richter (drums). Pink Turns Blue formed during the first wave of gothic rock, in 1985, originally as a duo consisting of Jogwer and Thomas Elbern, plus a drum machine. Naming themselves after a Hüsker Dü song, their sound was initially inspired by The Chameleons, Clan of Xymox, and The Cure.

I had the opportunity to take a deep interview from the frontman Mic Jogwer, the creator of this band and I am very happy to have him here today!

ES: Hello Mic welcome to ElektroSpank music magazine. I am Cleopatra. Nice to meet you, even through my computer, but I don't complain because our souls can communicate anyway!

PTB: Hello Cleopatra, nice to meet you.

ES: I wear my headphones and I am listening carefully to your songs! Congratulations!! Every song is a masterpiece!! What were your dominant emotions during the recording?

PTB: I guess the last five years must have been intense. So many things happened. There is this feeling that many people are trying hard to make this world a better place and on the other hand many people just don’t. Some people give everything they have, even their lives to make a change to the better and others just strive for their own advantage and comfort. Torn between these impressions we made a tour through the world, made many friends and still felt lost and angry.

ES: While I was watching the video of "Not Even Trying", I thought, yes.., many people are becoming victims of the system and find excuses to plunge into vanity. I understand your anger and your concern, but I believe that there are people who are really fighting every day for the best, some of them even give their lives for humanity. How do you feed your soul to find happiness? What would you do for humanity if it was in your hands?

PTB: Not Even Trying is not about good or bad people. It is about us as humanity not trying hard enough. Not even close. Most of us are happy to give up a little bit of comfort – sometimes. But often enough mankind is not able to understand global necessities. So yes, I can be delighted by the deeds of a few idealistic warriors for the good, even small groups sometimes. But I don’t believe in the intelligence of humanity.

ES: Mic, the list of your songs and lyrics is quite long. Of all the things you have written, which are the ones you love the most and why?

PTB: My favorite is always the last song I have written. Obviously, it matches my feelings and thoughts most imminently. Old songs are more like photographs of the past. Some of them are cute and others embarrassing.

ES: "You Still Mean Too Much To Me"!! This is, absolutely, a heartbreaking song and to me is one of your best. I think most of the people had an experience like this. It is so horrible to lose someone you love! How did these lyrics come about? Is it a personal experience or just a story from someone's life? Speaking of, if it is a personal experience, could you tell us a few things about it?

PTB: Never explain a song.

ES: It took a long time to see you performing live again. Which were your feelings when you showed up on stage? And really how did you spend your time during lockdown?

PTB: For a long time we are not very happy about the post-punk scene. Many bands and clubs were caught in the past or their version of it. Around 2010 a new post-punk generation evolved. Young bands who were intense, fresh, originally again and they also conveyed this melancholic, in-between-the-worlds spirit that got us going in the eighties. So we met more and more cool bands at festivals and shows. That got us going again, as a part of a fresh and kicking scene. It feels like family.
During lockdown I took the time to write new songs and record and album. I guess many did.

ES: With all these situations we're going through, because of the pandemic, we have been deprived of many things. Some people say that they are depriving us of our freedom. What is your opinion about that? Are there things that make you feel really free and what are they?

PTB: Hm. To be honest, freedom doesn’t mean anything to me. It is just a word and you can use it for anything. If you take responsibility for yourself and your happiness you are free? Never gave it any thought. I am striving to be a better person and nobody keeps me from doing that.

ES: Which song or songs out of "Tainted" are the most emotional for you and which phrases are the ones that define you the most?

PTB: Never comment a song.

ES: There are many nice bands, spending time and effort to create something really remarkable, but something happens and everything is being dissolved. What advice would you give to the musicians who lived this experience and what did you do to stay focused all these years in what you do?

PTB: To me music is very important. Also, writing songs that seem to mean something to me and hopefully to others as well is very important. Maybe as long as this flame and desire burns I have the strength and focus to keep going. Everyone has a talent. And everyone can be happy if one makes something out of it. Children play, adults discover. I am in search of truth and beauty and I hope that someday I will write a really beautiful and truthful song that makes many people happy. A song that gives them comfort because it tells a true story in a beautiful way. That is my destiny. Hopefully the next song will do the trick …

ES: It seems that you are trying, through music and especially through your lyrics, to wake up and mobilize people for a change and surely many have been affected from you. Have you changed and realized things about you and what are they?

PTB: I never try to achieve anything in terms of change of mind or politically. For me a good song reflects the things that we are going through right now. So hitting the nerve of reality or touching our emotional state is of more relevance than any ambition to know the way out of our crisis. A song is a friend not a doctor. Sometimes a friend is of more help than a doctor, too.

ES: "The Aerdt – Untold Stories (2016){ remastered from 1991}" is your last album with a different approach to compositions perhaps something more personal, with experimentation. How did the need for a remastered version arise?

PTB: Actually, “the aerdt- untold stories” (2016) is a completely different album from “AERDT” (1991) with completely new songs. So they don’t have anything to do with each other.

ES: In the song "Not Even Trying", you seem to be angry about what is happening on the planet and the way that people deal with changes. However on the song "Why Not Save The World", there is a sense of understanding and incitement for self-education and knowledge. It seems that your hope and faith for evolution has not faded yet and this is rare nowadays. I have the feeling that we have to expect more from Pink Turns Blue since this flame of yours for music has rekindled again after 6 years from your last album. So tell me what else can we expect from you?

PTB: If only I knew. It seems that the new album ‘TAINTED’ seems to hit a few strings here and there and hopefully we will be able to play many shows all over the world with a mixture of some of the new songs and some of our classics and make many new friends. It just feels good to meet other people who also seem to be sad about the state of the world and humanity but just won’t give up trying to make the world just a little bit better every single day. Everyone with a personal talent and effort but never giving up.

ES: Thank you for your answers. It really makes me happy that we talked, so be healthy and safe. I wish to see you in Greece soon. Do you want to say something else to your fans?

PTB: Hi everyone, thank you all for your great support and stay safe and healthy! We need you at our shows in Athens or Thessaloniki in spring 2022!
Mic