Interview with On The Floor…By Tzina Dovve (DJ Lady Davinia)…
On The Floor… A goth band/act comes to life back in the 90s on the German underground scene ready to take on the goth world… Based in Hamburg these goth rockers have captivated fans around the world with their dark tunes and shows for almost three decades… After some years of hiatus the band resurrects with a dynamic comeback in 2017… Frontman Andre talks about the band’s early beginnings, comeback, new album, the scene of today and much more… An intriguing interview on what these gothsters are all about… By Tzina Dovve (DJ Lady Davinia)…
Tzina: Welcome to Absolution… On The Floor are a band that date back to the late nineties on the German goth/alternative scene… When and how exactly did this band come to life and what prompted you to start this act/band to begin with? Who are the current members?
André Lindner: Thanks for having us… We played our first gig in 1996 in Hamburg, Germany where we are still based… My brother Dennis on bass and I on guitar started the band and met Helge Jungmann on vocals at a friend’s house on New Year’s Eve… I think it was the year before, around 1995… During those days, we had the feeling that there were no bands anymore that were creating the music that we wanted to hear, so we decided to do it ourselves… Henning Thurow joined us shortly after on additional guitar… These are the current members and have been the same since 1996…
Tzina: As I understand On The Floor took a break after the release of ‘Under A Heart-Shaped Sun’ back in 2003 and were in hiatus til’ around 2017 when the album ‘Made Of Scars’ was released… What triggered your comeback after over a decade or so of silence? What is the story behind On The Floor’s decision to stop in the first place? Can you elaborate…
André Lindner: It was no conscious decision and no break that we wanted to take… We’ve just been victims of circumstances… that is all without going into depth about it… The members of the band had to fight with different medical issues and for a long time it was not possible to work together… When it was possible again we finished ‘Made Of Scars’ which is a collage reflecting those difficult years…
Tzina: The name ‘On The Floor’ first brings to one’s mind a more mainstream dance vibe one could say… What is the story behind the band’s name and why this title in particular? Does it have some sort of symbolic meaning to you?
André Lindner: It’s interesting that you see it like that… Back then when we started out it was meant ironically… The song ‘You Came To Dance’ from the album ‘Made Of Scars’ says it quite directly; “You came to dance but we don’t care”… Since the beginning ON THE FLOOR had dancefloor fillers like ‘Killing Queen’ from the ‘Under A Heart-Shaped Sun’ album but not intentionally… The way ON THE FLOOR works is very intuitive… We are more transmitting than controlling…
Tzina: As I understand you released a new single mid-March (2024) with the title ‘Crying On The Dancefloor’ which was a pre-lude to your album ‘All You Ever Wanted’ which was released on March 29th this year… Both titles have a very melancholy feel… What is this single and album all about? What feedback have you received by your music fans and press so far?
André Lindner: We don’t care about the press but most reviews say that it’s our best output so far… The fans say that it’s the deepest, most powerful and direct album we’ve ever made… I go with the listeners… We kept things close to our first idea to keep the exciting feeling of a song that just emerges… There is no theme… We don’t write fictional lyrics… The songs reflect our lives…
Tzina: How happy are you as musicians with the outcome of ‘All You Ever Wanted’? How different is this album from your previous and older releases?
André Lindner: As musicians we are very satisfied.. What people hear on ‘All You Ever Wanted’ is very close to what was in our head while creating it… We don’t really compare our outputs as we love them all…
Tzina: On The Floor also released a video on YouTube for ‘Crying On The Dancefloor’… How important are videos to you as a band? Do you believe that the visual side is as fundamental as the musical side for bands in this day and age? Do you have any plans for more videos?
André Lindner: To us as a band it’s not important… The music exists and works without the videos but we like this visual part and we’ve done some decent videos in the past.. Of course the visual side has become more and more important… We try to be as authentic as we want the music and the lyrics to be… It’s interesting to work with people outside the inner circle of ON THE FLOOR and create something that reflects and conveys the feeling of a song and not necessarily the meaning… and yes, there are plans for a second video…
Tzina: As I understand you have released physical copies of ‘All You Ever Wanted’… Do you believe there is some sort of revival happening the last few years and music fans are eager to have either a CD or vinyl copy of releases in their music collection? What are your views on the digital/streaming world of the music industry today? Can you elaborate…
André Lindner: ‘All You Ever Wanted’ has been released both in physical (CD) and digital form… The single ‘Crying On The Dancefloor’ (B-side: ‘In Her Eyes : piano version’) only in digital form… There is definitely some kind of revival regarding CDs and vinyl… As a band we think that the digital/streaming world helps bands to bring their music very quickly to more people… At the end of the day the quality of the music and songs will always be the most important reason to be ‘successful’ or not and luck… Successful in terms of reaching people and having the possibility to reach them as deeply as possible…
Tzina: On The Floor have been quite active live since their comeback with a number of shows under their belt including support act for Traitrs, Zeromancer, She Past Away just to name a few and participating at various goth festivals across Europe… Are there plans for any upcoming shows for 2024?
André Lindner: Yes, we have played with a lot of brilliant bands in the past… You named a few… The live industry is very complicated in Europe since the corona pandemic, but we did a sold out release show in Hamburg recently and more shows are being planned…
Tzina: As I understand, On The Floor participated in some virtual events (Absolution and Goths For Sanctuaries just to name a couple) during the pandemic and after on social media platforms… What are your views on the virtual world that dominated the music industry and artists during those difficult lockdown days and do you feel you are a part of this music world? What do you enjoy most about playing live? What is one of your fondest memories from a live show over the years? Can you elaborate…
André Lindner: We did a few things then… as we did the ‘Absolution’ event for our mate Jason Ledyard and the ‘Goths For Sanctuaries’ event for a good reason… For us, the time during the pandemic was a chance to breathe in and work on ideas and with ‘All You Ever Wanted’ a time to breathe out… Playing live means a lot to us… Every gig is different and the communication with the audience is very direct and in a way honest…
We have really enjoyed so many shows and tours over the years… Supporting Phillip Boa and the Voodoo Club back in the day was very interesting… The venue was packed and to start the show we had to take a taxi to the backdoor to get to the stage… There were very intimate moments in smaller venues that meant a lot to us too… Last year in Dresden, Germany at the ‘Schwarzer Frühling Festival’ the audience was getting closer to us with every song… That was ace…
Tzina: How do you view the goth/alternative/dark scene of today in your home country? How much do you believe it has changed over the years? Do you think it differs from the rest of the world?
André Lindner: In Germany everything is getting more and more electronic since the late 90s… but the darkwave/goth scene itself is still very vivid and alive. We cannot evaluate if this differs from the rest of the world but we don’t think so…
Tzina: There has been a surge of new bands as well as older bands re-uniting over the past few years on the scene… Do you believe there is some sort of global goth revival happening at the moment? Are there any contemporary bands in particular that you admire? Do you follow the scene?
André Lindner: Of course we follow the scene… I think there is a goth revival, but in Germany it all goes under the label of Post Punk. This is quite acceptable because Goth might be the darker side of Post Punk… It takes a lot to admire something and long time rooted bands can still be contemporary… I think that ‘A Projection’ from Sweden is an interesting ‘new’ band… but we all have to stand the test of time.. I’m interested in a lot of bands but I admire timeless music like Joy Division and The Doors… that kind of stuff…
Tzina: Thank you for your time.. Is there anything else you would like to share with your fans? What can they expect from On The Floor in the near future?
Very gladly… Expect everything…
On The Floor is on Facebook…
On The Floor is on Instagram…
On The Floor is on Bandcamp…
On The Floor is on YouTube…
On The Floor Official Website…
