Explicit Content, the title for the latest Crushead album couldn't have been chosen more appropriately. This German heavy rock band is known for its clear Christian stance. They are praised by some. Yet their uncompromising lyrics faced rejection this year when the Freakstock festival decided to cancel Crushead's spot. According to Crushead the organization thought that "Crushead with their very exaggerated preachy and evangelistic art and definitely outdated music clearly contradicts the concept and endeavor of a tolerant Freakstock Festival that's often open to the outward world." This doesn't restrain the band from a continuing concert schedule.

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As far as I know, Crushead is a band that was started with a jam session some years ago. Can you tell how it all began?

It all started at the start of 1999. David, Matthias and Patrick had already  played together in a band. When two members left the group, they started to look round for a bass player and guitarist and soon hit on Jens and me. Like I said, to begin with we just jammed around a bit together. Then the point came when we decided to make the whole thing more professional - and that was how the  band kicked off.

What experience did the members have before starting the band? What are your backgrounds?

We grew up with Christian bands like Bloodgood, Stryper, Whitecross, and Tourniquet. We've always been influenced by the lyrics and music of groups like these.

You describe your music as crunch 'n roll. How would you like to explain this to someone who's still clueless about how the band actually sounds like?

It's a style that lies somewhere between crossover and rock `n`roll.

The band released an album called Explicit Content in December last year. What do you think of the outcome?

Sales of our latest CD were much higher than we'd ever expected. We never thought the recording would ever be that popular. It's always great when the people who come to our concerts know all the lyrics and sing them with us.

The album was released by Frozen Heart Music. Is this a record company in Germany?

Frozen Heart Music is a small CD distributor and it only takes care of the promotion side of our recordings.

The lyrics on Explicit Content are quite explicit about the band's Christian stance. What is your objective with doing these kind of plain lyrics?

Like I said before, the lyrics to our songs are all about Jesus and our faith in Him. We are often asked after our concerts why we do what we do or just what it is about this person "Jesus". We're always glad when people approach us  because it kind of confirms that our lyrics have managed to make people think.

This year the band's doing quite a number of shows. How do you get gigs?

We are often asked to play by promoters - but we also approach clubs and  music events ourselves.

What future plans does the band have?

In the future we plan to do as many shows as possible - to carry our light  into the darkness, and to produce a new album next year. One of our biggest dreams would be to have the opportunity of playing at the Flevo Festival.

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