Pascal Ascheberg |
1° What does « Asrai » mean ? The Asrai are small, fragile, female beings who turn to a puddle of water when they are captured or exposed to sunlight. It gives them something unreachable... 2° Six year after your first album the line-up isn't the same anymore, is it ? Who are the persons who constitute the group Asrai now ? No our line-up have some changes over the years.Our current line up is: Margriet - Vocals, Rik - Guitar, Manon - Synth, Martin - Bass guitar, Karin - Drums Karin and Margriet started in 1985 a girls band, and changed the name in 1988 into Asrai. Short after that our first male guitarist entered the band. After we recorded our first cd As voices Speak the guitarist left and it became a bit difficult to find the right replacement but gladly enough Rik entered our world.... We wanted to deepen our music and where looking for someone on synth. At the same time we went to studio for the recording the demo-cd Touch in the Dark. Our bass player Leah went ill and Martin, who we know for years and always enjoyed his way of playing replaced her. We got a record deal at Transmission Records Transmission Records gives us the opportunity to record the album with a larger budget and one of the better mixers of this time Sascha Paeth. We wanted Roman as our producer and we made new recordings in his studio and also at the Excess Studio with Hans Pieters. Before we went to the studio for the seconds time it became clear that Leah didn't recover and decided to leave the band. A friend of us: Manon She heard our demo-cd and before we even know it was five of us on stage. And so it stayed, With the five of us (Margriet Vocals, Rik Guitar, Manon Synth, Martin Bass guitar, Karin- Drums) we went to the studio. And released our second cd "Touch in the Dark". |
3° "Touch in the dark" is a very beautiful album the angel, the roses, the owl could you talk about the cover ? Thank you for the compliment. We wanted a mystical and dark cover that would be recognisable for our music.The artwork contains many personal details. .many of the statue photos inside the booklet are made by Manon. Besides our photos are parts of the lyrics, that we all choose personally. The cover contains a ring of roses as a pathway to another world.. with an angel who has a certain serenity. The animals all have their 'pagan' meaning, like the owl representing the inner wisdom, the bat representing demons and spirits in medieval Europe. Ravens represent magic, mystery, and sacred law as well as battle, they are guardians through the cycles of death and rebirth. 4° And as regards the lyrics, what are they about ? The lyrics are very personal. They are reflexions of our innerselfs. |
