I am very proud introducing you an Austrian band called Xanthippe. Xanthippe was found in 1985 and is one of few Austrian SynthPoP bands. Franz and Gerhard were free to answer some Questions.

What are your jobs - only musicians?
It is very hard to live on music in Austria, unless you decide to make folk music. That is why we both have ordinary jobs. Franz works for an offset printing company and I am responsible for putting plants/industrial machines into operation (plastic industry).

I know Xanthippe was the name of Socrates wife.
Why did you decide to take this name as band name?
It was pure chance. We found this name in a dictionary and we thought that the name had a lot of charisma.

Tell me about the history of Xanthippe (not about Socrates wife J))?
We have been together for more than 16 years. Franz and I have been best friends since school days. We started to make music with simple equipment in the mid 80s. We used the money we earned through our jobs to equip our studio, gradually making it more and more modern and professional.
Until now we have released two CDs, "Blond Jesus" in 1997 and "Reborn" in 2000. Both CDs were composed and produced by ourselves. That is why the CDs are only available at Xanthippe. It is very hard to find a suitable label, but we will not give up searching for such a label until we find one.

As you know, SynthPoP is not very popular in Austria.
Therefore, what are the reasons for making SynthPoP music?
Yeah, that's true! Austria is truly not a good place for SynthPoP, but we always try to make it popular here in Austria. SynthPoP is our life as we were born into it and the 80s influence did the rest.

Austria is very influenced by the music of the regional radio OE3 which only plays popular music.
Did you find any ways for broadcasting your music on the radio (f.e. FM4 or Arabella, Antenne)?
It is very hard to place our music on regional radio if you are a no-name. Also, Austrian radio just doesn't give you a chance. Radio stations like FM4 or similar are no exception. Only on 97.9, a Styria local radio station has a two hour SynthPoP broadcast where we often take part. (Thanks Gallo!)

What do you think about the SynthPoP-Scene in Austria?
There exist few Bands, like d.k. or Trylok. Do you know them?
We only know these bands by name. We concentrate very hard on our own music, so we have little time to deal with other similar bands. As we mentioned before, SynthPoP does not really exist in Austria.

Please describe your music in your own words.
What do you want to express with your music?
Our music is based on melody and emotions. It is very important to combine lyrics with the right melodies.

Your music sounds melancholic with catchy refrains and creates deep atmospheres.
Did you get influenced by some well-know SynthPoP bands like Camouflage or Depeche Mode?
Of course we were inspired by Depeche Mode, but we always try to go our own way. Well, I have to confess that there are similarities to Depeche Mode, but we want to preserve our own independent sound.

What are your future plans concerning concerts and new releases?
We played some concerts in 2000 and 2001 and I have to say that we enjoyed playing live. I am sure that we will have further concerts in Austria and Germany but at the moment we are in the studio. We have some demo songs for our third CD which will be released in early 2003.

Many Thanks to Xanthippe for the interview and also many thanks to

• The Truth In Trusting (Reborn, 2001)
• Be Yourself (Blond Jesus, 1997)

The copyright in these sound-files is owned by Xanthippe, Austria, Bad Vöslau. For all files I got the exclusive authorization of Xanthippe. All sound-files are only for private use. Any commercial distribution and copy is prohibited.

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