One of the headlines at Arvika Festival
It's festival. Muffled basslines rumble somewhere in the distance and the canvas of the press tent moves slightly in the summerbreeze. Within two hours it'll be almost dark and Project Pitchfork will be performing on stage at the Arvika Festival in Sweden. Now Peter Spilles, his girlfriend Laura, Dirk Scheuber and I sit around a rickety table, and after a little while the rest of the band joins as well.
- The situation in the band is like this, Spilles explains: it's always me on vocals, with Scheubi on keyboards - and nowadays also Jürgen Jansen on keyboard. Then we have several live drummers, who we change frequently. He laughs and peers at the current one, Achim Faerber, the third since the very beginning.

The story of a strange band name
Spilles and Scheuber met at a Hamburg concert in 1989. They became good friends and soon decided to start making music together.
- We got the bandname from a dictionary, says Scheuber. We were searching for one, opened a dictionary and the finger stopped at pitchfork. We thought "yes, that fits".
- I bet this is the case with 99,9% of all bands, Spilles fills in and shrugs his shoulders.
The first tape they made was given to a local DJ, who eventually invited them to record in his studio. The band released their first proper demo tape "K.N.K.A.". The demo sold very well and opened the eyes of record label Hypnobeat, where eventually Project Pitchfork's debutalbum "Dhyani" was released.
Now the wheels really started turning. After having supported Girls under Glass during a tour, the albums "Lam-'Bras" and "Entities" were released in 1992. Two years later "Io" came out and not before long the band was headlining their own extensive tours, even outside the German borders.
Since then the success continued, and now, five years and four more albums later they have grown into one of the biggest and most thriving electro bands, with fanbases in different parts of the world like Germany, USA and Brazil.

Expressive freedom
In 1995 Candyland Entertainment was founded by the band, together with their longtime manager Kai Lotze. They already have two record companies behind them and they wanted to secure the band's artistic freedom. It has always been very important for the band to be able to express themselves in their own way and this is very clear when you listen to Spilles' lyrics.
- There is practically always a message in there, Spilles tells me. They are mostly based on the philosophy of the lyricist, who is me. I believe in love, karma, reincarnation and free will. But everyone in the band might believe something different and they are free to do that.
He continues:
- On the first albums I was mainly making songs about spiritual things, like ghosts and spirits. Our latest album "Eon:Eon", on the other hand, is a story about the future. We were inventing a world and a situation, and the lyrics are taken from that situation.

Varied influences, varied sound
Project Pitchfork's music has changed and evolved over the years. Or has become better and better, as the band would like to put it themselves. From being more electro-orientated, eventually elements of guitars and live drums have found their way into the Pitchfork sound.
- Most of our influences are music from the late twentieth century, says Spilles. Not only electronic music - everything influences you! Even music you hear when you're five years old.
- I could say, for example, that I like to listen to Severed Heads, but I would never like to sound like them. So that's an influence because of that too.
Despite this, Skinny Puppy is a band that has been mentioned in the same breath as Project Pitchfork more than once.
- Skinny Puppy was just "start up-music" for us, before we learned to do our own music, Scheuber explains. Of course I listen to them, especially I did before, but it was never really an influence to copy from, but to be inspired by.
He leans forward:
- Then every German band seem to say that they're influenced by Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly. To them I say "fuck you and goodbye". I mean, we're living in 1999 and during all this time there have been so many other bands that also have made an impact, but they still have to mention these two bands.
He sighs and leans back into his chair again.

New album next year
It seems like all previous and present Project Pitchfork members are having projects beside the band. There is for instance Aurora Sutra, Jansen/Spilles and R.E.C. to name but a few. But Project Pitchfork is never in the background and a new CD is planned for next year. Obviously they're all working as fulltime musicians.
- Yes, I've been doing that for six or seven years, Scheuber says.
- And I for ten years, Spilles adds.
- ... yeah, so we're rich, laughs Scheuber as a final comment. Actually we're musicians because we've got nice parents...
The concert is getting closer and it's time to leave the tent. In the sky the moon has risen and in the distance muffled basslines still rumble.

Project Pitchfork official fanpage
Candyland Entertainment