Interview with Seref Alexander (lead vocals)
Thanks to their first album (Glamour, which came out in march through M10), Helions seems to go back with the pretty nice following they had in Germany before their split a few years ago. Since singer and leader Seref Alexander reformed the band, this young team definitely have the skill to grow up more and more...

I must say I can’t really define an existing genre that fits really to Helions. I would describe it like "dancing" pop rock with strong riffs and a gothic touch. Do you agree with it ?
Seref Alexander : Yes I agree with that. One of the reasons why the Helions combine such diverese elements of pop and rock is that I`ve nver been inspired by one certain style or artist only. So, the result is this dancing pop rock with the gothic influence.

Helions was first formed back in 1996 and starts to gain a real popularity in Germany in just a few years, I think. Why does the band split even before recording one album ?
There have been personal difficulties between me and my former band members so I deactivated the band for a while. During this time I got signed with Curt Cress, owner of the “Pilot Studios“ in Munich. Here I got the chance to express myself musicially and to enter new paths towards classical composition and movie
soundtracks.

What did you do during the 2-3 years before Helions reform ?
I recorded a solo album called "Anna Donna" which is quiet different from the Helions. I wanted to do something completely different since I put all my effort into the Helions for five years. I started composing movie soundtracks since I`ve always been a big fan of classical music. Besides that I set up my own recording studio step by step.



Does Glamour was fully composed in the first era of Helions ?
No, just a few songs like "Diana", "Memory Of Your Embrace" and "Your Love" are from that time. All other titles were composed during the time of the band reunion (by the way with all new members, except Andy) just before the album production.

You did two covers on this album. Michael Sembello’s Maniac, like everybody knows, is a hit from the 80’s, and I think your music is not so far from the 80’s spirit. Does this era is your main source of inspiration ?
It may be a surprise, but I have to confess that I never pais much attention to the 80`s and I only know a few artists from that time. I wanted to cover “Maniac” `cause I think that tune fits the Helions style: melody, power, and emotion.

I think your songs are very emotional, and for me, it’s the principal common thing that Helions shares with gothic bands. Do you claim this gothic side, and what do you think about the finnish scene and bands like H.I.M. or Entwine ?
Yeah, that`s because like many people in this scene I am very emotional. But to answer your question why I like gothic?well, all I can say is that I just like it ? among other styles of music. For me there`s only two types of music: good and bad. HIM and Entwine are definetly good.

Helions seems to have a big following in Germany. At Rockmeeting, we realized it when a wave of german fans came down through the site to rate your album ! However, you signed with M10 which is a French label. Wasn’t there any German label that put their interest in Helions since you reformed the band ?
The music industry is everything else but on top these days. So we figured out it might work well to act as our own label and just sell the licences worldwide by ourselves. However, we were lucky and now there`s interest in the Helions from a lot of sides.

Does Glamour sells well ? Could we expect another album soon ?
Since the album has just been released, I don`t have any statistics yet.

Have you scheduled any tour in or outside of Germany ?
I can`t answer this question right now `cause we`re checking various offers.

Anything you wanna add ?
I hope we`ll play in France, soon as a thank you for our new french fans and rock it out with them.

Thanks so much, Seref. Hope to hear from the band soon, and take care !
Thank you Cedric and Rockmeeting and a big hello to France

More information about HELIONS

Photos © helions.com - from the top : Seref Alexander, Andy, Rico, Marcus, Tommy.

© Rockmeeting.com - May 2003