Tell me how you and the rest of the guys came together. Do you all have similar influences/backgrounds?

Here's just how it started: Andi and I met in a studio when I produced the record he was doing with another band. I liked Andi's style of playing and asked him if he wanted to play on some songs on "Yesterday & Today", a solo album I was recording at the same time in that studio. After a long band period as singer and front man of a pop-rock band I felt like recording some of my own favorite songs without a band. Andi's playing fit so perfectly with my kind of guitar rhythms, it was like we have been in a band together for years. Furthermore it was a real pleasure to work with Andi as a musician and a person. So I asked him if he'd like to play the whole album and he did. When "Yesterday & Today" was mixed and I gave the first copy to Andi he liked it so much that he literally forced me to form a new band to play these songs live. Check out our site at www.pete-ancient-band.com to see the other guys.

I believe you once held the role of Jesus in a production of Jesus Christ Superstar. How did that come about and have you done any similar roles?

It's a long story. Acting is an exciting way of expressing oneself on stage. I enjoyed this experience very much and would be interested in doing similar things after having succeeded as a songwriter and singer.

I first heard of the PAB via the 'Lady On The Radio' demo which really impressed me. How have you found your association with CD Baby, who distribute your CD?

Our manager was referred to the site by Paxton (review here - ED), who is an artist whose CDs are also available through "CD BABY". This site provides very good services for artists and customers. A fine place to get independent music of any style.

Considering the amount of homogenous country bands with a similar sound that are around at the moment, was it a conscious decision to go against that and give the PAB and the 'Lady On The Radio' demo a very organic, stripped down flavor ?

This is simply how the band sounds. On "Lady" we just added some loops and some electric guitars. We are using features like these to spice up our arrangements, but not to change our style. On "Wherever You'll Be" for example we added a pedal steel guitar, on "Greener" a fiddle, always due to the character of the songs.

Will you be releasing any more demos this year? I believe you have a very interesting demo on your hands called 'Rides On', which sounds almost like a MTV unplugged record (that's a compliment by the way, as I love that type of music).

Thanks, on "...Rides On" you can hear how the band actually sounds on stage. We recorded this "live" in our practice room and did just one or two overdubs, took the tape to the studio and had it mixed. This is somehow the purest Ancient Band recording we ever did. By the way, people who buy the "Lady On The Radio" album at "CD BABY" will get an complimentary copy of "...Rides On" if they send us a message via our website till the end of July.
There'll also be some other features on our website in the near future like voting for songs to become our next single.  We're constantly working on new songs and recordings and will present them on our site.

You haven't always recorded country music, as your 1997 demo was more of a collection of hard rock and your 1995 full album 'Yesterday and Today' was similar to that. Diversity it seems, comes naturally for you, but what prompted the progression to write and record country songs?

I always did. Even on my first 4 track recordings. It just depends on the point of view. For example, "Higher Plain" has got quite heavy guitar and drum sounds on the "A Little More" EP, but I first played this song as a ballad and it got a more folk-country clothing with our "unplugged" line up again lately. When we're playing cover songs for fun, we play everything from old blues to modern rock, from Beatles, Eagles, Stones, Pink Floyd, Bon Jovi to Tim Mcgraw, Blackhawk, George Strait and Garth Brooks. To my ears there's not much difference stylistically if we play them with the same instrumentation. Just good songs - and that's what it's all about, in my opinion.
I'm not so fond of categorizing music and I do believe that many people don't care about that, too. The main question is: does the music reach your heart and soul ?

How do you as a band approach songwriting? Are you prolific and a perfectionist when it comes to songwriting?

We don't co-write songs in the band at the moment. I just bring them on and we play them. I've written about 350 songs, not including an unfinished rock musical which will remain in the drawer for some other year I guess. Basically I tend to be a perfectionist - but what's a perfect song ? In my eyes a song is a captured moment (that's, by the way, what I entitled my latest song) or a captured feeling that if you play it from the heart it is transmitted to the listener. At least that's what we intend with our music and what's driving us.

The songs 'Lady On The Radio' and 'Ain't Gonna Be' in particular are intriguing. Where did the inspiration for these come from?

"Lady" came to my mind while driving in my car and listening to the radio. There's a 2nd verse making this quite visual but it's not included on the recording. Till you hear us live you can look up the lyrics on our website.
"Ain't Gonna Be", I don't know how to describe this. Do what you believe in and don't do something else just to please anybody. Sometimes it might be even better to hurt somebody than to be untrue. I wrote the bridge for this song in Nashville.

How enlightening was your visit to Nashville in 1999?

Definitely the most impressive and inspiring experience we ever had. People in Nashville were very friendly and helpful. We just came to the right place. We were foreigners and a lot of people made us feel like we were coming home to the place where we belong.

There aren't too many German Country artists about at the moment. On your visit to Nashville, how was industry reaction to the fact you aren't in many ways typical 'Country' performers?

Some people told us that we're not "Country enough", but most people told us that Country needs a fresh breeze. The success of people like Tim Mcgraw, Collin Raye, Steve Wariner and many more proves that today country means so much more than only the old time standards. When you say rock music, now at the beginning of the 21st century, you are not talking about Bill Haley anymore, and when you say country, it's not just Patsy Cline. Listen to Garth Brooks and listen to Sting.

To me, the experiences of the Pete Ancient Band encapsulates the struggle many artists find whilst trying to break through in the current musical climate. You have talent in abundance, but that's not always enough. What do you think is the most difficult or frustrating thing associated with trying to get a record deal?

To many industry people music is just a product they want to sell. They don't care if you put your heart in your work. But I'm sure you just have to be persistent and you'll find the one guy in the industry who believes in your music as much as you do.

Do you see yourselves having to move over to the States to develop a 'live' reputation in order to achieve your dreams of securing a major record deal?

The first thing we want to achieve is to place some of my songs with other artists. With that foot in the door, we'll take care of getting the band into public. It's a pity that we have to wait cause it's a really good live band and we love playing for the people. It's so great to get direct response on your music and there's nothing that compares to an audience singing your songs. But we just can't afford to make up a US-tour on our own.

Finally, if the PAB could play live with any five bands or artists from the past or present, who would they be and why?

Elvis, The Beatles, Queen, The Eagles, Dire Straits.
Just because I missed them when it was possible. And what's better than an artist ticket ;-)
By the way, the whole world would know us in a second when we had the chance to share a stage with those five.