How much does Helmut’s study of archaeology
manifest itself in the music?
(Franz) Personally, I'm
thankful he majored in archaeology rather than something
like Mythical Creatures or Medieval Cutlery. E.S Posthumus is a
much cooler name than "The Laughing Minotaurs" or "The Dancing
Battle Axes." On a serious note, his knowledge has come in very
handy in areas like finding song titles and especially in writing
the Latin-based lyrics
for choir as well as creating the language
and back story for the Cartographer album.
You’ve released your albums
independently—through CD Baby and, later, iTunes. In fact, you once
stated in an interview that your album Unearthed “was as
popular [seven years later]” as it was when it first came out. Has
this route been at all liberating or surprising?
(Helmut)
When we released Unearthed, it was pretty much a necessity
to have some sort of a a label deal in place in order to sell
a decent amount of albums- especially on a nationwide or worldwide
basis. That is just not the case anymore, nor the norm. In
hindsight, we are really grateful that no label was
willing to take any sort of a chance on us. We are in complete
control of our careers, and we own all of our master recordings and
publishing. That is very liberating. As far as the consistent
popularity goes, we really try to create timeless music. So, while
we are surprised at our success, we are not surprised that our music
lacks the standard a shelf life of many music
genres.
Do you approach each
album with a theme or an idea?
(Franz) Not specifically.
We may have several general ideas that we explore on any given
project before deciding on a definitive direction. That being said,
there are a lot of false starts. The best case scenario is that we
realize we're headed in the wrong direction before we get too far
down the road.
You’ve written themes for the NFL/CBS
(“Unstoppable,” “The NFL on CBS”). Did you have any directives/rules
when you were commissioned to do these projects?
(Helmut)
Not really. Working with with the executive and creative team
at CBS Sports has been an incredible experience. We sort
of just throw our musical ideas at them based on their needs and
somehow it all works. [It's] very symbiotic in nature.
Have you been approached to do music for other
artists? If so, would it be difficult?
(Franz)
We've worked with a few other artists. D.J. Quick and Bizarre (from
D12) on some stuff for the NFL, and of course we did the
Cartographer record with Luna. I think it's a little easier
when it's just the two of us from a logistical and creative
standpoint, but collaborating has been a lot of fun and has also
caused us to stretch a little further musically than if we were
working alone. I think it's a good idea for us to collaborate with
other artists once in while.
Start-to-finish, do you have a particular creative process
when you approach each track?
(Helmut) Only the most
basic outline. Write it, orchestrate it, record the orchestra, do a
plethora of overdubbing and editing. Then mix it and master
it. That's the best we can hope for.
Does sibling rivalry ever emerge in the
studio?
(Franz) Yeah! All the time... It keeps our
world fresh. It would not feel normal if we were not playing devils
advocate with each other or just plain slamming the others idea as
"stupid." Especially in front of other people. That's really funny.
Some of the time, we try to keep a lid on it, though. It can tend to
be slightly counterproductive.
If one of us feels very
strongly about the musical direction on a tune, the other generally
will back off. Our tastes tend to be so similar. It's not like it's
going to wreck the song if one or the other of us takes the
wheel ... especially if they feel they are on to something.
Just how complex is the recording of each
track?
(Helmut) I hate to say it ... but very. There are
literally hundreds of tracks and tens of billions (okay...thousands)
of man-hours spent writing, recording, mixing and re-mixing each ESP
song. It's amazing we ever finish anything. Each and every
instrument (save for the orchestra) is recorded and edited
separately. Some of the songs have 30 to 40 percussion tracks, 10 to
20 guitar/ethnic-stringed instruments, choir ... The list goes on
and on. Many times, the original attempt we make at recording
an instrument may not be the final. For instance, we may work
with four or five drummers on a song before finding the
one we feel works best for the tune. Or we may edit different parts
together from each drummer's performance in order achieve the
desired results. The trick is knowing when to stop working with a
track .... when to say: "It's done."
How much of a challenge was the addition of a
vocalist (Luna Sans) to your album Unearthed? This also
begs the question: Are there unsung lyrics to all of
your songs?
(Franz) No challenge ... A total
pleasure and record we both are very proud of. All of the songs on
Cartographer were written and orchestrated for Luna's
voice. The way a song is arranged to accompany a vocal is very much
different from an instrumental work. Therefore, since the songs on
Cartographer were written to accompany a vocal; they are
the only songs thus far we've written with lyrics, save for the
spots on a few tunes on Unearthed where the chorus sings
lyrics.
It seems that you shy away from publicity,
especially in photos. How important is mystique to the two of
you?
(Franz) Hmm.
I don't know if either of us are that concerned with mystique. I
think that with the release of Unearthed, it was very
important to us that poeple discussed the music and not the band or
the individuals. But as time has gone by, we've done plenty of "on
camera" interviews and Helmut conducted the orchestra in
the "Unstoppable" video, which aired before the AFC
Championship Game and was viewed by like 50 million people. I think
these days, we're a little more comfortable putting ourselves and
faces out there.
Is word of mouth still important to your
work?
(Helmut)
Absolutely, It's really the only way we're going to get heard or
checked out.
When your aspirations/goals present problems,
do you work through them musically or do you step back and consider
them analytically?
(Franz)
Helmut can usually work through anything with a penny whistle
in a darkly-lit room with good acoustics. I definitely require
a cigarette, cup of coffee, a sharp # 2 pencil, and a pad of graph
paper or a "Magic 8 Ball" to figure out the simplest of
problems.
What was the experience of hearing a track like “Nara”
in movies and TV shows?
(Helmut)
It's awesome. Hearing "Nara" as the theme to Cold
Case for six years has been an incredible experience. The
sports stuff is what really gets to us, though. We're both huge fans
of just about any televised sports. Having the opportunity to write
the theme "The NFL on CBS" was an insane experience.
What’s next for you?(Franz)
We're pretty deep in to production on our next record that we plan
to release in November. It's high-octane, back-to-basics ESP. We are
really excited about this one.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you so much for the
opportunity to connect with you and your readers.
Visit E.S. Posthumus at their
website.
