Interview Frank Breuninger/Dark Sky German melodic Metal

Hello Frank, Please tell us something about your hometown; Rottweil?

Well, Rottweil is the oldest town in the south of Germany starting with a roman village and we have a lot of historical customs in Rottweil.

You Guys just played a show in Holland/Hoogeveen. How things went?

It was a good concert and although there was not such a big audience we had a good mood and people were so friendly and polite.

Please tell us how the band got started?

We started as a school band 15 years old an we were dreaming about the futur as rock stars 🙂

First you where the guitarist/ keyboards of the band. Later you became the vocalist? Why this change. And how did you find out that you are a good singer too?

I started playing guitar to join a rock band but always loved singing even in the school choir.

Learning keyboards later gave me more options in composing songs and for the live sound of the band. We had three different singers in the band over the years and in the end we decided to look for a keyboarder instead of a singer. Changing the voice of the band is always a problem like you might know. But for 20 years we haven´t had this problem anymore 😉

In 1984 the band wanted to release the first album on Bregenzer Records. But somehow the album was not released?

Yes, the album was recorded and mixed but the label went bankrupt and the studio kept the records to geht sometime the money for the studio rent. Although we had tried to get the records the studio didn´t hand it out.

Then finally in 1998 the first album Believe was released and it was released in…. South East of Asia? What happened?

We recorded the „Believe it“ album and our former producer had contacts to Asia. So we got a contract with LIFE records from Malaysia and produced a special song and video in Malay language for the Asia market. Later we signed a contract with GOODLIFE records from Germany to release the album in Europe too.

What happened between 1984 and 1998 with the band and its members?

We had a successful period in the late 80´s with big headliner concerts regionally and finally we had the opportunity to sign a record deal but then our former singer and our former lead guitarist left the band. It was too much for them with all the concerts and dates.

That threw the band back a long way and also the record contract broke.

You Guys where touring with; Magnum and Thunder. Playing with The Scorpions etc. Please tell us about these highlights in the Dark Sky career?

Of course the touring with Magnum, Thunder and Treat were highlights but also the big concerts with the Scorpions in front of 10.000 people and with bands like Europe, Status Quo, Doro…

Every CD release was also a highlight and even the small festivals in Holland, Switzerland and Germany had their own charm.

The band released about 6 albums. Please tell us about the last one; Once (Live). How the album was received by press and fans?

The whirl around „ONCE“ was not that big in the press because it is a live album /DVD with only several new songs. But for the band it was an important project to finally immortalize a concert on DVD.

You just found a new drummer; Andi Schnitzer from Kissin’ Dynamite. How did you got in contact with him? He did a great Job in Hoogeveen!

Ha ha ha, well Andi is just a friend of the band for several years and he is playing concerts with DARK SKY when we need his help and he has time. As our longtime friend and drummer Uwe Mayer was not longer available for concerts we have found our new drummer Micha Kasper. But Micha is a professional musician and he was touring and had studio sessions with other projects during November so Andi did play two gigs with us.

Tell us about your involvement with the German Ice Hockey Club; Wild Wings?

I was and still am a hockey fan. The idea to write songs for the Wild Wings came when they were looking for a new fan song several years ago. You should know that the home of the Wild Wings is just 20 km far from my home. We sent them a song we had recorded in german language („Auf geht’s Wild Wings“) and they were excited 🙂 And then we composed and produced the soundtrack of their season trailer video every year.

How was it to work with Klaus Dirks from Mob Rules?

Mob Rules and DARK SKY work with the same studio and producer, Markus Teske of the Bazement Studio for many years. And I have known bass player Markus Brinkmann personally for several years.

For the concept album „Initium“ we liked to have some guest musicians on the record. Klaus was in the studio after we finished our recordings there so I asked him to sing a little bit of the DARK SKY stuff too. And as well Hannes and Ande Braun from Kissin´Dynamite visited the studio to sing and play guitar on one track of the album. Last not least Markus Teske from Red Circuit played some Keyboards and sang some additional backing vocals.

What are Some of your favorite bands/artists?

My favorite singers are / were Freddie Mercury, Joey Tempest. Well, of course I grew up with big bands like Scorpions, Judas Priest, AC/DC and KISS but I also like to hear smaller bands like Pretty Maids, Treat, Mob Rules or Kissin´Dynamite with their youth power.

Do you have a last word or something that is on your Heart you want to share with us?

I would like to say thank you for the opportunity to make music and to play concerts and get to know many nice people. God bless you all!