Dear Mark Fox, how are you doing? I’m fine, thanks for asking Please tell us something about the city you live in? I live on the outskirts of the city of Biel in Switzerland. It is also the border between French and German Switzerland. The city is multicultural and especially interesting in summer with its many languages, colors, smells and sounds. We also have a lake that I go by boat in summer. Musically you can find everything about reggae, pop, hip hop and rock, a lot takes place on the street as there are only a few concert halls left. There are also many street musicians here. You where a member of the band between 2003-2009. What was the reason you left the band and did you sing in another band or there where more important things for you to decide to step out of the band? We had insurmountable personal differences at that time. On the whole, there was probably a lack of mutual understanding and respect, as is so often the case in this world. When I left the band, I started my solo career as “Fox” in Switzerland and reached number 2 on the Swiss album charts with my first album “2012”. Afterwards I published a follow-up album with the title “Lucifer”, which also had considerable success. During this time I was able to gain a lot of experience with other musicians, had also founded my own recording studio for this project and completely recorded the first album myself. It was a valuable time that I don’t want to miss. Since 2015 you are back as the leadsinger in the band. Please tell us the story about the rededication to Shakra. After a while Chris von Rohr, bass player and producer of Krokus and a good friend of mine came up to me and asked if I could imagine a future with Shakra again. I didn’t know then that Thomas Muster, our rhythm guitarist, asked Chris if he could mediate. I thought about it carefully and agreed to meet Thomas. We worked up the past and recognized the problems we had then. So we decided to let the past rest and make a fresh start. After a while we had the other members on board and were able to start again. On the 28th of February 2020 the new album will be released called: “Mad World”. Please tell us about the writing process and time in the studio? Working on the songs was a little different this time. As usual, Thomas Muster already had a lot of song ideas that we tried out little by little. This time Thom Blunier also had a few hits and it made it much more difficult for us to choose the right one from all the good material. Either way, it’s never easy to rate the songs, because you somehow seem to be attached to everyone like everyone is a baby. But you can never get around it. I think we made the optimal selection. Thom outdid himself again in the studio with a massive, powerful production that still has a lot of structure in the sound image. Also how the instruments are played, I find the new album to the point and mature, we are not doing it for the first time but of course we are still trying to put it on, which I think we have succeeded in again. Some days ago the new single: “Too Much Is Not Enough” was released. Can you tell us something about the making of the video and what are the reactions so far from the press and fans? We were looking for a location that somehow looked like metal and steel, but is not seen in every video. Our manager Martin Koch found this excavator near his home. The excavator is on Lake Uri and we were all totally thrilled with this monster. So we planned the shoot. Fortunately, you can’t see in the video that I was really sick that day and a few days before, but it was an ordeal for me to perform all day and I was really happy when the day was through. I usually love such video shoots, just not in these circumstances. We all find the result very successful and the reactions to “Too much is not enough” are very good and make us look forward to the album release What is the story behind the new album, I mean lyrically? There is actually no textual concept that runs through the entire album. Some songs are about life itself, others about society, still others about love. Just what just came to my mind. After the release Will there be a Tour prepared for you Guys? Yes, we have planned a tour from April. We start in Switzerland and then we go to Germany, Russia, the Czech Republic and also to Sweden. We hope to play in the Netherlands again, it’s been a while since we were last with you. In Switzerland we also planned a few concerts with our friends from Gotthard When was the last time the band played in The Netherlands? In my case, it should have been before 2009 because I have never been to the Netherlands since. I don’t know if Shakra was with you, together with John Prakesh, who had replaced me in the meantime, but it could be What are Some of your favorite bands/artists? My favorites are AC/DC, Motley Crue, Guns n’ Roses, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash, to name just a few…. Any dreams or things you have in Mind should/or could happen in the near future for Shakra? I wish for the whole rock and metal scene that there is a bit of an upswing in the main stream too, because it has become quite boring by now and I think there would be a lot of space Do you have a last word, or something that’s on your Heart you want to share with us? Well, thanks for listening to our music and keep on rocking in a Mad World!
