Benny, at the beginning of this year you really "tore down the hut" in the triptych Münster with the release show of the album, which was released after 7 years and which simply bears the title NEAERA. Were you really excited to see the audience's reactions before the show?

To be honest, I could hardly sleep the days before. Despite a certain "routine", I'm still extremely tense before concerts, especially when I know that my parents are somewhere in the audience in Münster. In addition, half of the set consisted of new songs - and you don't really know beforehand how well or whether they will be received live at all. With "Torchbearer" I had no concerns and that's where I screwed up the stakes in between. So even after 15 years still not a professional.

How do you use the current time without gigs?

At least it won't be boring. We all work in normal life and most of us have children of our own. And they are happy that the dads now have more time than planned. At least I hope so. Otherwise, of course, you start to deal with new song ideas again. Although we are still far from really writing new songs. Tobi and I have currently made two cover songs that we will perform at the Vainstream Night. That was our musical project in the past few weeks.

Numerous aid organizations and foundations are named on the last page of the inside cover of the album, including deutsche-depressionshilfe.de.

Why is it important to you to draw attention to this very sensitive topic?

I have friends myself who are affected. I have to admit that I was very lighthearted at that time, following the motto: "Oh come on, don't get in line - it'll be fine". For me it was not tangible and I couldn't understand that it just wasn't done with two encouraging slogans. At some point I dealt more with the topic and finally I also realized that depression has a very complex clinical picture.

Was there a phase in your life where you didn't know what to do next? If so, how did you deal with the situation?

There were certainly some situations in which I didn't know what to do next. But these were all situations that most of us have probably gone through in our lives. Painful breakups that briefly tore the floor from under your feet, for example.

But all in all, I've been very lucky so far and had a lot of support from friends and family in difficult moments.

Why are you a supporter of the Rock Music Festival and the “ROCKEN HILFT” initiative?

On the one hand, I believe that the subject of "depression" in particular is often still taken too lightly in society. As I said, I counted for a very long time. It is therefore important that there are organizations that raise awareness. On the other hand, I know the people behind ROCKEN HILFT and know that this is a serious initiative.

Interview conducted by Sabrina Riepe