Dreams in Fragments, from a little place called Switzerland

Interview conducted on Aug. 06, 2019

by Dan Locke

Female-fronted melodic metal from Switzerland – these are Dreams in Fragments. The quartet, consisting of Seraina Schöpfer (vocals), Christian Geissmann (guitar, vocals), Jan Thomas (bass) and Franc Fritschi (drums), comes from the otherwise so calm cheeks at Olten in Canton Solothurn. Comparisons with internationally successful bands such as “Nightwish” or “Delain” have been said many times. Dreams in Fragments appear in no way as a cover band for the Finns or the Netherlands; the open, federal voice of Schöpfer paired with Growling Parts by Geissmann lends the band an individual note. This reflects musical bumps in the association of hard guitar riffs with familiar orchestral sounds. The main weight of the repertoire is therefore also entitled to own compositions such as “The Maze” or “Nightchild”.

Band Members
Seraina Schöpfer (vocals)
Christian Geissmann (guitar, vocals, programming)
Jan Thomas (bass)
Frank Fritschi (drums)

Dan Locke: How did the band form?

Christian: When I joined the band had been there for a while but there weren’t that big efforts. Demand motivation and then promote it and natural line-up changes brought out the best of the band.

What is a supergroup?

Well, usually a supergroup is a formation consisting of well know people. Obviously, we’re not such combo.

How did your band get its name?

Chris: Besides that, a name should reflect a band sound I am always looking for something unique that does not already have many other meanings. Like that it is also easy to find online and is easier to remember. That said we did brainstorm collected ideas and we chose this one because we thought it both matched our idea of our music and sounded nice.

Why did you title your cd “Reflections of a Nightmare”?

Seraina: We liked the play on words with the term “Reflections”. On the one hand, it means thinking about it, on the other hand, it is also a reflection like from a mirror. Nightmares can also become good dreams. We like to play with this contrast. You can also find it on the CD cover.

What is Metal Church (besides a name for a band)?

It’s a swiss church who organizes metal concerts too. 

Dreams in Fragments
Dreams in Fragments

So, you are a Swiss Symphonic Metal band. Please define that?

Well, the genre defines itself we’d say.

What is Folk Metal?

Folkmetal.at is a metal magazine that supported us from day one!

Who came up with the idea of the Tourdiary?

A friend of ours who writes for the webzine folkmatal.at offered us to do a diary and we liked the idea. 

How do you compare yourself to Nightwish and Delain, but not a copy?

These Bands are big influences for us. Neither do we want to be exactly like them nor are we on that same level (yet 😊)

How long did it take you to complete the CD?

Chris: Hard to say for two songs already existed when I joined. All in all, I’d say it took 3 years to complete the songs. But keep in mind that in this time also personnel changes hindered the work. 

Dreams in Fragments
Dreams in Fragments

What is the best cut (track?) on the CD and why?

We hope they are all good or at least everybody can find that one song he or she likes best

What are your tour plans to support the CD?

We just returned from an Eastern Europe tour as support of forge (as said before). Atm there are no plans for a tour but single concerts around here.

How is it to do a European tour? And touring countries like the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary?

We (only) did a short eastern Europe tour with 6 planned concerts. But although it lasted only for 10 days it was a very exciting experience. We have grown together as a band and have become much safer when it comes to technique and concerts.

People there are crazy in a good way 😉

Which country has the best metal music? And what type of metal is it?

We think Nordic countries are leaders in metal but there are good bands all over the globe

Seraina- I see one of your favorite movies is the Butterfly Effect. What is your option about time travel? And if you could go back to any period of time what year would that be?

I would love to travel in time so much! I love history and I’m very fascinated about different epochs. I would go to the 1980s for the music, to the 18th century to wear an amazing Rococo Dress and to the medieval time for almost everything 😊

How do you see yourself in 5 years?

We hope we make progress. Let’s see how far we can get in 5 years.

Anything in closing for your fans?

We hope you like the album. Thanks for your support!

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