"All About The Album - 15 Questions" - a brand new section at the RockUnited site where any recording artist with an recently released CD is confronted with 'album'  questions (15 of them, duh!). If you'd like to have your material up here, email: urban "at" rockunited.com (simply replace "at" with your standard @ )

HUMAN ZOO : "Eyes Of The Stranger"

One of the few hard rock bands with a saxophone player in their line-up, German rockers HUMAN ZOO have recently released their third album. With two well-recieved albums under their belt, they're hoping that the new one will take them to the next level. Let's hope it does, because "Eyes Of The Stranger" is a good album with catchy hard rock in the vein of Bonfire and Gotthard.

How has the reaction to your latest CD been?

A popular saying in connection with the third CD is: Make it or break it! We think we are on a good way.

How long did this CD take to make from start to finish, recording-wise?

Altogether it took us about 4 months for the production of the CD

What kind of 'sound', production wise, did you have in the back of your mind, prior to entering the studio?

The first two albums were sound wise the absolute minimum; but with Eyes of the Stranger we think we even topped that. And we are really happy about that

What kind of input did the producer have during the process?

Our producer Chris Lausmann and Human Zoo, we know each other very well. So in the studio we complement one another really good and worked on the songs as long as everyone was satisfied.

And are you pleased with the final outcome? (sound - production wise)

It’s a great album – there’s nothing else to say.

Did the producer (you) use any (weird) experimental miking and/or recording techniques?

No.

How did you go on about capturing your 'live sound' in the studio, or perhaps you didn't

In the studio, a studio-sound is really important: as perfect as possible, the production has to sound thrilling and big. But the songs are produced in a way we can also play them live.

Please inform us about your favourite songs and lyrical highlights and why?

We really like all of our songs from the new album, each of us has his own favorite. So it’s hard to answer this question. The same holds for the lyrics.

Any overall theme of mood that you're trying to capture while writing songs?

We wouldn’t say we want to capture a certain mood or theme, but we try to address or even touch our audience with our music interpretations.

Does your vision for coming up with music get affected at all by time?

It was always important for us to make our own music. If it is successful, so much the better. But it’s not the only goal we follow as a band. The fun of playing is more important.

Did the record company interfere with anything on your "sound" and songs?

Fortunately we always had plenty of rope so far with our songs, our sound and our music. So we could expand our style without problems throughout all three albums.

Are there any 'crazy' behind the scenes anecdotes from these sessions that you can share with us?

We don’t want to tread on someone's toes...

How would you describe the sound of your new CD to any potential new fan?

Great sound, catchy songs, just Human Zoo.

Who are your influences and heroes? (music-wise)

Our taste of music is pretty diversified. By all means, we all like melodic rock, like Gotthard or other bands in this category play.

If there's anything you'd like to add, say, please do:

Thanks to ROCKUNITED for the possibility to present ourselves. Listen to our new album EYES OF THE STRANGER and get your own picture of HUMAN ZOO!

Interview by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
Photo from the band's promotional package.
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