Veteran Swiss rock band Shakra has returned with a resoundingly awesome musical clamour with the release of their new album, Mad World. It is a bold, exceptionally well composed and well produced collection of 12 original songs, that solidifies the quintet of guitarists Thom Blunier and Thomas Muster, bassist Dominik Pfister, drummer Roger Tanner and vocalist Mark Fox, as one of the most prolific on the European hard rock and metal circuit.
Mad World was released at the end of February on AFM Records, and is the band’s 12th studio album since 1998, and third since Fox rejoined the fold after a brief hiatus in 2016. It’s a remarkable output for any band these days to keep releasing critically and popularly acclaimed albums with such regularity in this day and age, but Fox said he and his bandmates wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I think we’re not the kind of band to be releasing just singles from time to time. We have a lot of people who listen to our music that want to have a full album, not just a couple of songs and them maybe after two months another song. Our fans, they like to have an album, they like to have a CD or vinyl, they want that physical copy. There are also people streaming our stuff which is okay too, but the real serious fans, the ones who have been with us since we recorded our first notes, want albums and we don’t want to lose those people because we’ve decided to not make albums any more,” said Fox, who first joined the band in 2002, leaving in late 2006, before returning in 2015 in time to help write and record one of the band’s most successful albums, High Noon.
“For us, an album is a complete work, and it’s important for us. We really try to make it something that is self-contained and has something important to say for us and for the people who like our music. I like having a whole album because as the one who writes the lyrics, I always have something to say on lots of different subjects. I like writing. I want to comment on things, and everybody can do that nowadays with Facebook and stuff like that. What I realized is you cannot really reach people because there is so much information on the internet and people don’t have time to read everything and read all your stuff.
“So, I think with music, you have a better possibility to reach someone. For me, it’s important to have some message in the lyrics. That doesn’t mean that people have to really listen to what I say, or agree with what I say, but they can if they want. In Switzerland, people don’t speak English as their first language, but if they want to, they can translate it, or they can ask me what it means. And if they don’t really care as much about the lyrics, they can still just party along with the music. We make music that people can enjoy any way they want.”
The idea for the album title and eventually the title track came about in a curiously circuitous manner – but one that obviously worked out just fine.
“Mad World is not really something we started with at the beginning. We never do concept albums. It was just a good title. But at the time I had already made up the artwork for the cover and at the time we didn’t have a title. That’s the first time we’ve done that, because usually we have a title and then I do the artwork to fit the title. But I had done the artwork and it was finished and everybody liked it so we said, okay what will we call this new record? And there were many names suggested, but one idea for Mad World was the best one because it seemed to fit best with the cover,” Fox explained.
“Because of that, we felt we had to make a song called Mad World. But that was no problem because Thomas, he has so many ideas. It’s like we just have to say to him we have this song called Mad World and he begins to make some riffs right away and it was only a few hours later that we had the music for a song we called Mad World.”
Although Fox said there was no concept or thematic thread running through the songs on Mad World there are tracks that definitely lean into some of the current issues facing the world today, one of the most topical being the song Fake News.
“It’s more about when you have so much information, and at first you don’t have the resources to have it all in your mind and then you have to take time to filter it, you have to determine if something is true or not, and this is too much for most people in this time because everything is moving so fast. For me, spending time reading stuff on Facebook is lost time; I can’t do anything constructive with all this information, it’s just that someone in this world had the idea to tell somebody else something and then it got spread around. It’s not the truth, it’s not wrong, but you don’t know which it is,” Fox explained.
“And there are many news feeds that are paid, and they want you to believe in what they are saying and keep following them because they just want to make money off you. They want to make money off stuff that is not true, and this is so ridiculous, because it works. It’s so insane. But everything is okay if you’re making money from it, but I don’t want to live like that. I just can’t.”
The powerful and pulse-pounding album opener, Fireline, is about being at the crux of an important choice – one with significant repercussions no matter which path is followed.
“It’s the old scenario of being between a rock and a hard place, between a decision to go left or go right, good or bad. But you are stuck in between and are in a place where you have no choice but to choose, an that’s really what the song is about,” Fox said.
In contrast to more global issues, New Tomorrow, the final song on the album, is more about personal resiliency and hope that comes after the dissolution of a relationship.
“It’s basically a love story of sorts. It’s about two people who are together but go their own ways. And there is always the same situation where one person is left behind and tries to make it alright again. It’s about the notion that tomorrow is a new day and them thinking that even though they are sad, there is a new tomorrow,” Fox said, adding that ending the album on a more hopeful note was deliberate as he does believe better times are coming for individuals and for society as a whole.
“I do think things can be better, because where there is the opportunity by some to make the world bad, there is always the opportunity to make it good again. Especially with climate change it can get better if people get on board. I am not a scientist, but I think people are learning to do what they have to do. Everything is so new, everything is so fast, and I think people just have to learn how to handle all the change and catch up, but this all takes time. I do think there will be times coming soon where people will not be so selfish like they are at the moment.”
The year 2020 also happens to mark the 25th anniversary of the formation of Shakra, an incredible feat considering the seismic shifts that have happened to the music industry over the past quarter century, not to mention the usually high attrition rate for bands and music careers during any era.
“I haven’t been here for the whole 25 years, but I have been around for a lot of years as well and for me it’s the same as the other guys in the band, I am really proud of this and, as you say, most bands after five years or 10 years, they quit. And you can ask them why they quit, I and it may be because they didn’t earn enough money or whatever, or people didn’t get along. But if you are passionate about doing something, I think you don’t stop. I think we can be proud that our music still gets an audience after such a long time,” said Fox.
“We are all really happy that we have so many fans that are still with us since the first album, so what else can you ask for? I think it’s actually growing, I think there is more momentum, like we are catching a second wind. It would be nice if this is the case; we’ll take it. And I think a band is like a marriage, where it can’t always be the same day after day, that’ get’s a bit boring. I think there has to be some ups and downs, and an edge to the relationship to keep it fresh and keep working at it. You need the emotions to be productive. And the music is the glue for all that.
“For this tour, we’re not doing one special anniversary show, because we don’t think that’s fair for all the people who come to all the other shows. On this tour, we are planning to play songs from every album in the set – one or two songs, because there are a lot of songs. It was really hard to decide which songs, but now I think we have a good set together and we’re going to see if the fans like it. Maybe there will be some changes at the beginning, which is often the case. So that’s how we’re going to celebrate, through our music, and with our fans on stage each and every night and having fun.”
For more information on the band, Mad World and if tour dates have been impacted by the COVID 19 issues, visit www.shakra.ch or the bands various social media accounts.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for 30 years. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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