Ghost Children/Friends & Enemies Feature: zleep

HAMBURG, GERMANY- Nino Thiele-Dohrmann is the mastermind behind zleep, who perform "Bodies" on the forthcoming Ghost Children/Friends & Enemies cd. Recently, we had a chance to speak to him through email from his home in Germany.

Nino started playing guitar at the age of 12, initially sparked by Nirvana's seminal album, Nevermind. Other influences such as Soundgarden, Foo Fighters, and The Smashing Pumpkins would soon follow. "I was basically fascinated by by early 90s alternative music," he recalls, "of course, I had to start my own band, which lasted four or five years, and brought many unforgettable moments.

After the end of his first band, Nino went on to play with many artists from a variety of genres (see page 2). During his time playing with other artists, he also developed an interest in recording and producing. Armed with only an 8-track recorder and "crappy little" drum machine, Nino started experimenting with different sounds, and programming of drum loops. After recording his first instrumentals, and showing them to his fellow bandmates, he upgraded to using a computer and "a certain software [program]" which he says, "provides the greatest possibilities for songwriters and producers."

As he became more prolific, he started adding vocals into the mix, as he still liked being a singer. However, he was hesistant to show them to most people until he figured out what he wanted to sound like to the formation of zleep, which he says he started "a year and half ago. [Both new and old songs] are being used alike for this (at the moment) one-man band." Nino explains that the name, zleep, "represents he process of writing, playing and creativity because sometimes it feels like dreaming or sleeping and pouring your mind on your instrument.

While zleep maybe currently a one-mand band, you might not realize it from hearing zleep's cover of "Bodies". To the casual listener, the cover almost has a new metalish feel to it, but as Nino explains, this was not intentional. He says that he "isn't really (at all) a nu-metal fan" but the song is a bit metalish in tempo and has deeply tuned guitars. He says, "I had to tune down even deeper (half a step or so) because of vocal parts that are sung pretty high. I was able to reach the high notes but it sounded better the other way, maybe that and the sound make it sound that way but I am happy with the way it came out."

When asked why he chose to cover "Bodies", Nino states that he did not want to do a song that was too famous,
both because he figured many other bands might do so, and it would be a bit unexpected and new to some casual fans of the band. "On the other hand, as a long time SP fan I've always loved the energy and power of "Bodies". This song has an incredible drive and "beautiful", genius lyrics."

Like many other artists on the cd, he wished to add his own unique touch to the song. He added a couple of guitar tracks, as well as new breakdown in the middle "because [he] likes experimenting with melodies and sounds". In addition, he added a new guitar solo at the end, and some new backing vocals interspersed throughout the song.

There have been a few Pumpkins tributes over the years, although admittedly not all have an open submission process. Still, you may wonder what motivates someone to submit to a tribute project, whether you are a fan or an organizer. Nino describes the process, "I had never thought of covering a song for a tribute album or anything like that before. But when when I read about the Ghost Children 2 project on some SP fansite I thought it was a great idea." After browsing the Act IV site, and reading of the other projects, he figured "why don't [I] do one [myself]."

Besides working on the tribute, listening to the Pumpkins has led Nino to listen to some other artists as a result. While there has been countless artists that have either worked with one or all the Pumpkins at one time, or simply been inspired by them, two stand out for Nino: Auf Der Maur and Zwan. Discussing Auf Der Maur, he says, "I love [Melissa's ] solo work. She's great and makes amazing music I think. I've seen her live once and it was a really great, exceptional concert."

(Continued on Page 2) (Back to Mediaflash main page)