Thanks so much to Olli, Uli and Peter for the interview! These days the three Dr. König Arthus members play in the terrific band Crabber who released an album on Jigsaw Records some time ago and are finishing their 2nd album. Today we talked about their previous band, Dr. König Arthus, a Hamburg based band that released many albums, mostly in CDR format, starting in the late 90s. Actually you can check out all of their songs on Bandcamp. While you do that, and set up the background music, it’s a good time to learn more about them! So sit back and enjoy the interview!

++ Hi all! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! These days you are in the great pop band Crabber and you are working on a new album, right? When will it be released? Do you have a name for it yet? Any details you can share?

Yes, we already recorded the new album – for the most part. But before we were able to finish it the next lockdown kicked in. So we are forced to wait until the end of it to record the last vocal parts of the songs and to mix and master the album. That’s why we cannot tell when the album is gonna be released. But we already have a name for it: Who let the ducks out. The album will contain 10 songs and will again be released via Jigsaw Records. Also we recorded 3 songs for a 7” on a Greek label called Old Bad Habits.

++ And do tell me what are differences and similarities between Crabber and Dr. König Arthus? If any!

Of course there are some similarities – as Crabber includes all the Dr. König Arthus members. But there are big differences as well. First of all Crabber feature English lyrics. I’d say the music is less punk and indie rock, more guitar pop orientated. Of course you feel the influence of Kristallin’s Jens on guitar.

++ So let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen to at home while growing up?

None of us ever took lessons in any instrument. We all self-taught our instruments somehow. That’s why we don’t have great skills. The only one who had some kind of experiences is Peter: He used to play in a marching band. The rest of us are still making fun about that.

I started playing bass guitar at age 15 completely autodidactic to favourite songs that were easy enough to play.

Uli started playing guitar with 14 or 15 years but he didn’t improve much in the first years. And later on he didn’t learn much either (his words…).

Peter got his first drum kit with 17, but wasn’t allowed to practice at home because it was just too loud. It took another 6 or 7 years before he entered a rehearsal room for the first time. From that on it was learning by doing (and it still is).

We all come from different background, also musically.
I started listening to punk, Velvet Underground, Smiths in my early teenage years and then discovered UK indiepop, C86, US indierock and noise like Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Pixies, Big Black etc.

Uli fell in love with the Ramones in his early years and than grew up listening to heavy metal, punk rock and hardcore. Later on he was introduced to alternative, grunge and indie pop, with bands like The Lemonheads and Nirvana as gateway drugs.

Peter started listening to music intensively with bands like China Crisis, Simple Minds and Big Country, but soon discovered the indie cosmos (Jazz Butcher, Echo & The Bunnymen, Sisters of Mercy etc.).

++ Had you been in other bands before Dr. König Arthus? If so, how did all of these bands sound? Are there any recordings?

All of us played in bands before Dr. König Arthus.
I played bass in a band called Corrosive, a heavy metal/alternative rock band together with some football fellows. Corrosive played some regional gigs but never recorded anything properly.
Uli was part of the Brewers. It was a chaotic two-men-band trying to play punk with german lyrics. Actually some recordings exist but nothing to speak of really.

Later on at age 19 Uli and me met during our military service and formed a band with a third guy. The project (which was primarily driven by alcohol and boredom) was called KZH.

After moving to Hamburg in 1993, Peter’s first band was called ‘Tod der Industrie’ (Death to Industry), just because there were a lot of graffiti with this slogan on the walls of Hamburg. It was just practice room noise with barely any structure. 3 of the 4 members met the American cello player Charles Curtis (well known for his work with the minimal music composer La Monte Young), and started as his backing band called ‘The Charles Curtis Four’, kind of VU-influenced minimal rock with spoken words. They did some demo recordings and a couple of gigs, but the studio albums were recorded with studied musicians on bass guitar and drums under the name of ‘Charles Curtis Trio’.

++ Where were you from originally?

Peter grew up in Buxtehude, a small town near Hamburg, then moved to Hamburg.
Uli and I are from small towns near the Baltic Sea (Eutin + Neustadt) about hundred kilometers from Hamburg. After school and military service I moved to Hamburg, Uli to a city called Essen. But the band was based in Hamburg.

++ How was Hamburg at the time of Dr. König Arthus? Were there any bands that you liked? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

These were exciting times back then in Hamburg. As students we had the time to go to lots of gigs and clubnights. Great locations were e.g. Knust, Kir, Logo, Molotow, Markthalle, Tanzhalle, Weltbühne, Heinz Karmers Tanzcafe to name a few.
Good record stores were Ruff Trade, Michelle (both still existing), Drugstore, Slam etc.
We loved most of the bands from Olli Götzls Marsh Marigold Label e.g. Fünf Freunde, Knabenkraut, Legendary Bang etc. With Alaska and Kristallin we even shared practice spaces and became close friends. There were also some interesting bands in the so called “Hamburger Schule” like Blumfeld, Huah, Die Regierung or Tocotronic.

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

After our time in the army Uli and I kept in touch and later on founded Dr. König Arthus, originally with another third member. After we self-released the first album „Kreuzüber im Popkarton“ in 1995 I was asked if DKA wanted to play live at an indoor festival in Leipzig. At that time we just recorded with a drum computer and now needed a drummer – and fast, only two weeks to go! So I asked my fellow librarianship student Peter to join. Luckily he liked the music of Dr. König Arthus and was bold enough to dare the experiment. The new three piece rehearsed the existing songs of „Kreuzüber im Popkarton“ just three or four time and got on stage in Leipzig. That was a legendary chaotic and magic trip so after that we decided to continue.

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

As Uli lived in another part of Germany DKA couldn’t practice on a regular base. But the three of us met often enough to rehearse, have some drinks and write new material. But there never was one specific way to write songs. Sometimes I came up with lyrics and sent it to Uli. Or Uli had a riff, recorded it and sent it over to me, so that I could play bass to that and think about lyrics. Everything pre-internet with tapes and letters.
Or the three of us met in Hamburg, had some beers and wrote music and lyrics together. Some songs formed in the rehearsal room just by jamming around. Some were written just by me or Uli on our own.

++ What’s the story behind the band’s name?

Really a good question. We’d like to give you the answer but we really can’t tell. After the first or second session of Dr. König Arthus me and Uli woke up with a pretty heavy hangover and found a note on the table. It said Dr. König Arthus on it – which we felt was a good name. It might have to do with a certain red wine we drank the evening before….

++ Who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

There are so many bands we loved and the influences certainly changed over the years. In the first years Uli would name Dinosaur Jr., The Ramones, Stiff Little Fingers, Guided By Voices, Superchunk and Teenage Fanclub as major influences.
I would add TV Personalities, Beat Happening (their DIY attitude) and a german punk band called Boxhamsters.
But there are many different other bands and genres processed in the music of Dr. König Arthus.

++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “Ende der Fahnenstange”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?

Well, that’s one of the songs dealing with our farewell. As always the lyrics are megalomaniacal and quote some of our earlier songs. It’s a song about what we experienced together in the years as DKA.

++ If you were to choose your favorite Dr. König Arthus, which one would that be and why?

There are so many songs we love. Some of them are not even great from today’s view. But they remind us of some crazy times. Very special tracks are for example “Miss Belgien”, “Der letzte Vorhang”, “Zeitsprung, Baby” “Pinoccho lässt grüßen”, “Volle Granate”, „Pustekuchen“ “Familientag”, “Der siebte Beatle”, “Jetzt schon wieder nicht mehr”, “Kollege Rock”, “Komm bei Regen, Baby”, “2. Sieger”, “Schulterblick”, “Tag der offenen Tür”, “Aus einem Holz geschnitzt”, “Du stehst immer im Weg” and, and, and

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

Unfortunately not as many as we wanted to play. We tried to organize a release party with every new record, and sometimes we had the chance to do another gig outside of Hamburg or were asked to play as a support act (for Apricot Record bands like Mondfähre and Modesty Blaise or as our highlight two support gigs for Boyracer on their German tour 2004).
For a small and pretty unknown band like DKA, asking a venue to be able to do a concert wasn’t fun at all. Most of the time they didn’t even respond, or they were insisting on a specific number of guests. Pretty annoying! But after a couple of years, we knew some clubs in Hamburg, who treated us friendly, liked our music and offered us several chances to play live.

++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

It’s not that easy to point out any specific gigs. Most of them were good clean fun.

Of course our first gig in Leipzig was legendary. Maybe not our performance itself, but the whole package: we went there by train, using a low budget group ticket, which only allows local trains. In the mid 90s, this was a pretty adventurous affair. We had no guitar cases nor any other professional equipment, so we carried our stuff in plastic bags. After arriving at the venue, a bicycle shop (‘Fahrradladen Rücktritt’) with occasional concerts, they told us that we have to play as the last band, so we were pretty much exhausted (and already very drunk of course), when we were able to start at 1:30 a.m. finally. During our second song, I lost my balance while jumping around and plunged into the drum kit, so the right half of it was missing from one second to another. Shocking and totally funny at the same time. Surprisingly we didn’t interrupt, but played the song along. We assume that the musical quality of this gig has been limited, but this weekend is one of a kind and huge fun to remember.

And needless to say our farewell gig at the ‘Haus 73’ was a very special one. A lot of people showed up and a good friend and excellent Indie-DJ was putting on some records afterwards. The band was in a very good mood and excellent condition, so everyone ended up totally happy, without being too sad about ending the chapter of DKA.
A glass of pickles, lots of confetti, balloons and a golden pineapple were also seen in the audience.

++ And were there any bad ones?

Uli: I remember a certain gig in Magdeburg that was a mess. At that time Peter had recently left the band because he was … well annoyed of Olli and me. On the way back from a gig somewhere Olli and me were slightly drunk and made fun of Peter which he didn’t like at all. On the same day he called it quits. At that time we had already confirmed to play a concert in Magdeburg and we didn’t want to cancel it. So I asked Björn – a drummer I knew from years before – to play drums for that one gig. I had no idea if he was a proper drummer and what music he was into generally. It was nice he wanted to help – but he was more of a heavy metal drummer and didn’t like the DKA-sound too much. His drum style was more metal which didn’t really fit. When Olli, Björn and me came to Magdeburg we were told we’d be the last of 5 bands. So we had to wait for hours. We drank too much and had a smoke. When we finally got on stage long after midnight the venue was almost empty. And we were too drunk to play in a proper way – especially with a drummer who had joined us for just 2 or 3 rehearsals. Björn had forgotten almost everything. He messed up the beginnings and endings of the songs and everything inbetween. To make matters worse something with the mics wasn’t right. So every single time we would get near them we got a pretty heavy electric shock. The few people who had lasted didn’t like that drunk bunkling on stage. Which I could understand. The whole gig was a catastrophe. Luckily after some months of pouting Peter came back.

Olli: Yeah, I remember that disastrous gig very well. The nice folks who invited us to play there cheered anyway at the end and told us that was a very “special” performance.

++ When and why did Dr. König Arthus stop making music? Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?

As said before Peter retired from making music (to start again years after that!), so we wrote off DKA. But Uli and I never stopped making music together. It was fixed we didn’t want to carry on as Dr. König Arthus. In the time after we were looking for a drummer to start something new. And we luckily found a guy named Waschtl who was a friend of a mutual friend. Uli, me and Waschtl founded the Band Kutter¹º and recorded 2 very good albums: “Paradiser” and “Tango Diesel”. The music was pretty similar to DKA, maybe it was a bit punkier and more indierock. Unfortunately those two albums were only self-produced demos (by Jens from Kristallin at his place!), not in Freezer Studios. But they are really worth listening.

After Kutter¹º Uli and I formed Le Jogger – also with Waschtl on drums. Le Jogger had been a fake band for years. Uli and I had written and recorded many Punkrock-Songs besides DKA. Now was the time to record them, write new material and play live. Between 2012 and 2017 Le Jogger recorded 3 albums: “Drink Tank”, “Fight Fever” and “The Walking Trash”. They were full of great Pop-Punk-hits and are also worth listening.
We even have a bandcamp page for Le Jogger: https://lejogger.bandcamp.com/

++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards?

Peter retired and later moved to southern Germany. Although the three of us were still friends and occasionally met we never played music together. And Peter never joined or formed a new band. Years later Uli and I decided to start a new band with Jens from Kristallin. Surprisingly Peter was interested to play drums. First the new band Crabber was planned only as a side project next to Le Jogger and Kistallin. But well, now we are already recording our second album …

++ Has there been any Dr. König Arthus reunions?

No. Sometimes after a couple of beers we are thinking about doing a reunion show or something. But then again it’s fun to have Crabber. And maybe we should leave the DKA legacy untouched. It could be embarrassing here and there to play those songs (and sing the lyrics) that we wrote as twentysomethings.
A cool idea would be to record our favourite songs as new versions for a kind of best of album but then … better write new songs with our new bands.

++ Was there any interest from radio?

Yes, we had a couple of airplays, mostly at a show called ‘Sunday Service’ (Radio FSK in Hamburg), which was hosted by Sandra (“Fünf Freunde” etc.) and Patrick Ziegelmüller. But also at the “Anorak City” show (Freies Radio Kassel) by 2 nice guys (Markus Raabe and Gernot Richter) who even invited us to play a gig in Kassel. And last but not least we’ve got an invitation to do an interview for a show at the Offener Kanal Hamburg, which was a little bit odd, but also quite funny.

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?

Apart from a number of very kind fanzine reviews, we were utterly slated by the German music journalist Linus Volkmann for Intro magazine, regarding our “1 A Amok” album. Without knowing us at all, he used very suitable phrases to describe our (dis)functioning. We really laughed tears and still attach some quotes from this review from time to time.
Also a nice guy and music enthusiast from the local city magazine “Szene Hamburg” wrote a cool article about Alaska and Dr. König Arthus and honored us in a review of our final album “Ende der Fahnenstange” as “the German Boyracer” – a little bit overrated but we felt flattered.

++ What about from fanzines?

Yeah, there was a lively fanzine scene around that time. We got some nice reviews from
German fanzines like b-side, Das dosierte Leben, Time Thief but also from small British and French zines like Cuddly Hippo, PacMan (we even did an interview for that one and Caroline who made the fanzine adds French vocals to the duet song “1998” on “Der 7. Beatle”).

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

Being a member of this tiny little band and be able to record nine albums and a 7” in twelve years still feels like a triumph. We always did our best to make some indie music. Sometimes we failed gloriously, but most of the time we were very proud of our output, and totally happy about any feedback about our band that we really really enjoyed to be part of. Innumerable memories are connected with DKA, most of them funny or outrageous.
To have Stewart Boyracer sitting on a barstool on drums for a DKA soundcheck song was maybe one of my absolute highlight moments (Peter was off to our rehearsal room to get the proper drum chair which we forgot to pack), but sure there are so many others …

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?

Olli: I love to play and watch soccer. Reading, movies, cooking … nothing too special like paragliding or collecting stamps.

Peter: Classic librarian hobbies: Books and going to the movies. Since I live in Nuremberg for about 10 years, I support the local Ice Hockey and Basketball teams. And I really love to ride my Vespa scooter.

Uli: I listen to music a lot and like to play guitar. Besides I like being outside with my dog and reading. Also pretty boring. I should think about getting more spectacular hobbies.

++ Been a handful of times to Hamburg but would love to hear from a local. What are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Are there any food or drinks one should also try?

Visiting the Old Elbe Tunnel and eating Labskaus, Hamburger Pannfisch and Fischbrötchen!
My favourite secret spot to chill out: Biergarten Zum Anleger in Hamburg Wilhelmsburg.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you for this very detailed questionnaire. It felt great to go back in time and be nostalgic.
Support your local record shops and bars/pubs/clubs!

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Listen
Dr. König Arthus – Ende der Fahnenstange