Trilogy interview – Unchained from the Past, Forced into the Future
Trilogy (Photo by Karo Kratochwil)
Few projects have to negotiate legacy as openly as Trilogy. Emerging directly from the aftermath of Trial, Erick Miotke’s long-running dark electro vision was never simply about preserving the past, nor about cutting ties with it for the sake of reinvention. With “Forced Perspective” and its companion release “Alternative Perspective”, Trilogy finally steps forward with a statement that feels both conclusive and newly charged: rooted in decades of experience, yet still pushing for movement, tension, and transformation. In this interview, Miotke reflects on continuity, identity, remix culture, live energy, and the long road from unfinished chapters to a fully realized double-album arrival.
Trilogy interview
Q: Trilogy emerged in the shadows of TRIAL, yet it clearly was never meant to be a mere continuation project. Looking at it now, after years of development, what do you feel is the essential artistic difference between honouring a legacy and being trapped by it?
A: Oh, TRILOGY is definitely meant as a direct continuation of TRIAL, just with a new vocalist and a new name. I own all the TRIAL songwriting and lyric rights except for very few lyrics written by Schröder, which sadly will not be used in the coming future anymore.Promoters told me often that choosing a new name was a mistake, because TRIAL is a kind of trademark. Probably they are right, but I thought that, for instance, Depeche Mode wouldn’t be Depeche Mode anymore without Dave Gahan, or U2 without Bono. That much respect for Schröder’s oeuvre has to be acknowledged in my eyes. Even if it made things tougher to get started, as we had to experience.Jens transported the kind of devilish and “kinski-esque” presentation of Schröder’s live presence into a new and slightly different form. It is now a more positive-aggressive style, just as powerful, but not as harsh and disturbing anymore.On behalf of the music and lyrics there is now a different approach from my side. I work basically the same way as I did in the past, only with other gear. I reduced working with my beloved hardware synths and samplers, especially from Ensoniq, and now mainly use Logic with all its possibilities and further sound files I buy in different stores.The tracks arise just the same way and in the end they always sound typically like a “Miotke-style” track, as I am getting told over and over again by different people. This fact is very good and makes me proud.Of course there are some parameters I follow to get the feeling of TRILOGY tracks to sound like the continuation of the TRIAL legacy. Very important to me beside this is that I can work absolutely free, without any kind of boundaries from the past, with Friedhelm Kranz on VILLABORGHESE, my other project. So I am not trapped in any way with these two projects and could now go all-in with the TRILOGY album “Forced Perspective”. A conclusion that gives us the freedom to move on, unchained from now on.
Q: The title “Forced Perspective” is fascinating because it suggests distortion, adaptation, and the instability of what we think we see clearly. At what point did that idea become more than just an album title and start functioning as a broader metaphor for the way this project understands change, identity, and survival?
A: The idea for the album title and concept lies back in the days around 2009. It should have been the next TRIAL album after “No Fate”, which never happened after Schröder left the project in early 2011. So I worked on with basic demos I already had back from that time before, and upcoming new tracks. I could identify very well with it because through the new situation I was forced into a new perspective on getting the project running.
There are lots of possible views to the phenomenon, big vs. small, visions, illusions, delusions, different angles in looking at things, and so on. An undefined way, but with a slight regulation by the main topic title. We had to pick up the loose threads left behind by TRIAL ending and carry them on in a way that old and new songs can stand side by side without a feeling of two totally different worlds, especially at live performances. This worked out perfectly well and makes me very glad, giving me some kind of internal mental peace.
Q: You began laying the foundations of Trilogy back in 2012, but the debut album only fully materialised much later. Did that long gestation strengthen the material by allowing it to absorb more time, experience, and tension, or did it sometimes feel like carrying an unfinished chapter for too many years?
A: Yes, it absolutely was a positive evolution in which Jens could grow thoroughly up to this point. He now has found his own unique vocal style. Especially after I recently heard his vocals for an upcoming cover version of a very well-known industrial band that is hopefully set for release this autumn. Performing live was thankfully never a problem for him after his first steps with his former project “Human Resource”. He is a true stage hog, haha. But it was a long and tough way for both of us. We had to go through it and now are fine with the current situation. We don’t do this for a living, so we move on relaxed into the future of our collaboration.
Q: What is especially interesting about this release is that “Forced Perspective” and “Alternative Perspective” arrive almost as a pair of mirrors: one presenting the core statement, the other exposing its refractions. Did you always imagine the remix album as a companion piece with its own conceptual value, or did it gradually reveal itself as a necessary second angle on the same emotional world?
A: The remix album with all tracks of the main album in the same order was the idea of EAR’s label boss Nader Moumneh. It was defined this way from the beginning on. The running time of the album, with the technically maximal possible playing time of approximately 74 minutes of a CD format, culminated in the delivered 18 tracks. This was quite a treat. Not quite understandable for everyone, but now after it is finished it is a clear statement of our standing and also shows that we have the potential of delivering a double-time journey for the listener with a lot of different approaches without any “filling” material in my eyes. But if there may be another TRILOGY album, we will go back to a standard length.
Q: Electro Aggression Records describe “Forced Perspective” as connecting past and present, and that feels very true to the music. How consciously did you try to balance the DNA of classic dark electro and old school EBM with the need to sound like a project speaking in the present tense rather than recreating a past language?
A: As said above, the tracks evolve just the same way they did from the beginning on in 1991. I start totally free with a melody, bassline, loop or sample and follow that path until we are happy with the result. Then the vocals follow to finalize it. “Forced Perspective” is to be seen as the keystone to my way since then. Besides the 4-disc TRIAL box “Für Zwei” from 2022 that finalized the TRIAL experience, this 36-track double album concludes the way of TRILOGY after almost 14 years until now, followed shortly by the final single “Forced Perspective” with remixes by well-known acts that will complete this album cycle. At last… The “balancing” comes automatically by the experience of now 35 years working on tracks in this segment of electronic music. It doesn’t follow strict measures, as said above. You know when a track is done after listening to it so long until you don’t find anything even slightly disturbing in it. This takes some time, almost always. And it can be truly nerve-wracking sometimes. But: No pain, no gain… haha.
Q: Jens’ vocal presence and Erick’s sound architecture seem to operate in a very particular tension: one side visceral, aggressive, and exposed, the other highly structured, atmospheric, and controlled. How do you negotiate that balance creatively so that the songs feel alive rather than merely well constructed?
A: As said above, this evolves in the process through different stages in the production. Over the years Jens and I developed a tight connection. We can rely on one another’s sight on things by getting through all this and hanging on to the project’s soul. It is important to me that the tracks are compact songs in the end, besides the intro track “Come to Me” and the outro track “Turmoil Over”, of course, with a verse, a hook melody and a chorus. I for instance don’t aim for a “safe” club track. I believe this guarantees an honest approach to each song. I suppose it can be heard that every track is genuine. They all may sound like the same basic TRILOGY style, but not like the same formula, in terms of sound and mood. Individually grown and not constructed to serve a certain purpose.
Q: The remix cast on “Alternative Perspective” is remarkable, from Project Pitchfork and Mildreda to AD:Key, Bent, Synaptic Defect, and others. When you invited these artists into the material, were you hoping they would illuminate hidden aspects of the original songs, or were you more interested in seeing them challenge and even destabilise the emotional identity of the album?
A:I am very happy with all the remixers who did an absolutely great job with their specific interpretations. What a rush! I always loved remixes by other acts. It is astounding what comes around. The original track is known by heart, so it is no surprise to us. It is like hearing a totally new track, just as a fan can when listening to new material. This is always very exciting to me.
I always loved remixes as being a true kid of the ’80s with the privilege of experiencing the start of this phenomenon with my first maxi-single of the extended remix of Duran Duran’s “Wild Boys”, followed by intense Depeche Mode years, who defined the world of great remixes remarkably until today, or special pearls like for instance Grace Jones’ “Slave to the Rhythm” and the Frankie Goes to Hollywood experience by Trevor Horn.It is a true pleasure, especially such a seldom privilege, of being remixed by Peter Spilles, who I know since the beginning of my musical way in 1991, besides the acts mentioned by you and all the others contributing to this release. It simply makes me very happy that they feel in the mood of giving their DNA to our journey in their own explicit way, with truly fascinating new perspectives. The squad of remixers came together by acts called up by Nader and acts I know personally for some time now. This feels like a great family event to me. And not to forget the collaborators of my long-time friends Gunnar Duvenhorst, Andy Bolleshon, Chris Weiland, Jan-Heie Erchinger and last but not least the master of the legendary “Grenzwellen” independent radio format Ecki Stieg, with whom I first had contact for a “Grenzwellen” special about TRIAL’s album “Secret Pain” back in the days and at his production of his first “Accessories” album in 1994. I wanted to have some special appearances on the album by these to me very special people staying at my side for all these years in one way or another. A simply wonderful experience to me with some stunning outcome…
Q: After so many singles, EPs, live shows, and years of expectation, these two releases feel less like a simple debut and more like a statement of arrival. Once listeners have heard both “Forced Perspective” and “Alternative Perspective”, what do you hope they understand about Trilogy that they could not have fully grasped before?
A: Very right! I believe this double album allows one to delve into the world of TRILOGY if someone is open for it. It is a broad range of 18 pictures in two perspectives via the original tracks and the remixes offered. This overall statement stands clear and gives a lot of possibilities to connect with the project. If someone is interested there are loads of new special aspects to be found and experienced. In current times a lot of people want “fast” access. This may be easier through the broad range presented with this release. I see it as a big chunk of stuff you can move into, while others may just pick one or another track in the digital realm via Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube and all other platforms served. But the album is thought to be listened to in order for the total experience. Time will tell if this may work out…
Q: I recently saw you live at the E-Only Festival, and it was a genuinely powerful concert experience. Trilogy seem to carry a very particular tension on stage, something precise and controlled on one level, but also forceful, physical, and emotionally immediate. What does the live setting allow you to express about these songs that the studio versions cannot fully contain, and are there any further live dates or shows already planned around the release of “Forced Perspective” and “Alternative Perspective”?
A: The basics for the live experience are the music and the additional video backdrops for each track. With this stage presence Jens can unfold his energetic vocals and performance in his own unique way. He impersonates in the flesh the music and lyrics. He observes and interacts with the audience and his band members to celebrate the event and the opportunity of playing the songs live. This combination is topped by Leo’s live drumming, or at the E-Only Festival show by guest drummer Eli van Vegas, who gratefully stepped in for Leo, who was not available that night playing a show with Project Pitchfork. It was quite something for me to have the possibility to perform with the live drummer of my all-time heroes Front Line Assembly on this special occasion, and to share Leo as a band mate since 2016, who kicks it live with Project Pitchfork. Sometimes dreams come true in the most unexpected ways. You just have to hang on and never give up.The next live dates are at the “Familientreffen” in Sandersleben on Friday, 10th of July, at the “Dunkle Gezeiten” special session with Mildreda on September 5th in Cuxhaven, and at the end of the year at some VERY special event still to be announced.
Based in Wrocław, I work as a music journalist and photographer covering electro, industrial, EBM, gothic, and darkwave. My work includes features and live coverage, as well as concert, portrait, promo, and theater photography. What interests me most is the connection between artistic intention, what the work communicates, and what unfolds live on stage, all in pursuit of the bigger picture behind the music.
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