Mescalina: Markus, where are you now?
Markus Rill: I live in Wuerzburg/Germany, about 125 km from Frankfurt where I was born.

Mescalina: I know you often tour U.S. and you played also at SXSW in Austin: how was it?
Markus Rill: I haven't really toured the entire US. But I did play some dates in the Northwest (Washington and Oregon) as well as quite a bunch of dates in Nashville and Austin. The response was always great. What's real wonderful for me is that my being German is never an issue. What matters is whether the songs are good and whether I come across as a performer. And that seems to work real well.

Mescalina: I read on your website you've participated a contest for the German DVD release of "Walk The Line": how much are you well-known and considered in Germany?
Markus Rill: Tough question for me to answer. I don't have name recognition among the general public but I like to think I've made a name for myself among the lovers of alt.country/roots rock whatever you want to call it.

Mescalina: Well, your music is based on tradition of american songwriters from Bruce Springsteen to Matthew Ryan all the way through Texas and you can see your songs are really focused on songwriting … any other influence you grow up with?
Markus Rill: As a teenager I discovered John Mellencamp and really liked his arrangements on albums like "Scarecrow", "Lonesome Jubilee" and "Big Daddy". All of a sudden I found that fiddles and accordions could be cool. And I also really studied Bob Dylan's music, the Stones, Springsteen. I was 18 or 19 when I first heard Steve Earle and became interested in mixing elements of country and rock. And I became really enamored with storytelling songs.

Mescalina: Also in your latest album you can hear you've been listening to tons of country music: there's some fiddle, steel and piano …
Markus Rill: Like I said, Steve Earle really opened up the world of country music for me. And then I fell in love with Johnny Cash and have listened to plenty more country music. But my main interest lies in strong songwriting ... and you can find that in rock, country, folk, blues or the music of Tom Waits ...

Mescalina: "The Price Of Sin" was recorded in Nashville with musicians who have been working through the years with artists like Tom Russell, John Prine, Patty Griffin, Todd Snider, Buddy Miller and so on: how were the sessions?
Markus Rill: Oh man, it was really great, just truly wonderful to be working with musicians of that caliber. Most times they immediately understood where I wanted to go with a song; once or twice we took a song in a different direction and created something I couldn't have imagined before. It was really gratifying for me as a songwriter that these first-class musicians appreciated my songs and had lots of fun recording them with me. "Hobo Dream" was the first album I recorded in Nashville and we got Steve Conn to come in and overdub on a few songs. I'd been a great fan of his since I'd first seen him in '94 playing with Sonny Landreth. He came in saying he only had a couple hours and would probably only play on a few songs. After two hours he looked me in the eye and said: "Markus, these are great songs. I could be doing this all day." He ended up recording on a handful of songs and stayed all afternoon.

Mescalina: Your latest album is based mostly on ballads you sing with sandstone voice and a deep sense of death: I am thinking of the opening-track, "Singin' in the cemetery", and the closing-track, "Not ready yet" … where do these songs come from?
Markus Rill: "Cemetery" came to me as I was driving in my car and it suddenly hit me that the next day was going to be the third anniversary of my mother's death. I started writing that song the same night and finished it the next day. Hence the line "I still feel like crying today like I cried for you three years ago". The story of "Not Ready Yet" is a true story. My Dad suffered a severe heart attack and I was very afraid of losing him. During that time of uncertainty I went into the bathroom with my guitar and sang some of the thoughts that went through my head. When I came out, I had a song. I felt it was a good idea to bookend the album with those two songs.

Mescalina: Even other songs there's a deep sense of death and sin … and you often sing of people broken down, facing dying dreams, but still doing the best they can …
Markus Rill: Well, first of all, I think art is more interesting if it deals with a struggle of some kind. Writing about a guy who's got everything going for him doesn't sound like a very interesting concept to me. The point is to write about someone having to face or deal with some kind of problem, be they economical, emotional, physical, psychological. I am sometimes surprised when reviewers see "a lot of hope" in my songs. I am not a very optimistic person and I don't see the characters in my songs as very optimistic, either. Most of the time they're just doing the best they can - however little that might be - to come to terms and live with the problems they're facing. It just so happened that for a lot of characters on this last record "sin", "morals" and "ethics" were big issues. Some are trying to walk the line, some have failed and are trying to come to terms with that, some others accept that weakness is a part of human nature. I was very interested in those concepts as I was writing these songs. I had to sort some of these things out for myself.

Mescalina: The same way you sing about love: everything seems to be fading and getting lost … think of songs like "The price you pay for sin" or "Fade to blue" or "Me & Bonnie Parker" …
Markus Rill: Losing love was something I was going through at the time so it showed up in some songs. Of course, "Fade To Blue" has more to do with my actual life than "Me & Bonnie Parker" or "Price".

Mescalina: Well, I was wondering about your writing which is a kind of looking for beauty going through misery of life … are you constantly writing and consciously working on it?
Markus Rill: Yes, sure. Whenever I'm listening to music, reading something, or seeing a movie, there's a part of me analyzing how the story is being told, what I like about it, what I don't like about it, how I might tell that story, or what I might learn from that song, novel, or movie.

Mescalina: "The Price Of Sin" is your sixth album, the second coming to be released from Blue Rose … this european label is perfectly fitting on you since they've been distributing so many american artists, isn't it?
Markus Rill: Yep, Blue Rose are a real fine label for handmade music. Sometimes I have a hard time believing that, hey, Kris Kristofferson, Steve Earle, and John Hiatt are my label mates.

Mescalina: Are you touring much? Where is the next stop?
Markus Rill: I play a lot. Duo shows with my good friend Andi Obieglo on piano, accordion, and guitar or full-band shows with my band, The Gunslingers. In January I'll be playing some dates in the UK with L.A. songwriter Anny Celsi and in February/March I'll be over in the US playing some big festivals and some smaller gigs.

Mescalina: Never been to Italy?
Markus Rill: I've been to Italy but I've never played there.

Mescalina: Honestly your music is still quite unknown in our country, but think it's deserving, you know we have quite a few americans coming down here and you could play your part …
Markus Rill: I'd love to come and play in Italy. If anyone's willing to book me, I'm willing to come.

Interview: Christian Verzeletti