After spending several years in Brazil, Chris Peters is back in Germany. The man behind bands and projects such as Samsara Blues Experiment, Fuzz Sagrado, Surya Kris Peters, and most recently Pedro Preto, is currently brimming with enthusiasm. First stop: Starting in May, he - together with guitarist Steffen Schneider, drummer Charlie Paschen, and bassist Raphael Nigbur from Blackbox Massacre - will embark on a three-week European tour under the banner of Fuzz Sagrado. An XXL interview with Chris Peters and Steffen Schneider.
eclipsed: Hi guys, how are the tour preparations coming along?
Chris Peters: First, we put together a setlist - essentially a personal "best-of" drawn from the back catalogs of all the bands I’ve been involved with, plus one song by Blackbox Massacre. Overall, we want to keep things fairly laid-back and maintain a bit of a "jam band" vibe, so we don't feel the need to rehearse every single week (wink). I think we all possess enough skill and experience to make this a really solid show.
Steffen Schneider: In fact, Sound Of Liberation and we - through our new Blackbox Agency - have jointly booked a full three weeks' worth of tour dates. We’ll be playing in numerous cities across Germany, as well as performing in France, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic.
eclipsed: How did you go about selecting the musicians for this new band?
Peters: The suggestion actually came from Wolfgang, the owner of the World In Sound label, who slipped me Steffen’s contact details one day. I’d known of Steffen’s former band, Spaceship Landing, since the early 2000s; yet, for the better part of twenty years, we somehow kept "missing each other" - despite having quite a few things in common and moving within the same circles in the scene. For a long time, I was simply a fan of his band; their performance at Stoned From The Underground in 2005 remains unforgettable to me.
I had jammed briefly with Charlie once in the past, back when we invited Coogans Bluff to play at a New Year's Eve party- but even then, I was otherwise just a fan, and we didn't really know each other beyond that. Steffen, Charlie, and Raphael also have a band together - Blackbox Massacre - so it just made perfect sense to join forces here. I am incredibly grateful that the three of them decided to embark on this new collaborative project with me!
And even though I provided the initial framework for almost all of the songs we have so far, we reworked them together and - in just two relatively short sessions - were already able to develop a distinct band sound of our own. I can certainly envision us doing a lot more in this vein in the future. Time will tell where this journey takes us!
eclipsed: Congratulations on landing gigs at Desertfest, Freak Valley, and other festivals! What does it feel like to return to the stage after such a long hiatus?
Peters: Well, it’s certainly very exciting! The last time I was at Desertfest - back in 2018 - I was there purely as an attendee. In the years prior to that, Samsara could often be seen playing in Berlin and then, on the very same weekend, in London. Aside from that, I haven't really played at any scene-specific festivals or concerts since 2019. With the exception of a small gig we played in Dresden last year, and a larger concert in São Paulo in early 2024 - where we opened for Clutch - Fuzz Sagrado had, until now, been strictly a studio project. I spent over five years living in rural Brazil, completely removed from any specific music scenes.
eclipsed: How does it actually work in a band when the musicians live on two different continents?
Peters: As a matter of fact, we’ve recently found ourselves back on the same continent, as I am currently staying in Germany - and I intend to make Germany my permanent home base once again. Ultimately, life in Brazil can be pretty intense, and it’s quite difficult to really make it there as a "gringo." You also find yourself missing a lot of things that are taken for granted here in Europe. Ultimately, the heart of the scene lies here - and I enjoyed that aspect far too much last year, when we were in Germany working intensively on and with the new band.
Schneider (laughs): Funnily enough, we’ve recently started living together - a sort of hippie commune setup that neither of us ever actually wanted, but which just happened to come about naturally at this particular moment. Chris was looking for a place to settle back in, and we had the space to offer. As a newly formed band preparing for our first tour together, we find this to be a thoroughly rewarding experience and are very grateful for it. My younger daughter and I also have a joint project called Szun & Dad, as well as a rehearsal space right here in the house - which we are currently in the process of redesigning together.
eclipsed: So, can we hope for further collaborative projects?
Peters: Steffen and his wife Annabell have also managed to recruit me for their new project: an agency for bands. Operating under the name Blackbox Agency, we aim to provide a comprehensive range of services to interested bands: booking, promotion, backline rental, merchandise, and so on. Furthermore, I hope to develop the Surya-Kris-Peters project into a live band - most likely featuring Steffen as well. I received an exciting inquiry recently that really got me hooked on the idea of trying something new.
Schneider: Yes, exactly. I told Chris he absolutely had to go for it - despite any uncertainties - and overcome his doubts.
eclipsed: Running an agency in the music business is certainly no easy task; how do you go about starting something like that? Where do your main priorities lie?
Schneider: The agency evolved over the past two years from an idea that just kept growing. My intuition for music, for instance, inspires me to record bands and to work with musicians in general. Our goal is to highlight the soul of a band - the essence that I perceive - or to capture the spirit of their live performance and immortalize it on vinyl. My connections within the scene are characterized by friendship; they are reliable and driven by a spirit of mutual support. I want to use my energy to actively support this unique scene. We aim to assist musicians in the specific areas where they currently need help - offering a personal, empathetic, and flexible approach. We provide a customizable menu of services with transparent pricing.
Peters: For me, the primary focus will be on promotion; I’m eager to help bands present themselves and their music in the best possible light. All in all, I’ve accumulated a great deal of know-how over the last 20 years regarding how things work within the industry. At the agency, we’re combining our individual skills to create a cohesive whole, and we’ve just started working - primarily with bands we’re friends with. There are quite a few bands out there that have both the need and the interest. Professional agencies are actually quite a rare commodity within our particular scene. On the other hand, there are a great many interesting bands out there! Furthermore, it can be difficult for younger musicians to get a clear overview of the scene - and that is another area where I can offer assistance based on my own experiences.
eclipsed: The legacy of Samsara Blues Experiment still carries considerable weight. How do you deal with that? After all, you are still playing old songs, as indicated in your promotional material.
Peters: For the past four years now, my primary objective with this new band has been to perform what I consider my personal highlights - meaning not just Samsara songs, but also material from my other projects, presenting them live on equal footing. Fuzz Sagrado, Surya Kris Peters, and so on - there is a wealth of great material there! But what should I call this project? Certainly not the "Chris Peters Band," even if that might be how it appears to some people. First, I had to find bandmates; moreover, it was never my intention to involve anyone from the former Samsara lineup. I simply wanted to do something different - something new.
Unfortunately, the old name remains fraught with issues. I never really entertained the idea of reviving Samsara as a band in its own right. Doubts and uncertainties arose, however, when booking agents and the labels involved suggested that I use the much more recognizable name, arguing that it would be significantly harder to gain traction with a relatively unknown new name. Nevertheless, I am hopeful that this strong new band will soon dispel all such doubts, rendering the name itself almost "irrelevant."
Schneider: Charlie, Raphael, and I are thrilled to be breathing new life into Samsara’s finest compositions together! The potentially heavy burden of the past can now be laid to rest, allowing a sound of reconciliation to unfold. Let the music breathe, and play: MAKE SOUND, NOT WAR!
eclipsed: Steffen, a vinyl release from your band Blackbox Massacre - which, incidentally, comprises three-quarters of the Fuzz Sagrado lineup - is now coming out on the World In Sound label. Things had been quiet on that front for quite some time; what was the reason for that?
Schneider: The most important thing - the one thing that stands absolutely at the very center of my life - is my family. I became a father to daughters - for the first time 16 years ago, and for the second 11 years ago - marking an intense and truly profound period in my life!
Throughout that time, I was never truly "still" - though I suppose I was certainly very quiet (laughs). I focused primarily on my own musical development, while also making music on a project-by-project basis in various different lineups. This resulted in a number of recordings - a lovely little treasure tucked away in my drawer (laughs).
All in all, the general sense of living in this world has arguably shifted perceptibly for many of us over the last five years. The recordings featured here - which we had planned well in advance - date back to the time before that: the pre-COVID era. In that sense, Blackbox Massacres’ "Pink Edition" serves as our very own "Coronicle."
eclipsed: How does it feel to be so active again after such a long time? How has the scene changed for you?
Schneider: This year, I get to look back on 33 years of my own musical journey. Over time, my sense of self and my self-perception have naturally taken shape and evolved. Today, I can understand myself better; I can consolidate my insights and experiences and apply them more purposefully. For me personally, an important part of my truth is being fulfilled - perhaps, in a certain sense, it could be described as a "liberation."
And the "scene"? (Laughs) We’ve all gotten a bit older, but our hearts still beat to the same rhythm.
eclipsed: Has anything changed on a musical level? What are your - or the band’s - main influences?
Schneider: Everything ever played since the dawn of sound is allowed to exert its influence, while we listen with open ears and hearts, engaging with it - allowing a connection to the ether, receiving it, and then releasing it again to ring out fresh through the amps! For me, the devotion to the experience of authentic music is probably the most important source of all.
eclipsed: What else can we expect from Blackbox Massacre? Is a tour in the works as well?
Schneider: Right now, our focus is absolutely on Fuzz Sagrado! But of course, we’re definitely itching to celebrate our "Pink Edition" - which has finally been released - on stage together with you all! First up, though, is our tour with Chris; I’m sure there will be an occasional Blackbox Massacre set included there as well.
eclipsed: Also, there was recently a digital release from your previous band, Spaceship Landing. Is there a chance that more is on the way?
Schneider: Hannes Rippka, the original drummer, and I have been back in touch for some time now. He has his own brand-new project called Reverend Reverb. They’ve just finished recording their first EP and will be supporting Fuzz Sagrado on June 1st in Oldenburg. This could turn out to be exciting…
The greatest gift for me is the people who still - and gladly once again - celebrate Spaceship Landing and the work we produced back then, and who continue to honor that experience - which is so important not only to me - to this very day!
eclipsed: Chris, you also have a new release coming up for your solo project, Surya Kris Peters - is that right?
Peters: Yes, exactly. The album "Viva Galaxia" is coming out in May 2026 on some mind-blowing multicolored vinyl via the American label Echodelick Records, in cooperation with Clostridium from Germany. The owner of Echodelick is one of my most passionate supporters. For me - even though it’s a relatively small label - this is a huge deal, since the majority of fans of "my music" have been based in the USA for years now, and with Samsara, for instance, we never managed to land a label deal there. For me, this new Surya album is going to be one of my finest releases yet. The songs - but also the artwork and the entire package - are going to be simply beautiful this time!
eclipsed: Why was there such a long delay again - a full year - between the digital and physical releases?
Peters: Oh, that seems to be the same old problem: I simply have too much output! (laughs) I’m actually trying to slow myself down a bit so I don’t end up churning out too many releases per year. Last year, after all, saw a great many LPs featuring my music; alongside the previous Surya album, "There’s Light In The Distance", there were vinyl releases from Fuzz Sagrado and even the Samsara demo compilation "Time Wizardry" - plus several releases that were initially digital-only, most notably the brand-new project Pedro Preto. Later on, I was able to get some of those albums released on CD as well. However, I think it’s slowly becoming difficult - especially for new fans - to get a clear overview of everything.
eclipsed: What are your - or rather, your collective’s - future plans?
Peters: I’m slowly working on finishing the next Surya Kris Peters album. There isn’t an album title yet, but I’ve already got over 15 songs ready to go - about three-quarters finished, to be precise. At the moment, I’m in the process of getting settled back in here in Germany, since I basically arrived with just two suitcases and all my old equipment - and everything else - was sold off long ago. I might eventually ramp up my label activities with Electric Magic again; we’ll see... Right now, though, my main focus is on the upcoming Fuzz Sagrado European tour! We really do have a very cool band there!