How are you doing?
I’m doing good. Doing quite well. How about you?
Doing very well, thanks! So, ‘What Happens In Hell, Stays In Hell’ is about to come out. It’s been four years since ‘Life Is A Grave And I Dig It’, which is the second longest delay in between albums, the first being the six years between ‘Demons are a girls best friends’ and ‘Return of the loving dead’. What are your feelings right now?
Well, I don’t know. I’m kind of excited to see what people say about the album. Other than that, it’s just another day because the album is done and recorded, so all the hard work is done. So now we’re headed out on tour.
The recording process is a kind of necessary evil. First priority for a band is being out on the road and meeting fans. But you have to have new stuff to keep it fresh and that’s what albums are for.
With over 20 years of doing Nekromantix, how do you feel ‘What Happens In Hell, Stays In Hell’ compares to some of the earlier releases?
It’s kind of hard for me because it’s kind of like having children because you want to think that they are all alike and you want to treat them the same way. My approach to making and recording music is the same. Obviously you get better with time, so, to me, there is no real difference between this one to the prior ones other than we recorded at our studio, which means we can do it at our own pace.
With this album, we decided to use more vintage gear for a certain vibe. So we used a lot of tube preamps, ribbon microphones and also old 50’s techniques during the recording. It brought a lot more warmth to instruments and to certain parts of the songs.
There is obviously a strong connection to horror with Nekromantix. How do you feel, if at all, that the change in horror trends has affected your music?
No, I don’t think it has affected the music because horror, as a story, is what it is. If you are thinking movie-wise, there have been a lot of changes. But the essential horror movie story will never change, whether it’s good old Nosferatu or if it’s some newer video game style movie. I honestly was brought up with animated dolls as special effects. I can still appreciate the video thing. I mean, today you can do anything and it looks real on screen. Anybody with a computer these days can make a lot of those effects. But it doesn’t change the fact that that’s just pictures. The story is the story. You have a half-naked girl picking up the phone, someone is moaning on the other end. That basic thing will always be the same no matter what new monsters are there or fast video editing they do.
What is it about horror and that aesthetic that appeals to you?
I actually don’t know. Humans have always been fascinated by a creepy story. And since I was a kid, the first movie I saw was Nosferatu, I thought it was awesome. I saw Frankenstein, I saw King Kong, these black and white classics. The Brothers Grimm, all those stories and, especially where I’m from in Europe, we have a lot of creepy stories. Even Hans Christian Andersen, a lot of his stories are creepy. Maybe not the Disney versions or Hollywood versions but a lot of the original stories are very nasty when you come down to it.
I just thing it’s part of life, that whole dark side. I can’t really explain it but I think it’s some of the same as the people who are into religion. They need the dark side as well as the good side.
What are some of your favorite horror movies?
Well, Nosferatu, Frankenstein, and King Kong are the top from that era. Then I love the 50’s style horror movies but in the more modern films I love Evil Dead, both 1 and 2. Those are amazing, especially number one, because it was made on such a low budget so the reliance on creativity was very high. Number two had a budget and all of the sudden, bang bang, he could make all these effects. Which is also why I love the zombie movies with Savini and Romero. They are made on a crappy budget so you can kind of smile at the same time, seeing the real funny parts in there.
Kim, thank you very much and best of luck with the new album and the upcoming tour!
Thank you very much!
You must be logged in to post a comment.