Ladies and gentlemen, we are floating in space… again! De zweverigste beukrockers van het Westelijk universum heeft weer een ruimtetrip georganiseerd dat goed is voor een klein uurtje stoeien met sterrenstelsels, zonnevlammen, zwarte gaten en supernova’s. Het Osse Astrosoniq heeft 3,5 jaar de tijd genomen om de opvolger van ’Speeder People’ uit asteroïden en vulkanisch maandlandschap te hakken. Deze ruimtesonde luistert naar de naam ‘Quadrant’ en staat weer bommetjevol met vette grooves, swingende metal, hallucinerende spacerock en de gebruikelijke vreemde eenden in de bijt die we van de eigenwijze Ossenaren gewend zijn. Al wordt het wachten ruimschoots beloond, ik was toch een tikje chagrijnig dat het zo lang heeft geduurd met die nieuwe CD. Ze zullen het wel weer gooien op de bandledencarrousel die de afgelopen jaren nogal welig draaide bij de band. Medeoprichter en drummer Marcel van de Vondevoort heeft echter een zeer legitieme reden die ik niet had zien aankomen…
Why took it Astrosoniq three and a half years to come up with a follow up for 'Speeder People'? You son of A.(P.) Lazy Bitch! Normally we try to adhere to our schedule of one release every two years, but sometimes external circumstances dictate otherwise. To be honest we are lazy, but this time that is not the reason for the delay. Shortly after our tour with Orange Goblin I got some troubles with my legs, resulting in being unable to walk normally let alone play drums. When this happens you go to see a doctor of course and before you know there is almost two years gone by before there is a diagnose of any kind. That put the band on hold, but we continued to work on the new record, the drum tracks had been recorded before my health issue started. When my issues got worse I decided to give up drumming in Astro altogether, so we started the process to find another drummer. We tried, but after nine months and trying two drummers (one of them was Roeland Uijtdewilligen, ex-Green Lizard, EDS) it became apparent the chemistry between Ron (van Herpen - guitar) and me is irreplaceable. In the mean time I started experimenting with a drum kit I could play with my hands only, as soon as I got confident enough on my new kit I decided to take up the drums in Astro once again. With the records almost finished and the band up and running again we started planning a release date and gigs to promote the new album.
Are you now able to play with your feet/legs again, or are you the Dutch equivalent of Rick Allen, being a proof drummers don't need four limbs to play the drums? And what's actually the diagnose your doctor gave? I still play using only my hands, as the YouTube video of ‘As Soon As They Got Airborne’ shows [which you can watch here below, EDS]. After some doom scenarios like MS and Strümpell's disease (HSP), my doc's have settled for Neurosarcoidosis. It’s a very rare neurological condition, no known cause and no known cure. I guess I will have to learn to live with it, although it is known to just disappear, so of all things I could possibly have this might be the best option, we will see.
Can you even walk straight again, or are you stumbling just like Hugh Laurie in House M.D. who’s also very familiar with obscure diseases? I personally have never seen House M.D., but because I walk short distances with a cane the comparison has been made. The progress of this disease is really unsure, there is a chance it just disappears, but it could also be chronic, time will tell I guess
What kind of adjustments have you done on your drums to be able to play as heavy as the drums sound on the album? I use a very big floortom as acoustic kick, this combined with a triggered kick gives me all options I need, the rest of the kit is basically the same.
One last thing about your handicap. I've read in older interview that you also are (were?) a freejazz drummer. Do you still play freejazz now, or is that style simply too intricate with just your hands and the big floortom? These days I do some totally improvised postrock, not really freejazz, but all created in the moment with musicians Niels Duffhuess - guitars and keys (ex- Gathering) and Teuk Henri - guitars (Sharko - Belgium). This band is called Bitches of the South and we have done two gigs now, one in an art setting and the other supporting Kong in W2 Den Bosch. I think it is actually easier to do impro and free music with my current handicap than playing in Astro, because you do not have to adhere to any format and can invent yourself anew. Improvised music is really about personal expression and this new way of approaching my instrument makes it even easier to find my own voice.
Any examples of what types of music you’re into? I am a sucker for a movement started in the late seventies called free-funk with bands like the Decoding Society (with Vernon Reid), James Blood Ulmer, Jamaladeen Tacuma, Ornette Colemans Prime Time, Sonny Sharrock, and early Defunct. Then there are some projects by Bill Laswell like the early records from a band called Material, also Last Exit and Praxis. A Laswell - Zorn collaboration called Painkiller (with the drummer from Napalm Death - Mick Harris). Another Laswell project with Fred Frith called Massacre. Any project by Buckethead (especially those featuring Bootsy Collins) but NOT the stuff he did for Guns and Roses. The avantgarde stuff Dave Lombardo plays on with Zorn. Mike Pattons weird shit like Fantômas and Mr. Bungle, also some solo stuff he did. Zu and Dyse. There is tons of interesting material out there and anything weird and left field will get my attention, be it electronic like Aphex Twin or just plain weird a la Zappa and Beefheart like Zoogz Rift. And be sure to check out noisy Japanese bands too, a la Boredoms, Zeni Geva, Space Streakings, Melt Banana and others. Too much to mention.
I could ask Bidi myself, but why did you kicked him (and singer Erik as well) out the band? Astrosoniq didn't tolerate his additional job with some vague e-zine? Yeah Bidi had it coming! No just kidding, he is still in the band, one of the core members I would say, managing with a passion, just not on stage anymore. As for Erik his decision to leave was his own. For me an end of an era really, Erik got me in T-Nailed [released one album ‘Drown!’ in 1998, EDS] and I have learned tons from him, I consider him one of the most gifted musicians I have ever had the pleasure to play with. We had our differences were taste is concerned, but his musicianship is unbelievable, very complete harmonically and timewise. I think we all saw it coming somehow and I am just glad for the time I have played with him. On the other hand I think the new record would never have sounded the way it does without RJ [Robert-Jan Gruijthijzen] on board, a totally different musician, more emotionally charged, less of an artisan, but he brings a whole other vibe to the table, which is a good thing.
I've read in an article on MCN that Erik said farewell to Astro, because after twenty years of playing rock and roll it's time for something else. So what's he doing these days, besides doing a great job as a guest singer on 'Lured'? He is still playing, but less ambitious. Just for fun, doing a Stone Temple Pilot tribute band, he has or still is subbing in a regional rock cover band, so still busy.
Bassist RJ got promoted from guest musician to official member. He even sings the lead vocals in ‘Sin’. You stole RJ from your other band The Liszt (I'll bet they're very pleased by this act of inbreed...), but there's also another new name in the line up: Teun van de Velden. Who is he? RJ is the Liszt, he is the reason they exist. I have more a coaching function in the Liszt, at the moment we are working on new material for the next record. Teun is a friend who had several bands here in Oss, Umbra Animea and Diesel Diablos. Umbra was an adventurous death metal gabber crossover with some gothic thrown in for good measure, very misunderstood at the time. Both Ron and I have played in Diesel Diablos at one time, it started out as a riff oriented band and gradually evolved into a acoustic psychedelic band, but it folded a couple of years ago. Teun is exactly the right man for us, because he plays keys and guitars, so he can double the guitars in the heavy song, and do space in the more psychedelic songs, he also does the occasional acoustic guitars.
But where is your traditional special guest Willum Geerts? Although he did the artwork once again, I see he didn't play any instrument on this album. Mentioning his artwork: is that a microscopic view of a few hairs of the same grey, baldy person on the 'Speeder People' sleeve? Well Willum only played on the 'Made in Oss' album really, but has been designing our artwork for all records. I really like the idea all of our records having a certain look, it ties them together like a little family. The artwork on this one is a frown, Willums to be more precise, with a red filter.
It is all about creating this Astrosoniq oeuvre, really the purpose of this band, creating a catalogue at least ten records in the process. Ron and I have been in several bands before that did not last for more than two records, most did only one, so a big part of our 'thing' is creating continuity and an oeuvre, it is our little pact.
Besides T-Nailed, in which other bands did you play with Ron? I suppose you mean Deafen? Ron has played in Deafen which evolved into Swallow It, and a couple of years in rock cover band Rattle Snake Shake, I have played in an anarcho avantgarde band named Jacques le Filateliste (with Willum Geerts), did several projects and with Ron founded A.P. Lady, in spirit the predecessor of Astro, heavy space rock, all our former bands only had some impact regionally, except for Deafen.
On ‘Speeder People’ you recorded a cover (a dark, gloomy and haunting version of Ornette Coleman's 'Lonely Woman), but this album is completely written by Astrosoniq. At least, as long as we consider a re-recording of an old song from your previous band T-Nailed not a cover. The original song sounded more like a cross between White Zombie and Nine Inch Nails. This version is still groovy as Penelope Cruz' curves, but a lot heavier. Quite a remarkable choice to resurrect this antique, but particularly unknown song and transport it into the 21st millennium. Why? Firstly because it is a good song of course, we wanted to do a purer heavier rocking version. And it points out to the fact we have been around for ten years. Astro was created on the ashes of T-Nailed really, without T-Nailed there would not have been an Astrosoniq, without T-Nailed ánd A.P.Lady I should say. It is our nod to a predecessor really, who knows there might be an A.P.Lady song on a future record of ours.
There's another song that's quite remarkable, and that is 'Zero'. You played this song simultaneously with Zeus. You are on the right channel, they're on the left channel, and you play both differently. A very interesting idea that really worked out fine, although I have to admit that the eventual performance of both bands are a bit similar and doesn't cause a sonic clash of my tympanic membranes. But how did you get this idea and will you play this song also with Zeus at the release party? It is only the vocal lines which are almost the same, use your balance button, the backing is totally different; Zeus plays a triplet based feel and we play a sixteenths based feel, the backing parts are compatible but totally differ. We are going to attempt a live version at our release party in Oss. The idea originated from my fascination with mash ups, used by DJ's nowadays. They impose one song over another, say Prince over the Chemical Brothers. I wanted to use that principle to compose a rock song, in my opinion it is another way to approach psychedelica.
What did cause a sonic explosion in my poor ears was the exceptional low, LOOOWWWW guitar frequencies in 'Cloud Of Decay'. It sounds like Godflesh got the groove! Who did those gnawing growls in the choruses? I also think there's some incorrect information in the booklet, because where the hell do I have to hear a pedal steel in this thunderous industrial gloom-grooves? That gnawing would be me, I did it once before on the song Afterlife Rulers. There truly is pedal steel on that song, when René van Barneveld (ex-Urban Dance Squad, Anouk among others) came to play his parts on ‘Bloom’ he wanted to hear some of the other songs, when he heard Cloud of Decay he really became enthusiastic so we asked him if he would do a noisy part on the bridge. We hooked up his pedal steel to some distortion and I processed it further in the mix, it does not sound like a traditional pedal steel but it is still on there. The guitar part is weird too, it is played with a drumstick between the strings, very heavy song, probably one of the heaviest we ever did.
The credits on the album are very economical and doesn't mention when or where the album is recorded. I suppose it's done again at your own studio The Torture Garden, which is named after the John Zorn's Naked City album, I guess? Good detective work, indeed Zorn is a major influence for me personally. And yes we record at my place, we can take as long as we want, and experiment with stuff, try out options, a luxury not many bands can afford. Those are the times my studio shines really, it has become a major factor in the Astro Sound. I am sure we could not realize the quality we are after if not for our own studio.
Recording Astro albums could not be easier, I do production work for other bands and I can honestly say recording Astro is always the most fun and a real pleasure. The whole band is very involved and comes up with lots of creative ideas, as long as we manage to improve every next album I am a happy man, and I have no reason to believe this trend will be broken, because we already have some material for the next album recorded and it is good! There is still the risk down the road there comes a time when live playing could be out of my reach physically, but I know this: as long as I am able to express my ideas, Ron and I will continue what we started, be it as a studio project or in any other form...
So your studio is also available for other bands and products. For instance, you recently mixed the live recording of Church Of Misery at Roadburn 2009. Was it a difficult job to do, since that lead singer went completely berzerk on stage, so the chaotic, but brilliant vibe of the show can hardly be captured on a piece of vinyl or collection of bits and bytes?Actually I am still busy with COM. I have done a lot of Roadburn mixes the last three years, I have been fortunate to mix a lot of bands many small studios just dream of, some of those get released in the form of records too, like Wolves in the Throne Room and Earthless. I just can say that it is never hard to mix a band that plays their asses off. Those are the easiest mixes, the hard ones are the bands that have a bad vibe on stage and dont have their shit together. I particularly had a lot of fun mixing the Melvins, Clutch, Blue Cheer, Acid King, Church of Misery 2008, Kruger, Enslaved, Wino, Dyse and Zu. Mixing Roadburn is a blast, but I would not want to miss helping small and unknown dutch bands making their records and generally trying to make them leave my studio better than they came in.
Besides Wolves, Earthless and the upcoming Church Of Misery, do you know if we can expect more official Roadburn live releases in the future? Personally I really would like to see a Zu ‘Live @ Roadburn’ on a CD/LP-format… I would not know really, those decisions are up to the Roadburn guys. I just do the recordings and mixes with my team.
The aforementioned YouTube clip is the brilliant monstrous long 'As Soon As They got Airborne'. What a muddafukkin' mind trip! It’s a live recording that’s already a couple of months on YouTube. Strange, because I thought that your show in Oss on October the tenth is the release party of the new album. So where and when did this try out took place? We are all very proud of 'Airborne', you could consider it the centrepiece of the new album, it is a jam song in the vein of 'You Lose' and 'Soul Searcher', but this one is our best yet I think. As I told you above we had a rough couple of years and we had to build up the band from it very foundation, to get a little more confident we decided to do a try out gig. Also Bidi had his 7,5 half years anniversary with his bookings agency. We just had to make an appearance there, Astro being the sole reason why Bidi started booking and managing in the first place. So a good reason to do a short set in the W2 venue in Den Bosch (23-5-2009). We opened the evening and it was heart-warming to see such a great turn up, 200 attending, and I dare say to see a resurrected Astro in action, a great start.
Are you willing to share with us where the extended movie samples in this song come from? Let me guess: I think it derives from an early Doctor Who episode (circa 1965), also because the intro of the opening song 'Faustian Bargain' really has the same atmosphere and mood of the famous tune of Doctor Who. Most people who have listened to other Astro albums will know I am a sucker for obscure sci-fi and rock and roll samples. I have quite a database of that stuff. This one is from a BBC radio play named 'Journey Into Space', aired in 1953. It is the last radio play to attract a bigger evening audience than television. But I understand the Dr. Who reference, both for the sample and 'Faustian Bargain', I am a big fan also, though the song is not an intentional homage.
I noticed that the spoken word samples in 'Red Glow' must be from 'Journey Into Space' as well. I mean: you hear the same voices of men speaking about the same sci-fi and space ship issues. Is 'Journey Into Space' your "ever-recurring sci-fi sample" in Astro's oeuvre? There are more returning samples, as said before all our records are related and we like to show those relations. That’s the reason for some things to reoccur, like ‘Faustian Bargain’ is really ‘EL6500 part 2’, in case you had not noticed. Ron and I even like to show the relation between Astro and the bands we have been in together before Astro, that is why ‘Bored’ is on this record. All these thing are connected one way or another and have brought us were we are now, we don’t dwell on them, but occasionally like to point that fact out. It is just part of the Astro experience, acknowledging our past and (re)using it in a creative way, it is also a little tongue in cheek and puts everything in perspective.
This YouTube live recording looks and sounds pretty damn good and is held with several cameras. Do you have plans to do more with these recordings, besides putting it on YouTube? Actually we bought a live recording rig to be able to do just that. We want to record every gig and sort the best live version out, in the feature this will result in a live CD or maybe some live tracks added to a CD.
What are the ambitions of Astro these days? You've supported a shitload of illustrious artist in the past (Hawkwind, Queens Of The Stone Age, etc.), but at this moment there are only two local shows coming up. Is the rest coming up, or are 'The Big Dreams' like extensive European tours with legendary metal acts and playing with classical orchestras over? Or... never say never? We don’t have any concrete ambitions, except those five records we still have got to make. We just go with the flow and will see what will cross our path, I don’t rule out anything, maybe the release in Germany beginning 2010 of ‘Quadrant’ on Exile on Mainstream will generate some interest there. It is always a joy to play in Germany and I like to think we will be playing some shows there next year. It also does not hurt that Ron is in the Devil's Blood, who are getting a lot of attention abroad. As for orchestras that never has been my ambition, I would rather involve interesting musicians in our records, we have always been about guests, every Astro record has them, it can be old friends or hero's like René, but mostly the music dictates what kind of contribution is needed and we than start looking for a suitable guest. By the way: there are four shows confirmed now (10-10 Oss - Groene Engel, 16-10 Rotterdam - Baroeg, 31-10 Weert - Bosuil, 11-12 Eindhoven - Dynamo) with some more coming up in 2010. I could add we really don’t want to overplay our hand, and I realize we are in a small niche, we think it’s better to keep ourselves exclusive. You will not likely see us doing 52 gigs a year, not even if we could get them… ;-)
Astrosoniq:
Marcel van de Vondervoort [drums | producer | mixer]
Ron van Herpen [guitars | smith]
Fred van Bergen [vox | space | samples | web]
Robert-Jan Gruijthuijzen [bass | vox]
Teun van de Velden [keyboards | guitars | vox]
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