Füneral Rain Press Cörps

Another old interview from October 2009. Since this was done, Dennis and I have become pretty good friends, and the -NL has been dropped from the name. A great label that deserves your support.

Hello Dennis. How is your week going so far? What can you tell us of yourself?

It hasn’t been too bad, a lot to do and not enough time to do it in, but I’ve gotten pretty used to that. I’m a workaholic, with my dayjob and Ziekte-NL combined I work between 15 and 18 hours each day, in weekends as well. As for telling you more about myself…I’m never too sure what to say, besides shamelessly advertising Ziekte-NL, so what would you like to know?

You run Ziekte-NL, a fairly new record label. How long has Ziekte-NL been active?

Ziekte-NL has been active for almost a year now, we’ll have our anniversary in December.

What kinds of music do you release, and on what formats?

We mainly release various types of metal, but also rock, ambient and minimalistic. So far we have released albums on CDr, CD and in digital ways (like iTunes). In the future we will also release music on tape and hopefully on vinyl as well. The only thing holding us back from releasing on vinyl is the price really.

I see you’ve had a working relationship with a fair amount of bands I’m familiar with (and fands of), including Demonic Cremator and Necrosadik, among others. Is there any band out there, still making music or defunct, that you’d like to work with and haven’t had the pleasure yet?

There are way too many bands I’d like to work with. If you want a list/overview, well…take a glance at our myspace friendlist. Pretty much all of them. If we had the budget, we would be working with all of them, if they want to as well of course.

Aside from what you release on the label, is there any form of music in general, or any band specifically, that you enjoy? Anything that would surprise readers?

I enjoy pretty much every form of metal. I prefer black metal and death metal. One of my personal favourite bands is Marduk, I saw them live last month, together with Vader. It was a great concert. As for anything that would surprise the readers…I’m not sure. I also enjoy experimental / alternative music like Carnival In Coal. Is that surprising? You tell me.

In the world of metal there are some very controversial bands, with topics and themes that in themselves are controversial. One such topic is antichristian lyrics, and openly satanic lyrics. This seems to be a part of black metal the most, and I’m wondering if you subscribe to these religious views yourself?

If you were to label me when it comes to religion, I guess you can label me Nihilist. So I have no religious views really.

In the same vein as the last question, one topic that seems to be gaining more and more ‘popularity’ in metal as well as other genres is National Socialism, not just as a topic . Does Ziekte-NL as a label support such acts, or do you yourself personally support such acts?

NS may be gaining more and more popularity, but it’s still only a very small group. I haven’t really given it much thought, since I haven’t spoken to any such acts either. Unless they just have it in their lyrics for shock value, I don’t think I’d sign any such acts, simply to prevent conflicts with any of our other artists.

Let’s stay on the topic of controversy for one more question: what makes music metal? I know a lot of people have their own notions of what is or is not metal, so what are your ideas on the genre? Also, what separates rock from metal, when so many people call one band rock and another set calls the same band metal (Led Zeppelin comes to mind, specifically)?

When the first metal bands started getting known, it was all fairly clear what was rock and what was metal. These days, with so many bands playing so many styles, it’s become more difficult. I was talking about this with our photographer, Vincent, not too long ago. He didn’t really know what to say either. I guess what makes metal music metal is the combination of amplified guitars, prominent bass and a large drumset for a usually fairly constant beat. Though as soon as you start to give a description, there’s always a ‘But what about ?’ that you can give as a reply.

Finally, is there anything you’d like to add to the interview?

Again a question where I’m tempted to just shamelessly advertise. I’ll keep it simple; keep checking our website, there’s a lot of new stuff coming.

Here’s another old interview. I decided to take it from the MySpace blog and bring it here, because like Typhon said, it’s probably going to be new for someone. It was originally published in October of last year, and there’s still stuff that’s way older that has to make it’s way to the New and Improved site here.

Could you give a history of the band since it’s inception?

Among the Cells and Circuits was started by Matt Burks and J.C. Daigle as a stoner cybergrind side project but grew in to a focus of art… a form of expression if you will of the true state of reality. the idea of ATCAC came up through a night of heavy sacrament burning and star gazing and it was like the band was beamed into our subconscious.

Is there a specific reason as to why you have chosen to wear the masks and the stage names? Or was it just a thing to do for no real reason?

It is a hint at the base of reality. Duality in a pure form. The masks are opposite colors but yet they look the same, they are yin and yang, light and dark, life and death. Everything has a opposite, yet the base of its other can be found in itself. And the Alpha and Omega is to show that we are existence itself. We are the universe reminding itself what it is.

The sounds you make are a little on the strange side. There’s elements of grindcore, cybergrind, punk, and new wave keyboard lines. What do you use to make these sounds, instrument wise? And has Among the Cells and Circuits always sounded like this, or is this an evolutionary step?

We use FL Studio for almost everything, but we are thinking of playing live shows soon so I’m not sure how we are going to do it. I’m thinking of getting a midi and we already have a drum set. Before we were ATCAC we were A Chicago Typewriter and we had more guitar grind based tracks, but I fell in love with the synth and LSD (not promoting abusing substances in anyway but don’t let someone else tell you how to think!).

You’re “under a lot of influences” according to MySpace. Any particular influences you find most inspiring?

Like I said I do not promote drug use. But Cannabis is a beautiful herb that really lets you drift into your imagination. Mushrooms if you want to go really deep and hang around for awhile, and LSD if you want to see colors you have never seen before but the most interesting is DMT; it is found in every living animal and is pumped through your brain during deep sleep and right before human death. It’s a portal to see straight through to the other side.

Musically, are there any bands that you’d like to name drop as influences?

Haha! Bands I like lot are The Locust and Blink 182 (fo sho haha) and a good bit of intelligent rap like Blue Scholars & Del Tron 3000

You’re on a pair of labels, Fake Records and Kitty on Fire. Has being on labels been a liberating experience for the band, or the opposite? And how did you make the connections, were you approached by the labels, or did you send in demos in the traditional manner?

We sent in demos because we really want to get our music out to people. As artists we believe music should be free so all of our stuff is for download, and the labels have really helped out and been open to our freedom to create as we feel fit.

Among the Cells and Circuits on MySpace.

Genres: Metalcore, Thrash
Label: Independent

Walken have been around for quite awhile, but they are another one of those bands that are new to me. From the San Francisco area, the home of American thrash, it’s only natural to incorporate the genre into your style; and Walken have done it wonderfully.
They remind me of Killswitch Engage a little, and Anthrax a lot. Which is a really cool mix, if you ask me.
Rifftastic and loud, I think the newest self-titled from Walken will be their breakout release, putting them even further into the spotlight of American thrash. And I hope it does too, because these guys are damn good and damn deserving.
8 out of 10.

Walken on MySpace.