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.

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PLACEBO release “Bright Lights” (the new single version mixed by Dave Bascombe) today in UK, France, Australia and on February 26th in Germany. This is the third single to be taken from the album Battle For The Sun.

For any fans who got the chance to see Placebo live during their current Winter Tour, you will have been treated to the new arrangement of the song.

Available on the varying formats of “Bright Lights” you will find a new remix by the up and coming UK Drum and Bass producer Randomer, an exquisite live semi-acoustic version of “The Never-Ending Why” from the SFR session in France, plus the stunning new video for “Brights Lights” exclusively on iTunes.

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Genres: Alternative, Synthrock, Rock
Labels: Mute, Reprise

1997 was a great year for music. Hiphop was getting unprescendented airplay, rock and metal were seeing strong sales, and even country was at a high point.
1997 was a great year for Depeche Mode as well. They released Ultra, an album that is no less than a masterpiece, possibly their best one at the time, and it could still well be the best they’ve done.
Classic tracks are all over this disc, and not just the four singles (“Barrel of a Gun”, “It’s No Good”, “Home”, “Useless”). “Sister of Night” and “The Bottom Line” are phenominal, as is “The Love Thieves”.
Super dancy, rock as fuck, and darker than a black hole, Ultra is in my own personal Music Hall of Fame.
10 out of 10.

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