INTERVIEW WITH INTERLOCK

Can you tell me a little bit of the history of the band?

We've been going (from the first track written as Interlock) since late 1995, we've had a few years of searching for other members that would be suitable. There have been a few releases from us over the years; Demo '97, still Interlock but with a 4 track, still, it sounded bloody good for that; Rest (one song on No Holy Additives 2 compilation) our first track with Emmeline; Submerged our last 'proper' release and Seventh Harmonic Vs. Interlock, our collaboration with Ethereal darkwave band Seventh Harmonic, which mainly consists of remixes we did of them and a couple of tracks that aren't available elsewhere.

What can you tell me about the MCD "Submerged?

Our first release with Emmeline as a full time member. It was essentially a mixture of all the different styles and contrasts we're about. Death metal, Industrial, Dance (Trance, Drum n' Bass, House), Trip Hop, Nu metal, Doom... loads of stuff really. It's been brilliantly recieved, though I think some people are slightly unsure of how to take us.

How is the story of your participation in a Napalm Death cover version competition?

Haha, well, It was the Napalm 'do a cover version' competition they ran with the release of 'Inside the Torn Apart'. We just decided to do something that no-one else would do and sort of re-mix/cover 'Cursed to Crawl'. It ended up sounding like some bizarre drum n' bass chaos. We didn't win of course, that was the honour of some German act that just blasted out some note perfect carbon copy of something from 'From Enlavement...'

What are you searching in the vocal duets between Matt and Emmeline (or any of the female singers)? Are you trying to have more vocal range, more contrast, more textures?

Mmmm. Well Matt is no longer with us, we just found new singer, Hal, in the last couple of months... but things are going well so far. As for all of the vocals and experimentation within, I think Interlock strives for extreme within the contrast of the vocals. One reason for having two singers in the first place. The vocals allways need to be emotiotive for the listener. Be it a soulful duet that's soft and beautiful or a screaming slathering beastlike interplay between them.

How different are the vocals of the four female singers that you had through the history of the band: Anja, Sian, Pixie and Emmeline?

Pretty different really, Anja, didn't really stay around long enough to make that huge an impact in our sound. Sian, who sang on our first demo was doing it as a favor towards us... her style was VERY airy, and ethereal. I heard when she got the demo she was really dissapointed and wanted to know what I had 'done' to her vocals! hahaha... That's how she sounds! Pixie was our first 'proper' singer, though we never recorded anything for release with her. She had a firmer way of singing. Then there's Emmeline, who has been in the band for about 2 years now. She's really taken what Interlock sounds like and made it her own. It's just how she sounds... we never forced her to change or anything. her sound is slightly punky, really raw and emotional... it's cool.

Which is the evolution that you see between your first and your second demo?

Better production, having full time singers and therefore proper female vocal lines. The first demo's cool but not 100% what we're about. The material is still industrial and metal but there's a weakness to the production that lets it down in my opinion.

How important is experimentation in Interlock? How do you approach it?

Extremely important. We never ever reject an idea just because its hip hop or something slightly different to what we've done before. the point of Interlock is to experiment and keep it listenable and interesting.

How are Interlock Songs composed? Is the role of Lauren´s keyboards becoming more important?

Lauren isn't that bigger part of Interlock at the moment. She has other commitments. The majority of Interlock tracks are written by me, sitting at a computer with a guitar. Though the others are involved in the direction and style of what's going on and riff writing. After the musics almost finalise d, I'll give a track to whoever is writing the lyrics. It used to be only Matt, but now he's gone Emmeline and Hal look like they are writing a bit together.

What can you tell me about Cruciferous?

Cruciferous was a band I was in before Interlock, basically a Death Thrash outfit. We played one gig with them in feb 98.

Are the main influences of the band coming grom gothic music or are any other styles that have influenced you more?

I personally don't like goth that much, so as I'm the main songwriter, I find it amusing that people say our music is heavily influenced by goth! Maybe it's the way we look or something? I myself am much more into metal and dance. Hal's very metal and Emmeline's more goth and 80's... God alone knows all the stuff Syan listens to.

Which is the meaning of Interlock´s lyrics?

The lyrics tend to be fairly personal. No dungeons & Dragons or 'the world is being taken over by robots!' stuff.

Are you composing new material ? Will this be a full length release? How is the material compared to your other releases?

Indeed we are. We have a few tracks being written at the moment which are sounding cool. I doubt it will be a full release. It will be another ep/demo thing that we'll send to labels and the like, see what they make of them and if we don't get any responce then we'll put it out ourselves. This stuff could well be slightly heavier than before what with the live drums and Hal joining. Of course that doesn't mean that's all we'll be doing. We allready have a kinda hip-hop thing in the pipeline and lord only knows what else will happen in the next couple of months.

Something more to add?

Thanks for the interview. We hope to play wherever you are are when we're famous and rich! ; ) Check out our web site at www.interlock.freeserve.co.uk

 

INTERLOCK - DISCOGRAPHY

Demo 97 - demo (1997)

No Holy Additives 2 - compilation, Song: Rest

Submerged- CD

Seventh Harmonic Vs. Interlock - CD remixes

ACTUAL LINEUP

Matt -vocals

Emmeline May - vocals

John - programmer, composition

Syan - bass

INTERVIEW WITH INHUMATE

Grind/death band form France, Inhumate has released their new album "Growth" with a great sound and really good grinding tracks. Bassist Fred answered very gently our questions.

How is "Growth" doing now that nine months have passed since its release?

Very well !!! We already had to repress it . The first pressing was of 1000 copies and they were sold out and traded in approximately 6 months. I think that for a self produce band it's a good score ! Besides of this I did 50 interviews (with this one ) for mags and zines and we already had more than 50 positive reviews !

What can you tell me about your first demos "Abstract Suffering" and "Grind your soul" ? Do you still like them?

I can't say that I like them, it's months that I didn't listen to them... But they're a part of our past, a part of INHUMATE's life so I think this are interesting thing to understand the band's evolution through the years.

Looking back to all your career...are you satisfied with what you have done up to now? Is there something you would have changed?

When I look back I'm really satisfied of what we did with INHUMATE. The only thing I should change if everything was to be done again is that I'd investigate the underground scene and world earlier. I began to jump in that underworld and really promoting INHUMATE in 1995 / 1996. It's late I think... If I'd began to do it earlier, maybe should things have been further now... Who knows...

How much have you evolved since the "Internal Life" CD up to "Growth"?

It's always difficult to answer to such questions... I think this is a mag or zine's job to answer this. I could say that we play better and I think our music and lyrics are more interesting but I think it's all I can say if I wanna say objective...

Have the different line-up changes modified the music of INHUMATE?

2 line up changes really changed something in our music. The first one was the arrival of Valentin, our second drummer. When he arrived he brought the absolute grind core playing in INHUMATE. Before his arrival we were playing classical death metal but he wanted us to play faster and after his departure we understood that it was the only for INHUMATE to be ! The second big change happened of course when Christophe and Yannick arrived (in 1996) to create the actual line up. With them we began the true life of INHUMATE, after the dark we entered the light !!!

Can you make a comparison between the ex members of INHUMATE and the actual members of the band?

The actual line up was made to play in that fucking band ! What else can I say ? All the guys that played in INHUMATE were cool guys and helped the band the best they could, time's passing and things were changing, now it can't anymore...

What expectations do you have of the show that you are going to make with Sepultura on May?

I think it is gonna be a really great show because we can expect more than 3000 people. We never played in front of such a big crowd. But in the other side, the problem is that the people that will come to visit that show have never heard about grind core I think... So we gonna play and they gonna cry... Ah, ah, ah... Hope so !!! You know I don't really care what people gonna think about our music and how things will be. I'm sure it will be killer for us just because of the size of the stage ! The only interesting thing we can do there is to bring some fashion follower to the true underground scene.

How was "Growth" composed and recorded?

Like all other INHUMATE stuffs. We compose in our rehearsal room, than Christophe makes the lyrics, then we work all the music with a metronome and finally we enter the studio for the recording. We work very hard to have interesting song and a good sound.

Why are three parts of the song entitled "I want to kill some..."? Which is the concept behind? Where is the second part?

There is absolutely no concept behind those tracks. The missing word is free... Everybody can put his hate in the last (missing) word. So if you wanna kill your neighbour, when you listen to the track you just have to say his name is the noise moment... Ah, ah, ah !!! The second part of it is a ghost track on our 1st CD "Internal Life".

Do you like doing split tapes or CDs with other bands? Do you think that that is the way for people that don't know about the band to know your music?

I think all the ways to be known by other people are interesting. Split tapes, split EP, split CD, compilation tapes or CD, etc...We did several split tapes (with FUNERAL MARCH, DISEMBOWEL, TRAUMA TEAM, MAGGOT SHOES, EXHUMATOR, SANGUINARY, TRAUMATISM, DEPRAVED, MUCUPURULENT, BLOODSHED, PULMONARY FIBROSIS) and many compilations (to know the exact list feel free to have a look on our website (http://www.inhumate.com). All this always helped us to promote INHUMATE and we think that it's the only way for a self produced band because we're not rich enough to buy full pages adv. In magazines...

Is there anything more that you want to say?

Thanx a lot for this interview and I'm really glad that you enjoyed our show in Gent. We always try to give all we can on stage. To all readers I just wanna say that they can write me at

INHUMATE

c/o Fred ANTON

1 rue du college

67170 BRUMATH

FRANCE

INHUMATE@ifrance.com

http://www.inhumate.com

We do also have a huge underground distro with only brutal death and grindcore stuffs (most CD), write at :

GRIND YOUR SOUL Distro

c/o Yannick GIESS

61 route de l'hopital

67100 STRASBOURG

FRANCE

yannick.giess@free.fr

All letters will be answered, we are 100% underground and 100% no rip off !!! STAY SICK !!!

INHUMATE - DISCOGRAPHY

Abstract Suffering - demo (1993)

Grind your Soul - demo (1995)

Internal Life - CD (1996)

Ex - Pulsion - CD (1997)

Growth - CD (2000)

ACTUAL LINEUP

Christophe : vocals

David : guitar, backing vocals

Fred : bass

Yannick :drums