Intervjuer - The Nemesis Noise Project (SWE)

Why the long name?

W - Well…are you ready? I had come up with the name Nemesis since that’s the name of the newest Resident Evil game which we are all fans of. Then we found out about a Finnish band who were called Nemesis, and by a coincidence I had already made a banner…

J - Explain what a banner is…

W - Ehhh, a banner is a small…

C - Sign?

W - …with the name the Nemesis Noise Project. Then everybody saw it and we decided to go with it. It’s sort of unusual and can’t be linked with our music…it’s a classic. That’s about it.

 Next question is…What’s your definition of the word punk?

W - Punk is attitude. I think it’s a way to express yourself without getting a label on you.

C - You don’t have to be a punkrocker to say that.

D - Remember what Dennis Lyxzén said at the Lost Patrol show; ”punk is in your blood, not your clothes”.

W - You shouldn’t have to listen to the right band or wear the right clothes with this fucking that’s-the-way-it-should-be theme.

D - AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!! (playing Tekken 3 against Marcus)

W - Let’s take the next question.

 You recorded some songs last week. Tell me about the results.

C - Good or no…it went well.

D - What?

C - I’m answering some questions.

W - It was really relaxing. I’ve recorded there earlier so I know the atmosphere.

C - I think it went surprisingly fast. I almost thought that we would be recording far in to the night.

W - I also thought it would take a while since there’s a completely other rotation compared to the band (Torment) I played in before.

J - I think the results were really good…don’t you think?

C - The soundquality is nothing to complain about.

W - We recorded four songs…ehhh…two relatively new ones which were kind of tricky when we were to record them

C - But it went very well. 

The suicide guide is the name of one of your songs. In what way does that song represent you as a band?

C - You’ll have to ask Daniel that question since he writes all our lyrics.

W - Well…all of the songs except the first one has some personality in them. The first lyric is based on the Zodiac Killer by a Halloween card he sent to the Washington Post. Since I recently had read about him and I thought it was interesting how he could trick the police without getting caught. But…ehhh…the suicide guide was kind of a therapy of how I felt like when I was younger. What more is there to say? This goes back to when my mom died 8 years ago.

J - Do you want to take another question?

C - Was there something about the other titles or songs you were wondering about?

J - Yeah, the last song on your demo is called, ”letters from the crazy camp”. What does the crazy camp symbolize?

D - It’s our version of Cornelis ”Brev från kolonin”. *laughter* (only funny if you know Swedish J)

W - It also symbolizes a time when I had more setbacks than progress and…ehhh…I went to see a psychiatrist because two personalities couldn’t bare with each other…not because I was schizophrenic. Well…

 If I say Isis or Neurosis, what do you say?

W - Ehhh…two bands I have discovered recently which symbolizes what I want to play. They have a simplicity in their songs but it still sounds really magical.

J - Anybody else who want to reflect on this? Hello!

C - They’re good.

D - Of course they play somewhat the same style as us (or actually vice versa) but we don’t try to copy them that much, instead we try to find our own style.

W - We know that when our demo will be reviewed, we will be compared to the bands we mentioned before.

J - But I think your more right on…more destruction and death. You get it?

C - Yeah such things are cool. I’m a big fan of deathmetal and grind.

W - Yeah it is…we’re coming back to the three chord punkrock…it’s the simplicity we’re after. It’s should be more right on the target before it breaks out again.

D - And we’re not talented enough to play some fancy shit. We’re not Converge you know…

W - Let’s take the next question.

(David puts on the demo and everybody is diggin´)

 How will the Nemesis Noise Project evolve?

C - Towards something better I guess.

W - You’re saying it as if we suck!

C - I didn’t mean that we’re bad, but you can always evolve.

W - The new songs will be more midtempo and even faster.

M - A bit more variation.

J - So we we’ll hear a faster and more mature Nemesis.

W - Yeah…I hope so. There will still be depth and strength in the songs and I think it can appeal to people in Belgium and Germany.

D - But we do NOT play Belgian metal! That’s extremely important to point out.

J - Not mosh-metal-kickboxin-windmill-h8000-style?

C - NOOOO!

W - It’s shit like that that destroys the audience’s interest. But if people feel like jumping around and having fun that’s ok, but it’s nothing that you should expect from people. It’s all up to the audience.

Two of you come from a small shithole called Munka Ljungby. Is the Nemesis Noise Project a result of four persons’ boring  situation in a small and predictable village?

M - Yeah it is.

D - Of course!

J - Please explain that some more.

D - Well…

W - Only two people in our band live in Munka Ljungby.

J - Munka Ljungby is as big as a fart in Jonas’s underwear.

W - The Nemesis Noise Project is probably a result of four similar but still different thinking individuals who…well…we complete each other quite good.

D - It’s sort of an emotional outlet I think. We all have different reasons for playing in this band but we share a common interest in music which we tap into when we play live or write songs.

C - We don’t all listen to the same music. It’s heavy music but not only hardcore.

D - Some of us actually don’t listen to hardcore that much. In my case many hardcore albums are played in a more nostalgic purpose. I mean, I don’t listen to Snapcase ”Lookingglasself” every day anymore like I used to ”back in the days”. I pretty much consider myself a emo/pop kid nowadays. But at the same time I like a lot of crazy stuff, Swing Kids, the Locust, Red Scare, that sort of stuff. You could say that I’m an emo/pop guy with some violent musical tendencies…

(hilarious discussion about Atom & His Package begins)

W - We’ve played…ehhh…we played in a band called Five Minutes Left before but with another setting och style. We had some difficulties deciding which style to play so we sort of had an eight month long jam session and it’s basically from that the Nemesis Noise Project developed from.

J - Five Minutes of what?

D - A classic question…

C - To nap time…

W - The name is associated with when people demand certain things of you and you say that you’ll take care with it in five minutes or so.

D - It’s the five minutes extra you want to sleep in the mornings. *laughter*

W - It’s when you lose your interest for something.

C - I think we should quit this discussion about Five Minutes Left…it’s so lame.

DW - It’s over…no more

 Daniel, you’re doing a fanzine. Tell me about it please.

W - The fanzine…well it’s called Modern Western Decay. The first issue will be released in a couple of weeks, and it will be out before your issue is out. Ehhh…interviews with Norway’s best band, JR Ewing, now defunct My Hero Died Today, Sweden’s hardest band Switchblade, and those crazy Americans by the name of Botch. Five questions with some local dudes…yeah…

J - I’ve already read the JR Ewing interview and it’s quite funny especially the thing about potatoes…but I won’t mention that here. Those who would like to know about the potatoincident will just have to buy the zine, right?

W -I agree. There are also some thoughts of mine written and everything else you could expect from a zine.

C  - Don’t forget my radioshow!

J - What radioshow?

C - Well my…ehhh…excellent metal show. You must have heard it Johan.

J - It has happened that I’ve thrown an ear or two on the loudspeakers…do you say it like that?

C - I guess. I only wanted you to include that part.

J - Is it a local radioshow?

C - yes…97.8 MHz…

W - It’s for all Swedish readers, and you should live within or around Ängelholm to be able to listen to heavy fuel smelling rock n´ roll. 

Is it fun to make interviews?

W - Under situations like this it’s very nice and it’s of course nice that someone appreciates our music and takes time to write down questions.

(David and Marcus are discussing the violent scenes in American Psycho)

J - The rest of you who haven’t answered, do you think it’s boring?

C - No, I just don’t have anything to say.

M - What? (pretending to have missed the question J)

W - If we should end this irony, I could say that i’m the most interesting person J That’s the definition of irony.

C - I’m badly thinking of climbing the bed in order to execute a superfly jimmy snooka and body slam Daniel in the head J

(Petter and Clemens are hiphoppin´ in da stereo)

J - What’s Petter and Clemens doing here?

DL - De bygger broer (also funny if you know Swedish or Danish)

W - That’s what all music is about…there’s no ”fuck you” attitude. 

Tell me about your best concert

C - Viewing or playing a concert?

J - Both.

C - Ehhh…I would say the Sepultura concert in Copenhagen and our show at Gottwalds.

M - the Deftones concert in Malmö.

W - It’s difficult to choose…

D - It’s VERY difficult to choose I’d say.

W - As for viewing a concert I’d have to say Turmoil, Converge and At the drive-in…and as for my self I’d have to say when I was a vocalist in Torment and we played in front of an audience of 3000 people at the Dour Festival in Belgium in 1998.

J - Yeah that was awesome. The Belgian dudes are weird. They don’t know any English so you have to use some sort of homemade sign-language.

W - The funniest thing was that when we were supposed to go down there, we hadn’t received any information at all. But those who we sort of hung out with were very nice and helpful but they smoke way too much weed.

J - Speaking of weed…I saw the singer of Congress lighting up the bouddah…straight edge my ass.

W - That wasn’t the only incident he was involved in. In the middle of a song he was preaching about not being so violent in the pit and not kickboxin, and two minutes later he jumped down and beat up a guy. David, what do you think about bands who say something but really don’t mean it?

D - It’s sad. In the case of Congress, they had already stopped the straight edge preaching and peoples opinions are allowed to change so the smoking weed-part doesn’t bother me that much, but at the same time you shouldn’t kick a guy’s ass just because he bothers you so that was pretty stupid of him. Talk is cheap I guess…

W - I’m so sick and tired of fake attitudes.

D - That’s the only thing they’ve got in Belgium *smile*

W - A fake attitude also means that you can attract a wider audience and sell more records…those who buy records should also feel the same things so it’s good if the band has the same views. That’s why we play punk instead of mainstream cause all that matters there is quantity and not quality.

(Fear of the dark is played loudly)

W - This is probably the best Iron Maiden song ever.

D - Everything they’ve done is great except for when Blaze Bailey was involved.

J - Have you heard the powermetal wannabee band Lifecycle…from Belgium? They suck.

W - I’ve heard it but it’s nothing that I remember.

J - In other words, it wasn’t so good.

D - I mean, it’s their problem if they play bad music and if they’ve released it. You don’t have to buy it you know.

J -That’s not what I meant…of course you don’t have to care about bands you don’t like. I just wanted to know what you thought of them.

W - It’s questions like that one that destroys the so called underground scene. People think it’s more enjoyable to disrespect other bands than to do something of their own.

D - We have nothing against Lifecycle…they might think we’re bad...what comes around goes around…

J - For my own good, let’s move on to the next question..

D - Wait a minute, I haven’t had a chance to list my favorite live stuff.

J - Be my guest!

D - Ehhh…in no particular order…Skycamefalling in their rehearsal-room, His Hero Is Gone at ABC No Rio in New York and At the drive-in in Lund.

W - Don’t forget your own best concert.

D - We haven’t played our best show yet...

(The hate- and ironyfactor is very high right now)

 Best record?

C - Piece of cake…

D - It changes from day to day I’d say.

C - It’s tough. One of my favorites is At the Gates - slaughter of the souls, and every Slayer album.

W - I have to say the Metallica - masters of puppets album, all categories.

C - Yeah, that one too.

W - Records rolling…

J - Does records roll?

W - …playing at the moment! JR Ewing - calling in dead, Isis - mosquito control (måsskit kontroll J)

J - And the rest of you? Marcus and David!

W - Just say something!

M & D - We’re waiting for our turn

goddammit!

D - Go ahead Marcus, you first.

M - Ehhh…Depeche Mode - violator, and Neurosis - times of grace (Daniel agrees)

J - That’s a weird combination Marcus.

M - Yep!

D - Do you want the whole list?

J - There’s a limit of five records.

D - JUST FIVE RECORDS!!!??? The record with most air-time right now is Iron Maiden - best of the beast.

J - You still have four records left.

D - Well…I’d say Texas is the reason - do you know who you are?, Social distortion - white heat white…(yadda yadda), the Get Up Kids - something to write home about, and finally Refused - the shape of punk to come. Awesome records!

J - That’s what happens when you ask a stupid question like that.

D - You’re the one to blame!

 Which question did I forget to ask you?

D - What do you want to achieve with the band?

J - Go ahead and answer it then.

D - We actually don’t want to achieve anything special with the band, we don’t have a certain political agenda and we are not trying to save the world.

W - But we do want to accomplish something with the band…record and play live…but we don’t want to label ourselves as  political revolutionaries.

D - We’re just four guys who like to play music.

J - Damn that Dickinson dude is howling!

D- Don’t give me any bullshit about Dickinson. He’s the best heavy-metal singer ever.

 Which question are you glad I didn’t ask you?

W - Any question concerning vegetarianism or straight edge.

D - That’s not important to us. I mean, it’s important to some of us but not as a band.

W - As I said before, we’re four similar but still different people and we want that to reflect the band instead of having some sort of label on yourself.

Any last words?

W - Visit our homepage, we try to have all the news and events there.

D - We try to update it as often as possible.

J - Computernerds?

D - You should talk…

W - And buy our demo! Write to: Daniel Wallenborg, Frejagatan 28, 26262 Ängelholm, Sweden. Email: [email protected]

J - Yeah…buy or die!

W - Our homepage can be found at: http://crash.to/thenemesis. Does any other of you guys have anything else to say?

C - Keep on rockin´!!!

D - Don’t just listen to one sort of music…be open to other genres.