| Facing a Hail of Bullets |
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| Written by Christopher Mygrant | |
| Thursday, 19 June 2008 | |
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Fears Magazine: Martin, first of foremost, thanks for taking time out of your schedule to speak with us; we greatly appreciate it. Okay lets get started shall we?
Martin: Well, basically you have a lot of fun. Response to the album is pretty overwhelming at the moment. But it all starts with a mutual interest and a mutual enjoyment in playing the old school Death Metal. You know when you get to a practice room, it doesn’t really matter what kind of name somebody has cause if you have really good fun in playing something you really like to play, then there is no problem in doing that. You got it right in that you (a band) could do it yourself, but the problem is then you have to send everything to all these magazines or internet sites. There’s hours and hours and hours of work by sending and going to the post office and everything and all that. It’s not just a money thing, but it’s also the time that is taken away from the music side of it. It’s much more easier for a musician to just a musician’s job. Fears: As mentioned earlier, you are known throughout the metal genre and for anyone that has been into metal for sometime knows your past and present endeavors. However, does it ever getting bothersome for people to refer to you as the “former” frontman for this band, ex-singer for that band? Do you ever feel like saying, “Yes, that is my past, but I am now the current singer of Hail of Bullets. That is my past, but I am in the present for now.” or is it something that you have to just embrace? Martin: Well I am present and the thing is, to be honest and it’s funny that you mentioned it (pause) now there’s a lot of people talking about the so-called resurrection of Pestilence and everything and my name is mentioned, but I’m not going to do it. But people come up to me and go, “You play a great Asphyx show and you’ve got a Hail of Bullets album coming out”, and then somebody comes up and goes, “Oh, why not join Pestilence again?” Sometimes, and I always try to be polite and try to be nice to people, but that’s when somebody can get on your nerves. They’ve just finished witnessing an Asphyx show yeah and we got this record out, why now bring all the shit up? For what? But on the other hand, I mean, I did some great albums with the band (Pestilence) and had a great time when I was in the band so it’s something that you can’t ignore. I mean it’s part of your progression, it’s part of your career, it’s a part of what you are now. I think, to be honest, if I didn’t (inaudible) in Pestilence, I wouldn’t be in Hail of Bullets now. Fears: The expanding of a musician’s horizons I would say is rather important. A way of doing that, I would surmise, is by listening to many types of music. True? Your thoughts? Martin: Of course it is important. I mean for example the way I put my vocals into songs and into riffs, it’s more or less like really natural and with a lot of feeling. Like I said in one interview before, like Blues singers do or something, I’m not the kind of guy that counts off in five-and-a-half and all cause I don’t like that. There was also a time where I really didn’t like a lot metal that came out for some years ago and I had to look for different kinds of music -yeah. And sometimes I have my days where I wake up and say, ‘Please, today, no metal.’ So then you listen to something else and that could be anything. Fears: For instance? Martin: I’ve listened to some really good, you know, hip-hop. I’m not talking about gansta rap or something; bitches and hoes, but there are some good rappers around and the same goes for Latin American music. I also like stuff like Salsa. So I think it’s really important to do that (listen to other forms of music). You will become really narrow minded if you stick to metal everyday. Fears: That is very true. A person may not like a particular style of music, but how can anyone say they don’t like something unless they have tried. I believe you are just cheating yourself in the long run. Martin: Yeah. But I am a singer and I have a completely different point of view than a musician who has to improve his skills on his instrument. I’m more a guy that, yeah, for me lyrics are more important than handling an instrument. So for me it’s like I need to keep up with things that are happening in the world and reading a lot. There is a difference. It’s difficult for me to speak from the musician’s point of view. Fears: What is your method for writing new material? Are you one of those lyricists who can just go into a room or studio and begin the process from scratch or are you constantly mauling over ideas in your head, writing them as they come to light? Martin: What I do when I have certain ideas for songs is that I write down the idea immediately. But first I need the song to work it out with. But, I don’t know, I have about two hundred song titles in my house somewhere. It’s like with Hail of Bullets, for example, when I worked on this war concept, I had this thing in my mind for a longer time, but I needed the songs and I needed the music and I needed the band to do that. For example, I couldn’t write like that in a band like Pestilence or something and I couldn’t write it with other bands that I was playing in. So now I have the chance and opportunity to write that out. For example, like strong political topics do not fit in a band like Hail of Bullets; for those ideas I need something else. But the question is, will that ever come? Fears: You mentioned that you are able to write songs that would not necessarily fit into the other bands you have performed with. Why is this? Was it because of the members? Was is just because of the time in place? Martin: In some way, if you want it or not, every band has a certain image. It doesn’t really matter if you want that or not. I mean Cannibal Corpse can say a lot of things, but they’ll always have this gory image and Morbid Angel will always have this kind of satanic and black magical mythology image. It doesn’t really matter. So to me, like, it’s hard to imagine that suddenly Cannibal Corpse comes up with a song that deals some political thing in America or something because they’re not a kind of band to do that with. Martin: I’ve tried my different things. When I was in the band Death by Dawn, I could develop some political things I had. I could write lyrics that I could never write before in my life. So I did that already and that was satisfactory. But in the end, obviously, there was nobody interested on it. It’s okay though, but I did my thing. So now with Hail of Bullets, I do something completely different. But I still like what I’m doing. But the things is really, you got to come back to what you mentioned before, I think it is really necessary as a musician to express what you feel from the inside. That is true. Because if you don’t have that, I think you slowly die as a performer from the inside. Fears: Other than “for the love of the music”, why do you still endure the rigors of the industry? Martin: Well, shortly (pause) to do that what I like most and to play the music that I like most, next to all the kinds of music I like, and performing with that music. To me making an album is okay. It’s more or less part of the job. It sounds maybe strange, but it’s part of the job. It’s a studio job. To me, it’s a live thing. You go on a stage, have tons of fun, bang your head off and do something that all these people that stand in front of you only can dream of and I have that privilege. Fears: And lastly, what can the fans expect to witness and experience when attending a Hail of Bullets show? Martin: It’s like a Panzer Division rolling all over you. People banging their heads, having loads of fun smiling and grinning. Fears: Martin, I must say it’s been a pleasure. Continued success. Marin: Thank you very much for the interview. It was really interesting man.
WEBSITES: http://www.myspace.com/hailoffuckenbullets LINK THIS ARTICLE             |
Fearsmag's own Christopher Mygrant recently got a chance to sit down and chat with Martin Van Drunen from metal band 
Martin: It’s just the love of the music. The thing is, I’ve had my break you know. I mean when I finished the thing in 
Martin: First of all, you must feel the love and the heart that the musicians put into it. The fact that they are metal heads themselves and the fact that they enjoy it a lot. I mean if there is no enjoyment in making an album, then what’s the use of it. To me, that’s essential. The most important thing, like I said, is to really begin to put your heart into it and when you feel that, you know it’s good. Even if people don’t like it, but at least still, you have the feeling that you did something good for yourself. But of course it helps a lot if everybody likes your album.
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