Crustacean out of the shell

interview with Crustacean

ABSOLUTE KILLER THRASH !

That's what Crustacean is all about! The band plays an energetic mix between American thrash from the Eighties, Nineties' Scandinavian riffing and Pestilence-alike vocals.

The foundation for Crustacean is laid in 1989. After their mini-cd 'Headcleaner' in 1995 Crustacean decides to change course: A major line-up change follows. Their style, often compared to bands like 'Death' and 'At the Gates', makes way for the crude Slayer approach, resulting in their 2000 full length 'Burden Of Our Suffering' , which ended up 2nd place in Aardschok's Soundcheck! The band consists of ex-Acristichon, ex-Spina Bifida and ex-Master members and has a history of eight years of playing live, and that counts!

interview with Michel on 14-3-2002


Please give us a short introduction of yourself?
Well, I'm Michel or MKK haha, I live in Tilburg, I am 31 and a systems engineer.

How glad are you to be part of the band? An are the others happy with you?
I'm very happy to be part of Crustacean. We're all good friends and we play the music we really like to play. We've lived together for three years before we each went our own separate ways so we know who we are haha. I can imagine the others hating me sometimes when I'm bossing them, but hey someone's got to do it.

How do you see the band? To make money or metal fans that are playing their fav tunes?
I guess we are metalfans playing the tunes we all dig. We think recording an album is the ultimate thing to do, and we do not earn any major money with that. We do make some money, but it's nothing compared to what we make with our jobs.

The band changed style around 1995. What were the reasons? Think it was a positiv change?
At that time Tmp, Jvi and I were also playing in another band called Walker. We played many (thrash)covers in the rehearsalstudio and recorded a demo and the reviews it got were fabulous. We did some gigs and it felt better than the Crustacean gigs at that time. So we thought it was time for Crustacean to change. To be precise: Walker became Crustacean, we switched style and members.

You are from the city Tilburg. How often can you be found in the Batcave or 013? To what kind of places do you go to seek some pleasure?
Me and my friends hang out in Bat Cave almost every week. Not that we remember anything afterwards, but I guess we have some fun in there. Other places we go are also in Tilburg, Extase, Cul de Sac, Polly just as long as there's beer and women haha.

Did you ever visited the red ligths and spend some money?
Nope. Maybe when I'm 45 and single, but I've never been tempted to do so before haha.

Also visit the pink monday on the fancy fair every year?
Haha, no, I only watch it on my television. Well... I do have to walk among my pink brothers because I live in the city center, but I hate the fair. (I don't hate gay people by the way, I've got some gay friends and they're hilarious to hang out with).

Why do you play aggressive thrash? Think this style has a right to exist today or should it have stopped in the late eighties?
I don't know whether we play aggressive thrash or not. I was under the impression our last album was a deathmetal album. Everybody tells me our music resembles Slayer, but I don't know if that's true. And even if we do sound like Slayer, what's the big deal? They don't sound like themselves anymore, they totally suck nowadays. As do many of those 'gods'. When people say we sound like an 80's band they often mean: you guys ain't original. My reaction: Not true! Everybody sounds like Cannibal Corpse/Morbid Angel/Arch Enemy/Carcass.... we don't and we're one of the few. Some music never dies. Black metal will, doom metal did, thrashmetal and deathmetal won't.

What were your fav bands when you start listening? What did you do to follow them? Buying albums, visit concerts, write them etc?
In the beginning I listened to Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax. I lived in Breda at the time, so I visited a lot of concerts in Tilburg, Noorderligt. When I moved to Tilburg I made some new friends. Some of them came from Eindhoven and went to Dynamo cafe a lot. I joined them every week and got to know a lot of people. Eventually I got to work for their magazine, Dynamite. I did some reviews and interviews with Death, Incubus, Scyclad, Cannibal Corpse, Dead Head... and I never had to pay for cool concerts anymore!! So I saw a lot of shit and got a bit tired of it. Because I also did album reviews, I had a lot of albums at the time, but I've sold 'em all.

For Crustacean I've written a lot of letters and sent loads of flyers to obscure countries haha. Did some trading and sent in our music for tape-compilations and so on. But I'm not really into that anymore. I like to do interviews like this one, but I'm not flyering or trading. It's much more effective to place an add in Aardschok to reach a lot of people right?

How many bandpatches did you had on your denimjacket then? Do you still have them? Do you have some relics from that period?
I do have all my metal-shirts, the ones that are in one peace that is. I hade a denimjacket with badges, true. But I don't have that anymore. Would be cool though... I've sold all my records, just because I was completely out of money when I was studying. It's a shame, because some did have autographs...

Do you think a specific kind of clothing is important when you belong to a scene? What kind of clothes do you refuse to wear?
No. I think it looks cool when you see a bunch of longhaired old guys in leather and denim jackets, but I don't think it's necessary. You belong to a scene as soon as you buy records, visit concerts and make friends. That's all that's important to me.

What are your fav crustaceans to eat? What kind of food do you prefer as diner? What do you consume after a gig?
Hmmmm...well, I don't really know. I like French fries. As you know I was completely out of money as a student. I ate French fries every day for like a year or so. I guess I'm hooked haha. After a gig I consume BEER. YES! That's because we don't drink beforehand.

If you have to pee during a gig what do you do? Sweat it out, go of stage?
I've never had that really. I can drink 2 litres of water when I'm on stage, but I never have to pee. Right before we go on it's much worse. I just keep on going to the loo then.

What is the thrill of playing live? What do you hear on stage? What do you see when you look in the audience?
Often there's no thrill at all. I'd say that 2 out 3 gigs are boring for the band. And then there's that magical 1 out of 3 when everything is just fantastic. A good crowd, some good volume onstage, too high a temperature... I don't know why and what but these gigs just rule. Often these are the gigs that you play for large crowds. You don't see any faces anymore, just a crowd of people. That's always a good sign.
Compared to what these people hear the onstage sound often is dull. I like to crank the volume up, to get in the mood you know.

Where are your long hairs to headbang on stage?
Yeah, we've all cut our hair five years ago. Just fits our lifestyles better. When I'm onstage I sometimes wish I'd never done that, but when I'm at work or in a bar I feel just fine the way I am now.

Is it easy to get the groupies in the dressingroom? How many are you letting in?
Let me make something clear here: metal and women don't mix. Most women we see at shows are ugly as hell. Or they look like guys. Is it easy to get them in the dressingroom? I don't want to know that! Hahaha. JVI is married, TMP is about to marry, FDA is living together and I'm specialized into ashtray relationships where the girls come and go. When we're at a venue we concentrate on our show and talk with fans. We're not thinking sex at that moment.

Who was your fav Spice Girl? How many times did you fantasise her naked?
I really don't know who to choose from. I know some of their names, but I don't know what name belongs to what face. And I do not have to fantasise about them being naked, I've actually seen them all naked! Their pics are all over the internet and I wouln't have missed much if I hadn't seen 'em.

How many bodyguards do you have? How are they trained and how do they react?
Haha, none, I'm a ninja myself. I've got the power to bore you to death!! Old Chinese wisdom...

Do you practice sports yourself? Big fan of what?
Nope. Just some weightlifting that's all. I like to watch formula 1 and soccer, but I won't stay up late for it.

Can life of a topsporter be compaired to a metal musician?
Yeah, in some cases maybe. But I think a sportsman won't live such an unhealthy life. The effort is the same, the food different you know. I can't imagine a sportsman lighting a cigarette and drinking a beer after a marathon. A metal musician will do so and therefore sooner or later will collapse or has to do some cocaine.

Say some promotional words about BRUTALISM as I am promoting Crustacean?
Hey man, if you're lost in metal, Brutalism can show you the way. Look at the links to distro, labels, bands...very good!!

Last rites?
Yeah sure, everybody: buy our R E C O R D, coz you'll love it! Hahaha. Read da fuckign review on brutalism, you'll see...
Band:
Interviewer: twansibon
Mar 14, 2002
Next interview: Cropment interview

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