The female touch of Desensitised
DESENSITISED was formed in 1994 by Jozef (bass/vocals), Susan (guitars/vocals) and Rutger (drums/vocals). As the songs developed, the band realised it became more and more difficult to play and sing at the same time, so they decided to look for another singer who was found in the person of Jo. In 1995 they recorded their first demo called “Your final ride”. (The band was called CATAFALQUE at the time).
Jo left the band one year later and they continued as a threesome again. With this line-up the band played several gigs in The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany with bands like Dead Infection, Rot, Inhume, Agathocles, Malignant Tumour, Rebaelliun and many more. Due to a series of line-up changes the band was forced to stop for a while.
At the end of 1998 they started afresh with the following line-up : Susan (guitars) Steven (vocals) and Rutger (drums). Not discouraged by the fact that they did not have a bass player the band started to perform and write new material again.
In September 2001 the band changed their name from CATAFALQUE into DESENSITISED and recorded their debut CD, which contains seven songs of extreme death metal incorporating elements of grindcore.
Early 2002 Rutger decided to leave the band and bassplayer Raets (who helped the band out with the recordings) was replaced by Jeroen.
Their MCD called “Thriving on carnage” was released in July 2002.
interview with Susan on 27-8-2002
Please give us a short introduction of yourself?
Well, I'm Susan, 26 years old, guitarist of Desensitised and I have played in this band for over 8 years now.
Do you feel the need to say something about the others?
Sure!! Our other band members are our singer Steven who has been in the band since '98, our new bass player Jeroen and hopefully our new drummer Rick. We have rehearsed twice with him and it all sounded very promising.
When you started in 94 why was it difficult to play and sing together? There are so many people who play and sing at one time?
Might be true, but the situation was that I only played the guitar for 9 months when I started the band, so obviously it took a lot of time and effort to master my instrument at that time. Once you feel more comfortable with your instrument there's space to do some other things like singing for example.
Why do you play metal? Why not play triangle in a school orchestra?
Haha! I can give you a very brief answer: 'cause I love it!!!
Can you remember what brought you into the metal scene? When? Which bands?
I started listening to metal when I was 11. I discovered metal through a radio station. It started with bands like Ozzy, Saxon, Iron Maiden and so on. When I was 14 I was introduced to death / grind bands like Carcass, Morbid Angel, Napalm Death, Entombed, etc and have loved them ever since!
Which people do you admire and why?
People who stand up for themselves and live their own lives. People who do their own stuff instead of letting others determine how they should talk, live, dress, etc.
What do you attract in the metal scene?
What attracts me is the feeling of unity and of course the style of music which can be a very good way of expressing yourself.
Do you think you have to work harder because you are a girl?
I don't think so....I mean, whether you're a man or a woman: if you want to earn recognition you need to practise and be confident in what you want to put across.
What are the prejudice opinions towards women in the metal?
Perhaps that they think they will be accepted just because of the fact that they are women, which isn't always the case. You also need to have certain skills. There are a lot of women out there who know exactly what they are doing and who are also very good at that!!
Do you have some prejudice remarks towards men in the metal?
I guess this might not be a prejudice: the type of men who swallow everything meekly just because of the fact they see a woman on stage. Who just keep staring instead of listening. I mean, there's also a lot of crap female performers out there .
What do your parents think of the metal scene and about you being metallized?
They still can't understand it all even though I have been in the scene for so long. In my opinion they take everything too seriously. I mean, it's all tongue in cheek....However, they do like the fact that I play in a band and that we have released a CD. I sold the first CD to my mum, haha!
Do believe in born and die with the metal? Think metal is a seperate chromosone?
I have never thought about it like that. For me it's something I grew into.
Can you remember your fav toy in your childhood?
No.......
What is the musical difference between Catafalque and Desensitised?
Desensitised is more serious and more mature.
In my opinion there should be guitarleads in brutal DM? So why are there none in yours?
I agree! We also have songs with guitarleads. The main reason why there aren't any on our MCD is the fact that everything was recorded in one day, so there simply wasn't enough time. Our next CD will have leads though!
What makes a good song to you? Are there specific elements that has to be in a song?
A good song should have a good punch. It should sound logical so that you can remember it easily. It should also be varied and that doesn't necessarily mean that it has to have 1000 different riffs, which many bands do nowadays. That's something I don't like.
Is there a song that is the number 1 song to you? Can you explain why?
Color No, there are lots of songs I really like. However, ’Reek of putrefaction’ from Carcass is a very special song to me as it introduced me to the band. Carcass is a band I really admire (still...)
Describe your feeling when you see someone in a Desensitised shirt? I wouldn't know as we haven't printed any shirts yet, haha! But we are considering that.
How does a gig look like? In other words how do you behave on stage?
Naturally, I'd say. We express what we feel at that time. We don't want to force ourselves into something that others might expect from us.
When you rehearse do you also practice some dancemoves for the live gigs?
Wahahaha.....!! I know that a lot of bands do this but it's something that wouldn't work for me.... Like I said in the previous answer: we do whatever we feel like when we're on stage.
What will you never do with your body?
Have it tattooed.
Say something that makes people want to contact you?
I have enormous tits!!! Hahaha!! (Might work though!) No, seriously, what can I say?? I think, people who still have this early 90s death metal / grind feeling will like our stuff and can always contact us : info@desensitised.nl
Last rites?
Thanks a lot for this interview!! People who are interested in buying our CD can send 10 Euro or $10 (incl. p&p) to the contactaddress below or can have a look at our homepage first: http://www.desensitised.nl
