Welkin

interview with Welkin

It all started in the summer of '97.. (doesn't that sound romantic?) when Pepijn and Demis started a project with Jacob (ex-URN, ex-LOCUSTA) after their HC-band PILGRIM broke up. After a few weeks of intense writing Maarten joined the band to become the singer. As the music evolved, all members agreed that the band needed a second guitarplayer; to intensify and brutalize their sound, jacob introduced Steven aka Lord QW.

In April '98 WELKIN played a first gig at Decadance Gent with EUPHORBIA which put the guys back on the map. In the months that followed they worked on new material and had some gigs in the Gent-area.

But then lightening struck! In December '98 Jacob and Steven decided to leave the band for each their own personal reasons. On December 17th '98 they played a last gig. The end of a beautiful era... After a few good talks WELKIN started looking for a new guitarplayer and drummer. But just as they found Davy and Frank, who had been playing together for a few months, Maarten decided to leave the band to become front man of the darkmetal band MANIC MOVEMENT.

So after finding a decent rehearselspace, WELKIN started out without a singer. There where some gigs with guestvocalists as the band continued the search for a singer.

In Januari 2000 some mayor descisions were made! Demis gives up his trusted bass to become the new singer and frontman. And WELKIN could announce the happy return of the long lost son Steven, this time as bassplayer extra-ordinaire. So in januari 2000 WELKIN was complete again! In the months that followed they worked really hard and set their self the goal to make a new start in the summer of 2000. In july they gave a first gig in their hometowns most known pub 'The Frontline' and in August they started recording the demo 'The Untold' which was proudly released in October from that same year. The first bash of CD's was sold out in no time.

2001 is the year where WELKIN showed Belgium what they stand for. The music grew more brutal with the note and they played about 15 gigs all over the country. Playing with some of Belgium's finest, and getting to know loads of new people, they kept having a blast on every occasion. WELKIN grew to become a band to be reckoned with.

Now in 2002 they continue on this path and even break trough the borders of their small home country to play gigs in Portugal and Holland. All this live experience results in a solid and tight stage act. Combine this with the welkin-sound and the lyrical whirlwinds in Demis' head and you'll understand why they got signed under The Spew Records to release their debut album 'Angel Inside'. 1 November 2002 a piece of Welkin brutality was unleashed upon the world. What will follow is the future...

interview with Demis on 02-01-2003

Please give us a short introduction of yourself?
Hmmm... well... we are 5 weirdos from Belgium that make a lot of noise! And somehow all that noise gets really structured in to something they call songs... It's my task to grunt and scream as loud as possible so people don't here what the other four are playing. In the end it seems that we play some kind of Deathmetal with groovelike hardcore influences.
We've kept this skeem up for two years now with the current line-up.

So were your parents a big fan or Demis Roussos?
Yeah.. my father was at the time ..it's sad really... I've been named after a fat greec singer...
Still, I'm glad he didn't listen to any Belgian singers or I would have ended up with a name like Willy (I would here by like to appologise to all people called Willy for my degrading remark.. but hey.. with a name like that you must be used to it by now!)

The debut is out now and how are the reactions to it? Some unexpected?
Some are really unexpected! There are people buying it!!!! We got support from directions we never expected and even some of the most critical bastards we know, that usually slap us against the head with degrading remarks are now tapping us on the shoulder. And in a good sence hehe. But we still have to wait for the reactions of magazines etc. Most promos just left a few weeks ago.
Even some big superstores are selling our cd's to support us.. so all you multinational haters out there: have any of you seen my dog?

How were your emotions after the release? Turned out like you hoped?
Emotions... well we are glad that the cd is released. We always have been down2earth lads. We knew that our first release would be a big test... a total new experience. And ofcourse there are some things that we'll do different next time, but due to the fact that we never rushed into anything we feel everything just went like it had to go... nothing was forced, no real tensions.. we are next to bandmembers, real good friends. What made this result a whole lot easier. So emotions after the release: happy and stronger than ever. Turned out like you hoped : yes. :)

And what would you have changed when there was enough time left?
We would have experimented more with the sound... more and different guitars.. different vocals...
And we would have recorded one more track. ’Time’ was left out because of time and money shortage.
An other thing we would have changed is our drummers breast size... he isn't happy anymore with his a-cup... well I guess he kinda has been watching QW -our bassplayer - 2 much.

How did you end up with the Spew? Did Svencho helped you?
We came in contact with The Spew via Svencho.. he had been talking to Giorgio from The Spew about us while working on the Leng Tch'e release... we send Giorgio the recordings (we recorded everything before we found a label... brave and cute!) and he was so impressed he decided to release it with us. And we are really happy with that! The Spew must be the best undergound label ever. Giorgio is one hell of a guy! We are mighty satisfied with his work.

Did you know that Svencho is the most mentioned person in the booklet?
Is he? hahaha.. well we have a lot to thank him for.. he has been verry supportive of us from the first time he met us. He believes in us like no other. Don't ask me why! I think he has been banging his head just a bit to much.. ;) !

To what kind of music do you listen to yourself? Your fav bands? What music do you vomit on?
All five bandmembers have a wide taste in music. I myself I'm in favor off any music with low sounds and loads of bass. I've been listening to Bloodbath all evening and now I'm giving my System Of A Down CD an other run. After that I just might dig up DJ Shadow if I ever find it again in all this mess. I'm not quit mad about black metal or that 80's glamrock shit.

Did you follow the news about Frank Wissen who went up in space last week?
Frank Winnen.. well they slapped us around the ears with that story for weeks now!
Did you see the thing he came down in?! Damn astronauts.. more like astronuts!

Ever wanted to be an astronaut yourself? What would you like to be when you were a little kid?
I wanted to be a jerk... I'm glad that turned out right hahahah

Do you have a job now? Something you studied for? What would be your dream job?
I'm a graphical designer and webdesigner, but I studied for landscape architect !
At the moment I really work a lot with flash. Making animations etc...fun stuff
My dreamjob is millionair or pimp.. If only I could combine both... hmmm

The lyrics reflect your state of mind. Find them important? See them as little poetry?
My Lyrics are really important to me. They state not only my state of mind, but also very important moments in my life.
Every lyric has it's own story, it's own memory. In a way those lyrics are my diary.
The strange thing is that everybody gets their own vision on what they are about. And they all are so convinced that they are right hehehe. But just that makes it safe for me to share those feelings and memories with our audience. Till now their has only been one person that understands what I'm writing about. And just that inspired me to write my best lyric yet.

Are you interested in any form of art? Paintings, poetry, tattoos, oral sex?
I myself draw and I'm a graphic designer... Frank (our drummer) is a painter and Pepijn (guitars) is also a graphic designer. About 80% of our friends give in to one or more forms of creativity. And ofcourse we all enjoy the fine art of sex in any form and playstation 2.

Do you think you help to place Belgium on the map in the DM scene?
I think every DM band in Belgium has it's small part in that. But it still are the giants like Aborted and Suhrim that make a real difference. In this past year we played several gigs outside our own little country and our cd is spread worldwide. Who knows what the future may bring.

Can you remember the old bands from Belgium like Crossfire, Killer and Acid?
The names ofcourse ring a bell (certainly Killer) and I'm sure our bassplayer could give us a nice 40 page essay about any of these bands, but I myself am not really familiar with these bands. They get mentioned in coversation about the old days and in Belgianmetal history.

What do you do to promte the album? What is the most fun part of promotional work?
Naked fotoshoots, spraypainting airplanes with our logo, dancing the macarena, hanging posters, making shirts, sending promos, doing interviews, playing loads of gigs where our lovely assistents convince everyone to buy our cd :) And the gigs rule! Certainly since the cd was released. It seems that people are really getting to know are music, what result in mayor sing-a-longs and headbang madness!

Tell the people how happy you are to appear on the BRUTALISM site?
I've been smiling for weeks now and I've been looking for a laser to hump to get rid of all that exitement!

Something we should know what to do when meet you at a gig?
Yeah stay away from our bassplayer... he is mighty dangerous! And keep your girlfriends away from Frank!!!!! ;)

Your chance to promote the band without notice of censorship?
Well... WELKIN are 5 nutcases and real friends with really different backgrounds that make true, honest and brutal DM with a really personal message. Our debut release reflects 2 years of hard work and musical evolution. We 'll be kicking asses live all over europe in 2003 so come and check us out. We always have a great time so join us ;)

Last rites?
BRUTALISM has been supporting us for a while now (by posting our mp3's etc). Thanks dude! I really had fun answering these questions.
See you all on some gig one day and have a blast! los ballos!
Band:
Interviewer: twansibon
Jan 2, 2003

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