INTERVIEW WITH BODYFARM

Emerging Dutch Death Metal mob Bodyfarm got a good stripping over when I spoke to their guitarist / vocalist Thomas Wouters, this band are looking set to be the natural successor to Hail of Bullets, check it out.

1. Who came up with the band name and what does it mean to you personally?

When Quint (drums) and I just started Bodyfarm, we named our very first song after the band’s name. We didn’t have a band-name yet and Quint thought it would be a good name for our band. I was skeptical at first, but Quint convinced me. It’s catchy and short. That name is part of our lives ever-since, haha.

2. How did you guys form and were their any line-up changes since the beginning?

In the late summer of 2009 I asked Quint if he were interested in starting a death metal band together. We were both in other bands back then and those bands didn’t please us any more. Quint was interested, and a few beers later we had a new band! A few weeks later Winfred Koster joined (ex-Pleurisy, ex-Bloodphemy) us. He rehearsed with us a few times but then he kind of magically disappeared and never showed up again. So we went looking for other musicians and we found them, Bram Hilhorst (guitars) and Mathieu Westerveld (bass) who were already friends of ours.

3. You signed to Abyss Records, can you explain how this came about?

Yeah we did. Abyss Records contacted us through MySpace right after we uploaded our very first tracks. They offered to release our EP in jewel case and booklet. We’re still waiting on that though. The slipcase is already for sale at the Abyss Records web-shop.

4. With Dutch Death Metal concerned, do you feel it has become a common genre in the Netherlands?

The metal scene here is pretty big and I think there’s a lot of death metal fans amongst us. Outsiders don’t have clue what death metal is about but I think that counts for pretty much every country. I’m glad The Netherlands have a pretty big metal scene. There are a lot of festivals here, and a lot of club shows for major death metal bands to play. The death metal underground is less popular. That sometimes frustrates me. I think we are a bit spoiled, hahaha.

5. You're currently in the studio preparing for your debut album, how long has this taken, how many songs will there be and what other information can you give us?

Yes! The drum recordings are planned for late September. Writing this album has taken a lot of time. We’ve been doing a lot of gigs, so most of the time we’ve been rehearsing for shows, but all the material is done now and we’re ready to enter the studio. There will be 10 tracks on the album, including a cover from a legendary U.S. death metal band. The artwork will be done by Erik Visser, who also did artwork for the latest Severe Torture album and our friends I Chaos. This album is gonna kick ass if I may say so myself, and we’re looking so forward to the result! The material on it will be in the same style as on the EP, but my vocals have changed in a good way. They’re lower and aggressive.

6. Your self titled debut EP, what was the general response you got from it?

The responses where surprisingly good from all over the world. People seem to like it that we only do what we love, and not trying to be innovative or technical or something. I think our music is ‘honest’ death metal. The responses we got really motivate us to continue with this band, and make a killer album.

7. Does any of the band members play in any other bands, if so which ones? If not, who would your dream band be to play with?

Quint plays in a punk/streetcore band, Bram has his own brutal death metal band called Cavitation and Mathieu plays in Baatezu. I don’t want to play in a second band, I’ve got my hands full on Bodyfarm.

8. Finally what can we expect from Bodyfarm in the next few months or so?

In the next few months you can expect some video footage from the studio! Quints drumming, vocals, guitars, etc. Maybe some rough samples from the mix. For all of you who care: checkout www.myspace.com/bodyfarmnl, but mainly: hook up with us on Facebook! We’re not that hard to find, haha.