Hmm..difficult question actually, cause I've never practiced on my guitar with a certain musician in mind. I started playing classical guitar when I was 8 years old. Did that for like 10 years and it helped me alot to get the "feeling". So when I started playing electric guitar (aged 16), I already had some kind of background. When I was 18 I entered the Rotterdamn College of Music in The Netherlands and that's where I really started to grow as a guitarist, cause I learned alot of different styles (blues, jazz, rock, pop, etc) and it was the first time I had someone who could teach me how to play the goddamn thing in a good way. Now I'm 23 and I'm still working on technique and feeling everyday. Lately I'm playing alot of Andy Timmons-based shit. I love his way of phrasing and he's got great guitar lines, so you might hear some Simmons influences on the next GOD DETHRONED album. Alot of journalists told me my playing on "Lair of the White Worm" reminds them of ARCH ENEMY's Michael Amott. I guess cuz of the vibrato...
How would you describe your music?
Basically it's death metal (with black and thrash parts) with alot of attention for melody. Actually I think those melodies have become a GOD DETHRONED trademark.
Where is your favorite place to tour?
Personally I don't really care where we're playing or how many people are banging their balls off, cause I just love to go totally berzerk on the stage or jump off into the auidence. I just try to make a party of it every day again and every party (wherever it may be on this goddamn planet) turns out the same: being drunk! So I guess the best place to tour is the place with the best beers! ;)
Any chance GOD DETHRONED will tour the States anytime soon?
Yeah! We're working on it, but nothing's confirmed yet. So at this moment I can't give you much information about it, but if all goes well, we're going to tour the states after this years european summer festivals. So I guess you can expect us in September/October. We're really looking forward to spread some chaos in America!
What's the craziest thing GOD DETHRONED has done as a band?
Hehe..I can talk about crazy and stupid things a whole day, cause believe me, there's alot of things going wrong when we're on the road! On our last tour we had to take a boat from Germany to Denmark. The night before we drank too much beers and I didn't sleep at all, so I took a nap on the boat (together with some guys from Summon). After a while we woke up but we couldn't find the tour bus anymore. So we got off the boat and realised we were in Germany again! So the other guys had to wait for like almost two hours in Denmark. Man, they were mad! And we were too, cause them stupid asses didn't wake us up! Hehe...
How well has your new album, "The Lair of the White Worm" done in sales? (May I mention I love the album!!)
Thanx! We don't know the exact number of sold records yet, but Metal Blade told us the sales are much better than "Into the Lungs of Hell", so it looks very good at the moment. Ad we're still doing alot of promotional gigs here in Europe, the summer fests are coming, and then we'll tour the States, so I think this will be the best selling GOD DETHRONED album so far.
Who mainly does all the songwriting and who writes the lyrics?
Henri (vocals/guitars) and Arien (drums) wrote the last album in about six weeks. I came in two weeks before the recordings and I only wrote my solos and some melodies. Henri mainly wrote all the lyrics. But for the next album, there's gonna be more interaction, cause I already have a shitload of riffs and ideas which Henri and I will work out.
Are the members of GOD DETHRONED Satanists? If not, what are some of your religious beliefs?
I personally don't believe in God, so there's no reason for me to believe in Satan either. Basically I only believe in the enormous power of our subconscious mind, all the rest is bullshit to me. And I don't care if someone believes in God or Satan, as long as they don't try to convince me. And I'm not interested to convince someone else of what I believe either actually.
What's your favorite song to play live?
That depends on the mood I'm in. One day I'll freak out on an aggressive song, the other day I'll pull out my soul in a slower solo or something. But one of my favorites is "The Art of Immolation" cause it's a very challenging on guitar and it has a great thrashy vibe.
Ok last question, what's your view of downloading music on the internet?
As long as the band puts it online itself, I don't have a problem with downloading, cause you can reach alot of people with it. On the other hand, if everyone already downloaded your album even before it's released, I get pretty mad. I'm sure that affects the sales alot. The same goes for copying by the way. I'm also a guitar teacher and every time again I'm shocked about the fact that young kids only have copied CDs and MP3s. When I was a kid, buying a new CD was exciting and I had to do alot of effort to get all the money for the stuff I wanted to have. And it's still that way!
I agree 100%. Well Isacc thanks again for your time and good luck in the future!!
Thanx for the interview and I hope to see everyone out there when we're on tour in the States!! Stay brutal!!!