April 22nd 2007



Interview with Whiplasher (Deathstars)

April 21st I was at Belgium Festival Pestpop, but I didn’t had the chance to arrange an interview with The Deathstars, so I asked “Bone W Machine” who I contacted with to had the interview and a little bit later I arranged an interview the next day in my own hometown with the tourmanager.

We arrived later than planned (without my questions I forgot) at De Baroeg and saw Skinny and Whiplasher together sitting in the grass. I dropped my camera bag and Danielle and I took place next to Whiplasher and asked him relaxing in the sun a few questions.

You played last night in Belgium. How was that? Did you like the festival, the venue, the people and the atmosphere?
Whiplasher: I think it was for us the worst show we ever experienced to know in our entire lives. No matter which band we've ever been. It was the worst so let’s leave it by that. It was just a nightmare! Never ever experienced like that.

How long are Deathstars together now?
Whiplasher: Seven years. We never been in other bands before. Deathstars were born in 1999/2000 or something. None of us been in any other band. It takes so much time for us. We do this all the time, so we can’t really have other projects.

Deathstars are number one right now at the moment?
Whiplasher: Yes, yes I mean it is our life! That’s what we do. It takes a lot of work and also I think that all of us has that approach. We don’t’ really want to do any other projects. We just want to focus on the band but maybe some of us will do in the future, but not right now.

You wrote the lyrics and the music for ‘Termination Bliss. If you start working on the next album will you write the music and lyrics yourself too?
Whiplasher: It’s me and Nightmare who write the music. Yeah ofcourse! It is what I do for a living. We write new/those songs together and going to record a new album in New York during the fall this year. I don’t know excactly when we start but next year we want to release the new album in the beginning of next year. So maybe I go to New York for the summer and start recording in the autumn orso. We will see how writing process will be like.

Sometimes you have enough inspiration?
Whiplasher:Yeah, it is a lot of things or lots of elements that has to work for us to write music because we write about our lives only and just about here and now and we have some. It’s been a lot of problems a lot of tragedy’s personally. It’s a complex thing so sometimes it takes a lot of time. It’s hard to answer that question.

My daughter Danielle introduced me to the music of Deathstars and I like the music a lot! Especially your dark voice. Is it not difficault to sing very low and than the high parts or screaming parts?
Whiplasher: No, its not difficault at all. I don’t have a problem with it. I don’t consider myself as a singer at all because I can’t sing pop songs vocally properly. I can say I am a vocalist but I am not a singer. It is just a part of Deathstars I guess. It’s not hard for me.

What do you expect tonight here at De Baroeg?
Whiplasher: Well, I don’t expect anything really.

This venue is smaller, the stage is smaller?
Whiplasher: Yes it is a very small place but yeah I don’t know what to expect so, never really think about that. We just played song by song and euh… we are not really.. I mean as long as we feel good about it. It is always a nice show but like yesterday when everyone was just like: I want to go offstage, it was the worst. We take it as it comes.

How is the popularity in other countries for example Japan?
Whiplasher: I’ve been never been there playing. We just been touring Europe the last six months a lot. So yeah I mean Deathstars is really popular in England. We been just there for two weeks now. It’s is big morphineatical there, so people are crazy. So it’s a big difference between countries.

Is Cat an original member of the band?
Whiplasher: He is a original member of the band but he wasn’t with the band from the start. He is a full member of Deathstars yes! He is a handsome dude!! That we really enjoy!

Who is doing the make up of Deathstars? Do you have someone to do it? If not, my daughter Danielle want to be a make up artist.
Whiplasher: We have a staff 20 people. It's really work hard for us. Coming up with new products. It makes us looks really interesting. (joke whaha lol) No, we do everything ourselves. That’s why we look so...... Danielle you can do my make up any day maybe not tonight because that’s not that best actually but some day yeah. I need it, I’m really bad at it.

Any plans for a DVD?
Whiplasher: Yes, I would be a DVD, but we don’t know exactly when it will be released. It will explicite you will see because Cat make it several times, masturbating! (LOL) No No No,but it is a, we are of course collecting material, but we don’t know we will do some live parts. We don’t really think about it that much.

How long do you play tonight, one hour orso?
Whiplasher: Tonight we play three hours.

No your kiddin’ me?
Whiplasher: No, It is a really strange show for us. That’s why we start so early. It will be very very exhausted, but.

It is a good audience here.
Whiplasher: Yeah, great must be. I hope they stand me out. We gonna test some new material on them. (haha)

How do you feel about journalist and photographers?
Whiplasher: Yes we are pretty use to that. I don’t really think about that. I don’t think any of us do. Every night photographers or reporters, so that is just a part of it. We do what we do and they do whatever they wanna do. It’s called the music business.

One final word?
Whiplasher: Read more and you learn!

Interview and Photos: Silvana