Rockezine.com interview with Epidemic on Apr 22, 2003

with Boris Bouma on Apr 22, 2003


		What`s the precise reason of Frozen Sun`s split? After I married my American girlfriend I moved to the U.S. I wanted to conquer the world with the music that I was making at that time. The other members of Frozen Sun didn`t have the same intentions though. I did organise a small U.S. tour with them, but soon after this tour I quit the band.
		What happened between Frozen Sun`s split and you joining Epidemic? I was living in Los Angeles where they have a magazine called Music Connection in which all kinds of musicians place vacancies for bands. I did audition for a lot of bands, including Zero (presently known as Linkin Park) and Trigger Pimp in which I sang for like one year. After I left that band I soon met American Murder, who consisted of three members at that time. We had to change our name after being sued. We changed our name to Epidemic and we are still together after three years of rehearsing, touring etc.
		Can you tell us something more about the tour experiences of Epidemic? Since 8 months we are constantly touring, we get a lot of good response. I can pay my rent so I am very happy (laughs).
		How is your relationship with 4Tune Records? I have known Gerrie (4Tune) since our (Frozen Sun`s) tour with Laberinto and since that time we kept emailing etc. Since I got the legal rights for Europe of Epidemic`s album I talked to a couple of record labels, but 4Tune was the only one who kept realistic about the whole thing. This combination is the reason why they have the European licence for our album.
		When will your album be released in Europe? In fact the album has already been released in Europe. More and more people were asking for this album, so we tried to release it in Europe as soon as possible.
		What`s the main goal of Epidemic? Our intention was and still is making music we like and pay the rent with it, without having other jobs to finance this. Besides this it would be great to see our band as a reference in magazines like the aforementioned Music Connection: "singer looks for a band in the vein of Epidemic…"
		If you could pick a producer to produce the next Epidemic album, who would that be? Definitely David Bottrill! I really dig the variety of his stuff: from Peter Gabriel to King Crimson to Tool, he always seems to get the best out of artists. We tried to get him to produce our debut album, but he was busy with other bands. So maybe we can get him for our next album. We would be very honoured if he would work with us.
		Your vocal capacity seems to have improved a lot since Headtrips. What`s the reason of this enormous vocal evolution? The production of Headtrips was very bad. The vocals were mixed way to the background. I was never happy with the sound of that album. Since Headtrips I took a couple of singing lessons and the amount of money involved in this new album are the reasons why my voice sounds so much clearer.
		What`s the main inspiration for your lyrics? Every little thing can inspire me. Life is such a huge inspiration for lyrics. From the small to the bigger things in life every thing is possible. I won`t use any cliché things and I try to avoid politics a bit, but besides these subjects I use everything that comes along.
		What bands from the current music scene do you really like? I really dig Sinch, Dredg, The Color Red etc. There are a lot of good bands out there, but too many split up way too fast.
		What`s the main difference between being in a Dutch or an American band? It`s completely different. In The Netherlands musicians are all semi-professional, because most of the musicians aren`t able to do this full-time. Most people have other jobs besides being an artist. In the U.S. a lot of band members are full-time musicians. Being in a rock band is also a lot easier, because the ether is totally free. Every radio station is free to broadcast in the U.S. That`s why there are so many rock stations. So alternative music is so much more supported in the U.S. That makes it a lot easier.
		What are your highlights in your life so far? I have a lot of highlights, but the most important ones are our record deal with major Elektra, the Dynamo Festival (1995 or 1996), quitting my daytime job for Epidemic, making videos, a police escort etc.
		How would you describe Epidemic? Why should people listen to your music? Impetuous, honest and heavy, especially live. We try to make `real` songs that are finished and not like a lot of bands, songs without a decent intro, outro, verse, chorus etc. Our album is meant to be listened to as one song. Each different song is on the exact position where it should be. So don’t use your random button on your cd player while listening to the album.
		Are there any thoughts you would like to share with us? Respect to Herman Brood! He was the first musician I saw live when I was young, so his death had some impact on me…
(Dennis van den Berg)