Rockezine.com interview with Driller Killer on May 25, 2006

with Cliff on May 25, 2006

Some interviews are weird, some are weirder and some are done with Cliff, the very friendly front man from the crust core bastards of Driller Killer. Every third word the man says is ‘fuck’, or ‘brutal’ or ‘bastard’ or something like that. With the release of ‘The 4Qmangrenate’ Driller Killer has released one of the better crust core albums I’ve recently heard. Time for me to ask Cliff some questions.
		Can you briefly introduce Driller Killer to the readers of Rock-E-zine? DK is the band from Sweden your Mother always told you to stay away from, we’ll been releasing brutality since late 93 and besides album no.7 we’ve done the ep`s, splits and compilations as well as videos and tours, all in the name of fast Thrashing ultra Violent metal death including a fistful of hcpunk laced with pure fuckin hoox to keep you from dyin of sleep while the D. beats faster than anyfuckinfeet..
		You’ve just released a new album, how are the first reactions? I haven’t seen too many yet coz we got back from a little visit to Germany and Czech just the other day but what I do think is that there`s still plenty to learn and demonstrate when it comes to the great combination of speed death and aggro metal rock ‘n roll.
		According to the title and the song titles I assume that 4Qmangranate is some sort of a concept album, can you tell me some more about that. Its the same ol` DK formula that still deals with emotions like not being that satisfied with bullshit idiots and life in general but with a happier twist to it, if you get the chance to read them lyrix you´ll get a whole lotta more out of it.
		Who has written the lyrics for this album? Does that differ from the other albums? I wrote ‘n re-wrote for fuck knows how long before the recording, which means that most of the lyrix been tried to each and every song to see where it connected, some of the stuff got re-written so much I used paper worth a smaller forest just to end up unqualified, over the top stories with titles like „Marianne the barbarian“ „Babuczhca Baconbreath“ not to mention a low below the low „Facedown n outtaTown... well theres a load of words within the words and never-ending lines like Asskickin as VitalvitaminoiseAudio oxygen x t c...
		I find the 4QM a lot darker than its predecessor ‘Cold Cheap and Disconnected’ Was it an aware choice to make a darker album? We had some trouble on every invented level from 2003 till , im not convinced it stopped yet but a couple of fucked up years its been, we had to cancel our first tour ever which was banned in Camp DK and had problems finding new recruits and mighty frustrated when the auditions didnt turn out as ..a lot of shit with side fx like isolation which generates too much thinkin which results in babouzchca titles, but as i see it, makes it easier to appretiate the grand finale.
		How is this album written? As a band, or does every musician come up with his own songs. its the same as usual , Adam composes some and I make the rest on my own then unfinished parts get connected in the reh.studio- just to be brought back home `n re-arranged..
		Where have you recorded 4QM, and who did the production? In Malmoe Sweden in a forgotten used2behot in the early 80´s studio deep down underground its called Bellatrixx or used to or somethin.. we brought our family engineer Henrik Larsson who we worked with on back releases at the Bernostudio, he´s one of a few who got the nerves to compete with the demanding never satisfied bunch of DK.
		Has he or she had a big influence on the songs of the new album? No but he knows the foundation to build on, even if we all lost it this time due to studiotechnique and bad garageair...
		Are you satisfied yourself about the latest album? As pleased a fucker can be concerning the fact that no bands except lightpopmusicrecordings had been made in the Bunkrr so our expectations began at Alphaville and didn’t stop at status Q but we gave birth to a real killer-DrillerKiller
		Are there things, in writing or recording, you’ll do different next time? Change of studio and surroundings, get away from the city and use less time for preparations as well as recording...
		How did you record the album, as a band live or did you record every instrument separately? bass and drums at the same time then we looked for the proper guitar sound which include loads of different connexions between amps and speakers and also guitars not to forget the alternatives of recording microphones and positions and after recorded guitar basix I lay down vocals and as (or IF-) soon as my throat fails to continue Adam records the solos or add guitars. I usually lay 2 alternatives of vocals to every track and when its needed I ad 3 – 4 dubs on choruses when we´re not using choirs...
		All songs on the new album deal about death, violence, and other ‘pleasures’ in life. What inspires you to write such violent music? This time i think it deals less with violence (if u dont count selfabuse as violence which, it is, some way or another ) its more about waking up to take care of unfinished biz´..f. ex. Shooting up can be very hard to combine with playin in a hardworkin band, shooting up can be very hard without having to combine it at all- coz i think shootin´ is 24-7 as well as playin a hardworkin´ band is 24-7, without preachin that is, i make my statements from what I experienced in live and I always try to go from there when it comes to writin lyrix , kind of a diary, I think, without ever written one.
		How do you see Driller Killer, I see you guys more and more as a Death metal band than as a metal-punk/crust core band? U do ? thats interesting, coz if we are- we must be one of the most simple deathmetal acts to have released 7 albums and still sounding as we do ! I think of DK or the sound we distribute kind of a bastard , think: MotherMusick being raped and impregnated by sperm from 5 dif. Planets ...the simplicity and aggresion from planet early 80´s Hardcore european punk, then we use elements from from HM a.k.a Judas Priest Accept, then theres thrash moments ala´ Exodus S.O.D. Carnivore 80´s era ,the rocknroll parts goes back to the likes of the Pistols damned, L.A.guns N.Y. dolls last we have the mix of deathblack...if there ever was one, i dont see my way of vocalsound as death? we dont downtune anywhere close to death but i would prefer to be labeled death instead of punk these days coz punk today...eh.
		Does a band like Driller Killer notice anything from the growing interest in Punk orientated music? I can imagine you see punk fans that are getting bored of those kindergarten punk-rock come to a Driller Killer show, or check out your albums? So far we havent seen too many young punx at our shows they´re still busy with Rancid, Green day etc but as soon as they need realistic brutality we´ll be there but as you know some folks are slaves to melodic emo for life, I think fans of grind or any kind of –core also digest the likes of DK.
		Driller Killer has been around for about 12 years now, what is the biggest difference between now and then? When we started dk it was not punk if it had elements of metal in the sound and fatwa´s where out for a band usin´ bits of black or death metal in trax includin the punkformula, we got angry e-mails from punx in brazil totally upset over the hard fact that i had a Mayhem t-shirt in the video “ From out of nowhere” back in 95, people in the pc-punkcommunity had discussions on the web about dk everythin´ from the FuckTheWorld recordsleeve, burzum shirts on stage, praising Hells Angels in songs who they said were neo-nazi´s dealin drugs...? to sending questions like: How can you do tours with bands like Impaled Nazarine bla blah who supports..bla sings about... ! I mean today its ok wearing blackmetal shirts and liking the music..its like some of them bands waited a long time for this to be approved by “thePCpunkollective” before puttin on that Darkthrone cap that been kept hidden for 8 yrs...beside that i dont know..
		Will there be a tour to promote 4QM? We`ve done a two shows back in febr. One show germany and one in Czeckia which is always a pleasure and we will do a couple of festivals this summer (check out Osmose or dk page on the web) and then touring in sept and forth, anyway that`s the plan
		What do you prefer, a headline tour, or as a support act with a bigger act so you reach more people? Perhaps a package tour with a few other bands? We´re no headliner except for a few countries so we would definitely prefer a package tour or opening for a big act.
		I’ve never seen you play live, can you describe how a DK live show looks? If its in sync the audience gets as excited as we are or viceversa ,or you´ll get 10 of our top songs at the beginning with us ragin like fuck and a frozen crowd- then for the next 10 songs a ragin´ crowd and a frozen DK...
		Driller Killer has had many line up changes, in what way has it affects the music, different musicians bring in lots of different ideas? the changes you sometimes notice from album to album –to some:development – we dont develop in the sense that 1 album sounds like a sack of pipes and the next like D.hasselhof..we still play the same ol´ dkformula , the dif. From album-album is HOW we play it this time... a band like AC/DC have done it for 200 albums without half the replacements we have, and to some people they still rock !-?
		How does it come that you’ve had quite a lot line up changes? (Is Cliff so hard to deal with...?) Hard ? Undealable is the word-if there ever was one...its a joke- I hope (for sure as fuck it is), the question its not4 me, since i am Cliff.
		Where do you see Driller Killer in five years from now? same shit but faster more brutal and over the top songs with more hoox there wont be anyfuckinfish left2catch
		Can we expect a live album/DVD from DK in the nearby future? No live album but a dvd is in the worx, we still bump into material we didn`t knew x-ist so if anyone who see´s this and has any dk on film even seconds counts get in contact we salute you..
		Any last words or comments?: PissD sExDollS –Dkallday what can I say ? thankUveryMuch n sorry for the delay
(David Luinge)