Last Sigh: Could you briefly present yourselves; tell us a little about who
you are, and what your roles in Diamond Dogs are.Dominique: My name is Dominique De Vos,
I'm the singer of Diamond Dogs. When we play, I only do vocals, but on
our first demo I also played keyboards, guitar and did some drum programming and
sequenzing. Everybody in the band calls me "Do" (the "o" pronounced as
in "so"). Filip Beyens is the guitar player in Diamond Dogs.
He's also the only one who hasn't got connection to the internet. On the demo he played
keyboards too, and did drumprogramming & sequenzing. We never call him Filip,
we just say "File" (the "i" pronounced as "ee"), which was
the little word game we used to call our demo "File Under God". So, to us this
title has two meanings.
Koen: I am Koen Pattyn; I
play keyboards and samplers on the new demo. We've made most of the tracks at my home with
a computer as sequencer. My name is German, and is pronounced like "coCOON".
Peter: Peter De Bosschere;
I play digital drums & percussion in the band, and I also take care of all the backing
vocals. For the new songs I also do some drumprogramming.
Last Sigh: How long have you been
involved in music? Do you have any formal training? And, what led you to form Diamond
Dogs?
Dominique: I have been
"active" in music for about 12 years. I've had no musical training except for
some vocal lessons from a jazz singer. I've played in several bands so far, but I don't
suppose you'll know any of them -- Axel, Daydream Project,
Ure Crow, and Supergizmo (in which I
still play as singer/guitar player). File has been busy with music for about
eight years, I guess. His training was listening to records and then trying to repeat the
guitar parts. He and I played together in Daydream Project.
Koen: I studied classical music in
high school. In the beginning I played horn and piano, but for the past 5 years I've been
into synths and samplers. I've played everything from jazz to Beethoven, and from
Beethoven to Techno. Diamond Dogs is my first band, who really
plays hard.
Peter: I have been playing drums for
about 17 years now . I started playing drums when I was 10 years, and took some private
lessons with a famous Belgium drummer (Stoy Stoffelen ), and started my
first band when I was 13. Since that time I have played in a lot of bands, mostly rock
bands, but also disco, metal, reggae,funk,punk,......
I met Do when I was 17, and we played together in the metal band Axel,
after that we started the band Daydream Project together
with File on guitar. Now, I'm still in the band Supergizmo, and
I have also played in the bands: Dry Livers, Thou, Derek
& the Dirt, Plastic
Pigs, Santé Mijn Ratse,
Loonie and Weez!. . .This is the first time I'm playing
digital drums in a band.
Last Sigh: What is the music scene
like where you come from? Is it conducive to Diamond Dogs'
music?
Dominique: I don't have the
impression that there is a large scene here in Belgium that we can connect to. I feel like
we fall between chairs. We're still trying to figure out in what scene we belong. We
haven't got that many press reactions yet, but the ones we got so far were cool. Some
press really seem to hate us, or completely ignore us, and other (mostly alternative and
underground) press say that we've made a very promising debut demo. We've never had a
reaction in between so far, which is ok with us.
Last Sigh: What music do you
personally like to listen to? How does or doesn't this reflect in the music you write as Diamond
Dogs?
Dominique: I listen to all music
which can reflect the various moods I can be in. That covers fifties doo-wop as well as
industrial metal. I'm not sure yet about those influences on Diamond Dogs
music. When we made our first demo ("File Under God"), we didn't know a lot
about this electro-industrial scene. We made something out of the blue, and afterwards it
appeared that we connected to this electro-industrial scene. It was only afterwards that
we discovered bands like Treponem Pal, Chemlab,
Die Krupps, etc. I did know stuff like Nine
Inch Nails and Ministry, though. So,
maybe we're working backwards.
Koen: If I have to mention a
classical composer, it will be Stravinsky. In the past 2 years I have listened to
all kinds of Electro-Dance music.
Peter: I listen to almost every kind
of music, but I like rock music most. As a drummer I used to hate anything with a drum
computer (times change).
Last Sigh: What inspired the name Diamond
Dogs? (Any big Bowie fans in the band?)
Dominique: The Bowie link
is correct. We loved the sound of the name. Also, we kinda liked the link to this glamour
period which has a little escapist edge to it. But, we don't feel musically inspired by
glamrock.
Last Sigh: How do you typically
write your material? Is it a group effort? Who contributes what?
Dominique: It always starts out as a solo
effort, but then we start, all four of us, to put all the pieces together. We never make
songs at rehearsals (we don't really "rehearse" in the classical way either).
For instance, File came up with the loop and guitar riff for
"D.U.S.T.", then I took the midi-file home and continued working on it on my pc
-- looking for a vocal, and finishing the structure.
Now, as a four-piece band, we all come up with pieces. Then we put them on tape, or on
midi-file, and pass them on so we can all contribute our stuff. It now usually ends at Koen's,
because he uses a sampler and sequence program to put everything into place.
Last Sigh: Does this work method
present problems for you, when you perform live? How often do you actually meet to
practice together then?
Dominique: The problem that might
occur is that we have no limits when we create
new material, but when we start rehearsing, we sometimes
have to shift, because we cannot do it all (if we want to keep the bigger part of our
performance live). We get together once or twice a week, but not necessarily the whole
band. Those, who participate (sometimes all of us, sometimes a couple of us in any
combination), come together and experiment with sounds and structures. When we put the
actual song together, all four of us are present (so much for dictatorship in music).
We've recently started to actually practice again. Until now, we only had the songs of the
demo, so rehearsing couldn't take us very far. But now, we almost have a full live set. So
about once a week, we get together in our rehearsal room (the one for our other band Supergizmo,
actually) to try out our new material. We put synths, samples, percussion and vocals
through our sound system (a Spirit Soundcraft - 10 channels), and File blows us
away with his (what else) Marshall. We also use a DAT-tape for the stuff we can't play
"live" (samples, basses, ...), but as we move on, we find that we have to put
less and less on DAT. The art of "less is more" I suppose.
Last Sigh: Your press release states
that your present compositions are moving closer to industrial/electro; what inspired this
change of sound?
Dominique: The fact that we became a
four piece band after the release of our first demo (which was made by File and
I) made that change possible. We wanted to do this earlier, but we didn't have the
possibilities and knowledge. So, we started looking for people who were interested, and
who could add that extra touch.
Last Sigh: Does the new material
retain the humor of the first demo, or are you becoming a more "serious" band
along with the change in sound?
Dominique: Very good question. We
haven't really thought about that so far. I'm glad you saw the humor in our first demo.
Since we have become a "real" band, we have been more preoccupied with how we
would/should sound, and with the evolution of our music, than with the humor in it. I
guess we'll have to trust in our natural instinct for sabotage. We create something, and
then we start tearing it apart. . . Contraweight, or something like that. But it is good
that you ask this. Humor is important for us; we're not planning to become the Benny
Hills of our scene, but a Phytonesque wink now and then is very much ok.
Last Sigh: You use imagery such as
stills from Russ Meyer exploitation movies, and of Marlon Brando
in "The Wild One" to present yourself to the public. What is it about this
imagery that appeals to you? How do these images reflect Diamond Dogs'
sentiments and music?
Dominique: The same as with the name
-- a little glammy, kitsch feel. It also should reflect that we're trying not to take
ourselves too seriously. We'd like to reflect some kind of an eclectic fin de siècle
decadence. Carpe diem at 230 km an hour. A roller coaster ride on acid.
Last Sigh: How far are you in
recording your next demo tape? And what other plans do you have for the immediate future?
Dominique: We've recorded three new
songs so far, and we're working on two more, so we're moving on. I suppose this demo will
be released after the summer. It is possible that we will also release it on CDr (in a
limited edition), if the quality is ok. For the immediate future, we're working on a full
live set. We're trying out all kinds of different combinations, which should allow us to
play live. So, you could that say we are rehearsing right now.
Last Sigh: What label(s) would you
really like to see your music be released on?
Dominique: It doesn't really matter
to us. We'd be happy to find a label that wants to release our music. I don't believe that
we'll easily find a label in Belgium, with the music we are making. Anyway, we don't have
long theories on this issue. One thing maybe -- the fact that we can promote our music is
far more important, than money we could earn with label x or y.
Last Sigh: Have you approached or
been approached by any labels yet?
Dominique: We have only mailed our
demo to some Belgian labels, but we did not get any reaction from them. Not even a letter
saying "that our music is ok, but that they haven't got a budget for this genre, and
that we should keep sending our tapes to them". Now we're thinking about how we
should approach record companies.
We do have contacts with the Canadian band/label Black Dahlia
through the internet, who will include our song "Hate Drives" on a compilation
that should appear later this year.
Last Sigh: What do you see as the
greatest hurdle for you at this time in your career as a band?
Dominique: I do not understand the
word "hurdle".
Koen: And I do not understand the
word "career"?????
Peter: Huh??????????????????????
Els: Hurdle means in Dutch:
"Een horde of hek, m.a.w. een moeilijkheid op de weg, iets om te overwinnen".
You could say a bump in the road. As for the word "career", check your
dictionary!!!!
(Els is Peter's girlfriend).
Dominique: Ok, I understand now. The
hardest thing will be to be able to develop ourselves. I mean, if we can only exist as
band inside our "studio" or "rehearsal" room, then we aren't much of a
band. So I hope we'll have enough possibilities to play live in the future. That combined
with releasing stuff (on tape or on CD or on the internet). Both will allow us to grow,
otherwise we'd stagnate.
Last Sigh: Uhm. . .OK, then. . .What are for you the most rewarding
aspect of creating music?
Koen: For me the most rewarding aspect is that we can create a good
song with 4 different people, who all have their own opinions about music.
Dominique: Two things: First, the
moment everything fits together and results in the song, which you had in your head all
the time, but now finally comes out. And, secondly, when you can connect to other people
through your music. It's like making a movie. You put some components together, and those
elements together create an atmosphere, which the viewer/listener lives through. You can
feel angry, sad, aggressive, ... just by watching or listening (to) something. You kinda
control sentiments.
Last Sigh: This is an interesting point....If you feel you can
control or create sentiments in the listener, what do you then feel your responsibility
towards your audience is?
Dominique: I think it's about two
options. You can listen to music as a way to create moods, or you can use music as
wallpaper. If you listen to our demo in a darkened room with only a strobe flashing once
in a while, with the volume real high, it will be a different experience, than if you put
our tape in your player, while you're washing the dishes. It's about environment and state
of mind.
The same is true with a live concert, but there, we control volume, sound, environment,
etc. Then the audience has the option of stepping into it along with us, or just be
bystanders/observers. If they step along, it's like we go on a trip together. In the other
case, it doesn't really matter, whether it is us playing, or a barroom boogie rock'n'roll
band. In that case it's about having a good time. Which is ok too of course.
With regards to responsibility, it's a bit of a frightening thought, but in the first
scenario [I described], your question is surely relevant. But, I have to admit that I do
not know the answer. I suppose we keep the door open, from there on it's a free choice for
everyone.
Last Sigh: Are there any messages or
ideas that you wish to relay to people through your music?
Dominique: [This is] about the same
things I talked about before. For instance, the lyrics may look kinda hazy, but it is not
the words themselves that count, it is the complete atmosphere of sound; the sound of the
words, and the associations they lead you to that matter. For this purpose, we sometimes
use those Burroughs-like cut-ups.
Last Sigh: The cut-up effects are
interesting by the way, how did you create these technically?
Dominique: We play our basic stuff over and over, and then we make
"landmarks". That can be words, sounds, voices, ... We use those as points of
entry. From there on we make new associations. By the time we start recording, we have a
working-schedule for lyrics and guitar parts (the structure with drumloops and keyboards
are by then already filled-in). And then we actually "cut-up". We record a part,
listen to it, try another version, and another, . . . Then we use the best parts and put
them together. Of course, we have our limitations, since we work with a four-track
recorder.
Last Sigh: What do you think about
the current surge in mp3 copying and distribution of music on the internet -- You know,
people who upload CDs to the internet, for other people to download for free?
Peter: It's a great opportunity for
a band like us to show our music all over the world. We get in contact with people from
Canada, Italy, Germany. . .
Most Belgian groups send their demo tapes to Belgian Labels. Everything stays inside
Belgium. With the opportunity to send our music via the Internet all over the world, we
can reach many more listeners.
Last Sigh: This is true, but would
you feel the same, if you had a CD out, and people were uploading it to the internet. . .
Dominique: At this point I would be
honored, if people felt that our music was worth uploading to the internet. Otherwise, If
we were part of the "establishment", we probably wouldn't like it. Then again,
CDs cost way too much over here. I can image that a CD takes a big [bite] out of the
budget of teenagers. So it's some kind of leveling.
Last Sigh: What would you consider
to be the ultimate success for you as a band?
Dominique: Finding a label, have the
to opportunity to grow as a band, and do some tours (since we live in Belgium,
opportunities for touring are small). . . Or, sitting backstage at the Reading festival,
having a drink with Ozzy Osbourne, whilst discussing his obsession for
bats. |
