An Interview
With |
Luc (Lux) Snijers
For their latest album I'm sitting at his table in the city center of Leuven,
Belgium's most important university town, and the place where he lived before.
So it is back to the roots, but not musically: TV Treated is 16 years old now,
this is the age of Dazsoo; the age in which The Neon Judgement
works with deejays and mixes drum 'n' bass in their ever 'cool' music.
Lux: Why did you move back to the city? Dirk Da Davo: Because I got isolated in the woods: I lived 20 kilometers from Leuven and then it's not so evident to take your car and drive up for a drink, especially getting back was the problem: I lost my driver's license for a while. By moving back into town I went back to my friends, and in the city it's easier to follow the music scene, and to get involved again." Lux: Three years have passed since At Devil's Fork… Dirk: We did make some music, under the name Headroom, but we never released it. Maybe we'll bring it out later. Lux: …And you changed record labels again. You used to be at PIAS (Belgians biggest independent, ls), and the previous one was released by the German SPV label (possibly the biggest alternative label in Europe, with and extensive electro branch which signed Skinny Puppy and FLA, and with a great promotion in Germany, but hard to get in the rest of Europe, ls). Now you're back in Belgium on the KK Records label? Dirk: By signing with SPV we hoped to get stronger on the German market, but SPV only wanted to hear the 'old' Neon Judgement. They always placed us on the typical black festivals in Eastern Germany and other impossible places, while we always want to go ahead. They also neglected our home base in Belgium. So it took another half year to get rid of that contract. At KK records we can do our thing. Lux: The SPV CD, At Devil's Fork already was a step further into dance, with this one you take another step. I must say that on my first listen, I couldn't believe my ears: the difference with the old days is quite big. Dirk: That's because you miss the Headroom, which came in-between. That would make the difference less abrupt. It's not really dance yet, cause then we'd have to make our music more simple. We still are The Neon Judgement, and we do want to make more complicated music than just dance music. Lux: I can hear the 'cool' of The Neon Judgement in the voice, the singing style and the guitars, but it took me a few listens to get it. In the first place the little jungle sounds and drum 'n' bass lines draw the attention. Where did you get those? Dirk: We cooperated with some Antwerp deejays for this album, the Natural Born Grooves, and they brought in a lot of new ideas. We also learned a lot from these guys, like the choice of bassdrum: if we played them a demo, they immediately told us which specific drum or hihat to use for a better groove. They listen to music in a totally different way, with much more eye for details and grooves. Lux: On other songs Jean Marie Aerts helped out. (JMA was guitar player of TC Matic, probably Belgian's biggest rockband ever). Dirk: …and he works in a more traditional and professional way. We worked with Jean a lot before, and we know each other very well, so it was natural to work with him. We gathered in our home studio, had time to jam, we took our time and our songs had time to mature. Lux: I played Dazsoo to a colleague, who is a real eighties freak is. As expected he did not like it at all. Dirk: Marketing-wise it may not be clever to evolve, but an artist needs to grow, otherwise it is not an artist. We want to avoid getting stuck in our little routines at any price. Lux: What does the album title Dazsoo stand for? Dirk: It's a Belgicism. I notice that a lot of people don't get it very easily, even if we put an airplane on the cover. I don't want to explain this, as I don't want to make any political statements in this interview. As a matter of fact it is analogous to a previous album title, Cockerill Sombre. (For non-Belgian readers: In the eighties Cockerill Sambre was a major Belgian Steel company, which was bankrupt several times, but the government kept putting money in it. In '96 Belgium had a corruption scandal of a political party which accepted money from a French airplane constructor, Dassault) Lux: You made "Jazzbox" the first single, while I'd expect some other hitpotentials on the album. At this point "Out Of My Mind" has also been released… Dirk: It was our first choice though, and also KK's. It is a sticky tune that stays in your mind, which is important for a first single. Every time I hear someone sing 'Ieni, mini, mani mo' I know he heard our single. "Out Of My Mind" is not really a single, but was merely released for the clubs, with some remixes by Natural Born Grooves and Mad Mix Man Reemoh, our live-dj." Lux: Live dj? Dirk: Nowadays we tour with a dj, called Mad Mix Man Reemoh, who mixes with a cd-mixer, with which one can make loops, reverse and other crazy effects. The songs are live mixed and linked without pauses, with no talking bullshit in-between. We want to take the audience on a trip to one long groove, the groove off The Neon Judgement. And if it doesn't work, we call our dj Bad Mix Man Reemoh (smile). Lux: Do some old hits fit into this groove? Dirk: Of course, We can't deny our past, can we? "TV Treated", "The Fashion Party", "Chinese Black" and some others have been rearranged in more modern versions, since playing the old tracks as before would disturb the whole set. We do still get offers to play festivals listed for example between Ann Clarke and The Sisters Of Mercy. They only ask to hear the old TNJ; we kindly refuse it. Lux: In Belgium some house band (Groovezone) covered "TV Treated". How do you like it? Dirk: I don't really mind. For me "TV Treated" in the old version is over. The other day the old record company called us and said someone covered our song, and all papers were taken care off. So we can make some money out of it. We have to accept that these tracks are public property, and we should be proud of it. Lux: Indeed they should. |
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