Interview
FUELBLOODED
STEFAN had a talk with PETER BRINKMAN (Vocals) & MICHIEL RUTTEN (Guitars)
Metal To Infinity
The Dutch Metal scene lives on and
on since the 80s – thinking back to this era and based on numerous awesome
bands that hailed us from The Netherlands only, I can assure you that I really
had a wonderful time. I can bring on a large list of Holland Metal gods but
that’s not the point here. Main thing is that nowadays in 2010, on regular
basis new bands from The Netherlands appear to offer some good Metal stuff. To
me, as long as it’s all about Heavy / Power or Thrash Metal, you won’t hear
me complain at all. With pleasure, I’d like to introduce you all to an
upcoming new Thrash Metal talent named Fuelblooded. I just reviewed their new
effort “Off The Face Of The Earth” and wanna know some more about facts
happened so far within the ranks.
Q:
Hello guys, I’d like to welcome you all from Belgium… what’s up at the
moment in Holland?
A:
(Peter)
Hey there Stefan! Thanks for having us! Well, there’s always something going
on in Holland, as in Belgium of course. However, the last weeks most subjects
were about the weather. How a little snow totally shut down our little but
‘advanced’ country. Next to that there’s a lot of political bullshit going
on. You probably know, about whether it was legitimate to support America’s
war in Irak, and about the financial crisis. Interesting sometimes, but
frustrating on the other hand, as the bigshots always get away with what they
do, even if they did things totally wrong. Looks like some people are above the
law after all…
(Michiel)
Hey! It is pretty cold here, so what’s going on is that I’m sitting on the
couch with the heat on maximum, putting some new songs together for our next
album whenever I have the chance! Not much to say yet, but it sounds promising
enough…
Q:
Fuelblooded were formed back in 2002 – can you give me a few lines about the
set up, the early days of existence actually?
A: (Peter) Sure! Fuelblooded was formed somewhere in 2002, and released a promo in that same year that showed the intentions of the band; fast versus slow, melodic versus brutal, catchy versus complex, epic versus in-your-face. They continued writing and recorded their debut album ‘Inflict The Inevitable’ in 2004. This album was released in 2006. After that some serious touring followed, and the band shared stages with some great bands like Nile, The Haunted, Psycroptic, Six Feet Under, Decapitated, a.o.
The
album was received with great reviews! By the end of 2006 however the band
parted ways with their former singer Vital and that’s where I enter this
story. I replaced this guy and we started writing some killer material for the
sophomore album. This process, along with some great live shows with bands like
Scar Symmetry, Forbidden and Death Angel, resulted in the recording of the
“Off The Face Of The Earth” album in 2008. It took a long time, but finally,
after a long search we signed with My Kingdom Music for the release of this
album , and here we are in the present – the album is out!
Q:
On which points a band like Fuelblooded has been formed – what were the
ambitions?
A:
(Peter) Well, I wasn’t
playing in Fuelblooded when they formed, but I know that the founding members
Michiel, Michel and Norbert were and still are very motivated to create
something special here. They want to have fun, but they’re also willing to
work very hard and really focus on writing good songs, so the band has a chance
to evolve into something great. I guess it’s working!
Q:
Each band has its own rolemodels – what about yours? Name a few bands /
musicians that can be considered as ‘source of inspiration’.
A: (Peter) For me personally it all started out in the late 80’s with bands like Iron Maiden, Voivod, Laaz Rockit, Death Angel, Testament, you know, band like that. Later on in the early 90’s I really was into the Swedish deathmetal. Carnage, Entombed, Dismember, and later on bands like Dark Tranquillity and In Flames, who combined the deathmetal with a sort of Iron Maiden touch. But you know, actually my taste of music is quite diverse.
Metal
is my main thing, but I also like to listen to classic rock, indie, post-rock
ect. I also dig good singers, both male and female. For example, I’m a total
sucker for the fragile yet so beautiful voice of Maria Mena. In the end of the
day all that matters is the question; does it gives me goosebumps? Does it make
me want to rage? It’s all about emotions for me.
Q:
I’ve experienced the eighties Metal scene myself and (as mentioned before), I
really had a great time back then… do you guys have any knowledge in the
Holland based Metal scene from the 80s?
A:
(Peter)
Sure! I was around in that scene back then and saw bands like Asphyx, Gorefest,
The Gathering, LWSinc and many many more, before they got ‘big’. I also
played a small part in that scene back then as I was playing in bands that got a
fair reputation for what they did. Bands like Bowelcrust, Baardschurft and Aura.
Q:
Hey, what to tell concerning the nowadays Metal movement in The Netherlands? Is
the scene as strong as it was in the 80s / 90s according to you?
A:
(Peter)
That matters on how you define strong. I guess maybe there were more ‘big’
bands back then, but the Metal movement in The Netherlands is still very big and
the all over quality is better than back then. In every town, in every village
there are bands rehearsing their ass of, trying to make a difference, or just
trying to have fun. Either way it’s positive to be creative and make music!
(Michiel)
Yeah,
I agree: the overall quality of playing is really good. The problem is that more
and more bands start to sound basically the same. Everyone knows how to play,
not everyone knows how to write good songs. And only a few know how to write
good songs and combine that with their own sound and identity. That is what
we’re trying to do – I guess the listener needs to decide if we succeed so
far.
Q:
We’re also interested in upcoming bands so if you know some good ones –
shoot.
A:
(Peter)
Well, one of my old bands Scenario II just released a new album as well. There
are still some lyrics and parts of songs on that album that I wrote myself and
so I still have a certain vibe with that material. I think their latest album
‘Uniforms Of Death’ is very strong. Furthermore I really dig the latest
Cirrha Niva album, and talking ‘bout an upcoming band. The Devil’s Blood
from Eindhoven are blasting up like a rocket. They are going to be big!
Q:
Fuelblooded hasn’t missed their start – sharing the stage with Arch Enemy,
Darkane and The Defaced can be seen as a very good start to me. From where the
requests playing as support for well known Metal acts? Did you had any form of
experience on stage those days?
A:
(Peter)
Well, we do know a lot of people in the metalscene in Holland, because we’ve
been part of it for such a long time. Tours are announced a long time before
they actually start, so if we see anything interesting coming our way, we try
and contact the right people to get on the show. Sometimes it works, a lot of
times it doesn’t. That’s ok though, you can’t win em all and other bands
have a right to their moment of glory too! But
in the case of Scar Symmetry it was a matter of contacting the band. Due to the
fact that Jonas, one of the guitarplayers in Scar Symmetry, mixed and mastered
our album, we had a direct contact to make that happen.
Playing
with bigger bands is always a nice experience, and we’re always ready for it,
because we know we can put up a solid and good performance.
Q:
First output ever released was a promo I’ve read – tell me about.
A:
(Peter)
The promo from 2002 was the first output of Fuelblooded indeed. It was meant to
be sort of a teaser for both the audience, but also for record companies. You
know, back then a lot of people were anxious to hear what this new band was
going to bring. The promo was Fuelblooded’s answer, a preview of what was to
come.
Q:
“Inflict The Inevitable” was shot number two released through Copro Records.
It was a worldwide release and again – this definitely opened a lot of doors
for the band I guess. Can you tell me something about all the gigs you’ve
played to promote the album at the side of heavyweight Metal bands like
Forbidden, Death Angel, Six feet Under to name but only a few? What was the most
unforgettable gig?
A:
(Peter) I
wasn’t playing in the band at that time, so I am asking Michiel, our main
songwriter and founding member to fill in for me here. Michiel, go ahead!
(Michiel) Well, that is really hard to say. To me, all gigs are great, as long as we play well enough. Some shows stand out, because of the crowd response, or because of the venue, or because of the band we play with – and some shows might not be so cool, because we play like shit, or there’s almost nobody there to watch us, or because of the band we play with haha. All in all I’d say we’re pretty lucky with our ‘bigger’ gigs; we’ve been fortunate enough to be able a couple and most of those shows went really well, too.
Sometimes
it can get a little stressed, and those are probably the most memorable in the
end. We did a show with Nile and a couple of other bands in london a few years
back, and about 5 minutes before showtime some of us were still running the
streets of London trying to get the merch to the venue...
Q:
To finish the album, you could count on the support of Jacob Hansen, a guy who
has proved that he is really good in mastering / mixing an album in the best
possible ways. How went the collaboration with this guy?
A:
(Michiel)
Jacob Hansen is a really cool guy and I think he did a excellent job on our
first album. We were just a demo band with no record deal whatsoever at the time
and I contacted him to see if he would be interested in mixing and mastering the
album. He judged our music from the 2002 promo, I told him what we were looking
for and we decided to go for it. It was a pleasure working with him: he’s a
got a great ear, he’s flexible, creative and he’s really fast too – that
is part of why the album turned out great. At least, I think it turned out great!
Q:
By the way, what type of Record label is Copro Records because I’m not
familiar with them?
A:
Copro
is an independent label from the UK. They have a sublabel called Casket Music,
they have a booking agency, mailorder, their own magazine (Cop Out, I think).
Pretty cool people there too, but since the album wasn’t that big of a
commercial success, it was better to move on.
Q:
Fuelblooded parted ways with Copro Records – also singer Vital Welten decided
to quit. What happened – from where their decisions?
A:
(Peter)
You know, sometimes the chemistry just fails. I guess that is what happened with
the band and Vital. At some point he was asked to leave, and that’s all
there’s to it.
(Michiel)
Yep, that is basically it – we didn’t really get along anymore and since
this is all still a hobby to us first and foremost, we don’t really need to
continue a situation that is no fun anymore. There are no jobs at stake, no
income involved, or any business stuff like that. We simply decided to take a
different route than Vital. He has his own band going right now, and we have a
great singer. I’m happy about it.
Q:
New frontguy has been found in Peter Brinkman – to what I’ve heard on the
new album “Off The Face Of The Earth” – a superb vocalist with a lot of
capacities deep within his Metal might? Where Peter comes from actually?
A:
(Peter)
First of all, thank you very much for your compliments. I already told you some
things in earlier answers, but here is some more. I come from Eindhoven, The
Netherlands and I know the guys in Fuelblooded for some years now. We shared
some stages in the past, when they were playing in Sacramental Sachem and I was
playing in Aura as a guitarist/singer. When they decided to part ways with Vital
they asked me to replace him, because they knew about my vocal capacities. I was
honoured and said yes.
Years
ago I played some drums, and then was a guitarist/singer for many years. At this
very moment i’m only in one official band (Fuelblooded), but I’m also
singing in two other (temporary) bands. One is a metal/rock coverband, and the
other is with my buddies of Rompeprop. The band is called D.R.I.E. and we play
D.R.I. covers.
**Picture taken by BAS VAN DEN BOOM**
From L to R:
NORBERT MOON (Drums) / DANNY TUNKER (Guitars) / PETER BRINKMAN (Vocals) / MICHIEL RUTTEN (Guitars) / MICHEL STEENBEKKERS (Bass)
Q:
New singer in the band and a new album in sight. As time passed by, the
new effort entitled “Off The Face Of The Earth” got form step by step…
this time mixed and mastered by another gifted producer named Jonas Kjellgren
– a statement please.
A:
(Peter)
Jonas is a really nice and funny guy with a lot of humour. At the same time
he’s a professional who knows what he is doing. He provided our album with a
massive sound that just blows you away. We are so happy that we worked with him.
(Michiel)
We did think of working with Jacob Hansen again for this album, but he’s just
too busy I guess, so when we had to wait to long to hear if he was interested we
decided to look for other options. We all think Jonas’ work on the Scar
Symmetry albums sounds great, and when we asked him he was interested
immediately – so that was very cool. It worked out great, again! So far
we’ve been very lucky with the producers we picked to mix and master our
albums!
Q:
What’s the difference between both producers you’ve worked with so far?
A: (Michiel) Well, they are very different as persons, but I’d say both of them are really good at their job! I’d say both of them are pretty shy people, but really fun to work with and both of them got a lot of humour. Jonas can be a bit more goofy and Jacob maybe a bit more serious I guess, he’s also a little older than Jonas. Both of them definitely have a signature sound, and that is one of the reasons we chose to work with them.
Their
sound is really different, our albums sound really different from one another.
But it worked in both cases, because we really want to be open to what people
like that can do with our music. Bringing it to a higher level - they put their
signature on our music. I’m sure we’ll try more producers in the future. But
we know we can go back to any of the guys we worked with so far and make a good
album. That is a nice thought.
Q:
So now, we’re coming to the most interesting subject of the entire interview
– the new album “Off The Face Of The Earth” released through My Kingdom
Music. First on, I’d like to hear your words about this new record label.
A: (Michiel) We had been looking to find a good label for ages. We thought we had found one halfway through 2009, but that turned out to be a huge letdown. Right around that time, October 2009, I got a late response from Francesco for My Kingdom Music. He gave a extensive review of our albumm, indicating he liked it a lot and that he wished us the best for the future. A week later I mailed him if he would be interested to work with us.
Things
were settled really fast. Francesco is really enthousiastic and he puts in a lot
of work to make the most of this album. Promotion wise, things are going a lot
better than before. Hopefully, we see some results after the album has been out
for a couple of months. I guess we will have to make sure people know about this
album – doing interviews, playing shows as much as we can. Hell, we even
opened a Twitter account (twitter.com/fuelbooded) haha.
Q:
Who delivered the cover art and where’s the title comes from, what’s the
story behind?
A: (Michiel) When you read through the lyrics, you might notice that a lot of lyrics are about an ending of some kind. Most of the lyrics definitely have a bit of a dark side. Then, when I wrote the lyrics for the song ‘Off the Face of the Earth’, it turned out that in some way it represented the general context of the album. That is why we chose it as the album title. Also, it sounds fucking cool and the cover concept just really came along with the lyrics: you can really picture the image when you read the lines.
Cover
artist is Rutger de Vries, who I have known for a while. He’s a cool guy,
he’s done
several album covers for other bands and we wanted to give him a shot. It
really turned out great, so we had him do all the merch designs as well. It’s
a nice package altogether haha.
Q:
Who’s the songwriter in the band and on which points you guys pay attention
while writing a particular song? How important the lyrical contents are?
A:
(Peter) Michiel
is the main songwriter in Fuelblooded. He comes up with a skeleton of a new
song, but in his head he already sees a full-grown picture. Michiel records his
ideas along with a guide click-track or simple drum pattern so we get the idea.
Then he brings it to the band and we can all add things and ideas, share our
vision, add vocal lines and solos.
The
lyrical contents are also very important. The lyrics are mostly written by
Michiel and me. We try to bring you something to think about.
Q:
Tell me about some of the lyrical subjects on the new album.
A:
(Peter) Well,
the album is very diverse in it’s lyrical content. For instance “Recipe For
Demise” is about people who are being forced into a downward spiral, and who
are basically motivated not to think anymore but act as a primitive animal who
is only guided by his instinct. Can one resist? My answer is yes, but it can be
a struggle. Then “The Cult Of Ego” is about the biggest religion in this
world. Not Islam, not Christianity, but the cult of ego. About how people are
twisting themselves into different shapes by answering to their ego instead of
listing to their true selves.
‘Off
the Face of the Earth’ isn’t a concept album, but in the lyrics of many
songs there’s a red cord that connects lots of subjects.
Q:
“Off The Face Of The Earth” is what I’d like to describe as a superb Death
/ Thrash Metal output – world-class to me. Nothing but great response on the
album I guess, right?
A:
(Peter)
I certainly hope you are right. We all like the album, of course, but we will
have to wait how the media will judge it, reviews are now starting to come in.
Yours was actually the first one, and we hope it is a sign of things to come!
Let’s hope a lot of people will agree with you!
Q:
Do you guys have also a huge fanbase outside Europe? What about the attention
from the US for example?
A:
(Peter)
We got a little attention, but nothing you could call a fanbase, even if you
have a really wild imagination! We hope this will change with this release,
though. We concentrated a lot on The Netherlands in the last couple of years,
and it’s about time we cross the borders to show the rest of the world that we
rock! We would love to play in the US by the way, but we also want to play
Belgium, Germany and the rest of Europe. We’re ready to take on the challenge!
Q:
Awesome guitar works spoiled my ears – tactics in the vein of Michael Amott
according to me… are you agree with that?
A:
(Peter)
I totally agree. Michiel and Danny are great guitarists that can easily compete
with great names like Amott and many more.
Q:
In my review, I refused to mention good and bad songs because of the reason –
“Off The Face Of The Earth” has only awesome tracks on board. Maybe I can
ask for your favourite songs – which ones are the most recommendable based on
your own opinion?
A: (Peter) That’s a difficult question, but I guess it must be done. I think ‘The End Starts Here’ for which we recorded our first official video, is my favourite song, because it has everything in it. Aggression, emotion, catchy-ness and killer riffs! But also the title song “Off the Face of the Earth” is one of my favourites, because especially vocal wise it is very diverse.
Q:
Via
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXmJTSDRIys
fans
can download a nice videoclip from the song ‘The End Starts Here’. Can you
make me a little bit wiser concerning ‘the making of’?
A: Well, we decided to record a video clip to promote the album in a visual way. YouTube is one of the top websites these days, with millions of hits every day. It seemed a good idea to try and reach some of those people. We recorded a clip before (Constructive Destruction) but that was more of a homemade bootleg video. This time, we were looking for a more professional outcome.
We
hired a producer, made arrangements and recorded everything in one day at the
Dynamo Club in Eindhoven. We were lucky enough to be able to record there
and also get the help of a lot of our friends in that area. After all,
for a live video like this, you do need a crowd – we were very happy to be
able to arrange everything at short notice.
Q:
How would you actually define the style of Fuelblooded – what kinda bands
you’d like to compare yourself with?
A:
(Peter)
That’s a difficult question. Everybody compares us with different bands. I
really can’t compare us with a certain other band. I think we sound like
Fuelblooded. I would define the style of Fuelblooded as a mix between melodic
yet intense thrashmetal with a lot of deathmetal vibes.
(Michiel)
Hmm, yeah, I guess everyone hears something different in our music. Man,
sometimes we’re even compared to Candlemass – can you believe that? I agree
with Peter: I think we sound like Fuelblooded. But I do think we have a lot of
old school influences like Megadeth and Testament – combined with a modern
approach I guess. I’d like to think we sound modern with an old school touch,
but definitely not outdated.
Q:
In what ways you guys would like to promote the album?
A:
(Peter)
Any way we can. Interviews like these, playing live as much as possible,
promoting the album and video on as much platforms as possible. We will do what
we can and hope we will receive much positive feedback!
Q:
We’re not that far removed from the 2010 summer festivals – what are
Fuelblooded’s plans to realize the next couple of months?
A: (Peter) We want to play on all the big festivals of course, but at this moment we are still in the take-off phase. Everything is starting to happen. A lot will come our way in the coming months. It would be great if circumstances will provide us with enough positive feedback to be noticed by some great festivals. It is a wet dream to play on festivals like Wacken or Graspop!
Q:
Than I wish you all the very best and keep pounding Metal the way you’re doing
right now. Once again, a straight from the heart congratulation for the great
album entitled “Off The Face Of The Earth”. Any last comments before
breaking up the connection? Here’s your time and space anyway!
A:
(Peter)
Stefan, we sincerely thank you for your great and very positive review and the
opportunity to answer your questions through this interview. We hope your
readers will be anxious to hear and see us. I wish you all the best with your
magazine!
As
for the readers that can’t wait to hear our music, please visit one of our
sites to hear some previews, and watch our new video. It kicks serious ass!
http://www.myspace.com/fuelblooded
http://www.youtube.com/fuelblooded
http://twitter.com/fuelblooded
Make notice of the fact that all the pictures were taken by PETER VAN DER WIELEN!
Take a look at at his website via the following image.
