Featuring Fred From Katastroslavia | Interview by Ruud Dreessen aka ebm-industrial.nl 28-02-2010
First, I want to thank you Fred for finding time to give answers to these questions. How are you doing?
Iâm having peanut butter on toast right as Iâm answering this. Could that be better!
Fred, what noise do you make in Katastroslavia?
Noise? So far, my releases are more electro than noise,but thatâs going to change! I have a hard time staying inside a single style. I would say the only constant in everything I do is the use of acoustic drum samples (timpani, ethnic drums, military snares, mostly). Â I like to combine organic sounds and synthetic sounds.
How's the start of 2010 been for you thus far?
Great, I just had a track released on Endzeit Bunkertracks V, and I was also featured on a remix album by iVardensphere.
Do you know the Netherlands?
Its where Rutger Hauer comes from! And Paul Verhoeven. And I remember dancing to Rotterdam Terror Corps when I was young and stupid. Iâm never been to your country, but its on my list.
Do you follow electro / industrial music, do you have any favourite bands?
The electronic projects that have had the most influence on me are Converter, Laibach, Front 242, This Morn Omina, Deutsch Nepal, Haujobb, Nitzer Ebb, Skinny Puppy, the guys who blurred boundaries. I also enjoy Ginormous, Asche, Northborne, Architect, Mimetic, Twinkle, Mono No Aware, Alien Vampires, Sulphuric Saliva, SAM, Speedy J, S.K.E.T., Soman.
How is your relationship with other electronic bands?
I am good friends with Yann Faussurier of Iszoloscope and Guillaume Nadon of Memmaker. Yann taught me a lot about production techniques and Guillaume brought me my first live performance as his rhythm guitarist at Kinetik festival. I have also remixed and been remix by Scott Fox of iVardensphere.
What are your top ten favourite Electro / Industrial Club Songs of all time?
Laibach “ Tanz Mit Laibach
Northborne “ Brutal
Iszoloscope “ The Raudivian Device
Memmaker “ Sneaking Through the Totalitarian Filter
Memmaker “ København Robotic Youth
Converter “ Death Time
SAM “ Arm of Justice
Nitzer Ebb “ Join in the Chant
This Morn Omina “ Ma(i)nomai
This Morn Omina “ One Eyed Man
What would you consider your favourite CDs?
Laibach “ WAT
Laibach “ Anthems
Laibach “ Krst Pod Triglavom
Converter “ Blast Furnace
Converter “ Exit Ritual
Pain Station “ Dead is Dead
This Morn Omina “ Les Passages Jumeaux
Ginormous “ At Night, Under Artificial Light
Northborne “ Force It
Memmaker “ How to Enlist in a Robot Uprising
Deutsch Nepal “ Erotikon
Pimentola “ Misanthropolis
Iszoloscope “ The Audient Void
Haujobb “ Solutions for a Small Planet
Can you give us a brief run-through of Katastroslavi history so far?
Iâm just getting started! I began this side-project in september 2009. Katastroslavia is a solo side-project. My main project is NORAD, which is all about atmosphere and has nothing to do with dancefloor beats, but I kept coming up with ideas for electro tracks, so I decided to have a strictly dancefloor side-project. Nothing abstract or intellectual here! I want it to be energetic and heavy, but so far I am only half-satisfied: it needs more dirt! Expect more distortion on further releases.
Tell me about NORAD.
NORAD is a martial industrial project, in which I also work alone, with some occasional contributors. The music is very strongly influenced by early Laibach, especially Krst Pod Triglavom, which is a soundtrack for a theatre play. NORAD is also a little bit influenced by my love for crushing doom metal bands like Evoken and Celtic Frost. Even though I dont use guitars on NORAD, I think you can feel the doomť influence. The theme pervading NORAD is the battle for nuclear primacy during the Cold War, but you can also interpret the music as describing an inner war neurosis! Iâm planning to have the debut album released by the end of 2010.
How did you start to make music and what is Gothic for you?
I first started playing electric guitar around age 16. When I was 18 or so, around 1997, I began using tracker software to record primitive black metal and soon joined a band from Finland called Vuohisoturit. We collaborated remotely, through FTP transfers, each recording his part of a track.Then I started going out to new wave, goth and industrial club nights, because the metal scene at the time seriously lacked pretty girls! Later I discovered underground hard techno parties and also the noisier, experimental side of industrial. I went on excursions to abandoned factories and tunnels, which greatly inspired me. The natural reverb of those places is quite fantastic. Then I woke up one day and I was making electronic music.But I still listen to a lot of Scandinavian black metal even today!Goth culture is¦ a pre-emptive strike against the world. You eject yourself from the normal crowd because (usually from bitter experience) you expect them to reject you. Wearing dark clothes and obsessing about death is a behaviour as old as the Middle Ages. But its something you cant remain wholly immersed in for a very long time, because such an absence of optimism can be quite suffocating. So I gradually switched from black to grey! I think grey reflects a certain limited acceptance of the world, but a rejection of its vulgarity.
What are the future plans for Katastroslavia?
More tracks will come when I feel inspired. Maybe an album, if theres enough interest. Iam in no hurry.
Do you have a record label?
Nope.
By the way do you like my questions? Tell me what you think about it! ;-)
Well, theres a lot of them, some redundant, and many of them dont apply to me (I skipped those who dont). Maybe you can combine some questions and simplify others.
What is the main idea, the message you want to leave to people who listens to you? What is your motto?
Richard said it was okay Meditate on that sentence and maybe its meaning can become clear to you some day.
Where did the name Katastroslavia come from?
I dont remember the exact thought process which led me there, but I had been reading a book about the history of Eastern Europe and another about soviet humour, and I guess I thought,what would you call a dictatorship where only bad things happen? and the answer was Katastro/slavia. A lot of bands have their own parallel universe. Laibach have their NSK State, Immortal has the realm of Blashyrkh, etc. So I guess I wanted a name that puts you in a certain mood.
Our usual question - what is music for you?
Controlled vibrations in the air, designed to trigger certain innate reactions in the brain, and also some culture-specific emotional responses.
Tell me about this number Completely Normal on Endzeit Bunkertracks (ACT V).
Its the first official Katastroslavia track, it was written in a very short time because one of my friends suggested it would be fun to submit something to Alfa-Matrix. That was 4 weeks before the deadline.Its a little bit too clea for my taste now. I fix that on my next releases!
What are your views on the current state of this Electro / Industrial scene in Canada, in terms of creativity and audiences?
Its not doing very well. Not a lot of good labels, very few interesting acts. Not many shows. It seems the interest is declining. Thats why I try to bring my own contribution.
What was your childhood like?
Boring and lonely.
It has been a pleasure to interview you on your musical activity. Any last words to your ebm-industrial fans?
Work hard, prevent accidents, increase productivity and be happy.
How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with sample songs or a demo CD?
Thank you for your time Fred. Good luck!
Thank you!
This page,and all contents,are © 2003 / 2010 permission by ebm-industrial.nl
