Knekelput Interview

 

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

We (K and M) met playing in a ‘beer metal’ band, then became pseudo-artistic intellectuals, and are now old. All music is written and recorded by the two of us over the span of a zillion years. Which is a lie, because the beer metal drummer contributed to our album with an interlude, some drum lines and heaps of rarely useful critique. We also wanted to work together with a girl we knew from going out, as she once enticed us by singing softly in our ears, but she has by now forgotten about us. For a long time we were too stubborn to allow others to touch our music, but in the end Colin Marston (Krallice, Thousand Caves Studio) made it possible to release our stuff this October.

2.You have an album coming out in October, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?

Coming from the Dutch squat/artsy-scene we have listened to Krautrock, Neo-Folk, incomprehensible soundscapes, psychedelica etcetera. But we always loved Black Metal (Blashyrkh!) the most. This resulted in an atmospheric black metal album full of experiments. We are not even trying to be experimental, but throughout the years we have become unable to compose straightforward music in any style. At least this is the case for K, M is a musical genius who can do anything, probably, but luckily our styles match.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored so far with the music?

Good question. Some lyrics we wrote fifteen years ago, so I (K) do not even remember them. M had to sing them so he might have more of a clue. In general though it is about decay and how an eventual downfall is more inspiring than gradual progress. 

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Knekelput'?

It’s where the bones are collected after a grave has been cleared. Imagine the advanced stick figures a child could build from such a pit full of bones. Isn’t it inspiring?

5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?

We followed a chair through the city of The Hague, in the hope to catch it. It appeared to be drawn to something but we couldn’t figure out what it could be. At one point the chair stumbled over a human and lost a leg, but that didn’t stop it. In the dunes we lost sight of it and then spotted a table standing fiercely in the sea. The chair, we discovered later, was left rejected in the waves. It had killed itself. These are the stories told after mankind has disappeared.

6.Has the band done any live shows or open to the idea?

We have played live, but not with this material. We will in the future, while we are also working on our second album.

7.So far very little is known about the band, are you planning on expanding into social network pages or do you prefer to keep a lower profile?

Not sure. As said, we are old, and not so social. We are glad we found Bandcamp and our music will appear on Spotify soon. Perhaps some label would like to help us get known, otherwise we will just make more music.

8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

Sure, if they are nice to us.

9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black and death metal?

So far we have only presented the album to review websites like this one. You liked it, so thank you! After the release we hope more people will find our music.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

Lately we have been thinking of adding in some major chords. Nowadays dissonants seem to be more common in black metal than major chords, so we will see how that works. Also, we would like to expand lyrically to the Arabic world, as there must be black metal fans out there, right? Black metal and atmosphere will always be the basis, for the rest we will let our creativity guide us. One thing is for sure; we will never make music that could be labeled as ‘post’, we are not post anything. Most ‘post’ bands seem to be post taste.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Misþyrming’s Söngvar elds og óreiðu album is still one of K’s most played records. More recently we are into Bekor Qilish too. Our influences mostly come from outside black/death metal though, as playing black metal comes naturally to us. As soon as we touch a guitar we start tremolo picking anyway. So inspiration can as easily come from Lou Reed, Shostakovich or Sleepytime Gorilla Museum as from other black/death metal bands.

12.before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts? 

Listen to our album, you will like it, and if not, listen to it again. And if you still think we suck, you can file your complaints here: https://knekelputband.bandcamp.com/ 

Thank you for listening and thank you for the interview.