| 1. How long have you been a member of Mortuary-I.O.D.? Johannes Keekstra: That's a bit tricky, 'cause I joined in in '97, but from '98 to '99 the band was slightly dead. We started again in '99, with a fresh line-up which is much better than the previous one, with a slight musical change and an adjusted name, so I like to think that Mortuary I.O.D. started in that year. 2. What style would you call your music? Johannes Keekstra: We tend to call it something like thrashing death metal. It's a mixture of the aggression of old thrash, like Kreator, Exodus, Sacrifice, Destruction, etc.and the heaviness of old school death metal like Autopsy, Bolt Thrower, etc.. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! 3. What are the ages of the other members? Johannes Keekstra: We're all about twenty years old, guitarplayer Franky's the youngest, aged 19, and drummer Douwe is the oldest with 23 years of life-experience. 4. How do you pump yourself up before a show? Johannes Keekstra: Well, just hang around a bit in the place where we're performing and sipping a few beers, talk to some people, preferrably female, and just taste the atmosphere to get in the mood. Watching other bands that are on before us makes my blood flow faster most of the time, I get hungry for the stage then you know. 5. Do you play any instruments? Johannes Keekstra: I have a guitar and a bass at home, but I don't play them at all nowadays, I doubt if I still can. They're great as decoration though hehe! 6. Being a muscian myself, what type of mic's do you like to use? Johannes Keekstra: I once performed with a wireless mic, which was very cool, because the stage was really fucking big so I could run around like crazy constantly, but I don't feel I should buy one myself or something. I like Shure a lot, it has a great sound, it captures all accents nicely you know? 7. What are the ages of the other members in the band? Johannes Keekstra: You already asked. Stop drinking or smoking weed so much haha!!! 8. How did you begin your Vokills? Johannes Keekstra: I met the guitarplayer of Mortuary, Arnout a few years back and he asked if I'd like to come around at a rehearsal and try something out and I just agreed, 'cause I really wanted to be a singer in band, playing my favourite style: METAL the thrashy way! I growled more in the beginning, varying with a Mille-alike voice, but I'm developing my voice all the time and I sound not much like the early days anymore. 9. Do you prefer doing studio work or live stuff? Johannes Keekstra: Live stuff, definitely!!! No use banging your head and going mad in a small studio where there's no one to watch, hehe. I see studiowork as an obligation more than fun, because especially for a singer, it can be quite a bore, sometimes there's absolutely nothing to do, when for instance other members are playing their parts or something. I love the atmosphere at a gig, I love seeing people enjoying our stuff, I love talking bullshit between songs, I LOVE performing! 10. What's in store for us metal-heads in the future with the band? Johannes Keekstra: We're releasing our debut album "Distorted Massacre: Fear The Madness" soon, hopefully in September/October. It was supposed to be released quite while ago, but due to some problems, you metal heads have to wait a bit I'm afraid. We're also releasing a split 7" with Recondite from Canada. That's really cool 'cause I fucking adore vinyl! We're appearing on some compilations, for instance of the Colombian Eternal Night Recs. and the Dutch FearSome Recs. who will probably release our album as well. 11. Do you ever get nervous on stage? Johannes Keekstra: Ehm.... not really, I'm just really fucking anxious to play our music. Sometimes a member of the band vandalizes an instrument or something, but for me it's not a real reason to get nervous, I talk a lot of bullshit, fooling around, you know and that way I fill the gaps and stuff. Usually gigs are allright, without too many flaws and stuff. 12. Any last words on the band? Johannes Keekstra: Yeah, first off, thanks very much for the support! Check out our website: http://www.mortuary-iod.com/ for info and two downloads of our promo, which is received really well in the worldwide Underground. Watch out for our album "Distorted Massacre: Fear The Madness" and the split 7" with Recondite. We really want to play as much as possible and wouldn't mind some kind of tour at all, so if you're interested, don't hesitate to contact us! My e-mail and snailmail: mortuaryohannes@hotmail.com, Johannes, Raarderweg 7, 9156 AC Bornwird, The Netherlands. Support the Underground, live the metal live and stay loud! Interviewed By: Lord Nocturnus |
