SOURCE – Which are the plans for the support of Deathhammer this time? How much important is this album for the band? Did you believe when you were starting the band that you’ll reach the eighth album and still sound fresh and interesting to your fans?
Alwin Zuur (Bass) – We released Deathhammer in 2012, so it is already some years ago. We have played many live shows to support Deathhammer the last 2 years and the success of that record was beyond our imaginations. I think Asphyx made a big step forward with this record. We made it in several magazines album of the month, Listed many times in top 10 releases of 2012 and even got nominated for Metal Hammer awards category “Album of the year” So yes, we are very proud of this album.
Asphyx raised up from the ashes back in 1987 were young Bob Bagchus wants to make music in the vein of mighty Venom. At that time you don’t think about how long a band will exist. You just want to make music and just start writing. Now 27 years later Asphyx is still there and we believe it is stronger then ever. As long as we enjoy it we will continue spreading death doom over the world.
SOURCE – The band counts around 30 years of existence and you’re still one of the favourite bands for those into extreme metal music. How do you feel about it?
Alwin Zuur (Bass) – We are very thankful for all the support all those years. Fans are important and they can make a band big and famous, but also destroy a band within a short period. Once you loose your fans because of bad music or arrogance the fame will be over soon. We try to be good to our fans. Signing sessions, talk with them, drink beers with them. Just respect them because they have made us what we are today and they keep Asphyx alive!
SOURCE – How does it work when Asphyx records a new album? Is it a result of collective work or some individuals ideas that are taking form as you go along?
Alwin Zuur (Bass) – Paul is writing the guitar parts. Once finished we get together and start arrange the parts to a song. Mostly Martin already has his ideas about the vocals and so we fit all the separate parts together. It’s all a natural smooth process within Asphyx. A lot of parts have been written during sound checks on shows. Just jamming during sound check can give great results.
SOURCE – What has been your proudest accomplishment as a member of Asphyx?
Alwin Zuur (Bass) – Asphyx has a lot of great moments in it’s 27 years of death doom. The old European tours with Entombed and Bolt Thrower/Benediction back in the ’90s. Released some classic albums. Done many great shows and festivals. I think the highlight of the whole Asphyx saga is the reunion in 2007 with the following 2 albums Death The Brutal Way (2009) and Deathhammer (2012), bringing Asphyx to a much higher level then ever before. The development of the last years is just amazing.
SOURCE – What do you enjoy the most as a musician: Touring or recording in the studio?
Alwin Zuur (Bass) – The studio part I don’t like it that much. It’s kind of boring to be in the studio all those hours. Not much excitement about that. However once the recordings are done and the mixing parts starts it is more fun. Just seeing and hearing how the songs you played in the studio developing to a brutal total piece of death doom.
Asphyx does not do any touring for many years now. We don’t want to. We play exclusive weekends shows (around 20 a year) and that’s what we like. We try not to play very often in the same region, but divide it as much as possible. So it always will be special for the fans to see Asphyx and for us it stays special because we do not play every day.
SOURCE – As you get older and have more family obligations, do you try to schedule shorter tours?
Alwin Zuur (Bass) – Asphyx does not do any touring anymore. Reason for this is family live or/and our daily jobs. We all work full time, and combine the music with our daily lives by playing some weekend shows during the year. Even this is kind of hard sometimes, with all travelling, lack of sleep and to much beers and booze in the weekends. Considering we have to be back at work on Monday. This is the reason why Bob quits his duty in Asphyx at the end of 2013. With work and family is was no longer possible for him to do all the shows the weekends, and combine the busy family live with the also busy Asphyx agenda. With agreement of Bob (who started Asphyx in 1987) we decided to continue Asphyx with Husky (Desaster) on drums who is doing pretty good job. As long as we enjoy it we will keep the death machine rolling.
SOURCE – So tell me how hard is it to be in a band and trying to make a living?
Alwin Zuur (Bass) – There is a simple answer to that. NOT. The music we make is not a mainstream style which gives us millions of dollars. We play death metal, and that is something you do because you love it and not for any money or fame. We all have and need our daily jobs to make sure we can pay all our bills and live a good financial live.
SOURCE – Are there any young death metal bands out there you think are doing a great job of carrying on the genre’s good name?
Alwin Zuur (Bass) – There are many good bands worldwide nowadays. Sadly (in my opinion) there is also a lot of crap released, which makes it even harder to discover the good stuff in all the cd-release chaos. If I look specific at the Dutch metal scene there are some real good upcoming bands up with an excellent old school death metal style. Bodyfarm, Nailgun Massacre and Entrapment are some band with a good potential of growing, and totally loyal to old school death metal. All worth checking!
SOURCE – Asphyx is very active on Facebook, You Tube and all this digital media. What is the importance of this kind of promotion for non-commercial artists, like Metal bands for example who doesn’t have the support of mainstream radio or TV?
Alwin Zuur (Bass) – The fact is that media has become very important for a band. That’s the way to get in contact with your fans and conquer new fans all over the world. A band can give all the news, latest release, live shows or merchandise within seconds to their fans. We do a lot ourselves, but also our label Century Media does a lot of interactive work (like spotify and stuff). It’s a different time now when look back to the tape trading days, and a band cannot do without digital media anymore.
SOURCE – Any message for the fans?
Alwin Zuur (Bass) – I want to thank you for the opportunity to tell the readers of Source a bit more about Asphyx and hope you all enjoyed it. Hope to see you all somewhere on the road and live the brutal way!
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