interview with Cremation

Have any of you played in other bands? We've all played in other bands before joining Cremation. 

How is it that you started playing music? We all wanted to play Death Metal and somehow found each other. The metal scene is pretty small where we are from, so it was obvious we would meet sooner or later. 

What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you? It's Ramon (39, drums), Serge (38, vocals), Marco and Roger (40 and 37, guitars) and Thomas (30, bass). 

Have you had other previous members? We had 2 other bass players and 2 other guitarists.  

Did you make music even when you were young? We all had to play the flute when we're in primary school and we all hated it. That might have been a reason why we chose to play death metal 

Where are you from? Naters, Switzerland 

What year did the band form? 1992 

What's your style of genre? Death Metal 

What inspires you? Other bands we like. 

How often and where do you rehearse? We usually rehearse twice a week in the basement of a hotel. It's 4 floors down with the elevator, so we're not disturbing the hotel guests. 

How have you developed since you started with the music? We all improved and our songwriting has become better, more fluid. 

Do you have other interests of work outside the band? We all have different hobbies. I like to grow chilies among other things. 

Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? We're planning to do a tour with a booking agency next year. It's the first time we'll work with them and we're pretty excited. 

Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? We never had a label so far and I don't know if we really need one. 

What made you decide to make this music? It's a good way to blow off some steam. 

What are your songs about? Our songs are mostly about life and things happening around us. Some themes are recuring, like shit politics, right wing bastards, human madness, religion etc. When I'm not very inspired I write stuff about drinking booze or zombies and other horror stuff. 

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? Mostly it's Ramon, Roger, Marco and Thomas composing the songs and me writing the lyrics. 

Do you start with the music or the lyrics? Always the music first. 

Do you compose in a certain environment? In our rehersal room. 

Have you done any covers live? So far only 4. 

What language do you sing in? English. 

What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? The least was 10 to 15 people and the most about 600. 

What ages are most of your concert attendants? I would say motly between 18 and 35, but it also has ranged from 10 to 60. 

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? We mostly have a set with new stuff and a few  of our “smash hits”, sometimes we dig out older songs and add them for special occasions. 

Do you have a regular place you play live often? The Moshpit Music Club in Naters. 

What was your first gig like? It was a good show from what I remember. We were quite well prepared, but we were nervous as hell before going on stage. As soon as we started playing, it got a lot better. 

What was your latest gig? We played in Zug (Switzerland) with Internal Bleeding, Incinerate and Neuroma. The aftershow party was quite fun as well. 

Have you had to cancel a gig? It happened on very rare occasions. 

Where have you played live this year? In Bern, Fiesch (that was our 20th stage anniversary) and Zug. 

Where do you plan to gig the coming year? We have a few shows coming up and we plan to do a tour in eastern europe next year. 

When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? We started selling merchandise when we relased our first record. We have CDs, shirts and hoodies. 

Where can people buy your merchandise? People can contact us on our website or buy it at one of our shows. 

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? I think downloading is a great way to discover new music, but if you really like a band, support them and buy their records or go see them live when they are on tour. 

How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? For underground bands I guess it hasn't changed that much. Especially in Rock or Metal people still buy records. 

What do you think of my work? It's cool you're doing it. Keep going! 

How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? I don't know. Maybe some record label will read about us and send us an offer. 

Do you have any role models or idols? We've all been inspired by other musicians, but I wouldn't go that far and say they are idols. Some of them might be role models, but some surely are not. 

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? We mostly have been influenced by older bands, but there have been a few new bands that brought  inspiration. 

What have been your biggest obstacles? Finding new members after someone left the band was not always easy, but I must say we've been quite lucky and managed to keep moving forward. 

What advice would you give other bands or artists? Do your own thing, don't follow trends and don't be a stupid dickhead! 

How do you get psyched for a gig? We have a few beers, only a few. 

Do you have any new material? We are working on our new record at the moment.  

What are your web sites? 

How can people reach you? Through our facebook page or at [email protected] 

What are your plans for the future? Release a new record, play more shows and have fun. 

Do you have something to add? Thanks for the interview.

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