Before/after: hellvete on tour
the follow up to this month’s article about hellvete touring europe…
Glenn brought his avant-folkscapes across europe, and this is what it taught him:
- how was your first day back at work?
euh… confusing… The day started with a meeting and after that it was back to the usual stuff. But it felt strange, not being in a car anymore with 6 other bad smelling guys listening to The Jacks and telling stupid jokes.
- what was the first thing you told your colleagues about the tour?
That it was better than working. Hehehe… I didn’t tell a lot. The tired look in my eyes and my pale face spoke for itself I think.
- any anecdotes you didn’t want to tell them, but would like to share anyway?
euh… there are more people listening here than at the office. We have a Funeral Folk Omerta and you don’t want to break that. Hehehe… I don’t want to end up in plastic bag along the highway. But the love boat rules!
- which show ended up being your favorite, and what was so special about it?
As Hellvete I prefer the show I played in Copenhagen. The night before we played a shitty show and we wanted to make up for it I think. The vibe of the day (we visited a very cool record shop that day, Insulamusic.dk, a must visit if you’re in Copenhagen) and the venue also added a lot. When I started playing, a drunk North African guy started dancing and shouting almost the whole way through my set. It was great! A some moments he sounded like an old blues dude. Really cool. The promoter thought otherwise and he kicked the guy out. A shame. I wanted to see the look in that guy’s eyes during SAII.
For SAII the shows I liked the most were the ones in Berlin, Prague, Copenhagen and Eindhoven. All for different reasons. Berlin was crazy. We couldn’t play with drums, but 6 big amps blasting Skullflower like drones was no problem. Some stupid local law or something. Prague was in the basement of a discotheque. But good vibes and a good show. Cool host!!! Copenhagen because it worked out and we made a really good new jam. Eindhoven because we played the new jam again and way better now. Sloow on drums is pure genius! We need to record this as soon as possible!
- i suppose that you opened most of the evenings - was it difficult to attract the audience’s attention?
Most of the evenings Ernesto opened. But yeah, it’s always hard to get the audience’s attention, even with SAII. I was more surprised by the fact that at most places there was actually an audience. The first shows I improvised a lot, we all the consequences. Some shows were pretty bad, but after a while I had a fixed set that I played every night. And for the moment that feels better. It’s more relaxing if you have an idea of what to do. And when I’m playing I don’t really look a lot around. So I don’t really see if people are leaving or not.
- did the tour give you new ideas for future releases? did you record anything on the way?
Ideas for future plans? No, not really. I’m always thinking about music, playing with different kind of people, doing different stuff, hearing other influences. All those things trigger me more than going on tour to be honest. But there are always ideas and plans.
But we made some really good recordings with SAII on tour. The show in Lyon was in an old office building, called Grrrnd Zero. Cool place. They had the whole building to theirselves, with support of the city council I think. There was also a hostel, but we were the only guests. After the show we asked if we could play some more and that wasn’t a problem. They even got us something to record on. We had a couple of drinks and jammed until 4:30 in the morning. Really great! We need the fiddle with sound a bit, but there’s definitely a release in it.
- what’s up next for hellvete?
A couple of shows solo, with SAII and with the Kosmische Keuterboeren. Maybe some new solo output in the near future. Planning to record a new record, but I’m a slow worker, so that won’t be finished before 2013 I think. Hehehe… Also still have to edit some new La Danse Du Sperme jams we recorded together with Mr. Wappenhalter and Father Sloow. Editing new stuff by the Kosmische Keuterboeren. I really want to record some jams we played with SAII during the tour. And still so much more. Riding the freak train!
Tonight, hellvete is opening for Faust and Master Musicians of Bukake in Nijdrop, Opwijk.
