At the 28th of August 'Touch In The Dark' will be released. It is the second album of Asrai of Rotterdam and this may cause a huge worldwide break-through. With Transmission behind them, many gigs and a perfectly produced album it will open doors to more success. At the eve of a certainly more busy existence I had an elucidated conversation with Karin Mol, one of the twin sisters of the band, the one who stands for those tight rhythms. The future looks bright for Asrai, if I am informed well Sure. We have signed a contract with Transmission Records and Hans is a genius in promoting his bands, take a look at Epica and After Forever and you know what I mean. We have had more time to record the album. We first made a demo and were thinking about a month in the studio. But it was a relief to work with skilful people in the studio and all went perfectly well. Furthermore, 'Pale Light' is a video-clip in the Netherlands on The Box. And in September our second single will be released 'In Front Of Me'. You once released a first album on another label? Indeed, it was called 'As Voices Speak'. We just get bored of making another demo and decided to make an album. We have recorded it self-financed and started sending it to labels. This resulted in contacts with Poison Ivy. They released the album, but alas, they went bankrupt. For most of the people Asrai will sound as a new band, while you are in the business for a long time already. That's because we were working in the underground here for so long. Now, with 'Touch In The Dark' we are suddenly in the spotlights. The first CD was the same style, but more raw. It makes a difference to work with a producer. And there was another line up at that time. When you started with the band, we're talking about 1988, the music scene was quiet different from now. Much more possibilities, to play live anyway. There were more alternative venues, also in Rotterdam and environs. You could play everywhere. They stopped with subsidies and venues started programming in a different way. We just had a generation that wasn't interested in going to a concert. But now I have the feeling that things are changing, there is an interest in bands again. There used to be happenings every week, now things are closed. Or they take real famous bands with a secure upcoming crowd, or they take beginners because they play for free. Or it is just a regional band with their friends. Furthermore we see the same packages everywhere. Can you tell a bit more about your punk and new wave roots? We used to go to parties in the punk scene here in Rotterdam. But when eventually taking the instruments ourselves, there was never punk coming out. What you are hearing on the CD is an evolved version. We grew as musicians, but the impact and intention of the music stayed the same. Wasn't the CD scheduled for a May release? Yes, it was planned a little earlier. But there was a fire at Transmission Records, which had a great influence on their plans. In fact, we were lucky because the mastertape didn't end in the fire. This was rather stressful at that time. But things ended up well, this was a good sign! How did you decided to play the drums and Margriet, your sister behind the micro? My sister was always the first in line to grab the microphone and sing. I have played guitar for three years, but it was not the right thing for me. It was fun, but I was always thinking about drums. At the rehearsals it happened more and more that I preferred to sit behind the drums. When our previous drummer left it was not easy to find another one. We thought it would be easier to find another guitar player than a drummer. There are lots of musicians, but they have to be free and devoted. And most of all, you have to get along very well. That feeling of comrades grows when playing, but in the end you have to go through a lot of experiences together. That's why it is important to be friends. Where comes the name Asrai from? Asrai is a little water-elf that turns into water from the very moment it gets caught or when it comes in touch with sunlight. Therefore it remains uncaught. Certainly in the beginning, many people couldn't label us. Our audience is quite diverse; it is not only the gothic metal freaks that show up, that's interesting to see. When talking about the lyrics: are they influenced by books you read or normal life experiences? More things that happen in our lives. It is a way to express our emotions. Everyone can find their own feelings in it, for when you say things too straight there's nothing to fantasize anymore for your listeners. And we try to touch people emotionally with our music. The website is made by yourself? Yes, and it is very important. I just want to add things when I want to. The comfort of computer and e-mail is that people can see things when they are in the mood for it, at their time. The CD will be released in North and South America. What do you expect from that? Maybe a tour? Oh, I would like that. The CD will come out in 36 countries. It is marvellous when this happens to you and if you are feeling alright with what you're doing. When you are able to share this with the other members of the band it gives a special feeling. When you release a CD all by yourself, you are dealing with promotion and distribution and all kind of other things. Now we can leave this to others and the result is unbelievable. I really am surprised about that. I think most of the people don't know what a hell of a job it is to make good promotion, all the time and money it costs. You cannot take this as a band, all doing it by yourself, surely not if you still have to work. There are many concerts planned in the near future Yes, from October on we will be quite busy. The CD release just happened in summer. Everything was planned for that period, then it is better to start touring next season. Then the CD is out for a while, more people will know us from 'Touch In The Dark' and in September we have a new single. This gives us more supporting-power. Will you make a video-clip for the second single 'In Front Of Me' too? Yes, it is finished. It is very cute. It is designed by Marcel de Jong who created also our first clip. He made one puppet out of Margriet and me. And it is absolutely non-sturdy fantastic! It is lovely as cartoon and based on a design of Maud Mulder. At the Internet I saw some of her works and asked her to make a design of our band. This turned out that well that we used it for the merchandising. When we were working on the first video-clip, we were thinking about a second one already. When Marcel saw the design, he said: "I know it". The video-clip will appear on the single too, something I wanted to do with the first one too, but didn't happen. Are there plans to play abroad? The first plan was to start in England with the gigs. But Belgium came first! We got the offer to play at 'Aalst rockt', it was an offer we couldn't refuse. So Belgium will have the premier of the shows with the new material. Do you still play old songs? Not that much. It is a different line up; also because we have keyboards now, that's an extra. Just to give more space to the keyboards, you have to slow down a bit as drummer. One can make a lot of noise without keyboards. But giving space is the keyword in our music now, so I'll do. It is funny to see it as a new challenge. What do you think about the part of the gothic scene, electro wave stuff, more based on glitter and parties? I'm not that fond of this electro stuff at all. It is too much house and disco allied. It is possible to dance in another way, but the music is the same. I'm sure every generation has its way and ideas but it seems to me we were more critical and conscious of society matters than they are now. They even run away from any confrontation. We have been to Leipzig, the Wave Gotik Treffen. A pool of madness. You are running around in a crowd of 19.000 people. Globally you are all interested in the same things, but everyone is so egocentric that contact is rather seldom. I was hoping for more violins on the album What is not, will come soon. Manon wasn't that long in the band when we recorded the album. We have to insert the sound of the violin more in the band's sound. It will take time and it is an emotional sound we can use for the best. Are you mentally prepared for a possible explosion of success? Well, how far can you go in being prepared? You just have to wait for people's reactions. It can be an advantage that we don't have to play anymore in real small places. We can work with better sound engineers and the sound on stage will get better. That's the point of a good or a bad gig. What can we expect of the live shows? Many attributes or straight? We are straight, always been. We are not a theatre act. The band is enough and Margriet is not only a very good vocalist, but also one with charisma. When I watch the boys rock, it gives me a certain drive, it's a fine interaction between us all. And Rik and Martin do have a lot of stage experience with their other bands. Why was the album recorded partly in Germany and partly in Holland? It was because of the expenses. We wanted Roman Schonsee so badly as producer. You have to negotiate anyway about the things you want. Hans Pieters of the Excess studio wanted to do it too. We have made a choice. Roman is the producer. The base is recorded at his studio. We had recorded the demo over there and it was fun to work there. The vocals, guitars and drums are recorded in Rotterdam. So it was an interaction between Roman, Hans and the band. But if we had the choice, we would prefer one studio. The band is very happy with the sound of the record. The mix was done by Sascha Paeth in Wolfsburg (Pathway Studio), one of THE metal mix producers that got a feeling for music. Everything is ready for a new start now. I only have to suggest one thing: check out 'Touch In The Dark' and catch Asrai live when they are in the neighbourhood! |
Text: Vera |
