Après la sortie de l’excellent " Deviant ", j’ai décidé de faire cette interview avec Urban de REGURGITATE, l’autre groupe phare du grind suédois. Le bougre n’est pas avare de propos et vous en apprendrez sans doute beaucoup en lisant cette interview (même si elle est en anglais…)

VS : Hey Urban, here we go for another interview. I'm afraid I'm gonna start with a real basic question : Your new album Deviant is just out for several weeks now. Tell us about the recording at soundlab studio. You didn't work with Mieszko this time. Is there any particular reason for that ?
Urban - Hehehe... actually we did work with Mieszko, but we wrote Mierre Mongo on the album for some reason. Probably because Mierre Mongo - which he calls himself when he plays in Genocide SS - it is such a stupid name. As always this recording in Soundlab was a lot of fun to do... even though we (RGTE) wasn't 100% sure of how we wanted the recording to come out - we wanted to try something a bit different sound wise... but we didn't really know what exactly.

VS : Of course what a dumb I am ! I knew it but didn’t remember why this name was familiar to me (I should read again my review of "Devient" before asking stupid questions…it's sad to turn old man...). Actually I love the last GENOCIDE SUPERSTAR's album. I have almost forgotten the schyzo tendence  of  this dear old Mieszko. but you're right about something :Mierre Mongo sounds stupid. it sounds french!!! he he he
Urban - Never thought about that... but you're right, it does sound french.

VS : So if I get well your answer you went in studio without any particular idea of the way you wanted the recording ? Do you   think you've done something really different ? In which way Mierre/Mieszko helpt you ? Were you influenced by the new musical direction NASUM took with "Helvete" ? Am I asking to many questions at once ?
Urban - Yes, you are! Hmmm... something really different? No, not really. I think that a lot of people will think so - we wanted a cleaner sound, but we had that before this album and we wanted some more variation. But I guess people will mostly notice the change of vocal style - from pitch shifted gurgling with back up screams to mainly screaming vocals with some pitched background stuff. Rikard was tired of the gurgling, so he wanted to scream instead, which suited the music beter as well. And... we don't have corpses, deceases and genitals in the song titles any more. Mierre didn't have any major impact on the sound - I think he wanted us to take a different route, with a dirtier sound. As for Nasum: We had no idea what "Helvete" would sound like since we recorded our album before they did, so... no. It didn't influence us at all.

VS : That’s funny… I’ve noticed some grindding bands are actually having a cleaner sound (on their recent release) and on the meantime death metal bands are trying to have more raw sound on their recording. Do you have an idea why ? You’re speaking about the changement about the vocals and song titles. Do you think this evolution is a natural process or is it just because you guys have grown up ? Maybe your perception of the music more mature now… What do you think ?
Urban - Mature... grown up... nah, I don't think that's the issue. We have been using all the gore clichés for more than 10 years and it got boring coming up with more gore titles etc, so we just didn't feel like doing it any more. We felt like having more hate and aggression on this album... and not so many decapitated midgets. The weird thing is that now I see some people interpreting this change as one towards singing about social issues, which couldn't be further from the truth. And the sound thing: all bands want to try out new ideas... well, many bands want that any way, and those that have had a dirty sound want to try to have a clean one and vice versa. For us it was something we wanted to see how it would turn out... But, another thing is that I have heard enough full length grind albums where you can't hear a single riff... I think that's boring. It was cool a couple of times (Reek of Putrefaction...), but I prefer stuff with an aggressive edge (From Obliteration to Enslavement!!!). Hmm... I need coffee right about now, I think...

VS : Does it mean that nobody couldn’t hear a single riff on your previous recordings ? With this new album coming out, what kind of regards do you have on your past release ? Are you gonna tell me like every musicians in promotion that your last album is actually your best one with the most perfect sound, the best tracks or do you have a critical judgement about the final result ?
Urban - I am very critical! And to be honest... I am not 100% pleased with the way the album turned out... but don't tell anyone:-) I can understand why bands always say that the latest stuff is the best, because after playing the old shit for a couple of years you are dead tired of it! And most of the times the new stuff best reflects what the band likes... but other people might disagree. The new Metallica for instance, is probably very close to what they wanted to play... but, perhaps not what the fans wanted. I think that people has been able to hear our riffs for a while now, actually. I think we had sort of a clean sound already on "Carnivorous Erection". But we might (perhaps) have taken it a bit too far on Deviant. I think our next recording will be dirtier. But we tend to have cleaner sound on the full length albums and more chaos on EP's and such. As I said... I think that chaotic noise is unsuitable for full albums... it gets boring. For a split EP - can work. Can be amazing.

VS : Well Urban you have my word everything you’ll say during this talk with stay between you and… all of us… =)
Urban - Oh, thanks!

VS : Tell us the details you’re not happy with about "Deviant" ? Is that because we can’t see you well on the pix of the booklet ?
Urban - I have been crying my eyes out over the pics in the booklet... two pics of me is gone!!!! 
Not happy with "Deviant" is too strong to say... as always, and I guess this is true for all recording artists (?), you immediately after recording/mixing hear things that you could have done in another, perhaps better, way. The way we did it this time was the way we planned to do it... it's just that afterwards - and it is almost a year ago we recorded it, so it is not in anyway new stuff to us - we all knew that we for the next recording should tune down and aim for a dirtier sound... because we all like that kind of grind. So... I am happy with Deviant, but I know how I want the next recording to turn out. Always look forward... hell yes!

VS : Why don’t you start a kind of side project to record more brutal and chaotic stuff (everybody does) ?
Urban - What the fuck do think I am doing in Regurgitate?!?!?! Listen to some of our splits, godamnit! Just kidding... I don't really need a side project, cuz we can do chaotic stuff in RGTE... and besides... as I probably allready said, I'm not that much into noise grind. But, sure, I know we're not the most chaotic band around... done that, been there, left that behind... except from the odd split. Actually one of my favorite RGTE recordings is the one on our split with Gore Beyond Necropsy... I think there's a track on our homepage for anyone interested. The perfect grind recording for me is "From Enslavement..." so it's something along those lines I want to aim for.

VS : Why did it take such a long time between the recording and the release ? Is there any marketing reason like the release of Hatefilled vengeance ? Don’t you think a one year old recording may not represent perfectly your actual sound ?
Urban - Well, sure... but who, apart from us, know our actual present sound. All releases take some time between recording and release... not to talk about between writing the songs and the actual release. We can't change that. As for the reason - I don't know. Relapse had the finished and mastered recording in mid January and after that we still had some stuff to fix for the cover. Why it took them 6-7 months to get it after that out is unknown to me. I know the graphics guy who did the album layout was really busy, so partly it might have been because of other album covers (for "bigger" bands) needed to be done before "Deviant". And partly it might have been because of the release of Nasum's "Helvete" - it might be a really bad idea for Relapse to release their two Swedish grindbands at the same time... and even though we recorded before Nasum, we got put on hold. But, you could, for some reason, download our complete mastered album from the Internet by Febraury - March sometime. With that in mind it was kinda irritating that it took another six months before the album was out. Next album most be out faster!! And it's kinda boring waiting that long when everything is ready for release...

The "marketing reason" behind Hatefilled was simply that we got an offer to do a 12-inch release on Putrid Filth Conspiracy and since we have a contract with Relapse and can't do releases anyway we want they wanted to re-release it on CD after the vinyl release. We thought that was a good deal... and since I like CD's I thought it was a great deal. The reason we re-recorded some old songs was simply curiosity. We wanted to see how those old songs would sound with the new line-up and a good production. We thought they would come out completely differently... and I think they did. Another major reason for the re-recording was the Tribute to Regurgitate: Out of the... what?.. 63 songs on it, I think that two or three is played correctly. From that I guessed that people can't hear the riffs on "Effortless...". Hopefully you can do that on "Hatefilled"... but that's hard for me to know, since I wrote the songs.

VS : Yeah I’ve heard about this tribute. I’ll have to get it someday.
Even if REGURGITATE has a kindda cult band status don’t you think you’re too "young" to get a tribute ? I mean, usually tribute albums are always made for really old bands. By the way you speak about bad covers you get but in your opinion which band did the worse one ? Let’s give us some name he he
Urban - There were a couple of bands/songs that sounded like they recorded a drummachine, a guitar and some "vocals" on 4-track tape in their bedroom... which probably is quite close to the truth. Totally meaningless stuff if you ask me. But I don't remember any band names.... really! I remember some of the good ones... and some of the original ones. And it's the ones you would expect: Inhume, G.B.N, CSSO, Disgorge... hmm.. and probably another two or three ones. Neuro-Visceral Exhumation, for instance. I think Inhume was the only band that got the riffs right!
But did we deserve a tribute? No! Absolutely not. Cult band status? Not here anyway - no one in Sweden knows who we are... and if they have heard the name, they often think RGTE is a german band. The first time I heard someone using the word "cult" in the same sentence as Regurgitate was when we started playing live.. in 2001, I guess... before that, I assumed no one had heard of us. Before 2000 when Relapse re-released "Effortless.." I had never seen an interview or read a review of anything we recorded and we never heard anything from the record company who released the original "Effortless...", so I have no idea if it sold any copies.. and if it did, how many. So there's no way I can see us a cult band. Ever. Period.
Getting a tribute feels kinda hilarious actually! And it's a nice way to piss other bands off! "Oh... you never got a tribute? I guess you suck then! Hahaha!" But... I see it more as a tribute to RGTE anno 1990-1994 and the early recordings. I guess a lot of people see us as different band now, when we're not as underground...

VS : Maybe the bands didn’t get your riffs right because of your huge technical level…
Urban - Yeah, right... let me quote a review: "it sounds like they only use four different chords and just mix it up a little oh... I’d say about every minute or so". Whoever said that is pretty close to the truth...

VS : Talking about your early cult material. While you were recoding "Deviant" did you think about your early fans and the way they could perceive the few changement in your music ? Do you think you took some risk with "Deviant" ? Don’t you think early fans are sometimes the worst enemy a band can have when it try to evolve ?
Urban - Of course you wonder what people will think... but we have to play stuff we like ourselves. Usually (it seems) other people has shared our taste in music... so why shouldn't they do that in the future as well? A "risk"? What would we be risking? Bad reviews? Well that kinda sucks I guess, but we're sort of used to that. People think we are total morons, hahaha! ...and we are.
I wouldn't say the fans are your enemy... that would be weird. I know how I think about the bands I like: I want Slayer to sound exactly like they did on "Reign in Blood" and Napalm Death like they did on "From Enslavement...". I can understand why they don't though. Reapeating yourself is just plain boring and a sure way for the band to die... well Morticain and Cannibal Corpse seems to be doing fine without evolving, but they might be the only ones.
Actually... one thing that we are risking when we try new stuff/sound out is that we are less pleased with the album, than.. say, the album before, which is to some extent the case with "Deviant" - I was more pleased with "Hatefilled Vengeance" than I was with "Deviant". Especially if I take into the account that we recorded "Hatefilled.." over a weekend and spent two weeks recording "Deviant". We should have fixed in in one week!

VS : I’ve noticed you didn’t include the lyrics in the booklet of your last album. Don’t you think it can be important for people to know what you are talking about ? Is there any interest to write some lyrics when noone can understand what the hell the singer’s yelling ?What do you think about the people who are "only in it for the music" ?
Urban - Lyrics? I told you we are morons... And as you say - why write lyrics when no one can hear them. I have no interest what so ever to tell people how I feel, or how they should live their lives... well, I guess I tell people how I feel when I write music... but other than that, no! And none of the other guys in the band want to write any lyrics either. I never read the lyrics of other bands when I'm listeing to music - I couldn't care less. That's one charm with brutal music - I can reduce the vocals to a rythmic instrument in the background and listen to the guitars instead. I hate music that uses the vocals to carry the melody and has the guitars strumming some chords in the background... with a few exceptions... and only if the song itself is depressing - Beatles' "One Day in the Life" for instance.

VS : Well the correct title of this Beatles song is "A day in the life" (got ya!).
Urban - Screw you guys... I'm going home! Well, I've been correcting the "english" in your questions... yeahaaahahaha!!

VS : There’s a question I’m just wonder about for a long time about grindding bands. Do you realize how it’s boring and difficult to get every release of a grind band ? I mean all these split bullshit, tapes, ep and whatever. Is that a kindda contest or what ? The winner will the one with the most important number of release ?
Urban - Yes... the most released splits wins! 72 virgins in heaven!! Or was it 72 Virgin Cola's in hell? Probably the latter. And I do realize how boring and difficult it is... I don't have all Regurgitate releases myself! For instance, I don't have our split with G.B.N. - the one I mentioned as one of the coolest RGTE recordings... That sucks. But, you don't have to have them all now do you?

VS : Na of course not. I’ve just got your albums. I’m waiting for the day where you’ll release all your split and 7" stuff as a full cd. I’ll be easier to get all your stuff. What do you think you’re gonna do with 72 virgins ? At least you can drink virgin cola… he he he
Urban - Yes... and what would I do in heaven? Hell has jokeboxes that play Venom - I doubt that is the case in heaven! But in my own hell they probably play Pat Boone all day. Or worse - commercial radio with the latest hits... aaahhhh. I would like our splits on CD, because I hate searching for those damn EP's! But, I don't think they will be officially released.

VS : How did you choose the title of "Deviant". Do you have the feeling it’s a word which goes well with your music ? For my opinion I’m not sure you guys are really deviant but I know several bands which are certainly like CATASEXUAL URGE MOTIVATION or COCK AND BALL TORTURE. In fact the definition of this word for you ?
Urban - Yes, I do think it goes well with the music. But I see nothing deviant about "Panda Penis", "Koala Cunt" or "Tapir Tits" thank you very much! The whole story behind the title is that we decided early on that we wanted a short, one word, title that sounded good... There is a song on the album called "Deviant Malpractice" which we chopped up... because that's not one word. "Deviant" sounded cool.. and it's a Pitchshifter record! And since they suck... ass... we didn't care.
But we are really nice guys... we play charity grind according to a reviewer who seemed to believe that church of Satan actually (I use that word a lot I know) has a fund for disabled children. Hahaha... give me a break! So... does the title have any deeper meaning? - Yes... but I'm not telling you our dark gory secrets...

VS : I’ve always knew swedish people have some weird tendencies. Well you can be a nice guy and don’t play for charity. By the way talking about charity, are you gonna tour to support "Deviant" ? Did have already think about a set list for upcoming shows ? Is that easy to put a price on a live performance ? I mean how do you decide the cost of your performance ? Is that the management work ? Do you think you’re expensive ?
Urban - Weird? Sure... I used to work as a Math and Physics teachers... scary huh? As for support tour for "Deviant" - No! We don't have time to do a tour... we don't do this for a living y'know... and there's a thing with certain members of the band having kids this summer, so that's what takes 100% of their attention, right now. I don't know if that could count as weird tendencies? We have to make a new setlist with more songs from "Deviant"... but that can wait until we decide to do a tour. As for our price... hahaha... you got to be kidding! We usually play for food and gas money! Dirty deeds done dirt cheap... but I guess gas money from Sweden isn't that cheap. Management... you ARE joking, right? Expensive... hahaha... stop it!!! Hahahahaaaaaaaahhh...

VS : Well you’ll have to give my congratulations to the happy fathers…
and about the gig price, I’ve heard about some grindding bands who are not really cheap…
Urban - I don't know anything about that...  Personally I have never maid any money from playing live... but it would be nice do that some day.

VS : Math and Physics teacher ? Did you ever play some REGURGITATE stuff for your students while you were in class ? Why did you stop teaching ? Do you live from your music ?
Urban - I did play some stuff from Carnivorous Erection... and they thought it sucked and that I probably had some mental handicap, or something. But I guess they thought it was pretty cool. The problem with teaching is that it often can take up all your time.. and I mean ALL your time, so I had no chance of playing as much music as I wanted. Unfortunately I am no where close to living on my music... it costs more than I earn from it. Mainly because I don't get any money at all from playing music... It would be nice to make some money, but if that was important to me, I guess grindcore is the wrong music to play.

VS : I’m afraid you’re right but… who knows ? Just look at NAPALM DEATH.
Just wonder if you have some time to listen some music and what’s your actual playlist ? What’s the band you’ve listened most since you’re into music (except RGTE of course) ?
Urban - Napalm Death is the exeption I guess. They started the whole thing, so they are unique in that way. We could never dream of selling as much albums as they did back in the early nineties... and I don't know if they can either.
Of course I listen to music, but not as much grindcore as some might assume, but that changes depending on my mood as well. I'm an old metal head and I still listen a lot to the old death metal bands I listen to 15 years ago: Holy Terror, Death, Destruction, Venom (yeah, I know - it's black metal), Bathory, Deathrow, Unslaught, Sabbat, DBC (Dead Brain Cells - supercool!), Slayer and more. And apart from that I listen to a lot of more electronic music: Dead Can Dance, Orbital, Aphex Twin, Laibach, Hocico, DAF, Yahel, Hallucinogen, Man With No Name... lots of different stuff. And of course: Carcass, Napalm Death, Extreme Noise Terror, Unseen Terror (one of my all time favourite bands - hence the cover of "Charred Remains" on our album).
On my current playlist I have "Baretta 70" - A collection of Italian (cop) movie soundtracks, Morte Macabre - a Swedish band that do covers of Italian soundtracks, Macabre's new album "Murder Metal", Laibach - "WAT", Deathrow - "Raging Steel", DBC - "Dead Brain Cells" and Electric Wizards "Dopethrone"... oh, and the new Inhume album "In for the Kill".

VS : How are you gonna find some time to play with the two biggest swedish grinding bands even if you join NASUM just for tour ? 
Urban - Find time? I have all time in the world... Regurgitate isn't exactly playing live - or rehearsing -  every week... more like a couple of times per year... we have our drummer in another part of Sweden unfortunatelly. And I love grindcore, so I don't mind spending more time doing grindcore related stuff.

VS : Talking about grindcore, there’s a question I’ve always been curious about. How did you turn into this kind of music. In the past you were known to be into death métal. You’ve been a member of the legendary swedish CREMATORY. Grindcore is more raw but also more "poor" than death metal. Don’t you never turn bored or think you’re too old for this style ?
Urban - Too old... no, if that was the case I would have stopped playing grindcore long ago. Bored? - Yes, frequently... after each album actually, because it feels like I used up all my ideas. But the feeling don't last forever. My music in Crematory was never that far from Carcass anyway, so to see how I could turn to grindcore isn't all that hard, but it is a more poor version of death metal in some respects... but then there are the nice additions to death metal - mainly the hardcore/crust/punk elements - that I miss a lot when I listen to death metal.
I don't understand how people start to listen to grindcore nowadays - it's a bit harsh going directly from Donald Duck to Napalm Death. When I was young Kiss (and other hard rock bands - Motorhead, Black Sabbath and others) was the hardest, fastest you could listen to... so I did. Until Iron Maiden showed up... and Metallica, Venom, Slayer, Sodom, Celtic Frost, Bathory, Destruction, Death, Onslaught.... and finally Napalm Death and Carcass - Voilá - you have a grindcore-fan! I was allways looking for the most extreme bands... but it came in small steps. If I had heard Napalm Death directly after Maiden, I don't know if i had liked it... and i will never know, because therer were no Napalm Death directly after Maiden.
I think about writing some death metal stuff again sometimes... but I tend to miss the intensity of grindcore when I try - death metal is, after all,  just a watered down version of grindcore with loads of bullshit between the cool parts!

VS : I think a lot of people have had the same musical taste evolution (KISS rules !!!). This process is true for me but actually I turn bored when music blast too much. For me slow parts are usefull to make fast parts more powerfull.
You’re talking about intensity but do you always reach it with grindcore ?
I think grindcore has more intensity than any other style of music, but I guess every grindcore song isn't 100% intense... and perhaps you don't wantevery song to be that?!? All our songs aren't anyway. Maybe we are too
damn old to do this! ...but that doesn't mean you'll be rid of us anytime soon.

VS : Don’t you think it’s possible with death metal ?
Urban - It might be... but it depends on what you call death metal. Bands likeNile can be pretty intense and I would say that they play death metal. Butthe bands I prefer are the old ones - like Autopsy - because they are a bit slower and heavier... and I listen to them when I don't want the intensity of grindcore. But that is a matter of personal taste...

VS : Does music have to be always fast to be intense ? Or maybe you don’t wanna play death metal because you don’t have the good technical level to play that… he he
Bill Steer lives in Paris actually and he told to a friend of mine he would be incompetent to play some CARCASS stuff now…
Urban - Damn! you got me on that one! When I listen to some stuff I played12-13 years ago I realize that I was a better guitarplayer back then... but who cares? I will never be as good as Bill Steer anyway... now or then. But does it have to be fast.... well.... yes! Godamnit!!!! Are you drunk? Of course it has to be fast! I wouldn't say that Enrique Inglesias is very intense... would you?

VS : Enrique Iglesias kills !!! Especially when he's doing these coolgrowling vocals... But maybe I'm not talking of the right guy (lol).Traditional last words...? You can see hello to your family if you want to...
Urban - I prefer Julio myself... he does some insane punk screaming instead of Enique's growling. And I love Julio's pitched vocals... totally insane!!!!
Last words... am I dying, or what? Oh, oh... can I say hello to my mother and father and my best (imaginary) friend Randolf? And I want to thank God for always being there and supporting me in my quest... And thanks for the
interview... it has been a three year struggle, but now it's finally done!