Rockezine.com interview with Dreadlock Pussy on Jun 06, 2002

with Punto, DJ Lombok & J. Munch on Jun 06, 2002

Dreadlock pussy just released their second full-length CD called Tsumi (review in the CD review section). A fine example of today’s nu-metal from the Netherlands that proves that you don’t have to get everything from across the ocean. On top of that they are very nice people and great live performers. REZ had a chat with them in the Hard Rock Cafe in Amsterdam
		You played the Ozzfest last Saturday, how was it for you? Ozzfest was great! We were there with some big names that we admire; this always means a lot to me. And of course a large crowd.
		Unfortunately I missed your show but I heard it was pretty hot in the tent? Well, we had some ventilators on stage so the podium was not that hot.
		I was very impressed by your new CD (Tsumi) despite the fact I’m not a big nu-metal fan. I heard a lot of Tool influences, what did you think of their Ozzfest show? They were very good (as always). We only saw part of the show because our shows overlapped.
		On the track “Pater Familias” I was surprised to hear some PitchShifter-like stuff… That’s odd, we never heard that before; maybe because we use some drum’n’bass samples in that song? We worked with beats and soundscapes to emphasize the atmosphere that the songs have. The use of beats is infinite; there are so many possibilities. On “Pater Familias” it plays a very important role, it’s the first thing you hear and it grants more depth to the lyrics, which are pretty worked up.
		That’s what I like about the other songs also; it’s all pretty worked up. Whereas the songs are not as up-tempo as on our first album (Sharpinstead), it’s nice that even though the songs are slower, but with more groove, the worked-up-ness stays.
		You really sound worked up and angry. How long do you think you can keep on being angry? We’re not always angry with the same subject. Anger is not specifically related to a couple of things. There’s always something or someone you can get angry with. It’s a kind of inexhaustible subject. Along the way you learn to put things into perspective. We think different now than when we did “Sharpinstead”. We are concerned with different kinds op issues. Who we are, where we are at with the band. This can be heard on Tsumi, incorporated in the process. Although there are differences between Sharpinstead and Tsumi, we will be playing the old songs and they do fit in very well.
		Do you play them differently? When we recorded Sharpinstead we were all rather inexperienced and there was little time for recording, so it was all kind of hasty. And we didn’t play with a click-track so everybody started to play when the red light went on. We were of course also a little nervous for our first CD-recording. But now we are much more experienced and a team so we play the old songs better!
		You had more time for Tsumi but it took quite a while. Or is that just my perception? Since Sharpinstead we released an EP and a single and after that we started to write new songs. But you can’t force creativity so it takes time to get to something that all six of us are satisfied with. Next to that, there are things that you can’t control, and those things took more time than we expected. There will always be problems you run into.
		What are the plans for the future, a lot of touring, a video? Tour of course and shoot the video for the new single, T-Minus. We are currently playing in Holland and Tsumi is released in the Benelux only but we hope to extend our possibilities abroad.
		Abroad? Directly to Japan? Well, Pat (the lead singer) says Japan is super cool so that would be nice. We’d like to go abroad because there are so much more people that you can reach with the music and that’s what it’s all about. But all in due time, we don’t want to rush things or make hasty decisions.
Dreadlock Pussy was never involved with the Starmaker project!!		Pat (or DP) was also involved in the Starmaker business (Starmaker is a kind of Big Brother for young artists)? Well, one of the ex-Starmakers, Lieke, recorded her album in the same studio we recorded Tsumi and Pat was asked to do some backing vocals/raps. They were recorded but they didn’t use it after all. It was probably too much, haha. Dreadlock Pussy was never involved with the Starmaker project!!!
		While we are talking about commercial stuff: nu-metal seems to be rather popular, take the likes of Linkin Park and POD for example. Do you think you can slipstream with them? I personally feel you’re too heavy for the radio?!? These bands get a lot of publicity and they seem to pop-up from everywhere but they, or the fact that there’s a (media-)hype, haven’t influenced us. We have been doing what we want, our own ideas. We’ve never had the thought “Let’s make some thing like Linkin Park or POD”. It never has come to our minds.
		OK, but do you see (commercial) possibilities? We think so, but we don’t know what those possibilities are; we will find out. The six of us are going for it the full 100%. And the people around us are too. So, we will see what will happen. If the same happens to us as to Linkin park or POD than that’s just fine. But we will not make any concessions we don’t agree with; we just want to do our own thing.
So far our chat with DP, a group of people who stick to their principles. That’s probably the hard way but the only way to be true to yourself and your fans. They’ll get there eventually. (Jan Geert Koops)