SUICIDE COMMANDO

“Another murder. Another war. Living in pain. Living insane.”

In a few days, the 22nd edition of BIMFEST will be upon us. The 'Belgian Independent Music' festival that saw the light of day in 2002.
One of the acts who was there from the beginning is anno 2024 present again. And, let there be no doubt, we find that blood-dripping awesome!

Perfect time to have a head-to-head talk with the man behind this project.
Allright Night Beings. Let’s just cut right to it; Peek-A-Boo presents to you: Johan Van Roy aka Suicide Commando.

Hello Johan, A real pleasure meeting you again!

22 years BIMFEST, which you, with Suicide Commando, were also an important a part of. How many editions have you performed there? Can you recall them all? I do not doubt that BIMFEST must be special to you.

Well, to be honest I lost the count. but I guess this must be our 6th appearance at BIMFEST, even though not all of them were announced. I remember us replacing Die Krupps on one of the latest editions.

I must admit that I don't recall all of them, but I sure remember our very first appearance at the first BIMFEST when it still took place at Hof Ter Lo in Antwerp.

Of course our appearances at BIMFEST always been special to me, being a Belgian band on probably the most legendary Belgian Festival supporting the Belgian Underground scene.

Not many festivals can top that.

1986 was the year it all started for you. Present-time that’s 38 years of Suicide Commando. 38 years of overwhelming your fans with dark, dystopian and often unsettling music. How do you look back on all those years? On everything that you have achieved?

It's been one hell of a ride, 38 years! It's been a real rollercoaster with so many highlights (from releasing my very first demo tape in 1988 to charting at position 9 in the official German album charts with my last album "goddestruktor", from my very first live show in the basement of a club in St.-Niklaas (OJC Clichee) as support act for Plastic Noise Experience to playing the biggest festivals across the world...) but also a few setbacks (tearing my ligaments and meniscus on stage during our 2014 US tour, being on tour when my dad suddenly died...).

But to be honest, I never ever expected that Suicide Commando would become one of the leading acts in the electronic scene. I'm so grateful for all the things we achieved, I'm so grateful for all the support we got from fans from all over the world, I'm so grateful that I could make my music, my passion to a (part time) job. It also costed me a lot of sacrifices, but nonetheless I'm so thankful for all the things it brought me in life.

This year you celebrate 30 years of ‘Critical Stage’, your debut album. For BIMFEST XXII there will be an exclusive old-school set with only material from that era. What can you tell us about that?

Yes, 2024 marks the 30th anniversary of my very first ‘Critical Stage’ album, so I thought it was a good moment to put that album in the spotlight again for one more time, as it surely set a milestone in the career of Suicide Commando.

Unfortunately some family matters disrupted the preparations for this special show, but expect a throwback into the deepest parts of my soul. I guess some people never even heard those old songs, I guess some people were not even born when I released these songs, so basically I've been making music for 2 generations... Today I often see and meet parents coming to our shows with their daughter or son, which is a great thing, but it also means that I'm getting f***ing old *smiles*.

Suicide Commando shows are always on a high ‘energy-packed’ level. How do you stay in shape? Any healthy advice for your fans?

I’m basically the best example of how NOT to stay in shape and live healthy. I don’t do any work outs, I don’t eat healthy … guess it’s all about the music. It’s the music that keeps me fit & young (at heart).

You shared the stage with a lot of bands, a lot of established names in the underground scene. Are there bands/artists you have never shared the stage with but would very much love to do so?

Not really, I'm happy I could share stages with most of my heroes and influences, from Klinik to Front 242 to Neon Judgement... so I can die happy!

For live performances you get the assistance of Torben Schmidt on keyboards and Mario Vaerewijck on drums. How did you meet with each other?

For that we have to go way way back in time, into a land far far away when dinosaurs were still existing and shitting my lawn … no seriously, I did meet and know Mario already from his days with Insekt back in the nineties. While working with Eric Van Wonterghem for my first album recordings/masterings I also got to meet Mario. How I met Torben I don’t exactly remember, but it must have been at some concert for sure.

Picture this Johan; you get the opportunity to do a Suicide Commando show at the heart of Transylvania, in the castle of Dracula. Condition, however, is that you replace your drummer and keyboard player with 2 well-known Vampires. Which living dead will that be? Choose wisely.

Does the Addams Family (Fester & Lurch) count as vampires? No?

Your home studio located in Leopoldsburg is where you create/make all your music. Have you ever thought about naming your studio? Or does a name for it already exists?

It did already have a few names, but in the last years I tend to call it “the suicide commando Headquarters”. It’s where all the magic happens and turns into pure horror.

Speaking of Horor; Somewhere in the course of time… In order to find inspiration for the lyrics of a new album you get a night-time visit from ‘The Demon of a Future Yet To Come’ who presents you with 2 options. One: a visit to Haddonfield, Illinois, Hallowe'en time. Second: to open a mystical puzzle box that summons the Cenobites. What option would you choose? One or two?

Oh, that’s a difficult one, guess I’d go for option 1, having some fun time with Michael Myers.

With the new year on the doorstep, what may the fans expect for 2025? Any news you like to share?

End of 2024 and beginning of 2025 will see the release of my first 3 studio albums on vinyl, also available as a limited boxset called “impressions of death”. I also hope to be releasing some new stuff in 2025, but how and when I don’t know yet. And we’ll be touring a LOT again in 2025, with new shows in the USA, Mexico, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Estonia … and more.

Okay Johan, let me end this interview with giving you on behalf of Peek-A-Boo a big big thank you. Here’s to an awesome time at BIMFEST and a great further musical & healthy future!

Thank you very much! Always a pleasure.

www.suicidecommando.be

Hayley CLX
18/12/2024