In times that the dark scene is changing, there are still some constants like Suicide Commando. I was lucky to talk with Johan van Roy about the past and the future of Suicide Commando, a project that soon celebrates its 30th birthday!
So let's begin with the near past. How was this year for you?
To be honest, it’s been a very difficult year so far, for many reasons. The rehab after my knee surgery that didn’t go as planned, trying to be back on stage too early. It also caused extra stress which resulted in a burnout, etc. So, it definitely wasn’t my best year so far, a year to forget as soon as possible.
You're about to release the vinyl LP Electro Convulsion Therapy soon. I read that it contains stuff that's more than 20 years old. Why did you chose these old demo tapes and what does this music mean to you personally?
I’ve been doing music for over 25 years now and I noticed that throughout the years the people/fans attending our shows don’t even know my older works anymore. The fans who are coming to our live shows these days is a mixture of 2 generations, I even know of fans who come to the shows with their children. So, I thought it was a good time to present my older works to this new generation of kids that grew up in a digital age with mp3’s instead of crappy tapes. The Suicide Sessions that included my first 3 albums already was a step in that direction, now we just went a step further with the re-release of my last official demo tape from 1993, Electro Convulsion Therapy.
For me (and also for Dirk Ivens who is releasing the LP on his Minimal-Maximal label), it’s more of a nostalgia thing, I have so many good memories of those old days, recording and releasing those tapes. It was such a fun era to create music. Somehow we were more innovative then today, for example the song Wonderful Machines on the bonus disc of the Electro Convulsion Therapy, was created with a real kitchen mixer from my mom. These things are almost unexisting today. Of course, for an outsider this has no value, but for me personally it’s pure nostalgia. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that in the old days everything was better, I believe every era has its great moments.
So, with the recent release somehow the past meets the future. But you're playing vintage sets on stage as well. What's the idea behind that and how does it feel?
Same story here, the idea to start doing these vintage sets was because I noticed how our crowd changed throughout the years, having two generations attending our shows, I thought it was about time to show the newer generation that Suicide Commando has more to offer then just Blind Torture Kill or Die Motherfucker Die. But I deliberately wanted to keep the old songs separated from our more club oriented newer works. I think many of those very old songs wouldn’t fit with the new ones, so that’s when I came up with the idea of doing some rare vintage sets. To make the difference even bigger, I also asked Gert Haelevoet (of Frames A Second) to join me on stage again like in the old days. He was my live keyboard player for many years until Torben and Mario joined me. So, both shows are completely different, not only musically but also on stage. It’s funny to see how many bands all of a sudden also start doing vintage shows themselves.
What are the most precious memories of your musical career?
Oh, that’s a difficult one as there have been so many precious moments in my career, from releasing my very first demo tape in 1988, signing to the Off Beat label and releasing my very first CD back in 1994, the unexpected success of See You In Hell back in 1995 which made Suicide Commando big in the scene, the success of the entire Mindstrip album back in 2000 with club hits like Hellraiser or Love Breeds Suicide, to see that Suicide Commando became an example for many new bands in the scene, When Evil Speaks entered the German charts, our very first tour in the USA, or in Mexico, Brazil, Russia … And I hope some more memories will follow.
But Suicide Commando does have a future, too. What's coming up next? Any shows planned?
I’m still working on my new album, but due to my burnout, things got delayed with some months, so, I now hope to release the new album somewhere in 2016. We obviously do many new shows in 2016 from E-Tropolis to Amphi, from the Out Of Line Weekender to M’era Luna, you name it, we play it next year!
On top of that, Suicide Commando will exist 30 years in 2016, so, I’m also planning a special “tribute” album at this very moment. So, still plenty of things to come!
Maybe a book about your band history?
No plans for a book just yet, but who knows … Maybe I should write a book and reveal some inside crappy gossip from the scene (laughs)?
By the way, what's your favorite book?
To be honest, I hardly read a book. In the last years I had no time for that. So, I can’t even remember the last book I read, unless you count Working In Cubase SX as a book?
Do you believe in predestination?
Apart from being predestined to die, I don’t really believe in predestination.
And please, choose one sort of ice cream: chocolate cookies, vanilla, strawberry, cherry yogurt or peppermint
Only one sort? I’d rather have a mixture of strawberry with vanilla and chocolate (laughs).
Johan, thank you so much for your time and see you soon!