Interview with Romain Goulon and Stephan Fimmers of Necrophagist
June 2009 – Summer Slaughter Tour
By: Marisa Connelly
SDM: How is this tour compared to other Summer Slaughter tours?
Romain: Of course I love it! But I don’t know what else to say. So far it’s good. Compared to last year, it’s pretty much the same. [laughs]
Stephan: Well I think it’s really cool. It’s always cool with all those different bands, like we know five or six bands from other tours. It’s like a big meeting of friends and people, so it’s pretty much amazing. The venues are getting bigger from year to year. Like, the first time we played it was almost all good venues and a couple smaller ones. But this year, every venue is really big with a lot of people, so it’s awesome. Very cool.
Romain: Yeah, I agree. But I don’t really know what to say to compare the two tours. Last year was my first tour, US tour, and Canada, this one is my second one. So far the two tours have been really good.
SDM: In a recent interview, Muhammed [Suiçmez] said that this new album will be more “musical.” How have you implemented that into your drumming?
Romain: Well we are working together with Muhammed on the drumming, and Muhammed has been influenced by my drumming, so we decided to work together. So basically he is composing the drum lines, and then we work together and check it out and see what works. And that’s pretty much it.
Stephan: I agree. Actually, he is probably writing 99% of the bass lines, because he’s just doing an awesome job. Since he’s doing both the guitars and the bass guitar, everything just fits perfectly together. I really don’t know where I could change [it], so I’m just trying to tell him what I can play, like some new techniques, some fancy tapping, whatever shit. And he’s trying to get this into the bass lines, but I think he got 99% of the bass lines, and I just practice it, play it.
Romain: It’s going to have more double bass. And it’s not only about technicality, just all the drums fit to the guitars and bass. It can be really simple parts, and it can be a really fast thing. Odd measures, and we don’t want to do something technically just for to be technically. It has to be musical. That’s pretty much it.
SDM: I agree. Does the fact that the guitarists are using 7-string guitars on the new album have an effect on arranging or how you’re playing your instruments?
Romain: [he read the question and simply nodded his head in defeat.]
Stephan: I think it makes a real big difference, it’s just not that they are playing everything just lower- so basically just a guitar with a wider range, so it doesn’t mean that everything is just deeper. So it gives a lot more space for things like the bass guitar, that on the last record we realized the bass wasn’t really cutting through all of the time. So on this record, we are trying that once the guitars are getting really low, the bass is getting a little more higher. That gives more space to every other instruments. And like, when there’s a lot of double bass going on the guitars are getting higher. If there’s slow parts on the drums, the guitars are getting lower again. So we’re just trying a wide range in everything to make every instrument gets their space, and make it more audible. Especially for the live situation, that you can hear everything, and it’s getting powerful. Yeah, that’s what we are trying to do. I think it works pretty cool. [laughs]
Romain: [reads the question again]
SDM: So does it change anything in the drumming?
Romain: Not really, no.
SDM: Two years ago, SD interviewed you and asked who gave the best live performance you’ve ever seen. You answered. “I never remember all the shows I’ve seen… Perhaps it was Necrophagist one year ago in France, but I have seen many amazing performances…” Tell me about your journey between standing in the crowd to being the one on stage- and on the upcoming album- with Necrophagist.
Romain: Well, it started when I heard the first time the Epitaph album in 2004 or 2005? Well, I think the first time I heard the album it was one year later or something. I was just amazed, and I’ve seen Necrophagist on a show and I was really amazed and really impressed when they played live and stuff. And I was playing at that show as a local band, Central. And then, like, four years later Muhammed contacted me every night and of course I was interested, and was starting to learn the songs. So I tried to learned two songs, and then it went well, and pretty much that’s it.
Stephan: I remember that show, but I just remember the catering. [laughs] They were setting up four tables of all food, so that was pretty amazing. I don’t remember how the show itself was, but the catering was really awesome. It was the first show that he [Romain] was playing [in the opening band, Central]. So, at least I can remember the catering.
Romain: Between the time I’d seen Necro for the first time and the time I joined the band, I could not imagine playing in Necro, and I thought it was just too technical for me. I was used to playing brutal death metal, it was more straight. Really fast and I had to get good stamina, but sometimes a bit annoying. I was looking for something more technical and I would have liked before to mix progressive music and death metal, and Necro was just the perfect thing for that.
SDM: So, I’ve seen your short drum lessons on Youtube. Thankfully someone translated it into English. Any plans to offer a drumming DVD or a full lesson series?
Romain: Yeah, it’s a plan. Those videos I made a couple of years ago, in 2005 or something. I made it in French because my English is not so good. [laughs] Because I was in a drum forum and many drummers asked for some exercises and some advices on drumming. And basically, no French drummer did that before, so that’s why I decided to do it. And my plan is to release a DVD. Or maybe later, right now I’m really busy with Necro, so yeah, I’m going to work soon on something, but I don’t know yet. It’s a bit early.
SDM: But it is something you would like to do, one day?
Romain: Yeah, definitely!
Stephan: Just make it funny!
SDM: Question from Ian: Have you ever heard of drum legend Simon Phillips?
Romain: Yes, of course! I’ve seen Toto live in Paris, I think it was 10 years ago, and Simon Phillips was playing drums. And I was just amazed because he’s a really tight, really proficient drummer. And he can play simple stuff, he can play more complicated stuff. He’s one of the first drummers in the 80’s to start playing double bass and stuff like weird measures, so I think he brought something to the music.
SDM: We asked Simon Phillips to watch a video clip from Romain’s Batteur Magazine recordings and give a review of sorts… Here is what he said:
“Well first of all he should be banned from the drumming community. Ridiculous feet – and hands actually. Wow – well I am speechless – ha ha ha!!! But seriously – and I think we spoke about this in the interview – it doesn’t do much for me other than saying “wow”. I need to hear players in a musical situation. I am not really interested in virtuosity for the sake of it. It’s how players apply themselves musically that counts. This is not a fair critic based on what I have seen in this clip.”
Romain: Holy shit! That’s pretty cool! It’s a drummer DVD, from French drum magazine. We went to Paris and this guy just videotaped me. We did not have much time, so I decided to show the basic death metal patterns, like double bass and speed, and how to be great and how to work on your stamina and stuff like that. So it was not too much like a music video or something. Like rudiments and stuff like that.
SDM: Cool! So, that’s all I have. Was that horribly terribly bad?
Stephan: [laughs] Yeah, it’s ok.
Romain: My answers could have been better.
SDM: They were good answers!
Romain: [Nods his head disagreeably] Would you like to add something, Stephan?
Stephan: I’m just the bass player, no body wants to know anything from the bass player. [laughs]
Romain: [laughs] I think that’s it then.
www.necrophagist.de
www.myspace.com/necrophagistde
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