MOKER – Not just gore and fun

Moker started up in 2003 and released a split with Outcast in 2006, and are now ready to release their debut album Translating the Pain through Shiver Records.

 

 

 

E-T: Name and position in band?
Moker: Wouter Sels, I play the drums.

E-T: How are you doing right now?
Moker: Fine, fine, I’m gonna be a daddy in a few months and our first major album is released as well, so I’m doing pretty great. And thanks for asking, of course.

E-T: How would you describe your music?
Moker: Well, we don’t really consider ourselves to be a certain genre, but the basic is death-metal with the necessary breakdowns and mosh-parts. Mainly our music is pretty fast. Think of Dying Fetus, Misery Index and All Shall Perish.

E-T: Which bands did you look up to when you were growing up?
Moker: Well, I think like the most kids back then; Sepultura, Metallica, Slipknot.

E-T:  Are you satisfied with finally having released your debut album?
Moker: Of course, after years of rehearsing, doing gigs, and the less-then-hoped-for results of our split-cd with Outcast, this is something of our own (that we’re very proud of, by the way) we can profile ourselves with.

E-T: Did Translating the Pain turn out the way you had hoped?
Moker: Definitely. We had much more time to create and optimize the songs just the way we wanted them to be, which was a whole different story with the split-cd. Also, compared to that, the sound of Translating the Pain is massive.
 
E-T: Which film(s) are the spoken passages taken from? I especially liked the opening! “Oh yes, there will be blood”
Moker: That quote is from Saw II, we all figured that would be quite fitting to open this album with. Maybe this doesn’t make any sense to some of the readers, but be sure to come see us play sometime, and you’ll get the picture! 😉
In the second intro, “Broken Silence”, the spoken voice-over is from the serie Millennium, and in “Your Dark Self”, we use a quote from the movie Feed.

E-T: How has the feedback been so far?
Moker: Quite good, I had some friends give their opinion, it’s been reviewed a couple of times now, and I’m pleased to say I haven’t really had any bad comments so far.

E-T: Is there a message in your music or is it only gore and fun?
Moker: Well it’s not just gore and fun; Ad (our singer) usually writes the lyrics about his own personal experiences. Of course, not everything is from personal experience; take for example the song “Last Note”, where the lyrics are actually the suicide letter of a prisoner from Texas that hung himself back in the 90s. I thought that was kind of cool and macabre to have that as the lyrics for one of our songs. By the way, if you buy the cd and remove the disc from the case, you can actually see the original suicide letter.

E-T: What first attracted you to extreme music?
Moker: Definitely the speed and brutality of the music.

E-T: When did you decide that you wanted to play in a band?
Moker: That’s actually a pretty good question. You know, I don’t really remember a time where I didn’t want to be a musician. I guess you’re born with that ambition; if it’s in your blood…

E-T: Will Moker continue as a four man band or will you include another guitar player?
Moker: In the mean time we found ourselves a fifth member (who plays the second guitar). His name is Dirk Broeren (ex-singer of Aeons Of Old and ex-guitar player of Mordred). We thought it was the time after three years with one guitar. The sound is really that much better on stage, it’s incredible.

E-T: Do you prefer to work on the songs, (writing, and recording) or to be out on the road playing your music?
Moker: Well, I always enjoy creating and fine-tuning the songs, but it’s that much nicer to really be performing them when you’re done, and seeing the crowd digging your music.

E-T: What is the best aspect of being in a band?
Moker: You meet cool new people when you are out for playing shows and the live performance!

E-T: What music/bands do you listen to?
Moker: Aborted, Vader, Decapitated, Hate, Dying fetus, Misery index, Skinless, Malevolent creation, Rotten sound and much more…

E-T: What do you do when you are not focusing on the band?
Moker: Like most people do… Spending time with my girlfriend, friends, having a drink, watching movies, watching other bands play…

E-T: What do you believe in?
Moker: Nothing, really.

E-T: What makes you angry?
Moker: Not a whole lot… Although some people really get on my nerves in the traffic.

E-T: What are you up to these days?
Moker: Promotion for our album; there’s a lot of gigs the next few months, so we need to rehearse a lot. Especially now that we just got our fifth band member.

E-T: What does the future hold for the Moker?
Moker: Hopefully a lot of shows, new cds, and a lot of fans of course. We’re really enjoying ourselves with Moker, so we hope we can keep it up for a long time to come!

E-T: Have you started writing material for your next album?
Moker: Of course, we never stopped writing, when it’s time for a new album, we will simply pick the best songs.

E-T: And to finish of: Why should anybody buy your album?
Moker: If you don’t, ants, spiders, and other various insects will come to you when you’re sleeping one day, crawl up your nose and ears, only to start eating you from the inside out. And man, I can tell you, that’s not something you’re waiting for.