DEMISE Interview

Lately, Poland has been providing the world with some of the best metal bands around. Demise are without a doubt, one of the heaviest bands emerging from the Polish scene. Their drummer, Marek Matkiewicz is an imposing figure during the group's performances. At a height of six feet, eight inches he seems to be standing up behind the drum set while performing! Recently, Erin had a chance to speak with Marek about the group.

The Gauntlet: Tell us a bit about the Polish metal secne, is the state of metal strong in Poland?

Marek Matkiewicz: The Polish scene seems to be in very good condition. Lots of great bands and labels. Also the press is working very good. All regular magazines and web magazines. Some of the Polish bands starting to make international careers. Polish music always stays on a high level and I hope it will be like that in the future.

TG: So are there a lot of good venues in your country?

MM: Of course! We have many clubs to play the shows. In bigger cites we have awesome clubs - in smaller towns sometimes you have to play in small club with bad conditions but it's not a big deal. Lots of bands trying to tour all around Poland and usually it's usually working.

TG: Tell us about the Polish artists which strike you as being the most outstanding.

MM: Some of the greatest bands have unfortunately broken up. One of my favorites was Violent Dirge. They issued their great "Elapse" album and awesome "Craving", but they had many problems and they don't exist now. Also bands like Tenebris, Lux Occulta but they had problems too. Decapitated is great, Behemoth is great, Vader, Lost Soul, Yattering. We have also local metal legends like Kat, Tsa, Turbo and many more.

TG: Do you feel that everyday life in Poland is in contrast to that of the US or are the cultures similar?

MM: I used to live in US for some time and I can say something about differences. For sure you have more money and almost everybody there has a job. The US is the most powerful country in the world and you have lots of goods. Poland is a small country but lot of things going to be better. Now, we join European Union and everything working better. We still have large unemployment, but if you have a good job then living here is really cool. Many people from the US don't realize that we have a normal country. You know, sometimes people asked me some stupid questions like - do you have pizza, or cars in Poland? He-he, yeah we have almost everything like in the US. Poland is a normal country and we have some civilization here, and the most beautiful girls on the planet, he-he. That's very important.

TG: So tell us about the trips to the United States, what was that like for you ?

MM: The whole band was in the States once, in the summer of 2002. Me and our guitarist and singer Ozz came on June on something like a student program, we were working. After few months, together with Metal Mom's help we invited the rest of the guys - played some shows and had a great time. Then, we had to go home in November cause our visas expired. I was in the States second time a year ago - I was a session drummer and touring with Hell-born, together with Forest Of Impaled and Demonacy (Hail bros!!). After a tour I stayed for a while in Chicago. How do you get over to the US . How do you get home? Where do you stay? As I said in the previous question, Me and Ozz came to US through the student program. We had lot of problems getting the visas to the rest of the guys but thankfully we did it. Me and Ozz, we landed in New York, our friends were supposed to help us during first days there, but they failed. We were totally confused what to do next. We were totally green in a different country, our language was poor, it was a nightmare. We rented a car together with two other guys and drove to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Then we rented an apartment and started looking for a job. It was really crazy and for sure the best adventure in my life. We lived in Ann Arbor about three months. We met Metal Moms son, Rob, he was working with us. We had a party at their house. Later, Metal Mom invited us to her house and we spent the rest of the time in Parma. When I was in US second time I stayed in Chicago after the tour. I also visited Metal Mom for Christmas time.

TG: So you are pretty happy to be a part of the Castle Blakk family, I take it.

MM: They treated us very good. They showed us a lot of support when we were in US and still support us a lot. We are really appreciated it for everything they did for us. Big thanks for all! I hope we will meet again soon.

TG: Do you know any of the other groups on the label?

MM: Personally, we know guys from Lucifer's Hammer. We need to thank them for let us to use some of their equipment during our staying in the states. Sometimes we probably pissed them off but we really understand that. We also know guys from Vladislas and Bone Crushing Annihilation but only through the internet. Our greetings go to everybody, also for guys from Forest Of Impaled for giving me some support in Chicago.

TG: Tell us about working with the legendary James Murphy on the album.

MM: It was a strange cooperation because we communicated only through the internet. We recorded tracks for the album here in Poland. Then, we sent all the tracks to James, who mixed and mastered it, and put awesome solo in song called "Unjust". It's a great honor for us to work with such a famous and talented person. Big thanks to James Murphy!

TG: So, that must have been kind of different to work with a producer in such a manner.

MM: As I said it was strange. James was sending us MP3 files and we were giving him our suggestions. But, basically we trusted him and he did it his way.


TG: So do you work on any other projects besides Demise?

MM: Me and Ozz are involved in the band Enter Chaos. We had two albums, we're going to record the third in February. Check it out at www.enterchaos.tk. Ozz is helping another great band from our town, Trauma. I used to play in a lot of bands in the past like Damnation, Hell-Born, Moon, Dar Semai and few other projects. But, Demise is always the most important thing for us.

TG: It must be hard to find the time to work on everything.

MM: Sometimes it's hard, but we like it. We have one practice room for the bands. It looks like we play almost everyday but that's good. It makes us a better musicians, I hope.

TG: How was the response at the shows you played in Ohio and Michigan?

MM: These shows were great! We always had great response from the audience. Some shows were bigger, some smaller but we've always had a great time and tried to give the best show we can.

TG: Tell us a little bit about Metalmania '03, what was that concert like for you?

MM: Very cool. It's very big festival, about 6000 people, lots of great bands that we had a chance to meet, two stages. Great shows from bands like Samael, Opeth, Malevolent Creation, Anathema, Vader, Saxon. It was the biggest show we have ever played.

TG: So what is on the slate show wise for Demise?

MM: We played a show in Warsaw on January 8th. Now, we have a break because we want to wait till our album will be out in April. Then we will have a tour of Poland and we will try to attack Europe and the US, of course.

TG: Thanks for filling us in! It's always great to speak with bands that really enjoy what they're doing!

MM: Thank you for the interview - hope to see you soon!