TERRORIZER MAGAZINE INTERVIEW

By: Kim Kelly

*Original, uncut, & unpublished interview taken from the pages of Terrorizer Magazine Issue #230 (Dec 2012)

VON - The Return

No-One can accuse VENIEN of being a sell-out. If the accusation was made, he’d probably rip your head off. Terrorizer is all ears as the VON mastermind is let loose. Reunions are tricky business. Not all are content to let sleeping dogs lie or fallen bodies rot, but the decision to revive a decaying corpse is not one to be taken lightly. It’s almost impossible to pull off a reunion without coming correct, equipped with not only at least an album worth of solid tunes or a stated goal (one-offs, bands that refuse to record new material, and tribute gigs, yer off the hook) but big enough cojones to ignore and then silence the inevitable choir of “sell out” and “cash grab” pouring in from fans and skeptics alike. So now we come too unthinkable: a VON reunion. They of the Satanic Blood and primitive might, the godfathers of American black metal and forerunners of black metal in general, have returned, but at what cost?

With a new line-up, new album, and plans to take the whole thing on the road, it looks like VON are as serious as ever…that is, if this evolved beast may be given the name VON at all. At this point, plenty will dispute the very nature of the band itself, but their howls will fall upon deaf ears. No-one knows the story behind it all than someone who’s lived through it, so we spoke to VENIEN, sole remaining original member and head conductor of this orchestra of chaos, about the backlash over the new album. Fittingly, he doesn’t give a fuck.

Kim Kelly:
I’ve got to ask the question that’s loomed largest in everyone’s minds since the announcement of VON’s resurrection was made public. It’s been years since your last recorded output, as far as metal goes; you’ve described yourself as a punk rock guy with a day job and a family. Why now, after all these years, have you decided to return from the shadows and release an album’s worth of new material?

VENIEN:
I’m here to finish what I started. As far as material goes I have 70+ songs in the mix so far and still adding. At this stage I have 3 VON albums mixed and mastered so far and a 24 track solo album under the title VENIEN in the mix. Drum tracking for the 4th VON album is underway. Simply put the shadows could not contain this material any longer.

Kim Kelly:
What do you think of those who doubt your intentions, and detractors’ saying that this is just a cash grab (funny as it may be to think that anyone making raw fucking black metal is in it for the “money)?

VENIEN:
The mislead are that “mislead”. Creative people create; we all make something out of nothing and then present it to other humans. We all have our own reasons for what and how we do things; at this point I am on a path of exploiting my vision to you. It’s the most personal thing to release your thoughts and visions to others, ask any writer, illustrator, and musician, anyone that does those types of things. The other elements of delivering it to others, ask people that own record labels, musicians in bands that sign to record labels, they will all tell you that they understand the dirty element that is necessary in society and that is “business” and the ugly things that go with that, but in this case I’m spending more money on this project than care to understand, so at this point its more personal than a successful profitable business model and I’m fully aware of that viewpoint. Hell, I’ll be lucky to make half of what I put in to be honest, at least within the next 5 to 10 years, that is if I’m lucky and people dig it enough to support it. Even the magazine you read these words, the writer asking the questions, it all has a cost, down to the last word, tell them Kim, tell them the ugly side of getting the hard questions asked and then printed…word count right? =Money/space and that’s space they can use for ads that make them…you guessed it, money. See it reaches everything and anything, so those that don’t understand what it takes to even do this, they as mislead. There were rumors I lived in a cave! and if I was kvlt enough then there should be no cash involved, which comes from people that eat cheetos in their mother’s basements as they listen to von goat albums saying fuck VENIEN!!!

On that point, those detractors say goat is the only trVe VON??…Fucking go listen to his most intimate project he did on his own called 10 cent and there is the true goat revealed, he is not part of this and anything that I do anymore, that motherfucker quit twice on me, no more man, and NO! Shawn I can’t delete all the stuff about your past off the Internet!!! It’s necessary to bring him in to this discussion because those very few loud cheetos out there are the ones that are screaming the nonsense and they all stroke goat, its truly funny to watch and hear about, but in the end they will fail, this shit is rolling out and the path is set fuckers! This shit is a full DIY venture and if those that can’t understand the struggle and the pain involved, then they never had the balls to attempt to do what I am doing, simple as that. Everything, and I mean everything is done by myself in terms of putting it together and I own all of it, not some other person, label, company, this shit right here is what I coin as the grassroots dream that people say they wish they could do, but then weak motherfuckers give up and take 360 deals and give away publishing and hope they get famous, damn! Are we back in Motown days and giving up your shit so easy just for coin?!!! Fuck that shit! Not me…I do have to say thanks to the very small few souls that have taken time out of their lives to join me in the revolt and uprising of VON, well… you know who you are, you have my humbling gratitude, for those that attempt to thwart my path, they may drink the venomous vomit I spew!!! Does that answer your questions? Like to see this shit actually make the printed inked pages…I doubt it…and if you do print it, much respect to Terrorizer

Kim Kelly:
With a challenge like that, how could we not give the man his box on Speaker’s Corner? The first ‘proper’ VON full-length, ‘Satanic Blood’ has just been released on VENIEN’s own Von Records, and proves as diverse as anything else its creator ever done. What does it sound like? Black fucking metal, of course, though perhaps not what you might be expecting. The record is a mishmash of re-recorded and re-worked classics - ‘Devil Pig’, ‘Watain’, ‘Lamb’ – as well as brand new songs written with VENIEN’s new partners-in-crime, a rotating cast of characters including members of Kult Ov Azazel, The Atlas Moth, and TOAD.

Kim Kelly:
‘Satanic Blood’ was recorded with a handful of new musicians, an at times rotating cast of characters. You drew heavily on the Chicago scene to help you realize your vision. How did you meet the people involved, and what drew you to them – how did you know who was right?

VENIEN:
I met Lord Giblete back in 2010 when we did that London show with Shawn; I met him in LA when we rehearsed with Shawn in Silverlake for London. He recorded with Shawn the first von goat album, but he quickly quit von goat since that whole thing was just bullshit and joined me directly after. He and I recorded all the upcoming VON albums and the solo album together from front to back. Since I did not have another guitarist or drummer, I reached out to a few people, a few reached out to me, but then one day I spoke to a guy out in Chicago named Blake Judd through email then phone. He had interest to come into play guitars for VON and do a split album, but nothing came of that and we have not spoken since, but out of it all he recommended his drummer from his band “Charlie Fell” to record drums for whatever I needed. So Charlie was up for it, said he knew all the songs already for Satanic Blood, so I flew out to Chicago with the intent to have Charlie record Satanic Blood, Dark Gods: Seven Billion Slaves, and my solo album called Tribal Blood. During the 2 day sessions, Charlie said he had a Nachtmystium album to do sessions on and could only get tracking done for the 2 VON albums and could not do the Tribal Blood album. Andrew Ragin who was engineering and later mixed the 2 VON albums, he recommended drummer “Anthony Mainiero” from his band Atlas Moth.

T came down to meet up during the VON sessions and we clicked and he decided to take charge of the Tribal Blood drums tracks. Andrew M from Lord Mantis was hanging out with Charlie, we spoke and he was going to come out to AZ and see if it was a good fit for him to accompany Lord Giblete as 2nd guitarist for live shows in the future, he came out, but unfortunately it didn’t work out. There was also Zack Simmons of Goatwhore, who lives out in AZ and came out a few times to rehearse with us on drums. Charlie (Fell) and Zack (Simmons) both have always expressed to me that they would be up to doing drums for VON shows if needed, but both those guys are extremely busy with their own bands more or less. T, or shall I say (Dirty FvKn! Pistols) we hit it off during my revisit to Chicago to hammer out the Tribal drum tracking with him. Shortly after at least 50+ broken sticks later, we started going over the 2nd Dark Gods album demos that he said he would knock out drum tracks for as well.

T came in to my AZ studio, where I finally have it setup for drum tracking. I also brought in my mixing and mastering guru “John Gray”  and we began the Dark Gods: Birth of The Architects tracking. I also brought in an additional live guitarist: Xaphan (Julian Hollowell) from the band Kult of Azazel into AZ to rehearse, and we did our first band rehearsal at the Howling House spot that the band Take Over and Destroy (TOAD) jams in Tempe, which quickly turned into a secret little show with local friends of TOAD. Alex Bank “Hammer of Dread” Rollins from the band TOAD quickly joined the ranks as the 3rd live guitarist. It’s been a long road, but now the 5 of us are a complete live line-up as of now and we are preparing for the Ritual of The Black Mass shows in LA, SF and NY this year.

Kim Kelly:
Bold words, surely, especially coming as the do from the man behind one of the underground’s most controversial reunions in recent memory, but proof will be in the pudding. The monster lives, and has set its sights on the rest of the United States, and perhaps further afield. The live rituals VENIEN has planned will surely make for a mental spectacle, and his current band mates are all seasoned touring musicians. We have to ask: after the now-infamous London gig, headlining with Watain and Devil's Blood opening up for you, what can we expect to see from the VON performance now? Who is officially in VON? Who will be playing with you on your upcoming live rituals? Are Tony and Andrew M. still involved?

VENIEN:
VON includes myself as VENIEN (vocals/bass), Lord Giblete (guitar), Dirty FvKn! Pistols (drums), Hammer of Dread (live guitar), & Xaphan (live guitar).

Kim Kelly:
What will the live rituals be like? I know you’ve said that they will be truly special events.

VENIEN:
The Ritual of The Black Mass is a live expression of the songs through myself and my bandmates. The vision will be experienced by those that choose to accept it; it will be a simple, stripped down, raw, intense, dark, but powerful platform for the MONSTER that is VON. The music will speak for itself, there are no banners, theatrical aspects to my show, I only bleed outwards the rage that is inside of me and vocally I scream and sometimes whisper what the voices in my head have told me to do. From beginning to end you will hear everything that has to do with this MONSTER, including the vessel that has spawned from it which is my persona, my own psychosis that is what I call Venien. The show will include much material around 90 minutes worth, from the entire horizon of songs that I have created to date since I started to create when I was a child.

Kim Kelly:
VON’s last live appearance, a London gig with Watain a few years back, was controversial to say the least. Do you feel that this incarnation of the band will do the music justice in a live setting, and finally silence any naysayers?

VENIEN:
Every time I’ve played since the beginning most stand there in silence, eyes wide open, staring at what they see. Minus the weak individuals of old that fell from the dark, this is the final form of VON. I can only say it will have impact psychologically for those that take the time to witness it and accept it, those that are not prepared will hate it. For those onlookers or those that have their foot half in, they will only pretend to have witnessed it, most likely from a cellphone recording that makes its way to a YouTube channel or a VON hate blogger posting it to heckle as they do, as they dream of stroking goat and at the same time screaming from their self proclaimed platform “FUCK VENIEN!” Naysayers are pathetic humans that lack respect for others art, and most the time are little boys with low self esteem and just heckle people to heckle them. Let them scream! Let them rant! I love it! Fuck censorship! Damn that’s the spirit fuckers! Say what you will it gives me joy! I can tell you this, even though most interviews I’ve done are censored, and my words are cut and too “much” for print, shit even online interviews are cut, but it never fails those asking the questions can only base their research off the loud hecklers, the bogglers, or those kullvulty cheetos that are spewing nonsense/straight bullshit at a show, I guess that’s the dance we do with those lost children of the darkness! ha!

Kim Kelly:
The album itself is a beast – nineteen tracks of new and re-recorded material. Why did you decide to re-record the classic songs? Do you feel that they are now finally “complete”?

VENIEN:
The “Satanic Blood” full-length album includes the final recordings of the demos and works-in-progress, 20+ years late, and finally, this album is completed. It’s a case of finishing what I started with or without the other creator.  Shit! if he was involved it would have never gotten recorded in its true form, he would have wanted to record a “vongoatish” album, and pay him weekly like he was fucking Prince or some bullshit like that! Fuck that! You want to listen to a von goat album? He has that for you goat fans online, go buy it, oh shit! sorry his biggest supporters are giving it for free online on their blogs, my bad.

Bottom line, this is VON!!! and it has always been bigger that goat and VENIEN, we were just the creators, but now the MONSTER has its own life. I have successfully harnessed it and also guided it to where it needs to go for the remaining days it stays with us. Also from what I hear and every interview I’ve done to date, everyone has said the same thing, and I agree with your bold statement, indeed it is a BEAST!

Kim Kelly:
Tell me a bit about the new songs. What was the writing process like? Did you handle most of the songwriting, or did your compatriots contribute as well?

VENIEN:
Most of the songs were complete and in demo form by the time they came in, it’s been a combination of demos since 1987. The songs run all the way up to today in development, so it spans from the beginning of my writing process to present day. Lord Giblete came in and we worked out a formula for the guitars and we worked together in the development of the solos, but all the way through we collaborated on his guitar tracks for the songs. There were many key elements I needed to express intertwined with the lyrics, bass lines, or just the general parts or mood of a particular piece of the song, those areas we addressed piece by piece from either my notes or just memory of what I wanted to hear in that specific part. In terms of drums with Charlie and T, same thing, just worked with them telling them what I need and some specifics here and there, but overall drum tracking was lot easier than everything else. I wrote everything on these records, minus the lyrics on Satanic Blood, which goat wrote and we both wrote the music together for those old demos, but everything else I wrote after that myself.

Kim Kelly:
Looking back now, after seeing VON’s influence on the emergence and development of black metal, both in the US and globally, would you have done anything differently?

VENIEN:
NO, life happened, music was created, people became who they are with or without VON or perhaps they did, either way, things can’t be changed, they can only be advanced. I respect a humans right to express themselves in their vision of how they feel, the way they think, and in the end, how it fits them. I have always focused on myself “looking within” in terms of music is concerned, I have family and friends that I focus on in reality outside of music, but in terms of my visions, art, music, and anything I create, its always inwards. So I evolve as I develop

Kim Kelly:
Are you interested in any of the current black metal/extreme metal bands? Who do you think truly embodies the continuing spirit of VON? Have you encountered any modern “black metal” that completely misses the point?

VENIEN:
Not really, I have spoke with bands and musicians that are current and that are not, and that span many genres, so since people evolve and once was this or now is that, its all a blur to me. Since at this point since I started my label in 2006, I’ve been too “self” involved with the 70+ songs and getting this label of the ground to bring to the world, than to see what is out there. Again, I listen to many things, and most of the time music is shut off, unless I’m reviewing my demos or hearing mixes. It’s been like this for the past 6 years

Kim Kelly:
What is next for VON? You’ve always got a million projects going…

VENIEN:
Millions? Lets be clear this is a DIY label and its only a handful of people involved, so there are only a few things that appear to be many to you. I do however have a handful of projects for the label, that includes, the VON albums, my solo VENIEN album, and a Kako Daimon album that is Alvero Lillo’s solo album (bass player of Watain). T and I have spoke of taking the 6 songs that didn’t make the Tribal Blood album and adding a few more to make a sequel to Tribal Blood later on, but as far as the VON albums are concerned, this last one we are currently in preliminary production with, is the last for the foreseeable future. The bands that covered VON through the years we are doing small EP splits with that will go with a self made zine that I am doing at the studio, but that will be here and there with personal interviews with VON and the bands on the splits. Other than that, I have a few producer friends that I’m working with to develop a script revolving around the lyrics, the albums, the songs, that tell the entire story on film, but that will be a ways off from now. Finally, there is the Ritual of the Black Mass, which will contain the live performances that we do, the LA, SF and NY shows that are this year. Hopefully next year we will be touring as far as we can, we actively in talks with some, and are seeking interested parties to align themselves with us to go full force in 2013.

Kim Kelly:
The last words are yours. Hail VON!

VENIEN:
REVOLT!!! & FUCK CENSORSHIP!!!

(Source: Terrorizer Magazine Issue #230 Dec 2012) *magazine defunct