FEMME METAL

Interview by Erwin van Dijk

Anouk Verwers is the bass player of Chain of Dogs, a band from the deep south of the Netherlands (the province of Limburg) and not to be confused of the rock singer from Den Haag with the same name. This band sound like a cross between folk metal and horror punk. They are also regular guests of the annual Archeon Midwinter Fair (Alpen aan den Rijn, the 2006, 2007 and 2008 editions)

Bass babes:

For some reason there are many women who play the bass guitar in the world of metal. In Holland we have Monica Jansen (Ex A New Dawn), Marloes from Izegrim and Asje from Ceremony of Opposites to name a few and outside Holland we have Melissa Auf Der Maur, Bridgit Öllbrunner from Midnattsol and Vivian Slaughter from Gallhammer and many more.

Usually women are the singers of a band. Female drummers and guitar players are quite rare. So my question is: why do you think there are so many female bass players?

I don’t really know why there are a lot of women who play bass guitar. Do you have an explanation? Hehe. Maybe it just looks like this because women who play bass stand out more because the bass is often seen as a ‘crude’ instrument.
 
Some bass questions:

And, did you always wanted to play the bass?

Well no! When I was younger I played a lot of classical instruments like piano, flute and clarinet. When I was 14 I became interested in guitars because of my cousin. He played guitar in a band and asked me to visit his band’s rehearsal. I actually got my first electric guitar when I was 15 years old. But the guitar wasn’t made for me; I don’t know, but I didn’t have that ‘click’ with guitars. When I chose to play the bass guitar, I like the instrument from the second I started playing on it. The sound is heavy, the bass is an instrument you can actually feel, I like that! So that’s the story of how I met the bass.

What do you prefer: four (traditional) or five strings on your bass?

That’s easy for me, I prefer 5 strings! I have two bass guitars, both 5-strings.  I think playing on a 5-string gives you more possibilities to use the influences from different kinds of music.

And what kind of bass and amplifier do you use?

My bass guitar is a Schecter Hellraiser 5-string. I ordered it last summer from America, I was convinced by people who prefer Schecter, and they are right!
My amplifier is a MarkBass (Little Mark II). It’s a very small ‘head’ (everyone laughs at me when I show my Little Mark, hehe) but the sound is great! My cabinet is a Hartke VX410. I do have a back-up bass, that’s an Ibanez GSR 205. This was the first bass I bought.

Who is your favourite bass player and what is your favourite music?

My favourite bass player is Alex Webster from Cannibal Corpse, which also says something about my favourite music! My music is definitely black and death metal, it inspires me. Bands like Lunar Aurora, Cannibal Corpse and Endstille, in one word beautiful. The evil and dark desires attract me, hehe. Folk metal is something I like, but my heart lies with black and death meta. I hope to start a black metal project beside Chain of Dogs soon.

Have you played in other bands before Chain of Dogs?

Yes I have. When I was 16 I started playing in a metalcore band. Not exactly my music, but hell, it was my first band. After two years we broke up and I was asked to play in another band named Vaultage. It was a black/thrash metal band, really great! I felt terrible when this band split up, unfortunately. After Vaultage I met Olaf (the frontman of Chain of Dogs) and he asked me to play in COD. And that’s how things happened .

Make up advice:

Even rarer than female guitarists are women with corpse paint on stage. Usually with a black metal band the boys look as evil as hell (think of Cradle of Filth) while the women are supposed to look like a gothic model. But you are a exception of that rule. Do you receive any positive or negative comments about that?

Mostly I get positive comments about it. Some guys and girls a really fed up with Goths. I respect gothic clothing and make-up, but it’s not meant for me. I prefer blood, dirt, sweat, tears and filth. Notice the paint we use with COD is not really the corpse paint used in the black metal scene. We use blood (okay, it’s fake), black stripes and smears and a white hand. The meaning is this is that we try to make it look like we came from a battlefield full of Orks, Elves, mines and tanks. We eat hobbits…raaaarrr.
   
And can you give us any advice about the use of corpse paint?

Hmm, put it on your face and try not to eat the damn stuff?

What does the White Hand you Dogs have on your faces symbolize during a gig? (Are you in the service of Saruman / The Lord Of The Rings?)

It represents some of the dark fantasy influences of Chain of Dogs. Yes, it is the symbol from Saruman’s fighting Uruk Hai, who are dirty, filthy, inhuman, carnivorous but highly intelligent soldiers of something that’s not nice and shiny but dark and unwanted.

The Pack:

About Chain of Dogs: what is the meaning of that name?

The Chain of Dogs is the name of an event in the books by Steven Erikson, Olaf’s favorite author. It’s essentially about an army trying to protect refugees from being slaughtered by rebels from a country they’ve invaded. There is no line between good and evil, the army units are rag-tag assemblies of all kind of men and women fighting because they don’t know anything else, not really because they have a great cause like throwing some stupid ring into a fire. A lot of the songs, like Bridgeburners or Blood Follows, have lyrics based on Erikson’s books.

The other dogs – can you tell us something about your fellow band mates:

Olaf Nijssen – Lead Vocals / Mandolin

Olaf is the front man, singer and mandolin player of COD. He is the one who had the idea for COD and started the band. Olaf is the writer of most of the songs and the lyrics. I’m proud of him!

Arne Gerrits – Violin / Whistles / Backing Vocals

Arne has also been involved with COD from the beginning. Arne is our plays-everything-man! When you give Arne an instrument, I bet he can play it in no time. His main instrument is the violin.
 
Rim Steijvers – Guitars

Rim is the greatest guitar player of the south! About a year and a half ago we asked Rim to come play in COD; we are very happy when he decided to play with us.

Kaz Steijvers – Drums

Kaz is our drummer, he can play almost any kind of music: you name it, he plays it. I can say we are very pleased to have him in our band.

Chain of Dogs used to have many more members on stage. Can we expect any special guests during the live gigs?

Yes, in the beginning COD consisted of 7 members. Mandolin, violin, banjo, 2 guitar players, bass and drums. We had to deal with several member changes. I think the line-up we have now is the best of all. We also have a lot more room on stage.
I don’t know if you can expect any special guests on stage, but who knows, in the future…  

About Chain of Dog’s music. Is the writing of the music and lyrics teamwork or is there a mastermind behind Chain of Dogs?

It’s mostly Olaf who is responsible for the ideas for songs and the lyrics. But when we’re rehearsing we all gave feedback and opinions to each other and create the actual song.
  
What is a typical Chain of Dogs song?

I think the song Bridgeburners is a typical example of COD. This song combines traditional parts with thrash metal. I think that’s what Chain of Dogs stands for.

Bridgeburners:

About your latest demo, Bridgeburners: can you tell us something about the three songs on the cd?

- Blood Follows

One of the stories by Steven Erikson is about two necromancers who murder people to steal body parts. With their magic they are joining the stolen body parts, trying to create a new form of life, a sort of magical version of Frankenstein. Not much can stand in their way:  they are so powerful even ghosts and demons are afraid of them.

- Bridgeburners

Also from the Erikson books, the Bridgeburners are a military company, most of whom were betrayed by the people they fight for and killed. Because of a magic song by a “spiritwalker”, a tribal shaman, they have ascended into a sort of gods; some of the Bridgeburners are the main characters in the books. As a thrown-together bunch of different men and women, they are a bit like the band Chain of Dogs, or the other way around. ;)

- ‘T Zjwatte Loak (this is local dialect and not standard Dutch at all)

 ‘t Zjwatte Loak is about the mines we used to have in the region we live in. It’s a story about a man who tells how he is suffering because of the mine, he is afraid to go into “the black hole” (which is what the title means). His dad says he has to keep courage and go on with his job in the mine because he has inherited the job from grandpa, which is a pretty messed up reason to do something like that.
 
Two of the three songs on your demo are in English. A lot of folk inspired bands prefer to sing in their native tongue (like Heidevolk or Kivimetsän Druidi) What do you think is the reason behind this?

Because they are proud of where they’re from, or because they don’t know any English?

We think it’s more amusing for people when they know what we are singing about? (Besides, we do have songs in our native tongue, our regional language).

What are your favourite Chain of Dog songs?

My favourite songs are ‘‘t Zjwatte Loak’ and ‘De Hujjere’. Those songs really give me the folky vibes because of all the folk influences.

You have done a lot of gigs with Chain of Dogs. What are the highlights so far?

Of course all the Midwinter Fair gigs (2006, 2007, 2008) were awesome! But actually almost every is a little party for us and for me. In a few weeks (23-01-2009) we’re opening for Heidevolk and I’m really excited about that! 

And what is your worst experience on stage?

Hehehe… Well I do not really have a worst experience on stage with COD. But with my first band I had an awful experience. I drank so much beer before a gig with that band. All was okay when I started playing, but as soon as I started headbanging: NOT! I fell on the floor in front of the audience, right on my butt. Everybody started laughing.
It hurt, but I didn’t care about that, but my bass fell as well and I was worried about that. The damage wasn’t so bad, though, only my guitar cable was busted.
  
What are the Chain of Dogs plans for the future?

Well, that’s easy. Writing a lot of new songs for a full length (we have an offer from a small German label), maybe getting signed on a major label, and playing at more and larger festivals, hopefully one day at festivals like Wacken Open Air, Party San, Summer Breeze etc. ;)

And the last question: is there anything the reader should know that I haven’t asked?

Hm… Dunno..  

Chain Of Dogs mySpace