To celebrate the new Grafjammer album “De Tyfus, De Teerling” last Januari we had a “little” chat with Jorre.
Your new album, De Tyfus de Teerling, has just been released. How do you feel about the reception so far? Has it met your expectations?
Hello there. Well, the reviews and reactions we got so far are all very positive. The only critical note I’ve heard until now is that the album is too short. And some people are not completely sure how to deal with the cover. We won’t cry ourselves to sleep over that. So I dare say we’re a bunch of happy campers.
It’s always little frightening the moment you release something new. After all the months of bickering and bitching over the songs and the recordings you get a bit deaf to your own stuff. In the end you’re not really if sure if what you’re putting out is actually any good or just glorified garbage. I’m still not at the point to where I can listen to the album in any neutral way, but it’s satisfying to hear that other people enjoy it.
The title De Tyfus de Teerling is quite striking. What does it signify, and how does it tie into the themes of the album?
For people who don’t speak Dutch it might be a bit difficult, but it’s a play on words to begin with. ‘Tyfus’ and ‘Tering’ mean Typhus and Tuberculosis, two diseases the Dutch like to swear with a lot, often in combination with each other, because of the alliteration. We’ve replaced ‘Tering’ with ‘Teerling’, which is an old word for ‘Die’, not death but dice. The ones you throw in a game. So literally it says, ‘The Tyfus, The Die’
The feeling behind it was taking a swearing gamble without giving a rat’s ass about the consequences. ‘Here goes nothing, eat our shit’, in other words.
After the release of our previous album our guitarist Jouter and drummer Jahwe both quit Grafjammer, which created a challenge. And imposed the question if Jeroen, Jelle and me still had enough motivation to look for other people and start again or call it quits and do something else with our time. A new guitarist luckily came easy with Jammerhout but finding a suitable drummer was a pain in the butt.
I remember thinking at a certain moment, fuck it. I don’t really care how we are going to do it, but we’re doing it anyway. Even if I have to do the bloody drumming myself. Fortunately for everyone we ran into Jicht soon after. But that was the uncertain and defiant atmosphere in which the title came into being.
I remember thinking at a certain moment, fuck it. I don’t really care how we are going to do it, but we’re doing it anyway. Even if I have to do the bloody drumming myself. Fortunately for everyone we ran into Jicht soon after. But that was the uncertain and defiant atmosphere in which the title came into being.
Lyrically, your music is known for its grim and misanthropic themes, often tied to historical events. What kind of stories and themes can listeners expect on this album?
More or less as a coincidence all the different song lyrics deal for a large part with points of no return. Where the feces have hit the propellor a long time ago and the only thing stopping the ship are the cliffs. Which is a nice analogy for modern society in my view.
Not all the songs are about specific old stories and historical stuff, there are some which are more broad in nature. But all of them deal with zeal and conviction that turn into a madness from where there is no coming back.
Like ‘Bloedbruid’, about Janske Gorissen. A sickly catholic girl who lived in the south of the Netherlands and who during the 1920’s and 30’s claimed to experience visions of angels, Jesus Christ and even the devil. Accompanied by signs of stigmata end bleeding from the eyes. This was picked up by the local priest who quickly turned the whole parish into a cult of epic proportions. Janske was revered as nothing less than a prophet and deemed ‘The bride of Jesus’. Worshipers came from all over for a glimpse and a blessing from the Bride while the priest rigged up a complete line of merchandise. In good Catholic fashion a fortune was made. But after a few years and rising rumors of foul play and -sexual- extravagance, even the Vatican decided that things were getting out of hand -probably fearing competition- and the whole affair was swiftly dismantled and brushed under the carpet. Janske died alone and forgotten somewhere in a convent.
We have a couple more stories of that sort on the album about ambition turning sour. Like ‘Rampokker’, about Jan PieterszoonCoen, the first Governor General of the newly colonized Dutch East Indies in the 1600’s. A vindictive, remorseless psychopath without comparison.
Or ‘Waanzee’, describing a strange case of religious delusion among the crew of a Dutch fishing vessel in 1915 who came to believe in open sea that Armageddon had come and they were the chosen and only ones still alive. That did not end well either.
The Dutch language plays a major role in your music, adding a unique character to your sound. Do you feel this limits your audience, or does it enhance the authenticity of Grafjammer’s vision?
That is a metaphysical question. It could be that the Dutch language limits us, although I think in Black Metal understanding the lyrics is not a very big thing. But simply, without Dutch lyrics it would not be Grafjammer. The whole idea was to start a primitive Black Metal band that would operate exclusively in Dutch. That’s the very essence, take it away and it becomes something completely different. As if you would try to cook Nasi Goreng without rice. Grafjammer is Dutch primitive black metal punk with Dutch lyrics about Dutch stuff. You can write that down as a mathematical formula.
What was the recording process like for De Tyfus de Teerling? Did you approach it differently compared to your previous albums?
Not so very different I think. Although this time, on the instigation of our drummer Jicht, we went to the Galloway studio in Nijmegen run by Sebastiaan Bijlevelt. When we came there we nearly felt it was a bit too grand for simple underground dabblers like us. This was a place for real musicians. But truth be told, it was very comfortable and we came quite prepared. Jicht is a sound engineer himself who approaches anything sonic with a monomaniacal obsession that is beyond me, but it did pay off. We demo’ed the songs in the weeks before recording and among others I experimented with a whole range of older and newer microphones since Jicht is a collector of those things. And decided on a very nice handheld vintage piece, sorry forgot which one.
The main aim we had for the album was to have a crisp, clear sound, yet cold and underground at the same time. With vocals that were dynamic and intelligible but not over produced and some other punky stuff like clean vocals and gang vocals.
The biggest new thing we did was to add some female vocals and choir on ‘Bertken’. That was a bit of a bold move for a primitive black metal band like us, since we’re not Cradle of Filth. It’s one of the most ‘epic’ songs on the album. ‘Suster Bertken’ was a nun from Utrecht who in the 15th century lived as a hermit bricked inside a stone cell in the Buurkerk Church for 57 years until her death. For this we asked Voddemoer, a Dutch folk band we once had the fortune of playing with, to supplement some intermezzo halfway through the song. I think they did an absolutely stellar job with that.
Sebastiaan Bijlevelt did the mix for us and like on all our recordings of the last 10 years the mastering was expertly taken care of by JB vd Wal.
Grafjammer’s sound is aggressive and straightforward, yet there’s always a strong atmosphere behind it. How do you balance rawness with atmosphere in your songwriting?
To be honest I have no real answer to that. We don’t really plan songs or talk much about styles or ideas when we begin writing new stuff. Usually Jeroen or Jammerhout come up with some riffs or rudimentary idea for songs they’ve recorded at home. During rehearsals we listen to those and decide together what we like and think will work. And then we just get on with it and a proper song evolves when everybody contributes his stuff. I really like that group effort. It could potentially lead to bland compromise, but it actually never does.
In the end It’s allways a bit of a suprise how a new song crystalizes. When the occasion arises to add some extra stuff for atmosphere we sometimes take the opportunity. But it’s never a premeditated thing. We don’t have exact rules for what is Grafjammer, but there is a very strong shared instinct about how stuff should sound. And in that we trust.
The artwork this time was a true example of DIY. How did you come up with this idea, and what have the reactions been like?
Since the album was born out of a ‘fuck you’ mentality with strong punk influences I really wanted something that reflected that. And to make a bit of a statement against the tsunami of generic metal artwork I see around. With the worst of it created by AI, which is generic and soulless by design in my opinion.
Since we’re not from the Norwegian Forests or the coutryside it had to have a gritty, urban aspect aswell. So grafitti came as an obvious choice. And something I could potentially pull of myself and get away with. Because I really like DIY. I have no special talents with drawing or designing but I like the challenge of working around my limitations and end up with something that is flawed, but ultimately ours.
I found a picture of a stone ornament along one of the canals of Amersfoort of a woman emptying a chamberpot. I really liked that in connection with the ‘Hachel mijn bout’ (Eat my shit) song. After a lot of hit and miss I managed to transfer that picture into different stencils and spraypainted the lot in black and white on a piece of plywood I painted grey.
The logo and bandpicture got the same treatment. In the initial plan I would do the spraying on a concrete wall somewhere to make it genuine grafitti, but that proved too difficult. It stills feels a bit like cheating because of that, but all in all I’m pretty satisfied.
The reactions to it have been mixed. Some people hate it, some really like it and some don’t know what to do with it. In any way, it evokes a reaction and stands out and that is exactly it’s purpose.
Dutch Black Metal has been gaining more recognition internationally. Where do you see Grafjammer within this movement, and how do you feel about the scene’s current state?
There certainly are a lot of bands around these days, a lot of them with young, talented and very ambitious people. We don’t really qualify in any of those aspects and we don’t really care. I’m not bothered either by our position in the world of BM, inside or outside the Netherlands.
I try to keep up with what comes out domestically, but there’s so much new stuff that I often lose track a bit. And alltough I reconizethat there is a lot of quality coming out I find myself listening mostly to the old stuff of the ’80’s and ’90’s. And much more than just metal. Just becoming a reactionary old fart, I’m afraid. The upside of that is that you stop caring about what other people think completely.
There are lot of bands and people with which we have long standing and excellent relations with, but at the same time I don’t feel that we are that deep in the Dutch BM scene. Maybe it differs a bit from one bandmember to another. But personally I like the position of being an outsider.
We do what we like and we don’t have very high aims with that. In my opinion we’re with Grafjammer exactly at the level were we like to be. The stuff we put out gets enough attention to provide us some income with which we can make and put out new stuff. And do interesting shows for enthousiast people. And that is what it is about, making things together and have a good time doing it. All the rest can sod off.
Looking ahead, what’s next for Grafjammer? Are there already ideas brewing for future releases, or will you focus on performing this album live first?
Right now we have a small break concerning shows because Jammerhout had surgery on his shoulder and is currently recovering from that. I told you we are gentlemen of a certain age, some parts need maintenance here and there. Our next show will be in Arnhem om the 10th of may with Asgrauw, Nyrak and Veenlijk. And after that we have five more scheduled for the rest of the year, among others in Belgium and Germany We expect to add another few dates, but 10 to 12 gigs a year is usually what we aim for.
We’re using the intermediate time right now to write new songs and have a few of them allready on the wharf that sound real promising. One of them is called ‘De Nederlandsche Cocainefabriek’ or the Dutch Cocainefactory. An enterprise that once was one the major narcos on the planet. Before the Netherlands started to advertise itself as proprietors of the moral highground ofcourse. The song kicks ass like a snort of pure white.
Another thing we aim for right now is doing a split 7 inch with another Dutch BM band called Wurglino, I’m sure you heard that name. And a new EP under our own flag. When those things will be released is uncertain yet, but we’re working on them.
And that is pretty much it. We never look or plan that far into the future. Old age, sickness, death and oblivion awaits us anyway. Cheers!
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