NASHGUL - GRIND FROM THE FUCKIN' GRAVE

Spanish Horror Maniac's Nashgul are truly a “thorn amongst the roses” in the decomposing world of 'modern grindcore'; bringing back the violent and the ugly that has been severly lacking in today's generation of over produced limp-wristed-art-grind.
I talked to old friend and vocalist Santi to see how these fanatics keep the flame burning...

-Santi! Hola! Thanks for doing this interview!
Hey Reb! Great to be interviewed for Vomitose Zine, i owe you a beer....

-First off, Who and what is Nashgul? Who does what, and how did you all get together? What did you set out to create with this band?
Nashgul are 4 freak guys from A Coruna and Ferrol, two shitty citties in the northwest of Spain. We dont know how to play our instruments but we have a good time every time we get together to get drunk/high and play fast! I was not around when the band was created, so i dont know what intentions they were up to....but i think know is just to play honest music, pay tribute to the stuff we love and travel a bit...if this changes, we are over!

-What influences you visually? Do you have a Top 5 movies of all time you can rattle off for us?
Real life was more the influence in the past....and as real life totaly sucks now im stucked in fantasy and films haha....i would recommend this movies to every freak interested: The Wicker Man, Easy Rider, The Trip, Psych Out, The Wild Angels, Last house on the left, Simon King of the Witches, Let sleeping corpses lie, Maniac, El jorobado de la morgue, 60/70s Jess Franco movies, Lucifer Rising, Tigon Films, Jean Rollin, Jose Ramon Larraz's Estigma, John Carpenter, Romero living dead trilogy, Lucio Fulci, Werewolves on wheels....and the list goes on and on and on and on.....

-Are you a typical metalhead like most of us when it comes to being influenced by Horror movies?
Why do you think Metal and Horror works in together so obviously?
Metal and Horror is the best combination ever when your teen hormones are burning inside you thus is the perfect way to release our darksides in a creative way! My addiction to Horror Movies started way before i knew about metal or fast music...so when i saw the 2 combined in Live after death frontcover , was the coolest thing in the fuckin world! then came Impetigo, The Acussed, TSOL, Mortician, Machetazo... I recently discovered this old doom band Blood Farmers, their only full lenght is a must!!! perfect exploitation horror doom rock!

-You seem to be totally OBSESSED by all things horror and obscure. Do you sleep well? What are your dreams/ “NIGHTMARES OF DEATH” like?
Nightmares come more from reality than from horror imaginary unfortunately! I would really love to sleep a bit more in the nights sometimes, but im a hyperactive bastard! Horror dreams are quite cool though.....love to dream about creepy things and places, i should write some dream someday but my octogenarian memory and chronic laziness don't help too much haha

-Nashgul is obviously a band that takes pride in reliving the past glory days of Grindcore ala Repulsion, Terrorizer, Warsore.. But what do you think of this 'new age' of Grindcore? Do you feel Grindcore has any future?
I don't care about new Grind. My musical tastes are quite wide so i spent more my time lookin in the past for some good stuff (whatever the style) rather than keeping updated about the "scene"...anyway i love when a new band surprises me and makes me crazy, its like "there's still hope!!", some new grind bands i dig are Knelt Rote, Malpractice Insurance, Parlamentarisk Sodomi....i would love to be in touch with more good contemporary grind bands...lets write and trade motherfuckers!

-What are your top 5 musical influences? What are you listening to these days?
Top 5 Nashgul influences.....mmm...just the old grind stuff Repulsion, early Napalm, Siege, SOB, Unseen Terror, Bolt Thrower, Discharge, Autopsy, Brutal Truth...at least thats the "Nashgul-related stuff" i tend to listen more....im listening tons of music everyday from noisegrind or doom to early dub or electronics, lot of 70s rock.....too much obsession....lately im listening a lot Captain Beyond, Butcher ABC, Sore Throat, early Anal Cunt, Moho, Negative Approach, Grant Green, Spazz, early Judas Priest, Gism, Eskorbuto, Samson,Brodys Militia, Scientist, Black Hole, Confuse, Iron Curtain, Bram Stoker, Bulbous Creation, Clear Blue Sky, early Soundgarden, some soundtracks.....lot of different stuff!

-What is the social and political climate like in Spain/where you live? Is the environment around you any influence when it comes to Nashgul?
People in general sucks so i dont think theres too much hope about this....Politicians use this stupid marketing shit of "choose your side"...its like too chose your fucking favourite football team..you choose "left" or right...you have yor newspapers, television channels etc to feel related and happy in your side and talk shit about the other while you convice yourself of their spoonfed "ideas", its pathetic....also we have now this revolutionary wannabees trying to be like the new hippies with their ipods......just another part of the game! weakeners! the nightmare continues!

-Tell us about the scene where you live. Spain seems to produce consistently great bands.. Are new recommendations?
Some great spanish bands everybody should check are Baron Rojo, Moho, Machetazo, Eskorbuto, RIP, HHH, Ruido de rabia, Denak, Destino Final, Ras, Disturbance Project,One of these days and thee heavy random tone color lab, LFAA, Gruesome Stuff Relish, ....mmm, i think i would love to do a mix tape/CD to anybody interested haha

-Where do you play locally? How often do you play live?
We dont play local shows basically....im not really into play local shows really, and we dont play live since december last year anyway....we are quite lazy and inactive sometimes, then we get together and play live a lot or record some shit, but it just have to happen! no reason for this really haha....i really miss to play live, specially do some long tour but fuckin shitty daily life use to get in the middle of the plans so often....anyway we are going to do some kind of 10 anniversary show in A Coruna in December and also we are plannin some shows around Spain...Next year we will go to USA for first time to play Maryland Death Fest and probably play some other shows in the East Coast....really looking forward to it!!! I think we will play more often after the recording we just did for some splits!

-It seems like in the past you guys have done some pretty extensive touring throughout Europe. Do you have good/bad memories from those shows or touring? Where would you love to play?
I have lot of great moments and only very few bad touring experiences...Definitely lot of good moments, we are working class people so for us to be able to visit lot of parts of Europe was really a blast...i could never afford to go to lot of places i went (tourism sucks anyway). Bad moments involve only to have flu or some shithole we had to play in a couple of times..but i love to tour..play grind, travel and forget about the routine...its perfect and worth even though the few bad moments! I would love to play Japan for sure, Mexico or South America, Asia….any place we didn’t go would be great as long as people is enthusiastic about music…

-In the past Nashgul have mainly released split eps, with just one full length under your belt. Do you prefer releasing Nashgul in this way? What format do you prefer your music to be on? Are you guys vinyl freaks? or the odd one out like me who prefers CDs hahaha
We dont release more stuff because we are lazy and we work fuckin slow haha.....splits are more easy and funny to record, just make a few songs, go to the studio and grind!! We prefer vinyl for sure, but i dont discriminate music by its format...if its something i love i just have to take it no matter the format vynil, CD or tape....music is first but my favourite format is vinyl.

-What new releases have you got planned in the future for Nashgul? What can we expect to hear?
Some splits 7" with PLF, Crucifist, Total fuckin destruction and Malpractice Insurance....you are going to hear the same shit like always, just a bit more old school oriented, the vocals changed a bit from previous records and i think they fit better with the music , also I think now we have better riffs, better lyrics and better bass sound....in the future i dont know, its hard to forsee but i would like to continue in the search of our sound adding more old punk/hc influences and doom on the mix....lets see!

-Are you still on Power it Up Rec's? How has your experience been with this label?
We dont have any commintment with any label...when we have some stuff ready to be recorded we talk with friend labels in order to do a release. Power it up was the first foreing label that gave us the chance to release something..was fuckin great to be able to release a split with a band i was really into like Sewn shut, so Power it up has our sincere gratitude, but we dont belong to anybody...

-Do Nashgul members have any other side projects? How can we check these out?
We play/played in several bands like Hongo, Codia, Black Panda, Deadmask, Generic Death. i also helped in the past to LFAA and Machetazo, being a great pleasure both experiences! You can check everything on the internet god, everything belongs there

-Nashgul has recently been added to the Maryland Deathfest 2012 lineup which is looking better and better.. How did this come about?
I wrote to Ryan asking if he would be interested in Nashgul, he said yes and gave us great conditions so we said yes immediately! We are planning to play some shows across USA with Marrow, a band from Baltimore that sadly is not going to play in the fest but you can bet they fuckin rule! Yeah, its going to be our first time there...so im hoping to meet old/new friends there, play with some nice bands, check some nice places and get wasted watching fuckin Autopsy!

-Tell us about the influence for lyrics and art in Nashgul.The Nashgul artwork is always impressive, full of primitive skeletons and horrific looking hand drawn zombies.. Who does the artwork and lyrics in the band?
The artwork is mainly made by Luis and the lyrics by me. Hes a professional drawing artist working in a daily job doing that, and also working for bands, festivals and so on..you can check his work at www.sendonluis.com

-What do the members of Nashgul do in your daily lives? What do you guys enjoy doing outside of Grindcore (if anything)?
Beside work (or being unemployed) I spend almost all my free time between music, movies and books! Also I love to spend lot of time in the countryside or in some solitary beach, we have nice gloomy landscapes here in Galicia so its always nice to have some outdoor doom sessions with the good friends haha…

-What are your thoughts on New Zealand and Australian bands? Do you have any interest in our tiny scene over here? Are their any particular countries or scenes that really interest you?
I love WARSORE!! one of the best grind bands ever, raw and angry like grindcore is supposed to be!....Rupture, Blood Duster, Mournful Congregation.... of course AC DC, and one of my favourite bands ever is australian.....im talking about BUFFALO, their first three LPS are fuckin masterpieces...Volcanic Rock LP rules so fuckin much!! a rockin psychedelic kick in your face with some of the best artwork I ever saw!!! “Only want you for your body” LP comes close as well… Also gotta say you introduced me to some early New Zealand punk bands that I totally dig! Looking forward for more kiwi old school stuff…yeah!

-Thanks again Santi! Insert your dying words below....URGH!
Thanks for the interview Rebe! Vomitose rules but you have to PRINT IT again!! haha…… UP THE IRONS!!!!

DILEK BAYKARA

Dilek Baykara is a female illustrator spreading morbidity and decay from out of the stinkin' sewers of Brooklyn, NYC. A leader in the forever-lacking underground of gorey female artists, Dilek has rapidly made a name for herself within the international metal scene creating disturbing and dark shirts, posters and flyers for bands such as EyehateGod, Pentagram and Sourvein to name a few.
Dilek's illustrations suck you in and spit you out, her lethal mix of femme fatale attitude and the ability to hypnotise her viewers attention with every deadly stroke makes her someone I was extremely interested and proud to interview for Vomitose!

Dilek!! I hope you survived the 'Hurricane' okay.. Were you in any of the areas affected by the flooding? Whats been going on there and what have you been working on lately?
I'm glad I did, Although I was in a "safe" area in Brooklyn I decided to flee to my hometown of Sussex County, NJ since I wanted to work on my artwork without interruptions. I've been working on a poster for the upcoming WEEDEATER show in Brooklyn as well as a few other commissions.

-Tell us about the origins of your artwork. Have you always been into the 'darker side of things'?
The origins of my artwork began around since I was old enough to hold a writing utensil, Whenever my parents bought me books I completely covered the insides with my drawings, they were mostly drawings of weird dinosaurs and my family members. I was not into the darker things growing up as a child/pre-teen, because of my traditional Turkish upbringing. I just kept drawing because I loved to do it. My work became darker when I first got into music and I decided to become serious and experiment with my art around the age of 14.

-Have you always worked in your current style? How has your style evolved?
Certain elements in how I draw have stayed the same, but the way I render subjects have changed dramatically, since I have learned so much over the past couple of years, I prefer things to look very realistic, while maintaining my own style of line work. The more I was drawing the more I learned how to be more advanced in my approach. I still have much to learn.

-Who and what are your main influences? Visually/ Musically/whatever......?
My main influences in general would have to be my mother and my high school art instructor, they have always stood by my side and pushed me to do my best no matter what, I always keep this in mind when I create work for myself or others.
My main Visual influences are Audrey Kawasaki, Vania Zouravliov, Franklin Booth, Harry Clarke, James Jean, Aubrey Beardsley, Berni Wrightson, Putrid, Florian Bertmer, Ken Taylor and Joao Ruas. I often look at these artists to see how they work, I discovered Audrey Kawasaki when I was 15 and she changed the way I drew faces forever. Soon afterwards I found out about Vania Zouravliov. He's my favorite artist and I have a piece of his tattooed on my arm. When I started doing work for bands I discovered artists like Putrid and Halseycaust.. seeing what they do empowered me to forge my own path. I like to think I am a mixed up version of most of my influences, I can't help but take what they do and make it my own, it is all part of my process.Music has a very strong influence on my work.
All of my work (in the past 2 years) has been based on a song. My latest piece has been based on a Sarcofago song. Music inspires me the most when it comes to creating work. I especially take the time to read into lyrics when I really get hooked on a song.. that tends to spark ideas for new pieces.


-I know you study at the 'Liz Buckingham' School of Visual Arts haha..Do you work other than doing art? Like a 'day job' so to speak?
Yes I do, I'm approaching my Junior year and I can't wait for it to be over. Currently I have a job at the computer lab at my school.

-You mainly do work for bands and labels these days. How did you get involved and whats some of your best/worst experiences been so far? Do you enjoy working with any type of bands specifically?
It all started when I was 17 years old and living in Philadelphia on scholarship for a summer program at UArts. I met my first boyfriend who was in a band at the time. I mentioned that I could draw and he immediately wanted me to draw something up for his band, It all snowballed from there as I met more people who were in bands/ involved in music. I drew a shirt design for his band and never got paid. Any experience where the artist is ripped off is a horrible one. I don't want to waste my time with bands that have no intentions to pay me for my efforts. Though there are circumstances where there will be an exception, such as my friends who are touring and are in need of a shirt design. It is the nature of this "business" unfortunately. Punks and Metalheads tend to be broke, and if someone is a no name artist starting out this is going to happen to them plenty of times, but the more work artists make for bands the more they will become noticed, so "paying your dues" will help artists in the long run. On the other hand I have begun to have great experiences, I have done posters for bands I admire and have made money off of my artwork. There is nothing like walking to a show with a portfolio full of heavy posters and wondering if you will sell them all and leaving with an empty portfolio feeling like you are doing something right. The way I felt leaving Ghost's recent performance at Webster Hall with my empty portfolio is a something I will never forget. It was exhilarating.

-How much input do bands have when it comes to the creating process?
Bands rarely give you full reign over subject matter, most of the time they ask for sketches of their ideas before the piece is finalized for them. In some cases it becomes a great experience for the artist to create whatever they like, and to have the band give them feedback on what needs to be changed/redrawn. It really depends on whom you are working with. Some bands completely trust your judgement whilst some bands have a specific image they would like to uphold for themselves, and it is your job to deliver. The process tends to be exciting either way because I love tackling a hard challenge.

-I know you recently did some artwork for a skate deck. How did this project come about? Is skateboarding/skate art something your interested in? Do you have any interest in the gods of skate art like Jim Phillips etc?
Yes, for KCDC Skateshop in Brooklyn, NY. It all began when I was selling my posters at EYEHATEGOD, Towards the end of the show I completely sold out but decided to take down the emails of people who still wanted a poster since I had a few extras at home. One of them happened to be the owner of KCDC. When I delivered a poster to her I noticed that the shop collaborated with other artists. Later that night I emailed her asking if she was interested in collaborating with me and she was really excited to have me do a skate deck for the shop. I'm very interested in working with skate shops/companies because I think it will allow me to branch out beyond band artwork and tackle different subject matter. I have much respect for Dennis Mcnett, Jim Phillips, and Mike Giant.

-Where abouts do you do most of your drawing? Do you have a specific space or studio?
You can find me in the SVA Print lab or at home hunched over my drafting table 6 or 5 days out of the week.

-Do you use a lot of reference material to create your artwork? Or is just weird stuff that seeps from your brain onto paper?
In rare cases I tend to have a very strong image in my mind when I have a great idea, I definitely need reference such as taking countless pictures of myself on my laptop in order to draw bodies in correct poses or drapery. I have a good amount of art books that I use for reference and look at my favorite artists to see how they work and it helps me put things in perspective for myself. Google images and certain tumblr blogs are also a guilty pleasure that I often use for certain things such as trees or rotting skeletons.

-"Serious” females in the underground metal scene are often few and far between.. You seem to be forging your own path where no other females have really gone recently in terms of this style and this scene. How do you feel about being a female in a male orientated arena? Do you find it intimidating or liberating?
I really don't give it much thought because I find myself really easy going and don't feel like I am a "stranger in a strange land" I don't think I am the only one because there are women like Halseycaust and Alexandra Snelgrove doing work for bands and I certainly am not the last. What tends to annoy me are women who think they are "special" because they know a lot about metal music and it is somehow seen as a rarity these days, I don't really think it matters either way and people who continue to behave like this will emphasize the fact that it is a male dominated genre rather than treating it like a unity of people who are passionate about this genre of music. I do realize that there are less women around but I don't think the amount is scarce. Although I have met some females who "dress the part" I don't mainly target females as doing this since I have met many males that do this as well. I believe it goes for all genres of music "scenes" because there are just some people who try too hard to fit in.

-How much of your work is done on photoshop/computer? What sort of medium do you prefer to use?
I despise photoshop and try to use it as little as possible, none of my work has been created using photoshop, except for very rare cases when I need to "clean up" an image after it is finished. All of my posters have been hand drawn/lettered. I take much pride in the fact that I don't choose the "easy" way out because it robs the artist of the process of working. I don't feel like I am creating art when I am sitting in front of a computer trying to render an image, it just doesn't feel right to me. I love to work with pen and ink, I also prefer better materials over cheaper ones, I love using Sennelier inks and my Cretacolor watercolor palette, As well as Fabriano and BFK rives paper. The better your supplies are the better your work will be.

-Have you ever shown your work in a public space like a gallery? Would you like to?
Not until recently! I am finally going to have my work shown at St. Vitus bar on Sept 25th in Brooklyn, NY. It's a group show and I'm very excited to see the turn out.

-What was the first record you ever bought?
The first lp I ever purchased was "Some Girls" by the Rolling Stones. It was in the Used section at Vintage Vinyl in NJ. I was around 14 or 15 at the time.


-What are your top 5 mandatory albums that you feel 'sums you up'?
"Screaming for Vengeance" by Judas Priest - I have the album artwork tattooed on my right arm, It's one of my favorites. The Void side on the Void/Faith split - This band is one of my favorite hardcore punk bands, so angry and raw. The song "My Rules" sums me up. "Dynasty" by KISS - My favorite album by one of my favorite bands."Powerslave" by Iron Maiden - Their best album."Black Sabbath" by Black Sabbath - The title track on this album made me freeze in my tracks when I first heard it. Essential.

-What can we expect to see from you in the next few years? Have you got a 'dream project' in mind?
I hope to branch out and work editorially, for magazines and for other clients outside of the realm of music etc.. while still continuing to work with bands. My ultimate dream is to live off of illustrating for others. I'd also like to open up a space similar to Tara McPherson's "Cotton Candy Machine." Fingers Crossed.

-Thanks so much Dilek! Can't wait to see what you come up with next!! Feel free to leave some contact details 6ft below!!
Thank you for your time Rebecca!
Dilek Baykara www.dilekbaykara.us www.blogspot.com/dilekbaykara