Interview with Karsten from Fegefeur Zine
What happened to Sadus all this time? There have been so many rumours around that the band has split, others said, that you're recording a new CD? What's true?Well, there have been a lot of rumors about all kinds of things. Even when I was of out of the band for reasons of pursuing my own band, people asked me if the band broke up, but why should they stop just because I needed time to chase my own whim? And when I was on tour with Death, people were always asking me about the brake up of Sadus, but it was just the contrary, they were planning some new songs for a recording (that would become the red demo).
So, what actually is true, is that there was a huge brake in the action for us from the flow of the underground. But sometimes things just happen in your life that can take you out of your routine. I guess that it just took us a long time to recover from this interruption. But this year we have been extremely busy. We have a new, our fourth, album due out (September 30th, actually). We’re also, by volition of our new record company, releasing a compilation album which contains almost all the tracks from our previous three albums.
Has maybe your work with Death been a reason for the long break?
Perhaps. It’s always hard to complete work as a group when the whole "group" isn’t there. It depends though. Sometimes leaving to work with Chuck broke a rhythm of Sadus and delayed progress. Sometimes my absence motivated the Sadudes to get things accomplished for when I returned. I think it was coincidence that threw obstacles in the path when I was frequently working elsewhere.
Are Sadus still signed by Roadrunner?
No. We severed our relationship with them shortly after the release of "A Vision Of Misery" at the end of ‘92. Until the end of ‘95 or early ‘96 we went label-less. But now we have the aid of a Dutch label, Mascot Records.
Have you been a regular member of Death or just a session musician? I've seen you with Death once and it seemed you were really deep into the music.
All the stuff I did for Death was on a session basis. But it was actually very relaxed and friendly. Chuck never put any pressure on me to do...anything. Well except play well, and that goes without saying. As far as the music, I mean Chuck is very supportive creatively. He’s into spontaneity, and so far, he’s provided excellent drummers for me to play along with. Those things existing, I’m in good shape to just go for it!
Your first album Illusions has been re-released under the name Chemical Exposure; Why have you changed the name of the record? Was it the idea of the label or yours?
Ours. In ‘88 when we released the "Illusions" album with the Illusions cover, it was called... "Illusions". But later, we were ready to put out the cassette version, well, the artist in charge of converting the cover suggested that we get new art because of difficulties with the album format. So, indeed, with a new cover came a new title to go with the idea of the new art. Later, in ‘91, I believe, when Roadrunner bought the rights to it, they chose our cassette version of the album for all three of their formats. Thus keeping the "second" title.
I think you had to justify your old logo very often, especially here in Germany. There are still people thinking that you tried to attract people by using fascist symbols. Make a final statement to blow away these silly rumors, please.
Again? Ok, for the final time, again, the shape of the S’s was a design concept graphically. We have absolutely no interest in something that happened 50 years ago far from where we are now. It was an unfortunate thing that happened back then, but it’s beyond our control. Anyone assuming that something so remotely associated with us because of the shape of some letters is way out of their mind. If they’re so interested in what we "might" be trying to say, they should examine the product further, such as scrutinizing the lyrical content, or past interviews for example. We are so far from anything fascist, racist, nazist; anything governmental is not appeasing to our song writing creativity. Incidentally, we have changed the logo design twice (!) before to try and avoid this accusation. But I guess it’s never good enough, since the subject keeps getting beaten into the dirt. But you can only go so far to avoid a half century old stigma and still maintain an attractive logo. What I mean, is that on one hand we want to try and avoid any such labels, so we give in and make alterations to the damn logo so it looks different. But on the other hand, we have no attachment to any fucked up evil organization, so we know that our letters are innocent, so screw ‘em if they don’t like it!
Your lyrics change a lot during the years. First you had horror-lyrics, but later it was very difficult to understand when English is not your native language. So what are they about?
Usually our approach is to convey what’s around us; mentally, environmentally, socially. The first album is a bit looser conceptually, because of the time span of song material. It has like three years worth of stuff. The second, third, and fourth albums are a bit more compact in their respective ideas. Mostly like I said, just what is going on around us or happening to us, or even what we’d like to see happen.
When I take a look at some pics of other bands, many musicians wear Sadus shirts, but you never make it to break through. Not many fans know you at all here in Germany. I don't know how it is in the USA, but do you see a reason for it?
No reason. I guess we’re just one of those obscure, faithful fan type of bands. I really don’t have any control of who likes us and who doesn’t. All I can do is write what’s inside of me, try to produce the best possible product, and remember that the bottom line of what we are doing is just simply being entertainers. If people like it or if they don’t doesn’t rule my life.
Haven't you ever be frustrated by seeing other bands rise very fast? Or are you just happy to play the kind you like ?
Well we always try and pay attention to what the people like the best and what works for us. But if you wrap yourself up in the competitive aspect of music, you’ll loose focus on what the music is all about. I believe music to be on the highest level of emotional art. If I turn my attention to what some other band is doing to obtain a larger fan base, I transgress my personal belief as a creative musician and an entertainer.
There's a Sadus homepage in the internet. Is it made by a fan or by you?
A friend, Michael, I met in Paris, and his friend Wendy. Just wanted to become involved with the band and help spread the word of the occurrences of Sadus. I always thought about a web page for the band, but wasn’t sure how to go about it. Wendy’s timing was excellent actually, everybody had the thought the band for dead. And having last-minute info updates really keeps people in touch with us. You can access the site by going to http://www.sadus.home.ml.org Check there periodically for updates and new things from the band.
How important is the internet for a band like you these day? Do you think that it pushes a band, or it is just visited by people who already know the band?
I think it definitely helps considerably. Fans, companies, management, anyone that has ever heard about you can access your information from their own location instantly. People that have never heard about you can just type the name in a search, and bingo! There is everything they need to know. In fact, it will be even more vital to a bands existence now that sound files are becoming the norm. You can get an example of the bands music before you even hear a biased opinion of their music.
Any last words, greetings, something you ever wanted to be asked in an interview?
Not really too much, I think the questions were probing enough for someone to consider the weak mental stability of the band. I would like to state that our new album will definitely be available this year, please go get it, listen to it, and contact the band with your opinions - good or bad. We really do value what our listeners have to say about us, I just wish they’d tell us more. There are many ways to contact us. Through e-mail: DarkHall@aol.com or post: Sadus P.O.Box 1107, Antioch CA, 94509 USA the internet, the web site, the record company...just do it!
Thank you Karsten for the space to talk about these things. Thanks to you the fan, the eternal friend of the Sadudes for keeping this happening. Don’t let metal die!!!
Interview taken from Fegefeur
Done by Steve DiGiorgio
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