Dejzi Talks Negligence (2007)

RockLine: The roots of your debut were first captured on demo recordings that came out in several different versions….
Dejzi: “That’s true. We always really enjoyed recording demos, we recorded the whole shebang. The first, second and third demo. Each one had several tracks on it. Even while we were recording drums for the album, me and Ruža (“Ruža” – Žiga Zmazek, Negligence drummer, editor’s note) dashed off to Sae studio, where we went to school, and made another demo of one song, already for the next album.”

RockLine: And you handled the production and everything else in the studio yourselves?
Dejzi: “Yeah. Because we’re really into it and we’ve been at it for years. Zmazek and I went back for extra studying specifically for this, to polish up our knowledge of everything that working in a studio makes possible. It all started to snowball, so at one point I took out a small loan and bought some gear. That worked like a chain reaction and pulled our drummer and the other guitarist in too. Then we kept buying more equipment. And that process is still going, even now. One of the big achievements for us is that we can have our own studio..”

RockLine: Is the studio finished already?
Dejzi: “The studio is finished, but  we recorded “Options Of A Trapped Mind” before the studio was done. It was recorded in an improvised studio, which we got the chance to use at the time, in the building where I work. It was basically a lecture hall that we turned into a studio, because the room turned out to have great acoustics. We set up all the gear in there and recorded the whole thing. Now we’re putting together a proper space that will be our studio.”

RockLine: Demos for Dawn Patrol and Sweet Sorrow are currently being made in your studio. Is recording for them any different from recording your own album, and which other Slovenian bands would you like to work with on production?
Dejzi: “No, recording isn’t much different from recording our album. Dawn Partol are recording a demo with 4 tracks, it’s almost done, it just needs a few fixes on the vocals and Chernet’s solos. Personally I’d love to record quite a few metal bands, like: Kaoz, GodScard, Inciter, Burning Legion, Scaffold, Eruption and plenty of others…”

RockLine: Where did the idea for the “Options Of A Trapped Mind” cover come from, and what’s the message behind the album title?
Dejzi: “That’s hard to talk about, because I feel like the message of “Options of a Trapped Mind” is very subtle and subconscious, so I’m still uncovering it (laughs). I honestly don’t remember exactly when I came up with the idea for this text. I wanted something really nightmarishly weird but at the same time appealing, like in movies, horror movies for instance, and something that would match the musical “vibe” of the track. When I came up with this title, it didn’t actually mean anything to me at all, it just sounded so right that I felt it was the one. “Options of a Trapped Mind” can mean the unbearable feeling of being trapped in the rationality of the human mind – the cage it brings and the options we have to rise above it. The lyrics are about that too, and about a personal crisis, where at some stage of the crisis a person’s personality starts falling apart so that a new, better person can be born out of it. Death – rebirth. At first the album wasn’t even supposed to be called “Options of a Trapped Mind”. It was just a song that was even meant for the second record. Only when we were looking for one more song for the first album did we decide to take this one. I even pushed for it a bit personally, because it was always close to my heart. When we were looking for the cover motif, Lipnik was digging around on the net and found this picture. He immediately got the idea that the picture’s title should be “Options of a Trapped Mind”, and that’s how we unanimously got the album title.”

RockLine: Did you record live as a band, or did you record each line separately and then put everything together into the final form of the songs on tape?
Dejzi: “Lines separately, of course. We play music that’s too complicated and we’re too big perfectionists… But we’ll definitely try recording an album live at some point in the future”

RockLine: Heh, that’s what they did in the seventies, played a song together as a band and then put those takes straight onto the album…
Dejzi: “Yeah, back then bands could actually play., heh, heh, heh, these days it’s more so-so…we live in a spoiled age of computers, where everybody can afford a little cheating (laughs)”

RockLine: I think the modesty is uncalled for with Negligence here. For example, you and Jan Švigelj are an outstanding guitar duo, there’s some kind of magic between you two, you slalom through those multi-part harmonized solos together fantastically, you’re perfectionists, you pick your melodies and motifs carefully, you’ve got a feel for songwriting… I’d say that’s definitely above the standard for Slovenia.
Dejzi: “We pretty much breathe in sync. Especially at the pub, heh, heh, heh….”

RockLine: Come on, tell us how and where you met Jan?
Dejzi: “Totally by accident. One time I barged into “Sod” (Sodček – a popular pub on Trubarjeva in Ljubljana, frequented by metal diehards until a few years ago, when it was closed down, editor’s note), and there were these Kamnik thrash metal fans sitting there, people I knew and hung out with, and Jan was there with them. At that time he was just starting to get into the same kind of music I was listening to (Evil Dead and Testament, and Iced Earth, for example). We had another band back then, Vigilante in Kamnik, and it just so happened that Jan came to one of our rehearsals once and didn’t hide how stoked he was about what he heard. Then he showed off his guitar skills and I realized his fingers fly like crazy. So I gave him one of my demos to listen to and hinted that if he was interested, we could do something together sometime. Jan was into it. So in the fall of 2000 we started meeting up at my place and writing riffs, and that’s when the seeds of our band started to sprout.”

RockLine: The seeds of Negligence?
Dejzi: “Yes. At first there were just the two of us.”

RockLine: So where did you find bassist Mitja Lipnik and Žiga Zmazek?
Dejzi: “Lipnik is my neighbor anyway and we’ve known each other since we were kids, he was shredding guitar when I didn’t even know how many strings it has. Well, at first I only wanted him in the band as a “session” bassist, because he was playing guitar with Chernet in the early days of Dawn Patrol. While Lipnik would drop by rehearsal once in a while and learn a song or a riff, Jan and I recorded a demo in the summer of 2001 with 7 tracks on it, and that very demo landed in the hands of drummer Žiga (Ruža), who was drumming in the death metal band Abbatoir at the time, but was also looking for another band more in the heavy metal vein… Ruža didn’t know thrash at all back then. Anyway, he really liked the demo, so he showed up at a rehearsal. We clicked fast and pretty soon Lipnik became a full-time member too – and that’s how we all together became Negligence (laughs)”

RockLine: You used to play in Dusk Delight too, right?
Dejzi: “Yep.”

RockLine: And you’re not with them anymore. Why?
Dejzi: “Dusk Delight was a project started by the Bled “heavy mastermind” Dali. He got hold of my demos by chance and decided to contact me and invite me into the band, where Igor (Noctiferia), Gorazd and Robi (Scaffold) had played before, among others. DD was first conceived as a kind of side project. Dali was also playing guitar in God Scard at the time. But when he and I started working on it seriously, you could tell something good would grow out of it. The band’s initial musical direction was something between Slayer, Death, At the Gates and Arch Enemy. I wanted a thrash band anyway, but this was great too and I really enjoyed the first two or three years of creating. Then we started drifting far apart as individuals in our views on life and on music. Dali began steering Dusk Delight’s music toward influences à la Therion and all kinds of goth / black / kitsch stuff, and that’s where our paths split. But for me it was the clash of personalities that mattered most, and only after that the difference in musical vision.”

RockLine: I noticed on your Myspace that you’ve got some project on the side, you’re basically doing so-called country metal?
Dejzi: “Yeah, ha, ha, ha… well, I wrote that on Myspace more as a joke than for real. I was doing that alongside the making of our Negligence album “Options Of A Trapped Mind”. For my own kicks. I composed enough material back then to practically fill a whole album. I won’t release it for now, because I need to record it again, with live drums. What you hear aren’t real drums, they’re programmed. My solo album will be combined together with the Wardance demo and the Youth of Today demo, and it’ll be a real treat!”

RockLine: And what about the thing called Bay Area Tribute?
Dejzi: “I did that this spring after our singer Alex put a Piranha demo in my hands. I loved it. I recorded those five songs purely for my own enjoyment and for friends who like that style of music.”

RockLine: Paul Baloff, right?
Dejzi: “Yeah, yeah… that’s how I got the idea to record it again. On top of that I picked a few more songs that have always been very close to my heart. So material from Exodus, Heathen, Laaz Rockit and Piranha.”

RockLine: I feel like you nailed Paul Baloff’s tone color really well in that song?
Dejzi: “Well, some people say not so much, heh, heh, heh…”

RockLine: Word is you plan to record your own solo album?
Dejzi: “Yeah. I’ve also roped in our drummer, who’ll help me with it. I’ll record it in our new studio.”

RockLine: Will it be instrumental only?
Dejzi: “No. There’ll be vocals too. I’ll try to get a singer on board for a couple of songs, two or three, done in more of a heavy metal vein.”

RockLine: And what about your involvement with Dawn Patrol?
Dejzi: “Yeah, they recorded one song, Rock Star, in our studio. They didn’t have a singer at the time, and I don’t know, well… It just happened. It was a moment of inspiration and I just gave the vocals a go myself. It turned out really well, the band was happy.”

RockLine: Tell us, how did Negligence get used to the new singer Alex, who came to you from Metal Steel?
Dejzi: “Yeah, our first singer Lenart was already a bit fed up with us, because we kept nagging him that we wanted more melody from his vocals. We did want to record the third demo with him too, but in the end he turned down the offer and said he didn’t want to work with us anymore, he simply didn’t have the energy left to put up with us, although at the same time it was hard for him to leave the band because he loved this music. For a while Negligence were without a singer, and then in the meantime I contributed vocals for the Dawn Patrol song I mentioned. That gave me the courage to just do the vocals myself for the third Negligence demo. Around then Alex split with Metal Steel (winter, 2005, editor’s note.), so we asked him if he’d try out his singing with us. It worked. Then we started writing melodies for the vocals, and most of those melodies only came together during the recording of the album. But it’s really hard, because Alex is a drummer first and a singer second – so he puts a lot less interest and energy into the vocals, which makes vocals tough for us.”

RockLine: More material was written than made it onto the album. What was your key for picking which songs went on “Options Of A Trapped Mind?”
Dejzi: “All the band members picked the songs for “Options Of A Trapped Mind”. Democratically. I wanted to get Addicted To Agression and Shark Attack on the album, but the other members outvoted me. But I forced through the song “Options of a Trapped Mind”, which was also meant for the second record – that very song later brought the album title along with it. ”

RockLine: Shark Attack is a really old song, right?
Dejzi: “Shark Attack was written by my buddy Mare Cajhen, back when we were still playing together in Kamnik as Vigilante. When Vigilante fell apart, it seemed like a huge shame to let that song sink into oblivion, so I asked Mare, as the author, if we could play it in Negligence, and Mare agreed.”

RockLine: What do you say to the current eruption of thrash metal bands in Slovenia, like Eruption, Gonoba, Negligernce, Fosgen?
Dejzi: “Crossbreed are still around, they’re just looking for a singer…It’s super cool. Abroad too, like the whole metalcore movement, or that so-called New Wave of American Metal, say Shadows Fall, it all comes out of thrash in terms of riffs, and Killswitch Engage,… Yeah, it’s interesting as a kind of “Slayer meets Faith No More” take. Great that all this is happening! Thrash is so NOT dead yet! ”

RockLine: The Bay Area is coming back. Exodus are back, then Testament, Heathen are getting back together,….
Dejzi: “Yeah, that’s great.. I saw Testament live in Italy this year, it was like always – UNFORGETTABLE – all those bands have an incredible sense of camaraderie and they’re totally down to earth and very positive.…”

RockLine: Forbidden have reunited in the meantime too. You’re probably stoked and we’ll surely see each other at Wacken, ha ha. (Forbidden are confirmed for Bang Your Head!!! 2008 too, editor’s note)
Dejzi: “Hehe, the day I got that news wasn’t my best, I’d just had some worries, and then this news came and really made my day and I hope Forbidden pull it off, because I have a feeling it’s not 100% certain yet. But if they do, we’re definitely going together! Wherever it takes to see them and I hope it won’t have to be all the way to Wacken.”

RockLine: Were you really at Testament recently in Udine?
Dejzi: “Yeah man! You have no idea how good it was! It was a tiny little festival, like showing up at our Komen for Metal Mania Open Air. It was on a meadow, the atmosphere, I mean the vibe itself, was really good.”

RockLine: Is there a short-term record deal on the table with any label for releasing the new Negligence album?

Dejzi: “Nothing yet. It’s true that we’ve sent out just four copies of the album to labels. It’s tough with the bigger labels, you have to build a name first before they even invite you. To start with, we’re aiming at the smaller labels.”

RockLine: What are Negligence’s short-term plans?
Dejzi: “Yeah, getting the studio sorted has eaten up a huge amount of time. We haven’t rehearsed at all, because we’ve been pouring our energy into finishing our studio. The album came out this June, and now we’ve got to quickly rehearse the material, and then the gigs follow, probably in November and December. Playing more in smaller clubs like Orto Bar, KUD, and so on… For the future we’ve already written six new songs for the next Negligence record, but I can’t say exactly yet when we’ll lock ourselves in the studio again and start putting the final polish on material for a new album.”

 

RockLine: Preparations are currently underway for an all-Slovenian metal project in the style of Roadrunner United under the leadership of Mike Pipenbaher. What do you think of projects like that, for example Metal Slovenija, and will you take part?
Dejzi: “Majkl Pipenbaher is a seriously awesome guy and I’m really glad I know him. For the Slovenian scene I think it’s a really positive shot in the arm, because he’s actually ready to do something and not just talk. I like his HQ version just fine, it’s just that I don’t plan to take part myself, because right now I don’t have the energy for it. I’d rather finish one more metalcore project of my own, which is still waiting for Matic from Burning Legion’s vocal lines and the final mix. The Dawn Patrol Demo / EP still has to be finished too, or whatever it ends up being. After that I plan to take a break from creating too (as far as recording goes). For the last two years I’ve been creating and recording nonstop. Now it’s time to get back to Negligence rehearsals and gigs and take a break from my own projects. I’m also planning to upgrade my “Digital Recording System”. I kind of feel like if you do something too much, you devalue it. So now I plan to stop, quit flying around this virtual world and come back down to reality a bit. Lately I spend most of my time alone in nature, recharging my mental batteries. Every kind of creating needs a break at some point. As for Metal Slovenija, I won’t comment. I already gave my opinion on that project and got attacked right away.”