Author: Rok Klemše
Interview date: 16.01.2007
Canadian technical death metal outfit Quo Vadis blew away the Slovenian metal crowd on Wednesday, January 17. Their razor-sharp technical set proved they belong at the very top of the genre, and they also turned out to be incredibly friendly and approachable. Guitarist and band leader Bart and drummer Yanic kindly agreed when I asked them for an interview. Bart was selling merch, so I talked to him first while Yanic held down the fort, and then they swapped and I did a short interview with Yanic too.
Rok: Hey Bart! First of all, thanks for an amazing show, and especially for this last-minute interview.
Bart: Thanks, thanks. It wasn’t our best show because I kind of screwed up a bit. Next time I shouldn’t drink beer on stage (laughs).
Rok: This is your first time in Slovenia. What are your first impressions? Did you get to see the city and the sights?
Bart: No, unfortunately we didn’t have time for sightseeing, but I could already tell on the drive in that Slovenia is a really beautiful country with lots of mountains and so on. People also told me Slovenia has a long and interesting history. Maybe next time we come back we’ll have more time to look around.
Rok: I really hope you come back on a headlining tour, because with your quality you more than deserve one. Personally, you were the best band of the night for me.
Bart: Oh yeah, maybe someday (laughs). Thanks a lot, but you’ve got to start somewhere. We’ll keep coming back though, build up a fan base, and I think we can get to the same position we have in Canada, where we do headlining tours and shows.
Rok: Are you guys big in Canada?
Bart: Well, maybe you’ve seen the DVD. We played in front of 1,400 people then, and we’ve got another show on May 12 in Montreal. I’m expecting around 1,800 people for that one. So it’s pretty different from here, but like I said, you’ve got to start somewhere, and I think touring with Kataklysm is a huge opportunity for us to introduce ourselves. In some places we’re completely unknown, and I hope the people who come to the shows will remember Quo Vadis.
Rok: Yeah, touring with Kataklysm was a really good choice. They’re pretty big over here. I think they’ve already come back three or four times.
Bart: Yeah, definitely, we’re really happy about it. Most shows get 600 people or more. Today’s was a mid-sized one, but most of the shows on this tour have 600, 700 people. It’s insane! In cities like Munich or Essen it was absolutely wild!
Rok: Oh yeah, Germany is a real metal country. Slovenia isn’t quite at that level, but things here look pretty good for metal. There are more and more shows, and more and more Slovenian metal bands too.
Bart: Really? I don’t know the Slovenian metal scene, but we’d really love to play Metalcamp this year. That would be awesome!
Rok: It’d be insane to see you at Metalcamp!
Bart: If enough people want us there… we’ll see.
Rok: Fingers crossed! Bart, how did you come up with the name Quo Vadis? I know what it means, but how does the name relate to the band itself?
Bart: We didn’t want to get pigeonholed into specific genres. We’re a death metal band, no doubt, but at the same time we’re about the music, not about individual styles. Quo Vadis means “Where are you going?” and in a way that’s a metaphor for our music. Whatever we put out isn’t planned in advance, we try to put out honest music. One time it can be one thing, the next time something completely different. We want every record to be different from the last one, and so far, if you listen to the albums, each one has its own “feel”, its own soul, its own identity. The next album we release will have a totally different identity from Defiant Imagination, Day Into Night or Forever. We don’t want to make Defiant Imagination 2, Day Into Night 2 or Forever 2.
Rok: When are you planning to release the new record? This year still?
Bart: If everything goes well, yes, this year, but we’re super busy touring and the music needs time to mature and grow. I’d rather take my time writing than put out something that isn’t finished. At this pace you can most likely expect the new record in early 2008.
Rok: You take quite a lot of time for your albums. Defiant Imagination came out in 2004. That’s probably also why the records differ so much from each other, and you can really hear all the effort you put into your music.
Bart: Yeah, like I said, we don’t want to release something that isn’t finished. If an album isn’t done, why release it? Just to have a record out? No. So far we’ve got four records, and I think our fans will be happy to wait for the new one. Our fans in Canada have been very, very loyal to us so far. They’re also part of the reason we shot the DVD, where we played both new and old songs, and for us it was a truly incredible experience.
Rok: Speaking of the DVD, how did you come up with the whole concept, with the choreography, body painting, dancers,…?
Bart: For those who haven’t seen our DVD yet: we had a choir, a cellist, a violinist, a human canvas. What does it all represent? We tried to show visually what goes on in our heads when we write music. We wanted something original. The girls, for example, represent Defiant Imagination. Take the scene with the white sheet – that’s a tribute to Chuck (Schuldiner, editor’s note). I wrote Fate’s Descent for Chuck, and the choreography represents death and a soul fighting for survival, but in the end death comes and takes it away.
Rok: Incredible, I didn’t know that. Chuck is my favorite guitarist.
Bart: Mine too, a huge influence, man, huge. Death and Control Denied are without a doubt massive bands.
Rok: Did you happen to hear that Chuck’s sister plans to release a second Control Denied record this year?
Bart: I did, yeah… Chuck has become a legend in the metal community, so I just hope he and his legacy get the respect they deserve. Sadly, there have been a lot of attempts to make money off Chuck’s name.
Rok: I totally agree with you.
Bart: Yeah. One more thing about Fate’s Descent and the choirs. Fate’s Descent is my tribute to Chuck. I wanted to write something that would sound like it came from Individual Thought Patterns or Symbolic. Instead of doing a cover like most people do, I wanted to write something that would show how big an influence Death have had on Quo Vadis and on me personally. And Fate’s Descent is above all a big thank-you. I believe the best tribute is imitation, the biggest compliment is imitating. The other songs don’t sound like that one, it was written specifically for Chuck as a thank-you for all the inspiration. After all, Death are what pulled us into making music.
Rok: Any other influences besides Death?
Bart: Of course. Slayer, Metallica to a certain extent, early At the Gates. Outside of metal… tons of classical music, like Luziano. I love requiems by various composers, especially the dark stuff.
Rok: Wagner?
Bart: Heh heh, not too fucked up for me
Rok: Too pompous?
Bart: Yeah, too German (laughs). As for contemporary music, I warmly recommend the Austrian composer Nicholas Lens. He wrote a piece called Flamma Flamma, the Fire Requiem. It’s basically different perspectives on death – a mother’s on her daughter’s death, a brother’s on his sister’s, a father’s on his son’s. A really powerful piece, Lens tries to present these relationships musically and it’s truly fascinating. Even the intro we used at the start of the set is from the first part of this requiem.
Rok: Sounds really interesting, I have to check it out.
Bart: Highly recommended! This requiem alternates electric instruments, acoustic ones like oboes and violins, classical choirs and Bulgarian folk singers. It sounds weird, but it’s an incredibly powerful and mysterious piece that I absolutely love.
Rok: Some of your lyrics are in Latin too. Is there a particular reason behind that?
Bart: No, nothing special. I’m of Polish origin, and Latin has a special place in our culture. For me it’s a special language, a dead language, so it’s perfect for death metal (laughs).
Rok: What does your writing process look like? Do you write the music first and then the lyrics, or the other way around?
Bart: It starts with a riff or an idea and then I build around that. I take that idea myself and try to tie it into the song. Yanic’s way is a bit different, on the last album his lyrics are incredible, like reading a novel. We’ll work that way for the new record too. Actually, we’re preparing a big surprise, which I won’t give away, but it’ll once again present a completely new dimension for Quo Vadis. It’ll be something we’ve never done before, and I hope it’ll be our next big step.
Rok: Can’t wait!
Bart: Same here! But like I said, it has to be finished.
Rok: What was it like working with Steve DiGiorgio on Defiant Imagination?
Bart: Insane, a real inspiration! First of all, the guy is a musical chameleon, he can adapt to any style of music in an instant, and second, it was a huge honor to work with someone who’s played in so many legendary bands and yet has zero ego and is totally dedicated to the project. The guy would get up at six in the morning with headphones on and start learning the songs. He learned the record in 2 days and recorded it in 3! He worked 12 to 18 hours a day, playing and writing, and every once in a while he’d look at me and ask what I thought of the material. I think at first he was used to guitarists holding the bassist back, but I told him to cut loose. I think I only told him once or twice to hold back a little because a guitar solo was coming up (laughs).
Rok: Yeah, the guy is unreal. I think you can draw a parallel with Cliff Burton, who was also one of the few metal bassists with a role equal to the guitar’s, or even bigger.
Bart: Yep. I remember when we were recording bass in 2003 and Steve was working on a song he didn’t have all the ideas for yet. The rest of us were downstairs when he called us up to tell him what we thought of something he’d played. It turned out to be Dead Man’s Diary, and I got goosebumps all over my body! Yanic and I listened to it and all we could say was “Holy fuck! The guy added a whole new dimension to the music!”. That’s what I mean when I talk about what it’s like working with him, there were loads of moments like that. We gave him creative space and the bass lines are just beautiful. That’s the right word: beautiful. Might sound strange for metal, but the bass is truly incredible. Even today I sometimes catch those bass lines playing in my head. All respect to Steve!
Rok: Agreed! What do you guys do when you’re not touring or recording?
Bart: Yanic and I both have careers besides music, because obviously you can’t make a living playing heavy metal. I have a studio, and I’m also building them. Right now I’m recording a record with a local band called Necronomicon. I want to be involved in music and working with other bands as much as I possibly can. The studio was a huge project for me, I spent a few months building it and I’m already getting really good results. I hope we’ll record the next Quo Vadis album in that studio.
Rok: Ok cool, I think that’s everything. Bart, thanks again for this interview! We wish you a successful end to the tour and hope to see you again soon.
Bart: Thanks to you too for the interview, and I hope we really do see each other again soon.
Rok: Hi Yanic, and thanks to you too for the last-minute interview!
Yanic: Thank you! What did you two already cover with Bart?
Rok: Hm.. Actually, pretty much everything.
Yanic: Really? Then I can go back inside (laughs). No, no, I’m kidding.
Rok: Heh heh. This is your first time in Slovenia. What are your first impressions?
Yanic: Great so far. The crowd was really nice to us, they welcomed us warmly. We’re really happy they came so early to check us out, usually most people only show up later for the headliners. Today really wasn’t our best show, but we’re happy with it. Sadly we didn’t get to see the city, because of the late hour we drove straight to the venue. I hope we’ll be back, maybe presenting the new album.
Rok: I really hope so. Personally, you were the best band of the night for me.
Yanic: Thanks, thanks!
Rok: Yanic, how do you manage to combine your professional career with being the drummer of Quo Vadis? I know you have a PhD in physics and a master’s in medicine, how do you juggle two such demanding things?
Yanic: I’ve got a really good boss at work. I work for Siemens, where I develop and design nuclear medicine scanners for the human body. My boss is from Germany and has a really open German mentality. As he told me himself, Germans grind away at work from eight to five, but once five o’clock hits, real life begins for them. They say work isn’t your life, your life is what you do outside of work. He’s very understanding with me and encourages me in my work with the band. By the end of the tour I’ll have been away from work for a full five weeks, so I’m really glad to have a boss like that.
Rok: How did you decide that the third disc of the DVD, Defiant Indoctrination, would show only your drumming?
Yanic: The story behind that is actually pretty funny. When Bart was going through the footage, he focused mainly on the video aspect…
Rok: Sorry to interrupt. Did Bart do the DVD edit?
Yanic: No, not entirely, he worked together with a videographer, so the two of them got the result you see on the DVD. What basically happened is that Bart asked me a little before the show was filmed whether we should add a drumming DVD too. After the show, when we were going through the footage, he said we could make one, but then we didn’t talk about it anymore. We soon realized we weren’t going to manage it, because we wanted to release the DVD around Christmas and we didn’t have the time. Bart then called me to ask if I could fly to Montreal and help with the edit, since we were really running out of time. I don’t know if you know, but I don’t live in Canada anymore. I moved four years ago for work. So I landed in Montreal and Bart already told me at the airport that I’d be working on the drumming DVD. “WHAT, WE’RE DOING A DRUMMING DVD?!” was my first reaction, since he’d told me there wouldn’t be time for it and I had nothing against that. What followed was a crazy week. The videographer and I worked on the edit all night, in the morning I’d fly back to Boston to work for Siemens, and in the evening back to Montreal again, and so on for the whole week. It was pretty exhausting. But the work Bart put into that DVD was 20, 30 times more. The DVD is Bart’s baby.
Rok: Yeah, you can really tell a huge amount of work went into it, the end result is excellent.
Yanic: Did you tell Bart that? (laughs)
Rok: Heh, I did. What do you do in your free time when you’re not touring or recording?
Yanic: We don’t have free time (laughs). No, seriously, I’m joking, but I’m also serious. Bart and I both have regular jobs. Bart’s an IT manager, and I’m a medical physicist. So we work our regular jobs, take care of band stuff during work hours, then work overtime to make up for the lost time, and we devote ourselves to the band on weekends too. It’s really hard to have a private life when a band is run by just two people, though Bart has even more on his shoulders because I don’t live in Montreal anymore. We send each other something like 15-20 emails a day, and just replying to that many emails is a ton of work, so there’s not much time left. Bart has also started building a home studio, which he’s totally immersed in, and a little over a year ago I started working as a session drummer too. I record albums with bands that don’t have a drummer or that want a specific drummer. I really enjoy it, even though it’s really hard to find the time, but we always manage to get it recorded anyway.
Rok: Who would you count among your influences, if you have any at all?
Yanic: Musically? I listen to pretty much everything. One moment I might be listening to Death or Control Denied, the next I switch to rock, like Vanessa Carlton or Sarah McLachlan, and I listen to jazz and funk too. Really different styles of music, I’m not limited to one genre. Bart listens to a lot of classical music, I prefer contemporary. If I had to name my favorite bands I’d say Death, Dream Theater and plenty of other rock bands. It’s really hard to choose from so much great music.
Rok: Yeah, I agree, choosing is really tough. I listen to all kinds of music too, mostly metal, but also rock, classical, ethnic and so on. If I really had to pick one band, I’d say Death.
Yanic: Hm.. For me.. if I had to pick only 5 records I could take with me on a trip, they’d be: Death: Symbolic, Cynic: Focus, Dream Theater: Metropolis Pt.2, Vanessa Carlton: Be Not Nobody in… Well, at least four of them (laughs).
Rok: I think that’s it. Yanic, thanks again for the interview and for the pick!
Yanic: Cool, thank you! If you have any more questions, you can contact me by email.
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