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Suimasen

Here at the Kindamuzik office we like Suimasen, because we think they are one the few really original bands in today's guitarscene. They're not afraid to do something different than the majority, and together with the fact that their just released second album 'Flow' is already a genuine classic, we had reason enough to fire some questions on the band's singer and bassplayer Nick Sanders.

Tekst: Bas Ickenroth

Publicatiedatum: 17 november 2001

Nick, you just released the second Suimasen album, called 'Flow'. How are the reactions so far?
"Until now we got only positive reviews. But we'd like to hear some criticism though, then maybe we could learn something, you know."

Well then, I think personally think it's a pity you made your song 'Morning Rush' this short. It's not even two minutes long, but those ideas just demand more time to develop.
"You're absolutely right. That song was brand new, and we thought it sounded so fresh we just felt it had to be recorded for the album. Actually, it's nothing more than a short idea, a sketch really. But we feel that as an intermezzo, it definitely adds something to the whole package."

How did 'Flow' become reality? I read somewhere you recorded something earlier, but you threw those recordings away because they lacked a definite 'feel'?
"That's true, and we still feel that was a good decision, because in the months there after the songs were allowed to grow and mature. We feel that has had a big positive influence at the qualtiy of the songs."

'Flow' is a big step ahead of your first album, and even that album was already very good. While making the album, did you feel this could be something special? "Personally, I have the feeling that this is the first time that everything went exactly how it should be, as we wanted it to be. We constantly kept having a good grip on the whole process. And I have to say that Pidah's influence (the producer - ed.) was fairly big this time."

In what aspect? Did he push you in a certain direction, or was he the fourth bandmember, so to speak?
"yes, you could call him the fourth bandmember indeed. He even does some synthwork on the song 'Welcome to this world'. Ofcourse he is able to maintain a far greater distance to our music than we'll ever have ourselves, and that makes it somewhat easier to make harsh decisions about the music. For instance, 'Tea Time' was a lot longer when we wrote it, but due to Pidah's comments it's shortened and has a compeletly new ending."

Speaking of that song 'Tea Time', is it just me or do I really hear some influences from Voivod's album 'Nothingface'?
"I played that record to pieces! And you hear that influence in the song? I have to admit I never looked at 'Tea Time' that way, but it's possible it's in there somewhere. It all comes back to you, you know (laughs)! When I played with Rob (Suimasen's guitarist/singer - ed.) in The New Creatures we once did a coverversion of 'Astronomy Domine', after the version on Voivod's 'Nothingface'. It wasn't until later we discovered that it was a Pink Floyd song originally. I then discovered Pink Floyd (quite late, I know), and especially those first records with Syd Barrett are magnificent. But after that they became boring, and too symphonic. I my opinion ofcourse."

Besided Voivod and Pink Floyd, where do you draw you musical influences from? On your first record they were quite easy to pinpoint, but that isn't the case anymore for 'Flow'.
"They're not really different, they're still the same as with the first record. But they're not infleunces in one specific style only. For instance, Sonic Youth is quite obvious, but we're equally influenced by Rachel's or Eric Satie. Or Bowie. Or Goldfrapp. And the list goes on ofcourse."

When did you realise that Rob's voice and yours matched so well? As far as I can remember, you were the only singer in The New Creatures.
"Rob could sing a lot better, but he just needed a kick in the butt to really do it, you know. And our voices fit eachother well, because we think the same about our music."

Was he that insecure? Sometimes I hear a definite Tim Hardin sound in his voice, so that insecurity wasn't necessary at all.
"I read that in the albumreview, thanks for the compliment. Well, I think I'm much easier about these things, but Rob wants to able to do something perfectly to go on stage with it."

Did you write the songs completely democratically, or can the basic ideas from each song be linked to the member with the lead vocals?
"You could say that the one with the lead vocals is the one that came with the idea in the first place, but that's not always the case. There are also some songs that were completely written in our rehearsalroom, like 'Night Falls' and 'Hey'."

What we went wrong with the concerts in Roermond and on the A2A festival in Amsterdam? You weren't too happy with those, it seemed.
"Well, we had some technical difficulties and that caused that were wasn't a real flow in our music. The magic wasn't there. But the day after A2A we played in Groningen, and that gig went just perfect. You know, when you're not doing that much, and there's still very much happening. Very cool!"

On your website it reads 'lights...cars...electricity...noise', and while I can see and hear the noise and elctricity part in you music, I can't find any relation with lights and cars. Especially since cars often are associated with stonerrock, and that's something you're absolutely not.
"It has to do with travelling. As in "come, get in the car, we're going away, but we don't know where to". Can you imagine that feeling? "It's better to travel than to arrive..."."

How does Suimasen's musical future look like? In which direction are you travelling then?
"We're going straight ahead! But I don't know how it will sound..."

You haven't written some new songs already?
"I do have some new ideas, so does Rob, but we both haven't had the time to develop them fully. We're experimenting with new toys in our rehearsalroom now, things like midi-pedals, synthesizers and samplers. We want to use those things on stage, and at our gig in Eindhoven a few weeks back, we used them for the first time in a live-setting, and it truly added something to our live sound! But they're very exciting to use."

http://www.kindamuzik.net/interview/suimasen/suimasen-879/879/
Meer Suimasen op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/suimasen