Friday, January 18, 2013

RazorRape (Goregrind from Malmo, Sweden)

RazorRape – Interview January 2013 with Martin Schönher.
Official Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/RazorRape69
Biography :- RazorRape emerged from the filthy plains of the south of Sweden as a one-man army back in 2004, formed by drummer Martin Schönherr (ex-DERANGED, SPLATTERED MERMAIDS, VIRGIN SIN). The project had a sole purpose of creating and indulging the most brutal and sickest tunes of this world. In the same year, the first demo "Postmortal pleasure" was recorded on Christmas Day '04, released in a few copies, and in 2006 the sickness continued on with a split-CD with Swedish goregrinders INFECTED KIDNEYS, released on GOREGEOUS PRODUCTIONS.

After incubating for two years, within the realm of obscenities, gore and filth, the summer of 2008 invoked the urge to once again turn the world into a sicker place. Thus, RazorRape included Niklas Lindeke (Carnalist) on guitar, which resulted in new songs and the brutal EP “Deep Red”, released in 200 copies on GOREGEOUS PRODUCTIONS. Reaching out to the sick ears of the planet, the German gore/grind label ROTTEN ROLL REX soon made a record real with RazorRape, and in late 2009 this resulted in the most revolting album "Unleashing the Shemales of Vengeance".

A cancelled tour, lack of rehearsals, and musical differences within the band made 2010 a problematic year for RazorRape. The band played some shows in Sweden but it was pretty clear that the line-up wouldn't last forever. Niklas left the band early 2011, and was replaced by Alexander Roth, and a new and perverted era for the band begun. The new blood ignited a goregeous year of 2011, where RazorRape grinded through a lot of shows, played on Hood of Hate festival in south Germany, Obscene Extreme festival in Czech Republic, and frenzied their way though a mini tour in Austria/Czech Republic end of 2011. In addition, the obscenities were further concretised with the second fullength album "Revenge of the Hermaphrodite Whores", horrifically released Friday 13th January 2012 by ROTTEN ROLL REX.

During 2012, RazorRape has continued on with delivering their gore-infused sickness to the depraved masses, berserking their way through a German minitour, some shows with Dutch goregrinders CLITEATER, and on SICKFEST (Denmark). Always hungry, they have appeared in all of their sick glory on Arsch Cholio festival (Germany), Morbid Festspiele (Germany), Blastonbury festival (UK), Gothenburg Deathfest (Sweden) and on several dates during a minitour UK. RazorRape embarked on a Spain/Portugal tour in December 2012 with death sickos Viscera Trail (Israel)! This was a great success for the band and the gore will continue in 2013...

RazorRape parted ways with guitarrist Alex in January 2013 due to personal issues, replacement will be announced when we have found a new guitar player.

Jonathan - What makes a good GoreGrind band?
Martin
- Fast, groovy and brutal music! Funny themes and the production! Many bands tend to sound the same and the albums are repetitive. The most important thing is the talent to create good music!
Jonathan - What's your opinion of the DIY movement?
Martin
- I love it! Most bands starts that way and I have been a very big part of that during all years active in the scene you know. I have a label and DIY rules there! DIY is passion for me!
Jonathan - I really believe the only passionate way to do music is with your heart. But sometimes hard times and trouble can get in the way. Why is it so important for you to be in a band and do you have any funny stories to tell?
Martin
- I make music because I love music and I love the creating process. When you’ve written a good song is sometimes really overwhelming and an adrenaline rush. I have experienced hard times in bands and that could of course be of many reasons but if you want try to solve a problem you have to communicate and say your opinion about things. If you cannot compromise about things then there’s not much to do then go separate ways! The most important thing for me to be in a band is because music is and has always been my biggest passion; no matter if it’s gore grind, death metal or hardrock – as long as I’m having a good time it doesn’t matter!
Funny stories is always from tours; crazy audiences and freaked out persons who visit our shows. When we played in Spain in December 2012 there was a guy wearing a costume and a pig mask - inspired from our albums and that was really cool.
Jonathan - What's the origin of the band name, RazorRape?
Martin
- I formed the band myself in 2004 and I just wanted to have a brutal and easy name. So it’s like a mix of my personal interests; horror movies and the grim reality today!
Jonathan - Have you changed the band's name before?
Martin
- No, never! RazorRape will always be RazorRape!
Jonathan - Who are your major influences? Or do you just write what you like and that is the result?
Martin
- Major influences are of course brutal music but also some traditional metal/rock stuff. There have never been any musical guidelines in RazorRape. As long as the music is brutal it doesn’t matter if a song has slam, punk or technical influences. RazorRape is a gore grind band but we have many elements of death metal, slam and grindcore. I don’t want to become a band that is boring to listen to; I want to try new things all the time. But of course we write the music we like and try to not rip anyone off. There are so many bands today and it’s really hard to do something unique.

Jonathan - How long have you all known each other? 
Martin
- There have been some line-up changes since 2004. I have known Padde (session vocals) for about 5-6 years or something. Niklas (first guitar player) and Alex (second guitar player) I knew for about 2½ years.
Jonathan - How did you meet?
Martin
- Concerts and social networks haha
Jonathan - When did you form your band? 
Martin
- I formed RazorRape mid 2004. At that time I was drummer in a heavy/thrash metal band called Virgin Sin and I really wanted to create brutal music and RazorRape was the result. I cannot play guitar so the first years were pretty hard for the band; I did the best if it and played all instruments until 2008 when I recruited a guitar player. In the beginning RazorRape was only a side project and I didn’t spend much time on it. Then I met Niklas in 2008 and we talked about form a stoner/metal band but after a few rehearsals RazorRape popped up in my head and I asked him to join as guitar player and since 2008 the band has been pretty active. It’s me on drums, vocals and a guitarist. The rest are session members on live shows. When I formed RazorRape I wanted it to be as few members as possible of various reasons; less opinions to care about, less members to care about and easier in general to create music.
Jonathan - What inspired you to make music together?
Martin
- Inspired by underground bands in general! Making music together is friendship and playing shows together is one of the best things to do!
Jonathan - I’m sure some countries or crowds are more enthusiastic than others, do you have any particular anecdotes to tell us? Any funny moments? Disappointments?
Martin
- With RazorRape I think Germany, Czech Republic and Spain are great audiences. I have been around in many countries with all my past and present bands so I could tell you many memories! You can always count on Germany. The fans over there are always enthusiastic; they mosh, buy our merch and show us their support!


Jonathan - Which songs do you perform most frequently? 
Martin
- Classic songs are mandatory but also the groovy ones because people get crazy when we play them. We always play “Five Inch gaghole”, “Three on a Meathook”, “Diarrhea Bucket” and “Triple Cock Buttfuck”.
Jonathan - Do you ever play any covers? 
Martin
- Sometimes! We have not so many covers; Ramones – Blitzkrieg Bopp have been played couple of times, and we made a Gut cover but never played it live.
Jonathan - Who writes your songs? 
Martin
- We write together! At home and rehearsal room! I prefer the old-school thing; meet at the rehearsal place, have a beer and jam together! But lately we have started to write at home and send MP3’s to each other and bring our ideas to the rehearsal place. It works fine!
Jonathan - What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs? 
Martin
- Horror movies are the main inspiration but also just nasty and extreme things. Personally I take much inspiration of how the humanity works. Humanity is cruel and all shit happening around is because of humanity and you can write thousands of songs about that.
Jonathan - Do you think these topics will change over time?
Martin
- I don’t think so. We play gore grind and that’s supposed to be extreme you know! Maybe we change themes on artworks/ song titles but we will always keep to the roots and have brutality! We try to mix horror/violence/sex/porn together, but in a twisty way. Our song titles have often some kind of rhymes or a thought behind.
Jonathan - Could you briefly describe the music-making process?
Martin
- Well, the most common way is to meet at the rehearsal place, talk some shit, jam together and play riffs/drum parts for each other and then try to put it together to a song. Sometimes I have a riff in my head and then I write it down or just sing it in my phone and send it to the guitar player. He plays it and if it’s good we keep it.
Jonathan - What are your rehearsals generally like? Do you have a set time each week in which you practice or are rehearsals more spontaneous?
Martin
- Yeah, we have a set of like 15 songs that we play and after the set we make new songs if we’re in that mood. We don’t have a specific day that we rehearse, it’s more spontaneous. But I think the best thing is to rehearse at least once a week to keep the flow and to practice your instrument.
Jonathan - How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?
Martin
- We are better musicians now, and we know how our sound!
Jonathan - What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
Martin
- The biggest challenge has been to keep RazorRape alive, set up goals and reach them. For example in the beginning my goal was to record an album and get a record deal. That was pretty simple, and then we wanted to play a lot of shows and go on tour and that was much harder but we made it. We have played a lot of shows! So I think the biggest challenge is to keep things flow and reach out to more people! Try to get as many shows as possible and manage to write the best songs ever haha! I would say that we have been able to reach many goals and challenges. It’s been tough sometimes but you need to fight and be strong! As long as the line-up is stable and everyone is dedicated and doing the best for the band, everyone’s happy.
Jonathan - What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands?
Martin
- Stay true to yourself! Do what you want and fuck trends! It’s hard in the beginning but never give up! Promote as much as you can!
Jonathan - For those who don’t know you, How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with sample songs or a demo CD?
Martin
- Go online and like our Facebook page!www.myspace.com/RazorRape69 
There you can get in contact with us and stay updated with gigs, music, merch, photos, videos and other information.
Jonathan - And the last question is all yours, you decide what to say here!
Martin
- Keep support RazorRape and the underground scene. Buy our albums and merch!
Thanx and keep it sick! 
/Martin Schönherr – Drums/vocals, RazorRape


If any of you are fans of GoreGrind and really want to support the underground scene, check out these guys and show them some respect!

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