Midgaard (M) and Baarditus Federastus (B) are members of LUGUBRUM, shit-showerers and eau-de-cologne-drinkers. This is a band from Belgium, playing Boersk Black Metal. And they they don’t have all pieces in their fences - if you look at the pictures, you know what I mean. The two heavy beer drinkers start to answer questions - because they released their new CD called "De Vette Cuecken”.InterviewAre you silly?

M: What a silly question. Yes and no. Our obvious madness is best described as ‘controlled folly’, we aim to confuse the audience and people around us, even ourselves. Constantly changing perspectives keeps our view on things fresh and sharp. I can be very serious, for instance when walking alone through nature or when drinking. Drinking is a serious affair. I don’t care for projecting the hateful image a lot of these teenage bands call ‘true’. Humor is essential in life, it’s agression channelled outward, instead of inward where it can do serious damage.

B: A little weird maybe ... silly question though .

A little weird maybe ... silly question though .

What is meant by "Boersk Black Metal”? Explain it word by word.

M: It translates as ‘Farmer Black Metal’, or raw BM. It was a very apt term until now, since we made our music in a rural environment. Now we won’t use it anymore since our studio moved to an industrial area, it would be very silly indeed to continue this. ‘Boersk’ also refered to our recording techniques, which have always been somewhat crude. But we’re constantly improving this, the sound has to be hellish and raw, but we want to add more layers, nuances. ‘De Vette Cuecken’ is getting pretty close to what we’re looking for. ‘Boersk Blek Metle’ as a monicker caught on instantly and I think people will use it for some time to come. After all it’s still a pretty good description for what we do.

B: Let´s just say it´s Black Metal for farmers, people grubbing in the soil all day, reeking of manure and having bad manners . We supply their tunes .

"De Vette Cuecken” is likely something extraordinary. Describe it and lose some words for your development from first demos until now….

M: The first thing one will notice is the sound, which is a lot clearer compared to ‘Al Ghemist’. It sounds equally heavy (on both albums we played in Drop D tuning), but this time you can taste all the ingredients, nothing gets lost. There are more solos and instruments. At times the atmosphere is surrealistic, but everything blends together. The album is finished, I would not change anything about it. Too bad it took so long to release or we would have had a new one by now.

I don’t know if there is any development with us; we always forget how we made our previous album so they sound completely different each time, leaving the fans dumbfounded. But only Lugubrum could have made ‘De Vette Cuecken’, or the other ones, I forget titles…

B: I´m quite fond of the new cd "De Vette Cuecken", I think it´s again a Lugubrum masterpiece . I´m very pleased with the occasional saxophone on some songs, something we´ve never done before . Cheers to the guy who performed those parts ! We started as a more traditional BM band with Burzum and Darkthrone influences, but we always used to put "black" between brackets because we wanted a style of our own . Now we are developing cd after cd, and it´s a big difference now compared to the "early years" . Just plain Lugubrum !

And the Lyrics? There are mysterious words in it, or?

M: They all have something to do with eating or digesting. ‘Attractive… to the flies’ is about seeing yourself being a banquet to a swarm of flies. ‘De Vette-‘ and ‘De Maeghere Cuecken’ are inspired by drawings by Breughel; the gluttony and debauchery of the rich and fat as opposed to the skinny poor for whom dust sits heavy on the stomach. ‘In den ghoot by kaerschlight’ is about a coprophague who has a candlelight dinner in the sewer. ‘Robust Shades of Brown’ is about the after dinner cigar.

By the way: What’s the meaning of LUGUBRUM?

B: I came up with the name back in ´92 . I wanted to use the word "lugubre" because it fits me, with a suffix which became "um" as in Burzum / Abruptum . Quite simple really, but I think the name stands out and sounds well .

You’re hailing from Belgium. Where exactly? And what about the belgium "metal-rock”-scene and the scene in your region? It’s Gent now, I think?

M: Ghent has actually only one venue where Metal gigs are held and it’s quite a shithole. Despite being a cultural hotbed, Ghent is probably the least Metal town of the larger Flemmish cities. There is a faithful scene here in Flanders, at least I see the same people walking around as I did ten years ago, so that’s pretty cool.

B. I live in Lovendegem, near Ghent . It´s a dull town, but relatively quiet and I can buy my beer just around the corner, so it´s OK ! I don´t care a lot about the Belgian scene; there are two very good Death Metal bands : Serial Butcher and Suhrim, some BM bands I can listen to but for the rest ... soporific pottering .

You seem to have a really crazy image.

M: I think we’re pretty down to earth, the odd levitation put aside. We do some things which have not been seen before, then you’ll always have some bleating sheep huddling together and pointing hoofs. As I said before, humor is essential. I think what troubles people is that it’s never completely clear –not even to us- where sobriety begins. There is definitely more than meets the eye, but this is not for sheep, let them graze somewhere else.

B: We have the "Beer Us Or Die" image . Everyone in Lugubrum drinks beer now and then, but for me it´s a daily habit, or call it a lifestyle or addiction if you prefer, I don´t care . One thing is for sure : BEER is one of the most important elements in my life, besides music of all kinds (mostly being BM & DM) . About the crazy image : we´re not totally nuts, we just do everything our very own way without caring about rules . For example : we don´t use corpsepaint or leather&studs typical for BM and will never do so . When we are on stage we´re the same as in everyday (shit-) life.

Your hobbies? Drinking, smoking, fucking, showering with shit! Are there other things? And what do you do for living, besides music of course...?

M: For me, my hobbies are my living. I’m a professional artist and I do a wide variety of things; drawing, painting, decoration, costume design,… . Though for the money I do mostly custom metal work; welding, some forging, light construction. I rent a work shop for this, which is by the way where the Lugubrum studio is located also. I guess you could call playing music a hobby, the same goes for drinking, smoking, fucking and showering with shit. Besides that I like to read; philosophy, spiritual works, biographies,… I am so busy lately that I hardly have time for my favorite passtime, which is doing absolutely nothing. Just sitting somewhere quiet and shutting off the internal dialogue.

B: I already mentioned my beer-hobby, and a cigarette now and then goes fine with it . No fucking, I´m still waiting for my black goddess . Very sadly I´m forced to have a fulltime job to earn my money, but that will be over with as soon as I´ve won the lotery . Then it will be freedom and relaxing ´til kicking the bucket ! Don´t imagine us making money with the music, only some euro´s now and then but not that much unfortunately .

Belgium: cyclists, frittes, very much sorts of beer, but also beer with perfume in it, some good football-klubs, (better than the national team). And what about monarchy? Do you like this system? Feel free to answer...

M: You’ve named almost everything there is over here! There are so many beers it’s impossible to try them all. Most of them are wonderfull. Germany has excellent beer, but Belgium is beer country nr.1, we have more beer brands than inhabitants. Beer with perfume…I think that was the time Barditus ‘accidentally’ drank his Eau de Cologne.

Fries are very nice, again the best in the world. The rest you mentioned is not very interesting. But don’t forget art; old and contemporary. Medieval buildings, museums, theatre, music,…

B: The only positive thing about Belgium is the beer, you can get anything you want over here : the genuine Belgian brands, all kinds of import, it´s fantastic . But that´s the only good thing . I HATE cyclists and football, it just annoys and disgusts me . About the monarchy : don´t make me laugh, it´s some cheap theatre play with a bad scenario . But on the other hand we´re not really hassled by the system (apart from having to pay taxes and cops giving fines) . You guys in Germany still have some problems with Cannibal Corpse I presume That they are still prohibited to play songs from the first three albums live (risking a big fine per song) " "That´s the system really hassling people, it´s a shame !

What about touring? Festivals?

M: We rarely play live, but by chance we gave a performance on the 1st of may. It was our first since 4 years. We were well prepared and played for two hours. Nice experience, very relaxed yet very focused. The audience was blown away. There are no plans for a follow up yet, we’ll see.

B: We played live in Breendonk headlining the Pestilence II fest the 1st of may 2004, and it was a big success . As far as I´m concerned we´ll play some live gigs whenever we have the chance or feel like it, but preferably abroad because it´s boring to stay within the borders of our own country .

Back to the new CD. What about the artwork? You got a certain style …. Tell me something about it.

M: It’s hard to talk about a visual experience. I don’t know how to discribe my style, if indeed I have one. I guess this depends on the medium. I started painting in oil a couple of years ago and I really like it, the delicacy, the rich colours. But ofcourse it takes time and I have a lot to learn. The Flemmish masters are unsurpassed. The quality of their work will never be equalled again. I know these are different times and the world and art have evolved, but it’s a shame their level of technique and knowledge have disappeared. Nowadays hardly anyone can even draw anymore, they all sit behind their computers. To me, to be able to do a good pencil sketch is still the basis of being an artist, but perhaps I’m old fashioned. Right now I’m doing a lot of painting in acrylics for a street theatre project (‘Cirque Requiem’), because surfaces are big and we need quick results. It’s a completely different way of working, more physical and direct.

Do you like vette cuecken?

M: Certainly. I am a vegetarian, but this doesn’t mean my diet is limited to carrots. I like to cook and experiment with ingredients and spices; pastas, fish curries, quiches, noodles, you name it… There is a certain ritual quality to preparing your own food, especially home grown, and enjoying it afterwards. Of course some nights I can be just as content with a packet of fries or a can of beans and a beer.

Explain exactly the words from ”Dust binst drinken”

M: This is Ghent dialect, litterally meaning ‘thirst while drinking’. It’s about a full time alcoholic, who doesn’t eat but just fills up on the cheapest alcohol. This is more Barditus’ expertise.
B: Hah ! That´s treading on my domain again ! It´s Ghent dialect for "Thirst while drinking" . This actually happens often; drinking a lot of beer is not for lazy people, it takes a lot of effort doing it (carrying around crates and packs of cans, making sure the fridge is always full of cooled beer ...), so drinking makes one very thirsty (while drinking indeed !) . I think Onkel Tom would like this song, cheers Angeltripper !

What is the song "Poussy-Café”?

M: Good question. It’s more outro than song, a weird piece of piano by Svein recorded in a mental asylum by the sound of it. Like Apéritif, Pousse-café is a glass of alcohol consumed respectively before or after a meal. I guess Svein had too much of it and misspelled…

B: "Poussy-café" is the outro of "De Vette Cuecken", the dessert if you wish . It´s the extended version of the intro "Apéritif" . It´s a bit of a culinary cd, so you must start with an appetizer and end with dessert !
M +B: Thanks for the interview and digest "De Vette Cuecken" . BEER US OR DIE !!!