Psyclon Nine

Tell us more about the members and group of Psyclon Nine.
Nero: - "the current line-up for Psyclon Nine is Josef Heresy (concept, synth), Eric Gottesman (live synth, additional keys) and myself (vox, synth, drums, programming, concept). Josef and I started Psyclon Nine in 2001 and we tracked Eric (who was front man for Seecolinslash and live member in Deathline Int. at the time) on as a live member in 2002. We're actually looking to expand our live act by adding a drummer, but they're very hard to find around here."

Your band name is a play on three things. "Zyklon-B" for the horror the mankind is able to do, "Psy" represent the mental abuse and you say that "Nine" is the number of the beast, though it's the common opinion that 6 is the beasts number. Explain!
Nero: - "6 + 6 + 6 = 18, 1 + 8 = 9"

Tell us more about your first release 'Divine Infekt'.
Heresy: - "It took about six weeks to record, start to finish, maybe a little more. Nero spent most of the time in the studio, and I'd join him whenever I got a break from work. I think it was about ten hours a day, five, sometimes six days a week. It was recorded and produced with the assistance of da5id din (Informatik, din_fiv) in San Francisco at Corrosive Audio. We felt that da5id was the best person to work on our album with because he really has a great talent in the studio. I think that one of the biggest immediate attractions of our material to Noitekk was the excellence of production. It was actually done for several months when we finally decided to sign to Noitekk. We were already fans of Aslan Faction and Tactical Sekt, so we felt it was a good place for us to be."

It's said that 'Divine Infekt' is your way to confront the daily horror and your attempt to fight for your beliefs. In short, what do you believe in?
Nero: - "Why does it matter what I believe in? I have many different view points on all sorts of issues."
Heresy: - "We have also said that it's something you have to figure out for yourself. Nero and I share some very dark views about society and people in general, which certainly comes through in our music. You can check out the lyrics for all of the songs at our website. 'The Divine Infektion' can mean different things to different people. It's best to listen to the album and figure out how it makes you feel. Also, it's rather challenging to just sit down and write exactly how i feel and what I believe about the world. That can take several hours of telling. And there really is no short answer."

In the middle of your inlay you have the sentence "Get a gun and let it guide you", explain the background of that sentence.
Nero: - "It means what it reads. Realize and retaliate."

The European bands have kind of a common sound and get much inspiration from the German and Belgian bands, how are it in US? Do you see a common inspiration source?
Nero: - "Most of the music that I listen to comes from Europe. I generally don't listen too much of the music that comes from the states. So I guess that I share the same inspiration sources that the European bands do."
Heresy: - "It's true that we listen to a lot of German/Belgian bands, but there is a lot more to Psyclon Nine than being another Suicide Commando rip-off. We drew on allot of black metal influences as well, for concept as well as song structure, and the general ambiance of the music."

What would you say are the benefits of being signed on a German label?
Heresy: - "Well, it's definitely important to have representation in the country where this type of music is popular. Also, we wanted to sign with a label that would take us seriously and do their best to promote us and believe in our music. That's why we chose Noitekk."

Explain the sentence on your homepage; "What is more harmful than any vice? Practical sympathy for the botched and the weak :christianity:"
Heresy: - "This is a quote taken from "the antichrist". It is my interpretation that Christianity is merely an outlet for the weakest layer of society to express its fear and self loathing through an idea of superiority. Most of the people I've met who call themselves Christians like to use their "faith" as an excuse to be hypocrites. And since they can say that they are saved by the Christ, they feel no real pressure to be good people or even try to help themselves or each other, let alone anyone else. Christians are Christian so that they can compare their falseness to the falseness of other Christians and still pretend to feel good about themselves. If the end comes, I believe they'll be the first against the wall. Of course there is a lot more behind the quote and what Nietzsche was trying to get across, but that would take the whole interview."

What are your tour plans? Anything outside US?
Heresy: - "Hopefully we'll get to Germany soon and the rest of Europe. But nothing too concrete yet. We are hoping to tour that side of the Atlantic next summer or early next fall. We are still working out the details."
Nero: - "Expect something big when we get out to Europe. Check the website for more info."

Any last words to our readers?
Nero: - "We just unveiled the new Psn9 website www.psyclonnine.com. Check it out."

This interview was made 2003 and initially published on Neurozine.com