Interviews serie "WIVES ov DOOM" pt 1 : with Susan "Soggy Bog" and Ronnie "Sigiriya"

Here we go with the first chapter of an interviews-serie which I thought could be interesting... It's not that I feel tired of always interviewing men, but I thought it could be interesting to let women speak for once...! 

Maybe not as often as I should, I sometimes realize how mine (Nathalie) is cool, understanding my passion and all the time it requests, the special environment around Doom and dark Stuff in general (lyrics, symbols, T-shirts, etc...), my absences for gigs/festivals ... and that could be worse on that point if I was musician ! Precisely, I tried to transpose those feelings to musicians and wives of musicians or other people involved daily in the scene... How do they live this ? Are they mainly proud, undifferent, sometimes angry ? In "compensation", do they sometimes ask some special favours (doesn't always mean something particularly exciting for us, ha ha ! ) ?

 All this led my thoughts to ask the following few questions (or a free writing on the subject) to some nice and friendly "WIVES ov DOOM"... thanx to them for their contribution, their outspokenness and good spirits (which we often need in our moments of weakness), thanx for their freshness and all the love they show to their men !

If this gets good feedback as I hope, there'll be more episodes to come... and by the way other blogs have to be warned that "Wives ov Doom" is already a registered trademark , ha ha ha !

1) I wanted to know which are your feelings towards the passion of Mister for Doom and Heavy musics in general... Could they be slow and gloomy or fast and brutal, how do you enjoy these weird sounds ? Do you sometimes take vengeance and play crappy Pop stuff just to piss him off ?

2) Are you proud of what he's doing with his band/blog/Radioshow ?!! Do you think this is more rewarding to play in a respected but underground Doom band than playing shit in a wellknown band ? Do you think playing Doom is necessay to his equilibrium and maybe that only this kind of music can bring him what he needs or is looking for ?

3) Does he still have enough time for both houseworks and cuddles, or sometimes there's difficult choice to make between both ?!

4) When he's listening music with headphones, computering on the net, practising with his band, playing gigs far away... do you feel alone quickly or is it an opportunity for you to meet friends/parents, make some things you enjoy but can't do together, etc... ?

- Susan - (Wife of Bob from The Soggy Bog Radioshow)

1) I guess I don't quite get the heavy music and find most of it depressing or just a cacophony of noise. I like lyrics so if I can't understand them it doesn't appeal to me. I have gotten used to the music and honestly don't even hear it anymore. I did learn just recently that the music of Bob's ipod has been soaking into my brain because at the last Ghost and Blood Ceremony shows that we went to, I knew most of the lyrics. Even at Maryland Deathfest last year, I found myself moving my head to some of the bands. I am even looking forward to going again this year, mainly for the time alone with Bob and the people watching but it's a start.

I don't purposely annoy him with my music but on family trips when my 8-year old daughter and I crank the radio and belt out Katy Perry, Salina Gomez or Taylor Swift songs, it is fun to watch him cringe.

2) I am proud of Bob and all of the shows that he has done. I am often impressed with the concept shows that he puts together and thinks the interviews are great too. He is so creative. Metal is a necessity in his life and I am happy that he has this positive outlet.

3) Hmmm, housework, you just struck a nerve. Since Bob is a stay at home dad during the day while I work we disagree on how much time should be spent on prepping for the Soggy Bog. He is a great dad, cooks dinner every night and does the homework with the kids, so I should relax.

4) Bob records the Soggy Bog while I am at work, so the time he spends putting it together is not usually an issue. It does at times annoy me when he wants to escape into his ipod or computer with headphones on or on Friday night when he asks "Do you mind if I listen to my show?" I know he is doing what he loves, but some times I feel it does cut into our kid- free time.

 

- Ronnie - (Wife of Stuart from Sigiriya)

1) Well, we both like doom - I'm probably just as passionate about doom as he is - the slower the better for me! (actually I just contributed to Terrorizer's Doom Special, coming out soon). We have both liked heavy music since we can remember, which is probably why we get on so well. but actually, we don't just listen to doom at home, we listen to all kinds of stuff from old school punk, t-girl punk (like Jane County and The Electric chairs), High On Fire, Sleep, experiemental stuff like Virgin Prunes, Zz Top and boogie rock, Stu loves loads of country stuff (he even likes Dolly Parton and Shania Twain!), there's even been stuff like Strauss, Elgin and Beethoven blasting from our stereo! I think it's good to listen to all different types (obviously our fave is doom and the more experiemental stuff) as it adds to Stu's music - if he only listened to doom, his riffs would be very insular, boring and not very inventive!

2) I'm very proud of what he is doing with the band - I've even helped them out along the way...

I think it's always rewarding to play what you want to play. I'm a bit sick of hearing people slag off bands when they get bigger, saying they've 'sold out'. It's great for bands (and musicians) to play what they want and to keep true to their beliefs, whether that's playing in an undergound band or playing in a well-known band. There is nothing wrong with wanting to get paid for playing, either and it's so sad to hear that awesome underground bands have fallen by the wayside because they've fallen into the peer-pressure trap of wanting to stay underground instead of getting paid a decent amount (and getting a bit more well known) so they can continue doing what they love (and what we love to hear). Playing in an undergound band is a constant struggle as you never seem to make enough to survive so you have to take on jobs. Then you have to try and balance what you love doing with the job - and unfortunately paying the rent, bills, etc will always win.

Stu will always have to play guitar - if I smashed up his gear tomorrow he wouldn't be the stu we all know... He needs to play.

3) Actually, it is Stu that does most of the cooking (he's a good cook!) and he always does the housework. It's me that is constantly away on tour! (I go across the UK as Lilly Laudanum - a doom-inspired and blood-smeared burlesque artist!) He stays at home playing his guitar and looking after the cats.

4) As I said, it's me away more than him! When he is away, it's my turn to look after the cats, but I do a lot of stuff that he doesn't like doing (I can't see him diong a burlesque act - even though I've tried to force him to do a version of Rasputin the Mad Monk to Mastodon - he was having none of it!) and I've got a lot of friends that I see and do crazy stuff with. I especially like to go out when they rehearse in the house as the sub-bass vibes have loosened my teeth.

Thanx a lot again  to Susan and Ronnie !!! I will certainly put next episode on line within the next days, it should include some cool words from Women closely related to KINGS DESTROY, ATOLAH, RITUALS... and more to come later !  if you feel YOUR Wife/Girlfriend could be interested, just show her the questions and tell her to send me answers by mail ;)