Interview with Nihil from Khadaver by Ove

Hello Nihil, thank you so much for giving Blizz Of Rock this interview

Nihil: Hey there. Actually, the pleasure is on my side. Because you know - we can be promoted by your website.

First of all Nihil, I’m truly honored to talk to the man behind the great rock band Khadaver.

Nihil: Thank you so much, glad to do this

When was the band Khadaver formed?  What is the story behind the name?

Nihil: The band was formed in 2004 in my head, but the members were not found until end of 2005 and beginning of 2006. So I guess the official start of band is 2006. And the story behind the name? Well, I wanted the band name to be easy to remember and to present the idea of our music - humans mixed with machines. KHADAVER is derived from the word "cadaver" which means the dead animal corpse but the meaning is deeper than that - when you say the word "cadaver" everyone is shocked and disgusted with it, it evokes negative emotions in people's heads. And that is also our music - we want to explore the darker side of human mind. And the spelling was edited so it looks futuristic - the machines in our music. So when you combine it - the word KHADAVER means darker side of human mind combined with machines. Dark lyrics and thoughts.

Actually when I think of cadaver, I do think of dead animal corpse, that is correct. Jackal and Hyena is what I think of really...

Nihil: I guess everyone has its own view of it, but most of the people I talked to were not so fond of the explanation of the word "cadaver". Ordinary people are not really into dead animal bodies, hehe.

When was your first Ep or album released? And how did that come about?

Nihil: Our first debut EP, which is actually only a demo, was released at the end of December 2008 and it was a really painful process because the songs were ready for a long time but we did not have the right equipment to record it until summer of 2008. Everything was recorded, mixed and mastered in amateur conditions but I am really fond of it because it has the sound that I have imagined. But of course, we also know our weak points and will definitely get rid of them when recording our debut album.

How do Khadaver create their songs? Who writes the lyrics?

Nihil: All lyrics and music are created by me. At home, I prepare guitars, samples and drums and then bring it to a rehearsal room where I play it to our bass player and he invents some kick ass bass line to it. Then I give the lyrics to our singer and he adds his screams into it. Anyway, for the debut album, our singer has actually written his own lyrics for some songs, which makes me really happy cause he has different style and thoughts than myself but on the other hand I can associate with those lyrics too.

What do you mean, when you say that he has a different style? Is it more aggressive?

Nihil: I mean he has different things to express. I prefer to write about dark future, dystopia and he writes more about religion or better said anti-religion stuff. Of course, in a sophisticated way. Not in some black metal "Satan, 666" way.

Do you have material for more than one album?

Nihil: Right now we have material ready for a debut full lenght album. I do not think it is good to create 30 songs and then record 3 albums in 3 years. Writing songs and lyrics is a process that gets along with evolution of the band and your person. And you never know what inspires you in for example, 2 years, when you want to record another album.

What do you think is the best track so far? From Khadaver of course

Nihil: Now I can talk about the EP only. And I think the best track from it is "Nuclear Fields". It has exactly the mood I wanted to achieve and corresponds well with the lyrics.

If someone would like to make a hit these days, what do you think would be most important?

Nihil: Lot of bitches in the video? Hehehe... Well the conditions for creating a hit is always the same, I guess - it has to be short, with catchy melody and no swearing involved, *hahaha*.

*Laughing* sex drugs and rock n roll?

Nihil: Hehe. Well MTV does not encourage this kind of behavior these days. So more appropriate would be - love, straight edge and pop rock.

Where may we find the albums(ep's), where could we buy the music from Khadaver?

Nihil: Our one and only EP so far can be bought from our official on-line store EP KHADAVER There are also t-shirts available.

Here is a question from Elvira I might say she is your biggest fan! “What is the worst thing that could happen on stage?” Or “what is your biggest nightmare on stage?”

Nihil: Ah, nice question I like it. The worst thing for me that can happen on stage is when people do not like your music, do not have fun listening to it, and do not give you their energy. It can fuck you completely up. And another nightmare is when your string snaps. And another when the samples fuck up cause the notebook crashes. There is lot of nightmares but it is not good to think about them cause then you will be afraid to walk on the stage, hehe.

*Laughing*..... You have made some good points....!

Is it possible to see Khadaver live on tour?

Nihil: I wish! But it is so hard to get gigs even in Slovak republic. Cause we are young, new on the scene and play something completely different from any other band here. But we are slowly getting there. But I guess the gigs abroad are far away from now. In a galaxy far far away. Ehhhh, I am not a Star Wars nerd, I hate the movie, do not beat me up.

To be truly honest... I haven't seen them...!  But I do like Fellowship of the ring

Nihil: I have seen only Episode I. of SW and it is just not my style. I prefer sci-fi movies based on dystopian future like Equilibrium or Blade Runner or Matrix. And I hate Lord of the Rings too, sorry.

Any bands or artists you would love to have with you on your tour?

Nihil: There is a lot of bands that could support us on tour. Hehe, just joking! Actually, there is a lot of bands we would like to support on tour! Right now these come to my mind: Dope Stars Inc., Samael, The Kovenant, Pain, Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth, Deathstars.

You are a man with your own opinions, no doubt. Do you think other band members like your attitude... *smile*

Nihil: They have to because I am the boss there. Hehehe, joking again. Well I guess they like it, we wouldn`t have been together for three years if I was that bad to work with.

Have Khadaver made any music videos yet?

Nihil: We were planning to shoot a video for "Nuclear Fields" but I've had a bad accident and had to go to hospital so it all got frozen. And eventually we decided that we will wait until our full length CD and shoot one of the songs on it.

What happened? Are you ok now?

Nihil: I had bad fall and broke my vertebrae, had to be in hospital for 2 weeks and underwent 4 hour surgery. Now I have metal in my spine which is cool because now I am a cyborg, hehehe. And I am still not a 100%, I do not think I will be that for a while, but the important thing is that in spite of that I still can headbang and do all kinds of crazy stuff on stage, hehe.

Yes you said something about Matrix *Laughing* But seriously, Nihil. Sorry to hear that

Nihil: I cannot bend backwards like Neo did on the roof when Agent Smith was shooting at him. Thanks for your interest.

Then I should not complain about my arms....!  Do you feel it is hard to be a European Metal band?

Nihil: Well every injury is an injury no matter if it is hand, spine or left toe on your right foot.
Hmm I do not know about European... but it is sure hard to be Central European Metal Band. I think bands in Western Europe have far more opportunities to get known than here in Central Europe, and also in Eastern Europe. The market is better, the management is better, there are lot of quality labels and most of all - the fans are completely different than here!

What about stage diving?

This is actually true..., she broke her legs...! Her name is Mira Craig, I was thinking about crazy stuff on stage..........! Not an important question.... but funny to watch really

Nihil: Well it is weird - hip hop pop girl moshing into the crowd of wooden desks? Well that had to be embarrassing for her

She has been confronted with a few questions for that episode yes! LOL
What do Nihil think about the future?

Nihil: I think in future the government will take control over the people and we will be living in a controlled society, with police raids on schedule every day, with no feelings at all, enslaved by machines.... Actually, I do not think this will happen but it is great stuff to write lyrics to, hehe. But it would be nice if in future for example people could find cures for bad diseases. And a way to use water instead of fuel to cars. And how to fly into space for a couple of bucks, hehe.

Are you doing ok now Nihil? Just curious... Got 5-6 more questions

Nihil: Sure why not. You are tired or what?

*haha* no absolutely not....!   You know I write lyrics too?

Nihil: not really... you have a band or something?

Nope... Wish I had.... I am too pretty for a band *Laughing out loud*

Nihil: too pretty? Well you can join Deathstars or maybe some glam metal band actually. At this photo you look like Tim Skold from the days when he played in Shotgun Messiah

Laughing… Some other time I will show you some of my lyrics...!  Yeah you heard of him?

Tim Skold

Nihil: I like Tim Skold very much. He is a great musician and producer! About the lyrics yeah you can show them to me, would love to see them

Funny... And I was thinking you were into death corpse and shit... LOL

Nihil: what the? I hate grindcore and I am not fond of death metal either

If there was one place in the wide world that you could play Nihil where would that be?

Nihil: There are some venues I would like to play at. For example - Klub Studio in Krakow, Poland. Tavastia in Helsinki, Finland. Whisky a Go-Go in L.A. And from cities generally - Gothenburg in Sweden, Tallinn in Estonia, Prague in Czech Republic, M..era Luna festival in Germany. A lot of places really. I can't tell you just one

There is really a funny story I have to tell you... This is also true....    There is a Norwegian band I think they are called Celestial Bloodshed, that had a real cadaver on stage,  they had used the same cadaver the last month or so, they even had their stage clothes in the same box.... And at the last concert they held. People had to run for cover...... It smelled like ....****

Nihil: Yuck cadaver`s should remain buried in forest or whatever

There you have Norwegian musicians... LOL

Nihil: Well MAYHEM they used impaled pig head, in early days Dead used to throw pieces of animal flesh at people. I even heard that during some black metal gig of some not well known band the singer got a sheep on stage and mutilated it there in front of people! Sick fucker... He is in mental hospital now. No wonder.

Picture Celestial Bloodshed

Serious?? That is sick!
You describe Khadaver as a rock band right?  Where do you get your influence? Do you feel that Khadaver got their own style?

Nihil: the band where the singer mutilated sheep was called "Crossture"
I guess it is hard for people to fit us in to one genre and I like that. You can find influences of metal, ebm, gothic, industrial but also rock 'n' roll. But hey - we do mess on stage, like to drink and we like women - so we have to be a rock band then, isn’t that right? Hehehe.
I feel that KHADAVER are on the way to have their own style. As we started, we were just looking for it. With release of our demo we have uncovered it and with new songs which are ready for debut album, we will definitely present it. We do not want to be some cheap ass copy or imitation of other bands.

What’s your opinion about the Rock ‘n’ roll coming back? (If it ever were gone)   And what is your opinion about band names like Sixx_that, guns_this, Metal I like_this? You know people create names like   Guns n horses     Sixx_pm   Vince Nail  Sebastian Lach, It can't be that hard to make a name for a band right?

Nihil: I noticed in the last years that glam (hair) metal is starting to get back which I personally like very much. New bands in veins of 80s bands emerged, like Crashdiet, Gemini Five (both are my favorites)... Of course there are more of them but I am no encyclopedia. Also new the Motley Crue album Saints of Los Angeles goes back to their roots which kicks ass too.

Concerning the names you mentioned it seems to me like mocking. And if not mocking, someone is lacking originality for sure. Why cannot bands create their own names? If they cannot create even the name of the band, how can they create lyrics for the songs?

Yes that is just my words too.... Thank you

Nihil: I see we share the same wisdom.

What sort of age group are you attracting with your music?

Nihil: We are not aimed at any age group at all. We do not mind if 14 year old, will listen to us, we do not mind is 25 year old, listen to us, we do not mind if 40 year old, listen to us, heck even some old school rock 'n' roll grandpa can listen to us. It does not really matter, why should it? The point is that people like our music and have fun when they see us live

Nice point of view!
If you got the chance to have a concert in Norway, what could we expect from Khadaver?

Nihil: I hope that one day we will have chance to play in Norway cause I think Norway is a country with nice nature and cities. And what can you expect from us? Wild stage show. We play our music and we sure enjoy it! Plus in future we want to have some props on stage to make the show more visually interesting. And after the show we will expect you to buy us some drinks, hehe.

Of course, I would love to buy you all some drinks!
Any instruments you would love to learn how to play, that you don’t?

Nihil: I like to make fun of this, because here we have a saying which is something like "She/he is a true artist. She/he can play lot of instruments but not a single one perfectly." So I think it is basically the same with me - I can play guitar, bass, I can work with keyboards and drums but the last two I could not really play live. So I would definitely like to know it... mostly the keyboards. And also violin could be interesting. But it is hard cause you don`t have frets there so you need to have excellent hearing.

Is there a funny story you could share with us?

Nihil: I know a lot of funny stories. For example once I went to the store and there was this guy and he was... or you meant story from KHADAVER?

Whatever... really.....! I won’t think it is funny anyway! *lmao*

Nihil: So why should I embarass myself then?

So your fans may laugh at you.... what do you think?

Nihil: Hehehe, I will just tell you funny stuff from playing out of city.

Ok..... Good enough... I am not going to laugh... promise...!

Nihil: thanx!
For example our first trip outside a city for a gig was fun. We had to wake up at 4 AM, our singer slept for 2 hours so he got really psyched from it and talked various funny stuff. And maybe like 100-150 km`s from the place our tire completely burst! And it was Saturday so all services were closed. Luckily, there was some motel place nearby so we went there and asked for help so they took us to nearest service but they did not have a tire, as I wrote. Again, luckily, at least they had some used spare one so they fixed it. But we lost 3 hours!!! But it was fun, we also took some photos.
Or once after the gig we went home during the night, I fell asleep in the back seat and our bass player who is also driver completely messed up and could not find the right route.

Not easy but I’m not laughing....! But a great story, it is not easy to be on the road

If you could turn back the time and choose a new date to start a band, When would that be? And why this year/decade?

Nihil: Since I am a person who does not like to tie to the past I would not change the date to start the band. This era suits our music and lyrics perfectly. However, I would like to live in 1980s so I could go and see Motley Crue kick ass! Vince Neil singing his ass off, Tommy Lee spinning around upside down on his kit, Nikki Sixx fucking smashing himself drugged and drunk to death and Mick Mars with his crazy riffs.

So you are a huge fan of Motley Crue I presume?

Nihil: Oh yeah. But I think that they are known mainly for their image and drugs rather than for their music which is a shame.

What is the highlight of your career as rock musician?

Nihil: To be honest, there has not been a highlight yet in my and our short career. But on the other hand, to be modest, the release of our demo is so far the best highlight. When I got the CD in my hands, with booklet and everything, I was really happy. The first part of my large dream came true.

Actually I understand that well....!        2 more questions my friend

Nihil: throw them in my face dude *laughing*

Anyone you would love to meet, that you have not met yet?

Nihil: I guess all of my idols? Cause I have only met Rose Hreidmarr (ex-Anorexia Nervosa) in 2005. It would be great to meet and talk with Joey Jordison (the guy that inspired me to play guitar actually), Grace Khold (sick ass digital artist), Victor Love (my idol concerning the hard work for promotion of the band), Nightmare Industries (also creates all music for Deathstars), Peter Tägtgren (same but for PAIN + lyrics), Tim Skold (also great producer). That is pretty much what I can think of right now.

You do really look like Nikki Sixx......    That is where I have seen that face before, those glasses off and you're in Motley Crue

Nikki SixxNihil Nix

Nihil: Hehehe thanks. Of course I forgot about Nikki Sixx! Write him there as well

What is your opinion about Blizz Of Rock? (www.blizzofrock.com)

Nihil: Ah, the tricky question! Actually I just saw the welcome and main page. But I appreciate all fan sites, fanzines because they help mostly unknown bands. So you just keep up the good work.

Yes I do.... Never ever want anything back.... Of course.... If you ever release a cd... I want one with your autograph

Nihil: And you will get a CD do not worry about it.

Thank you so much Nihil and Khadaver for using time to answer these questions.

Nihil: Thank you, dude

Blizz of rock wishes Khadaver all the best, take care Nihil

Nihil: You too brother, this was a lot of fun, hope we get together soon and have that drink you promised

And a promise I will keep!!! Talk to you later, Nihil