1. Hello Jeroen! Thank you for taking the time with Metalicos for this interview. It’s an honor for us to have you on our site.
Jeroen Paul Thesseling: Thank you Juan, it’s my pleasure.
2. You recently finished touring with your band, Obscura, with Cannibal Corpse, The Faceless and Neuraxis. How was that experience like?
JPT: The tour was a great experience, and also very successful for Obscura. Many people were able to see us playing without having heard from Obscura before. The lineup for this tour was interesting; technical oriented bands and really nice people to hook up with.
3. For the people that might not know you very well, can you tell us when you started playing bass?
JPT: I began playing bass guitar in 1985 at the age of 14. Three years later I started my studies Jazz bass at the Conservatory here in the Netherlands. Later on, from 1995 to 1999, I studied microtonal music and got involved in Arabic and Persian music. After that period I focussed more and more on Ethnic oriented music and concentrated mainly on playing fretless bass.
4. Why did you choose to play the bass? What element did you find interesting in this instrument?
JPT: At the age of 6 I started playing violin and studied classical music of Bach, Vivaldi, Bruch, etc.. In 1985, influenced by hardrock and metal, I switched from violin to electric bass. I always had a strong affinity with string instruments, however, the bass guitar attracted me the most because of its broad frequency range and the variety of tone color the instrument provides.
5. Who do you consider to be your main influences, either musicians, bands or both?
JPT: The most important styles for me - up to now - were fusion, flamenco, death metal and baroque music. Bass player Carles Benavent has been definitely the most important influence as far as sound on fretless bass. Also classical works for Cello are sometimes very inspiring for me.
6. Many might know you very well for your work with Pestilence on their album “Spheres”. Can you tell us how did you get involved with Pestilence?
JPT: Pestilence was based in Enschede, the Netherlands, the same city where I studied at the Conservatory. I got in touch with the band at the time they were looking for an open minded bass player. It was obviously they wanted to go in a different direction and probably my background in Jazz was something that made the right fit.
7. With “Spheres” we listened to a very different Pestilence, mainly for introducing more Jazz elements and the use of guitar synthesizers. What was your involvement in the writing process of “Spheres”?
JPT: During the writing process of Spheres I composed all bass arrangements by myself. Pestilence wanted to have a more prominent role for the bass guitar on the Spheres album and they gave me carte blanche to do my own thing. Actually this is the only way for me to cooperate with a band. You simply need to get some space to be able to put your own stamp on the music.
8. Moving ahead a few years, we come across your current band, Obscura. Tell us, how did you get involved with the group?
JPT: Steffen contacted me for the first time in 2004. He asked me to participate on Obscura’s debut album ‘Retribution’. Since I was busy doing several recording projects at that time I had to decline his offer. Steffen and I agreed to keep in touch via email though. At the end of 2007 Obscura approached me again while Hannes Grossmann just joined the band. This time I was able to work with Obscura and decided to join. Shortly thereafter Christian Muenzner also joined Obscura in 2008.
9. In your latest album, Cosmogenesis, you can how the bass lines have quite a big and strong presence in the songs. It sounds pretty much like a recording from the old days, but with better technology of mixing, recording, etc. Was this something that the band originally wanted to recreate and sound like?
JPT: Yeah, the bass is pretty audible on Cosmogenesis. With a lot of other metal and death metal bands the sound of the bass guitar is usually nowhere to be found in the mix. Why should I play my ass off on a six-string fretless bass guitar when you can’t hear the bass parts on the album? The production of Cosmogenesis turned out like we had in mind; somewhat atmospheric, with a futuristic touch.
10. Besides being in the world of Heavy Metal, you also have another project called Ensemble Salazhar, a world/fusion music project. Can you tell us a little bit more about this?
JPT: Ensemble Salazhar is a recording project. We try to create a nice mix of jazz and world music. The music is mostly fusion and flamenco oriented while songstructures are never complicated. Four demo tracks have been recorded so far, which are uploaded on my website. We all need to find some time to work on new material in order to release a possible album.
11. Coming back again to Obscura, what plans do you guys have right now? Are you planning to come to Latin America anytime soon?
JPT: Later this year we will tour Europe twice, with Atheist in August and with Cannibal Corpse in October. The US seems to be Obscura’s main market, so we will probably be back in the states next year. Perhaps there will be an opportunity to combine that US tour with some shows in Latin America. That would be great!
12. For all the people out there who want to pick an instrument, what advice would you give them in order to play effectively and efficiently?
JPT: In general: do not focus on playing techniques only.. Of course playing technique is important, but there is more to explore. For fretless bass players: development of your intonation is extremely important.
13. To finalize, what message would you like to send to all of our readers in Latin America?
JPT: We would like to thank all people out there who supported us so far. If you like, please drop us a line via MySpace. We hope to meet you somewhere during the upcoming tours.
14. Jeroen, thank you so much for taking the time to conduct the interview. It’s a great honor and we wish great success, for you and Obscura, in the near future!!
JPT: Thank you very much for your interest and keep up the great work!
