• DESDEMONIA DERIVES FROM THE ANCIENT GREEK WORD DEISIDAIMONIA, WHICH IS THE STATE OR THE FEELING SOMEONE HAS WHEN HE IS POSSESSED BY FEAR FOR UNKNOWM MYSTERIOUS FORCES...

1.GIVE US A BRIEF BAND HISTORY. WHO ARE DESDEMONIA?

• DESDEMONIA was founded 1995 by Marc Dosser and Tom Michels. After a while Tom Dosser and Stefano di Angilis joined the band. From that moment on we've been playing concerts all around Europe, especially France, Belgium and Germany. Stefano left somewhere around 1998. After playing with different guitar players, Oli Scheek joined the band. That's the lineup we played major concerts with bands like: APOCALYPTICA (FIN), DYING FETUS (USA), KRISIUN (BRA), SOILWORK (SWE), DERANGED (SWE), MAYHEM(SWE), SOUL DEMISE (GER), MORTUARY (FRA), ANCIENT CEREMONY (GER), FLESHCRAWL (GER), FROZEN ILLUSION (GER), KARKADAN (GER), SACRALIS (GER), ENTHRONED (BEL), HADES, BLACK BLEEDING (BEL), MONASTERY (GER)

2.YOUR NAME IS GREEK. WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IT AND HOW DID YOU SELECT IT?

• J Well, actually the idea for the name came from a font called Desdemona.we added an "i" and DESDEMONIA was born. Afterwards we realized that Desdemona was the lover of Othello in one of Shakespeare's story's and as you say, it seems to be Greek. Could you give me a hint?

3.NOW, WITH ALL THOSE RELEASES IN DEATH METAL, WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THIS IN YOUR MUSIC THAT CAN MAKE YOU DISTINQUISH OF ALL THE OTHER BANDS?

• Well, I think like always, u have to listen to DESDEMONIA to understand what it is all about. For the most part, we just concentrate on our music instead of just the looks. I mean, a decent presentation of the band is ok and welcome. But it shouldn't go to the point where music comes behind. Anyway, bands that just concentrate on that won't last long. I think our music is metal with a rocking feeling to it.the vocals are death-metal-like. The most important thing for us is not to put boundaries around our music, to stay open-minded. Everybody in the band listens to different kinds of music. The challenge is to incorporate feelings of other music styles in DESDEMONIA's music.

4.IF YOU REALISE ONE DAY THAT YOU LOST YOUR INSPIRATION, WOULD YOU STOP RELEASING ALBUMS OR WOULD YOU CONTINUE? HOW MUCH STRENGTH IS DEMANDED TO STOP COMPOSING?

• If that should happen one day, I would certainly stop, because what I would be doing wouldn't be true anymore. We've been writing songs, because we are convinced of doing so.

5.WHICH GREAT BAND OF YOUR GENRE, YOU THINK THAT IS OVERVALUED? WHY?

• I can't point on a specific band, but if you ask me, the hype on a lot of major black metal bands has been exaggerated. I mean, I'm not knocking it; I myself listen to that kind of music. Anyway I think it needs more than just corpse paint and looking evil to write great music. But like every trend in the musicbuisness, it is already fading away. What pisses me off is that the music business is not focused on having interesting and original bands, but just those who fit the trend (which the business has created itself but which is not necessarily what the most people want).

6.TELL US A FEW THINGS FOR YOUR LATEST ALBUM. COMPARE IT WITH YOUR PREVIOUS ALBUMS/DEMOS.

• Our latest album was released in 2001. It's called "paralyzed". I think it is different compared to our first recording "same" and our even older demo" infinity's regard". And still it has the same vibes. I think on our latest recording, we took that what's typical about DESDEMONIA a step further. I'm convinced that you can hear on this one that we have matured musically and personally. We took more time with the production and tried to achieve the best sound possible. What's great about this record, the compositions and the production is just like we wanted it at that point. So we are really happy with it.

7.WHAT ARE YOUR LYRICS TALKING ABOUT? DO YOU VOTE FOR FANTASY OR REAL LIFE SITUATIONS?

• Mostly it is about real life situations, but exposed on a different level. One Exception makes the song "Zu Arel Op der Knippchen". It is a traditional Luxembourg song with lyric in our mother tongue: Luxembourgian. So I mean these lyrics tell about life in Luxembourg in former times.funnyJ

8.MANY METAL MUSICIANS ACCUSE POP STARS FOR THEIR LIFE STYLE. HOWEVER, WE SEE SUCH BEHAVIOURS IN THE METAL SCENE TOO(BANDS PAYING TO MAKE A COVER FOR SUCCESFUL MAGAZINE, HAVING A GOOD REVIEW, METAL LABELS PROMOTE
SPECIFIC BANDS AND GENRES EACH EPOCH). IS IT MAYBE AFTER ALL THAT THE METAL INDUSTRY DOESN'T DIFFER FROM THE POP? WHICH ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT?

• As already mentioned before, the both industries don't differ that much, it all happens just on a different level. The only things that differ are the looks. But businesswise nothing changes. Just let me add what I already told before: the music business is not focused on having interesting and original bands, but just those who fit the trend (which the business has created itself but which is not necessarily what the most people want). And that is not so different from the pop-industry. But we can be lucky that in our kind of music a lot of people are not just doing for the money but simply for the fun and that's what's most important.keep the fun in all that.

9.WHAT'S THAT THING THAT MADE YOU STICK WITH THIS MUSIC WHEN YOU FIRST LISTENED TO IT? WHICH ARE THE NEGATIVE THINGS OF THIS MUSIC?

• When I was young, I had of course some friend who brought me to that music. But when looking back, it is the only music that was able to reach me emotionally at that time. This of course has changed nowadays, but still I think that it is the most intense music that I can think of and that I wanna play myself.

10.NOW, WHILE ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS WHAT OTHER THOUGHTS DWELL IN YOUR MINDS?

• That I have to work for my exams but instead I'm sitting on my computer answering you this interview J.So I already know what I'll be doing after this ;-)

11.IF YOU HAD THE ABILITY TO VISIT A PLACE BACK IN TIME, WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO?

• I wouldn't want to go back anywhere; I just try to cope with present times.

12.AFTER THE ELECTIONS IN FRANCE, WE SEE THAT THE FASCIST,RACIST IDEOLOGY RISES IN EUROPE. WHICH ARE YOUR THOUGHTS UPON THAT?

• These kinds of ideologies sadly happen to be part of every society. The only thing one can do is to discuss about those issues and to get people, who would vote for racist parties, aware, how dangerous this is. What I remark, especially but not only in France, is that traditional politicians are just as guilty as anybody else. Instead of discussing the problems and solutions concerning multicultural societies - which all European countries are todayy- they're telling the people, in order to get voted, about traditional values that don't exist anymore. And then everybody is so constrained to see racist party coming up. Just for a thought: Luxembourg has about 46% foreigners living and working there and no racist party has ever been voted.So the wealth and living quality doesn't necessarily have something to do with the amount of foreign people living in a society. I think all national thoughts are already a step in the wrong direction.

 13.IF YOU WEREN'T YOURSELF WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE?

• I'm fine with myself J

14.IF YOU HAD THE MONEY TO MAKE A GREAT VIDEO CLIP, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHOW? HOW DO YOU IMAGINE IT?

• We will probably release one in nearby time. For the most part we will show live footage because that is what our band is all about: playing live and having a good time

15.SEND A MESSAGE...THANK YOU!

• I just wanna thank you for showing your interest on DESDEMONIA and doing such a great job in the underground. People like you make it worth to continue believing in this music.