..:: Click here to read the Thai version of the interview ::..
Here is the English version:
1. Can you give me a brief bio on how the band came together?
And please describe the style of music that you play to someone not familiar with the band?
Calvin Raspatul � First of all, thanks to Siam Metal for doing this short interview with Raspatul. Raspatul was first born in 1996 and everyone in the band were just starting out as musicians and not fully developed as proficient players. The band was also nameless at that time, so it was just the usual jamming of our favourite cover songs. Things started to get a little better during the late 90's and the band started to write our own original compositions. Raspatul has definitely developed by miles and for those who are not familiar with us, we play a style of Old School Death Thrash Metal to simply put it.
For those who wish to check us out further, please go to our official Myspace page at: www. myspace. com/raspatul and our official website at: www. raspatul. tk
2. What does the name " RASPATUL" mean and why did you choose it?
Calvin Raspatul � The band name was actually given to us by a local recording engineer Leonard Soosay, who happens to be an in-house engineer at the studio that we frequently rehearse. Back when we were starting out as a band, Leonard felt that we really sounded like a marriage between Sepultura and Pantera, and so that explains why the moniker Raspatul was given to us. We still stuck to using the same name until this day because of the fact that the name sounds really unique and I think people could easily relate and remember who we are. And actually, Leonard was very surprised to find out that we are still using this same band name!
3. How do you write your music? Is there a main songwriter or a team effort when it comes to composing?
Calvin Raspatul � The music always gets written first, and I will usually come up with some riffs or just a vague structure of how the song will come about, and then we will figure almost everything out during rehearsal sessions. So you can say that for riffs and initial ideas, I would pour them out in the studio, and the other fine details like song arrangements and whatnot, it's usually a band effort. For Raspatul, it's always the music that comes first, and we really emphasis a lot of song arrangements and songwriting instead of trying to come up with the most technical or amazing guitar riff or a drum pattern. A good song will always be our main priority as well.
4. What are " RASPATUL's " plan for the future? Any upcoming shows?
Calvin Raspatul � Just in case some of the readers here are not aware of this, our singer Ayim passed away in a brutal motorcycle accident almost 3 years ago, and since then the name has been really staying a rather low profile, and that we do not play live shows anymore. Raspatul is still alive based on the fact that I am still handling and doing as many promotion as I can. After Ayim's passing, I went on a hunt to search for a label that would be willing to release all our old material from 2001 to 2004, and with a stroke of luck, Charles from the Canadian based label Obskure Sombre Records showed a huge interest and he immediately got in touch with me and told me that he would like to release something for Raspatul. So our new album 'Devils In Renewed Birth' is actually a collection of our old recorded material put into a professionally printed CD format. The artwork and layout was done by my good old Swedish friend Tomas Andersson (ex-Denata, Freevil) and the mastering duties were done by the legendary James Murphy (ex-Death, ex-Obituary, and ex-Testament). As for the current plans with the band, I really can't say much, but there could be a possibility of Raspatul recording some new material or even maybe a new album. It will definitely contain some surprises and maybe some big names will be involved.
5. Please explain how we can buy your material.
Calvin Raspatul � For those who are interested to get a copy of 'Devils In Renewed Birth', they can either get in touch with me personally at: [email protected] or they can also order it directly with Obskure Sombre Records at: [email protected]. We have also recently got some Raspatul t-shirts printed, so anyone interested can enquire with me as well. Besides having our album on CD format, there will be a professional cassette tape format release for 'Devils In Renewed Birth', and this release will be under Total Death Records from Canada. A limited edition of 150 hand-numbered copies will be released for this cassette format, and it will feature a brand new artwork and layout by French artist K. and also a brand new Raspatul logo done by the legendary Christophe Szpajdel, who was responsible for the band logos of bands like Emperor, Old Man's Child, Desaster, Borknagar, etc. Keep a look out for this and to all the readers of Siam Metal: Stay Metal!!