Calvin Raspatul � 2008 is pretty much a very busy year for me and now that we are almost halfway through 2008, time really flies man. There had been plans for Raspatul to record some new material and we spoke about this during January 2008. Our label Obskure Sombre Records had showed interests in wanting us to record new material for probably a vinyl or a CD release. There was no promise on our side, but this is something that we would like to do, but the problem lies with the schedule around our lives. I am very much busy with Pulverised Records (www.pulverised.net and www.myspace.com/pulverisedrecords ) and currently doing the label full-time. It's just insane sometimes that Pulverised Records is just being handle by just my partner Roy and me, and we have a lot of bands under our roster, so you can imagine the amount of work that needs to be done.
Maybe 2009 would be a more realistic goal to get some new material recorded I guess. Since Raspatul will stay as a studio band, so there are already plans right now and the singer spot will be someone from another country instead. Also, there will be some big names for sure either in the artwork and even the production side of things.....
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Do you have problems your country because of the music you play? Has the government given you some problems?
Calvin Raspatul � So far, there had been no issues about the music that we play and it's probably because we are too small to get noticed in such a way. In Singapore, even though we have a music scene here, we are pretty much left alone. And to most people, loud music is just loud music; an alternative band playing really loud is probably equivalent to a Black Metal band playing, so I think the contrasts between different music genres could be blurred out, to people who do not understand or analyse music so much. Only in the early 90's, there was a ban imposed on slamdancing after the Buzzcocks and the Henry Rollins Band came here to play in Singapore. But the fact is that no one actually follows this ban, especially when most gigs are held indoors.
The closest and most serious encounter that we had was from our neighboring country Malaysia. A few years ago, there was an issue with the Black Metal movement happening in Malaysia where there were reportedly a number of people from the Malaysian Metal scene defiling the Islamic holy book called the quran. There weren't many details on what really happened but because of this incident, the Malaysian government went on a raid to track down the people in the Metal scene and they had blacklisted a big amount of bands that were considered anti-religious or were involved in the quran-defiling incident. For quite a while, the entire Malaysian Metal scene was stagnant without much gigs happening in the country or they had to really hold gigs in a very discreet manner. But now, things are sort of back to normal again and I believe that incidents like this usually will tide down after a while. The government can't possibly do anything much about it, or so much as to wipe out the entire Metal scene.
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For "Breaking" Ayim says that he hates god. What about the rest of the band?
Calvin Raspatul � Like I have mentioned earlier in the previous question, most of the topics that Ayim speaks about are usually anti-religious or the man-made theories behind everything organized religions. I am not too sure about how Hisham or Fadzlly feels about religion, but I personally have my own experiences with religions. I was born into a so-called christian family and since my teenage years, I have realised the hypocrisy behind religion. I do believe that religions are just a form of mental reliance when a person feels empty or unfulfilled in their lives, and thus they seek something spiritual and thinking that by praying for what you want or confessing your committed sins, it makes them feel better in a certain way. I have no interest in discussing about religion because I do not believe in another higher being that can save or heal them miraculously, much less pray for what they want. Everything that we want to achieve or have achieved is all from the hard work that we have done. Do you think what Raspatul had achieved so far are all from praying? Not to think that we are even a big band or anything, but it's just sheer hard work that counts.
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Do Calvin, Hisham and Fadzlly have other bands?
Calvin Raspatul � Both Hisham and Fadzlly play in some project bands from time to time, and I am not too sure which bands they are playing with right now. As for me, besides being really busy with Pulverised Records, I am also currently finishing up my new band's album called Obliterhate. Obliterhate is basically an all-star band of some sorts, with guys like Dan Swano (Nightingale, ex-Edge Of Sanity, ex-Bloodbath) on vocals, James Murphy (ex-Testament, ex-Obituary), Erik Sayenga (ex-Dying Fetus) on drums, Mirai Kawashima (Sigh, Necrophagia) on keyboards and Derrick Ramirez (Dragonlord, ex-Testament) on bass. I myself will handle all the rhythm and lead guitars, with James Murphy also contributing a guest guitar solo and Dan Swano doing a guitar solo as well. The new album is almost done and it should be for a hopefully late 2008 or early 2009 release signed under Pulverised Records. We only have a Myspace page and no official website yet, so check us out at: www.myspace.com/obliterhate
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Any other comments?
Calvin Raspatul � As always, thanks to Metal Bulletin for conducting this interview with Raspatul, I had a great time answering the questions and I hope you readers will enjoy the interview as well. Do get in touch with me at [email protected] and I will definitely reply all sensible emails. Cheers and have a nice one!
Raspatul Domain: www.raspatul.tk
Raspatul official Myspace: www.myspace.com/raspatul