Interview: V.O. Pulver from Gurd

Band: Gurd

Genre: Metal

Year Formed: 1994

Location: Switzerland

Members: V.O. Pulver - Vox, Guitars
Pat Müller - Guitars, Backingvox
Franky Winkelmann - Bass, Backingvox
Steve Karrer - Drums and Gong

Website: http://www.gurd.net

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gurdmusic

Interview with: V.O. Pulver

Interview Though Email:

How does your new music differ from your old music?

     "It's way more Thrash orientated than in the old days. The old influences (I used to play in a Thrash Band called POLTERGEIST, our new drummer Steve was in Swiss Death Metal pioneers MESSIAH) slowly paved their way into the songwriting over the years. It mainly started in 2000 with the Album Bedlam and with our newest effort 'Never Fail', the Thrash became even more prominent..."

When you played in the Dynamo Open-Air in front of 20,000 people what was going though your mind?

     "I was totally overwhelmed! I never thought that in the afternoon in a tent there would be such an amount of crazy people jumping and moshing to our sound! On top of this, there were some crazy fans from germany, awaiting us with a big transparent with greetings written on it. the show went over way too fast and it felt like a dream..."

How did the band get ready for that?

     "Back then, we just smoked a huge amount of weed... There was no special 'getting ready' or preparation..."

How would you describe the bands career so far?

      "I managed to keep the band going for almost 20 years, that's already a big plus for me....;-) in this time we released 9 studio albums and one live CD/DVD. we toured a lot with bands like Pro-Pain, Life Of Agony, Stuck Mojo, Transport League, Such A Surge, Dark Tranquility and played a lot of shows and festivals with acts like Slayer, Testament, Biohazard, Exodus, Death Angel, Prong and many more. Financially, there was NO career, but we had tons of fun nevertheless. As I have my own recording studio now, we have the opportunity to make records without the need of a record company and have kind of freedom to do what we want. But currently we are signed to Noise Art records / Rock The Nation booking and hope they can help us to make the band a bit more well-known."

What is your writing process?

     "Usually me or Pat come up with demo version of songs we wrote on our own and then the whole band arranges and completes the song together in the rehearsal room. from time to time I meet with drummer steve and we keep on jamming and recording what comes to our mind. there are also quite some tracks originating from these kind of sessions. Lyrically my inspirations come from watching the news, movies, books or just things I experience in life..."