Morser Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
We’ve just finished our new album and are waiting for its release on the new Bremer Label Speck Flag Records in early 2015. Meanwhile we continue practicing every Monday evening at the Freizi Friese here in Bremen to put on muscles for some shows and start composing new songs.

2.How would you describe the musical progress the band has made over the years and also how would you describe your current style?
We started with a very chaotic sound, not really well performed, but at the same time somehow pure. It had already some metal influences but was played with a punk attitude to it. It was quite new that time and we thought this grind- and hardcore mix might interest some people. And the response to our first album
“Two Hours to Doom” was great. Then we became better at our instruments and we started adding much more structure to our songs, so that you can distinguish verse and chorus. Today, I think, we sometimes find a good mix between these two approaches; having structure without losing vigor, as in songs like "Small
Weak Virus" or "The Surface" (the latter on our new album).

3.There has not been a new album in 4 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?
We’ve been around for nearly 20 years now (wow, that sounds sick) and we’ve always been slow and lazy. But now we are all working, raising kids, just doing things that slow you down a little. So, there hasn’t been any break, you just might call it low intensity warfare.

4.Over the years what have been some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored with their music?
The process of writing lyrics has changed over the time. Nearly all lyrics for our first album were written one memorable night when we drank sparkling wine for Daniel’s birthday. The images just poured out and we made a song out of just everything. For example: "Eine Stadt aus dem Weltall fotografiert, wie eine Zelle
vom Tumor befallen" (A city photographed from space, like a cell attacked by a tumor). It’s maybe these dark topics that we put into songs. We don’t write any purposely political texts. Some are just like freaky diary entries. But if there’s no non-political act, then you could say our texts denounce destructive human
behavior and depict human suffering and desolation.

5.What is the meaning an inspiration behind the name 'Morser'?
It’s "mortar". It’s a simple weapon for firing projectiles designed for specific purposes and it shares its name with the kitchen tool for grinding (!) spices. So in both cases it’s a thing you use for a variety of outcomes.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
When we go on stage, we like to deliver a short and heavy, fast experience, like, oh, so many bands. But most of us are not even really into metal music, and I think  that’s what you notice when we enter the stage. We look like - and we are - the average fellow from your neighborhood football team and then you might wonder what beast of a sound comes out.
It’s hard to tell what have been our best shows, because sometimes we play a perfect set and the audience just does not respond, and other times we play crappy and the people go mad. But the shows we surely remember are, of course, our first in 1997, in a club called BDP in Bremen; a clash with the height of the PC
era in 1999, in Columbus, Ohio; as "surprise guest" at the Ieper festival 1999; the show we fell in love with KEITZER, etc... all these shows we played crappy AND the people didn’t respond. And we were drunk. A perfect match!

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
By the time you read this, we will have already supported NAPALM DEATH in Oldenburg on 14 November, 2014, and then we will have a record release party here in Bremen early 2015. So there aren’t many shows in the near future but to these few we’re really looking forward to.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal, grind and hardcore?
It’s a great thing to receive feedback from so far away places like Hawaii, Malaysia, the USA, Indonesia, Canada, Japan, Hamburg... people order shirts, ask for shows, just say hallo. We are a small band, so this response really means something to us.

9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are involved with?
Many of us play in other bands. Some are metal and quite active, too: DC is playing drums in ZODIAC, André is drumming in MIZANTHROP, and Christian sings with KEITZER, who just released their harsh album “Portugal, não outra vez!” on FDA Rekotz.  Frequently practicing are DC and Matthias with a rock band called JAWA, and Matthias and ex-MORSER Björn in a cozy Sunday afternoon singer songwriter
band named MATT & THE GAS GIANTS, Svenion plays guitar in an indierocknroll band called THE LAST ONE. And hopefully there’ll be a short time reunion of CAROL.

10.When can we expect new material and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
I think there is and will be more variety in our arrangements and the quality of our songs will improve, but, all in all, we'll stay true to the music we've been playing for years. Our upcoming album will be no surprise. It’s a simple 12-track MORSER album. It detonates on impact.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
When we started we were really into hardcore music. MORSER was formed by the members of CAROL when guitarist Andy Lehmann moved to Berlin. We listened to MEREL, ACME, and ROHRSCHACH and some of us were in SYSTRAL. We also had  an ear on some metal bands like PANTERA, BOLT THROWER or the almighty CARCASS. And it’s these roots we still agree upon today, and we’re happy to see new bands continuing this hardcore sound adding a lot of freshness to it, for example SVFFER from Münster.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
We are eight members who all like golfing.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts/
Damn good coffee! And hot!