Albums of Purgatory interview Jasper Pieterson of Morphia

Albums of Purgatory: Firstly, what are you up to right now?

Jasper Pieterson: After the release of Frozen dust in March, we’ve begun working hard on a number of new songs for a new album.

Next to this, we are doing some gigs in Holland and a festival in Germany.

AoP: How would you describe the Morphia sound?

JP: We describe the Morphia sound as symphonic doom metal. But all members listen to different types of music as well, and this definitely influences the sound of Morphia.

The most important other influences are black metal, and thrash and death metal.

AoP: How did you get involved with the band?

JP: That is not a long story. I just reacted on a flyer that I received in my mail, called the number on it, being Roger’s and went to the rehearsal room for an audition. After that I never left.

AoP: Can you remember your first gig (how did it go)?

JP: es I can remember my first gig. We had a try-out on the 20th of January 2001. We played for a small audience that night. They were all people who knew Morphia from the beginning. It was a great gig and it went very well. I got a lot of great reactions from the audience and from the other band members as well. There was actually one guy who listened that well that after the gig he came to me and said: “Wow, you did great. Only one thing, you have to sing “supreme of thy stars” and not “extreme of thy stars”

6 days later we played my first real gig in Apeldoorn. That also went very well and again I got lot of good reactions. For me it was big. That’s where I got my first rush of adrenaline.

AoP: You've toured with some big names over the last few years. Which bands have you enjoyed touring with the most?

JP: Touring is a big word. We unfortunately haven’t been touring. We have done several gigs with bands as: Mortification, After Forever, Detonation, Dimension seven, and sacramental sachem.

But we also played with a lot of bands, which aren’t that famous yet. What has been the band that we liked playing with most is hard to say. Well I can’t say. When we do a gig, we talk to other bands. We always like to talk to other people and learn from each other. So it doesn’t matter which band we play with. As long as we play and meet fans and most important of all have fun.

AoP: How difficult was it losing the bassist/vocalist last year?

JP: The other band members told me it was not easy at all. We had just released Unfulfilled Dreams, and Werner left only a few months after that. But we needed gigs to promote the new album. So it became very difficult to promote the album, and we had to reject every gig we were offered. We had to search for a new bassist and a new vocalist and in the mean time we worked on new songs. It took a lot of time before Morphia was whole again, Erik joined a few months later as the new bassist, but I joined almost a year after Werner left. First thing we did was to learning the new songs and directly after that we went into the studio to record the new album. We also could start doing gigs again.

AoP: What sort of reaction have you been getting for the new album, 'Frozen Dust'?

JP: ”Frozen dust” has been reviewed in a lot of magazines and sites. And most of the reactions we got were really great. Most people agree that the album is even better than the first.

AoP: What are your favourite Morphia tracks?

JP: My favourite Morphia tracks are

-Wicklow mountains

-Emptiness

-Frozen dust

-Long Lost

AoP: What are your favourite all time songs or albums?

JP: My favourite all time songs? Well, I listen to a lot of different music styles. But at the moment one of my all time favourites would be wishmaster from Nightwish.

AoP: What was the first record you bought?

JP: That’s really long time ago. I believe it was “scrolls of the megiloth” from mortification

AoP: What would be your dream band line-up?

JP: I believe that the line-up we have now, is the line-up that we want. So that would be our dream line-up. Ernst-Jan (drums), Erik van Tulder (bass), Peter van Tulder (keyboards), Roger Koedoot (guitar), Martin Koedoot (guitar), Bert Bonestroo (sounds) and Jasper Pieterson (vocals). We get on very well, have the same taste in Music, and most important have a lot of fun together!

AoP: What do you think of the position of metal and music in general today?

JP: I think today’s metal is becoming more commercial and loses its true metal sound. The symphonic metal is making a step forward and becomes known by more people because of a few metal bands with female vocalists. But the grunt and screams are still frightening for a lot of people.

AoP: Which other bands in the scene really stand out for you at the moment?

JP: Bands who really stand out for us at the moment are, My dying bride, anathema, after forever and nightwish.

AoP: Do you have any funny stories about the band you can share with us?

JP: There are probably a lot of stories. I told you one. (Where the guy corrected me when I made a mistake in the try-out).

 In the song “Wicklow mountains” we have this line “you’ll need a pint of Guinness to regain yourself again”. Guinness is an Irish beer. A little while ago we did a gig. After the gig two guys came to me with two empty bottles of Guinness and asked me to signe them. That was very cool.

We are always trying to make practical jokes with the other members. We send edited pictures of each other, that sort of silly stuff. A few examples can be found on our website

AoP: And finally, what do you see in the future for Morphia?

JP: What we see in the future of Morphia. We see at least two more albums in the next 3 years, More merchandise such as t-shirts. Maybe another poster. Furthermore we hope to go on tour and do a lot of gigs. We also like to go to other countries to do shows. Most of all we see us stay together as bands and have a lot of fun in the music. We definitely want to play at some larger festivals, and we’d really love to tour with Anathema or My Dying Bride.

About new albums. We are working on a new album and it will be better than Frozen dust.