JOE HASSELVANDER – Beyond the ninth hour

1. Hello Joe, please introduce yourself to the public, how did you start playing music?

Hello! Hello! Hello! I am Joe Hasselvander aka “The Godfather Of Doom” among other monikers too inappropriate to mention.I  owe a lot of my musical background to my brother Phil. He was a very popular instrumental Surf guitarist in the 1960’s. His drummer would sometimes store his Ludwig drum kit in our house and I would sit and stare at them in awe. I knew that this was an instrument that I wanted to investigate further and when I was 9 years old my father bought me a little basic drum kit. I had already taught myself how to play a year before just playing on anything that sounded like a drum to my favorite album by The Rolling Stones, “12X 5”.

2. How do you find time playing with all these bands?

I am often asked this question. It has never been a problem and there have never been conflicting tour dates with all the different groups. I like playing with different bands in different projects because I learn a lot from working with all of these people and it keeps me fresh and enthused about music. I work as much as possible as this is what I was called to do from a very early age. I am on approximately 42 albums and counting!

3. You have been playing professionally since the age of nine. Did you ever say to yourself “Next year, it’s over”?

That thought has never entered my mind. I will play until I drop. It is my passion and I always felt whatever I did was a cut above everyone else.
It’s not an ego thing in the least. It’s a feeling of magic that comes over me when in the studio or the concert stage. My audience has a big hand in that as well! When I play I watch everyone’s face light up! I live for that!

4. What’s the next step for Raven?

We just got back from playing a festival in Sweden and in a few weeks we will be doing a tour of South America. We are also lining up some dates in Canada and we are in touch with the guys from M Pire Of Evil (ex-Venom members) to put together a long awaited super package of NWOBHM bands for a tour of Europe and hopefully, America. We have tried this before but most of the agencies want to tack on one of their younger upcoming bands who are not relevant to that genre of music. We want this to be the authentic “real deal”!

5. Any plans for a new album?

We have put together some new songs for an album but currently have a live DVD at the front of the assembly line. It will feature some ultra rare footage from different eras of the band’s career, including some footage with Rob (Wacko) Hunter to give a complete overview of the band’s time in existence. There are some choice interviews from some of our peers in the music business that will surprise a lot of you.

6. Your latest solo album is called “The ninth hour”. Would you like to discuss all the details of this album?

“The Ninth Hour” is the 5th installment of my solo career that started way back in 1984 with my first full length album, “Lady-Killer”. This ongoing project is very dear to me as it gives me the chance to be a front man and a lead guitarist. As most people know, I am not affiliated with Pentagram anymore but I still love Doom and Stoner Rock music because it features a good bluesy, heavy framework. I am a big fan of older Heavy Metal and I have a million tricks in my bag to give to the fans of this kind of music. It’s a sort of an alter ego thing.

I recorded this album in a very simple studio without the use of click tracks or pro-tools. It’s real and organic like the albums of old. I went to a lot of trouble to put on extra ear candy in the percussion department as the studio had every kind of drum, rattle and bell! I also wanted to give this special album a movie soundtrack feel, calling on all of my many hours of listening to Ennio Morricone , Egisto Macchi and Camille Sauvage library albums. The title track is a beautifully dreadful little song reminding one of the cold, dark, dank earth. It deals with the possibility of an astral body of great size slamming into earth and mankind questioning their cruelty to each other over the ages and whether or not they should have done things differently now that they face total annihilation. The second track, “Heavier Than Thou” is dedicated to everyone who has gone out of their way to screw me over when I have given them all of my love and attention. The third song, “Suburban Witch” is a song about the teenage phenomenon of practicing witchcraft and rebelling against everything that is decent in the world because of their lack of belonging which drives them into the arms of such groups in order to feel kinship with somebody, anybody! It also deals with the doors they open and are unable to close while even more open in their feeble attempt to close the first one. “Restless Soul” is a song about death and renewal. It is aimed at anyone who has lost a loved one to disease or tragedy. Several of my friends have told me that this song got them through their own family losses and it was just what they needed to hear. The song “Salem” deals with my family’s brush with the supernatural. Let’s just say that it changed me forever and I am indebted to God for getting me out of an impossible situation with demonic forces that ran rampant through my old home in Virginia. I never believed in anything like this and always thought that stories like “The Ammityville Horror” were pure fantasy. I found out quite to the contrary, that these things do indeed exist and all one needs to do to invite this in their life is pick up an object that has been altered by black magic. In my case, these objects were artifacts from the Salem Witch Trials! I can only describe it as a terrible pestilence. My son and I were lucky to get out alive! I have since learned how to protect myself from anything like this! The lyrics tell the real story from 400 years ago and how I took the accuser back to the accused so that “he” may now be “the accused”! “Coming Of The King” is a song about Christ and the true nature of his visit on earth and his reign for eternity.

Heavy subjects, yes! So are the lyrics to any good blues song that deals with the human condition.

7. What is the line up in your solo effort?

Martin Swaney played bass guitar on The Ninth Hour and I did all the rest.
The live band consists of Martin Swaney(ex-Pentagram) bass guitar, T.C. Tolliver(Ex-Plasmaticks)drums, Russ Strahan (ex-Pentagram)second guitar, Paolo “Apollo” Negri (Wicked Minds) keyboards and myself performing the vocals and guitar.

8. What is the role of religion in your lyrics?

First of all, my lyrics are a reflection of what I have personally gone through in my life and also of society and where it is going. I could sing about girls, cars, drugs or Satan but those subjects are shallow, phoney and embarrassing to say the least! They have been done to death and to what end?
Nothing is heavier than God! That subject stirs up more emotion than any other subject. Sometimes it evokes complete hatred towards me from certain Metal fans and at other times it supplies redemption and comfort for others.

I am also not afraid to speak the truth while others hide their heads in the sand over these issues concerning the downfall of all societies. The Death Metal crowd really gets angered if you mention God! I say screw ’em!!! I don’t listen to polka music with the Cookie Monster singing anyway. My distaste for them and their music is equal to theirs for me and mine.

9. Your new album features a cover by Mountain. How did you decide to cover “Don’t look around”?

I have always been a big fan of Mountain and they were once the heaviest band in existence. I played drums for Leslie West and Mountain for a show back in 1976. Leslie gave me a big break by having me as his drummer and I thought that it would be a proper tribute to his kindness toward an 18 year old kid like myself, struggling to make it big in the business.

10. What about the artwork of your new album?

While I was recording The Ninth Hour I was really having difficulty coming up with a title and a “special” album cover. I needed an image that reflected the music inside.

A very good musician friend of mine drove me to the studio one day and I told him about my dilemma. He informed me that he had brought his camera and that he would be taking shots all day during the recording process and also on my breaks. He had me pose in front of an old barn adjacent to the studio. It was a miserable overcast day and we were expecting an early snowstorm. All the trees looked perfectly dead and everything in the shot was basically gray. He went on taking more shots all day long and we reviewed everything when we got back to my home. When that album cover shot showed up, we were blown away by the creepiness of it. I look like a ghost that suddenly appeared in front of that hulking decayed structure. I am obscured just enough that you almost have to take a second look to find me in the picture. Which to me was a little alarming at second glance. Not unlike seeing a real ghost for the first time. It just had this surreal effect. My friend and I both agreed that this should be the cover! Black Widow’s art department tinted the picture making my face blue like a corpse and the sky, a sickly pink. It was only later when the actual product arrived at my house, that I realized that this looked an awful lot like the first Sabbath album. It wasn’t intended to be that way. I am still very happy with it though, as it sort of tells my life story of decay and struggle, but with an iron will to succeed whether my house falls down around me or not..

11. How do you intend to promote your album?

Obviously, I want to tour with the fine line up I have acquired and Black Widow is doing everything possible to get the word out in Europe and in America. They are setting up a website for me as well for the fans and for anyone interested in booking the band.

12. Any plans for touring?

There is a possible show in Barcelona, Spain in the fall and another in Poland and I am currently looking in to doing a tour for the rest of Europe and possibly the west coast of the U.S. around that time. It all depends on whether anyone wants to put their money where their mouth is.

13. Are you still in touch with the guys from Pentagram?

No, I have no more contact with them. The only time I hear word from them, it’s from their manager who co-ordinates all the re-issues of the albums and new releases of studio and live recordings. That’s all starting to dry up as certain members who I will not name, refuse to agree in putting out the “whole’ back catalog. It really isn’t such a big deal to me anymore as I have so outgrown that band.

14. I have heard many crazy stories about touring with Raven? Any special story to share with us?

We are one of those bands that have everything strange and weird come at us on tour. Sometimes, we are the ones responsible. I remember the last gig on the Running Wild tour in 1990. While Running Wild were on stage with their giant pirate ship drum riser, I slipped on one of Rockin’ Rolph’s leather stage jackets and their roadies gave me one of their spare guitars and I jumped out on stage with the band looking much like the great Rolph while the whole band couldn’t figure out who was who. Then Mark Gallagher brought out a giant clown mask that we had found in the backroom of a Belgian night club and taped it to the front of the gargoyle head situated at the front of their prop viking ship! John Gallagher came out with a cream pie and plopped it on Jens Becker’s head. He was not amused and is still angry about it to this day! We were so road worn after 4 months of that tour that we had gone off our nut. I don’t think those Germans got the humor but somehow we had all become very tight friends and later, all was forgiven. After all, it was a very successful tour for all of us who participated and we all still talk about it as one of the real pinnacles in both band’s careers.

Info:
http://www.myspace.com/joehasselvander
http://www.blackwidow.it/