INTERVIEW CHUCK VOLLMERING FROM VOLKSMERINK By Eric at Illusions Webzine
ILLUSIONS WEBZINE: How the hell are ya brother? Thanks for taking the
time to answer a few questions man. After viewing your Myspace page
again I just noticed that you put a line from my review for "The
Suffering of One" CD and wanted to give you a huge thanks for that and
the support you've given me here with Illusions Webzine.
CHUCK:
Well, first I want to thank you for all the support you’ve already
given me and for this interview. No problem on posting the line from
the CD review to my page. It’s a win win situation…people get to read
your compliment about my tunes and hopefully it will make people want
find your Illusions Webzine. I support those who support me…as it
should be!
IW:
Alright down to business bro. When did you first get the itch for metal
music and who were some of the bands you first started listening to in
the metal genre?
CHUCK:
I was a little kid when I first starting to listening to metal. I think
Black Sabbath, Slayer, Metallica…stuff like that is what I first really
got into.
IW: When did you first decide to pick up the guitar and who were some of your influences in the guitar field?
CHUCK:
My Dad had an electric guitar he used to keep under his bed. When he
would go to work, I would sneak in and play it and put it back before
he got home. One day he came home early and caught me with it and then
he just gave it to me. After that I really locked on to it and played
every day. On a personal level, one of my very first influences was a
neighbor that lived across the street from me. He was a little older
than me and had been playing guitar for a couple of years before I got
into it. I would watch him play Black Sabbath songs and then I would
run home and try to play them myself. He was also a drummer, so over
time we started playing music together…me on guitar, and him on drums,
and then we would switch off and trade instruments. Some of the more
public figures that influenced me were Randy Rhoads, Eddie Van Halen,
Dimebag, Kerry King…on and on…too many to list here! Haha!
IW: Before branching out with Volksmerink, what other bands were you a
part of and do you still keep in touch with any of the past band
members?
CHUCK:
I was in the hardcore/punk band Malicious Intent for many years. I
played bass for Fuct for a little while, as well as guitar for a bunch
of different bands that never amounted to much. I still keep in touch
with the singer and drummer of Malicious.
IW:
When did you first get into the extreme type of metal (ala death metal,
grind etc.) and who are some of your favorite bands right now (not
including the butt ton of other projects you're working on because
we'll get to them in a minute haha)?
CHUCK:
Right now I can be caught listening to a lot of different bands…way too
many to list here, but a few are: Vader (they are one of my all time
favorite bands!), Sikfuk, Suture, Meshuggah, Woundeep, Perverse
Molestation, Defilementory, Cyclotron and just very recently my friend
turned me on to Keith Merrow…his music is amazing. I’ve been blastin’
his music for the last couple of days!!!
IW: Now comes Volksmerink which consists of you, yourself
and...yourself haha. When did you first get the idea of making music by
yourself with Volksmerink and how do you like handling everything
yourself so far?
CHUCK:
The idea for Volksmerink came out of my need to play music. I got tired
of all the drama and headaches that can come from being in bands with
other people…whether it’s egos, girlfriends, lack of cooperation, lack
of devotion or any number of reasons. I decided to take a break from
being in bands, got a job, and just did the 9 to 5 worker bee thing. I
got bored with just playing guitar without any backing music, so I
started writing music to practice playing guitar solos over. One thing
led to another and I started writing full songs instead of just backing
tracks. I love being a one man band for many reasons. First is the
freedom to explore any ideas that may pop into my head…without having
to clear them with four or five other guys first. I don’t have to
schedule any practices with anybody…I play when I want, however long I
want. I don’t have to sit down and teach the other members of the band
all the riffs and song parts. Of course there two side to everything…I
also don’t have any input or ideas from anybody else. I have said it
before…the best thing about being a one man band is no one tells you
what to play, the worst thing about being a one man band is nobody
tells you what to play…LOL!
IW:
If I read another interview right Volksmerink is actually your
ancestors name correct? When you decided to do this project did you
have that name already as a top priority for the one man band or were
there other names that you were tossing around? I think it's pretty
awesome that you chose that name. Kind of like an honorary choice.
CHUCK:
You are correct! Volksmerink was my family’s original name before
coming to America from Germany . Volksmerink = Vollmering! I have been
using the name Volksmerink for my solo projects for a long time. I just
liked the sound of it and I knew there were no other bands with that
name.
IW:
All right now onto the butt ton of other projects on your plate. Could
you tell the readers what all you have going on right now and maybe a
brief description of each band?
CHUCK:
My second biggest project/band is Infected Epididymides. It’s a band I
started with Jay of Perverse Molestation. I write/play all the music
and Jay delivers his vocal sickness on them, it’s more on the grindcore
side of things than Volksmerink is. Faster music, more pissed off, it’s
like a boot to the side of your head! That project has been a lot of
fun for Jay and me. We also asked several of our friends like Derek of
Bowel Regurgitation, Som of Lacerated, and Nik of Sikfuk to drop their
vocals on a few songs. It has been great working with all of our very
talented friends. Volksmerink has a song on the Pocket Pussy Hash Pipe
project. That is a project started by Nik of Sikfuk…he recruited a
bunch of bands to give a song each and he dropped his guttural spews
all over them. Volksmerink is also on a couple of comp CD’s, like the
100 way grind comp coming out from Humiliation Records. Also, I’ll be
having a split CD with the Canadian monsters Cuff out sometime later
this year. I have another solo project called CV Sound Design. This is
for my other types of music outside of the realms of “metal.” I write
music for several different production companies to use on radio/TV
commercials, corporate videos…stuff like that.
IW:
You are also working with MMA outfit King of the Cage. Could you tell
us a little about that? How you got that gig and your reaction when you
found out that you did or whatever else you can think of?
CHUCK:
I have been friends with Steve Inman (King of the Cage producer) for
several years…even before he worked for KOTC. Steve was at a mutual
friend’s house and said he was looking for new, heavy music for the
show. My friend, having a demo copy of my CD “The Suffering of One”
said “Hey Chuck is coming out with a CD” and played it for him. Steve
liked what he heard and called me the next morning. I have been working
with KOTC ever since. KOTC have used my music for live shows,
Pay-per-view TV broadcasts, radio/TV commercials, DVD’s, promotional
videos…pretty much everything they do. Of course I was, and still am,
very excited to be a part of what KOTC is doing for the world of mixed
martial arts. I have been into MMA since UFC#3 and had been going to
the live KOTC events long before I had the opportunity to work with
them. They are a great organization to be working with and I’m very
proud to be a part of the impact they are making on the world of MMA.
It is such a thrill for me to see a KOTC video of two guys fighting and
hear my music in the background or to be at a live show and have these
warriors walking down to the cage with my music blasting thru the PA.
Cage fighting and extreme music…it’s a perfect match!
IW:
You also have your own label called Earzit Records which "The Suffering
of One" was released. When did you decide to start up your own label
and are there any other bands signed by you or is it just a personal
type of thing?
CHUCK:
I started Earzit just so I can keep control over my own music without
any outside sources dipping their hands into my cookie jar. It’s mostly
a control issue for me. Just like, with everything in life, there are
good labels and labels just looking to make money off the artists that
work so hard to create the music. Right now only Volksmerink is
released on Earzit, but as soon as Jay and I get Infected Epididymides
wrapped up, that too will be released on Earzit. No other plans for
bands at this point, but who knows what the future will hold.
IW:
On your Myspace page you have pictures of the CD processing process
posted that were cool to see. Did you do all of that on your own with
your own printing press or were those pics taken somewhere else?
CHUCK:
Outside of a little help, I pretty much did everything myself. My wife
helped out with the typesetting for the CD cover and inside booklet and
a co-worker did all the pre-press stuff. Then I had a printing company
I used to work for do the four color printing for the covers and
booklet. I did all the collating, stapling and trimming of the books
myself. Then I had a local CD duplicating company burn the CD’s and the
same company put the shrink wrap on the CD’s. I didn’t want to go the
CD-R route…I wanted a professional package to represent my music. My
wife took those pictures that you are asking about…she works for that
printing company still. So she just went and snapped a few pics as it
was being printed.
IW:
What are some of the things you like to do outside of music and if you
didn't have music in your life, what would you be doing?
CHUCK:
Mostly I enjoy just getting to hang out with my wife and two dogs as
much as possible…and I’m into video games, cooking, doing different
artwork pieces, getting together with friends, and being a couch
potato. I also have my own window washing company so that keeps me
busy. I don’t have clue what I would be doing without music in my
life…I’d probably be more of a pissed off person. Music is such a great
vent for your feelings…whether it’s anger, sadness or happiness.
Without being able to vent those feelings through music I think I
already would have been dead.
IW:
I think that's about it for now man. Thanks once again for doing this
interview and look forward to future Volksmerink and other projects you
are working on soon. Take care brother and best of luck. The last words
are yours to fill in any forgotten questions that you would like to
share with the readers bro.
