written by Marko Jakob
Pix666: Hello Hans, hello Serge. The most important question right at the beginning. Are you well and healthy?
Hans: I am personally, and as far I know all my loved ones and friends are healthy as well..fingers crossed for better days to come though.
Serge: Hopefully well, and family too, It’s strange to say that we are living in a pandemic and to be spared from it. Apart from the cancellation of concerts which weighs on us, all is well.
Pix666: How long has THE MARS MODEL been around? Please tell the readers what kind of music you make.
Hans: We started early 2019 with the concept and did some rehearsals..to be honest in the beginnings we didn’t had a specific label to put on us musically, but we are often called goth-metal-punk-wave :)..I guess we take it as it comes..we all have a deep love for punk, new wave, gothic stuff and it goes as far as German thrash metal like Destruction, Kreator and Sodom.. 🙂
Serge: The 5 members of this group all come from different backgrounds: Extreme hardcore metal, Post punk, Electro, Rock. Rather distant musical colors but which all blend together around a common project for which Dom composes the music. The sound identity is cross-border to the worlds of metal, gothic, industrial music, dark wave, black wave punk … The Mars Model builds highways between these worlds as others have done before, Killing Joke, Sister of Mercy …
Pix666: Who else is in the band and how did you meet? Were you or the other band members musically active in other bands or projects before?
Hans: Before TMM some of us where together in the punk band Sex Revolver (hans-Dee-Fred), I sang/screamed in the H8000 hardcore band Liar…
Serge: I play drum with Sandra, my wife, in a post punk duet band called Lilidollrage. She sing and play guitar. Sandra joined us exceptionally in the studio to participate in Frozen in time, the second title of our last 2 songs EP. Her voice resonates perfectly and the mix of the 3 voices becomes more powerful as the song progresses. Fred play bass on a Dr Feelgood cover band. Olivier is on a side project but we can’t talk about it !
Pix666: The band members of THE MARS MODEL come from the north of France and from Belgium. The comedy ‘Rien à déclarer’ immediately comes to mind 😊 How does the cross-border cooperation work within your band? Are there sometimes some funny moments ?
Hans: It’s pretty much open border policy, and the border is like 15km from Kortrijk where we rehearse..it’s pretty much ok. That comedy is super funny for sure.
Serge: Good times of course! We take great pleasure in playing together, we enjoy getting together around good Belgian beers and there is an exotic side since 3 languages coexist together in the rehearsal room. The Flemish, the French and we have therefore decided, in order to get along to speak in English, which is more or less easy depending on the people but it gives us good times and a very special spirit. The notion of borders is very present in our group and in our songs. In a world of migrations, it is important to review this idea of borders, openness to others, not to isolate yourself and to accept this changing world. Our first EP, named Franco Belga, has as visual, De sjouwer which is a monument dedicated to frontier workers. These men built a highway between France and Belgium by moving tons of earth. This monoilitic emblem has at its top a cardinal star and a target arrow in the direction of France, as a destination to go. We are proud of this multiple identity, of this rich diversity. We are proud to come together around this project and build music despite language barriers and cultural differences. Belgium is for the French of the North, the place to be to go to party, to go to concerts, festivals, nightclubs …
Pix666: Recently you released the 2-track EP ‘Sister Glory’/ ‘Frozen In Time’. Who is responsible for the lyrics and songwriting? Have you already presented the new songs live to an virtual audience in a small streaming session?
Hans: Dominiek does all the song writing..the wonderful thing about this band is that we operate as a family or factory if you like..the record is self released (FX7 records = label Hans), self-screenprinted and self distributed. We are not keen on streaming sessions, it came to mind to be honest, but we prefer live performances with an audience, so we’re gonna wait it out…one day… 🙂
Serge: Sister Glory: We took advantage of the two lockdowns this summer, to go back to the studio and record 2 tracks, Sister Glory and Frozen in time. The release of Lp 2 titles is very topical since it dates from November and it is with magnificent artwork, a picture disc, t-shirts and goodies that we are launching our promo!
Sister Glory is the story of Emily Davison, a suffragist, a staunch defender of women’s freedom who tragically died in a horse race. Jeroen Mylle gave us a great video for this title. We see the unfortunate Emily Elizabeth Davison, struck by a horse during a race. She would have liked to hang a banner of movement on the pommel of the horse’s saddle, but she would have misjudged the speed of the horses. She died and became a muse of the cause, a martyr.
The accident and the images from the times are strong and fit perfectly on this track interspersed with video from our first concert at B52. Suffragists fought to defend women’s suffrage in England, they also allowed British soldiers, returning home after World War I, to obtain citizenship. At the turn of the last century in England, only people capable of paying a certain amount of tax were considered citizens.
Frozen in time: This song is oddly and terribly topical in this time when everything is dead, when people are locked in their homes. It’s a wonderful song carried by increasingly present and powerful voices.
It’s a very cinematographic title from who knows where, halfway between the twin peaks soundtrack and the end of the world credits. This vocal trio makes the melancholy realization of a magnificent love frozen in time, forever. The fire, the ice, the storm, the torment, the vertiginous fall. This title will surprise those who follow us, it is a gem without guitar or drums, 3 voices and sounds.
For the record, the day this song was recorded, Dom whistled into the microphone to test it. We kept it for fun. It so happened that that day we learned of the death of Ennio Morricone, this whistle now sounds like a tribute to this great composer.
Pix666: In 2019 you released your debut EP ‘FrancoBelga’? How do the two new songs differ from your first EP?
Hans: The sound may differ, but we see FrancoBelga as a stepping stone for the two tracks we recorded now. We are working on new stuff already in between the two tracks. We just picked these two because they fit in the times we live currently.
Serge: We recorded Franco Belga in summer 2019. It was released in mid December in several forms, K7, CD and Vinyl. We had the opportunity to show our work during 2 concerts before being totally reclusive at home because of the Covid. Irony of fate? The borders are reduced for everyone at the door of the house. We missed a dozen important dates during this year. The Mars Model evokes in this record, the current world, new expectations, disappointments, the frantic pace of a train that must not be missed, new desires for life. The desire to cross new borders, to sweep away ideas of withdrawal into oneself.
Pix666: In your online shop https://themarsmodel.bigcartel.com/ you can buy EPs as well as shirts with beautiful motifs. How important is the support of the fans for a band like THE MARS MODEL in the current time of the pandemic?
Hans: To be honest, we have sold 70%-80% of our records during the pandemic, this went very hard to our very own surprise. We do take care of nice graphics..our stuff may sound dark and all, nevertheless we love our releases bright, mysterious and energetic.
Pix666: Did you use the unusual time to write more songs? Will there soon be an album by THE MARS MODEL ?
Hans: Yes, we already had some stuff going before the pandemic, we are a pretty young band, but the members are veterans, that is the reason stuff goes pretty smoothly and fast. We have plans to record another record in 2021, 6-7 tracks at the most. We love mini albums.
Pix666: Germany is currently experiencing the next lockdown – what is the current situation in your home country and what is the current mood among the people?
Hans: Yes, it’s horrible…at the moment we’re not sure what to expect in Belgium. “According” to the media, things are going better…the thing is that a small group of non-believers is fucking things up for the rest..i’m pretty sure that is the case in Germany as well. The people are fed-up and impatient rather than sitting it out. Vaccination will be a happening thing the next months.
Serge: We can’t wait to resume rehearsals and hit the road to play live. Dear Deer, a group of friends we were to play with last year took advantage of the lockdown to play at their house live streamed online, they actually released a record of that.
Pix666: Which things do you miss most at the moment and have you maybe discovered new hobbies?
Hans: Of course rehearsing and playing/hanging out with the band…on a personal level i had my job in my screen print atelier as I work mostly for the music industry (bands-labels-skate brands) and they all did small orders on their websites, so I could/can print things up. Apart from hobbies..I remember the first lock-down as something connected with instant happiness. My wife and I got some extra quality time at home..the weather was nice and the only thing that was possible was walking and biking…Dominiek (who lives in my street) and I did some walks/meetings and talked about the direction of the band..to talk about the two song 12″ etc..so all in all it contributed in a way as well..taking the positivity out of negativity.
Serge: like everyone else, I learned to bake bread. I cultivated a vegetable garden for the first time in my life, bought 3 hens … made a composter. It is good to be cloistered at home … a little
Pix666: Do you have any other news about THE MARS MODEL that you would like to share with the fans?
Hans: Well..I’m sure that we are ready to play Germany!!!
Pix666: Thank you for the interesting insights into your current life – good luck with the music, and of course – stay dark and healthy!
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