Interview with Marcel Herms

q)Something about you...what you want...

a)My name is Marcel Herms. I run a label (Anima Mal Nata) on which I release noise, dark ambient and experimental music. I release my own music under different names. My main project is called Fever Spoor (other names are Ubique Daemon, Loki, SAA, Skt. Adolf and Noisebitch).
Besides making music I paint and draw.
I also make artwork for others. So if you want me to do your record-cover or something like that, just contact me.

q) What are your main goals when you create?

a)I create because I need it to feel good and to get things out of my system. So that's my main goal. I would get very depressed if I could not create.

q) Do you rule by any tendency in your creative work, or you only follow what comes in your mind?

a)I follow what comes in my mind. I try to work instinctively. I try to enter into a sort of unconscious state when I'm working and then paint or record things without being in control. As William Burroughs said: "in painting I see with my hands and I don't know what my hands have done until I look at it afterwards. It's when I look at the completed canvas that I know what the painting is about". And when I finish a painting or recording it takes some time before I got used to it and before I can decide if it's good or not. It can even take more time before I completely understand it myself.

q)How has the internet and your website helped you spread your artwork to a wider audience?

a)I have a website (http://www.animamalnata.nl), that helps to get new contacts.

q)How do you define your style and how would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

a)Expressionistic, raw images of people and animals. I like rough edges. When it get’s to smooth I use techniques to make it rough again. Like drawing with my left hand or mixing stuff through my paint.
When I look at my work I can see some theme's coming back all the time. That is a not very positive view on mankind and especially social miscommunication and incomprehension between people. Alienation. Those are things that come back all the time. It's always pretty grimm.

q)What materials do you use to realize your creations?

a)For my drawings mostly Indian ink and for my paintings mostly acrylic paint. When I paint I use everything I can get my hands on: acrylic paint, ink, spraycans. Sometimes I mix the paint with sand, sawdust, pieces of paper. I paint on paper, canvas, wood, etc. I work in different sizes: from very small too real big.

q) What is your favourite a) taste b) sound c) sight d) scent e) tactile sensation?
a)taste: lasagne
sound: nature sounds (wind, sea, birds,...)
sight: nature
scent: aa autumn forest
tactile sensation: lying in the grass

q) What are you doing now...your current projects...

a)Working an a series of compilations with noise, ambient and experimental music titled "Calling All Reactive Agents".
Working on two split releases; one with Flutwacht from Germany and one with Torturing Nurse from China.
Making paintings for an exhibition in the USA: http://www.galeriepenumbra.com/index.html

q) Do you listen to music while you're creating and what do you listen and what do you like to listen?

a)Sometimes I do. And then it's most of the time sleazy (punk-)rock kind of stuff so I can "dance" around the canvas. Things like New York Dolls, Motörhead, Peter Pan Speedrock, Dead Boys,…stuff like that. And sometimes some harsh noise.

q) Do you draw influences from a wide range of artists, musicians, books...?

a)Oh yes, see question 16 and 17.

q)Name 3 things you couldn't create without?

a)There's only one thing that I really need and that's the right state of mind.

q) Where have you show your art...?

a)I'm not very active when it comes to exhibitions but I make work for this gallery:
http://www.galeriepenumbra.com/index.html

q) What haven't you done yet that you definitely want to try someday?

a)Nothing that I can think of.

q) How important is self-promotion for an artist nowadays?

a)I guess it depends on what you want to achieve. I like to get in touch with many people so that’s why self-promotion is important to me.

q) Would you say that your work consciously reflects characters and situations found within your daily life?

a)Yes, I draw the world around me, everyday frustrations & people. Things like that.

q) Favourite book?
a)Can I give you three titles?Naked Lunch (William S. Burroughs), Death On The Instalment Plan (L.F. Céline) and Hunger (Knut Hamsun).

q) Designers/Artists you admire?

a)Lucebert, Rik van Iersel, Herman Brood, Karel Appel, Cy Twombly, Jesse Reno, Pakito Bolino, Anselm Kiefer, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Grady Roper, Anton Heyboer, Adolf Wölfli, Asger Jorn, Emil Schumacher, Lance MacMahan, Wim de Haan, Joe Coleman, Constant, Willem van Genk etc.

q) Your contacts....e-mail...links...

a)http://www.animamalnata.nl
And here you can find some of my work too:
http://www.galeriepenumbra.com/index.html