Interviewer: Where are you calling from Glenn?

GD: From Sweden, I’m here for the Tradgarn festival in Göthenburg that takes place tomorrow. The day after we play in Norway. The last shows have been going great, and the day before yesterday we played on the Summer Breeze festival in Germany. In between I have had a lot of interviews to do about the new album.

Interviewer: It’s been a while since we last saw you at work in Belgium, the last time was on Graspop a few years ago.

GD: That’s right, I even remember it well. We played in the tent because we didn’t wanna play on the same stage as Manowar would play later that evening. (laughs) I (hesitates for a short moment)… we can’t stand each other, that’s why, that’s all I wanna say about it.

Interviewer: ‘Circle Of Snakes’ is the first album that isn’t numbered and doesn’t contain a theme, I assume that must be a relief.

GD: (laughs) It is. A long time ago I decided that there would be seven albums, each numbered with their own theme. So the last album became 777. Now I made tracks that came up in me, without being bound to a theme.

Interviewer: What is the main difference with this album and the ones before?

GD: This time I was more free to work on the songs, the writing of the tracks happened in a natural way. Before, the songs came out somewhat forced. I think it’s a bit of an experimental album, there are new tunings and we used double bassdrum. There are also noticeable changes on a lyrical level compared to previous albums, the tracks are more introspective, I sing more about personal things.

Interviewer: Let’s take a closer look at some things, what is 'Black Angel, White Angel about'?

GD: If I was still doing themes, that song would never have made it. It’s just a perfect song to put last on an album.

Interviewer: ‘Skull Forrest’ is my favourite track on the CD.

GD: That’s my favorite song too, You have good taste. (laughs). This track is about a dream I had about all the people I’ve known and who died. They’re in a hallway, filled with skeletons, skulls, rotting flesh and yellng at me. I really dreamed that, so I decided to write a song about it.

Interviewer: What keeps on inspiring you after all these years and all those albums, to deliver those dark lyrics with a penchant for occult?

GD: (hesitating and sighing) I’m inspired by the things that move me to write tracks about. Many subjects are about death and anger. I always write about that last part, but death has taken a special place on this CD. These last years, a lot of people have died like family, friends and people I knew, most of them way too soon. That’s why there’s so much death on the new CD. A track like 'Skin Carver' for example is about how the world gets people apart and lets them die.

Interviewer: We won’t see you writing lyrics about the news, a track about terrorism or wars that are currently being fought.

GD: Wars? I’m don’t really think about them, they have been fought for so long. Why would I worry about them? It would be naïve to think there’ll be no more wars. There will always be, for whatever reason, wars that are fought. There will always be people who hate others, and that’s where conflicts come from. War against terrorism doesn’t really have a face either, I think, but I don’t like to write about that. As a musician or an individual you can’t change that situation anyway. Every country will always have their own fucked up government. Politicians only think about making money and for the rest they stay out of target, when problems become too thorny. The ordinary people will always be the victims.

Interviewer: You recorded the album with (again) a new line-up, where from Tommy Victor is the most noticeable.

GD: Tommy already accompanied me during the Blackacidevil tour. In that period of time he also played in the studio, but only on material that came out as bonus tracks on singles. The moment I called him he was busy with his band Prong. I asked him if he felt like playing on my new album, he agreed immediately. He’s a great guitarplayer, his playing on 'Circle Of Snakes', to me, is the best he has ever done.

Interviewer: Can you tell me who the other two bandmembers are?

GD: Bass player Jerry Montano is in the band Deadlights, a band from L.A. I knew him from way back when he played in all kinds of local bands. Bevan Davies the drummer, came to me for auditions, I liked him immediately, he plays with Jerry Cantrell. At the moment all three of them accompany me on tour.

Interviewer: Why do you like to work on your albums on your own and don’t you tolerate input from the other musicians?

GD: That’s a misunderstanding that goes around. I introduce the tracks and they fill them in freely their own way. They get the music they should play from me, but they are allowed to give them their own interpretations, so their parts lead their own lives. For example, you hear really well at Tommy’s guitarplaying that he does his own thing.

Interviewer: When a teenager first learns about Danzig by hearing your new CD, which other Danzig albums would you recommend him?

GD: (thinks for a short period of time) I honestly don’t know. You step in a CD store, take a CD and are able to listen to anything through the headphones. Everyone has different tastes, so I won’t say this or that album, everyone should make it out for themselves.

Interviewer: Soon you’ll direct a movie, what can we expect?

GD: It’s the first main movie that I will put out. The movie 'Ge Rouge' is a story based on the Verotik comics I publish. Off course it’s gonna be a horror movie like you’ve never seen before. There will be a lot of zombies, all kinds of rituals, snakeworshipments, too much to mention. After the 'Blackest Of The Black' tour, we will have to make sure the script is approved, then the pre-production will be done and then we’ll go on to seek actors and actresses so we can start working on the movie. When the movie comes out, it’ll first be shown in local theaters. If it gets successful there’s gonna be a bigger distribution, but let’s not run too far ahead.

Interviewer: At Mindview we don’t do that either.

The interviewer also speaks about the fact that Glenn tells him about the BOTB tour and the fact that Doyle will join him on stage to play old Misfits songs.

- The End -