Hi Gerwin, thanks for doing this interview, how are you doing?
Hi Ed, I'm doing well.
I' have been busy lately getting this project released and on the road.
Many people will recognize you as a member of NG-Pro, why the need to start a sideproject?
I've been playing with NG-Pro for 10 years, sometimes it's good to do something different & new; I felt like taking on a new challange.
We don't play many gigs with NG-Pro, so it's easy to have a side-project.. and it's not the first; a few years ago I've written an album under the name of NDex.
Can you explain the name and the idea between the concept of Consumer Junk?
We are Consumer Junks, we have no choice, it's how society works.
You work to consume, you consume to live, still; we need to be more critical about food and the way we consume.
We should be supplied with quality products.
How did the concept and music of Consumer Junk got shape?
We were pretty irritated about things like aspartame, agressive advertising, the power of big corporations and so on;
about how it seems more important to make profit instead of providing good and healthy products.
People seem to be paying more for advertising than quality.
I started to write more agressive tracks that fit the concept.
How would you describe the music of Consumer Junk yourself?
It is some kind of "dance music with an techno/industrial touch": but it is difficult to pinpoint what you are writing
so it's probably a better idea for the listener to judge for him or herself.
You can stream the complete album from our bandcamp site: consumerjunk.bandcamp.com
The other member of Consumer Junk is William de Vries, how did the both of you meet and what is his role in the band?
I've known William for many years now, we both share the same hometown and we've both played in a few bands there.
We've also been working at the same company.
William's role is visuals.
He is the VJ of the band and does all visual based things for Consumer Junk.
Consumer Junk is a band that will please many people on the dancefloor and probably build a solid name really fast, how do you feel about this?
Especially because NG-Pro is a great quality act as well but struggling for years to get the attention this band deserves?
Thank you for the compliment!
It is hard to get your music out there.
There are thousands of bands, and they all want to be heard. Struggling with NG-Pro has taught me a lot about that.
I hope you are right about us building a solid name.
On some tracks you use “robotic vocals” why did you decide to do this, what does it add to the music?
I love vocoders, always have.
It is great fun to make vocoder tracks; the combination of vocals and keys can create great effects.
It gives certain tracks a "cold feel/touch" to it, which I think is great.
Your album “Product” got released recently, how are the comments on it so far?
Comments are great; everybody is very positive about it.
It's just been out for one week now, so most feedback still needs to come in over the next months.
Can you give us an insight view on how the album was created, did all go as planned?
The album has been created in a few months consisting of mostly solitary work in my studio.
It all went prefectly as planned.
I wanted to write and release an album in one year including a first gig.
The first of Februari was the release date which was exactly after one year.
Calling your band Consumer Junk you must have thought a lot about marketing, who are the potential listeners of Consumer Junk and where is the market of Consumer Junk?
Yes we did, although we've thought more about the basic concept.
Basicly, Consumer Junk is for everybody who loves to dance.
Next to that it is it would be nice if we could create some kind of "awareness"about all levels of consuming.
We've already heard about people exploring on the internet, researching the origins of our tracks.
We all are consumers, what is your weakest spot when it comes to consuming?
My weakest spot would be cigarettes, rum and apples (Macintosh).
I know.. I am horrible...
You just did your first try out concert, how have you experienced this yourself? Where you surprised by the response of the audience?
We just did our first "try out" gig at 013 Tilburg.
The response was very good, most people danced for as far as we could tell.
It is hard to predict how things work out, but it was a good try out. Some things can definitly be improved.
How can people purchase the album?
The album is at this moment available through our bandcamp page: consumerjunk.bandcamp.com
I think we have a nice deal for everyone there. eight euro's for a digital copy.
Or ten for a hardcopy cd which also gives you free digital download of the album, that way, you can enjoy the music while the cd gets shipped your way.
The album will soon also be available on all download platforms (iTunes, 7digital, Spotify, Amazon,etc.)
What will be next for Consumer Junk?
First we will be working on extending our live show, more visuals and probably getting out some clubmixes, after that:
World domination. We will create a New World Order.
One Nation under Consumer Junk. (laughs)
Any last words for the readers?
Buy. Consumer. Buy!