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Wilhelm: Hey Annick, what
would you like to say to start this interview?
Annick: Well, my mom told me not to sit on your lap because I could get
pregnant.
W: When did you get the idea to do a
fanzine? I always thought that maybe you ended up with a copy of "Leather N
Spikes", done by Nuclear Cath herself and decided that that's who all young
girls should aspire to be like. Is that true?
A: The idea started boiling in my head for a little while, as I thought it
would be cool to have some sort of little metal magazine in Ottawa (my
hometown), since there was a lack of it. A few months after, I went to a
concert and picked up my friend Jo's first "punk" fanzine, which really
impressed me! It was totally made by hand and it looked like loads of fun… I
don't know how it happened, but one day I asked (or he asked me) if we could
do a metal fanzine together. He came up with "Morbid Tales" for a name,
which I thought was brilliant! I heard of Leather and Spikes after the first
issue of MT came out… people compared the two a lot, so I checked it out and
was quite impressed. Yes, indeed, all girls should aspire to be like Nuclear
Cath!!
W: Any truth to the rumor that you and
Nuclear Cath will pose nude with each other for my new men's magazine
"Women, Leather & Hell"?
A: Only if you pose for the "Cream pies, chains, and motorcycles" homosexual
magazine.
W: Forget that, Dale Roy and I have a "No
Compete" contract that doesn't allow us to pose in the same magazine. Give
us a quick break down on each issue.
A: Each issue?
Ok… #1 is the super early style of Morbid Tales 'zine. There's three
features: a long interview with BLASPHEMY's bassist, another one with Gezol
of SABBAT and with two members of IMPALER. The reviews in there are pretty
basic, and they are just some of my favorite albums that I took from my
collection. There is a small Ottawa record shop guide also… This issue is
one of my favorite just because of the Blasphemy ass stabbing story! I was
so nervous while talking to him on the phone, hahaha!
#2 has way more bands featured: WITCHES HAMMER, TINIEBLAS,
AGGRESSION, ANVIL, RAMMER, TOXIC HOLOCAUST and CLOVEN HOOF. Most of the
interviews are quite short but still interesting. I was never a writer, but
I still tried to do my best with the reviews and interview questions… there
are a few show reviews and other goodies.
#3 has only four bands featured: ONSLAUGHT, SACRIFICE, SLAUGHTER and
APOKALYPTIC RAIDS. It's one of the best issues I think - especially because
the interviews with SACRIFICE and SLAUGHTER are lengthy and live. There are
more reviews, and they get more and more underground… hehe! It features a
funny picture on the back page - my buddy Mel getting her ass grabbed by
Zarugelion (????***)
#4 has a few more bands: SODOM, Wino (The Obsessed, The Hidden Hand
,etc), COUNTESS, EXCITER, REVEREND BIZARRE, DISFLESH, VULCAIN, etc. It also
contains a lot of 'zine reviews and to make it different, I wanted to
interview 'zine writers. There are a few reviews, as well as show reviews,
etc…
#5 is probably my best so far in terms of quality and content. It
features MIDNIGHT, CELTIC FROST, BLOOD CEREMONY, MÄNIAC, WEAPON, WITCHTRAP,
DEMONTAGE, ARES KINGDOM, BLACK DEATH, DREAM DEATH, DEVASTATION, TRENCH HELL
and a shitload of reviews, show report… as well as a complete Montreal
record shopping guide. The printing is pro this time, because I was sick of
photocopying them (like mentioned in the next question.)
W: You went pro print with issue # 5 of
Morbid Tales zine, I guess the countless hours spent in front of a Xerox
machine can get a little tiring- I should know. For the first three issues
of Gallery of the Grotesque I had to do that and it would sometimes take 2
hours just to print 20 copies of each issue if everything went right and the
machine didn't jam. Was this the case with Morbid Tales or did you ditch
Xerox for pro print based on new goals with the zine?
A: Hehe you are totally right about wasting time in front of the Xerox
machine! I totally lost it when it took me a whole afternoon to do 30 'zines.
Since I use so much dark ink, the fucking pages would always get stuck, and
I'd have to repair the damn photocopy machine everytime! I'm an expert now!
Fuck new goals, the 'zine always had the same goals since the beginning:
bringing news, interviews and reviews to die-hard fans, and making them
discover new bands.
W: How many copies of the zines do you
press now, and what do you want the print run to be for the upcoming issues?
A: Every number except for the 5th one are unlimited, and probably went up
to 250-300 copies each up to now... the fifth one was released a bit less
than a year ago, and it's already almost sold-out! Ok, I did give a bunch
out, but I got 350 of them printed. I hate to have "sold-out" stuff... so
I'll probably give a .pdf away so people can just print it out. The next
issue I might print 400 copies - but it'll be full size.
W: You sometimes do phone or in-person
interviews. What's the advantage doing an interview this way as opposed to
just sending the interviewee questions via post or email?
A: Haha... most bands hate phone interviews, because they are not prepared
with answers. I like it for older folks especially, because they can't
express themselves fully on a computer screen... and besides, it's much more
fun to talk to somebody on the phone. It's more work, of course, but it
doesn't matter.
W: What's been your favorite interview(s),
and why?
A: My favorite interviews are the one with Bestial Saviour Of The Undead
Legions of Blasphemy, Dave of Slaughter and Phil of Black Death. I was
almost laughing non-stop for them! I learned tons of stuff, while getting
the interviewees better.
W: I notice that the Blasphemy members
usually have exceptionally long names. I auditioned for Blasphemy once under
the name "Superion milk delivery man of 666 mega tons of moldy cheese
devourment" but they turned me down.....I think it probably had something to
do with my inability to play an instrument or something, I don't know....
But anyway what do you usually find out about the people you interview that
you didn't know before you met them?
A: Not much else than the questions I ask them, really. Sometimes they make
themselves look really tough in band pictures, but in reality they're super
fucking nice. That doesn't apply to Bestial Savior of the Undead Legions
though - that guy was bad-ass as hell!!
W: Have you interviewed someone that
acted like a rockstar, or a dick to you? Maybe someone that rubbed you the
wrong way? Be honest with me because I like to help proliferate scene drama
when I can.
A: Hmm, I never had a bad interview (I guess I'm a lucky one!) but maybe my
less good experience was with Tom Angelripper of Sodom. He hated our beer
(don't blame him really) and acted serious all the time. It wasn't really
bad, but it wasn't as pleasant as other ones. On top of it, my recorder
batteries were out - and I had to borrow another guy's recorder to finish
the interview. Jo thought Tom G Warrior was a rockstar, and found he had
quite an ego...
W: I can make an excuse on Angelripper's
behalf though, and it's a good one too because German beer is quite
superior- and stronger- to anything you would find outside of Germany. For
instance one Bitburger dark is like drinking 5 or 6 of the strongest beers
we have over here. What was the problem with Tom G. Warrior? I heard he
plays in a hip hop metal band these days called "MC Hellhammer" or something
stupid like that, probably why he wears a beenie and baggy pants now too.
A: American beer is like water! No wonder! Hahaha... The shit we made him
try was like 9%. (La fin du Monde beer) but I don't really like it either,
it feels like drinking a bread loaf. Is that so about Tom G. Warrior? Hmm, I
always wondered why he wore that beanie. I thought he just wanted to hide
the fact that he was growing to be an old bastard.
W: Woman are sometimes approached
suspiciously by the metal scene because metal is, by nature, dominated by
aggressive, competitive males that find females "weak" and unacceptable as
metalheads. Is this always true though? Have you ever felt "left out" or
been discriminated against because of your gender?
A: It has never really been the case on my side! I guess I was lucky. I in
fact feel better when there's no females around (besides my close friends)
because men are much funner and know how to have a good time. I think alot
of female "headbangers" just want attention and it gets fucking annoying. I
always stay on guard with most of them.
W: Relate a funny incident/story about
something you've experienced at a metal show, party or whatever.
A: HAHA! I have many... do you know the band Bastardator from Ottawa? Well,
we were drinking in a pub in Ottawa... when the drummer (Jo - who is the one
that is co-writing Morbid Tales with me) told me that it'd be funny if I'd
piss in an empty beer bottle. I thought it was an excellent drunken idea, so
I went and did it. I mixed it with a tiny bit of beer so it looks "natural".
A few moments after I came back, Jo mentioned to Cody (the Bastardator
vocalist) that there was an abandoned beer on the table and that he should
drink it. He picked up the bottle and we all cheered for him to chug it!
HAHA! The worst thing is that he didn't even notice... we told him after
that it was my piss. I almost died laughing!
W: Do you listen to anything besides
metal?
A: I listen to some 70's rock, a bit of psych, some prog, hardcore and crust
punk.
W: Tell me something about yourself that's interesting.
A: Hmm, there's quite a few things! I can fit my fist in my mouth, when I
get drunk I tend to put beers on people's heads (or my own), I love cooking
(that's not very interesting though), and I have a fascination for satanic
soft-core porn/sexploitation from the 70's.
W: What kind of things do you do or are
interested in outside of Morbid Tales and me?
A: Not many things... haha! No, seriously, I do graphic design,
illustrations, calligraphy, travel, cook, fuck, walk, DJ every week and I
play bass guitar. (Well, I try!)
W: Where can we hear you DJing at?
Every Wednesday at the Katacombes bar (1222, St-Laurent, Montreal, Canada).
I play only the purest headbanging anthems! ..but at the end, maybe one hour
before the bar closes, I put some bone crushing doom to finish the night in
agony!
W: You seem pretty content that Morbid
Tales is going to keep on being a print-only zine, and I guess this is the
way most of us would like it too. What do you have planned for future
issues? Who would you like to interview next?
 A: I'd rather die than to have Morbid Tales on the web! HAHA! It makes me
laugh, actually. As you noticed, I barely do any advertising online (beside
a few posting on select forums) because I honestly don't care about it. For
the future issue, there will be lots of little goodies! I am writing right
now some reports from my recent trip to London (Pagan Altar concert) as well
as a record shopping guide for that city. There will also be a record
shopping guide for Prague (went there last May). I will have a bunch of
reviews, and of course many features! I already have an interview with
Elixir (UK) and will have one with Soothsayer (CAN) really soon. I also will
interview Pagan Altar, Witchfinder General, Snake of Voivod (I'm planning on
bringing a 24 of beer to his house and get a drunk interview!!) as well as
the mysterious Tales of Medusa.... Woohoo!
W: Well Annick, it looks like it's past
your bedtime and it's probably past mine too. Maybe we should go to bed.....
I mean not together, or at least I'll have to wait until your 18th birthday
because I don't want to break the law, you know? I'll still read you a bed
time story though....."Once upon a time there lived a fearie named Dale
Roy......" nah, forget it. That's going to give both of us nightmares so
let's end this interview on a pleasant note. Final words?
A: I hope Dale Roy loves fearies 'cause I know one that one would love him
back: http://www.pixyland.org
HAHAHA! Ok, thanks for the interview, and the undying support Wilhelm!
You're fucking amazing! By the way, can I ask you a question? What's going
on with your distro, and have you "signed" new bands lately?
Alright... gotta
go, but cheers!
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83
pounds, Annick is a tiny little bundle of headbanging dynamite that's made
a name for herself with her overly enthusiastic, exclamation mark
"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" laden interviews with some of the scenes most classic
bands and contemporary heavy weights. What she lacks in size and age, this
pint sized wunderkind makes up for with her incredible beyond-her-years
knowledge of extreme underground music. With five killer issues of Morbid
Tales zine under her fuzzy pink designer belt, and another few planned out
before her 14th birthday, Annick is well on her way to filling the void
left by countless zines before her that either left for the internet or
wimped out altogether. 
