FIRST INTERVIEW with Kill in 2003 by yk insulterQ: When and how was VON created?
A: Goat had been working on material as far back as 1989. He jammed with Snake on drums and another bass player who left the band in 1990, before VON was chosen as the band name. In 1991 Goat and Snake played The Stone in San Francisco without a bassist for the show as VON. It was intense even without a bass player. Soon after that I joined the band and we recorded Satanic Blood
Q: What was the original line up?
A: The original line up is as written on the Satanic Blood Demo
Goat-guitar/vocals
Kill-bass
Snake-drums
Q: When was the Satanic Blood demo recorded?
A: Satanic Blood was recorded in early 1991.
Q: How was the demo recorded?
A: The recording was made by the band in the VON studio using a piece of shit 8-track recorder.
Q: How many shows did VON play in its existence?
A: VON played 6 or 7 shows in the San Francisco bay area.
Q: What were the live rituals like? Who did you play with?
A: VON wore blood and as it dripped down our faces and body beside inverted crosses, skulls, fog and candles. Goat would wear a skull type mask while performing the song dissection inhuman
Q: Did people understand black metal then?
A: NO! The band received recognition only by other black metal and death metal bands. But no recognition by any labels during VONs existence.
Q: What sort of reactions did the demos get from the metal underground at the time of its release?
A: When the Satanic Blood demo was sent out we recieved no serious responses. Any reaction the band got was from shows.
The rush of energy, darkness and evil we felt when we played, we wanted others to feel. It wasnt until after VON broke up and many copies of the demo were passed around, that I heard people were into it.
Q: How many copies of the demo were made by the band? Were they pro printed or manufactured?
A: Roughly 200 original copies were made by ourselves using a dual deck recorder on speed copy. We bought blank tapes. Goat put together the cover artwork and lyrics for the insert and they were copied by us for all the original demos. The original demo was a black 30 minute tape with a white label and song titles were typed.
Q: What do you think about all the VON bootlegs out there? Are any of them official?
A: NO bootlegs are official, as far as the band being a part of it. Its great that people made copies and it got spread around as much as it did, but when there was no attempt to make contact before releasing a CD and claiming rights to it I got fucking pissed off!!
Q: How many songs did VON have before its untimely demise?
A: VON had about 20 songs written before it ended
Q: How many of those songs were unreleased?
A: The only songs ever released were on the Satanic Blood demo.
Q: Why did VON break up?
A: During the time the band was together, the metal scene sucked here. Paying our way in San Francisco and paying for a place to play was rough at times. Before long frustrations grew between the band members. Most of VONs material was destroyed when the band split up except for these rare recordings.
Q: What does VON stand for? Does it stand for Victory Orgasm Nazis like some people claim?
A: VON stands for nothing but images of darkness and blood.
Q: Is it true that you guys used to lift weights before gigs? If so, why did you guys do that?
A: Yeah, Goat and I tossed some weights around to psych us out a bit before shows to get the blood flowing strong.
Q: What bands influenced VON?
A: Diamanda galas, Venom, Misfits, Sodom...bands like that.
Q: Have you heard Dark Funerals version of Satanic Blood? What about Haats version? I think Krieg from NJ has covered Devil Pig or another song. What do you think of modern black metal bands covering VON songs?
A: I heard Dark Funerals version of Satanic Blood, it sounded good. I have not heard the others, if bands want to cover VON songs and it sounds good, thats cool.
Q: Who did the unholy artwork for the demo?
A: Goat did all the artwork for the band.
Q: How come VON is credited as Goat on some versions of the demo?
A: He changed his name to Goat and became what he wanted to.
Q: How many official VON T-shirts were made? I think Varg of Burzum was seen wearing one during his criminal trials?
A: Only 100 T-shirts were made by the band. I dont know about Varg wearing it.
Q: Were you in contact with Varg from Burzum?
A: Yes, he wanted more copies of the demo so we sent him a package of tapes, with the VON shirt as well.
Q: Ok, please end this interview.
A: This is the first official release of Satanic Blood. The second demo (blood angel) was included although it was just a rough cut. The decision was made to release it all. Even the slightly damaged live recordings were added. What you are holding in your hands is the last of it, not intended to rock out to, but to leave you with a presence of complete darkness and hell. Raise your chalice and remember the blood of VON.
SECOND INTERVIEW with Kill in 2007 by Kory
Q: You’ve said that people didn’t understand black metal back at that time. What kinds of resistance did you get from San Francisco’s mostly thrash-metal audience?
A:I think people expected to hear something they could thrash to; they wanted more dynamics in the music. We liked the way it sounded in its basic form, and felt by adding anything else would take away from the sound we were after.
Q: Have you found that that non-black/death metal people have started to understand your band?
A:No.
Q: Why did you play such minimal riffs?
A:Von’s intent was not to compile riffs. It was mainly to reflect an intense image and pound it into you relentlessly.
Q: What kind of music were you listening to around that time?
A:Sodom, Voivod, Slayer, Napalm Death, Misfits, Motörhead.
Q: How did that affect Von?
A:We were into metal, but set out to isolate Von’s sound from any other influences. We never listened to other bands in our studio.
Q: I read that Diamanda Galás was a major influence on Von. How did she affect you?
A:The Litanies of Satan sounded completely possessed, dark. We liked it.
Q:Your lyrics were often ritualistically Satanic. How serious were you at the time about your message?
A:It was created in the music, and ended there.
Q:How did you devise your live rituals (blood, candles and all)? Did you base them on anything?
A:Our stage presence was important to us but was limited with what little time we had to play. Our set lasted about 30 minutes. We made two, seven-foot-tall upside-down crosses to be placed at both sides of the stage, placed red candles at the base of the crosses, we wore stage blood on our faces and body, flooded the stage with fog when possible. The songs were played without much of a break. We would finish a song and immediately go in to the next.
Q:How did you react when you read that Varg Vikernes attached an acronym to your name?
A:We laughed. We thought no one could have taken that seriously.
Q:What are the origins of the name Von?
A:Goat created the name, as well as everything else relating to Von. It was accepted with the band and not many questions were asked about it.
Q:What lead to your group’s demise?
A:I’m sure we each have our own answer to that one. As for me, I think it had mainly to do with the pressure of everyday life. We supported ourselves with the bare minimum. As time went on, it wasn’t enough to keep the band going.
Q:What’s your fondest memory from Von?
A:Playing live.
Q:What should people remember about Von?
A:Goat created Von’s sound, Von’s image, and artwork. It was his entity. He will not return to the metal scene for his own reasons, but as the bassist, I am glad to have been a part of it.REMEMBER THE BLOOD OF VON!!!
