Interview with Dave Kibler (Lividity)

Metalfan:  Hi, Dave, how’s it going? What’s Lividity up to, lately?
Dave – I am fine, thanx for asking… How are you? How is the weather in Romania? It is cooling down here in the USA now. Halloween is upon… the next big event!! The best annual (and if I took out the letters nu, would be anal) event of the year!! Lividity is gearing up to headline the Monster Festival in Toledo, Ohio November 1st & 2nd which will include Mortal Decay, Necrotic Disgorgement, Sikfuk, (god-rot), Imminent Demise, Habitual Coersion, Short Bus Pile Up, Insidious Decrepancy, Cemetery Rapist, Decrypt, Heinous Killings, Dark Autumn and many more… Will be a crusher!! We are writing new material for a mid 2009 release to be titled “To Desecrate & Defile” with our newly signed label, War Anthem Records from Germany!! And a 17 day headlining tour cumming up April 10 – 26, 2009!! Other than this… just watching a lot porn, getting `1 

Metalfan:  Please tell me more about how you’ve started Lividity as a one-man band, back in 1993.
Dave - I had musical ideas generated with hate, filth and demonic power. I couldn’t find the like minded individuals that shared the same aggressions and interests… Death metal was getting heavier and uglier and I was enjoying these feeling too much to not be heard!! I was listening to bands such as Immolation, Hypocrisy, Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Morbid Angel, Deicide, Macabre, Mortician, etc... But then the underground revolution had taken my soul with new bands like Dying Fetus, Internal Bleeding, Demonacy, Cannabyss, Oppressor, Fleshgrind, and the list goes on... I knew then I had to put something together!! I was going to the annual Milwaukee Metal Fest at that time when it was a great US fest.. and I hooked up with my new friends in Internal Bleeding there, walked around the block and smoked a joint with bassist, Brian Hobbie, and told him my situation and he advised me to put stuff out myself even if it was with a drum machine, low budget home recording, etc..” this is the underground, there is no rules!!” I went back home after that weekend and found a guy locally getting rid of a ton of equipment and such and bought the recorder, drum machine, microphones, and few more pieces... Put my ideas on tape and became the first 3 song promo in 1993.. It was ugly, but very effective... The ugliness and rawness really gave it a dark and ominous sound and aura…

Metalfan:  What’s the secret behind your success as a death metal band? It has to do more with the image, music, a lot of work or a good promotion?
Dave – Yes, yes, yes… and yes. We have always done our own thing, no compromise, no band wagon trends to follow, no industry to tell us how to play, what to wear and what to sing about… So we have really enjoyed our lyrical content, enjoy female flesh, we enjoy the sickest in horror movies, so we combined all these elements into what we call Lividity and with a couple famous phrases… “Cum soaked torture grind” & “It’s not about Satan, it’s about pussy”!! These 2 phrases really say it all!! I don’t know about the success part but we have some very cool opportunities and a few good people really backing us and giving us a chance for the public to see and hear us!! Without them (the labels, tour management, distributors) we would be unknown!! We as a band work just as hard if not harder to push our names into the homes of every death metal listener we can find!! Like being a politician and going door to door telling them all to vote for us… haha It seems to be working and the opportunities are getting greater! We will see what happens after the next release and the Europe tour in April!! I think that we are well liked because of our relations with the public in general. We will party with you and want to hang out because we are excited!! We don’t stay on the buses or behind the VIP doors, and only be seen on stage.. Those are what the rock stars do… We aren’t your typical arrogant Americans… haha

Metalfan:  You’ll go on tour in 2009, in Europe, will you be having special guests to play with you, like you did on the last European tour?
Dave – Yeah, that tour is going to be off the hook!! Will be a sick time on the road and we will be playing with Requiem (Ch) – co headliners, Nordor (Gre), Warpath (Ire), Abortification (Fin) & Rolling Corpse (Fin)… 6 bands, 2 buses, will be a great tour!! Will take place April 10 – 26, 2009 starting in Rostock, Germany!! We will see the countries of Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and more… We can’t wait! All the bands are going to slay and rip shit up every night!! Most of them have videos on our front face of myspace as well as their profiles are on our top friends so you can check out their studio work also.. We are trying to get the masses familiar with our whole tour… not just Lividity!! So I hope as many of you can check us out somewhere, I know we aren’t heading into Romania, but maybe you will travel to Slovakia or Poland depends on which country is closer.. hehe… So come on!!!

Metalfan:  What’s the difference between the American public and the European one?
Dave – The American public are synthetic and the European crowd is pure!!! I only speak the truth!! The European people have a passion about brutal music even if they don’t play in a band!! It is their life, they relate to the brutality and to the issues!! It is always an amazing experience!! People here just want to listen to your albums and not be bothered with a fucking show, it is ridiculous!! There are some great metal heads here but the shit just aint right!! If only half these people would go and participate with a European crowd of true metal, then they would understand why they are fucked up to even speak of metal.. There is no passion!! Even with a lot of bands as well, as unfortunate as that is!!

Metalfan:  Tell me a few things about your show at Party San Festival, I heard it was a killer!
Dave - Party.San Open Air 2008 was great for us!! Lividity just encountered the most "metal spirited" event that we have ever seen in our 15 year history as a band!! Party.San Fest in Bad Berka, Germany catered the best in death metal, black metal and pagan viking metal that the scene has to offer!! Some history was in the making with bands that performed as Bolt Thrower, Unanimated on stage for the first time in 14 years, Hail Of Bullets with members from Thanatos, Gorefest, Houwitser and Martin Van Drunen from Pestilence / Asphyx!! As well as other veterans like Dismember, Behemoth, Bloodbath, Skyforger, Purgatory, Insision, General Surgery, Obituary, and many more!! We would like to give thanx to those who gave us this opportunity to be heard!! Mieze & War Anthem Records, Jarne & Regain Records, Legacy Magazine, Daniel Ambrosch & Porkent Sound Productions for coming out from Austria and giving us such a great performance, Rene and the Purgatory crew for pushing the merch for us and letting us know that our sales were top (impressive), and to the 10,000 strong Lividity Legion for embracing and welcoming us into your world!! We had to slot an autograph signing at the Legacy Magazine booth, as all bands did, and ours lasted close to 1.5 hours the line was so long… Just simply amazing!! I am still speechless from the whole damn experience!! But we were the ONLY band that stayed in the tent compound, “The Village” as I called it, and hung out with everybody, moving tent, to tent partying and having fun!! We will never forget it!!

Metalfan:  How is it going with the re-releasing of your previous albums?
Dave – Those are great to have in stock again because they were either out due to age or it was never released in the states because the label in Europe didn’t have any US distribution!! So we have everything back in stock, except “Show Us Your Tits (Live)” which now we have “Live Fornication” out and a much better album!! That was recorded from the sound boards of Central Illinois Metal Fest 2007 and also Wermelskirchen, Germany while on Europe tour September 2007!! The debut studio demo “Rejoice In Morbidity” 1996 we had pressed on vinyl 7”, those are cool, with new layout and shit!! They are all accessible from our myspace with paypal buttons and such…

Metalfan:  Any plans to record a new full-length in the near future? A lot of people surely expect it.
Dave – We are in the process as we speak of diving in new material!! The album will be titled “To Desecrate & Defile” that will hopefully be released autumn 2009! And will be pressed and pushed by War Anthem Records (Germany) in cooperation with our own label Epitomite Productions!! I think there are a few people ready for that as well… Some songs are Sword Of Sodomy, Mass Genocide, Inner Fetal Dismemberment, Engorged In Blood (To Fill You With My Semen), Dismantle The Carcass!!! And more coming up!!

Metalfan:  What can you tell me about the line-up changes, to me, it seems that you’re getting more and more brutal.
Dave – Every change has been for a better addition to the band and the style all together!! We would never do anything that would jeopardize the integrity of this band!! Can never step backwards, always have to push to a new level and is great that all band members now are contributing to the songs we create!! But thanx for the great words on our progress!! We are enjoying it!!

Metalfan:  Where did you find the inspiration to mix up porn lyrics with death metal, you’ve been among the very first bands to use such themes.
Dave – Well, when Tommy and I started to jam together as Lividity (he was the drummer and vocalist on the early demo “Ritual Of Mortal Impalement” ’95), we were both into porn and female flesh and the pleasures this brings us as men!! So we wanted to sing about the luxuries of life that bring joy to our hearts!! And we kept that theme throughout… Even after all the negative responses we were getting from the media and death metal fans from that era that said our lyrics had no room in the death metal world… hahaha!! So, every band was singing about maggots, corpses, blood, guts!! We still was singing about this as well just because it is brutal, but we tended to want to sing more about pussy!! So here we are today as the “Pussy Lovers of the underground”!! At least everyone knows we aren’t faggots!! We are confident men. We know how to play with that pussy and make the horniest of chic’s wet themselves!! We would treat you right, hhmmmmm yeah!! Make you feel like the most special lady in the world… which you are!! We will never stop!!

Metalfan:  You are a B.C.Rich guitars fan, I know you have 4 models, what’s you’re favourite one?
Dave – I love them all, but the one that has the best sound right now is my 1994 USA Gunslinger (bronze color), I had a pick up go out on it and I put a Dimebag Darrel special Seymour Duncan in it and it is fucking hot!! Sounds great and that is what I use to record and play live right now!! I also Like my Bich, Warlock and Mockingbird a lot to, but need to make some adjustments on them before I throw them around on the stage!! I will never purchase another brand of guitar, will always be BC Rich!!! I really like some of the newer models they have out now like the 10 string Bich!! The same 6 string set up but the extra 4 strings go through holes on the head stock and the 4 tuning knobs are below, on the lower part of body!! They run with strings 1 – 4, and the 5th / 6th strings remain single… that has got to put an awesome depth in the bar chords.. I really have my eye on the new Draco “V” as well.. If only I had the money.. haha

Metalfan:  Another technical question: do you prefer tube heads instead of distortion pedals or processors?
Dave – I prefer tube sound, but with today’s technology, the beefy tones are endless and you can get a synthetic sound from fx and EQ’s, that really is astounding to me!! I have a Hues & Kettner German head that I had played on for year, they are transistor, but with the clean channel and my distortion from the Digitech RP7 it sounds great!! Since 2003 I have been using a Marshall DSL 2000 tubed head, and it sounds great!!

Metalfan:  A few words for the Romanian fans and Metalfan’s readers. I know that many of them are waiting to see you live.
Dave – Truly appreciate the interview and your never ending support, hope to get to the Romanian lands soon!! It is long over due for a crushing Lividity show there!! Hopefully soon!! Support the bands that support the scene!! Keep it sick and keep in touch!! You Fucking Rule!!! This drink is for you!! Cheers!!!!