Komatsu – Breakfast is served…
Tables littered with bottles of dubious quality whisky, tequila and rum... Empty beers everywhere and huge piles of Columbian marching powder. An incredible amount of weird objects, shattered half written bathroom tiles, broken guitars and an amp sending out a death hum as coils of smoke waft towards the ceiling. We’re here, with a bunch of journalists to have A Breakfast For Champions with the good ol’ boys from Komatsu and the producer that got roped in, to produce this new sludge metal banquet that will fill every heavy rock loving belly...
No no no... It's just your fantasy, rock ‘n roll romanticism and wistful old legendary tales taking over your imagination. What actually went down, is of an entirely different nature. Cause instead of Devil’s dandruff and beer, there were croissants, rolls, boiled eggs and all sorts of other condiments spread out over the table. Coffee abundant and to celebrate the coming release of the Komatsu lovechild, a smidge of champagne to mix into a mimosa with freshly squeezed orange juice or to drink pure, like the hardcore professional rock ‘n roll journalists we obviously all are…
Across the studio they had hastily decorated picknick tables and set out the breakfast, to regale us with stories about the recording process, the album and the different songs. Journalists were spread out between the Komatsu three and producer Pieter Kloos. The producer who took it upon himself to make the introduction statement. He had secretly been involved with more projects than anticipated in the past months and Komatsu wasn’t even among the planned ones, he explained. “They came to me after a different option had fallen through. I had already recorded, nay captured, the tracks for that other party, and sent all that had been captured, to the other team. But for whatever reason they weren’t able to do anything Komatsu worthy with what we set up. An immensely frustrating period of bad communication followed. It should have been easy for them, cause I delivered everything in such a way that they could take it in any logical direction they thought it should go. After hearing their vision of what we delivered, I was flabbergasted at what was returned. And so were the boys. And when the Komatsu three asked if I could just do it, it felt only natural to say yes…”
Natural… The operative word for the entire A Breakfast For Champions project. Cause after second guitarist Matthijs Bodt decided to leave Komatsu, it only felt natural for the three remaining members to try to do this sludge rock thing as a trio. Sure they thought about a fourth member, but quickly enough they decided to go forth, conquering the globe as power trio. Always comprised out of four members, the sound quickly became this all leveling, all-encompassing sludge fuzz feast. But with only three members, every instrument, every part of the composition, got more air and oxygen to breathe, it could take up its natural place in the order of sludgy things. Drummer Jos Roosen was suddenly able to take his drum parts in a different direction. More dynamics, more room, more silence even. “I could suddenly hear myself and what the other guys were playing at certain moments.” As bass player Martijn Mansvelders added: “Some of it was a complete surprise. Hearing parts I never realized were there. We always rehearsed in a certain way and with full volume, the Komatsu sound becomes its own entity. Big, huge and eighteen ton heavy. But now, there were details…” Jos adds: "Everything became more balanced. And as the recording went on, I felt ever more confident of where my ability was going. Of my contributions to the sound, the songs and the way it seemed to push everything in the right direction. It became balanced in every sense of the word, the three of us, turning into the perfect team. And that's also so much due to the guidance of Pieter. He gave us the perfect room and sound to groove within."
When asked to think back to the days in the studio and what the first word is that comes to mind. They all yell in synch: “kut!” Fucked, annoying, horrible. But then Mo Truijens, vocalist, guitarist comes clean. “We were all in a slump, searching for our room within the new three piece Komatsu, but even so, we needed the recording process. Cause outside of that, everything was even worse, all three of us were going through such a difficult period that we started the recording process like ghosts. It pulled us, all three of us, through a difficult time. And as we forged ahead with the new tracks, slowly but surely, all of our spirits were lifted. We knew we were on to something, that we were on the right track. We hammered it out and hammered our frustrations away, it became therapeutic for us all.”
Martijn adds: "A gigantic haze. Thinking back about the recording process, I still can't believe we made it through. It was hard to get going, we even worried if this was the wrong time to start such an undertaking. But after everything, we talked with each other, looked each other in the eye and knew it was the only thing we could do. Forge ahead! And now, as we started rehearsing for the release show, we even have to really figure some parts out, because we can't remember how we did them during the recording process. It's like being a Komatsu cover band..."
On the right track or not. They did invite more help. Was Mo in such a slump that he could not write lyrics and had to get the best poet in the world, Ronny Dijksterhuis, to join in? “Haha, no it was more something I wanted to try. We only sent him a title and direction of the song. He then came up with some beautiful lines, a few of which I incorporated into the What Lies Underneath track.” Ronny Dijksterhuis. Wait, what? Ronny is here. What the fuck? Ronny is here. He’s stuffing a croissant in his mouth! But he also writes for Stoner HiVe! And he is about to have his own release party, on May 18th for his poetry collection ‘Hoe Glas Bevriest’ (How Glass Freezes) in Turnhout, Belgium. Errr…
Back to Komatsu, cause even though every fan around the globe has already been feasting their ears on the new album A Breakfast For Champions album since it was digitally released through Heavy Psych Sounds on April 11th. The official release date is May 16th, and the party will be at Effenaar, Eindhoven. And a party it will be! For even though the album is riddled with more serious undertones, there is and always will be room for humor with the Komatsu boys. Not taking it all so seriously. As most fans know, one-off merch, like those bathroom tiles, weird little give aways, videos featuring artists like Nick Oliveri, Eddie Glass, Peter van Elderen Ryan Colde, Mike Pygmie and some ten more that state Komatsu sucks... But serious as well, as Mo says: “Savage, our second single and video, is dedicated to Tom Davies from Nebula. We toured with them and he was such a wonderful man and character. We became great friends and it’s another one of those difficult things we had to deal with. Losing a loved one, continuing on. Losing yourself in a way. I guess the entire album feels a bit darker..."
Martijn adds: "It's not necessarily black, but our situation, the world situation, it all leads to a darker outlook on things. You have to let it out to be able to let new stuff in. And that inevitably leads to good stuff. How proud we all are of what we accomplished. How proud Pieter was of us. Sure he dug what we did before, but his exuberance and excitement had never been that visible before. But this time, he smiled from ear to ear, saying that this was seven leagues ahead of what we did before."
And all Pieter did, as he stated himself, was capture what the three played. He got to set up the right mic, the right way, in his nerdy kind of way and then let the three of them sludge away. Not doubling guitars, not doing extra basslines. Almost no overdubs at all. Just capturing Komatsu in their purest form. Wobbles, little mistakes and all... Turning A Breakfast For Champions into a highly personal document for themselves and the best rock album the three amigo's have made...
And tomorrow morning… So we beat on… You, those few that read the words just now, will wake up… Head on over to the Komatsu or Heavy Psych Sounds bandcamp page. And have yourself your very own A Breakfast For Champions …
And next Friday... May 16th! All those lucky ones that are able to attend the release show at Altstadt, Eindhoven, will not only be treated to the aural A Breakfast For Champions; they will also be able to taste it! And not just because the sludge will be dripping down from the ceiling... But because Brewery 'Het Verhaal van De Vos' (The Story of The Fox) has decided to honor the band with a very own beer called A Breakfast For Champions.
