JG: Peter, what's your goal with Type O Negative, what are you trying to reach? To sell as much records as possible or are you just in it for the music?
P: My personal goal is to write songs that I like, to write songs that the band likes and to write songs that will get us fans so that we can keep on playing and keep on making records. It's also very nice to be employed at something that you like to do.
JG: It's not so that you want to sell as much records you're just going for the music.
P: I'm not here for my health, this is how the band makes it's money. We don't wanna be rich, we just want to be able to have a couple of nice things and not have to ask anyone for anything.
JG: You once said that you'd like to do music for films but as far as I know you only did music for computer games. Is it the same?
P: There's no time, Type O Negative is a full time occupation. I don't even have time to do my laundry or take a shower or take a shit. So when I do have time that's something I would like to do.
JG: What do you do when you're not on tour or recording?
J: Just try to relax, re-energize for the next trip. It's just a constant touring cycle: make a record, tour and in between each tour there's a small break and you try to recuperate from that.
JG: As far as I know no band has come close to the Type O style of music but what do you think of other bands trying to imitate you, like for instance Moonspell.
P: First and foremost, if anyone would try to imitate us I would take it as a compliment, though I'm not really in touch with the modern music scene. We don't really have time and since music is such a large part of our lives, when I don't have to listen to music when I don't have to, I don't! I'm very satisfied with listening to my old Black Sabbath albums, my old Beatles albums and if I happen to be walking passed a record store and somebody is listening to something that I like that's new I ask'em "Yo, what's that" and they say "Oh it's Republica" then I go out and buy it but otherwise I'm totally out of touch with it.
JG: You like Republica?
P: Very much, I like Curve, Portishead, stuff like that.
JG: You also like gothic things like The Cranes for instance?
P: Old gothic stuff! I like Bauhaus, some of the newer bands are OK but they tend to sound too much alike.
JG: You just said you're in it for the music but a few year back you said that you would quit Type O Negative in 3 to 5 years when you've made enough money.
P: I think about that every single day that we're on tour that I wanna quit. Every single day. I mean it can't last forever, the band is gonna break up someday whether it 1 year from now or 10 or 25, the band is gonna break up. Hopefully...when we start to make a bit more money things will become easier, so that we won't mind touring as much. So that we can play shows that we choose to play not that we have to play, there's a big difference.
It's not so much the amount of people that we play to, but to be able to set up the stage like we want to, to be able to have a soundcheck and not having to drive 1500 km the night before and then get off the bus and go right on stage, that's bullshit!
JG: Last time you were in Holland you also played relatively small clubs up to a 1000 people but in the US you play in very small clubs.
P: Yes, I like to play small clubs; its more intimate with the fans and I can also see who's throwing things at me. So I can have a talk with him later on after the show.
JG: The large tours like the OzzFest that's just for promotional use in your view?
P: Well yeah, I mean there's a lot of people that have never heard of Type O Negative, There's a lot of Type O Negative fans that, due to the incompetence of the record company, don't even know that we have a third album out. Of course we're doing the OzzFest for the exposure, why else would we do it?
JG: I also have an internet site on you guys and I get a lot of questions when you are coming to South America or Japan.
J: There's talk about it, there's talk of the OzzFest going to South America.
P: There's also the Rock in Rio thing, that's being discussed.
J: Now is like the time is coming up for Type O Negative where promoters and stuff in South America are starting to take an interest. There some stuff being stirred up that will get us down there and we tried to go to Japan last year but the scheduling was so busy in the States that we weren't able to fit it in we've been doing press in Japan and Australia. We're trying to get over there, that might happen somewhere in the fall.
JG: Nothing is concrete yet?
P: The only thing that is definite right now is that the OzzFest starts next week back in the States, that's the only thing that we're confirmed for and that lasts about four weeks with Marilyn Manson, Pantera, Black Sabbath, Fear Factory, Ozz, Machine Head, Drain, PM5K. Should be pretty good company.
JG: The same package is also coming to Europe?
P: It's a rumor. Let me be the first one and the last one to say: Nothing is confirmed, it's a rumor.
JG: But I also saw on some flyers here at the festival that you're playing at some of the festivals in Germany...
P: Can I see the flyer?
J: I think that's happening, after Ozzy we're coming here for like 10 days. We don't know the dates yet or the names of the festivals, we know that we're coming out here just to do a couple and it's a very short trip.
P: We just get off the bus and when we exchange money, we look at the money to see where we are. Oh, Deutsch Marks! All right. What's this lira? Ah, use it for toilet paper.
JG: You're the songwriter of Type O Negative but for whom do you write your songs.
P: I have to balance what I wanna hear with what the band likes and what will sell albums. So sometimes I'm thinking "Well, I really like this song but no one else is gonna like it" so I'm gonna have to change a few things so the band wants to play it and people want to hear the song live.
JG: Johnny what do you think of the stuff Peter writes, is it always OK?
J: If I wouldn't like it I wouldn't be in his band. Hahaha
JG: The only songs I hear are on the album!?!
P: It's not always OK. Sometimes I come up with things ... they don't think it's shit but they say that the feel that I could write better and than I go back and try to change it and if they still feel it's not up to the standard of the band then we dump it. It's not a big deal.
JG: You write your songs very easily then?
P: It's like a shit, you can't force it; when it's ready it comes out.
JG: I read you wrote My Girlfriend's Girlfriend on the toilet...
P: I write most of my stuff on the toilet, because I spent so much time there...what better place. If people think my songs sound like shit, well that's why.
JG: I like to read the newspaper on the toilet but hey I can't write songs.
P: I can't read! That's why I write songs...
JG: You plan to do something with your old band Carnivore?
P: We did a couple of shows last year and it was so disorganized...I mean really disorganized. What I did not take into account was needing a break after touring with Type O Negative. To come off a tour with one band and start touring with another band, it was too much. Carnivore is not like Type O Negative where I'm singing not screaming. Try screaming for 90 minutes on stage every night, it's not easy. To make a long story short: I don't think we're gonna be doing anymore shows! But I'm not gonna say definitely no, 'cause I don't know what's gonna happen. Nothings planned.
JG: So, also no new album...no?!
P: Like I said before: any time that I have is for Type O Negative, that's why I'm here. Believe me I would rather not be doing press, not that I mind talking to you guys personally but there are times that I don't feel like doing it, especially on a day like this when it's really hot. What is it like ... 35 degrees?
JG: 30
P: Well fucking hot enough.
JG: Well, I think we have to end it right now, thanks very much
P: Thank you.