Bill Zebub
För första gången i denna intervjuserie har det blivit dags för en intervju på engelska. Vi kommer i fortsättningen att köra vidare med främst svenska favoriter, men en profil som regissören Bill Zebub (USA) kan såklart inte undgå oss på T.C Crew. Med titlar som "Antfarm Dickhole", "Rap sucks" & "Black Metal: A documentary" på meritlistan var det ett sant nöje att ställa Bill mot väggen.
How are you doing right now? Do you have any new movies or some other exciting projects going on?
Presently I am enjoying a good cup of coffee, which is a life-giving potion. As for movies, I am working on something called "Dickshark" which is actually much more dramatic than you would expect. 
Which of all your films is your personal favorite and which one would you recommend to someone who is curious but uninitiated in the Bill Zebub-world?
I would recommend HOLOCAUST CANNIBAL or NIGHTMARE ON ELMO's STREET because they contain most of the qualities that will make you decide whether you are a fan or an enemy, ha ha. My favorite movie is actually yet to be made, but i am going to make my first attempt this autumn. It's my version of Frankenstein, but I boast that it will be the most true to the spirit of Mary Shelley.
What's your favorite bands? Is it mostly good old Heavy Metal that's your thing or do you prefer death/black?
I enjoy the older Mercyful Fate. It was mind-blowing when I first heard it. I know that no one would compare it to opera, but it was the first time that a metal vocalist used sadness in the voice, and King Diamoind's use of backing vocals was at times very haunting. It was a theater of the mind for me. As i grew older I discovered mor music that led me on mental journeys, like "Esoteric" from England. Many of their songs are over 20 minutes. Strangers to metal, or critics of death metal, probably do not know that there is an extreme version that is often called "doom" which has ultra slow tempo, and in many cases, seemingly countless layers of music, especially in the songs of Esoteric. I listen to other kinds of music as well, including dark opera. Speaking of which, the earlier albumso fo "Elend" introduced tortured death metal vocals into opera, instead of having opera singers perform on death metal songs. It's horrifying, beautiful, and sorrowful at the same time.
From where do you get the inspiration for your films?
I make bizarre associations between things. That is the best way to put it. That's jus thow my mind works, I have the opposite of "writer's block" - I have no shortage of ideas, but before you become impressed, you must understand that my ideas are absurd.
What's your favorite movies?
I watch Amadeus once a year, especially the director's cut, which is a bit more tragic. When the Lord of the Rings movies came out I was in ecstasy, but after seeing them so much I can no longer forgive some of the cheese, and the Hobbit movies should have been called "The Desolation of the Works of Tolkien." I still love John Waters' "Desperate Living." and Sam Raimi's "Crime Wave" even though modern people who have never seen stuff like that before ask me why I love them so much. I'm also addicted to Jan Svankmayer an Jiri Barta.
What's your all time favorite records?
I do not think that way. My mood decides what i listen to, You must feel that yourself, if you love music. A song may seem merely good in one mood, but overwhelming in another.
Do you have any favorite books / authors?
Mary Shelley, of course. She wrote another novel and many short stories. I enjoy the writing style that makes me savor every word, and to take my time with each sentence.
Do you got any favorite movie genre? I suspect that you like some classic horror titles from the 70's like Texas Chain Saw Massacre and the The Exorcist? Do you also like some new disturbing titles like Human Centipede and Serbian film or do you prefer classics like Cannibal Holocaust and Salo or 120 days of sodom?
What i watch depends on my mood. I will ALWAYS love anything from Laurel & Hardy and I own everything that is possible to own by them. Believe it or not, i don't like movies like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, even though I met Gunnar, who is a genuinely nice person. He was a guest at a horror convention. One of the security guys came over to me and said that Gunnar was playing my movie "Antfarm Dickhole" tor his guests and providing commentary, so the next day i walked over to him when he seemed free and had a chat. As for Human Centipede I think that it was too much of a compromise to have the diapers or whatever obscure the faces. If you are going to have a story about something like that, show it. After all, it's a horror movie, not Hitchcock. When I was a kid I thought that Friday the 13th was interesting, but I don't think so as an adult. I tried to watch Halloween but I was bored. However, Rob Zombie's version of the movie is excellent in my opinion. I love it. This should show you that I do not have an opinion that most people respect. But I am answering truthfully. I also want to list "Wolf Creek" on horror movies that I enjoy. Actually, when i watched it, I wondered to myself why movies like this spend so much time getting the viewer to know the characters. It seems like half the movie - not just Wolf Creek - is about watching characters in their daily lives. Why? So that we could either mourn or cheer when they get killed? I don't believe that. We are humans. We belong ot a social species. We do not need to know a person for ten years in order to feel sad when that person gets hurt. You can pass a stranger who just fell off his motorcyle and writhing in agony and I promise that you won't say "I don't know this person so I have absolutely no emotional reaction to this." But getting back to Wolf Creek, i liked it because the villain is someone who could exist. Yes, I like impossoble characters too, like a large earthwork from another planet who comes here to kidnap unattractive women, or something like that, but when I feel more tension when I know that the situation is in the realm of possibility.
In the 90s there was some really great acts in sweden such as At the Gates, Dissection, Hypocrisy & In Flames. Do you have any favorites from the swedish death metal scene?
Of course i must tell you that Candlemass is incredible. The heavy songs from years ago are still heavy today. I actually just got permission from Leif to use an excerpt in an upcoming movie. You also have Chritus, who now bestows his godly vocals to "Goatess" which is on Svart Records. In recent years i have enjoyed Stilla, which i believe is Swedish, but I cannot be sure. You can be sure that Sweden has a wide range of metal styles
Do you have any favorite TV series? Have you for example seen some of my favorites The Walking Dead and / or Dexter? Or maybe "Game of Thrones" with my favorite Joffrey is something that you enjoy?
I love both of those shows. I didn't want to watch the Walking Dead because I am not a zombie fan and I didn't think that a censored cable channel can offer anything good other than comedy or perhaps some science fiction, but when I heard that the director of "The Shawshank Redemption" was involved I bought the first season on DVD and loved it. I buy seasons on DVD or Bluray because I can't handle waiting one week between episodes. Friends who have read the Game of Thrones books grumble here and there, but I have not read the books so I am not prejudiced. I let the show tell me the story. Perhaps one day i will read but currently I am becoming reacquainted with Clive Barker, to see if the enjoyment from my youth can still be felt today, much like the first Candlemass album will always be a perfect album no matter what the decade is..
More on the TV series, what do you think of all these shows that's on it's way back? I am thinking in particular of Twin Peaks, The X-Files and Prison Break. Is this something you look forward to or maybe MTV's new Scream series is something that attracts you?
I thik that much of American televeision is embarrassing. There is a show called "America's Got Talent." If that were true, America would have good TV shows instead of fake reality garbage and glorified gong shows. I was on a reality TV show but my episode was pulled. I signed a non-disclosure agreement but I can tell you that it is all fake. I can go more into this but you probably know that it's not real. You don't need me to tell you. Based on American TV you would think that this is a country of simpletons. As for the shows that you specifically mentioned, I never saw the X files. I saw TWIN PEAKS, and the FIRE WALK WITH ME pretty much completes the story for me. Americans should try new things instead of copying Europe or re-making things. Maybe the only reason this country hasn't been invaded is because nobody else wants to deal with such an idiotic population.
Do you have time to check out some movies in your busy schedule? If so,it would be interesting to know if you have seen and like Kick-Ass, The Road or the Birdman?
I must tell you that i am not a comic book fan. I enjoyed comics as a kid, but as an adult I find comics to be evidence for why Americans are so retarded. But I saw KICK ASS and I loved it. It is in my bluray collection. I also enjoyed THE ROAD immensely. Now that i am older I like movies that show a bleak world and that let the camera take its time to unfold the scene. I hate the short-attention-span editing. If people have short attention spans and require a shot to cut after two seconds, maybe those people should just watch television commercials and to stay far away from actual movies. Do you recommend Birdman?
Are you like many other metalheads a big record collector? If so, it would be interesting to know how big your collection are and if you have any holy grail in the collection?
I don't really collect in the usual way. My buttocks magically destroy precious things. For example, I accidentally sat on IMMOLATION's "Dawn of Possession" CD and cracked it. When I asked the band, they didn't have any spare CDs. They actually burned a CD-R for me because they know that I buy everything from them. Yes even as a journalists who gets free CD's from labels, i still buy albums from the bands that I like. It is a sing of respect even if the bands don't know this. So when I listen to a song, I have that extra sense of appreciation. Anyway, a Polish record label re-released the CD in limited quantity, and I bought three. I also have a Satanic Bible that was signed by all of the members of Mercyful Fate when they played with Exciter and Motorhead in America. I am an atheist, but I have that book because when I was a kid the text was very compelling. Eventually i read more scientific reasons for dispelling christianity.
Do you have any favorite beverage when you really want to enjoy life? Is it mostly the classic metal style with Jack Daniels you like or is the Thai gold Mekong something you like, or maybe a Mummelman?
I often say that after three beers it doesn;t matter what i drink. There are gay people here who like IPA but it's like drinking grapefruit juice with bubbles. Why would I drink something that was invented to hide the bad taste of rotting beer? Fuck you. But yes, I am a beer person. When I drink hard liquor I am not good at it. I get hurt a lot. The last time i couldn't walk for three months because i fell off a friend's backyard deck. It is a strange feeling to walk and to suddenly feel no ground beneath my feet. I still wish that i could go back in time and stop myself. My right knee will never be the same. Another example si when I was at a horror convention. I didn't want to drink beer all day because I wanted to have more energy at night for the parties. I heard that Scotch is meant to be sipped in small amounts, so I bought Chivas Regal. The problem is that it is so smooth and delicious that I drank the whole bottle. My friend thought that I died because I was unconscious but my eyes were open. That scared me too, So no more liquor for me. I am too stupid for that.
In Sweden, we have over the years had musicians like ABBA, Roxette and Europe to be proud of. Are these artists something you also can enjoy?
Fuck yeah! I own every ABBA album. They were superb song writers.