Tzun Tzu pour l'EP "Kunoichi"

Hi Don, thanks for accepting this interview. How are you, man?

I am well - thank you for giving us the opportunity to appear in your Zine.


As it is the tradition for interviews, can you please introduce Tzun Tzu to our readers?

TzunTzu is a 4 piece Death Metal band from South Australia that has a heavy Oriental Influence or - "Ancient Oriental Death Metal" as we like to call it. We currently have 2 MCD's out available via Dissident Records [UK] and Prime Cuts [Aus] and a split 7" coming out soon. Formed in 2003 as a continuation from my previous band ONI. Members are: Nick Seja - Lead/Rhythm/Synth Guitar and 2nd Vocals, Adam Ritchie - Bass and programming, Selen Gol - drums and Don Taylor - Lead/Rhythm/Synth Guitars, Vocals and all compositions.


I believe Tzun Tzu is the name of a demon in the Japanese mythology. Is it correct?

Not quite correct, TzunTzu is a continuation of my previous band that was called "Oni" which is the Japanese word for demon/Chinese word for ghost... Tzun Tzu is combination of various spellings of Sun Tzu the author of the battle-field manual "The Art Of War", a tactician/war strategist/general from ancient China.


What are your main influences? I guess Infester, Immolation and Incantation must belong to the list of bands that inspire you, am I right?

I'm influenced by various things not only music. Music wise: some influences would include early Slayer/Morbid Angel, first 2 Deicide albums, Nile, Immolation, Incantation etc and a stack of other bands. Traditional Japanese and Chinese music, classical music and everything in-between. I'm influenced by ancient Literature of various forms, Book Of Five Rings, The Art Of War, Bushido codes etc. History such as first emperor's of Japan/China, Shogun, The buried Terracotta Warriors, temples/pagoda's vs. the theology of nature etc. I also find influence in movie scores and theme's/feel of movies, check out the Shogun Assassin/Lone Wolf series, Bride with white hair, Ran, Kagemusha - hire one from the local movie store to get the idea there.


"Kunoichi", your new EP, seems more melodic than "Without Zen". The cover, that is beautiful by the way, is less dark than the one for your previous EP with more light colours. How would you compare both releases?

Thanks, I was going for something a little different with the cover, the inside art is still dark - I just wanted to portray the music in a different light with the cover and perhaps give people a false sense of what lays inside. The theme is pretty blunt a Geisha/Kunoichi (female assassin) covered in blood which is pretty dark in my opinion, dark colours/art has been done to death, and subtle/dark themes don't get done as much. The original version of Without Zen was Black with a decrepit statue on the front in a slip case, that was very dark/basic, so the re-issue was done with some colour, and a different feel. More in-line with the Kunoichi MCD's inside artworks.

I think Kunoichi has more of a military feel to it than melodic or straight up Death Metal feel that the Without Zen disc had. There is an extra instrumental and a slower song, but asides that it is heavier and better produced recording to my ears, and this time around it was a full band rather than 2 people playing the songs, which gives it a heavier more full sound (Without Zen was recorded as a 2 piece with guest leads/vocals by Nick). The main ending riff of Without Zen is very melodic to me perhaps more so than anything on the Kunoichi MCD - just executed in a different fashion. But I can see your point from a listening perspective why you might think this.


How are the reactions to "Kunoichi" so far? Did anyone call you sell-outs for including some female vocals haha?

The reaction to the CD is great thus far, all reviews received have been positive for the most part (only real complaint being the length i.e.: people wanting more - to this I will reply - an album is coming...). And no - no cries of sell-out yet, I don't think it is too far removed from Without Zen, its still heavy and dirty, the part was not intended to have a female vocal line for the sake of it, the song is about a female assassin, I cant sing clean and am not female so what better way to portray this than to have a female sing along to that part. I think it goes along well with the theme of the song and breaks the monotony of the 2 different death metal vocalists throughout the CD.


By the way, who's the lady singing on the song "Kunoichi"?

The 2nd vocal part on the MCD is by a friend named Tash, she is from a local band "Obdurate Seduction" in which she plays drums and sings.


In my review of "Without Zen" I reproached you for separating the experimental, ambient parts from the death metal tracks. I thought it would have been even better if the experimental parts were incorporated in the death metal songs. And that's what you did on the title-track of "Kunoichi". What do you think?

When without Zen was recorded - it was after a limited number of rehearsals (3 I think - and one in the studio) the songs were in their infant stages, the idea was there to have the ambient parts included into the heavy parts - however the 2 heavy songs on the demo CD did not really call for it, and I had no way of playing it, as I like to re-create what is on recording live... so we used intro's/outro's and an ambient song in=place of having the technology to add them in, when they are re-done on the album - perhaps they will have "something" extra incorporated, we'll see. It is a fair comment/suggestion, and from memory a few people said this at the time of the release.

For the Kunoichi CD I purchased some equipment that allows me to incorporate said instrumentation into the heavy tracks as well as I had previously wanted to do this but did not know how to do it, after some research I worked out how and purchased the goods required. This is the way we will go moving forward. Some of the album songs incorporate this even more so than Kunoichi.


What I like the most about Tzun Tzu is that you have a unique, refreshing sound even if you play old-school death metal. I absolutely love the experimental parts, they bring a lot to the atmosphere of your music. It's pretty hard to be original when you're a death metal band. Was it something you really wanted, to have your own sound and bring something new to the table? A bit like Nile back in the days with the whole pharaoh stuff?

My former band "Oni" had a lot of Oriental scales and such in riffs that formed parts of the songs we played it dissolved for various reasons, so when I formed this new band TzunTzu I wanted to continue down this path, but perhaps expand on it, and utilise technology to do so. Atmosphere/Feel is something that I felt is missing from modern Death Metal, whilst I really enjoy most forms of Death Metal it can become stagnant and tiresome with flashy leads, a million technical riffs and playing as fast as humanly possible - so I strive to add some spice/feel to the songs. A number of people have mentioned that it is "refreshing" and "interesting" music, whilst keeping in my preferred genre of Death Metal but also incorporating parts that are left of field. Nile as I mentioned earlier are an influence - and My hat goes off to them for their many successes - I see us as doing it a tad different, there are many tastes/flavours of Asia and I hope to incorporate many of them: Lyrically as well as Musically


The lyrical concept of the band is Ancient Japan. Why are you attracted to this? What do you like in it?

Not only ancient Japan, but all facets of the Orient, as well as things such as the failings of the Human Psyche and not belonging to various things and being dubbed an outcast - reverse racism, failing at various things, assassins etc. When I was young I loved martial arts movies, and also studied martial arts for a time, I still love the movies, and I am more into the theory and theology of the arts and eastern ways of thinking than partaking now. The woman are beautiful from this region of the world (aren't they all) and the art/culture of the orient/east is so foreign to the west which I find/found fascinating also.


Do you speak Japanese or have you ever been to Japan? What is the meaning of the song titles in Japanese? What do the lyrics deal with exactly?

I do not speak Japanese fluently, I know a few words, and have friends in Japan that assist with translations for my ideas (or I research various topics and get friends to confirm them for me). I have been to the land of Nippon (ancient name for Japan) on three occasions. Twice for recreational holiday's and once on tour as a roadie with my good friends StarGazer.

Loose meanings of the Japanese song titles from the MCD:

Shoukai = introduction
Kunoichi = female assassin
Gaijin = foreigner
No kata (instrumental) = no form
Meinichi (instrumental) = celebration or remberance of the day of death for a lost loved one


What kind of Japanese traditional instruments did you use on your records? Who played them?

The traditional instruments on the MCD are:
Shamisen - is a 3 stringed instrument plucked with a large plectrum called bachi like a Japanese lute
shakuhachi - the Japanese bamboo flute

These are actually not authentic instruments at all but are played on the guitar/synth pickups and modulated using part of my guitar rig (on this recording a Roland/Boss Gr-20) this is done so that we can exactly replicate the sounds live without the need for a CD or computer etc (I wont rule this out in the future - but for now we do it live ourselves) Both myself and the other guitarist Nick have this set-up as part of our equipment which opens the doors for much experimentation.


Do you plan on recording a full-length album in the near future? Because if I had one complaint, it would be the fact that the EPs are way too short! It's so damn good we want more haha!

This is a common complaint - its great but not long enough, I am a great believer in Demo's and EP's, too many bands rush into doing a debut album with no Demo, no EP, no split, nothing to learn from so they make the mistake of releasing an album that perhaps could have been demo'd and tested a little. Short releases are great learning experiences, and a good tease for the public...

Yes we do have plans to record a full length album - hopefully in the next few months. We have a show or 2 that we are doing that could not be refused, then we will record a track for another split 7" with Altars (Aus) to test out a studio and then we will record the album. (All songs are completed for the debut album - we are training up a new drummer with these tracks as well as songs for a live set - which takes a little bit of time as you can imagine. We also have to work jobs to pay for these things which bites into our time also)


Is a European tour planned to spread the Tzun Tzu sickness? Why not a French date in Paris next year?

We will be touring Australia first - it is our home country and we want to get the name out to the masses, then we hope to do a short hop over the pond and go to some neighbouring countries (NZ/Asia etc) and as our record label is in the UK a European tour is feasible - so who knows you may see us in your country yet. This would be an awesome experience...! (I've been to France once to see the Catacombs and Euro Disney - both fascinating ;))


Speaking of France, do you know some French bands?

I'm not overly familiar with too many bands, some I know of/enjoy are: Arkhon Infausts are a killer band! I also really enjoyed the Soul Erosion MCd when it came out many years ago, Inhumate, Masacra, Misanthrope, Gorjira, Amaymon were also a killer old Death metal band, that's about it from the top of my head.


What are you listening to these days, being metal or non metal music?

Some things on the death decks: Dead Congregation, Ignivomous demo+7", Altars - s/t demo (Aus) StarGazer, Portal, Mournful Congregation, Gallows For Grace, Nile, People Die, Psycroptic, Apocalypse Command, Death Breath, Immolation - a vast array of different styles of music.


What do you think about today's death metal scene? Do you like modern death metal, death core, slam death or ultra-technical death metal?

I enjoy all kinds of extreme music, death metal, tech-death metal, some slam, some of the death core bands (who are just tech-death metal with an image) there are heaps of great bands coming out, some need to be taken in small dosages, others can be listened to on high rotation (i.e.: see list above)


It has always been a dream for me to visit Australia. So much extraordinary, endemic animal species! How is it to live there?

Australia is a great place to live; it is very laid back/relaxed and has its own unique culture and life style. I've only been to a few other countries, so I can't compare everywhere to here, but closest I have found is suburban England or Ireland, but even then I prefer Oz. The only down side perhaps is alot of bands never tour here, but this is slowly changing - were getting a number of killer bands coming down which is good! (and expensive)


How is the Australian extreme metal scene nowadays? Your national scene is famous for war metal bands such as Bestial Warlust or Abominator. Deströyer 666 is well known too. There are also some pretty good new acts that play death metal the old-school way like Ignivomous, Cemetery Urn and of course you. What do you think, Don?

We are doing a split 7" with Ignivomous which will be out soon on NWN! Productions in USA - great band, great guys, very heavy live! You've also mentioned some great aussie bands, as we are very isolated from the rest of the world, alot of bands get over looked or ignored, some killer bands you should look out for are: Martire, Altars, Portal, Miscreation (rip), StarGazer, Excrutiate, Gallows For Grace, Grotesque, Internicene Excoriation, Mournful Congregation, Psycroptic, The Furor, People Die amongst many others. We have a very diverse extreme metal community - it is very healthy at the moment for all styles of extreme music.


Speaking of Australia, I've always wondered how you guys could play such a dark music while living in so sunny a country!?

I guess we play the music we crave to hear/see live, regardless of climate - we are an isolated country so we create a variety of music that pleases us and that we want to hear. We don't get an international band playing here every week, sometimes they are weeks, months or even years between tours.


Well, that was the last question. Thanks a lot for your time and I hope to see you one day on a French stage! Last words are yours!

No worries - thank you for the interview - very much appreciated. Check the web page/myspace pages for current information, look out for the Split 7"s with Ignivomous and Altars coming soon. An album is brewing... We have various bits and pieces of merch available form the sources below.

Support the Underground - Buy CD's (bands cant pay for recordings/tours from free torrent downloads).

TzunTzu
PO Box 238
Findon 5031
South Australia

tzuntzu@gmail.com
www.tzuntzu.com
www.myspace.com/tzuntzu
www.tzuntzu.tk

CD's available from:
www.dissidentrecords.com [USA/Europe]
www.primecuts.com.au