Steve Asheim of Florida's Deicide. November 24, 1997 Interview by Damean at Killing Christians. (http://gnv.fdt.net/~deicide) Steve Asheim: What's going on?
Killing Christians: Not much, man. First off, who formed Amon?
Steve: As far as the rhythm section, me and Eric and Brian have been together since about '86 writing music and stuff. Actually we had written the music for Sacrificial Suicide, Day of Darkness, and Oblivious, which at the time was called Oblivious to Nothing, but we didn't write lyrics and they didn't have those titles at the time.
KC: Was Glen with the band then?
Steve: No, we met Glen in like April of '87 and he was conceptual as far as the titles and lyrics. That was his gimmick. As soon as he heard the tunes we had, he went to work and that was when Amon was basically born.
KC: Was it up to Glen to change it to Deicide, or is that something all of you agreed on?
Steve: We were just about to do the record in like '89 or something and he had had the name of the song "Deicide," so the song was written already. King Diamond was coming out with some records that had "Amon" in the title and what not. Roadrunner didn't make us change it, we kinda wanted to just to avoid any confusion or any kind of rip-off scenario and we didn't want to get accused being unoriginal or repetitive.
KC: ...and Deicide hadn't been used yet so...
Steve: Well, yeah exactly you know....by anyone or for anything.
KC: Which Deicide album is your favorite?
Steve: Umm....I dunno. The new one I guess. It went the smoothest as far as doing a record.
KC: Which tour do you think was the best?
Steve: Which tour was the best? I'd have to say '92.
KC: The Legion tour?
Steve: Yeah, '92 was kinda the hayday in this whole metal scene.
KC: From what I've heard, Glen gets really pissed on stage alot because people always throw shit and spit at you guys or whatever. Is it just him that gets mad or do you just not like playing live shows as much?
Steve: Well I don't know...It's not that we don't like playing live,I mean we gotta do it and everyone has a rough show once in a while. You get a few...one, two or however many assholes that are out in the audience.Everyone has a bad show. I try not to have a bad show too many times but I fuck up. I don't let people bother me in the audience or anything, but I'm not standing out in front either. I'm sure they get spit on or what not, so they gotta deal with that...and Glen ain't the only one, I've seen Eric get pretty pissed off. They've all had their share of bad shows.
KC: ...and I'm sure it gets old after a while...
Steve: Well, dealing with fuckin' assholes gets old, but playing shows doesn't really get old as long as it's a good one.
KC: Did Glen ever come in contact with the drummer for Mortification? If so, did Glen beat his
faggity christian ass or did someone hold him back?
Steve: (laughs) I don't know...I haven't heard anything about that...it's probably just a rumor.
KC: Supposedly the guy walked by Glen and shook his head or something and Glen went off on him...
Steve: I didn't hear anything about that, but it could've happened...I sleep alot on tour.
KC: Hehe...About the bomb in Europe, where in Europe was it and where did it go off?
Steve: I think that was in '92 on a killer tour in Stockholm, Sweden.I'm not sure who did the bombing...there was a bunch of speculation that it was Burzum or Mayhem or one of them dudes over there. We're not sure who was the target of the bomb either...if it was us, there would've been better ways to blow us up.....go stick one on the bus or whatever. What happened is this club was like an eight story.....six story building or some shit like that and the show was actually being held up on the fifth floor of this place. Whoever let off the bomb went up like the back fire escape or outside stairwell up along the building and stuck it outside of
the building. It was like behind the stage right at a door that leads outside.
It was during ahh...what the fuck was the name of that.....Gorefest was
playing. I remember that we had played Norway just the night before and
we had met those dudes....ahh...Burzum and Mayhem and as far as Deicide
they gave us t-shirts and were fuckin' talking to us, giving us demos,and
telling us all about their little scene they got going out there. And I
think the guy from Gorefest and one of the dudes from these bands kinda
had a falling out or almost went at it because Gorefest is like a political-view
band instead of like some satanic band. So it was during Gorefest's set
the next night that this bomb went off and that's why I'm not sure. I don't
think it was aimed at us...
KC: ...probably not since it was during Gorefest's set...
Steve: Yeah, so it was during their set...and the one thing is I was asleep on the bus at the time. I heard an explosion come out of the area, but the show was in this little industrial type area and it could've been any number of things that blew up. I could hear Gorefest playing from inside my bunk and I heard the bomb blast and I didn't hear them stop so
I figured it was nothing big. Then they finished the set, and I got my shit
together, y'know my shoes and whatever...that kinda shit and went upstairs
to go get ready and that's when I had found out that they had blown up the
back door. They didn't like blast the door off the fuckin' hinges or anything
but they had done some pretty good structural damage. I think maybe one
or two guys got hurt, not really too hurt but I did see a little....
KC: shrapnel lascerations?
Steve: ...trail of blood going to the stairwell.
KC: After this tour do you plan on making another album?
Steve: I'm not sure...I think we're gonna do another record...I don't
see why we wouldn't, we got nothing else to do.
KC: How tight do you and the rest of the band roll your joints?
Steve: How
tight do we roll our joints? (laughs) Well it depends
on how much weed you're trying to stuff into that paper. If it's alot you
can roll it pretty tight, but not too tight....you don't want any obstructions
in there. De-sead properly and all that crap.
KC: Do you get your weed from Jason (Jay) of Malevolent Creation?
Steve: No. Why, does he have good weed?
KC: Hehe, I don't know...it's a question my friend wanted to ask...
Steve: No, I know Jay, man...
KC: Do they hang out in Florida?
Steve: Yeah they live down in Lauterdale. I haven't seen Jay in a
couple of years actually, but he's a good guy...I'm sure he gets some killer
weed.
KC: So you and Broken Hope hung out a couple of times and did a barbeque
or whatever before a show they did here.
Steve: (laughs) We did a barbeque...yeah, I wasn't there for that
but I'm sure it was one hell of a barbeque...steaks flying in every direction.
We actually toured with Broken Hope in '95...it was an American tour...like
three weeks, it was a pretty decent tour, man.
KC: Did you play in Florida?
Steve: Hehe no, that's why noone heard about
it.
KC: Why doesn't the rest of the band show up at local shows here?
Are they more uncaring?
Steve: Are they what? Uncaring? Pretty much (laughs)
KC: Are they not into the scene or what?
Steve: Well, ahh....not enough to
go see bands that they are only
passively interested in.
KC: At Obituary the other guys weren't there...
Steve: I don't know that they're all that into Obituary, not that
they have anything against them. They're just a pretty boring buncha guys...not
Obituary...Deicide.
KC: Haha.
Steve: As far as leaving the house for anything but food it's
pretty
ahh...
KC: Hehe, yeah, you're the only one I see out or at shows or anything
like that...
Steve: Yeah, well I still got a little bit of life left in me.
KC: Does being the only unmarried member of Deicide also make you
the happiest?
Steve: Hahah! Absolutely! Fuck yeah...not that I don't got my fuckin'
problems with my woman, but ahh...she's alright, as long as I don't marry
her.
KC: Hahaha. Is it true that you and Pete Sandoval hang out alot?
If so, who is more of a beast
behind the kit?
Steve: Who's more of a beast behind the kit? Well, I am of course...
KC: Hehehe, of course.
Steve: ...and ahh...no we don't like hang out all that much, but
when I see him around I say "hey" to him...we'll like shoot the
shit for about a minute.
KC: What are your favorite bands and their albums?
Steve: Wow, I dunno. I don't know if I have favorite bands anymore.
I just listen to alot of heavy shit.
KC: Do you ever get into the more underground stuff like Dying Fetus
or Insatanity?
Steve: Dying Fetus...I think I've heard of them...I don't know if
I've heard them. I get alot of tapes and CD's and shit when we tour. I got
a Damnation tape here, I think I've seen them before. We just got off tour
two days ago, so i got a whole shitload of new discs and what not to listen
to.
KC: Does anyone in the band listen to black metal? If so, what?
Steve: I don't think they listen to any new black metal... I don't.
I listen to like ahh...old black metal like Bathory. The Return is a favorite
disc of mine. It's real easy to play and it sounds really sloppy and shit
but it's still an awesome record.
