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We've never thought in our
lives that we would be able to make a contact, and even more
- make an interview, with alive legend. Who of us, loving
the Helloween, didn't make pumpkin drawings in our notebooks,
on sheets of paper, school benches and everywhere it was
possible? I guess everyone... However no one did it like HIM
:) Ladies and Gentlemen, especially for you, the master -
Frederick Moulaert !!!
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CHEERFUL
HEAVYMETAL MAN
Do you
remember how did it happen that you started to collaborate
with Helloween? Was it you who applied to the band or
someone from Helloween asked you to make drawings?
FM: I was a photographer and I sent a few pictures to the
band for them to use on anything they wanted, like a
picture-disc or an album. At the end of my letter, I signed
my name along with a little comic character with a pumpkin
head... They wrote me back to thank me for the photos and
told me that they liked my little drawing. Then they asked
me if I could do some more...
Whose idea was to ilustrate every Helloween's track with
a single, funny graphics?
FM: It was mine, well, as they asked me to do more drawings,
I just took a few songs for inspiration. At that time I
didn't know wether they gonna use it or not, I just did the
drawings for fun... Most of the drawings on "Keeper Of The
Seven Keys I" were just projects, nothing really finished,
but the band liked it so much that they printed everything...
even the little pumkin writing a letter that I draw next to
my signature when I wrote them the letter that went along
with my first drawings. This pumpkin was me actually... It's
funny that it finally appeared on the album...
Where did you find ideas for pumpkins? Had you been
drawing them earlier or was it the first time while for
Helloween?
FM: The ideas came out very easely. I was really into comics
at that time... I was 100% into Heavy Metal but the image of
this kind of music (with the skulls and creepy dark images)
became a bit boring for me. So I tried to put some humor
into the" Metal" imagery and Michael who is a big fan of
comics liked it. That's why him and Helloween decided to use
my work.
Did you meet Helloween's guys many times; are you friends
or was it just pure collaboration?
FM: Yes, many times, I saw them in Germany, Belgium, France,
England, Holland, everytime they were around. Once there was
plans for me to go on tour with them in the States (with
Anthrax who were also friends of mine) but a couple of weeks
before the tour, the manager Rod Smallwood called me to tell
me there was no room for me in the tour bus. That was a huge
dissapointment. That was just before the Live album.
Your cover for the album "Live In The U.K." is rocognized
as the best Helloween's cover by many fans (the same about
us, especially the one for "Perfect Gentleman" singiel). Was
it your ideas to draw the members of the band on stage? The
same about that totally drunk gentelman ("Perfect gentelman")..
FM: The idea of the Live album was obvious, if they asked me
to do it, it's probably because they wanted drawings of the
band on-stage. At that time Kai just announced that was
leaving the band and I did not know who would replace him.
No idea how the new guitarist would look like. So the
manager told me to draw "anybody" but he didn't have to look
like Kai (curly hair) so I drew a blond guy just by chance.
A few months later when Roland joined the band, I was sooo
glad to see that he was blond-haired and not dark haired,
because of the drawings.
The project of "Live In
The U.K." cover.
So just for you, in attachment, here's a sketch of the first
project for this album. It's viewed from above then I
decided that it was better to draw an image where the viewer
was in the crowd, as it is in the final version...
Do you like Helloween as a band, we mean their music??
FM: Of course, I was a big fan ever-since they first E.P.
they used to be the best for me, I was really proud to work
for them. I haven't heard anything since "Time Of The Oath"
though...
Michael Weikath, the guitarist of the band, told us that
your collaboration was broken because you didn't have enough
time to create more graphics. Is it true? Don't you regret
it?
FM: I drew a few comics before and after Helloween but my
main occupation is graphic-designer, and it's true that I
had less and less time to draw. I was learning
computer-graphics and was very busy at one time when I was
working for an advertising agency. No, I never regret
anything. It was fun to do but what I'm doing today is very
different, I work with images, digital manipulations,
photography and design. I think I followed another path than
Helloween...
You know, Kai Hansen called me two years ago, asking me to
work for Gamma Ray's live album. I was surprised and Happy
that he found my email and asked me to work for him. But
when I heard what he expected from me (draw skellettons and
stuff like that...) I was not much motivated by his project
and I never called him back (that was a bit rude from me)
but I didn't dare to tell him that this kind of visual is a
bit outdated for me...
What do you think about latest pumpkins - graphics, made
by other artists? We must say that as well as many other
fans we like your graphics the most. Latest aren't so funny
and wild.
One of the projects for
picture disc
FM: I
haven't seen many, so I have not much to say about it. I
remember the first album that came after we stopped the
collaboration. I liked the colours, the pumpkins were a bit
more scary, agressive, it was a mix of my drawings (made in
a completely different way) and back to the "dark ages of
metal". Why not, it's different, but the spontaneous and raw
humor was gone, it's a very different style.
Is there a chance that you'll create anything for
Helloween in future?
FM: It depends entirely of the band. If they aske me to, why
not. I remember when I worked on "Master Of The Rings" I did
everything there, the drawings, the layout, the logo, the
typography, photography (its my own hands on the back-cover)
it was one of my first computer-assisted work. I wasn't very
good at that time.
Then there was "Time Of The Oath" were I did almost
everything BUT NOT the frontcover. Frankly I always hated
that cover, but I still like the work done with the little
pumpkins inside, those in a little square frame with colored
backgrounds. If they trust me enough to create a
CD-packaging where I can do EVERYTHING, not just the
pumpkins but also the "art-direction" then I'd love to work
for them again...
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