The Gathering

Ayta nomizw ta eixame 3anapei!

Niko kalh tyxh agori mou! Hail and kill Sofia!!!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHMXXFG_McI
Soundgaze.gr - Fix Your Gaze On Music
Το Πολυμίξερ της Μουσικής

Eyxaristoume Sofia!!

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eimai apo to proi me to tilecontrol na exei parei fotia..mipos mporeis na prosdioriseis kanali kai pithanh ora?

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Children picking up our bones
Will never know that these were once
As quick as foxes on the hill

(pws me malakwnei panta o foustis, ebrisa ena dio pente leptakia mou perase, ka8e fora pou 8a to skeftomai omws to mpineliki moy 8a tou to rixnw)

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Look at me...There were more to see, there were more to be proud of….

Apo to na ta akouei ka8e fora kalytera o fonos

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHMXXFG_McI
Soundgaze.gr - Fix Your Gaze On Music
Το Πολυμίξερ της Μουσικής

8umasai ti malakia mou eixe pei gia tim marjolein kai to dvd pou mou eferes kai psarwsa?


e pas na min exw kinitro meta!!!!!!!!!

oxi an eiai pio basanistiko na ta akouei mexri na psofisw 8a protimisw auto

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Look at me...There were more to see, there were more to be proud of….

Gia esena einai sigoura kalyteros o argos kai basanistikos 8anatos, gia ekeinon to elega kalytera!!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHMXXFG_McI
Soundgaze.gr - Fix Your Gaze On Music
Το Πολυμίξερ της Μουσικής

Tsampa to filosofeite tosi ora. An katalava kala mporei na mi ginei sinaulia apokleistika gia to dvd, alla apo tin alli de tha einai kommatia apo diafores sinaulies. Apla mia sinaulia tis periodeias. MIA. Poia tha einai auti logika tha to exoun anakoinosei apo prin. Ara tha mporesei na epanorthosei o Nikos. Eimai sigouros oti meta apo o,ti tha exei akousei to kaimeno to paidi, tha thelei poli na epanorthosei.

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Getting away with it all messed up

An einai se kamia Xilh, xlwmo to kobw...!

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ax mi mou les tetoia!!!!!!!

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Look at me...There were more to see, there were more to be proud of….

ps. poly kalh synenteyksh! na'sai kala sofia!!

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exw mprosta mou synexws enan kathrefth
pou m'empodizei o,ti einai pisw tou na dw
den exw dei pote mou pio megalo psefth
kai to xeirotero: einai omoios egw...

Mh sou pw oti 8a hxografh8ei sthn Ellada to epomeno DVD !!

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sto poll xilh h' ellada... poios tha nikhsei???????????????????????

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exw mprosta mou synexws enan kathrefth
pou m'empodizei o,ti einai pisw tou na dw
den exw dei pote mou pio megalo psefth
kai to xeirotero: einai omoios egw...

Merci sophie!!!!!
Wraio pragma oi kales synentey3eis.

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Interview with Anneke van Giersbergen, The Gathering
http://www.poppycorn.com.br
:: PoppyCorn ::


 Do you still consider The Gathering as a metal band?

No, it is more than only metal. We started out as doomy, metal, goth, dark rock. We listened to more kinds of music. Pop, classical, blues etcŠ It is only a matter of time before it will incorporate into the music that you make.

 Before The Gathering, you used to sing in a Jazz band. Does this band still exist? Do you have contact with the band and the members?

I was in a duo with my boyfriend at the time. We played Jazzy, bluesy, poppy, singersongwriter stuff. We still play from time to time in small cafés.

 The recent Ep, Black Light District,started to be sold only on the web. What's the meaning of that?

We started our own record company and we had to release bit by bit because we did not have a big starting budget.

 In the last years the band released some old stuff, songs that were recorded before your arrive in the band. Don't you think that this material doesn't have much similarity with the band today? Why released it?

We released it because the Gathering made it. People still ask for it. We are very proud of the old material. It comes out of a different time indeed and it sounds totally different from what we do today, but that is only good I think. Making the same album every year is a bit boring!!

 The Gathering always made diffenrent albuns. Is the inconcistence a part of the band?

I guess so. The thing is that when you grow older as people and as a band, more things grasp your interest. Your life and also your musical life becomes more sophisticated and refined. There is room for development. Altough we don¹t think about it. We just make the music that comes out. Pure and honest!!

 Does this inconcistence make harder to conquest new fans?

I don¹t know. People like it, and we are very very happy with that. Some people like the old stuff better and some people like the new stuff better. But there are a lot of people who grow along with us and that is very nice!

 Debris, from Black light District, shows, in my opinion, a huge evolution in the sound of the band ( something that started to happen on How to measure a planet and grown on If_Then_Else). How it's going to be the next album? Can we expect other song like Debris?


Yes, we learned a lot from Zlaya our producer. He made happen what we were feeling. We love our HTMAP album because that was the first step towards this way of expressing our songs. The new album will be in the same vain. Dark but pop. Honest and emotional.

 What's the greatest madness you've made in a tour?

Oh dear! I think the tours with the Finnish bands were crazy. They drink and they drink! So you have some mad displays sometimes!

 How do you feel about people from such a distant countries, fisically and culturally, as brazil, listening to your music?

It is graet! People from all over the world seem to enjoy our songs. From Norway to BrazilŠ It is amazing! I guess music is without boundaries and it is a universal language. It is lovely that we can be a part of it.


 Why did you quit Century Media? Is there chances for the next album to be distributed in Brazil or Latin America?

We have said all there is to say about CM. We definitely will release the new album in south America on Psychonaut records.


 I don't remenber the band making many covers. The only I remenber is Life Is what You Make It, from Talk Talk. Don't you like to make covers? Someone form the band is a fan of Talk Talk?

We all love Talk Talk. We made a few covers more; Dead can dance and slowdive.

 How do you analize The Gathering's discography?

A travel trough time I guess!

 How to Measure a Planet was critisized when released. You left the metal to make a sound more intimist and atmosferic. Then you realesed If_Then_Else that sounds more pop/indie. There is any regret from How to measure a planet?

No we love that album. Some people didn¹t but that¹s OK It is only music. No big deal.

 Many people complain the music scene nowdays, saying that everything is the same. How's the scene in Netherlands?

It is true that a lot of music sounds the same. In holland there is not a big music culture going on. Only a few good bands.

 Even with so many albuns released, do you believe that the gathering can turn into a well know band for the public? Is this a concern of you?

We sometimes are in the top 40 and sometimes not. It may very well be that a bigger audience will like us in the future, but maybe not. We are happy where we are now. We play full venues everywhere and we love it. You don¹t necessarily need Radio and television that much. But it¹s nice when they back you up.

 What you all know about brazilian music?

Not much, teach us!

 What's the last album you've heard e enjoyed? and the last you didn't enjoyed?

Elbow, with asleep in the back is the best record of the year for me.
And I don¹t listen to albums I don¹t enjoy!

 Rock is...?

Good!

 Can you tell us 5 albuns you can't stop listening.

Elbow- Asleep in the back
Sigur ross- Agaetis byrjun
Chocolate genius- Godmusic
Ben Christophers- Spoonface
Ulver- Perdition city


 Which band is the great promess in the moment? and the great deception?

Elbow is a great promise and I have no opinion on the deception.

 Pop is....?

Also good!


 Thanks and sucess.

You are very welcome! Thanks to you too.
Many greets,
Anneke

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Look at me...There were more to see, there were more to be proud of….

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the owls are not what they seem

na'sai kala sofaki mou!

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exw mprosta mou synexws enan kathrefth
pou m'empodizei o,ti einai pisw tou na dw
den exw dei pote mou pio megalo psefth
kai to xeirotero: einai omoios egw...

How much extreme in music can we still get? " - an interview with Anneke van Giersbergen

==

9 PM approaches slowly, I'm already waiting by the phone. Guess who's gonna call me in a moment - Anneke van Giersbergen! If someone told me so, let's say, two years ago, I'd consider this person nuts. But anyway, it all went quite interesting througout these two years - the official website status, good contacts with the band and the distributor... And now, here I am - waiting for that phone to ring. Hmm. There it is! *rrrrringggg* And that familiar voice saying "Hi, this is Anneke from The Gathering"... here we go!

[I skip the "hi" and "how are you" part of the beginning ]

un.holy - You guys have played many gigs so far... Say, Anneke, are you already tired of touring or still excited?

Anneke van Giersbergen: - Well, we did a lot of shows already and now we're enjoying a little break, but we are excited to tour soon in more countries, in Poland. It's really nice. [...Sadly, my recording machine fails here and a small part of Anneke's answer disappear in nothingness... damn!...] We're very glad to come back to Poland, we have very, very good memories of playing there!

- Indeed, only this time it will be four gigs! Any surprises that you plan for us?

- Yes and no, because we will bring good music and fun for the people and I guess many will be surprised with new tunes from "Souvenirs". But no, we do not plan any special events, like multimedia or weird instruments. Or fireworks! [laughs]

Part one: Souvenirs

- People here keep on asking about the term "trip-rock", which you have invented somehow... Can you explain this word a little more? What kind of music does it describe?

- Our music! "Trip-rock" is one of the names you can name a genre that we make and play. And its's quite difficult to grasp this style, because it has a lot of influences. So, for us "trip-rock" is a nice word - our music is trippy, as you can have a trip on it, you can have a journey in the music It's kind of deep. But it's also trippy in formal meaning... rhythm-wise, groovy-wise. And then rock - it's rock music, you have guitars and drums. But... it's so difficult to name it, you can also say "dark pop music" or "soft rock music"! It's so difficult but we had to name it somehow, because people always ask...
Although you shouldn't take it too seriously - naming the genre. If people are curious about the term "trip-rock", I hope they will go and check it out. And then after listening, they will know - "I think it's trip-rock, I think it's not". I mean, I do, but if they say it's not trip-rock, it's okay, you know!

- ...I keep on repeating- "well, buy new The Gathering and then you will know a little bit more about trip-rock!"...

- Exactly! [laughs]

- And how many songs didn't make it to the "Souvenirs" album? Except for the "Zion", which is already famous...

- ...yeah, already mythical, I know! [laughs] Well, I think we wrote 20 pieces... of which 10 pieces came on the album and then some pieces came on "Black Light District". So, there are a few songs which were already finished, but we didn't use them. There are definitely some nice things we recorded, but they don't really fit the atmosphere of the album. We will probably put them out on the next album and then play a little bit more with them... Or we can also use them for the B-sides, stuff like that. But we have a lot of material left.



- That's a good thing to hear! But there you mention B-sides... any plans for another EP, perhaps?

- Not yet, not our own EP, we're gonna just do some singles for the "Souvenirs" album. We can use these unused songs on B-sides there, or so.

- Speaking of EPs... the mystical and mysterious number 36 on the cover of BLD - what is the meaning of this number?!

- It's actually... well, the pictures are taken from a movie, a short movie. And it's a propaganda movie, something actually not so very good... But there are beautiful pictures taken from it. And then this "36" is the frame number of the particular picture from the movie. I know that some stories have been going around already, but it's just a frame number!

- Interesting! But... next four questions will be more likely about yourself.

Part two: Anneke

- "Souvenirs" ends with a hypnotic duet with Trickster G. I suppose you have liked this cooperation, but do you really like this form of singing - the duets?

- As long as it's in good taste, I like it! I really like second voice, two voices in the music, male and female voices together, so I was very, very happy that Trickster wanted to sing on one of our songs. He has one of the most beautiful male voices that I've ever heard. So, we're particularly proud of this song.

- I agree it's an outstanding one and I'm deeply in love with Ulver lately...

- ...good, good! [laughs]

- ...but this is not the end of my question about the duets, because if you do like duets, then... who else would you love to sing a duet with...? Let's say you can choose from anyone living...

- Thom Yorke.

- ...haaa, I expected that! [laughs]

- Yes, yes... my all-time favorite [laughs]

- Okay, another question from your beloved fans in here! Is there any chance of hearing Anneke singing a song in Dutch?

- In Dutch? Ooh, but it's an ugly language! [laughs] I know there's a few singers in Holland singing very well [in Dutch] and make lyrics very well. They write very beautiful in Dutch, but there's only a few people who can do it! And I am not one of them, because I sound silly when I sing in Dutch.

- I guess I understand what you mean, Polish language doesn't sound well in rock music either. It's another language that just doesn't fit in the right way. English is most likely perfect for rock music, right?

- ...I think so... I actually think that Polish language is very, very nice if you hear it just like that. But it's a harsh-sounding language, like German or Dutch, and it's very difficult to make it sound wavy and beautiful in music. I'm sure there are people who write good lyrics and who are able to do it just like some do in Dutch, but it's a tough job!

- And when it comes to writing a song lyrics... do you have any particular way of working on it, I mean... does it happen often that you write it all at once, or you rather walk around it, let's say, for some time, until it's finished? How much time does it take you?

- Well, it works both ways. Sometimes you wake up and write down a whole bunch of lyrics in five minutes and sometimes you reeeeally have to sit down and think about it, write four papers and in the end there are four lines which are good... All these things work, 'cause all songs are different, all moods are different - so you need a different approach.

- I know that Frank Zappa is one of your favorite musicians. He's been a really big eccentric... Do you follow such eccenstricism and avant-garde in music also nowadays? Some crazy projects, perhaps Mike Patton's and stuff?

- Not really, I have to say. I admire Frank Zappa very much, because he was a genius mind. I love his music, but... in the most eccentric parts... well, I like to listen to them and try to analyze them, but of course it doesn't really listen to easily. The things I love the most from Frank Zappa are the serious songs... Of course I am interested in his person and his genius, therefore I'm a big fan. And no, it's not to say that I do follow new eccentric music... not particularily.

Part three: the future

- Apart from the hypnotic and wonderful music of "How To Measure A Planet?", people always mention lyrics from that album - outer space, astronauts, astronomy stuff - as something very attractive. Is there any chance seeing The Gathering come back to such astronomy-concerning lyrics in the future?

- I don't know if we're gonna do that again, because we feel we already did it... On the other hand, we - especially the boys - are so interested in outer space and all these things that go on out there... Probably it's gonna be maybe a song, or two or four about this subject, definitely. But I don't know if the whole concept album again...

- Many bands nowadays try to implement visual art into their music, by adding big screens, big projectors and playing on them all kinds of trippy videos or pictures that follow the songs. Tiamat did that some time ago, also Tool, NIN, and Godspeed You Black Emperor - do you consider such visual additions to the gigs in the future?

- Yes, definitely, we've been thinking about this already! We have some kind of concept about it, but we have started our own little label and we put all the money that we had in the CDs, so we don't really have enough cash for these things yet. But we are definitely going to use this in our next tour or something like that, because we think such visual aid is very helpful. Makes a 3D show from a live show.

- And then... according to you, what is the future of rock and future of all music? Where will it lead us...?

- Well, it's indeed a very difficult question... Of course I don't know the answer, but what I do think is that music will never, ever ever die. I think it was the first invention of mankind and it will be the last thing that will go with mankind when it dies out. It's a thing we need, a thing which shows our moods and which can make us happy, make us sad - that kind of stuff, you know.
It inspires human life - dancing, moving to rythm... I think without music, we wouldn't have a certain degree of joy or comfort in our lives. But in what form will be the future? It's so difficult to say! It changes all the time.
In the near future, I think, a little bit heavier music is going to become more mainstream... I think people will go towards extreme and then maybe in a few years time, or maybe next 10 to 50 years, it will calm down again. People may want some peace and quiet again, some beautiful melodic music maybe... I have a feeling that now it's all about speed and aggression, like Slipknot... I mean - how much extreme in music can we still get? That's what I ask myself!

- Maybe we shall hit the brakes, as the lyrics of "Rollercoaster" say...

- Yes, that's also something we are dealing with... Nowadays there's some people who can't really catch up with their lives... myself as well... Everything is going so fast, and human brain and fuctions don't even catch up anymore... There's a lot of suicides because people just can't handle... You have to be fast enough, to have a good career, a good boyfriend/girlfriend and everything should be just perfect - but what if YOU are not perfect? It's also like that in music. In the old-time days, like Mozart days, common beat per minute was your own heartbeat rythm.That was the rythm of music. Now it's going faster, faster, faster and I think at one point we will have to stop, because human body will not be able to take it anymore...

- Hmm... you got me thinking about that now. And I am glad that The Gathering kind of evades being a part of this so-called "rat race". This world lives horribly fast, which leads us to nowhere or to chaos...

- ...indeed, but the funny thing is that we're in the rat race, because we're in music business - which is all about looking good, being on TV and all that stuff... It's a bit of funny contradition. We do show up on television and on the radio sometimes - 'cause we have released the single and of course we want people to buy it, as we live from our music - but we don't do every show that we're asked for, you know. We'd rather stick to quality and "longer" instead of "very fast"!

- Well, thank you a lot for all the answers, Anneke, that's about it for the interview, I guess! Thanks again.



(http://gathering.galileo.com.pl/)

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Look at me...There were more to see, there were more to be proud of….

" I think TG is a great band and I like seeing them performing" - an interview with Niels Duffhues about himself, The Gathering and... surprising ideas.

==

Most of people dont know what happened with you after you left The Gathering, what can u tell us about yourself and your music???

*Well. After TG I started again with what I was doing before I got involved with TG, and that is my own songs. After TG I started my own band, playing my own songs. But a band wasn't exactly what I liked and was looking for, so I stopped with that. Then I started working at a club named W2 (TG plays there about every 2 years). While working there I started performing as a solo artist, a singer-songwriter, me alone with my guitar on stage. Then in 1998 I started a band with two of my friends. That band was called Enos and released a cd in 2000 named Tremolo (Knox/ Sonic Rendezvous). Enos was a alternative rockband with an experimental feel to it. We were often compared with bands like dEUS and Motorpsycho. In 2000 I also stepped in another project named Blimey. In that band I didn't write music, I just performed as a guitarist, drummer, keyboard player and singer.
Meanwhile I hadn't stopped as a singer-songwriter and released my first album "Piranesi's Rome" in 2001. Then a lot of stuff was happening within my band Enos. The drummer got a new
job and the other guitarist had a baby and Enos stopped. A year after that (in 2002) I also stopped with Blimey. After that I released my 2nd cd 'Jacky the Stripper'. I'm content making
music on my own now. Occasionaly I work with other musicians on a project base. I'm working at the moment on new songs for a 3rd album.

You released Jacky the Stripper last year. How was the album received by the people?


*Jacky the Stripper got good reviews over here and people like it. A lot of people have the same favourite songs, a thing that I find very funny. Favourite songs seem to be: Gutter Dancing, Jacky the Stripper and When Sal met Henry.



I can hear some influences of Nick Cave and Syd Barret in your music... how other musicians, books, life experiences, etc, affect your music?? And how do you put it in?

*Well I gues that my music is the sum of all that. I'm a big fan of Cave. I never liked Pink Floyd. Other music that I like very much is the German band Einstuerzende Neubauten and the American singer Chris Whitley. I read mostly English books. I'm a fan of the Nigerian writer Ben Okri (in Arcadia). At the moment I'm reading books by VS Naipaul. I like it when there's a lot of travelling in a book or when the story sets place in some country far, far away, like Mexico for example.

After all these years, how do u think u have musically grown??

*I have become more and more a solo artist/ performer. I have learned to play the piano. Another thing that has been very important in my musical development was learning how to play slide guitar and playing in different tunings that go along with that. Lyrics have always been of great importance to me, so I have spent a lot of time improving them. I read and wrote a lot basicly. My music has gone from guitar rocklike songs to more bluesy kind of songs with a lot of melancholy anger in them.

How do u think do u fist in the dutch musical scene?? There are a lot of great bands there (Like TG, Legendary Pink Dots, etc).

*I have the idea that my music doesn't quite releate to what is really going on at the moment here. I also having doubts about if my music is something that a larger Dutch crowd would like. I'm planning to concentrate more on other country's. In country's like Belgium and France they seem to be more interested in the kind of music I make. TG is one of the few Dutch bands that I really like. I'm not a big fan of Dutch music, why that is I'm not sure, I basicly don''t like a lot of music I guess.

Do u have any others musical projects at the moment??

*I'm working on a theatre project that stops early october. My part in that theatre project is a radio play about the underworld (Hell, Hades). In november I performing two dates at the November Music Festival. I'm commisioned to write music for that festival and perform that music with the Moldavian accordeonist Oleg Fateev. Besides that I'm working on new songs for a 3rd album.

It has been 8 years since u left The Gathering... what do u think when do u listen the "Almost a dance" album now a-days??

*Actually it has been 9 years. I never listen to that album. When I stepped into TG all the music for the album was already finished (except for Nobody Dares). They asked me if it was possible to write lyrics and melodies in 2,5 month. I told them I could and that was my mistake. If I had taken (or been given) the time to make really something out of the lyrics and melodies the album would have been better I think. So I don't really like that CD because of the bad lyrics and singing.

Are u still in touch with them?? What do u think about the music they are
doing now?

*I'm still in touch with TG. I look'em up when they are playing in the W2, the club in the city where I live. I like very much what they are doing these days. I have a couple of their albums and on each of them are a few songs that I really love. I think TG is a great band and I like seeing them performing. The last time I met them, they were talking about taking me to
Mexico with them to sing a couple of (old Gathering) songs. I'm not sure if that is really going to happen, but you never know.

I have been always courious to know... how did you get in touch with them????

*We'll have to go back to july 1993. I was born in a city named Oss, like most of memebers of TG (Hans, Rene, Hugo, Jelmer(former guitarist)). I was already living in another city named Den Bosch, but in the weekends I used to go to Oss, to drink at a bar with my friends. I already knew TG, they were also coming to that bar in the weekends, when they didn't have to
perform. One night Rene asked me if I would like to join TG and be their lead vocalist. They had seen me singing in antoher band at a local festival. They wanted to get rid of their singer at the time (Bart Smit). They saw me singing at the local festival and had the idea that I would make a good singer for TG. That's how it started. Within a couple of weeks I was recording two songs, as an audition, during their pre-production of Almost a Dance. 2 or 3 month's later I was recording the album with them. After that I did a small tour with TG in Holland and Belgium, and that was it.

How can we get your albums??

*You can order it by going to my website http://www.duffhues.com and leave an email
there with the message that you would like to order a cd.

Any final comment?

*I really liked this interview. If you want to ask me more, just send me the
questions.

Thanks! Take Care, Niels.






(http://gathering.galileo.com.pl)

_________________
Look at me...There were more to see, there were more to be proud of….

- OK Frank, nice to have you here and let's start with this... "Souvenirs" is a special album, the one where your parts are more "in front" than on other albums. Thus, does it mean that your participation in composing process was bigger this time?

- No, it wasn't really bigger. I wrote some parts on "Souvenirs", but not more than on the past ones. The thing is, we wanted this album to sound more like an electronic production. But we don't really think about these things. It just happens.

- So, perhaps you participated more in production?

- No, this time (again) we had a producer - Zlaya Hadzich. He had very good ideas what to do with our music. We really like the way he works on creating songs and developing sounds.

- So we can say it's gonna be a long-term cooperation, right?

- We don't know yet. We made many beautiful things with him, but we don't know what future brings.

- And what gear do you use nowadays? Are there any changes?

- So, to start with, there is KORG workstation with 16-bit sequencer. We use it very often, because for me it's like third, or even fourth hand. Then there is a sampler, which is Yamaha A3000. What is new on "Souvenirs" tour is Yamaha electrical piano, we bought it half a year ago. I think it sounds really great, it has a really special sound. It also has well-weighted keys, so the feeling while playing on it is quite different than on the KORG. Another new thing is a new synthesizer.

- Speaking of keyboards, where does your nickname "Dr. Octopus" come from?

- It's just a joke. Once, there was a DJ called Dr. Octopus, and he had a bit of acid feeling in his music, he also used a lot of filters. I also use a lot of different keyboards, so maybe that's the reason?

- I'm not a big James Bond fan, but I 'm sure there's a Bond movie with Dr. Octopus as a villain. It has nothing to do with your nick, right?

- No, no...nothing at all! (laughs)




- I read a long time ago that one of your hobbies was "constructing airplane models". Do you still keep on doing that?

- No, I gave this up, because of lack of space to construct them as they are not so small. I built large gliders controlled by radio. Rene has this hobby as well, but now it's not a hobby as we don't practice this for a few years. When we recorded "Nighttime Birds" we were in a studio in Germany, and there we bought two gliders with radio control. But, unfortunately, mine crashed immediately.

- Hmm... but perhaps you do take one of them out sometimes, just for fun?

- No, it's all over. You see, probably I'm a bad pilot, and it's quite disappointing when you see your glider, on which you spent long hours, hitting the ground. Also, in Holland, you have to have a special license for doing that, and you also have to join a club, which is probably nothing really bad, because at last you can learn how to direct your glider, not to see it crushing again... (laughs) Constructing such models is very interesting, but it costs a lot of money and time as well.

- When I was visiting Holland last year, I noticed there's another artist called Frank Boeijen. Do you have something particular in common with him?

- Yeah, I had checked it with my grandfather just before he died last year. He said that his nephew went to Nijmegen, where we live now, and he had a kid who became a singer. So there is a relationship.

- What kind of music does he do?

- It's something that we call "Dutch chansons". Quite depressing music, actually. I think he is very good, he has great melancholic lyrics. I like him.

- From your bio I learned that you had finished architecture studies. Have you already done any project regarding that?

- Oh, it's not really architecture that I finished. We had some subjects connected with that, but it's not exactly that. If I wanted to be an architect, I'd have to study much more. We call it "building constructions".

- But then, are you allowed to create a house for yourself?

- No, I'm actually not. But I know a lot of things concerning that!

- So would you like to continue something connected with your profession after your music career is over?

- I don't know. I never thought that my music career will be over…

- Maybe it's better not to think about it?

- But I have to! You never know what can happen. Music gives me a lot of satisfaction, I can express my emotions by performing music…

- Does this satisfaction concerns creating sounds or rather playing music?

- I think that rather creating sounds. Gigs are great as well though, especially seeing audience's reaction on what you've done.

- Some time ago I was thinking about how your tour-life looks... Like, when you have to spend a lot of time with each other... how do you cope with that? Does it lead to any conflicts?

- No, we know each other for years. We went through some unpleasant experiences, and we learnt to respect each other, so tour life is not a problem for us.

- Speaking of "not very nice experiences" do you think about Century Media?

- Yes, that's an example. But during the last few years there were also some other things, not only that.

- For example?


- It's hard to find examples, there were many personal things. The most important thing is that being among the group is relaxing for us. We like spending time together. Of course sometimes we get on each other nerves, but we know what to do then. We just walk away for a while.

- Can you really consider your band-mates as friends?

- Of course, otherwise we would split. I think that members of all great, long-lasting bands are friends. And thanks to that they're still on top, just look at Iron Maiden, U2 or Red Hot Chili Peppers. That's the only way.

- Okeedoo, now hold on, because this one will be hard: what is your first thought when you hear the word "Poland"?

- Being honest, all my life the word "Poland" was connected with "poor people". But that has really changed. As a country and as the way you handle with each other I think you are rich people. And the West is quite poor concerning that.

- When Hans was asked similar question two years ago, he replied that he likes Poles and Polish audience, but he complained about our architecture and roads. We know that it has to change a lot, and some other things as well...

- ...but well, when we come here people are really, really thankful that we're here. And that's the thing which doesn't happen in Holland. People there sometimes don't listen to the music, they talk during the gig and the band is in the background. It's very irritating when people are louder than the band. Such things happen not only in Holland, but also sometimes in Germany or elsewhere.

- If you could honestly choose three countries with best audience…

- Number one would be France. They're really into music. But don't worry, Poland is definitely in my top 5 (laughs).

- And the last question will be about your present state of mind. How do you feel about yourself? Are you happy, satisfied?

- I guess it's OK. (smiles) I don't really think a lot about it, but it's quite good for sure!




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