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Greetings Within Temptation !
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These are the questions of the ABLAZINE’s interview - September 2001.
This first question is quite boring but could
you please remind us shortly the story of WITHIN TEMPTATION. If I’m right the whole
story begins with a band called THE CIRCLE ?
WT: Robert Westerholt, Jeroen van Veen and Martijn Spierenburg started a
band called ’the circle’. They made a demo when they were 17 years old and it got a
big response from quite a lot of record-companies. Even though their success the
band spit up because diverse of reasons.
When the ‘the circle’ split up, Robert and I started W.T., we wrote 5 songs.
Then we searched for 4 members; Jeroen, Michiel, Ivar and Martijn Westerholt joined
in and we became a real band. A half year later we had a record deal with DSFA records.
After doing 5 performances our dream came true, we played on Dynamo’97.
Your new album “MOTHER EARTH” is finally out
more than two years after the MCD”THE DANCE”.Could you explain us what’s happened
in the band during these two years?You’re all busy with your jobs and I think
it’s the main reason of these two years of “silence”. Are you satisfied with this
situation or is it your wish to make from WITHIN TEMPTATION your fulltime job ?
Sharon: Yes, your right, all most everyone of us has got a full time job so
there was little time to make music.
Robert build a rehearsal studio, which took a year.
We are al most at the point that we have to choose between our music and a career.
Michiel all ready made his choice a few months ago. He has his own company and he
wants to put more time in that. We will have to make our choice with the next album.
Your music is now more various, enhanced by
wealthy orchestral parts which gives you a bigger dimension yet.Notably, some
reminiscence of celtic sounds (Caged,Mother Earth, In Perfect Harmony), the using
of unusual instruments (horn, flute, trombone) and the presence of a choir. Your music
has now a more symphonic sight, sometimes even epic and progressive (The Promise,
Deceiver Of Fools, Ice Queen, Dark Wings). I even thought about ENYA (In Perfect
Harmony)or TORI AMOS (Never Ending Story). But there’re still your trademarks:
dark enchanting melodies and bombastic guitar’s riffs. How could you explain such
evolution ? Is it due to the fact that you’ve got more time to develop all your ideas
during the recording session, if we compare with “ENTER” ? Or is it that 3 or 4 years
ago, this kind of composition didn’t interest you ?
Sharon: Enter should have been more like Mother earth.
Enter was our first album and so we got a small budget.
Because Enter was quite a success, we got a much bigger budget for the second one;
Mother earth.
Did SHARON’s work with AYREON have influenced
you in a way ?
Sharon: No not really.
You’ve often been assimilated with bands like
TRISTANIA, TRAIL OF TEARS, SINS OF THY BELOVED, THEATER OF TRAGEDY…but with
“MOTHER EARTH” you’re very far from the gothic-metal fashion. Personally I’ve always
thought you were different, especially with your bombastic dark groovy sound. The
grunts are now totally disappeared. Is this a decision to get away from the actual
trendies or is it a natural evolution for you ? I think that even without these grunts,
your music is very powerful, thanks to the vocal lines and the great orchestrations
surrounding the guitars. What’s your opinion ? Could we find the grunts back on future
releases ?
Sharon: The vocals were recorded as last. We listened to the songs but we
could not find any in which the grunts could add anything extra to the songs.
We are not sure if there will be grunts or not on the next cd. It depends on the songs
I guess, but never say never.
(For SHARON) Beside the music,I noticed an
evolution (already started with “THE DANCE”)in your way of singing. Your voice is
still so beautiful, plenty of emotions but now with more diversity. In fact, for me,
there’s a sight more dark, enchanting, captivating contrasting with a more
dreamy-heavenly side already present on “ENTER”.How could you explain this
evolution ? Is it the higher wealth of the music which gives you the opportunity
to express a larger field of feelings in your voice ?
Sharon: The songs were written differently, I had more space to express my
self, in the way I wanted. I also had more time in the studio. I had only two days to
sing all songs on ‘Enter’ together with Robert’s vocals. Now I had all most 10 days,
which gave me more time to experiment.
How do you see the evolution of your music for
your future release ? An even more symphonic way or a come back to your previous
atmospheres ?
Sharon: I do not know, because the sound can change so much in the final stage
in the studio. We will try to make a different album every time, we do not want to
make another Enter/Mother Earth.
I think dreams and fantasy have a great
influence in your music. I know you really like fantasy and medieval books and movies.
Which are the best for you ?
Sharon: I love them both. I cannot choose.
What do you think about JRR TOLKKIEN’s ”Lord Of
The Rings” ?
Sharon: I love it, it was the first fantasy book I ever read.
I dying of impatience for the movie.
Do you know the bands BLIND GUARDIAN and
SUMMONING ?
Sharon: No, only by name. At least, not yet.
What do you think about their work dedicated
to TOLKKIEN’s masterpieces ?
Sharon: I did not know they did that.
Like us, they probably can hardly wait to see the movie ‘lord of the rings’ in the
cinema. I belief it will be a fantastic movie to go to. We would have loved to write
the music for the film. But who wouldn’t ?
What do you think about their work dedicated
to TOLKKIEN’s masterpieces ?
Sharon: I did not know they did that.
Like us, they probably can hardly wait to see the movie ‘lord of the rings’ in the
cinema. I belief it will be a fantastic movie to go to. We would have loved to write
the music for the film. But who wouldn’t ?
Don’t you think that your new album leads you
sometimes in the same landscapes than RHAPSODY (for the epic-symphonic side) and
NIGHTWISH (for the lyricism). You’ve already played with them at the BIEBOB METAL FEST
last year. Do you appreciate them ?
Sharon: From both bands we have a few albums, so...
I was totally surprised by the performance of the vocalist of Nightwish.
Her performance was really cool. I guess some guys might get scared. She rules on
stage.
The cover seems to me like an invitation to
enter the heavenly world of WITHIN-TEMPTATION with the voice of SHARON as guide. But
for me, behind this dream-fantasy side the lyrics hide some more realistic messages.
It’s like to read a fantasy tale delivering messages you can transpose to the real
life. Could you explain the topics of some songs (Mother Earth, Caged, Deceiver Of Fools)
and could you tell us where you find your inspiration ?
Sharon: Mother Earth, was written on the day my cat died. Maybe that is silly
for some people but it was not for me. I had her for all most 16 years and I was
really attached to her.
The day Robert started his first day in the studio I brought him by car. On the
freeway I saw a little kitten beside the road and I had to stop otherwise it would have
been killed. I took him in the car with us and he is still with us today. He was
allowed to be in the studio while the cd was recorded. (Mother earth she gives and she
takes)
Caged is about a woman who fell in love with the wrong kind of guy. She finds her self
in a situation she never thought she could get into. When she realizes this it is all
ready too late, blinded by love she did things she would normally never do. (It is a
made up story).
Deceiver of fools is about people with extreme kind of thoughts or religions. In every
country we have this kind of people. When things are not going so well economically in
a country than people are starting to listen to them and they forget the values they
stood for.
Do you have any interest for things like
paganism, mythology, esoterism ?
Sharon: I like mythology.
What do you think about the black-metal,
concerning the link between this kind of music and all that could be related to
mythology, paganism and the glorification of the nature ?
Sharon: X
Do you agree if I say that “Mother Earth” would
be perfect as a medieval-heroic-fantasy sountrack ?
Sharon: Yes I think so, but it could also be used for other themes not
specially medieval-heroic-fantasy.
Have you compose your songs in this
purpose ?
Sharon: Not really, but we were inspired by film music.
Do you appreciate this kind of stuff ? Which
are your favorite movie sountracks ?
Sharon: Our all time favourite is the soundtrack of brave heart.
Second is the music of B. Stokers Dracula.
Third is the movie Sleepy hollow, great scenery.
What’s the WITHIN TEMPTATION’s writing’s
process ? What‘s the basis of one of your songs: the keyboard’s parts,the guitars
riffs or the voice’s melody ?
Sharon: We start with Guitars and keyboards, after that the voice’s melody will
be made.
Have the same implication in the composition,
concerning music and lyrics ?
Sharon: No Robert and I normally make the basis, after that complete it with
the rest of the band.
I‘ve heard your new songs live before the
release of the album last year and some were quite different than the ones you’re
actually playing (I noticed some change in the music and in the lyrics of Deceiver,
Caged and Ice queen for example). How could you explain such an evolution for a WT
song in some months ?
Sharon: They are demo tracks. This was the first time I sang the songs. The
lyrics were not finished at that time. First I make up the melody and later Robert and
I try to fit in the words to make it a logic story and the words need to have the same
feeling as the music.
Your live performances are always very
powerful, each of you having a big presence on the stage, especially SHARON who’s
very close to the public which is like under her enchantment. You seem to take a lot
of pleasure on stage, isnt’it ?
Sharon: Yep, that is true.
What bring live performances to the music of
WITHIN TEMPTATION? I think you try to reproduce all the orchestral atmospheres of
Mother Earth during your live gigs, thanks to the keyboard and some samples.
That’s also a difference if we compare with the same songs played one year ago. What
do you think about playing with a real classical orchestra, as The Gathering and Rage
for example ?
Sharon: That would be great of course and we might do that so day.
Are you satisfied of the work of your label
DSFA ?
Sharon: Yes we are, they did there best.
Don’t you think they’re too much focus on the
Benelux and take not care enough of other European countries ?
Sharon: Your observation is correct. The thing is that the strength of DSFA
lies in the Benelux. They tried their best in other European countries, but it is a
small label there and there is a limit to what they can do. We knew this when we
signed with them.
But the cd is being imported in many countries.
It was obvious for “ENTER” which was
difficult to find in France for example and for which not much promotion has been
made in some countries (gigs, interviews…). Do you think it will be better for
“Mother Earth” ? What do you think about the work of your French distributor Seasons
Of Mist ?
Sharon: They send us a book with the promotion they did and they put a lot of
time into it. We belief they did a great job as well.
You’ve played in Paris some months ago, what
did you think about the reaction of the French public ?
Sharon: We loved to be in Paris. We got a great response of the public. When
may we come again ???
Do you see any difference between this public
and the Belgian or the Dutch ones ?
Sharon: No not really.
If I’m right your fans have chosen your single
by voting on your website and the winertittle was Ice Queen. So why have you decided
to choose “Our Farewell” first ?
Sharon: Our label thought it had more change than Ice queen at the National
radio stations.
But we did released ‘Ice queen’ later on because we and most fans thought it the best
song for a single. We were wrong ‘Our farewell’ was played a lot but ‘Ice queen’ was
played a lot less.
What are your plans for the next months ?
You took part at some festivals this summer, not only metal fests but also more
alternative ones (Pinkpop, Paaspop, Boerenrock, folkfestival).
Sharon: That’s a new step reached thanks to the great success of Mother Earth.
Where do you prefer to play, the metal ones or
the others ?
Sharon: There is not much difference. We have 50% metal fans and 50% main steam
fans in all ages.
Thanks for giving me some of your precious
time. I wish you all the best for “Mother Earth”.
Sharon: No problem. You asked really good questions.
And let you freemind to give to this interview
an original conclusion.
Sharon: We are planning to come to France and do a small tour, it has not been
confirmed for a 100% but we hope it will be. Hope to see you all there.
Keep checking our Internet site: http://www.within-temptation.com for the latest
news.
Kind regards,
Sharon den Adel (W.T)
Florian LYSY (Ablazine.com)
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