Daeonia
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These Dutch goth rockers have a new album out called Craven, which was recently slated by Metal Hammer. I reviewed their single (a cover of Sisters Of Mercy song Alice) in the last issue, and thought it was OK, but the fears I voiced in the review seem to have been confirmed by the Metal Hammer review. Anyway to be fair I interviewed the band and they seem like nice guys. Drummer Sebastiaan Verwey answered my questions... |
Most of our
readers will probably not have heard anything about you. Could you introduce the members
of the band and tell us what the most annoying habits of each person are.
Guitar: Michael Bink
Most annoying habit: Has long and interesting conversations with
himself during rehearsal.
Guitar: Eric Hazebroek
Most annoying habit: Sometimes takes us on a 'small driving trip'
after which we usually end up in the middle of nowhere miles and miles from home.
Bass: Arjan Heijden
Most annoying habit: Can say very sarcastic things and make it
seem like he's joking
Synth: Jorrit v.d. Weide
Most annoying habit: Hates all music apart from three or four
bands and is very explicit about that.
Drums: Yours truly (Sebastiaan Verwey)
Most annoying habit: You must be kidding!!! (Eric : "Has a
life that consists of books, books, computer, books, his girlfriend, books.... and a
little bit of drums too")
Vocals: Michel de Wilde (has left the
band recently)
Most annoying habit: <no comment>
Honestly: We work together very very well as a band. There's nothing in our way as
far as songwriting and performing are concerned.
Where are you
from?
We are from Holland, and most of us live in or around The Hague
From your
biography I see that you have been together for several years, but I have never heard your
name in the UK until now. Do you have a following outside the UK?
We do not have a large following in Holland, or anywhere else.
We've never attracted much attention in our hometown, since we were never 'metal' enough
for the general taste. Most people who hear Daeonia are
either very enthusiastic, or don't know what to make of it. The music that we make is
still quite unheard of here in Holland. It's either goth metal (which we certainly are
not) or elektro that people like. Also, we are not a band that plays the local club 15
times a year and never gets out of town. We don't like that. Most of the gigs we do are in
other parts of the land. But, as a consequence, we haven't obtained a 'band of followers'
yet.
Do you do lots of
gigs to promote yourself? Have you played with any particulatly cool bands?
We're planning to do a tour with the British wave band Christian Death. This should have taken place some time ago but it
was cancelled due to various reasons. If all works out, it will take place somewhere
coming October or November. But as for now, we don't play a lot, mainly because we are
looking for a new vocalist. Michel has left us some months
ago and we haven't found a proper replacement yet, but we are very busy trying new people.
As soon as that is settled, we will play more and promote Craven
on stage as much as we can.
Your music
could be described as goth metal, though obviously not in the My
Dying Bride sense. Do you consider yourself a goth band or a
metal band? I know from experience that the goth scene can be very bitchy and judgemental
- have you experienced that as a band?
We consider ourself a goth rock band. Though we've started out as a goth metal
band, we've progressed long since into some sort of goth rock band. Craven
still has a little bit of a metal edge, but the new material is less metal and more goth
rock/ 80's wave. We haven't had any very negative reactions from the existing goth scene
up to now. This is partly because we're right in between the My
Dying Bride bands and the electronic goth bands of today. I cannot imagine that any
of those two sides could have trouble with us because, we don't fit in very neatly in
either of those 'scenes'. Also, nowdays every metal band that employs a keyboard player
and a female vocalist calls itself a goth band. In our opinion, it takes more than that to
be a goth band.
In a few
sentences, explain to our readers why they should buy your music.
Daeonia combines a modern sound with
an atmosphere of the wave bands in the 80's. Without sounding oldfashioned we bring to
life catchy, dark, emotional music that picks you up and doesn't let you go. As of yet,
there is no band alike in this genre. Together with an intense and mesmerising live show, Daeonia is worth listening to.
Judging by
your choice of Alice as a
single, I assume the Sisters Of Mercy are a large influence on you. What other bands influence your music, and
what other bands do you like?
Besides Sisters, there is only Fields of the Nephilim as a mutual source of inspiration for the
band as a whole. As
individiuals, the music we listen to is much more divers, ranging from Depeche Mode to The Mission, from The Tea Party to classical music. We do like to 'group' ourselves
with a new breed of goth bands from America, such as London after
Midnight, Autumn, Faith and the
Muse and Switchblade Symphony. The Craven CD has also been released in the US and reactions are very
positive. We do not sound similar to those bands, but we would enjoy playing with them,
because we do bring about a bit of the same atmosphere.
In ten years
time, do you think Daeonia will
still be going strong?
That depends. If we get the chance, we will probably continue
playing as long as we can. Nevertheless, we cannot look any further than a couple of
months, or sometimes days. As for now, it's still uncertain what people think of us. The
reviews of Craven are starting to appear here and there,
together with some interviews. We hope to be well-received and to play a lot, and evolve
further into what we are doing. Daeonia has by no means
reached its end station.
What are you
favourite 3 albums of all time?
Fields of the Nephilim - Elizium
Sisters of Mercy - Floodland
London after Midnight - Psycho Magnet
And so much more that it is impossible to name every band that fits my mood on a certain occasion. I listen to a lot of different music. Those slots can be filled by a large variety of bands. It's simply impossible to list only three. Nevertheless, Fields and Sisters will always be there.
What was the
last album you bought?
The Tea Party - Triptych
(excellent cd!!!)
What was the
last gig you went to?
Lacuna Coil
On a totally
non music related subject - what do you think the worldwide effects of the millenium bug
will be? I might even give out a prize to the person who guesses closest! (If I'm still
alive to do so!)
Hehehe, I personally think that the millennium bug, apart from maybe a few
small calamities, will not cause the earth to collapse. Unfortunately, I know as much
about computer programming as I know about playing guitar..... so I could be dead wrong.
Who knows?
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