With their sixth and new record “The Quantum Enigma”, Epica wants to reach a brand new level in their career. Coen Janssen and Simone Simons gives us a bit more detail about their new disc.
Hello how are you?
Coen Janssen (keyboards): I’m fine, thank you.
So your new album “The Quantum Enigma” is now out, confident?
C: I’m very very confident, I’m very happy with the result and what we’ve been hearing so far from fans, people are very enthusiastic about it which gives us the confidence for the album we see right now, but you never know. We’re proud of the result.
So you said that you’re taking Epica to the next level, how will the fans notice that?
C: You can already hear it, we took a different approach in producing and recording. We had a different production team so it sounds maybe different but I think it sounds more modern and catchier; yes it’s the next level of Epica we’re able to reach.
What were the guidelines and the state of mind of the band when you began working on this record?
C: The main thing we changed is that we wanted to have more as a group effort. Usually we sent each other musical ideas through internet and work on it at home, basically not see each other during recording but now we really got together in the studio and we jammed songs together, worked on it personally and we got much better results from that.
What do you think of bands working as one, in the studio, like the last Sonata Arctica as Tony Kakko said, or everyone at home, sending files here and there and then getting together?
C: Well normally because we have a few people living in Holland and Simone lives in Germany and Mark lives, most of the time, in Italy, it’s hard for us to get together so we really took the time to get in the studio, talk about every details as a band and everybody could give their opinion. It’s good for the whole album I think that way details are better worked and everybody is really happy the way we did it.
So you changed the producer for this album, how did Joost’s name come in?
C: Well we know Joost from his work with After Forever, he is of course a direct colleague of mine because he’s a keyboardist as well, and we know him from the Dutch scene. He’s an upcoming producer, he produced Revamp, Dutch bands and also none metal bands. We got in touch when there was a TV show in Holland, in their studio, and somehow, the chemistry over there and the whole vibe felt really good. Then came the idea to probably record there and work with Joost. We had a lot of talks beforehand and yeah, all turned very well.
Same for the mix, with Jacob Hansen, why him?
C: When we came to the mixing phase, we basically sent out one song to a few mixers, also some Americans, also Sascha and Joos, and in the end we came with Jacob. He did the best mix song and he got the job to mix the whole album. We’re really happy about the result.
The record is very dense, which 3 tracks would describe the best the album?
C: That’s really hard, I’m listening to the album every day of course you have some favorites. I think “The Essence Of Silence” as a lyrical view is kind of one of the songs that basically has it all. It’s kind of compact comparing to some of the others songs but it’s really catchy and has an exceptional groove which I really like and I like it when the band kicks in, we call it “eastern European beating”. The chorus is very catchy with a lot of choirs and there’s also the piano intro, a lot is going on! Then I think the title track is really an Epica track, it sums up what we do all the time. “Natural Corruption” is also catchy even if you don’t expect it. Also, the interlude combined with the song after, it’s a typical Epica thing, really atmospheric, symphonic, big movie sound tracking thing but then metal straight in your face.
A word about “The Fifth Guardian – Interlude”? With a very Chinese mood.
C: Everybody is asking me that (laughs) I didn’t expect it’ll be so interesting for people. I’m glad everybody ask. Isaac wrote “Chemical Insomnia” and the main melody in the chorus is in the same melody which we converted to an intro. When he played it to me, I remember “well this sounds Chinese” eastern thing, so I came up with the idea to make a big intro to that song with that atmosphere. It’s just a matter of having some other sounds and we did it really as a sound tracking thing, which worked well too. We also thought making this part the intro of the whole album but we finally decided not to do it because then you really set the mood for it and if it starts with this Chinese stuff it might sounds a little bit strange in the end so.
Also about the last track, “The Quantum Enigma – Kingdom Of Heaven II”, the first one part is on “Design Your Universe” (2009) which is also “A New Age Dawns, part V”. First, what the hell with all those parts? Then, how did you think of a second part, five years later and knowing that there’s a record between those.
Simone Simons (vocals): Mark is the one who puzzles parts, prequels and sequels, trilogies etc. He likes to give second titles to connect it all and the quantum physic is something that inspired him already on “Kingdom Of Heaven” and on this record, quantum physics is also coming back, “Quantum Enigma” has kind of the same music marks. Epica has always recurring themes, the lyrics, our topics which come on each record, very philosophical. This record has more spiritual scientific touch to it and I think this is also one of our strength besides the music we write and the lyrics. But fans are happy like “oh there’s going to be a part 3 etc.”.
C: It makes it a little bit more interesting yeah.
You searched for the perfect instruments and material to get THE sound, how will you manage live efforts?
C: We’ll see. (laughs)
S: A good sound engineer is definitely a key.
C: And a lot of screaming fans so you don’t hear anything.
S & C: (laughs)
S: We’ll gonna have to practice. We have six records now and the record is about 74 minutes, even if we’re not going to play it all live, and of course we’ll make a selection of each record, the ones we’re going to play live for this tour. Yeah really practice hard and make it sound even better than on the album… which is very much impossible to do but we’re going to try. (laughs)
Simone you are a mom now, did it affect your singing/writing in some way? How hard is it to handle a band member having a baby?
C: Well I’m a father as well actually, I know what it feels like to be a new parent but it didn’t really affect the band at all, expect that we could not tour, which is logical. We used that time to really prepare for the album so it all has its benefits.
S: Giving birth is a huge milestone in a woman’s life if you have the wish of becoming a parent. I had luckily an amazing birth, I was afraid of it but everything went very well. It’s was very inspiring, you know that you could do it because we are made to do it but lots of people are always telling horror stories and I want to spread the good story, it was wonderful and knowing that I could do it, made me really proud, a huge accomplishment. It made me stronger than ever and I have new emotions, I can hear it in my singing, in my voice and lots of people said “you look like a mummy, with the look in your eyes”, it’s a new phase in your life. I definitely put these emotions in my vocals: power, strength, enrichment in my life, you’ll hear it on the record as well.
How would you describe the record in 3 words?
S: Fucking amazing awesome!
S & C: (laughs)
C: Pretty fucking epic!
S: In your face.
What did you listen lately?
S: A baby’s crying, pooping and burping.
C: (laughs) Children songs. The funny thing is that when you start recording and start producing the album, I really don’t listen to other stuff because we listen to our stuff all the time. It sounds stupid but I really still enjoy it. When I’m in the car, I put on the CD just to think about it and when it’s done “oh yeah, that’s cool” “how will we play this live?” lots of questions. Of course we listen to other stuff as well.
S: But it’s nice to have a break from when you’re not playing to give your ears a break. I love jazz music as well, so I often listen to it during the sessions but also for my son, putting different kind of sounds. Sometimes daddy takes him out and just play him music and he loves it. Music is our life so we hope our kids will get it too.
What’s your thought about the current female fronted metal scene?
C: It’s the world’s best scene of course! I remember like 10 years ago people were still saying “gothic metal scene”. Within Temptation is still strong, Nightwish and a lot of bands you know. Lacuna Coil released a new record, we are too, Delain too, the scene is really alive.
S: It’s really expanding itself.
We already asked Anneke but: why these bands come from Netherlands and why did they all have redhead singers?
S: Well that’s a question I’ve been asked a lot and I always failed to answer. (laughs) I don’t know the reason why. Anneke is gorgeous, she’s a great singer and even though The Gathering had a male singer at the beginning, they changed their style with Anneke and became big. This style became very popular there with several little bands starting projects. Of course they aren’t all inspired by The Gathering. I myself didn’t know The Gathering at some point and “Mandylion” (1995) is one of my favorite album ever. I have red hair yes (laughs) and I know Anneke, I told her “you’re like the Madonna of metal, each record you have a different haircut” but she can do that, I can’t, I’m stucked with the red hair, it’s my trademark.
And finally, we are “RockUrLife” so: what rock your lives Simone and Coen?
C: Well, on the first hand, what rocks my life is the band on the other hand, it’s the family life. It’s so much fun to be a dad and see so many things, it’s just great.
S: My answer is the same, it’s the combination of being a musician, being creative, putting your heart’s work in your work and like he said, with a child, you experiment the world and look at it in a different way and yeah, it’s really fun communicating with your child and having that responsibility of not only writing great music but also raising a person that will become a good citizen and maybe also a musician. It’s fun to speculate on what the future will offer but we’re very determined whatever we are doing.
Website: epica.nl
