MI. By the way, what are the general themes treated in “In Your Room”, except love?
Anneke. Love is a big chunk…But just life in general, the small and big things in life, that’s always the case, but as I said, I wrote some more stories, about unreachable love….A funny one for instance is “Sunny Side Up”, which is about a girl falling in love with the anchorman on television, she’s every morning at 8 watching him…Oh non, sorry, that’s “Pearly”! It’s kinda funny, but then again, if somebody watches the TV every morning at 8, just to watch the guy on the news, it’s a bit sad too…
MI. Did you also fell in love with a man on television?
Anneke. No, not really! Everybody is asking, thinking it was autobiographic, but it’s not! I liked the idea, because obviously I had my favourite television news anchormen, but I was just thinking “If you really fall in love with a guy like that, and you don’t know him, but you know him so well at the same time because every morning you watch him, it’s like…Waou!
MI. Is it easier for a singer to sing on its own material, I refer in this question on the way you were singing with THE GATHERING?
Anneke. Good question…I think it’s as easy, because in THE GATHERING I had my own chunk in the writing process, I wrote vocal lines and lyrics…You have your own thing in a group, but it’s as easy when you’re doing everything yourself, I ask the guys in the band to make it better…So that’s the other way…It’s different…This way is faster as well, because I can do all the things I wanna do in a song, I come up with the rhythm or the guitar, I can come out myself in more way than one! So that’s a nice feeling…And then the guys just make it better, because they are better instrumentalists, than I am. And they have really good ideas, and they’re working fast, so…they build up the songs. It’s the opposite way of working!
MI. Can you talk about the guys in the band?
Anneke. Yeah, gladly! We have Rob, my husband, on drums. Actually, the nice thing is that the three members have their own band, and they make their own music, so that’s really nice, and that makes them really creative. Rob is my husband but he’s also the best drummer I could find. I’m really lucky, and we work a lot together, every day. There is Joris on guitar, who’s also the best singer I’ve ever known in our country, I’m happy he sang on this record, I wanted him to sing even more, but there was no time…But he’s a great guitar player and a really nice guy…And Jacques, the bass player, he’s the oldest member of the band, but not the wisest! Au contraire! He’s a very funny guy, but he’s also an engineer so he recorded the album. They all have great personalities, and I like it, I’m extremely happy with them!
MI. Isn’t it hard sometimes to work with your husband?
Anneke. Not at all! But I know that sometimes for some couples it can be rough, because you are always on top of each other, at home, at work…But we have no problem on that ground…We understand each other, we’re honest, if I don’t see it clearly, he helps me, and when he doesn’t see it clearly, I help him…That’s the main thing…If you have the same problems and fall together, there’s no way of picking each other up! I’m always flying high, and dreaming, I’m always up in the sky, I got my own view, my own inspiration, but Rob is very earthly, down to the ground, and brings me back!
MI. Sorry to talk about that, but I need to…Why did you leave THE GATHERING, and are you still in touch with your former partners?
Anneke. I left the band to do my own thing, and to be with Rob and my son, there are a lot of reasons, but change is the main one, after 13 years, sometimes you just can’t explain it, it’s just a feeling, a need for change…We’re not in contact at the moment…
MI. It’s funny because two main bands with female vocalists lost their front girl at the same time, THE GATHERING and NIGHTWISH, with the departure of Tarja. What do you think of NIGHTWISH, because it’s another band with a female on vocals?
Anneke. In general I think change is good, so even though THE GATHERING was already in activity before I joined The Band, I am very proud to have been a part of it, but sometimes change is better than doing something over and over again. Even if it was the most difficult decision in my life. I think that a band like NIGHTWISH recovered very well, and found a very good vocalist, very nice too. People just follow a band, and don’t care if it’s better or not, if she’s a better singer or worse. But some people don’t like change! They can hang on to a thing that’s already dead…But I like moving, being like a fish in the sea…
MI. When you left the band, don’t you think it was easier for you than for the rest of THE GATHERING?
Anneke. I guess so, because I’m the one who left, I had all these new plans and I think it’s always different with any band, maybe it’s easier when you’re the singer, because you’re in a kind of way the “face” of the band.
MI. Women in music have always faced the same problem. Whether they were beautiful women, and so, not considered as musicians, or they were pretty ugly, and not considered as women. What do you think about that, and aren’t you fed up with some questions like “When will you have a baby?’, ‘Isn’t it hard to play Rock when you’re a woman?”, or “Can you combine your private and public lives?”, these kind of questions a journalist will never ask to a male musician?
Anneke. I think there are obvious questions, and “Can you combine your private and musical lives” is a good question. It’s a challenge, and I can talk about it. I’m a woman, so I can answer to these kinds of questions, it’s absolutely logical to me. I’m actually proud to have been one of the first ladies in Metal, there are a lot of ladies in Metal nowadays, and they’re quite proud too, you know. There are significant differences between men and women, and to discuss these differences is more interesting than denying them.
MI. What do you think of the Metal ladies of the 80’s, Lita FORD, Lee AARON or Doro PESCH?
Anneke. They were the very firsts indeed, but they represented the tough side of the ladies in Metal. In our generation, the melodic softer side is more important…There were big differences between the 80’s and the 90’s, so it’s good they were there at the time, I like women like Doro, because they really stood their ground when nobody else did. There was no sensitivity in Metal before them. So I’m quite proud of all these ladies! Even if they’re tough, compare to a more romantic leader, like Sharon of WITHIN TEMPTATION…It showed that everything was possible. But even in concerts now, there are a lot more girls coming. And it’s great!
MI. I guess a tour is billed after the release of this album. How is it going to be?
Anneke. We planned four big gigs in Holland, to present the album, and to warm up, and we would love to come back to Paris, because we played here with AGUA DE ANNIQUE only once, and it was really great. Maybe some more shows in Holland in February.
MI. What are the fans reactions when you play live, considering the fact that some of them were surely THE GATHERING fans?
Anneke. A lot of mixed reactions. It’s a big change, especially live, and we want to present something positive. People react generally really well, because the show is well prepared. For me the best thing in the world is to be on the stage, and I share this energy with the audience. Just share, being there, together, is a big thing. Ultimately it doesn’t matter what kind of music you make. When you’re in a room you try to be loved by the other people, and I love that unity. If it ever changes, if we become too big, and unity disappears, then it will be the moment to start again…
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В целом довольна, как слон, очень позитивная и легкая, но в то же время неординарная музыка. Я бы не сказала, что это поп-рок, скорее чем-то смахивает на переплетение кантри и поп-, слегка подзаправленное поп-роковыми гитарками и клавишными со скрипкой (кстати, так и не доперла, скрипка это на самом деле или симулятор ее на синтезаторе) в качестве изюминки. Не похож на оба предыдущих альбома почти никак, разве что Wonder и Home Again, где основным аккомпанирующим инструментом является фортепиано; вообще же это все гораздо более "задорно" звучит, совсем не похож по настроению на меланхолический акустический "Pure Air" и уж тем более не на практически тотально грустный "Air".
