1 – The band exists since 1995 but, with this new wave of Gothic Rock / Metal female fronted bands, aren’t you scared that Autumn can be labelled as “just one more trying to jump into the train”? How would you say Autumn differs from the rest of those bands and what do you to have to offer?
Jan: No, not scared. We released our first album in 2002, but already toured in 2001 with After forever. So I do not think that we are new in the scene and trying to profit from the hype generated by other bands. Although I have to admit that bands like the Gathering and Within temptation paved the way for a lot of bands in this genre, including our band. The fact that this happened already in the mid 90’s, shows that it is not a hype, but more of a consistent genre.
I think we differ from the other bands in the fact that we do not use massive orchestral and choral arrangements. We try to use a guitar-riff or synth-lead as the basis for a song. A bit more of a rock oriented way of writing songs. Also the voice of Nienke and the groove in the songs differs from most bands in the genre.
2 – There is a wide range of genres mixed up here and it seems that you have influences from several musical styles from 80s Gothic Rock, New Wave, Pop, Rock, Metal, Trip Hop, etc. What kind of bands do you listen and influence you to write music for Autumn?Jan: Personally I am mostly influenced by the band Faith no More. They were able to blend in / use every genre or influence they liked, without losing their own identity. I admire this way of writing songs a lot and hope we can reach this level of songwriting as well. Making music without boundaries, that would be great! I think we already are a few steps towards this goal with this new album. Our approach of writing whatever you want and let every member fill in their view of the song, worked out great for us.
3 – After the releasing of the previous album there were some line-up changes. What happened with the previous members? In which manner do you think the new members contributed for the music of Autumn?
Jan: After releasing the Summer’s End album in 2004 we were given the chance to tour through Germany with Within Temptation and do a lot of headliner shows in the Benelux. One of our guitar players, Jasper, left the band around that time because he could not combine the busy schedule of the band with his private life and daily job. Mats, the brother of our other guitar player Jens, filled in his spot. After a long period of promoting the second album we started to think about recording our third album. This process of creating new songs, the fact that we had to search for another label and the still busy schedule of touring around, combined with a daily job and a family life were the reasons that our keyboard player, Menno and bass player, Meindert left the band within one year from each other. They were replaced by respectively Jan Munnik on keys and Jerome Vrieling on bass.
Mats was already within the band when we started to write new material, so he contributed a lot to the basis of most songs. Jan Munnik came a bit later, but he had total freedom with filling in the synth lines and, as you can hear on the album, he did an amazing job! He came up with brilliant leads and twists to the songs. Through these leads the songs came alive. Jerome came when we were in the last stage of the pre-production. He gave his interpretation to already existing bass lines. But when you listen to a song like My New Time or Closest Friends Conspire, he put so much groove into the lines that it feels like they push the songs further like a non-stoppable train.
4 – In the press-release we can read “change, in the sense of progression, is the recurring theme in the new album”. What kind of subjects influenced you to write the lyrics for “My New Time”?Jerome: The subjects of the lyrics vary from personal themes to more abstract poetic representations that don’t necessarily correspond to real-life experiences. Some can even be seen as humorous allegories; there is for instance one song that is quite a lucid metaphor for a very common house-pet, see if you can find out which one that is…
5 – Metal Blade Records is a label more focused on Heavy / Thrash / Death Metal and Autumn is not the usual band in their catalogue. How did you ended up signing with Metal Blade?Jerome: You’re right, they don’t have a lot of gothic rock bands under contract, but they do have some more progressive sounding bands, and I guess the musical direction we are taking with Autumn appeals to them. Our guitarist Jens still had some contacts with Metal Blade due to his prior work with the band God Dethroned. Jens’ connection there made the ‘contact-line’ with the record company a lot shorter. His previous experience with them was a very good one, so after they heard the demo songs and said they were interested in Autumn, we soon signed the contract.
6 – The songwriting process changed as well. Instead of the previous and usual “rehearsal room brainstorming / jamming” you were trading mp3s through the internet. How did that way of writing the songs influenced the musical direction in the album?
Jens: This time, instead of jamming together, we filtered our individual ideas and sent song concepts and structures to each other to elaborate upon. Since all of us have recording equipment at home, this meant we could take our time to come up with the best approach to individual songs. Working in this way, the songs formed layer by layer and this generated some surprising and inspiring results. We were able to work more focussed, motivated and much, much faster. We ended up having to choose a recording selection out of 40 songs. Tough choices, but this allowed us to filter out any weaker elements and ensure a well balanced and powerful selection of songs. This could never have been possible, had we not been through the changes of the past years.
7 – Are you satisfied with this new album, the songs, the recording process, production, final product?
Jan: Very much, yes! I just got the digipack today and it has become what we wanted it to be. The artwork is sober but very stylish or elegant and the production, mixing and mastering, done by Arno Krabman and Jochem Jacobs , both young and very talented musicians and producers, have given the finishing touch to our songs.
8 – Do you have a tour prepared to promote the record?
Jan: First we will do a club-tour trough Holland and some festivals in summer. Then for the fall of 2007 we are planning a tour trough Germany. Hopefully we can also do more touring through the rest of Europe. We’ll see!
9 – One final question. Why “Autumn”?
Jan: The founder of the band and our former bass player, Meindert, came up with the name. It symbolizes the contrast between beauty and decay. This contrast can be found throughout every aspect of life. The name has kind of a gloomy feel (in the positive manner of speaking), that can also be found in our music.
Besides this, our tour manager believes that it is the best season of the year. I do not completely agree with that, hehe, but besides the cold and the rain, natures’ scenery is often great!
10 – You can leave now a final message if you want to.
Jens: Thanks to all of you reading this for your interest in Autumn. If you have the chance to check out any of our music, we’d appreciate it if you’d drop us a line on our forum or MySpace profile. Furthermore, we hope to see you all on the road soon! Portugal would be a great country to visit and play. Thanks for your support!
Questions: RDS
Answers: Jens, Jerome and Jan
Metal Blade:
www.metalblade.deAutumn:
www.autumn-band.com
