Anneke van Giersbergen
Write What I Feel Like Writing

23.11.2013

It’s strange to think now that when Dutch singer Anneke van Giersbergen was quitting her former band The Gathering, she named the desire to spend more time with her family as one of the reasons for her departure. In fact, Anneke’s musical activity after going solo did not decline, but rather the contrary. Over the course of six years, she released four full-length studio albums, while also collaborating with other high-profile artists, e.g. Devin Townsend and Danny Cavanagh (Anathema), just to name a few. For Anneke, and with Anneke, time flies – it seems that our webzine has just recently interviewed her, but in reality, this was already nearly two years ago. Thus, it’s high time to talk to her again, find out about the latest developments in her life, learn a bit about her latest studio offering, “Drive”, and of course, ask her about the upcoming gig in Moscow, scheduled for November 24.

As far as I know, you’ve just finished the first leg of your tour. Are you at home right now?

Yes, I’m at home between tours, which is very nice because, you know, you can relax, take care of things around here. So that’s very nice.

So you are passing time with your family, yeah?

Yes, exactly.

As far as I know the second leg of your tour starts in Ukraine and then you’re playing in Moscow, Russia.

Yes, it’s true.

It’s not your first time in Russia, so what are you expecting from these concerts?

You know, I always love being in the Eastern part of Europe and in Russia. It’s very nice, because people are very warm and welcoming. And they love music there, you know. It’s great to visit, sometimes you go so far away, and people really love music and arts, they enjoy it so much. So I’m super-happy to come over.

I remember a show in Saint Petersburg a year ago, I was here. And you said that Holland is something like a flower centre of the world…

Yeah, true.

… but you receive much more flowers here in Russia. Is it true?

Yeah, it’s true. (laughs)

Glad to hear it! Have you prepared anything special for the Russian fans?

Emm.. Well, I believe there’ll be a meet’n’greet. But anyway the show is gonna be special because, it’s a new show, we’ve only played it for several weeks now. We do like a big rock show, it’s a long show, we do almost all songs from the new album, we do some old songs, some Gathering songs, and I do some acoustic songs. So it’s gonna be lots of different things and it’s gonna be really, really good. And we enjoy it so much! It’s good energy as well.

That’s great! Personally I am from St. Petersburg, Russia, not from Moscow and I know that you visited Hermitage while being in our city last year. Do you plan any cultural events like this in Kiev or in Moscow this time?

I would love to, actually. Sometimes we don’t have time because we have to fly to the next gig, or we fly late so we only can build up our stuff and play. But if we have time, for sure I’m going to see some things. You know, it’s always so fantastic to go to a big square and to see these massive buildings. You know, every random street in Russia is amazing because everything is so big and it’s wonderful. So yeah, if we have time, for sure – we will go out.

I understand. I was really impressed when I heard you visited Hermitage because rock musicians usually drink when they have spare time, so it was really nice to know.

Oh, that’s great! I would go back in a minute, because of course it takes like weeks to see the whole thing. So every time we are here we would go and see another part of the Hermitage, sure.

Another question dealing with St. Petersburg, this one is very personal for me – why there’s no show in St. Petersburg during this tour?

Actually I don’t really know. I know there was talk about going there…I don’t know why we’re not playing. May be it’s just logistics and time. You know, we try to go everywhere when on tour, but you have to kind of look how you can make it happen. Russia...you know, it’s far away, it’s a big country and sometimes it’s difficult logistics-wise to make it happen. Probably if we come back next time or whatever, we’ll do St. Petersburg for sure.

Ok, and have you ever been to another cities (except for Moscow and St. Petersburg) here in Russia?

Yeah, only those two actually, yeah.

Now let’s talk about your newest album “Drive”. I think it’s faster and more “hit-oriented” than the previous one. Did you plan it or did it just happen this way?

Emm.. Actually, yeah, I just had a lot of ideas when I finished the “Everything Is Changing” album (2012), and then you start writing, recording while touring for “Everything Is Changing” and in one point the album is finished. It doesn’t take such a long time because you do everything at once: touring, writing, recording. That’s why I don’t even think about it. All the journalists say: “Oh, it’s been such a short time.” But for us, you know, it’s the way we do it.

Actually I meant that the album is faster than the previous one because it contains faster songs. Did you plan this album to contain more hit-songs or it just happened so?

I have no idea, I just write what I feel like writing, I think. But you’re right, this album is very uptempo and rocky, and there are some pop elements in it, you know. But I love all those styles so I always try to combine them and I really felt like an uptempo album, so that’s what I did.

What’s your favorite song from this album and what song is the most personal for you?

My favorite song, I would say, is “Mental Jungle”, because there is a very good vocalist called Hayko Cepkin on it, he is a Turkish singer, I love his voice, I love what he did on this song, and it’s really great. Live at works really well, it’s very nice to play this song. And the most personal, I would say, is “My Mother Said”, of course. It’s about my parents so it has personal lyrics and I would say it’s also my favorite and the most personal.

So, are you touring with a guest vocalist?

No, we are not…you mean Hayko Cepkin?

Yes.

No, he is a very busy guy in his own country, he makes his own music. We have him on a backing tape because otherwise we can’t play this song live. So we have to put him on tape, but may be when we are in Turkey he will join us on stage.

As I can see you’ve changed the record label and now you’re working with InsideOut Music…

We signed for this new album with InsideOut worldwide except Holland. And actually it is going really well, they are a very nice label, they have very good musical hearts, they are all about love for music. It’s great, it’s like a family, I feel very much at home here.

Tell us a bit about this album’s production – did the label bring anything new for you or it was a regular process?

It was, I would say, a regular process. We signed with the label when the album was already almost finished. We didn’t have lots of talks about a “musical direction” or whatever. Maybe in the future they will think about things with me, but normally actually I’m always doing… you know, I’m making music I just love making. And usually label is alright with it, you know.

Are you in contact with any other bands that are signed to this label?

Yes. Devin Townsend is on the label, Ayreon is on the label. There are people I’ve been working with for many years. We know each other, which is also very nice - to have your friends on a label too. That’s great.

What’s the most difficult thing for you when you are working on a new album – is it composing the songs, recording in a studio or something else?

Actually nothing is really difficult, because I love every part of the process. But sometimes - and that’s what I avoid most of the time – I have to spend a really-really long time in the studio, like weeks or months. When this happens, I lose my concentration. But I know this for myself, so I always try to record the album in a few weeks and then maybe tour a little bit, or do something else, or write new songs, and then go back in the studio, because it keeps me fresh always. But this album was really nice, we recorded with the whole band, and the atmosphere was so good, that I didn’t have any problems concentrating.

Taking about your band – can you tell us a few words about each of your bandmates? What are their roles in the band except for playing instruments?

Well, of course to start with my husband Rob (Snijders), he is the drummer in the band. He is a fantastic drummer, has been for many-many years, so I’m really happy he is always with us on tour. We do a lot together, so that’s really nice. Then we have Joost (van Haaren) on bass, he’s been in Holland’s most popular groups that we ever had (Krezip), but they split up and we then asked him to join our band. He is a very good, very professional, very kind guy. And we have Ferry (Dujsens), he is our guitar player, he used to be in lots of different bands and made heavy music but also other styles. Both he and the other guitar player Gijs (Coolen), they are very good melodically, so they have a very important role creating melodies and creating different layers in the production on the album. The whole band is very important to me, not only musically, but they’re also fantastic guys. I really love being with them, playing, and recording.  

Do you spend some time together not only in tours or you see each other only while touring?

No, we see each other also besides touring. Sometimes we go to concerts, or we have dinner, or we talk on the phone, so that’s really nice.

So…you are visiting concerts…How frequently do you do this?

Not enough! (laughs) ‘Cause we are always away, and sometimes my music friends come over and play in Holland, and I can’t see them because I’m away as well. But other concerts as well, I would say, I would go once a month and that’s not nearly enough, I would say.

Last time I saw you at the Masters Of Rock festival in the Czech Republic this year. When I saw the line-up with you, Devin Townsend and Moonspell participating, I expected that you would share the stage with them. It didn’t happen. What was the cause – different touring schedules?

Yeah, exactly! I was somewhere else on the days that they were playing because they asked me to participate. But we were somewhere else, and it was really…I don’t know, I’m not sure where we were. But that’s too bad because it would have been great to play with all these guys there. And it was a fantastic festival, it’s really great, and they had so many good bands. I really enjoyed it!

Is there any possibility that you will sing live with these bands in the future?

I would say so. We have worked with each other several times – either they have some ideas, or we get together, on things like this like festivals, or whatever. We ask each other if we can join each other on stage or an album. Every once in a while we return to each other and play together. That’s really nice!

As you’ve just mentioned, you collaborated a lot with Devin Townsend. He is a very creative and extraordinary person so I’m very interested in how you got to know each other and what your first impression was from knowing him.

Actually we knew each other…of each other for a long time. We used to be labelmates on Century Media. I’ve been a Devin fan for a long time also since he was in Strapping Young Lad. At one point I wanted to write some songs with him, and he needed somebody to work with him on an album. So we got together and it really worked out well, because we work really good together and he knows exactly what I can do with my voice and you know, that’s great!

You frequently play Devin’s “Hyperdrive” at your live shows. Why was this particular song chosen?

That’s just a good song, it’s one of Devin’s songs I have a big vocal role in. And I thought it would be great just to sing it live in our set as well.

Would you like to play some other Devin’s stuff at your shows?

Yeah, that would be great! But sometimes they are too heavy for my sets, so some songs you can’t play. But I will come up with a new Devin song in one of the shows… one of these days. For now we are not playing “Hyperdrive” or any other Devin song. But in the future we might do as well.
 
Another question about collaborations. I know that you performed vocals for Wetton/Downes Icon on their album “II”. Do you know them personally or did they just send you the material via the Internet?

Yeah, both. I know John Wetton personally, but of course they were in England when they were recording, and I was in Holland, so we did the whole recording via the Internet, e-mail and telephone. Which is, you know… it’s a fast way of recording.

I see. They are well-known for playing in King Crimson, Uriah Heep, Asia, lots of bands. What is your favorite band among the bands I mentioned?

(confidently) King Crimson, for sure. I love King Crimson.

Great choice!

Thank you! (everybody laughs)

I’m a big fan of Gibson guitars and if anyone asks me to mention a few musicians who play Gibson SG, I will definitely name Tony Iommy, Angus Young…and you! So – why the SG model?

I don’t know, I just love it. I wanted an SG for as long as I play guitar, for as long as I can remember. I saw it in the store, I saw it with the bands that I used to listen to. And I thought, “One of those days I would get one myself”, and I did! And it will never leave me, I love it.

Is there any possibility that we would see you with a Flying V one day?

(laughs) That would be so awesome! May be one day! But I love my SG, I can’t leave it!

I know that you also play acoustic guitar – I remember the concert with Danny Cavanagh from Anathema in January 2012. It was a magic night, do you plan to release any albums with him in the future?

I think so, yes. We don’t know exactly when, because, of course, Anathema is a very busy band and we are too. So we are going to try to get together and work on some songs or do something for sure, but we don’t know when.

All right. the next question is one of those you hear very often, I think, but... Tell us about your tattoos: what do they mean for you, who made them?

I usually go in Holland to a guy named Darko. He is a fantastic tattoo artist, so most of my tattoos are from him. And usually they mean, you know…I have the name of my son on my arm, and, of course, I have my guardian angel, so those are the most important ones. And I have a few just for fun, they don’t mean anything, they are just nice. And the big one on my upper arm with the flowers - I just, you know, I love flowers, I love nature. So it’s like a celebration of life and nature.

Can you tell us your plans for the future, maybe we should wait for a live album, or a new album soon?

A new album, for sure, and we are already working on it. I’m starting writing, I’m starting to brain on lots of ideas. Usually, when an album is finished, I always directly start on a new album – to think about it, to write, to do some demos. So yeah, we are already working on it. I’m not sure when we release it, but probably in a year and a half , whatever.

Thank you for the interview! Please say something inspiring for your Russian fans!

Thank you! Well, actually I’m looking forward to come over to Moscow and I’m really looking forward again to play. We have a good solid rock show, it’s gonna be really-really lots of fun! We all should come and be together in this magnificent country. And it will be great, that’s all I wish for.

Anneke van Giersbergen on the Internet: http://www.annekevangiersbergen.com

Special thanks to Eguene Silin (Alive Concerts) for arranging this interview

Pavel Vlasov
November 20, 2013
© HeadBanger.ru