Interview Ambeon, Astrid van der Veen - 14th July 2001 at Bospop Festival Weert
Finally the English version!!! Enjoy!!
Crowe: What brought you and Arjen actually together?
Astrid: Ehm. About a year ago I record a solo cd. Arjen the cd from someone and then (Arjen in the meanwhile: 'I thought it was crap!!), well then haha, will you please leave now!!! (to Arjen), en then he called me (Arjen again: She's a MIRACLE!!!) and asked me if I was interested to sing with him. Yeah, eh, I thought, where, with who, because I didn't heard of him before and I didn't know what kind of music he made, actually I didn't know anything about him at all. So he sent me some of his recordings, and I really thought it was COOL!!!
Crowe: How went all the actions taken before the cd? Did you phone a lot, talked, made some plans?
Astrid: Arjen made in the studio of at home the music, and he recorded the whole thing, some kind of mix. He sent it to me. Then I made and added the vocal lines and lyrics. Well, I came over to Arjen, and sang the vocallines into Arjen's mixes, so it was Arjen who was the first to hear me singing and the result, en then he thought: 'Well, nice!' and then he made some other mix of it, and we discust a bit about it, about some parts we could change or not, or had to be recorded again because they weren't right at the first record.
Crowe: How went the contact with the other musiscians? Did you see them a lot?
Astrid: Actually I don't even know them haha! I discovered who they were, when the cd was released! Like: 'Ah funny, that guy drums, and that one's doing the basslines….hahaha'
Crowe: What's your opinion about Arjens projects? Do you have a favorite release?
Astrid: I think they're damn cool! And my favorite….hmmmm…I think that would be The Electric Castle, that one's great!
Crowe: You wrote the lyrics and vocal lines all by yourself. Tell us how that went? How did you do all that?
Astrid: Well I took a pencil and some paper!!! Haha, no kidding. I put on the music a lot, and listened very concentrated to it so I got inspired. The lyrics contains some of my own thoughts, some of my experiences, a little mix from all that. And that you, after listening to the music and think about what you like to sing, write these ideas down. When I start I never know where I will end, I just put it down on paper! Like that! And another song is done!
Crowe: So there is some personal feeling or emotion in your lyrics?
Astrid: Yeah! That's for sure, never without that, because that's what I like! I think you're doing something very wrong, when you write your music without feeling or emotion!
Crowe: What time did it take you to write these lyrics? Did you get some help from Arjen?
Astrid: Oh that went very fast! A few days for 1 track. But not whole days of course, first listen to the music, get familiar with it, sing along with them…maybe a few days, but like our last song, one that will be released on our single, a new one, that's been done in a few hours. Arjen called me on Saturday evening, and he asked me if I was interested to make a new song for the single. Yeah COOL! And he let me listen to the song by phone and I said: 'Okay, I'll write the lyrics!!!' The song reminded me about a carroussel. That's why the titel will be: Merry-go-round. The day after that we were on our way to Arjen and I wrote the tekst in the train. At the studio we recorded the song immediatly. So that's how fast it can be done!
Crowe: The vocals and music differs huge from the original Ayreon work. Wasn't it damn hard, to write totally different vocal lines on already existing songs?
Astrid: Yeah, exactly, that's the whole point! One of the cd's a can dream out of my head, Dreamsequencer is it. So I thought: There are a few songs on that album I have to do over again too! And it was pretty hard for me to do a few of those songs, that's too bad, but after all it all worked out very well!
Crowe: How did the ideas from Arjen develop? How did he get to all that? With your help?
Astrid: Er, yeah, we always talk about it together, about what I thought of his music, and vise versa. In fact we helped each other a bit.
Crowe: After listening to the cd, we concluded there are some Celtic/Irish influences in some songs. Where does that come from?
Astrid: Well, nothing we did was on purpose, or planned. Yeah, it went like, here is the music, I sang, Arjen did some stuff with it, added some sounds and that's it! The same for the cover, everything went realy smooth. There were no plans at all, the style, the public. Just: Let's make the cd and we'll see what it will become!
Crowe: Here are some notes from fans and us, and we like to know what you think of it: In some songs you reach the same quality, sometimes better, as Anneke van Giersbergen, The Gatering. The smae counts for Sharon den Adel, from Within Temptation.
Astrid: Oh yeah, they are really good! I think they're great, but yeah, I won't say something about my own qualities. Heheh!
Crowe: In Whole Lotta Love, Jimmy Page, the guitarist of Led Zeppelin, is able to create a wonderfull composition between his guitar and the vocals of Robert Plant. Robert sings, Jimmy plays his vocal lines on his guitar! And the other way around! You and Arjen do the same in the song Cold Metal. A perfect composition between your voice and his guitar! How did you get to that idea?
Astrid: Actually I sang the complete vocal lines at once, and it went like: You're doing something like sjalalalala. En after that was finished Arjen said: I cut a few pieces out of it. And at some points he called me saying: I've got something really cool. I put a few of your pieces together and mixed them and played a few guitar lines over it myself, and it really sounds great!!! I even think Arjen doesn't know Led Zeppelin.
Crowe: Er, for Arjen is comparing him with Led Zeppelin a great compliment!
Astrid: He knows them? Led Zeppelin?
Crowe: Yeah of course, he's grown up with it! Haha.
Astrid: Oh haha, that's something new to me.
Crowe: What do you think of the fact that fans are comparing you with other bands?
Astrid: Well, personally I think it's stupid, everyone thinks I think. Comparing bands is like placing the one above another. But IF people are comparing with others, you'll get an impression in what scene they'll put you, but yeah, that's as wrong as comparing, I think.
Crowe: How did the recordings go? How was the planning? Can you tell something about that?
Astrid: They went really good. The first time I came to the studio Arjen gave me a headphone and I said: 'With that thing I won't hear myself!' And he said: 'No, with this thing you will hear yourself better!!!' So okay, I started singing and the first take went good. It was kinda new to me, but not that much. So after taping I heard myself, and I thought: 'Hey that's me haha!' It was pretty stupid. So we made some others and everything went okay, almost nothing had to be done to the songs they we're good as they were. Arjen and I agreed most of the time with ideas we had. Of course Arjen sometimes had something like: 'Maybe you can do that better this way, or that way!' But after all everything went perfect!
Crowe: What was your reaction after listening to the full length album when it was finished?
Astrid: COOOOOOL!!! Really like: 'What? What's this!!!! ME??!' But I have to admit: You're really busy with the cd, it takes a lot of time, you're a part of everything, the design of the cover, the mixes, everything, and at the end you can dream the whole thing. It isn't something new anymore, but on the other hand, when you walk into a cd store, and see your own cd between all the thousands of others you think: 'Cool, that's me!!!'
Crowe: Can we expect a sequel to Ambeon?
Astrid: That's a good question! We're thinking about it! There are some little things yeah, but not concrete plans, but who knows!!!
Crowe: Did Arjen you offer more in his Ayreon projects?
Astrid: No, heheh, not yet actually. (IN the meanwhile, Arjen walks in, and out again so we're joking a little: What?!!! Hey You! Come back right now! Give her some work to do!!! Hahaha)
Crowe: On Bospop Festival ( within a few hours) you and Arjen will play live!! How does that feel!!
Astrid: Well actually we won't play together. I will sing a song, Beyond Me, with After Forever and Arjen will play along with the song Fallen blablabla. So not at the same time. But there are some ideas to do Ambeon Live!!! But as Arjen always says: 'No, because that will be hard, with all the special effects and samples.' And yes, it WILL be hard, but who knows. We will keep it small, not like this major festivals, just smaller.
Crowe: What are your own plans for the future inside the music?
Astrid: I certainly will go on with this. At least some money to live with, but I don't know how or when. With a band? Or Solo? I don't know. I'm also not certain what kind of music, because the music I make on piano differs from what Ambeon sounds like, so I don't know.
Crowe: Do you play in a band?
Astrid: Yeah sometimes, here and there, but not a really good band or something. Then that one quits then the other. Actually the motivation is very bad. And that's so damn not cool! But maybe in some band I can find some future!
Crowe: What kind of music do you prefer?
Astrid: HOUSE! HAHAHA, HARDCORE! HAHAHA, no just kidding. My music preference is large, Madonne, no another joke: Gothic, Celtic, rock, The Cure, no pop music, but U2 or a Loreena Mc Kennith and Kate Bush ar okay! Yeah, all kinds of music.
Crowe: Do you like to continue in the style you did with Ambeon?
Astrid: That's a good question. Maybe I think it's cool to make my music heavier then Ambeon, with some easy parts in it! I'm playing piano and make my own songs, so maybe a solo album? But, and that's for sure, I will put some heavier parts in it!!
Crowe: Well, let's hope so!!!
Crowe: What are you doning beside music?
Astrid: Hobby's??? Hmmm school! I did VWO, but I decided to do HAVO, thats a year shorter and then I won't have to go to school. Then I can do whatever I like! And for the rest, if I don't make music, I listen to it. I don't know. No books or TV, but some games like scrabble AND play my piano, but that's music so that doesn't count haha! Oh yeah, and checking my email!!!!!
Crowe: HAHA
Astrid: Hey, that's nothing to laugh about, it aint funny!!!
Crowe: It's another hobby rigth, that's fun!!
Astrid: Yeah, but I thought I had to tell serious stuff I did!
Crowe: Is scrabble serious??
Crowe: How do you manage to put everything straight in time for music and time for other things?
Astrid: Actually it's all the same. Music is my life. When I have time left, I make music. I don't have time for any other stuff then for music.
Crowe: What was the reaction of your family, friends and students on collega when you showed them the cd?
Astrid: Yeah pretty cool, the thought it was great! I don't have that much contact with schoolmates, but the people I do know, they think it's great. And they like what I'm doing, the support me really well!
Crowe: What did you had to do to become such a talent as you are?
Astrid: My mom is singer and the whole family are into music, so we learned singen at an early age at home. I studied 2 years classical singing lessons, after that 3 years easy listening music and further just visit a whole lot. Musicals, some singprograms, that sort of stuff! Yeah, and now THIS!
Crowe: Arjen lives a really stand alone live, a minimum of contact with other people, how is the contact between you and him after Ambeon?
Astrid: You mean now? Now, or NOW?
Crowe: Right now he isn't here…
Astrid: I didn't see him for almost half an hour hahaha!… No we're mailing a lot, and call about these things, about interviews, reactions, that sort of stuff. But a lot more, because we'd like to do more maybe, so we keep contact about that too!!
Crowe: Well, we're hoping on that! A new album of Ambeon hopefully! Thanks for your enthuasiastic reactions (heheh) and really good luck with everything and at the stage later!!!
