>> Croatian version

>> Back to interviews

AUTUMN interview by Damjan

Rising from Holland, which proves to be a true goldmine for quality metal music, Autumn has often been described as “the next big thing” on European Goth scene... but, instead of fulfilling the prophecies, they almost disbanded after the unexpected departure of their mastermind Meindert Sterk. However, the band did survive and now, with a new album out and a worldwide deal with Metal Blade, they seem to be on the right track. This might become a very important year in their biography, and drummer Jan Grijpstra gives us a prospective of how the Autumn feels in June ‘07...

After the sudden departure of Meindert Sterk, Autumn was almost “expected” to disband... but you choose to proceed. Was it a hard decision to make? What would you define as a key element that kept the band going?

We already wrote a lot of material for the “My New Time” record when Meindert announced that he would leave the band. We were determined to release this material, because we found it simply to good to throw it away. This was a key element to go on. Music has always been the most important factor for the band, and the drive to make music was the most important factor to go on.

Can you present us the new members, one by one? Where do they come from (musically) and what do they bring to Autumn? How would you compare the new line up to the Sterk-fronted Autumn?

Our leadsinger is Nienke de Jong. She runs together with Arno Krabman the studio we recorded “My New Time” in. She recently has set up a side project called Dejafuse, a rock band. Our guitar players are brothers, called Mats and Jens van den Valk. They are also both active in two other bands, called Seizure and Cantara. These are melodic metal bands. Our bassplayer is Jerome Vrielink. Besides bass, he can play guitar and some drums as well. He also plays in the band Massive Assault, a stoner/metal band. Then we have Jan Munnik, a very talented piano/synth player. He is very strong in arranging songs and providing songs of catchy hooks or melodies. He played many years in a successful cover band. I am the drummer and the last one of the original line up. So my history lies in Autumn. I think this line up is not very different from the line up with Meindert. We already were a compact, solid collective, the arrival of Jerome made this collective even more solid I believe.

For “My New Time” you preferred to work by exchanging mp3 recordings with other band members, so that everyone practically worked on its own, at home... which can also be a bit alienating. Why you opted for this method, and how strongly did it influence the final result?

Indeed, we mostly wrote separately from each other. Because we have quite some multi-instrumentalist in the band, it is not hard to make a solid basis for a song. These templates then found a way to the other members who all gave their own touch to each song. In this way a song was gradually built and each time new layers were added. It is kind of similar to making a song in the rehearsal room, the difference being that you have more time to think about the layers you want to add. The reason we did this was partly because we live quite far from each other and do not have a lot of time to rehears every week. The alienating is not the biggest problem because we often have a busy touring schedule. So we see each other very often.

You had a lot of nice things to say about the producer of “My New Time”, Arno Krabman... How profound was his contribution to the album? Would it sound the same if done with another producer?

We already pre-produced most songs, so Arno did not have a big effect on the basis of the song. He is very good in choosing / making sounds and adding interesting hooks or instruments to the mix. So if somebody else would have done the producing, the result would be different, but more sound-wise than composition-wise.

You have often been described as some sort of “the next big thing” in Goth metal (even if the term is somewhat reductive for your music)... Does it burden you in a negative way?

No, we never felt it this way ourselves. Mostly because our style and sound is very different from the first big thing like Nightwish, After Forever and Within Temptation. We have our own niche and we are quite happy over there.

It has been said that “My New Time” is Autumn’s most personal album so far... Which were the main sources of inspiration for the lyrics, but also for the music? How strongly is your music tied to your everyday life experiences?

The lyrics on this album were mainly written by Mats and Jens. They use personal themes for their lyrics. Things they feel and see around them. So this album became in that way very personal. Music-wise I think that our mood directs the kind of music we write, so in that way it is linked to our daily life. Influences from bands we like are the other part of the direction of our music.

Lately there has been a huge boom of so-called “female fronted bands”... How do you see yourself in relation to that “scene”? Is it sexism to divide bands in those fronted by men and by women? Or is it perfectly ok? ;o)

Every band is put in a genre. And this female fronted genre came up during the period bands like the Gathering and within Temptation appeared. I’m not saying that the person who made up the genre should be locked away, he-he, but it is of course a strange kind of dividing music. If you hear Arch enemy or Doro, they are also female fronted metal bands, but they do not completely fit in the picture. Bottom line, as long as people do not judge the music solely because it fits in some kind of genre, I don’t care were they put us in.

I guess that with Metal Blade you have much stronger coverage on international level, promotion-wise. Do you feel new horizons opening for the bend? Will we feel the difference for as far as touring is regarded? Any dates in places that you haven’t played before?

Yes, we definitely feel the difference. Metal Blade is very good in promoting in the underground and the do not miss on single spot in there. This is great and we appreciate that a lot. This is the first time our record is released world-wide (within a month), so it feels great. We are planning to go abroad in the fall of this year. Countries we are thinking of are Germany, Austria and Belgium. But hopefully there will be many more to add to the schedule.

Are you planning to do any videos for “My New Time”?

Yes, we are currently working on a video for the song “Satellites”. We hope to make the video in summer.

To end with, given the line-up changes and the new label, we could say that 2007. is an important year for Autumn, a sort of the new beginning... Where do you see the band going in the near future? Where would you like to see it going?

We would really like to promote this album for a few months and then start the pre-production / recording of the fourth album. Until now, there has always been a lot of time in between records and this time we want to shorten this period and release the next album sooner. We can’t wait!