Me and my photographer met Martijn Westerholt the founder and leader of Delain one hour and a half before their show.
The nice Martijn greeted us and proposed us something to drink. After discussing about the difficulties of the Dutch language and after having a few words in French with Martijn, we began the interview.
Magic Fire Music : Martijn, you're the writter and the keyboarder of the band. So, when did you start to learn playing keyboard? And why did you choose this instrument?
Martijn Westerholt : Oh, that's an original question. Well, actually, I started when I was nine with the keyboard. Then, after two years, I changed to piano for the technic and I'd really learn to play and I did that until I was nineteen or twenty or something like that. So, I rehearsed a lot. So, I started when I was nine.
Magic Fire Music : Ok, I would like to know how did the idea of founding your project "Delain" come to your mind?
Martijn Westerholt : Well, actually, it was not a thing like "Ok, I gonna start Delain and do like this, this and this" but more like I went ill during my Within Temptation period. I was very tired. So, I left the band because of that. There was a very good atmosphere and some people think that perhaps there have been some arguments or something like that, I don't know. I had very good relationships with the band and I'm still a little bit a part of them. And I started to write music at home, just for the fun of it, not with an idea of making an album or something like this. At a certain point, I needed some help from musicians to help to music. I can play guitar but not very well. So, I needed some help there. So, quickly I had guest musicians and I also asked Sharon (Within Temptation) to do a part as well. So yeah, it turned into a project step by step and in a certain point, I was thinking that it would be cool to make an album and there were some labours which were interresting. So, that's how it grew. At the end, it's a band.
Magic Fire Music : And why did you decide to transform your project into a band?
Martijn Westerholt : Good question! Well, actually, I was still not feeling 100% well during this process but a the end I was feeling so good and I would like to do some shows, some gigs and from the labour, there was the question "could you not make a band from Delain?" and yeah I was thinking I really would like it, to do shows, to have a real team together and my health was good enough to do that again and so then I decided to get it with Charlotte to make Delain a band. It's not like "Ok, you ask guest musicians and then they come with the band or something like that". It was not all planned, not at all, it was just a spontaneus process. If you look back, it is not very practical to have a band and have an album with guest musicians because a lot of people expect Marco Hietala and Sharon and Liv Kristine in live and of course it would happen and sometimes we will try to do a gig, a special gig with these guest musicians but not all the time of course.
Magic Fire Music : I think that Charlotte is an excelent singer. Where did you meet her and why did you choose her?
Martijn Westerholt : Well, that's a really funny story. I was really looking for a own singer. At the time of the project, I was looking for a own identity. If you have a lot of guest musicians then there is the danger of not having one album, to have like some pieces. So, I wanted a main vocalist, a own Delain vocalist. So, I started to search everywhere in the Netherlands which is of course not a very big country but nethertheless, from north to south, so I searched everywhere but I could not find the right vocalist. I was not looking for somebody who can sing but also for somebody who can write and who really can act into the music. And that's really difficult to find. In the end, I found Charlotte in the street where my parents live. So, it's quite funny. And I only asked her for doing lyrics at the beginning and then she came over to my place with these lyrics and she told me "I can sing them for you so you can see how they will fit" and she started singing and I was completely :"Ok, I'm not going to ask you only for lyrics but also ask you to do the vocals and join me in this own process".
Magic Fire Music : I read that the name of your band "Delain" comes from the Eyes of the Dragon of Stephen King and particularly from the kingdom of "Delain" we can find in the book. Why did you decide to call your band refering to this kingdom?
Martijn Westerholt : Well, it's a coincidence. I went on hollidays to Greece and I just bought some books and one of them was this Stephen King 's Eyes of Dragon book and I really really like the name. It does not mean anything. It sounds great, I don't know, it's just like a feeling, it truly fits to my music. It's not like a story which means this or that. You can compare with your child, that you give a name to your child but it does not mean something, for some people it means something but not for everybody.
Magic Fire Music : Do you know that in France, there is a town called "Delain"?
Martijn Westerholt : Yeah, yeah, I know. I even think in Quebec, in Canada, there are lot of people which surname is "Delain" and they told "Oh, Ok, it's like my surname, that's funny".
Magic Fire Music : What does inspire you to write songs?
Martijn Westerholt : Fairy, feelings. I'm not inspired by experiences I had in life. I also write what it comes into my mind. I don't write lyrics. Charlotte writes the lyrics and I acompany her with the process but I don't write the lyrics. So, fairy. It's not like this happened and it gives me inspiration.
Magic Fire Music : I would like to know if the fact you were a member of Within Temptation influences you musically?
Martijn Westerholt :Influences me, it shapes me. Of course, my music was also...how did you say, I was part of Within Temptation. So, some people says that it looks very much like Within Temptation. So, Within Temptation is part of me and I can not cancell out from me or something like that but it also shaped me because I was very young, I was seventeen when we started Within Temptation. I really have the same tastes as my brother has, not at 100% but a lot. We like the same kind of music.
Magic Fire Music : Do you have some personal regrets regarding Within Temptation career becoming a uge, uge band?
Martijn Westerholt : No, not at all. Actually, I'm very happy. I'm proud of my brother and also of Sharon because it was not a choice I made because I was forced to and that's different than when you choose to. That's different. I didn't have the choice. That's a different story.
Magic Fire Music : Are you writting a new album?
Martijn Westerholt : Actually, I've just started. A lot of things are happening at the moment with Delain, good things. We were in the charts in Holland, we're in the top 40. And there is the new single and the video clip. What's happening takes a lot of time and it's a danger that you don't have time, you don't take time to write and I go out from stage and I say "Ok, I don't mind, I don't care, I'm going to write in priority one". So, I've just started.
Magic Fire Music : You are touring currently. So will you release a DVD of this tour or a live CD?
Martijn Westerholt : That's a good question! Actually, we're just beginning and we just focuse in the Netherlands and Belgium and then in a very big country France. I didn't know when this tour is gonna be over because in october we'll start in Germany so I think we will do a DVD but I think it will take a little bit some time.
Magic Fire Music : Did happen any funny stuffs since the beginning of your tour?
Martijn Westerholt : Funny stuffs...Really small things in terms of getting to know your team but I can not think of anything tipically... good stories or something like that. Charlotte had some technical problems, she could not sing, this kind of stuffs, it's really funny.
Magic Fire Music : How did you see Delain in the future?
Martijn Westerholt : How do I see Delain in the future? Ok, that's a good one...Actually, yesterday, we already play for 2500 people, my first show in France, it was a really good experience. The audience was very enthousiastic. It was different from Belgium and Holland so it was so great and I had goose pots all over, really really great audience.So and for the future, we had to see just step by step, see what will happen, still make good music and hope people will like it. Actually, I think it's good to not have some expectations at all because you can just do the things you like to do. If you have expectations, you can get disapointment. Not that I'm afraid of anything. But I think, just see what will happen and good happening is like a blessing.
Magic Fire Music : What can we expect for the show this afternoon?
Martijn Westerholt : I hope a really good show. We will really look forward to it. I hope a lot of people will come and we have a good audience as we had yesterday.
Magic Fire Music : To conclude this interview, what would you like to tell to your French fans?
Martijn Westerholt : That I'm really honored, that France is like the first country where we really start out the Benelux. And I'm really proud for how we are receive in press, also reactions from French people and even more like our gig of yesterday and I want to thanks them and I hope people will listen to the music and will enjoy it. That's the main thing for what I write music.
Thank you very much!
Merci
16h00. The show began.
It was really great! Very well received by the audience! Guys managed very well and Charlotte enchanted us with her clear and wonderful voice. 60 minutes of pure pleasure!
The nice Martijn greeted us and proposed us something to drink. After discussing about the difficulties of the Dutch language and after having a few words in French with Martijn, we began the interview.
Magic Fire Music : Martijn, you're the writter and the keyboarder of the band. So, when did you start to learn playing keyboard? And why did you choose this instrument?
Martijn Westerholt : Oh, that's an original question. Well, actually, I started when I was nine with the keyboard. Then, after two years, I changed to piano for the technic and I'd really learn to play and I did that until I was nineteen or twenty or something like that. So, I rehearsed a lot. So, I started when I was nine.
Magic Fire Music : Ok, I would like to know how did the idea of founding your project "Delain" come to your mind?
Martijn Westerholt : Well, actually, it was not a thing like "Ok, I gonna start Delain and do like this, this and this" but more like I went ill during my Within Temptation period. I was very tired. So, I left the band because of that. There was a very good atmosphere and some people think that perhaps there have been some arguments or something like that, I don't know. I had very good relationships with the band and I'm still a little bit a part of them. And I started to write music at home, just for the fun of it, not with an idea of making an album or something like this. At a certain point, I needed some help from musicians to help to music. I can play guitar but not very well. So, I needed some help there. So, quickly I had guest musicians and I also asked Sharon (Within Temptation) to do a part as well. So yeah, it turned into a project step by step and in a certain point, I was thinking that it would be cool to make an album and there were some labours which were interresting. So, that's how it grew. At the end, it's a band.
Magic Fire Music : And why did you decide to transform your project into a band?
Martijn Westerholt : Good question! Well, actually, I was still not feeling 100% well during this process but a the end I was feeling so good and I would like to do some shows, some gigs and from the labour, there was the question "could you not make a band from Delain?" and yeah I was thinking I really would like it, to do shows, to have a real team together and my health was good enough to do that again and so then I decided to get it with Charlotte to make Delain a band. It's not like "Ok, you ask guest musicians and then they come with the band or something like that". It was not all planned, not at all, it was just a spontaneus process. If you look back, it is not very practical to have a band and have an album with guest musicians because a lot of people expect Marco Hietala and Sharon and Liv Kristine in live and of course it would happen and sometimes we will try to do a gig, a special gig with these guest musicians but not all the time of course.
Magic Fire Music : I think that Charlotte is an excelent singer. Where did you meet her and why did you choose her?
Martijn Westerholt : Well, that's a really funny story. I was really looking for a own singer. At the time of the project, I was looking for a own identity. If you have a lot of guest musicians then there is the danger of not having one album, to have like some pieces. So, I wanted a main vocalist, a own Delain vocalist. So, I started to search everywhere in the Netherlands which is of course not a very big country but nethertheless, from north to south, so I searched everywhere but I could not find the right vocalist. I was not looking for somebody who can sing but also for somebody who can write and who really can act into the music. And that's really difficult to find. In the end, I found Charlotte in the street where my parents live. So, it's quite funny. And I only asked her for doing lyrics at the beginning and then she came over to my place with these lyrics and she told me "I can sing them for you so you can see how they will fit" and she started singing and I was completely :"Ok, I'm not going to ask you only for lyrics but also ask you to do the vocals and join me in this own process".
Magic Fire Music : I read that the name of your band "Delain" comes from the Eyes of the Dragon of Stephen King and particularly from the kingdom of "Delain" we can find in the book. Why did you decide to call your band refering to this kingdom?
Martijn Westerholt : Well, it's a coincidence. I went on hollidays to Greece and I just bought some books and one of them was this Stephen King 's Eyes of Dragon book and I really really like the name. It does not mean anything. It sounds great, I don't know, it's just like a feeling, it truly fits to my music. It's not like a story which means this or that. You can compare with your child, that you give a name to your child but it does not mean something, for some people it means something but not for everybody.
Magic Fire Music : Do you know that in France, there is a town called "Delain"?
Martijn Westerholt : Yeah, yeah, I know. I even think in Quebec, in Canada, there are lot of people which surname is "Delain" and they told "Oh, Ok, it's like my surname, that's funny".
Magic Fire Music : What does inspire you to write songs?
Martijn Westerholt : Fairy, feelings. I'm not inspired by experiences I had in life. I also write what it comes into my mind. I don't write lyrics. Charlotte writes the lyrics and I acompany her with the process but I don't write the lyrics. So, fairy. It's not like this happened and it gives me inspiration.
Magic Fire Music : I would like to know if the fact you were a member of Within Temptation influences you musically?
Martijn Westerholt :Influences me, it shapes me. Of course, my music was also...how did you say, I was part of Within Temptation. So, some people says that it looks very much like Within Temptation. So, Within Temptation is part of me and I can not cancell out from me or something like that but it also shaped me because I was very young, I was seventeen when we started Within Temptation. I really have the same tastes as my brother has, not at 100% but a lot. We like the same kind of music.
Magic Fire Music : Do you have some personal regrets regarding Within Temptation career becoming a uge, uge band?
Martijn Westerholt : No, not at all. Actually, I'm very happy. I'm proud of my brother and also of Sharon because it was not a choice I made because I was forced to and that's different than when you choose to. That's different. I didn't have the choice. That's a different story.
Magic Fire Music : Are you writting a new album?
Martijn Westerholt : Actually, I've just started. A lot of things are happening at the moment with Delain, good things. We were in the charts in Holland, we're in the top 40. And there is the new single and the video clip. What's happening takes a lot of time and it's a danger that you don't have time, you don't take time to write and I go out from stage and I say "Ok, I don't mind, I don't care, I'm going to write in priority one". So, I've just started.
Magic Fire Music : You are touring currently. So will you release a DVD of this tour or a live CD?
Martijn Westerholt : That's a good question! Actually, we're just beginning and we just focuse in the Netherlands and Belgium and then in a very big country France. I didn't know when this tour is gonna be over because in october we'll start in Germany so I think we will do a DVD but I think it will take a little bit some time.
Magic Fire Music : Did happen any funny stuffs since the beginning of your tour?
Martijn Westerholt : Funny stuffs...Really small things in terms of getting to know your team but I can not think of anything tipically... good stories or something like that. Charlotte had some technical problems, she could not sing, this kind of stuffs, it's really funny.
Magic Fire Music : How did you see Delain in the future?
Martijn Westerholt : How do I see Delain in the future? Ok, that's a good one...Actually, yesterday, we already play for 2500 people, my first show in France, it was a really good experience. The audience was very enthousiastic. It was different from Belgium and Holland so it was so great and I had goose pots all over, really really great audience.So and for the future, we had to see just step by step, see what will happen, still make good music and hope people will like it. Actually, I think it's good to not have some expectations at all because you can just do the things you like to do. If you have expectations, you can get disapointment. Not that I'm afraid of anything. But I think, just see what will happen and good happening is like a blessing.
Magic Fire Music : What can we expect for the show this afternoon?
Martijn Westerholt : I hope a really good show. We will really look forward to it. I hope a lot of people will come and we have a good audience as we had yesterday.
Magic Fire Music : To conclude this interview, what would you like to tell to your French fans?
Martijn Westerholt : That I'm really honored, that France is like the first country where we really start out the Benelux. And I'm really proud for how we are receive in press, also reactions from French people and even more like our gig of yesterday and I want to thanks them and I hope people will listen to the music and will enjoy it. That's the main thing for what I write music.
Thank you very much!
Merci
16h00. The show began.
It was really great! Very well received by the audience! Guys managed very well and Charlotte enchanted us with her clear and wonderful voice. 60 minutes of pure pleasure!
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