Interview mit Mark Jansen von Epica

Let’s start with some general questions. EPICA has been around for quite some time now. In which way, do you think, have you evolved as a band up until now?
The strength of EPICA is the willingness to keep working hard in order to progress and keep evolving. In the 15 years that we exist we have been one of the most hard working bands. We also kept pushing ourselves to the limits regarding songwriting. When you compare the old EPICA to the new you’ll find similarities in our sound. We always kept making use of orchestrations, choirs, grunts, death metal basis and Simone. But we also have developed our sound over all those years. We haven’t followed any popular and commercial genres and didn’t become less heavy, I think that’s why we’re still around. Our fans appreciate that.

You are one of the biggest bands in symphonic metal. How, do you think, did you manage to get so well-known and popular among the listeners?
Because we always kept doing what we wanted to do and followed our hearts. I am sure that this is the main reason, therefor we love ourselves the music that we make. If you don’t like your own music for 100% it doesn’t work in my opinion.

What, in your opinion, are your strengths and weaknesses as a musician?
My strength is that I am basically always inspired to write music and that the music has a certain quality level. My weakness is that I don’t like rehearsing and practicing.

You released „The Holographic Principle“, a colossal concept album, in 2016. Now, there’s already a new EP called „The Solace System“. Was this accompanied by a significantly bigger effort than your usual routine?
We found ourselves in the luxurious circumstances of having too many good songs. We didn’t want songs for „THP“ to end up like bonus tracks so we decided to keep them together and release them on an EP.

The EP features songs that didn’t make it onto the album. Were there even more, so that you had to choose once more or is this the whole product of your work for the album?
There were a lot more but the others we didn’t record (yet), these are all songs that didn’t make it to „THP“ but were already recorded. The ones we did record were all good songs and written to be album tracks. So the only reason they were not on „THP“ was the lack of space.

You chose this kind of release because you didn’t want to create a double album. Why is that so?
Our manager didn’t like the idea of a double album so he did opt the EP option. That was ok for us as well as long as they wouldn’t be ending up as ordinary bonus tracks here and there. The songs were too good to end up like that. For me it’s still a pity that a song like “In All Conscience” ended up as bonus track after the „Quantum Enigma“ sessions. We didn’t want it to happen again to songs that we think deserve a better spot.

Do the tracks also lyrically deal with „virtual reality“ or can they be interpreted apart from the concept of „The Holographic Principle“?
Most of these songs are a bit apart from the concept but not all. A song like “Fight Your Demons” still fits quite well in the concept. But most of these tracks stand lyrically on their own.

The orchestration of the album was much more extensive than before. Is that also the case with „The Solace System“ and if so, do you think that paid off or that people appreciated it?
Yes, the approach was exactly the same as with the other „THP“ songs as they were recorded, mixed and mastered in the same period as „THP“. People really appreciate our efforts to record all instruments live.

On the album you did not record the guitars, but on the EP you did again, right? What’s the reason for this?
I focused on writing the lyrics while Isaac was recording guitars. All songs were recorded in the same session as „THP“ so also on the EP I didn’t record any of the guitars. Besides working on the lyrics Isaac records also very fast, he’s an amazing (studio) musician.

There were also some comic styled videos released for some of the tracks. Who had the idea for that and what was the intention behind it?
Coen had the idea to make the cartoon related videos. We wanted to do something different than we had ever done before. They were made in a time that we were on the road so another advantage was that during the sparse free time we could be at home instead of recording videos. (laughs)

Which track on the EP do you favor the most and why?
„Fight Your Demons“, as it’s a very powerful track and I’m very happy with the lyrics.

Especially the acoustic ballad „Immortal Melancholy“ sets itself apart. I feel like you have been strongly influenced by classical music on that one, is that true? How did you come up with the idea for that song?
That’s a track I wrote together with our producer Joost. We sat down in my homestudio and we both felt like starting something new, from scratch. As we haven’t done a classical guitarballad yet we tried something in that direction. Once we started the song felt like writing itself. That’s a great feeling as you just go with the flow of inspiration. I instantly got very excited about this ballad and I must say that without Joost’s input it would have not become this good. It was a mutual exchange of throwing ideas at each other.

It’s been a while since „The Holographic Principle“ was released. Do you already have an idea about where your next record will lead you?
We will start thinking about a next album after the summer of next year when we stop touring. Lyric wise I have an idea in which direction I’d like to go but musically not yet. At the moment I’m working on the 3rd album from my other band MaYaN. As this is an important album for MaYaN we are working harder than ever on this one. We approach it a bit in a way like EPICA did with „THP“. Hopefully it will surprise the fans of MaYaN but I’m also sure that many EPICA fans will dig this one.

What else do you got planned for the near future of EPICA?
Touring until September 2018 and some exciting projects with EPICA like recording with the renowned Dutch Metropole orchestra and another project which I can’t tell too much about yet but there will be some material released as well in the near future. No full album but something else.

Let’s end with our traditional Metal1.info-Brainstorming:
Favorite album: Dream Theater – „Scenes from A Memory“
Best symphonic metal newcomer: Not really a new comer but still growing fast: Insomnium
US – North Korea conflict: What can I say… Grow up! That being said hopefully EPICA can play NK in the future, we have played South Korea already and to play in the North would be something really special. We were also the first international metal band to play in Tunesia back in the days so why not. (laughs)
Extreme metal: Emperor
Technology: A gift and a burden, it depends on the way you use it.
EPICA in five years: I never look more than one year ahead.

Thanks again for answering to a few of our questions. Would you still like to say something to our readers?
Thank you very much for reading this interview and for the support over all those years.

Publiziert am 29. Dezember 2017 von Stephan Rajchl