Rockezine.com interview with Autumn on May 30, 2007

with Nienke on May 30, 2007

Autumn released their third album ‘My new time’ in 12 years. A great album so it was time to ask a few questions to Nienke, the front woman of the band.
		Hi Nienke, please to meet you. Congratulations with your new album ´A New Time’. It is your third album in 12 years. What is the reason of the little number of albums over all these years? In the beginning Autumn didn’t have the ambition of becoming a big band, it was more a kind of hobby of a few enthusiastic musicians who want to play music next to their work. After a few changes in the line up of the band we wanted make a record but we weren’t very ambitious at that time either. After recording our first album (When Lust Evokes The Curse) we went touring with After Forever, I was a huge success and we had a really great time. After the tour we needed a little break, things went so fast we had to deal with this success. It took a time before we recorded the second album (Summer’s End) because we did a lot of festivals and shows. The period of touring were followed by some reverses like some band members that couldn’t combine their work with the band anymore and left the band. Besides that the booking agency went bankrupt and we got more and more competition from other gothic metal bands. In the view of Sony we were only a little band. Those little bands almost don’t get any support, the radio stations are not interested either. Put all these negative events together and it is hard to keep the faith in continuing within the music scene.
		The cover and the title are in contradiction. Can you explain this? For our situation the next question was relevant: “Does someone walks towards an end or towards an invisible new beginning?”. To start with something new you will have to finish the old period. Finishing a period can be very painful but it is absolutely necessary to start with a new phrase. We have gone through it and we decided to make our development visible by the chosen cover.
		You made a switch from Sony to Metal Blade. The combination between Metal Blade (lot of pure metal bands with a lot of violence) and Nienke seems to be strange. Last month I spoke to the American office of Metal Blade and they said: “you’re the only woman on our label.”; they are almost right, together with the bass guitar player of Bolt Tower we are indeed the only women on Metal Blade.
		Why did Autumn choose for Metal Blade? After writing about 40 songs we made a preproduction of the songs and decided which labels would fit with our music. We talked to many labels, most of them were very polite but didn’t make their appointments come true. Metal Blade did what they promised, it felt very good. We made some concessions, they arranged everything very quickly and the deal was a fact. Metal Blade was interested in Autumn because they wanted to turn into a new direction, they were (and still are) very enthusiastic about us. They still prove to come up to their promises.
		Let’s get back to ‘A New Time’, can you tell me something about the writing process? Writing songs is innovating, you put something of yourself in a song. Everybody of the band is participating in the writing process. As I told you we wrote about 40 songs. Every band member has their own things besides the music. We are very lucky that we all have the possibility to record things at home. We write complete songs or a part or a song. After that we send it to each other and say what we think of it or we adjust the song. In that way each song gets the atmosphere of Autumn. The biggest advantage of working this way is that we write and record when we want to do it. We don’t have to hire a studio place to make the songs in a agreed period (e.g. one month), that way of working doesn’t fit with us. Some time later we come together to finish the writing and add the real band feeling to the songs.
		In the last year 3 new members (Jan Motte, Jan Munnik and Jerome Vrielink) have joined the band and Meindert Sterk, member from the beginning, left the band. In what way did this influence the writing process? Meindert Sterk couldn’t combine his work and family life anymore with Autumn. We can’t make a living out of the music so he decided to leave the band. It was real set back for us. Fortunately three great musicians strengthened the band at the right time. Mats van der Valk is a multi instrument player. He writes complete songs and he is a huge profit of the band. Jan Munnik is someone who doesn’t write the usual things that bands do in our music genre, he likes to make bombastic music that consist out of several levels. He originates with what is the best for the song; it makes the song complete. Jerome Vrielink is someone who likes to be against the grain, he likes to experiment things (listen to ‘Communication on Opium’); he does the things you don’t expect. The current line up of Autumn is more psychedelic oriented but still in an Autumn way. That is the power of Autumn today.
		In your point of view what are your favourite songs on ‘My New Time’? That is a difficult question. ‘Satellites’ and ‘ Sundays Morning’ are my favourite songs. They really render the situation we are in today. Psychedelic songs with heavy influences.
		I miss the song ‘Blue Wine’, I think it is one of the best songs of the album. Why didn’t you mention it? Well to be honest I doubted whether I should mention ‘Blue Wine’. The reason I didn’t mention it was that ‘Blue Wine’ is an old song before Summers End, at that time it didn’t fit, now it definitely does.
		In the songs it takes a long time before you sing with full power. The vocals on most of the songs start with mellow singing, only at the end you sing very powerful. Therefore the songs might become some long-winded, do you recognize this? Yes I do, when you are writing songs you aren’t aware of these things. You think that the songs are perfect. When you listen to the songs when they are recorded you realize that the songs need more time before they give the same feeling as they had when we were writing them. We wrote 40 songs, among these songs were really heavy ones, we put them aside because they didn’t fit with the moment now. I think that we will use these songs at a later moment.
		In my point of view I don’t think the title track is the best song of the album, it doesn’t fit with the atmosphere on the album. The reason we decided to put this song on the album is because of the lyrics. The stand for the situation we are in today. ‘My New Time’ render the expectations we stand for, what we stand for. Musically it isn’t the best song but it means a lot for us.
		When you sing mellow, your voice sounds like Anouk. Are you aware of this? It is funny you mention this, several other people said this to me too. No I’m not aware of it but I feel honoured, I like to listen to Anouk, I think her voice is very sensitive. I have accepted the possibilities of my voice, that is why I can put more emotional feeling in my singing.
		You toured with Cradle Of Filth, the combination is rather strange. How was the tour? I expected that the audience would leave the hall to buy a beer or something like that. To my astonishment the opposite happened, the audience didn’t leave the hall but they were singing along with the songs. A real cool experience, it was great fun to do this.
		Can you finish the next sentence: 2007 is the year of Autumn because: We have achieved the best we can wish by making a great album. During the last years we were not sure we would survive the difficult period. We are very pleased with the situation we are in today. Everything that will happen this year we consider these events as a surplus above the great feeling. All we want to do this year is play live shows.
		I wish you and Autumn the best for the future and thank you for the interview. (Ralph Vermeere)